Home office expert's guide to working from home/home office tips
Working from a home office never felt so cool
Guest post by Becky Powell
Social media is just another tool in your box of tactics, but leaving your digital footprint requires a thought-out strategy.
Think Smarter Not Harder. Now, most journalists have their own blogs, Twitter and Facebook, so you may reach exponentially larger audiences, all from sending to one contact. And remember many communication tools are multi-purpose – embed links, photos and videos that direct readers to your web site, Facebook, Twitter and more. [Read more...]
When I quit my corporate job years ago and headed home, I couldn’t wait to be my own boss. Little did I know that I would turn out to be a worse boss than the idiot I used to work for. I was tougher on myself than I’d ever been on any of my staff. Even my boss had been more flexible with me than I was with myself.
One day I realized that my drive to succeed was creating one unhappy employee: me. That’s the day I made a few changes. Consider these tips for making it easier to work for you, the boss.
Take time for lunch. Whether you take 15 or 30 minutes, leave your home office and eat lunch. Time away from your computer and your home office can be a welcome break.
Set a specific quitting time every day and try to stick to it. During my “boss from hell” days, quitting time was 6 pm every day (including weekends!) and then I went back to my home office after dinner to work a few more hours. Now (most of the time) quitting time is late afternoon and I don’t go back into my home office until the next morning. [Read more...]
Working from home is hard work, but at the same time it’s scary.
When you first start working from home and you’re spending time growing your business, it’s normal to face a few worries along with fear. Aside from figuring out how you’re going to grow your business, you have to worry about how to pay the bills, where your next client will come from and how to keep your family from turning on you because of your crazy hours.
For some people, fear is a motivator. For others it’s the first step to feeling discouraged. While being motivated is a good thing, being paralyzed with fear and weighted with worry can dampen your spirits and possibly keep you from growing your business.
You can’t get rid of all of your fears but there are a few ways to tame them.
The blog Copyblogger is as addictive as chocolate, and if their blog posts had calories, I’d go over my daily limit! If you haven’t taken the time to check out this blog bursting with useful and practical writing and SEO tips, drop everything and read one, two or as many blog posts as you can.
I try to read one post and then click off, but I can’t help clicking on the links to other posts. An hour later I have to stop reading and get back to work. A few of my favorite Copyblogger posts are:
The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers. The first tip is to be prolific:“The more you write, the better your writing gets.” Another tip is to be concise. Short paragraphs, bulleted points and numbered lists keep your readers interested.
How to be Interesting. (I read this one twice, thank you!) It’s important to be wrong as well as right and to surprise people by doing the opposite of what you normally do. Also, make people laugh.
20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks. The truth hurts and Copyblogger isn’t afraid to be direct about your blogging skills. This list of 20 questions will make you take a close look at your blog to figure out what’s working and what’s not. This list is invaluable to anyone wanting to improve his or her blog.
Guest post by Wendy Lowe
For small businesses, e-mail marketing is one of the best tools available to increase revenue and awareness of what you’re offering. However, a lot of people don’t know where to start.
Here is a great list to get you on the road to effective e-mail marketing.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Take a step back and think through what you’re trying to accomplish. The best way to do this is to see things through your customer’s eyes – what would they want?
You can spend hours a day working on your blog, pouring your heart out or sharing everything you know about your area of expertise. But how do you make your readers believe what you’re saying or feeling? Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger blog post, “12 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts More Credible,” will give you a few clues.
Duff Goldman, star of one of my favorite shows, Ace of Cakes, goes against all of the advice I’ve ever read and given about not hiring friends. After he graduated from pastry school, he started Charm City Cakes and then hired the most talented people he knew: his friends. In Goldman’s case, his hiring strategy has paid off. The base price for one of his bakery’s cakes is $1,000 (they’re works of art!), they have a long list of high-profile clients and best of all, they enjoy working together.
Like Goldman, other folks have been successful when they add friends to their business team. If you’re still not sure whether or not you should hire friends, consider these reasons business owners look no further than a friend to launch or run their business.
—Debra M. Cohen, Home Remedies of NY®, Inc. [Read more...]
When I think of social media, Chris Brogan and Brian Solis come to mind, not Martha Stewart. So what does this culinary queen and media mogul know about social media? Apparently a lot. In a recent blog post, Jesse Stanchak of SmartBlog On Social Media highlights a few of the social media tips Stewart shared during a recent speech. With almost 2 million Twitter followers and 72,000 Facebook fans, Stewart’s tips are worth following.
There’s a big difference between wants and needs. At least that’s what I tell my sons. In the do as I say, not as I do category, I want an iPad, although I don’t need one.
During my last business trip, I saw several folks tapping away on their iPads, which made me want one even more. This is a true case of technology envy. My MacBook is lightweight and easy to pack, but it’s not as thin, sleek and well, not as cool as the iPad.
In Shira Levine’s article “Can the iPad Replace Your Laptop for Business Travel?“ she shares several irresistible reasons for using an iPad on the road. Some of her better arguments include:
The iPad is lightweight. The multi-tasking device clocks in at just a pound and a half – no more shoulder and back pain for those who were carrying around bulkier 3-10 pound machines. Weight matters, especially when you add luggage to the mix.
The iPad has a long-lasting charge. The iPad banks up to 12 hours in battery use between charges, which come to about four times the battery life of a notebook and two times the battery life of a netbook. During my last trip, thanks to the Samsung lounge I had a place to recharge my laptop and iPhone when both were dangerously low. Not having to worry about a device dying on you can make your business trip a little less stressful. [Read more...]
I don’t always listen closely to what others say (I’m working on it) but when it comes to my clients, I’m all ears. In fact, the reason I converted my organizing business into a full-service working from home consulting firm was because of client requests. Folks weren’t calling me to get help organizing closets and kitchens, instead they wanted help setting up a home office and learning how to work from home.
Not long after that, my clients asked for a book about keeping their home office in shape and their homebased business on track. After I did some research and found out that a home office book that would help my clients didn’t exist, I listened to my clients.
I wrote a book outline and then contacted a literary agent who had a home office, and she agreed to represent my book. (This is a simplified version of events, but you get the idea.) She sold the book within three weeks and four books later I credit my clients for directing my business.
If I hadn’t listened to my clients, I wouldn’t have changed my business focus as soon as I did. Also, I wouldn’t have a series of books under my belt and a blog that gives me the opportunity to share home office advice and tips for working from home.
Are you listening to your clients?
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