Two heads are better than one, even-or especially-if they're hundreds of miles apart. Here's how-far flung home workers are using technology to hook up.

Working from home sounds like it should be a solo endeavor. And at first, being able to run your own show is a large part of the appeal of having a home office. But sometimes the isolation sets in, the creativity dries up, and the realization hits: There's only so much a person can do.

Fortunately, the same tools that let you communicate with clients also enable you to collaborate with other home-based workers. Whether you want to take on assistants to ease your load, team up with others in your field to increase your client base, or join forces with individuals with complementary skills, you can do it with the software and hardware you have at hand. And because technology knows no boundaries, the people you choose to work with could be across the street or across the globe.

Here, three home-based business owners reveal how they make their virtual partnerships go the distance.

Making virtual partnerships work is Stacy Brice's business, literally. As president of AssistU, she trains home-based professionals to offer administrative services to entrepreneurial clients from afar. Not long after starting the venture from her home two years ago, she realized she couldn't do it alone. So she decided to practice what she preaches: "[Now] I work with virtual partners across the country, making use of their special skills and talents, without the hassle of having employees, " she explains.

The group runs like a well-oiled machine, albeit one whose parts are separated by thousands of miles. Located in Dallas, Edwina Adams acts as administrator, handling all the details of Brice's busy day, from screening calls (by dialing into Brice's voicemail) to overseeing her travel schedule. Freda Wong, working from her home in Berkeley, Calif., is in charge of the company's Internet communications, and Upper Penninsula, Mich.-based Marie Schulz directs the intricate screening and application process as AssistU's director of admissions.

From Newton, Mass., Rona Hamada handles all aspects of the firm's telecommunications. And six other partners in various locations manage the company's Web site, marketing efforts, online bookstore, class development, and technical support for the students.

Brice not only trains virtual assistants, she is one, so she knows first hand that easy communications is what makes remote relationships tick. With long-distance rates at an all-time low, Brice points out, bicoastal partnerships have become affordable. Free e-mail services, such as Yahoo Mail, also keep communication costs in check. To make cyber-contact more immediate, Brice leaves the Internet connection running all day via her cable modem and relies on ICQ, an instant messaging program from ICQ Inc., which lets you have real-time conversations online.

"If I have a quick question for my partner in Massachusetts, I shoot it off in ICQ," Brice explains. "Chances are she answers me in a nanosecond, and vice versa. That's easier than having someone working down the corridor."

When public relations professionals James Bairey and Carrie Bedford moved to Sonoma County, Calif., seven years ago, they didn't abandon their Bay Area business, Bedford Communications. Instead, the husband-and-wife team set up shop at home. "We traveled to and from client sites quite extensively, and our remote location was transparent to our clients," Bedford recalls.

The real challenge came later when their key media representative, Ben Merritt, relocated to Virginia. In the past, such a continental shift might have ended the relationship. But with the help of technology, "We were able to maintain our client's and our joint business in spite of the distance," Bedford says.

In fact, the partners discovered their business could grow because of the distance. "With the experience that the remote model really worked, we joined forces with another PR practitioner [in Oakland, Calif.] and created Dave & Bairey Communications," says Bedford.

The benefit of the virtual partnership was immediate, says partner Peter Dave: "Working [together] allowed us to go after bigger business. It's been extremely effective."

In addition to growing their client base, the partners soon realized they could apply the virtual model to their employee pool. According to Dave, extending the virtual workplace enables the company to attract talented professionals while keeping costs down. Without paying for relocation, "we can work with the best and brightest," he boasts.

Rather than relying on geographic convenience, the company can select staff and consultants solely on the basis of their specialties and experience. They can then team up whichever way best serves clients' needs. "For example," says Bedford, "we use Kaye McKinzie [in California] as account manager, working with Tish Wagner [an account executive in Georgia], myself, and James Bairey on just one client account."

Technology improvements have been critical to this arrangement's success. "[When] we started out, " says Bedford, "we had slower modems and couldn't even get voicemail from our local company. Now e-mail is everyone's preferred method of communication, and we have reliable voice-mail services." "Indeed, e-mail is the company's linch-pin, linking the partners, consultants, and clients," Dave says.

Aside from a few hiccups sending compatible file attachments to clients' PCs from the company's Macs, it's been smooth sailing. The partners use EarthLink for e-mail, with plans to upgrade to DSL connections. And the Web site has proven useful not only for getting business but also for distributing password-protected documents among partners.

Although David Wilcox is self-employed, that doesn't mean he's entirely self-sufficient. Whenever a project demands it, the Web site creator hooks up with one or more of his virtual partners. "We [each] subcontract with the others in the group and bring in other people as we need them," he explains.

Scattered throughout Great Britain, the partners form a cohesive group by offering complementary skills. "I like spotting opportunities, getting and starting jobs, trying to see smart ways through messy situations," says Wilcox. "As an ex-journalist, I can write well, facilitate online discussions, do basic Web sites. [But] I'm not so hot on project management."

So partner Simon Berry pitches in from Coventry, England, to handle projects and development. London-based Kevin Harris works on policy, community development issues, and information management for the group's effort, and Drew Mackie specializes in organizing client workshops from his home based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Berry and Peter Mason handle installation and management of clients' hardware.

Wilcox credits the Internet with making these virtual work relationships both affordable and efficient. "It doesn't matter where people are," he says. "Online costs are the same, unlike telephone or fax where distance increases costs." Although two partners can get by with phone and fax, he adds, more partners call for more technology: "[Using the Net] means we can work as a team spread around the country, or link to friends in the U.S. and work with a client somewhere else."

Being a provider of internet solutions gives Partnerships Online a technological edge. "[We] also have our own server run by Simon Berry, which can be accessed by direct dial or over the Net," says Wilcox. "That server provides us with e-mail and conferencing suited for team working. It also has excellent Web publishing capabilities which allow e-mail conferencing to be accessed via a browser."

But the real benefit of virtual partnerships, Wilcox has found, is the human connection so many home-based workers crave. "Working with one or more other people makes an enormous difference to creativity and motivation," he says. "You need others to bounce ideas around, keep you cheerful, help you make sense of difficult jobs. The team is an extra brain and energy source, too."