The sad reality for me is that selling online has not worked very well in the area of guitar lessons. I have had sales in each area but wasn’t able to get it to a significant enough level. While there may be reasons for this, every once in a while it’s good to look back and see what has worked in your life.

For me, this has been IT consulting in the niche area of integration. It has allowed me to get good hourly rates and work at home. I had to ask to work at home, it is not often available and sometimes even frowned upon. But since I’m in a niche they often have no choice.

It might make sense for you to persevere if you have a lot of passion but after many years of trying you might have to re-evaluate the situation. It’s a tough spot to be in.

By getting high rates and working at home, I’m able to have a great quality of life. I also take months off in between contracts (which I’m doing right now) so although I haven’t been able to realize my dream of selling online products exclusively, it’s the next best thing.

So take a minute to think about what’s working in your life and do more of that.

So other than buying my IT consulting e-book, what else can one do to get these types of remote work jobs?

For me, remote work came after developing a relationship with one of my clients. I established myself as a competent developer in a niche market. Focusing on a niche is key because this means that clients won’t usually have this type of expertise on staff because they don’t get enough work in the area to justify a full time employee.

Scale to remote work over time. Try to introduce the concept slowly over time, like one day a week for example. Get a bunch of work done on a sick day and show the boss how well you did.

Consider working out of town for a while. When working out of town, I went from flying home every week, to every two weeks. Then I eventually went to one overnight visit per month and then fully remote. Usually working remotely means getting access to a Virtual Private Network (VPN), if you need access to the company servers. So if you get it for one day a week, there won’t be any more work involved to scale it up.

Wait until the current contract is over and you get offered a contract extension. If you’ve established yourself as a good resource in a niche market, this is a good time to make the transition to remote work.

Be willing to walk away. If you truly want to work remotely then you may lose opportunities if you stick to your guns. When I stand firm and lose an opportunity, I think of it as retraining the client. If they always get what they want, they will never have to change their mindset to other possibilities. Maybe it’ll help the next guy.

Believe that working remotely is better for everybody and that you can get approved for it. Don’t underestimate the power of visualization and belief. If you go in to negotiations thinking they will never go for it, you will be right!

To learn exactly how I went from commuting employee to highly-paid remote worker (with actual stories from each job) check out my IT consulting e-book.