Report to your clients regularly. The first and perhaps the most important factor that would be the key to your future success is reporting your progress to your clients on a regular schedule. On a general note, you can have an agreed date, for example, every Saturday. Some clients require that you report daily. Preparing your report well and making sure that the client is updated can be one of the major factors for your promotion or salary raise.
Adopt a No-Surprises policy. If anything goes wrong that could affect whether or not your tasks will be finished on time, then you should report it immediately. If you have any concerns that you think may affect work in the future, raise it to the client immediately so he can prepare for it as well.
Take notes and Keep a Things-To-Do list. Keep your notes and update it regularly. Whatever the client says on the phone, on email, or chat, note it down and add it to your Things to Do list. Keeping a list of your goals is very important. In a study of Harvard students, only 10% of the students had clear goals and these students earn at least 3 times the other students who do not have goals. Furthermore, only 3% of the students kept written goals, and it is this same 3% that earn 10 times as much as everyone else.
Spend 1 hour a day improving your skills. Read books, magazines, and online tutorials. Research news about your latest field from the internet. This will put you ahead your competition–other work-from-home people. Remember that if your client is not satisfied with your skill set and performance, he can always find someone else.
Buy or download free audiobooks on personal success and achievement audio seminars. You can have these playing while driving your car, on your MP3 or iPod, or on a home stereo while doing chores. It is said that one seminar is equivalent to reading 50 books on that field.
Work every hour that you work. When you’re working, make sure that you are focused on the work. Avoid any distractions such as using your Messenger, doing Facebook, or using any other application and trying to multitask. There’s a big difference between the quality and quantity of work of someone who’s focused on the task and someone who doesn’t take it seriously. Trust me, it will show.