Please tell a few words about yourself, your qualifications and your work history.
I have well over 23 years of professional  administration and office experience behind me, and have worked for a multi-national company here in Australia, as well as large law firms and accounting companies. I worked my way up from a secretary to personal assistant, then to Office Manager of a branch law firm. My qualifications are in line with the work that I do, and I am constantly updating my skills and qualifications all the time to keep up with changes in technology, programs and the way things are done.

How did you become a a freelancer? How did the internet help you in this process?
In late 1999, I walked away from a well paid professional position with an accounting firm to venture out on my own. I saw what my employer was charging my time out per hour, as opposed to what I was actually earning an hour, and knew that I could work for myself doing the same kind of work! The employer that I left became my first client, so basically I took on the same kind of work (debt management). I registered my business as JK Professional Administration Services, and on my application stated "professional administration and secretarial services" as my main business services. From there, word of mouth spread throughout the city I live that I was good at what I did, and I had clients signing up wanting me to undertake their debt management work. I also designed my first website and uploaded it to the web, and found that after a short while I had people contacting me via my site. I was thrilled to see that I had found a niche that I knew I was good at, but also made good money with little overheads or outgoing expenses. From my website I found I was getting a lot of requests for professional administration and secretarial work, and work has never been in short supply. My clients know me as a 'virtual professional' and not just a 'virtual assistant'.  I am a professional in my area of expertise, and am not just the 'hired help' to my clients!

Tell a few words about organizing your work (do you share assignments with others or do everything on your own, how much do you work a day, your schedule, etc.)
My day starts about 8.30 am, as I write this, my day started at 6 am due to deadlines brought forward by clients. I normally work a 12 - 15 hour day Monday to Friday, and often weekends. 80% of my day's work is billable, with the rest of the time taking care of my own business administration and attending to an organisation that I founded with a friend. I do outsource some work, and have a friend who is a virtual professional that I can send work to when I'm overloaded and need to pass on overflow work.

Do you think it makes a difference where you and the buyer of your service live, or geography has absolutely no importance today? Do you miss personal interaction with your clients or telecommunications technology totally make up for it?
Geography makes absolutely no difference! My furtherest client is in Alaska, others are in other parts of USA, Canada, Japan, France, UK and Singapore, as well as nationally and locally within Australia. All of these clients found me through my website or online business directories, and by word of mouth referrals. My clients are: professional business coaches, artists, fine arts auctioneers, consultants, corporate mining consultants, IT company, accountants, real estate companies, lawyers and a government contract with our states botanical gardens authority. When I moved out of debt management work last year, I was able to commit my time to doing professional presentation/documentation work as well as web design & development.
I personally do not miss personal interaction with clients though I still meet with some locally, but I often have telephone conferences with clients, and a majority of interaction is done solely by email. Because there are many professionals who work virtually, a colleague and myself went live earlier this year with an online organisation called Virtual-Professionals.com™ - http://virtual-professionals.com. This website is for the benefit, development and promotion of all professionals that work virtually. We are well aware that as a result of working virtually, or telecommuting that there can be a lack of interaction with other like-minded professionals. Our website offers resources, member benefits, advertising, networking, professional development and much more, PLUS our sister site, EVPA.net - http://evpa.net  is our education and training centre for any professional who may need some help with the start-up of their business.

We have found that many professionals working virtually need the contact of others who work in a similar way. It is paramount to working virtually that you do have a support network of other like minded professionals. This is also an excellent way to network with professionals who may be offering totally different types of services online to you.

How does freelancing / teleworking / working from home (if so) affect yourlifestyle?
Working for myself has brought nothing but happiness and self-satisfaction knowing that I can do what I love all from the comfort of my own home office. - I have this quote on my corkboard that says "Do what you love to do, and get others to pay you to do it for them"! My lifestyle is hectic, but one that allows me a certain amount of freedom. However, the 'freedom' to walk away from some things is impossible when the buck stops with me! As a result of hard work with promoting and marketing of myself and having a healthy client list, the rewards can be great. I recently paid for myself, husband, 2 grown-up children and our daughter's boyfriend to go on a weeks holiday overseas to Singapore!

What would you suggest to people who want to start a freelance career / want to work independently from home?

• Do NOT venture into a freelance career unless you have suitable qualifications or experience to offer services.
• NEVER offer services that you have no idea about, or take on jobs you are not skilled in! You would want to make sure you have good indemnity insurance if you do!!
• Ensure you have covered all your legal responsibilities for working from a home office, and that this also includes your responsibilities to your clients.
• Never underestimate the power of networking or word of mouth advertising.
• Never stop marketing!
• There is money to be made if a person goes about setting up their business correctly, has credibility with their work ethics and services, but also knows what it takes to make their business a success, either off or online.