Working naked pays off in so many ways: freedom from cubicle hell, flexible hours and the ability to enter home office contests. The winner of our “Where Do You Work Naked?” contest, Laura Wilson, is a graphic designer who runs her business, Fit to Print, from where else but her home office. (A note to the first five folks who entered: watch your mail for an official “I’m working naked…are you?” t-shirt.) [Read more...]
Working Naked Pays Off: Contest Winner Announced
April 30, 2010 By
Organizing Guru Peter Walsh Shares Tips and Products
April 29, 2010 By
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interview best-selling Author and Organizational Guru on TLC’s Clean Sweep, Peter Walsh. You may have seen him on Oprah a few times. He described his new collection of furniture and accessories called “you.organized” that he designed for Office Max. His accent alone is worth listening too but he also shared useful tips for organizing your home office, including using vertical space for getting organized. [Read more...]
Change Can Feel Strange
April 28, 2010 By
Change can be uncomfortable, aggravating and stressful. Let’s face it…it’s easier to keep doing the same thing over and over. But what happens when you’re tired of getting the same results? If you’re ready to change your work habits, start with these tips:
- Keep your personal motivation in mind. Everyone has his or her own reason for wanting to change. What’s yours?
- Recognize that you have the ability to change. It’s never too late to try something new.
- Figure out why you haven’t made these changes before. What has been holding you back? If you face this problem squarely, it may never trouble you again.
- Set goals. The more specific your plan is, the more you’ll achieve.
- Apply a new skill every day. The more you use your new skills, the more effectively they’ll work for you.
Marketing Your Business on a Budget Takes Creativity
April 27, 2010 By
When you add up the expenses of running your own business, sometimes there’s not much money left for marketing. So when money is tight, you need to be creative. I asked homebased business owners to share out-of-the-ordinary, proven strategies they’ve used to market their businesses. Here are a few of the tips I collected. I’ll share more tips soon. [Read more...]
How to Survive a Home Office Move
April 26, 2010 By
Moving from one home to another can be stressful. Having to move your home office while keeping your business running can put you over the edge.
The last time I had to move my home office I dreaded it, but it turned out that my move was less stressful than I thought it would be. I credit the smooth move to planning ahead. Here are a few tips that helped preserve my sanity during the move:
- Take the time to measure your new home office space and your existing furniture and plan out where you want everything to go. I laid out my office on CAD – computer-aided design – but you could do the same with graph paper and a pencil. If you don’t plan ahead, you may face the same fate as a friend of mine who ordered a top-of-the-line armoire that was too big to round the corner at the top of her stairs. [Read more...]
Working From Home While Driving Your Family Crazy
April 23, 2010 By
You’ve chucked the corporate world (or you were smart enough to bypass it) and you’re working from home. While you may be feeling calm and sane, your new arrangement may be driving your family crazy. Does anything on this list describe you?
- Your family is so used to seeing the back of your head while you’re sitting in front of your computer, they don’t recognize you.
- Your family mentions a vacation and you laugh. Uncontrollably.
- You spend more time looking at your handheld than at your spouse and kids.
- Your family can’t interrupt you, but if a client calls all bets are off.
- You make it clear that unless the person walking into your home office is bleeding or being attacked by wild wolves, they need to turn around and leave.
When you realize that your family sees your perfect working arrangement as less than perfect, you can bring some sanity back into your home.
4 Ways to Brand Your Business
April 22, 2010 By
Guest Post by Joy Gendusa
“Branding” is important to your marketing, but have you ever wondered what that means for your business?
- Branding is more about being consistent in your message and image. When you put out your marketing pieces, you want to create a similar look and feel so that people remember you. And you want that similar look and feel on everything you put out.
- You get to make the rules of your brand. You choose your colors, style of lettering, logo and message. There is some flexibility, so long as you follow the general rules you set for your brand. [Read more...]
Home Office Life is Messy
April 20, 2010 By
Working from home means that you can set your own hours, work where you want and control your level of productivity until something gets in the way: life. Even the best-laid plans can get sidetracked when:
- The dog gets sick. This time on the product samples you need to send to a client.
- Your in-laws decide to visit the same week your biggest project of the year is due.
- Your child is home from school and in a lame attempt to entertain him, you show him how cool your new shredder is. Everything’s fine until you realize you’ve accidentally mixed up your “throw away” pile with your “extremely important” pile of paper. [Read more...]
Firing Your Clients From Hell
April 19, 2010 By
Throughout the years I’ve owned my own business, I’ve been lucky to work with clients who appreciate what I can do for them and are open to new ideas and suggestions. Other small business owners I know haven’t been so fortunate. They’ve put up with nasty, ungrateful and manipulative clients, thinking they had no choice.
The economy is getting better and no one wants to let a client go but sometimes enough is enough. In her blog post “Weed Out Your Customers From Hell,” Donna Fenn describes four types of clients that you should consider dumping. Two of the types are: [Read more...]
How to Survive the Days After Tax Day
April 16, 2010 By
Tax day is over so now most of you can breathe a sigh of relief. While your taxes may be signed, sealed and delivered, it’s not too early to get a jump on next year by creating an easy-to-use tax system.
- Start with an accordion folder, either check-size or full-size, to hold your receipts. The size depends on the number and size of your receipts.
- Next, label the different sections of the accordion folder with all of the categories you can deduct. If you’re not sure what they are, pull out last year’s tax return and record all of the deductions you claimed. A hanging folder labeled “tax information” with manila folders inside for each expense category will work too. [Read more...]
