Today it’s my pleasure to have Andromeda Edison in the hot-seat with us, as we discuss several areas of working from home, social networking, Internet security and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

1. What lifestyle change did you have to make after the arrival of your daughter, when it comes to being self employed?

I was very fortunate in that my husband is also a consultant (IT consultant) and a very successful one, so he made it possible for me to totally stop working for a short period and be with her. Then I was able to slowly ramp it up until she started daycare, consulting companies on what to do to get ranking on search engines. I warn all my clients before they sign me that I have a daughter who takes up all my evenings and weekends. They can call me and I will do my best to help them during those hours, but I might be distracted

2. From experience I know that it takes a fair level of time management and dedication to work for yourself, especially in the home environment. How do you cope and what advice can you give my readers who have that desire to telecommute?

Fortunately for me, I have always been good at administration type stuff so can set up systems quickly that work. I keep a pretty tight schedule for myself: certain days and times of day are for certain activities (accounting is Friday, Monday is mostly email and emergency handling, rest of the day are a little more flexible). I live and breath through my Blackberry, I get all my email there, access my social networks through the browser (and various plugins) and don’t commit to anything unless it goes in my calendar. I also run all the administration for my husband and have helped keep him sane.

3. When did you decide it was time to start working for yourself and was there any event that prompted you to make that decision?

Actually it was the news of the expanding family that made me realize I wanted to be as flexible as possible, I wanted to be able to do whatever I wanted with them. Fortunately I was already well experienced in a field (SEO and Internet Marketing) that lent itself very well to the consultant platform. Before I jumped ship I already knew people who would hire me as a consultant so wasn’t walking into it blind. I have managed to keep myself more than busy (turned away a few projects) just on word of mouth and people I know, which has been great.

4. If you could name 4 things you consider is the best part of being self employed, what would they be?

1. The flexibility of doing things with my family

2. Being my own boss and knowing I don’t have to take anything from anyone

3. Getting to work on a bunch of very different projects and never feeling bored

4. Knowing that what I create, I did it and no one can try to take credit for it

5. On that note, what would you say are the 4 things that can be regarded as being the opposite? 4 things you wish you didn’t have to do if you were employed in everyday America.

1. There are no benefits or Xmas bonuses which I miss sometimes

2. Taxes - they aren’t easy on the self-employed

3. No paid vacations, have to just take the hit on not getting paid (similar to 1 above)

4. Aren’t as part of a group all driving to the same goal as much (especially because it is just me)

6. Can you summarize what SEO involves and maybe leave a tip or 2 for readers who also publish a blog or website?

SEO isn’t as much of a mystery as people seem to think it is. My main tip is to build a beautiful, rich in content website that a computer program could easily follow (realize the little search engine web crawlers can’t read Flash, Ajax and stuff like that, but you don’t have to remove it completely). There needs to be enough content (words) in plain HTML on each page for the programs to read through and be able to figure out what the main subject is. If you write about interesting and fun stuff you will get links and all the other stuff that follows just by getting the website known.

7. We connected via Twitter. What’s your take on social networking and can it be used as part of someones job search technique? Would you say it’s an untapped resource when it comes to job search?

I have seen people get jobs on Twitter (seen someone forward their request to my list of friends). If someone has enough friends or the right type of friends, you can announce what you are looking for and ask people to forward it to their friends and so on. It is under utilized from that respect, of course you should already be on twitter making friends before you need to send around the job request. It will work better if you have participated as part of the community first.

8. Internet security! I’d have a hard time counting the number of times I’ve had to argue with our girls about the dangers of the Internet. What advice do you have for those who do not take security seriously. BTW, About 2 years ago I got a cell phone bill (nope I don’t own a cell phone) for a few hundred dollars. I was the victim of identity fraud and I’m very secure with my personal information online.

My advice is to always be careful. Log off when you are done doing anything on any account. Watch for secure icons before buying anything on-line. If you get an email to check your account, always go to the site yourself, DON’T click the link in the email.

If you have kids, install a filter where you have to approve a site before they can visit it (do your research to give them access to a lot of stuff so they don’t feel limited). Get used to watching their social networking profiles to see what your kids are doing, insist they set all social networking accounts on private so only real friends can get in (I believe if you just flat out forbid it, they will find another way to do it and then you can’t monitor it, it isn’t illegal). Set them up with an email where you have to approve the sender before they get a message and so on.

9. I think I read that you do some work with pictures online. Can you share what it is you do and some of the benefits as it relates to job seekers?

I do Internet Image Management, the main people usually interested in this are owners of companies (or anyone who has their name out there in connection to their business) and celebrities. My business is to monitor the search engines and any other popular research tool for mis-information and do whatever is needed to handle the mis-information. There are rules to follow based on the community you are talking about and with search engines, you just have to bury the content off the first page of results (where my SEO background comes in very useful).

10. We’ve covered things such as… being self employed and having a family, SEO (thanks for the tips), Social Networking and how to apply it to your jobsearch, Internet Security and the real dangers that lurk behind every click of the mouse and protecting how people (employers) see you online. Was there anything else you’d like to add?

Haha, um I think you did a good job here.

My only other project is email spam filtering company called Internet Defense technology. We provide filtering for email spam, viruses and mal-ware using an artificial intelligence and multi-filter technology designed by network security experts. Users notice an immediately improvement of almost no spam when moving to our system. Additional, the system learns as you receive emails and mark them as spam or clean as needed. While there are several companies out there providing email spam filter there are very few who offer a solution where the user has to do almost no work. We include a review of their existing email set-ups and handling of any technical problems the customer may not be aware of.

On behalf of everyone here at Obzokee.com I’d like to take a moment to say thanks to Andromeda for taking time off her already busy schedule to chat with us and share her thoughts on the issues presented.

Andromeda Edison has worked in the search engine optimization space since
1996.

She began working in-house for a non-profit organization before “SEO” was a
formalized concept or even a word. She eventually became their Director of
Internet Marketing, overseeing the design, programming, implementation and
marketing of their sites.

Since 2005 she has been working as an independent contractor helping small
businesses and start-ups increase their visibility on the Internet. She has
developed complete Internet marketing campaigns through search engine
optimization, website best practices, natural link campaigning, blog
creation/popularization, social networking and more.

She now focuses her expertise on two main activities:

1) Founder and CEO of Internet Image Management, which specializes in
reputation monitoring and management online, for both personal (names)
and commercial brands.

2) Chief Marketing Officer for Internet Defense Technology (IDT), an email
spam filtering solution. The IDT blog written by Andromeda is located at:
http://www.internetdefensetechnologies.com/blog/

In addition, she is the proud mother of a 3 year old girl and regularly writes on
her personal blog about the adventures of being a mother at:
http://romies-rants.blogspot.com/

A friend of mine jokingly called me a superwoman the other day, in reference to my Etsy shop, and said something about how she doesn’t know how I find the time to do it all. I replied that my kids are neglected, my house is a mess, and there are eight loads of laundry on my bathroom floor, waiting to be washed. While my favorite bathing suit when I was six was a Wonder Woman costume, I can’t claim to be a superhero. I just have a fairly scheduled routine, and it is this routine that helps me to successfully work at home.

I have three kids, three cats and a French husband. I work in the field of communications which means that I help people to more clearly convey their message, be it in a blog, an email or another written support. I also have a rapidly growing blog on finance and frugality and an Etsy shop in which I sell handcrafted baby items, which I’ve conceived, designed and produced. I do translations. All of this from home.

I try every morning to wake up ahead of my kids, around 6:00 AM, so that I can drink my coffee in peace before the deluge of questions begins. I read my blog roll, check my email, log into my bank account and update my budget. Then the kids get up about 7:15 and my husband and I have an hour to get them fed, washed, dressed and out the door to school. I’ve made a promise to myself to get dressed before 8:30, otherwise it seems like the morning flies by without getting accomplishing anything.

I have to pick up my two older children at 11:00, so I have two and a half hours during the morning in which to work. I plan tasks by days: Monday and Thursday mornings are for my blog, Fridays are for volunteer work for a local networking group and miscellaneous paperwork. In between work related tasks I take care of the home related ones: making lunch, doing laundry, emptying the dishwasher. Alternating tasks from work and home allows me to be more productive as I am able to reflect while taking care of the chores. The kids return to school at 1:00 PM and I have three more hours before I need to pick them up again. That time is used for errands, if need be, and on line networking: building my blog’s links, increasing its visibility, furthering relationships with other bloggers and of course upping its revenue.

Tuesdays, when I don’t have to pick up the kids at lunch, I work on my Etsy projects. I have the whole day in which to lay out a project and work on it before having to clean it up. As I produce most of my items in small series, one day a week is usually sufficient. If I have to leave something out in order to continue working on it, then it gets stored in small bins on the living room floor, to be continued the next day. Children do not go to school Wednesdays in France, so it serves as a catch-up day if needed.

After picking up the kids from school I take a break, recharge my batteries and spend some time with them. We then enter into the evening routine; cooking, serving and eating dinner, followed by baths, stories and bed.

My day continues after dinner once the kids are in bed. I’m in France and my targeted audience is in the United States, so I take advantage of the time difference to be an early commenter on other blogs in my field. I answer emails that come in and work on translation and editing projects. I write some more posts if need be, or upload my latest creations to my Etsy shop. I might drink a glass of wine as I unwind my day as it started- in front of the computer.

11:00 PM finds me in bed, falling asleep with a book in my hand. I’ve worked about eight hours, give or take, but those hours have been on my schedule, according to my needs and those of my family. It’s all too easy to become distracted and find yourself off track when working at home. In my experience, setting aside chucks of time in which to accomplish predefined tasks removes the anxiety and stress from the situation. If something doesn’t get accomplished within a certain time I don’t have to panic. I know that there is already another predesignated time for me to work on it. It is this attitude and planning which helps me to successfully juggle my responsibilities… and pass as a superhero in disguise.

This is the first post by our newest featured writer, Kelly Thompson. I’d like to take this time (and I hope you join me) in welcoming Kelly to Obzokee.com.

Here’s a recent email I received from a reader, highlighting how difficult securing a work at home job can be. Especially when you consider that someone is always lurking behind every corner to scam you with the promise of a job or the ability to make excessive amounts of money from your computer.

Begin email —–>

I’m trying to obtain a work from home position. Some kind of traditional data entry job from home. I’m tired of these “no money” bogus jobs in my area. I’m looking to be more independent and make money using my computer and my keyboarding or writing skills. Please help! Please respond ASAP with some suggestions. When I open up your web page, I don’t know where to go or what to do first, there is so much, I’m completely overwhelmed. HELP!

Thank you.

Maria V*****

Maria highlighted a problem with the website, something that most website don’t do. Teach users how to maximize the benefits of the resources provided and show step by step, how to use the website. I quickly created a short video after receiving Maria’s email, specifically for the purpose of teaching uses how to use the jobs database at genuinejobs.com.

For these are other how-to videos, please visit the Video section by clicking the “Video Channel” link in the top navigation of this page (http://www.obzokee.com/video-channel/) Remember to leave us your comments by clicking on the comments link below.

Happy Mother’s day ALL. To my mom… thanks, I think it was Aesop that said “Example is the best precept.”. Stand proud, you’ve done a great job. To my babies mama Caron will probably kill me when she reads that. To my wonderful wife Caron… “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” thanks for being you!

Sorry people. no flowers, dinner in some fancy restaurant or little shiny things to wear on your finger. Here’s a tribute to you, from my garden.

WOW! Just take in the magnificent colours!

The pride of my spring time garden. Yup, that’s a tulip with the feathery petals.

I just had to get a close-up to show the brilliant colours.

The tulip who thought it was a rose. I caught this tulip entangled in the rose bush.

The pears are in bloom again.

Aren’t they beautiful?

I’d also like to say a special Happy Mother’s day to my aunt Victoria who’ve played a big part in my life. My grandmother who’s 94 - keep trucking baby and finally to mom Hachey… thanks a million ladies.