| world of lengthening commutes, longer | | | | in virtual, legitimate work opportunities overall, |
| workweeks, and high-stress, gridlocked suburban | | | | which coincides with the spread of broadband |
| sprawl, we may often wonder about the | | | | Internet and the outsourcing phenomenon. Now, |
| undeclared "values" that are motivating us to live | | | | we're encountering a wider variety of "virtual |
| the way we do (and how to get back on the | | | | employee" positions (full-time, home-based work |
| right track). | | | | from a fixed employer), freelance work (e.g., |
| When we find ourselves envying the gleaming | | | | proofreading, editing, graphic artwork, and help |
| new SUV in the next lane over, or the larger | | | | desk specialists, along with the conventional |
| home a friend has just bought, or the private | | | | Website design projects), and virtual teaching |
| university tuition the neighbors can afford, it may | | | | positions (community colleges and distance learning |
| help us to stand back and ask ourselves about | | | | institutions, for example), as well as the online |
| the "distinctive" lifestyles that so many of us | | | | tutoring of individuals (elementary school and up). |
| seem to yearn for, and the sacrifices in family | | | | Equally impressive is the emergence of the Ebay |
| togetherness, joy, and satisfaction that the | | | | "mompreneurs," as detailed in an article in the June |
| "distinctive" lifestyle demands. | | | | 7, 2004, issue of Business Week ("The Rise of |
| Indeed, after some thought on the trade-offs -- | | | | the Mompreneurs"). The article, which is available |
| pollution, rampant materialism, rootless waves of | | | | at the Business Week site ( contains the following |
| people ebbing and flowing around us and our | | | | eye-opening statistics: |
| children -- you may well conclude that the | | | | "Today, upwards of 430,000 people in the U.S. |
| "distinctive suburban way of life" everyone is | | | | alone -- more than are employed worldwide by |
| chasing is actually what we have come to call the | | | | General Electric Co. (GE ) and Procter & |
| DISTINCTIVE suburban way of life: Dual Income | | | | Gamble combined -- earn a full- or part-time living |
| Striving to Impress Neighbors and Co-workers | | | | on eBay selling everything from fashion to farm |
| yet Tormented by Increasing Vexation and | | | | equipment, with the highest-sellers grossing up to |
| Emptiness. | | | | $1 million a month." |
| With this in mind, maybe instead of trying to live | | | | HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE FAMILY? |
| the distinctive lifestyle, we should be trying to | | | | As you might guess, these trends have significant |
| leave the distinctive lifestyle. | | | | potential consequences for the family, and not |
| TELEWORK & FARM-FAMILY VALUES | | | | only in the realm of homeschooling and other |
| It's one of the great ironies of the high-tech | | | | preferences. First, if at least one parent has a skill |
| world: We leave our small towns and farms -- | | | | that is "virtually marketable," then |
| sacrificing family life, roots, and healthy values -- | | | | * that parent may now stay home with the |
| to settle in sprawling suburbs close to | | | | children; |
| technology-enabled jobs, and now technology is | | | | * the family may now be free to move to a |
| allowing us to return to small towns and farms, | | | | more family-friendly location; |
| and rediscover the joy and strength of family and | | | | * the stresses of the two-commuter life -- and |
| neighborhood bonds. | | | | their toll on the couple and the family -- will be |
| How is this happening? Virtual work. With the | | | | significantly reduced; and |
| spread of the Internet and broadband | | | | * the children will be able to learn valuable |
| communications, coinciding with the strong growth | | | | work-related lessons firsthand, from the best |
| of outsourcing, it's becoming easier and easier to | | | | teacher of all -- a parent. |
| stay at home and earn a decent living doing | | | | WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? |
| interesting, legitimate work. No longer must both | | | | Although no one can predict the future -- and |
| parents in a family commute to an office. (It may | | | | working from home, be it as a freelancer or an |
| help put things in perspective by considering that | | | | employee, is certainly not for everyone -- these |
| work is no longer a "place," but an activity.) | | | | trends do indicate that the old-style concept of |
| Indeed, as far-fetched as it sounds, it's now | | | | "telecommuting" (an employee working at home a |
| possible for both parents -- depending on their | | | | few days per month) is steadily being overtaken |
| qualifications, of course -- to get off the "gerbil | | | | by a radically different model: full-time, |
| wheel" of suburban living altogether, and work at | | | | home-based virtual careers, founded on a |
| home pretty much wherever they choose. | | | | steadily-growing supply of legitimate virtual-work |
| VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS, VIRTUAL | | | | opportunities. Moreover, additional progress in |
| PROFESSIONALS, and JETBLUE AIRWAYS | | | | communication technologies will soon enable |
| The virtual work movement has come a long | | | | real-time, high-definition interviews between virtual |
| way since the birth of the Virtual Assistant | | | | workers and their hirers (even cell phones can |
| industry in the mid-1990s. (Virtual Assistants, if | | | | already transmit and receive videos), which will |
| you're unfamiliar with the term, are independent | | | | further accelerate these trends. |
| contractors who provide business-support | | | | Since virtual workers can be based anywhere, |
| services to other small businesses and | | | | these trends carry obvious potential |
| independent professionals via email, phone, fax | | | | consequences for rural areas and small-town life, |
| and courier.) In those days, it was highly unusual | | | | and again by extension, the family. The transient, |
| to find someone working from home exclusively, | | | | anonymous suburban "communities" that now |
| and using email and other electronic tools to | | | | house over 80% of Americans (essentially, ghost |
| handle workflow from faraway clients. It was also | | | | towns by day, motels by night) no longer need be |
| unusual to find anyone handling other than | | | | the only alternative for working parents and their |
| administrative-oriented projects. | | | | families. A virtual worker can operate from a |
| Today, however, virtual workers under many | | | | town in rural Kansas, an island off Maine, a farm in |
| guises -- Virtual Assistants, Virtual Professionals, | | | | Nebraska, or even a houseboat on a Minnesota |
| Virtual Service Providers, Virtual Freelancers, etc. | | | | lake. |
| -- offer well over 80 areas of expertise, ranging | | | | Moreover, in addition to the mobility, the virtual |
| from word processing and bookkeeping to | | | | worker enjoys several significant advantages, not |
| high-end corporate consulting, psychotherapy and | | | | the least of which is savings on auto-related |
| even surgical assistance. And while most of these | | | | expenses. Perhaps most important is that he or |
| workers are independent contractors, companies | | | | she is not locked in to local wages or other |
| such as JetBlue, AIG and Travelers now actually | | | | economic conditions. The small town in Kansas |
| require that many of their employees (primarily | | | | (whose three-bedroom homes, with emigration, |
| "call center" personnel) work from home almost all | | | | have fallen to rock-bottom prices), can be a |
| the time. | | | | lovely place for a family whose employer or |
| WHO HIRES "VIRTUAL HELP"? | | | | clients live in Manhattan, or London, or Los |
| Because smaller businesses are usually more | | | | Angeles, or even Kansas City, where hourly fees |
| ready to innovate and embrace change than are | | | | for business services are much higher than they |
| their larger, Fortune 500 brethren (whose | | | | would be locally. |
| processes and outlook become rigid through | | | | WHERE TO LEARN MORE |
| custom and age), the majority of Virtual | | | | The best place to learn more about virtual |
| Assistants work with young companies and solo | | | | opportunities is (of course) online. A few Google |
| professionals, such as Realtors, smaller law firms, | | | | searches using such terms as "telework," "virtual |
| import-export firms, and professional speakers. | | | | assistant" and "freelance" will point you in the right |
| VAs may also provide one-to-one support to | | | | direction. A visit to such organizations as |
| senior management in larger companies (i.e., as a | | | | Staffcentrix ( the International Virtual Assistants |
| virtual "executive administrative assistant" to a | | | | Association (the industry association for VAs, at |
| Vice President). | | | | and the International Telework Association & |
| Similarly, virtual workers with advanced degrees | | | | Council ( will also help fill in the gaps. |
| (aka Virtual Professionals) often offer consulting | | | | Although it may feel like a "brave new world" at |
| services to smaller outfits and soloists (think of a | | | | first, the world of virtual work is already |
| marketing consultant, for example, advising a | | | | populated with a host of potential friends, |
| company on its marketing or advertising | | | | supporters, and erstwhile pioneers, who long ago |
| strategies), and virtual workers in a professional | | | | settled the frontier. Although not without its risks, |
| niche such as medicine (e.g., an RN or MD) may | | | | you may very well discover that it holds the keys |
| also consult to insurance firms, malpractice law | | | | to a lifestyle you and your family always thought |
| firms, and hospitals. | | | | might only be a dream. But regardless of your |
| A WIDENING TREND | | | | path, we wish success to you and to those who |
| As we enter our ninth year of research in this | | | | take so many cues from how you live and what |
| field, most exciting to us is the broadening we see | | | | you choose to do -- your children. |