I found a wonderful post on this very subject. It is from a woman who owns her own firm and apparently employs others. She talks of meeting at coffee houses and such. She gives some wonderful organization tips and tips for keeping your sanity when working at home with kids.
Check it out here.
Im a firm believer in down time. I mean it. Im not saying that so I can take five and watch General Hospital either. (Although I occassionally do that).
If your serious about working at home then you have to schedule a little down time in your day. The time you sleep during the night doesnt count, either. If you dont stop and smell the roses every once in a while you will literally stroke out.
Little story for you:
Back in April my husband was working out of town. I was home alone with six children and a new puppy. My car broke down, I had two late pay checks and rent was over due.
My first instinct was to go into work overload. I worked day and night. 16 hours a day for three days straight. On my sons 8th birthday I was up at 5 am to work before jetting to town to pick up his bouncy house and cake. Headed home to set things up and wait for guests. I was about 3 miles from my house, driving with 4 children in the car and thats all I remember.
I passed out. Driving.
I woke up in the hospital about 24 hours later.
I had a nervous breakdown and never saw it coming.
I kept telling myself, you can do this, just keep going, keep going. When in fact I needed to stop.
I spent two days in the hospital.
Now, I make downtime no matter what. I cant afford another two days in the hospital.
My down time usually comes in the form of stopping for about an hour after the kids get off the bus and discussing their day. Ill start working again and then about an hour before bed time Ill stop. Socialize with thr fam and spend at least thirty minutes reading or watching tv.
It works.
Also I make sure to take at least one day off a week. I cant stress the importance of that day off. It helps keep the husband and kids from having a nervous breakdown along with me.
Schedule a little down time. Its the most important time on the daily planner.
Some helpful tips for this week come in the form of job leads and an article about the future of Telecommuting.
I have two data entry job leads.
1. Convergys- this is a data entry system with a sophisticated website. It is informative and has many answers tot he mo st asked questions.
2.Service800- another data entry. They require that you have some experience. Both require DSL or two phone lines and a computer.
The third tidbit is an article I found in Entrprentuer magazine; Solo but Not Alone. It tell of the big boom in working at home and how some people are more productive in a stable, structured environment but still want to work at home. These people are congregating in Co-work spaces all over the country to do thier job with other like minded folks. Cool, huh?
How many of us made New Years resolutions that are now defunct? Stagnating in your mind somewhere between loosing weight and reorganizing the bedroom closet are those goals you had for your home business. Autumn is most often a busy season for entreprenuers and being organized and in controll has a direct result on the money you bring in. It isnt to late to take rotten resolutions and turn them into September solutions with a few tips from Mother Nature.
Begin with your home office or work space. What happens in your yard and the world around you each year in the Autumn? Old scenery changes and new colors take its place. Your suroundings are different which spurns new thought, new ideas and new creativity. Go through your deask or workspace and clear out all the clutter. Throw away the note pads, crumpled paper and nubby pencils. Gather all your post-it notes, highlighters, pens and pencils and put them in a convenient spot. Move your desk a little to the left and add a new rug. Put a big bouquet of Mums and Black Eyed Susans on the side table and keep a little pumpkin spice candle burning near by. Its Fall! Enjoy the season and revel in all it brings, mind- body and soul.
Reorganize your goals next. Give yourself a good hour to go over all the goals you had planned to reach this year and determine how far you are from reaching them. Some you may have made some progress toward and others may not seem so important anymore because of life changes and environmental circumstances. Decide which are still relevant and worth your time then rearrange them by which you are closest to obtaining and which still need considerable work. Make note of any new contacts or ideas you have to progress yourself forward.
Harvest time isnt just a prelude to the cold months of winter but a respite from the frantic heat of summer. Take this time to rejuvenate. Put your priorities back in order and get ready to take the long winter months by storm.
Here is a great article on Fung Shui Fall Organizing tips from Care2.com.
Now more than ever before people are turning to the Internet for the answers to their educational questions. What once took hours of research to find out can now be discovered in minuets. Every topic imaginable is made available. Niche websites that offer hard to find and rare classes and syllabus choices are in a good position to make a large amount of money. Education websites garner thousands of visitors a month and that translates into big bucks. If your looking for a way to cash in on the many hits your educational web site is getting check below for the top five educational affiliate offers.
Vienova
www.vienova.com
Vienova offers superior online education services to customers all over the world at competitive rates. They have one-on-one online tuitions for a assortment of subjects like Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English. They also have test prep courses achievement tests like the GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, SAT and IELTS. Affiliates earn $50 for every student registering for a monthly package.
Excom Education
www.excom.com
Excom has an IT Program that offers instructor-lead technical classes. They guarantee their graduates to obtain a job within four months of completing all modules. Affiliates earn $10 per lead, which is paid monthly by check, wire or paypal. There is a minimum payout of $100.
Training Link Education
www.traininglink-education.com
Training Link Education is a top Internet provider of accredited correspondence courses and distance learning programs. They pride themselves on their ability to provide accredited, recognized education for those who cannot access it otherwise. Affiliates earn five to ten percent commission on sales. They pay monthly by paypal with a $100 minimum payout available.
Forex Business School
http://www.forexfff.com
FOREX Business School is an Internet learning service dedicated to educating currency traders and helping them achieve success by giving them the specialized knowledge and understanding necessary to be successful. They pay a 5 percent commission per sale. It is paid monthly by paypal after a $50 payment threshold is obtained.
Be A Better Writer
www.beawriteraffiliates.comrm
They sell ebooks on how to write better term papers, reports and letters. The traffic you send them will have instant access to complete downloadable chapters and hundreds of writing tips, activities and exercises. Earn 15% commission on all sales of Be a Writer (316 pages/$16.95). Be a Better Writer (286 pages/$16.95). 2-book bundle ($33.90) . Monthly payments are made through Paypal with a $25 minimum.
Understanding Audio Book Affiliate Programs
They key to understanding audio book affiliate programs is to understand the terminology used. Misinterpretation of one word in a paragraph can lead to a misunderstanding of the entire idea. Understanding audio book affiliate programs is easy and fun once you gain that basic knowledge.
An audio book is a book that is recorded on tape or CD. People who have trouble reading due to eye problems or blindness use them. Avid travelers and people on the go also use them.
Audio book affiliates are people who promote merchants audio books on their websites. Audio book affiliate websites are usually full of informational content or entertaining by nature. They enter into an agreement with the merchant to place a affiliate link on their website in exchange for a fee.
Merchants are those who offer an audio book for sale and will allow an affiliate a cash amount for each sale generated from the affiliates website.
Sometimes a merchant will require certain policies to be followed by the audio book affiliate. These requirements and rules should be reviewed carefully before deciding on an audio affiliate program. Some of these requirements may be to receive a certain amount of visitors a month, to have a Google page rank of a certain number or to own your own domain name. Go over and make sure that you can accommodate each rule. If not, it may cause your commission checks to be delayed or even stopped.
Audio book affiliates are most successful when the audio book they choose is closely related to the content of their website. Choosing to promote an audio book that is about house training a dog on a website dedicated to health and beauty secrets is not going to sell. Careful consideration and comparisons can be a great investment in your success as an audio book affiliate.
Another big help is to utilize the tools provided by the audio book affiliate program. Many will make available exceptional marketing tools like banners, buttons and other codes. They may also provide some sales and commission reports that make it easy to track your progress.
One big challenge of running a business out of your home is balancing work and family. If you’re serious about succeeding, then it’s up to you to set up ground rules for your family to abide by.
Here are 10 tips for setting the ground rules that will allow you to run a successful home-based business and keep a happy home.
Establish a routine and stick with it. Families, and especially children, thrive on routines. If you set up specific times for both work and family, you’ll be more productive.
Carve out a workspace. Establishing a bona fide home office sets clear boundaries for family members. Keeping your work confined to your office will keep your business from intruding on your personal life. It will also protect important business information from falling prey to children’s spills, negligence, or well-inteneded but inappropriate participation.
Keep separate quarters. If possible, locate your office in a detached section of your home: garage, attic, furnished basement, or another location away from the main house. At the very least, make sure you have an office door that can be closed to give you some privacy.
Soundproof your office. Do what you can to keep your office quiet. Make sure that the family noises from the houses — dog barking, kids yelling — don’t distract you or intrude on your business phone calls.
Schedule quality family time. Make sure your children and significant other are an integral part of your daily routine. Set up sacred rituals — bedtime, family dinner together — and devote yourself entirely to your family during these times.
Explain flex time. One of the great perks of running a home-based business is it allows you a certain amount of flexible work hours. You can run midday errands and attend the occasional school function in the middle of the day. But explain to your family members that you may not always be in a position to be with them during the workday, that projects and clients might be the priority at a particular time in the day. Otherwise you risk disappointing them when you can’t make it to a school function or take care of a family issue.
Hire help. Hiring a housekeeper or a nanny to take up some of the slack can allow you to focus on your business and be more productive. Consider this part of the cost of doing business effectively.
Assign household chores. Negotiate ahead of time what chores need to be done and by whom. Let your family members know that you are depending on them to help you out, and that you expect and appreciate their help in making your business a success.
Establish telephone protocol. If possible, establish separate work and family phone lines and email addresses. It is also important to teach your children and your spouse that, if they happen to pick up your work phone, they should answer it professionally. They should identify the business and take a detailed message so you can return the call.
Create signals. Create a signal that makes it clear when you do not want to be disturbed. This could be something as simple as closing your office door when you are hard at work or even holding up a “Do Not Disturb” sign when on the phone.
From: www.allbusiness.com
