Visit the Shaks

Google really is out to take over the world. And, quite honestly, I am content to let Google do so. After all, it has done wonders for my email, making it is easy to find correspondence and keep track of what I need to do with my writing projects.

And now I am enjoying Google Calendar. This is a great productivity tool for the work at home professional. You can set up reminders and “events,” and even invite “guests” to conference calls and virtual meetings.

Additionally, it is possible to create public calendars and get input from a variety of people as to what days and times work for them. Then you can see, easily, which dates and times are likely to work best.

But what I like best? The pop-up reminders. They keep me in line, especially when I get so caught up in work that I forget other Important Things. Like sending a birthday card to my grandpa.

I am a big fan of free resources. When you work from home or have your own home business, your overhead is a big consideration. Periodically, I plan to list some of my favorite free resources that can help any business owner.

This list will include a variety of topics. Here is my list for today:

• Bravenet offers free web hosting

• Squidoo allows you to make a lens for free. A lens is like a mini-website where you can feature your topic or niche. Highly recommended!

• Flugpo is a fun site which features free classified ads where you can advertise your business

• 3 StepAds is a great free advertising blog for product or service promotion

• Yommy allows you to make a free video advertisement of your product or service that will be shown on their site to potential buyers

• The Daily Telecommuter lists telecommuting jobs daily for free

• Freelance Writing Jobs lists work from home writing jobs daily for free

I hope something on that list can help you and your business. I will post another free business resource list soon. Please feel free to request a particular free service that you would like for me to research. I would be happy to include any requests on a future list.

When my son was born, my husband got a little annoyed that most of my attention went to the little one. I realized that I needed to make time for my husband, as well as for my son. This is even truer now that I am working from home. Sometimes it is tempting to put off work until my husband is home so that I can spend more time with my son. And then I realize that sometimes, to get something finished, I just need to put on a movie for an hour and a half. That way I can pay attention to my husband when he comes home.

Here is a hilarious video I found on YouTube about the “competition” between baby and daddy. It’s an ad, but that doesn’t make it any less funny…

I have had a lot of reminders this week of why I always wanted to work from home. It is finally getting chilly here in Maryland. The past two mornings we have had heavy frost and a biting chill. Looking at the frost I thought about the possible snow that could come later this season. Immediately I realized just how lucky I am to be working from home.

I used to hate those mornings where I had to decide if I should take the risk and drive to work in the snow. Residents in Maryland are NOT known for their good winter driving skills. I was not just considering my own safety, but also the safety of my son considering I had to drive him to daycare. On the other end of my internal debate was how I hated making that guilty call to my employer to say I was not going to come in. I longed to stay home and not have to make that choice between safety and responsibility. I am thankful to be in that glorious position now!

I have had other reminders this week about the perks of working from home. Two of my little boys have colds. This used to be the worst struggle for me when I worked in the office. I felt horribly guilty if I had to take my sons to daycare knowing they didn't feel good. If I kept them home, I felt horribly guilty calling in to work. It was a no win situation for me as a mother and as an employee. Once again, I longed to stay home and not have to make the choice between my children's comfort and and work responsibilites. I am thankful to be able to put my sons first now no matter what!

Every now and then, I miss the office days. I long for the companionship of co-workers. I miss the adult interaction. I sometimes miss the drive to and from work where I could have a little peace and be with my own thoughts. I think how nice it would be to work without constant interruptions from my boys. Then I remember that the grass is not always greener on the other side. I have been on both sides of the grass in this situation. I am so very thankful to be able to work from home!

What are your favorite perks about working from home?

One of the most difficult things about any job is concentrating and staying focused. This can be especially true of a work from home job. When you work at home, there are many more distractions of a non-work nature. But Zen Habits is coming to the rescue with 5 tips that can help you concentrate:

1. Get adequate rest
2. Make a plan
3. Eat healthy (and light!)
4. Exercise
5. Take breaks

If you find it difficult to concentrate, the above tips can help you get back on track. The more focused you are, the better you will do with your work from home job.

This picture says it all! Don't fall for all of these online scams and get caught by their bogus hooks. Fraudulent emails are sent out daily trying to lure people into a giving up personal information or pay out money.

Most of these schemes are fairly easy to spot. Hopefully most of us are aware of the obvious scams like the Nigerian emails and the lottery notifications. Sometimes though it is not as easy to determine if a job offer through a received email is legitimate or not.

I have received several job offers through email that seemed real. They had a real company's name and did not ask for any upfront fees. I was tempted to apply for the job as the email suggested. Being on the cautious side, I decided to do an Internet search first on the company and the contents of the email. Not surprisingly, these job offers were sent out to thousands of other people and had been reported as bogus offers. These people were out to get our personal information.

How do you identify a fake offer from a legitimate offer?  Consumer Fraud Reporting.org has reporting on the latest frauds, scams, fake lotteries, spams and hoaxes. They have some Tips on How to Identify a Scam or Fraud:

"Below are some general tips to recognize scams:

• The name of the company is listed on this website somewhere.
• The email matches one of the definitions or formats on this website.
• The organization has no website and can not be located in Google.
• The email or requestor asks for bank account information, credit card numbers, driver's license numbers, passport numbers, your mother's maiden name or other personal information.
• The email or caller advises that you have won a prize - but you did not enter any competition run by the prize promoters.
• The mail may be personally addressed to you but it has been posted using bulk mail - thousands of others around the world may have received the exact same notification. Especially true if you find an exact or similar email posted on this website.
• The return address is a yahoo, hotmail, excite.com or other free email accounts. Legitimate companies can afford the roughly $100 per year that it costs to acquire and maintain a domain and related company email account.
• The literature contains a lot of hype and exaggerations, but few specific details about costs, your obligations, how it works, etc.
• The prize promoters ask for a fee (for administration, "processing", taxes, etc.) to be paid in advance. A legitimate lottery simply deducts that from the winnings!
• The scheme offers bait prizes that, if they are real, are often substandard, over-priced, or falsely represented.  Or, as part of the prize you can purchase "exclusive items" which may also be over-priced or substandard.
• To get your prize might require travel overseas at your own cost (and personal risk) to receive it."

Consumer Fraud Reporting.org also has detailed information on many known scams. Protect yourself before replying or considering any type of offer by checking it out first. You cannot be too careful these days!

If you do freelance work, then you send out your resume on a regular basis. The cover letter to your resume is critical because it represents the first impression of your work.

Freelance Writing Jobs has a Cover Letter Clinic series with tips and information for writing the perfect cover letter. Here is a tidbit from that series:

"I’m not sure if I would start a cover letter stating you’re the perfect candidate. If this is your first line, you have a lot to live up to with the rest of your letter. So if your first words are how you’re perfect, you’d better darn well prove it. I also don’t believe it necessary to say how you’re a native English speaker, if your letter and samples are well written, your skills are apparent."

Freelance Writing Jobs also posts available freelance jobs daily. It is a great source for finding work if you are a freelancer.

This past week we have been looking at some of the mechanics (mostly paperwork!) involved in setting up a home business. But what you really need to ask yourself is: Are you ready to start a home business? Home Biz Notes points out the following about working from home:

However, home business is just that… a business. If you want a steady income, and a growing business, you need to stay motivated, work hard and often long hours. If you start your business from scratch, this will be even more true.

The fact of the matter is that your home business may take up more time than working for “the man,” especially at first. Before you take the plunge, you need to carefully evaluate the trade-offs, and whether a home business is truly right for you.

Working from home has so many wonderful advantages. It also has some possible pitfalls. Your routine while working from home is totally different than your routine was when you reported to the job site.

It is easy to succumb to the slightly lazier way of life. I am sure your work ethics are just as high as ever. The possible pitfalls are in the area of your physical health and well being.

• Your eating habits can take a turn for the worse when you are working from home. The kitchen is always right there and accessible. It is easy to grab a munchy here and there and start the habit of eating while you are working.

• More than likely, you don't move around as much as you did when you worked at a job on site. There are no long hallways to walk down or co-workers to see which constantly had you up and moving.

• It was easy enough to drive to the gym before or after work to get your exercise. When you are working from home, going to the gym might require an extra trip out which could seem like a chore.

• Your competitive edge might round out a little bit. I think this could be especially true for women. The truth is, being around other people motivates us to keep up our physical appearance more.

• At one point in time, you might have given anything to get away from those petty co-workers. Just be careful not to isolate yourself too much from adult interaction when you are working from home.

• Remember to take care of your eyes. Take some quick breaks from the computer and let your eyes take a quick rest. My ophthalmologist recommended to look away from the computer every twenty minutes or so and focus on a different distance for a minute to reduce eye strain.

Make working from home benefit your career as well as your health. Eat right, get some exercise and get out of the house every now and again!

If you are sole proprietorship, a business license is not usually necessary. However, once you make the change (and get some sort of tax benefit), a business license becomes necessary. Every state has its own rules for getting a business license and keeping it up to date.

If you are going the route where someone else takes care of the paperwork, most places will actually take care of getting the license squared away as part of setting up your home business. But you can do it yourself as well. Contact your city’s Chamber of Commerce, or your state Chamber of Commerce, and you will be pointed in the right direction.

Working from home does not necessarily mean that you own your own business. Working for a company through telecommuting allows you the comfort of a steady salary and the benefit of working from home.

The growth rate of telecommuters has increased worldwide. Right here in the United States, there was an increase in employees seeking telecommuting roles after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Quintcareers.com has some great strategies for landing that telecommuting role you desire:

"Plan to hit your boss with a double-whammy: A written proposal and an oral presentation. Experts agree that both a comprehensive, balanced written proposal and a presentation are the best approach. The presentation prepares your boss to absorb the points in the written proposal and gives him or her the opportunity to raise questions or objections (to which you'll be fully prepared to respond). The written proposal enables the boss to more carefully consider your ideas when he or she has more time and serves an a crucial tool if your boss agrees with your idea but must obtain approval from higher up in the food chain. You may want to rehearse the presentation and even role-play with a friend or co-worker so you can practice responding to the questions and objections you anticipate from your boss.

Ask not what telecommuting can do for you; explain what telecommuting can do for your employer. Follow the same principle you would for any aspect of job-hunting from resumes and cover letters to interviews and salary negotiation -- focus on the benefits of telecommuting to the employer, not the benefits to you. Never frame your proposal in terms of how telecommuting will meet your needs. Don't mention your need for better work-life balance, more time to spend with your kids, care-taking responsibilities for elderly parents, or any other personal need. State only that telecommuting will make you more productive and efficient, be a better use of the time you previously spent on the road, make your boss's life easier -- whatever benefits you come up with that focus on the employer's needs -- not yours."

The whole article is really worth reading: Making Your Case for Telecommuting: How to Convince the Boss . Good luck!

Yesterday we looked at putting together articles for your home business. Today we look at the employer identification number (EIN). The EIN is important because it is how the IRS identifies your home business. If you are a sole proprietorship, this is unnecessary; your Social Security Number will suffice.

If you have someone else set up your business for you, they will usually also apply for your EIN. If you are doing it yourself, you can go to the IRS Web site, and fill out an application there.

I have worked from home for about three years now. I first started working from home in a telecommuting role for my employer. I stopped working for them right before the birth of my last baby. For the past year, I have worked from home doing freelance projects making myself the boss.

When I did work for my previous employer from home, I took the job very seriously. I did my work just as diligently as I did when I worked in the office for them. Yet, when I finished my alloted work for the day, I wrapped it up and never gave it a second thought. My, how the times have changed!

I work for myself now and I must say...... I am a slave driver! I get up an hour and a half earlier than I really need to just to get some work in early. I find myself being pulled to the computer by an overpowering magnet just to check in "one more time". I work Saturdays and I work Sundays much to the complaints of my husband. Is all of this really necessary? No, probably not.

My point of this is to remember why you wanted to work from home in the first place. Some reasons probably include to have more freedom and to spend more time with the family. I think I need to remember that more often and get off of my own back. Of course you are going to take your business very seriously but don't forget the perks of being your own boss. Give yourself the day off every now and again and become your favorite boss ever!

When setting up a home business, one of the important bits of paperwork includes the articles of organization. These basically set forth how your organization will set up. It includes the location of your business, those involved as agents and members, as well as what kind of business you are running. These are most prominent in an LLC.

If you are forming a corporation for your home business, you need to set up articles of incorporation. These will include location and type of business, as well as agents. Articles of incorporation also include any stock information about your company.

You can write articles yourself, or you can have someone do it for you. I had an accountant prepare the articles for my LLC. Many accountants and attorneys have flat fees for these services because they are relatively straightforward in most cases. But, if you want find forms, there are Web sites that provide templates you can use.

Just because you work from home does not mean you are always at home sitting in front of your computer. You probably use your laptop, Blackberry or wireless to stay connected with your work. You can increase the effectiveness of your business by using a system such as ExchangeMyMail.

I think that the services provided by ExchangeMyMail are vital for anyone in business in this day and age. It allows you to get to your email, contacts and calender no matter what device you use to access it. This enables you to be remote while connected to your business at all times.

My favorite part of this service is the capability to share information with co-workers or employees. Your whole team can view and share documents, calenders, assignments, contact information and emails. You are in control of who sees what by granting access to certain individuals or to the whole company. Have the whole team check in for assignments to a centralized information center that you create!

Here is a brief overview of how you can increase your productivity using  ExchangeMyMail:

"*ExchangeMyMail enables remote employees to be connected by instantly delivering any changes to email, calendar and contacts.

*Grant other people on your team access to your mailbox and calendar.

*Stay connected to your customers and employees anytime, anywhere from any computer with an Internet connection.

*Arrange appointments by viewing schedules of participants, sending invitations, and tracking responses, with details entered automatically into participants’ calendars.

*Increase your personal effectiveness with an integrated place on your desktop to manage and access email, contacts, calendars and tasks.

*Create centralized contact information for customers, partners and co-workers that can be easily accessed by everyone in your company.

*Manage team projects with the ability to view shared documents, timelines and assignments while tracking tasks that are active, completed and overdue.

*Eliminate the huge productivity drain and potential security breaches and ‘take back’ your mailbox from unwanted email."

Not only does this service open up a whole new door for your business, but it comes with Postini anti-virus and spam protection. This allows for a smooth and safe operation of your business. You can learn even more about all of this at the Exchange My Mail Blog. I am impressed with the capabilities that this service can provide for your business.   

This week on WorkShak we will be looking at some of the things that you will need when setting up as a home business. We will go over some of the things necessary for a work from home business. They include such items as:

*Articles of organization

*Tax ID number

*Business license

So stick around this week. We discuss how you can get some of these items, and how they will help you when setting up as a home business.

Did you know there is another way to have your content visible to Google searchers? Google Base allows you to submit your content and make it searchable on Google. Your content does not have to be an existing web page. It can be content that has never been online and by submitting it to Google Base, you have just created an online presence for your information.

You can submit any kind of information you want. There are different categories that you can choose from to label your content. You can present your website, an article you wrote, your favorite recipe or even a classified ad. Google has provided wonderful tools for describing your items to make your content more searchable. It is completely free to use and can be a valuable marketing resource.

Here is some information that tells you the basics of adding an item to Google Base:

"To submit an item using our standard web form, visit Google Base and click on 'Post your own item'. On the Post an Item page, choose an item type from the drop-down menu or create your own item type in the text box below. Then click "Next" to add details, edit, review and publish your item. In about 15 minutes, your item will have a unique web address and be visible to the world. If you have a website that you'd like to lead searchers to, be sure to include an attribute as type "Web URL" which includes the page's full URL."

I have been using Google Base for quite some time now and have been pleased with the extra exposure for my content. I will gladly take any help I can get to reach Google searchers!

Social bookmarking has become a popular way of saving your favorite websites on the Internet. It is also a way to share your favorites with other Internet users.

Social bookmarking is a fabulous tool to promote your business interests. Saving all of your work to sites such as Digg, Stumble Upon or del.icio.us gives you the opportunity to share your work with the world. By using these bookmarks, you are able to put your article, website or blog post in front of millions of internet user's eyes. If someone else finds your bookmarked work interesting, then they might save it to their file on the bookmarking site and help spread it even further.

Social bookmarking is basically another form of free advertising. Let others help to make your work popular. Go ahead and Digg or Stumble every piece of work that you want the public to see. It might just become the next hit of the Internet!

One of the more interesting work from home jobs available is billing. Often, courses or classes are required to start, but once you get set up, you can usually set your own hours. Steffanie Hansen is a 33-year-old mother of three. She makes more than $20,000 a year doing billing. Here, in her own words, is the story of how she started, and the challenges that she faces when working from home:

I studied finance in college and got a job doing Accounts Receivable.  A couple of years later I started doing physical therapy billing. I had no medical background but the company was struggling getting their accounts receivable to balance.  I went to many classes and after four years felt like I knew what I was doing.  At that time I was pregnant with our first child.  I worked full time for a year and felt like I wanted to be a stay at home mom.  I tried this for three months.  I couldn’t do it. 

I then tried to work from home.  I answered an ad in the newspaper that said they would guarantee you work. This was a gimmick! I went back to work part time for an ear, nose and throat doctor.  Eventually I went back full time.  After two years I found out that I was pregnant with twins.  We had just built a brand new house and financially I didn’t know how we were going to make it if I worked and paid childcare or if I didn’t work. 

About three months later, I had two physical therapists that I had worked for before approach me about going out on their own.  So while I was pregnant and deathly ill I would work full time at the ear, nose and throat doctor in the day and then do the physical therapy billing at night.  Once the twins were born I quit the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor and just did the Physical therapy billing.

It has now been six years.  I do billing for four different companies, Two Physical Therapy businesses each having three physical therapists, an Orthopedic Surgeon and then a cleaning business.  I have been really blessed I continue to grow just by word of mouth.  I have been able to pick and choose with what works best with my life.  There had been times where I was working 60 hours a week, mostly at night, trying to get everything done.  I am now at a place where I can work while my kids are at school.  In some peoples eyes I have the best of both worlds.  I get asked quite regularly if they can do what I do.  I tell them that I am very lucky that things have worked out.

As for working at home it was quite an adjustment.  I have become very disciplined.  I have to set hours because at first I was doing laundry and dishes and then nothing would get done.  I eat my lunch and the dishes sit until after my work is done.  This drives my husband crazy!  Also the stress is hard to manage at times.  When you go to work you can leave you work there.  At home you have laundry, dust, kids and work calling your name 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.  I had to realize that I would never get everything done.  It was impossible! 

Also, at first I had my office in our bedroom so every night I would think about everything that I didn’t get done.  Now I have my own office where I can turn the lights off when the kids get home and call it a day.   The social aspect was also hard.  I missed talking and going to lunch with friends.  I have learned that I am a much happier person when I can find that balance.  Another challenge was staying at home everyday.  This was also hard on my marriage.  My husband drives all over and so when he is home he wants to stay there.  I, on the other hand, have been in the house all day and want to leave.  The other thing I had a hard time with it getting dressed.  I know that sounds funny but I missed getting dressed up for work.  I couldn’t get in the mind set to work when I was in my sweats or PJs.  I found that for me I had to get all ready just like I was going to work. (Maybe not that fancy.) 

I think the benefits for my family have definitely out weighed all the negatives.

The idea of getting paid to fill out a simple survey and making money from it is very alluring. I fell into that trap of an idea and now my inbox is jammed with worthless offers to take surveys. I think many people are given false hope about this new trend of making money off of surveys.

I signed up for several survey sites. Most of them are basic scams in my opinion either paying nothing or expecting you to sign up for one of their “partner offers”. However, there is always a flip side to every coin.

One survey site that has come through with what it promises is Survey Savvy. You won’t get rich by joining, but you will make a few bucks. It took a long time before I actually received an invitation from them to complete a survey. Finally I started getting a few opportunities from them and it has started adding up to some spare change.

I think survey taking is a good spare time hobby. You can make a little extra money on the side. Do not plan to make much but it could buy you an extra lunch or two throughout the month. It is very important that you find the right company to join. Don’t waste your time on any of the others, only consider Survey Savvy if you would like to make some extra money taking surveys.

Yes, social networking is a good thing for your home business. It helps you “meet” other in your field, and can help you raise your visibility as you participate in a network of others who work from home. However, too much of a good thing can cause problems.

Sometimes you may find that you spend more time commenting on other blogs, than writing your own. Or that you are spending more time on forums and updating your MySpace, LinkedIn or Facebook profile than actually attending to your home business. And that can start to take its toll.

I solved this problem by taking the following actions to limit my social networking:

Pick two or three forums. I choose only a couple of relevant forums to participate in. My participation is better, and I limit the amount of time I spend on forums and chats.

Set aside social networking time. I am careful to set aside a set amount of time each day to catch up social networking. I limit myself to no more than three hours a week. This forces me to focus on which tools I am using.

If you are a merchant, then you have a product or service to sell. You are probably listed in the yellow pages and also your local phone book. How can you reach more potential customers?

The internet is probably your best source for advertising in this day and age. Consumers find it easier to just reach for their keyboard rather than hunting for that dusty old phone book. Finding affordable online advertising can be difficult if you have a tight budget. I would like to bring to your attention a very effective and free resource for advertising your business.

Merchant Circle provides the opportunity to list your business for free as well as the opportunity to network with other merchants.

* Create a professional looking online listing for your business.
* Create your business’ web presence or link to your existing website.
* Advertise to your local community to bring in new customers.
* Easily create blogs, online coupons, newsletters and more.
* Manage your online reputation by finding out what customers are saying about you online.
* Gain potential organic placements on search engine networks.
* Place local ads on Google Adwords, Yahoo and other networks.
* Network and share customers with other complimentary businesses.

There are already over 225,000 businesses listed at  Merchant Circle. Here is what  Businessweek.com reported in an article entitled "Think MySpace, but for Local Businesses":

MerchantCircle optimizes each entry in the directory, so that it gets good placement when it is picked up by major search engines such as Google (GOOG). "We make it easy for people to link to your site, make it easy for merchants to create new content, and tag it in a way the Web loves. Google wants people to be able to find stuff that they're interested in. For a small-business man to do that himself would be impossible, but we're applying that [technology] across lots and lots of merchants' pages," says Yamamoto.

You might have noticed I am a big fan of free advertising. Finding ways to cut down on overhead costs can only help you net more money in the end!

When you have a small work from home operation like I do, it sometimes seems silly to have a business account. After all, I don’t have any payroll, I have very small overhead and all of my earnings go right into my personal budget. But even in such cases, it is a good idea to have a separate account for your home business.

Banks differ, so you will have to call and ask what they require for you to bring in when setting up a business account for your home business. But here are the most likely items:

Articles of organization (showing how your home business is set up)

Business license from your state

Employment identification number from the IRS

Personal ID (most likely two forms)

Also, be prepared for all sorts of questions, courtesy of the Patriot Act. You will need to estimate how much you expect to earn each month (heaven help you if you go over by a large amount) and what kind of industry you work in.

Are you always on the lookout for the right tools to help make your home business prosper? Need help with article writing, blogging or advertising? Then you should keep your eyes open for the next "Deal Of The Day"!

DealDotCom.com is the place on the web to find all the Internet Marketing products you really want for rock bottom prices. We sell products and services that help save you time and money when it comes to running your online business.

You will never know in advance what item DealDotCom.com will be practically giving away until 12:00 midnight (Central Time). We recommend that you make a visit to DealDotCom.com part of your daily routine, just to be sure that we're not selling something you can't live without. Check Out TODAY'S DEAL!

I have been paying attention to the various deals of the day. So far, they have showcased a lot of useful products. Their prices are fairly reasonable too. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for the daily deals so you don't miss out on something you might want. In addition, every registered member is automatically entered to WIN the Deal of the Day.

If you have your own internet marketing product or service, you can submit it for review to DealDotCom.com. If they like it, your product or service could become the next Deal of the Day.