If you are looking for the lighting of a 40-watt bulb, but are concerned with making your home office a little greener, you might try this gravity powered lamp. I saw it over at My Organized Biz, and read about it in greater detail at Science Daily.

Hmmm...with Earth Day coming up in April, this might be just thing to spruce up your home office while being kind to the environment.

(Image credit: Clay Moulton)

I really like these Career Builder ads featuring a sad man who works with monkeys. At the very least, it's a good argument for starting a home business. Happy Friday!

One of the reasons for having a home business blog is to help bring traffic to your work from home Web site. So, it follows that you need to bring traffic to your home business blog.

At Just Make Money Online, there are some great suggestions for increasing pageviews on your home business blog. Many of them are based on some tips offered by Darren Rowse over at Problogger:

*Emphasize related posts (add links to posts that are related).
*Create compilation pages that include "best of" lists or posts that are related to each other.
*Make your home business blog interactive (allow comments, etc.).
*Create quality content.
*Include social networking marketing in your efforts.
*Include images and video on  your home business blog.

One of the online trends that keeps getting bigger is social networking. You can't keep up with everything out there, but you can pick a few things to help improve traffic to your home business blog. One of the things I have recently discovered is Twitter.

Well, someone told me about it. This is a social networking site that allows you to post brief updates as to what you are doing. Things like "Good morning. Time to get to work," and "Off to the store for some bread." But you can also use it to update your "followers" (the people that look at your updates) about the latest post on your home business blog. This is done via Twitterfeed.

Cautionary point: As with all social networking, it is important for you to be involved in your community. Twitter is no different. You need to add valuable content so that the Twitterfeed of your home business blog is viewed as more than just spam.

If you are a woman, and involved in ecommerce, you might consider submitting your name for the Who's Who Directory of Women in eCommerce. This is an interesting resource that may help you connect with other women who have their own online business, or offer services through a Web site. Here is the information on who qualifies, from the Women's eCommerce Association, International:

The Who’s Who Directory will include women who have an online presence either in the form of a website or blog and who either promote a product or service via one of those vehicles (or you make money through affiliate sales).  Your site does not have to have a shopping cart to qualify, just be one of the ways your customers and clients can find you. The information will be published online and promoted via our websites, media releases, WE Magazine for Women and our global network of women’s organizations.

A basic listing is free, although there are some extended listings for $25. I'd stick with the basic listing to start. These Who's Who directories are nice, but they are rarely worth the money when you start paying for listings. You can get the same results (and often better) by engaging in traffic building activities like commenting on blogs and forums.

Go to www.whoswhoinecommerce.com for more information.

When you own a home business, it can seem like more and more time is swallowed up by what you do. Indeed, there are many sacrifices to be made, especially when starting out. Celine at Pimp Your Work points out some of the sacrifices you might make as you work to advance your career. I also like how she provides tips for striking a balance between work and home life in the following areas:

1. Family and friends.
2. Recreational time.
3. Sleep.

Couldn't resist this hip-hop video from Siemens. Happy Friday!

Often times home business advice focuses on things like marketing and blogging tips and how to get started. But what about the simple things that keep your customers coming back? Yvonne Russell over at Home Biz Notes has some great advice -- smile and say "thank you."

I like this advice. Yvonne points out that smiling can be warming and welcoming, and that saying "thank you" -- especially with a handwritten card -- can add a personal touch to your home business.

In a world where things are becoming cold and impersonal, smiling and saying "thank you" can bring back warmth and connection. It will help your home business -- and your soul!

Not too long ago, I posted a video showing my messy home office. And today, Jennifer Hofmann, an expert over at My Organized Biz has provided me with some great suggestions for cleaning things up around the home office. Some of her suggestions include:

*Moving my printer
*Getting a dog leg
*Adding shelving above my desk

I never really considered moving the printer, and I can see how much space it would free up. So I think that will be the first thing that I do...

It's not a very common experience, and it can be painful, but sometimes it is necessary to re-brand a business. This is happening right now at eMoms@Home. The Web site is the process of trying to re-brand itself in order to better express what it is all about.

I'd suggest you head over and read what founder Wendy Piersall has to say about this home business blog, and even contribute to the discussion of re-branding the site.

Today is St. Patrick's Day. Over at Behind the Buzz, an example of a great video greeting is available. Irish Spring is going all out to provide a fun way to greet others today.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today's Friday Fun Video shows kids and Xango. It makes me laugh a little because it's something that might happen at my home, probably while I should be working.

So, this is the second year in a row I've made a mistake with regard to my home business taxes. Last year, I was silly enough to think that my husband's student loan surplus would cover taxes and didn't set anything aside. This year, I set up an LLC. And in the meantime, set aside money in a special high-yield savings account for the purpose of saving up for taxes.

We-ell, we needed to make a down payment on a new home and, well, there goes part of what I'd stored away.

Luckily, both times I just had to do a little extra to make up the difference. This year I know even better. You can go to the IRS Web site and print out payment coupons and pay your taxes quarterly. This year will be based on last year's taxes, so since I plan on earning more, it won't cover it all. But I'll have to make up a lot less. Plus, it will keep me honest, since I won't be tempted to spend tax money on other things...

Today marks the last day that I will be including home business advice from NaturallyCurly.com. The ladies over there have had some great tips, and I have enjoyed their insights. Today's insight is what many of us work from home moms (and dads!) struggle with at times: making time for children. Here is what they suggest at NaturallyCurly.com:

Make sure that you carve out time for your children and try to work as much as when they’re asleep.  Whenever possible, try to involve your children with your business.  Michelle and Gretchen’s children have all helped put stickers on bottles, rearrange shelves, etc. and they’ve gotten paid for their work!

I do a lot of my work first thing in the morning while my son is still asleep and as he gets up to get ready for school. My husband helps out by getting the boy breakfast. Then I work while Gavin is at his preschool. And he knows when he gets home, it's all about him.

I prioritize my work so that if anything needs to be done later, after Gavin is in bed, it is something that can wait that long.

Last week a took a little time to share some wisdom from the ladies that came up with the NaturallyCurly Web site. I'll get back into that a little bit more this week, since they offer some great advice for starting a home business. Today's advice is aimed more at solidarity.

Employ other moms.  NaturallyCurly presently employs 6 moms and more as contractors. They are very flexible with their mom employees because they know what it’s like to juggle kids with work.

Are you among the ranks of work at home moms? If so, you could try giving back a little by employing other work at home moms. But don't sacrifice quality for solidarity. Look for employees for your home business that are qualified, or that can be trained quickly and easily to do the job.

Once your home business gets going, it can start to become overwhelming. You may need help in a variety of areas, but hiring someone fulltime might be overkill. This is where a virtual assistant might come in handy.

With technology the way it is today, it is possible to pay someone -- someone who might live hundreds of miles away -- to take care of some aspects of your business, such as billing, payroll, scheduling and copywriting.

Guest Author Teresa Morrow at eMoms@Home offers some excellent advice in terms of choosing a virtual assistant. And determining whether one is even right for you.

This is a silent video about a home office that comes to life. It's short and sweet, and I really kind of enjoyed it. Sometimes that's how I feel in my home office. Happy Friday!

When starting a home business, one of the best things you can do is find your niche. The ladies that started NaturallyCurly.com did just that. And they didn't listen to the naysayers that told them they should be more general:

Don’t listen to the naysayers.  One person told Michelle they were limited themselves by just focusing on curly hair and should include all hair types. However, both women were very passionate about their idea and what the site should be and stuck to their guns.

This is becoming increasingly important. Loyal visitors to your home business Web site want to see that you are an expert. There are plenty of Web sites out there that sell everything under the sun. But do you know your stuff. Rather than doing a lot of things mediocre, pick one or two things and become the best.

Yesterday's home business advice: Don't quit your day job.

Yesterday, I mentioned that we will be looking at advice on starting a home business from the ladies at NaturallyCurly.com. Today's bit of wisdom is this:

Don’t quit your day job.  NaturallyCurly originally started with an initial investment of $500. Michelle borrowed money from her father to help with public relations and website redesign. They kept their expenses low by working out of their homes.  Both Michelle and Gretchen kept their day jobs for 7 years before quitting to do NaturallyCurly full time.

I found this interesting. When starting a home business, it is important to assess your needs. If your steady income is need to pay the bills and help provide the necessities of life, it important to keep your job "for the man" until your home business starts bringing in profits.

If you can get by without your steady income from a traditional day job, though, it can be quite profitable to devote more of your time to growing your home business.

Over the next few days, we will be looking at some tips for starting a home business from the ladies at NaturallyCurly.com. But before we get started with that, here is some information about these moms who decided to start a work at home business that eventually turned into a profitable venture:

Michelle – mom to Emma (age 7) and Gretchen – mom to Reece (age 7), and Caden and Mason (ages 6) started NaturallyCurly.com while working at the Austin-American Statesman.  The two would spend days in the newsroom complaining about their curly hair and wondered why there was no online resource where women (and men) could go to address their curly hair needs. From there, NaturallyCurly.com was born.

It didn’t take long for advertisers (including Proctor & Gamble) to recognize the potential of the site and they approached Michelle and Gretchen and became one of their first advertisers.

Now NaturallyCurly generates most of its revenue from advertisers and CurlMart, its online boutique that sells a variety of haircare items and accessories ideal for curlies.  It relies on marketing and public relations initiatives to attract visitors to the site.

Stay tuned. We'll be sharing a tip a day on starting a home business from NaturallyCurly.com over the next few days.

One of the best home business ideas is typing. But, as Mary Emma Allen points out at Home Biz Notes, you need to be more than a good typist. You should also know how to format papers and articles, as well as consider learning editing, research, design and transcription (especially medical transcription) skills.

You can look to a variety of sources for a clientele pool for your home business in typing:

*Online job boards and listings.

*Local universities and colleges often have students who need help with editing or formatting their papers. Even professors sometimes need help preparing articles and papers for journal publications.

*Businesses that outsource. If you know medical transcription and billing, approaching doctors and specialists may be a good idea.

*Join organizations and networks of writers locally and online.