Home Office Warrior

Being Productive – Setting my Goals HIGH!

Kris Rowlands — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:12:02 +0000

I’ve been absent from here for a good while and owe you an apology: I’m sorry! The holidays and life caught up with me in a big way over the last couple weeks, plus I tried to add some rest & relaxation into the mix. I got a little of that and lots of family time, so all is well!

I decided to share my 2009 goals with the readers at HOW this year. I don’t do resolutions: instead I do goals. Since I was offered a new home on HOW last year, I thought it appropriate to do so. Without further adieu, here they are!

*Grow my consulting business by 500%
*Start on the eBook that will blow peoples’ minds (newsletter subscribers got a sneak peek in on this)
*Mull over taking out a 10 pack of ISBN numbers so I can publish all my eBooks *Network with more people in my field and collaborate more
*Contribute as guest posters/ contributors on other blogs
*Make time to comment more often on the blogs that I read
*Create questionnaire for clientele (PDF form with checkboxes, etc)
*Create a few checklists (for publication) that I have been mulling over
*Stay focused and on track with posts on FFOP
*Finish my Swirly Q GTD Template set

I’ve got a good start on some of these, and even one is finished! I’ve completed my Swirly Q Template Set (finally). I started on this back in July and just got them finished over last weekend. These templates take quite a bit of time to create and finalize. All are done in Adobe illustrator.

The first goal is a lofty one, but I have a good head start on that one already too. Great new clients are in the works that will provide challenges as well as great learning times for all involved!

I have my Mind map created for the new book idea, but have yet to write any of it. That goal is in “Next Action” status right now.

How high have you set your goals this year? What plans have you put into place in order to achieve them? Are any of them complete yet? Do tell – I’d love to know!

Will you Survive or Thrive in 2009?

Tina Hilton — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:37:46 +0000

We’re just hours away from a brand new year. As some scramble to find the perfect outfit to ring out the old year, some of us are contemplating what to expect in the next. I’ll admit that until I became a business owner, I really didn’t think much about setting goals and making plans for the new year. I rarely even made resolutions, figuring there wasn’t much point since most of them were broken before February 1st.

Even as a new business owner last year, I met the New Year with my only goal being to meet certain monetary goals that would allow me to survive.

I wonder how many people meet each new year with just that one goal. Survival. I’m sure in this economy if you asked many small business owners what their goal(s) for the new year are that one would be at the top of their list.

Not me. This year I’m greeting the new year with a totally different attitude. A sudden epiphany occurred to me this week. The only limits that my business and I have are the ones I put upon myself. So my plan includes not only surviving, but thriving. Not merely staying alive, but growing. In order to do so, I realized it was going to require more than just determining that was what I wanted for my business. I began a search for something to help me set goals and draft a plan for 2009.

I discovered there is plenty of help available. I chose Alice Seba’s Free Online Business Planning Calendar which has yearly, monthly and daily worksheets to fill out that will assist me in keeping on track. I also found Denise O’Berry’s free How To Achieve Your Goals so I’m certain there are plenty of others out there as well.

How are you greeting the new year? Are you hoping or planning? Me? I’m enjoying the process of planning my success.

Can you work on water?

Grant Griffiths — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:00:52 +0000

This is a guest post from Alex Johnson. Alex publishes a wonderful blog called Shedworking, which I have quoted and linked to quite often here at Home Office Warrior. If you are not reading Alex’s blog, you need to be. You can subscirbe to his blog by visiting this link.

By Alex Johnson:

Some homeworkers work in the spare room. Some work in the garden office. And a lucky few work on water. There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t work from a boat (ask the many people on cruises who are increasingly making use of onboard internet connections). Look at Archie Workman who runs his Gamechanger consultancy from his canalboat in the UK.

“We have a battery bank of four 12 volt batteries which through an inverter can drive the fridge, television, laptop, mobile phone charger, etc.,” he says. “A small galley at the front can handle the catering for most occasions and a we have a fully fitted bathroom with shower and loo and a fixed double bed in the back if work gets on top and we have to have a lie down. The pace of life on the canals is such that to have your office on water to me is just pure heaven and the scenery can change from day to day. I intend to use it as a floating meeting room where my clients can discuss their projects in confidence but in a relaxing environment.”

Archie is not a one-off. The H2Office is a floating office from Wales-based industrial design and marketing company WaterSpace Developments. It’s still on the drawing board (see images) but initial design features include:

a compact design giving enough space for one or two people to work in

a “private” working area

a “breakout” area for small meetings

an external sun deck

kitchenette

foldaway bunks (for occasional overnight stays)

storage space

bathing platform

“The floating unit’s main function is as a “work space”,” says WaterSpace owner Andrew Masters, “but we are also going to incorporate some features to allow recreational activities and the option to use it as an overnight lodging. If you’re lucky enough to have flexible working arrangements a floating office could considerably enhance your working life.” Andrew is also looking to develop “mini floating business parks” in suitable marinas or other water areas.

Of course you can go the whole hog and actually buy a houseboat as a live/work property. Here’s one of my favourites, the Schwimmhausboat . It measures 14m by 4m high and 3m wide, with sitting room, bathroom, ‘loft, and kitchen. It’s also extremely green (recycled wood, green roof, zero emissions).

Is Business Do-It-Yourself Worth It?

Tina Hilton — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:03:13 +0000

Some days I just seem to need a little background noise when I’m working. Not music, which is playing most days, but other human voices. On those days I tend to turn on the television and you’ll often find it on a home improvement channel. Mostly because it can run in the background without grabbing my undivided attention too often. But even with it just on the peripheral of my attention I noticed something that I felt could be applied to business. The Do it Yourself shows. Not the ones where they take you step by step and show you how to complete a project. Nope, the ones where people decide they are going to renovate, flip or whatever by themselves with no help from experts. The main theme that runs through all of them is that people never seem to realize just how much work a project is going to be, how long its going to take them or how much it will end up costing them.

Now let’s apply this same principle to your business. As a Virtual Assistant, I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard the phrase, “I don’t see the point of having someone else do what I can do myself.” Sound familiar? Business DIY. It appeals to business people for the same reason it appeals to home owners. They see it as being cost effective. And in the end, it usually ends up being far from it.

Let’s say J.Q. Ficticious, Attorney at Law has decided to do several things for his practice. First, he’s decided to start a business blog based on his expertise, let’s say Real Estate Law. He’s also decided to pull together a class on Short Sales that he can offer to local real estate agents and mortgage brokers. And finally he’s going to submit an article on Short Sales to several local papers and media outlets. J.Q. has some great ideas doesn’t he?

Someone suggested he outsource these tasks to a virtual assistant, but since he knows how to do all of them, J.Q. decides it will save him money to do it himself.

He begins with the blog. He already has a website that his cousin pulled together for him a year or so ago. But when he begins researching, he realizes a blog will have to be installed on the website. Which means he has to do research to figure out how to do it. It takes him an entire day to figure it all out and finally get it installed and ready to post to. 8 hours and it’s not even exactly the way he wants it. Oh well, on to the next task. He needs to pull all of his notes together and create class materials, and since he wants his participants to earn continuing education credits he needs to submit the material to the proper channels to get approval for that. J.Q. ends up spending several days on this, a total of 14 hours. Using his class materials, he drafts a related article. It takes him an hour or so to find submission information for the places he wants to sumit to and then another hour to fill out each form for submission.

He has now expended approximately 24 hours on these three simple projects, and his blog isn’t even the way he really wants it. During this time J.Q. wasn’t earning his $200 hr. on client work, so effectively it just cost him $4800 to do these ’simple’ tasks. Had he outsourced these tasks, it might have cost him $40 hr., but it probably would have taken less time. So let’s say it would have taken a virtual assistant 16 hours. That’s $640 and the blog would be exactly what J. Q. was looking for and someone would be following up on the article submissions for him.

Just like the DIY homeowners, DIY business owners are often biting off more than they can chew. Perhaps they don’t even realize how much it’s actually costing them to do it themselves. And in the end, hiring an expert to do the job right the first time can be the true savings.

Should You Trademark Your Company Name?

Andrew Flusche — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:47:31 +0000

This question isn’t specific to home office warriors, but it’s one that many small business owners must face.

A trademark protects your business identity in the marketplace. If you’re concerned about someone ripping off your business identity, you might want to think about seeking trademark protection.

The classic examples of trademarks are famous brands like Kodak, Xerox, McDonald’s, and Nike. Those companies all protected their identities by registering their names and logos as trademarks. In addition, they regularly add to this protection by registering trademarks for marketing slogans and specific product brand names as well.

This means that I can’t sell hamburgers and call my restaurant “McDonald’s.” A trademark registration provides powerful protection for the brand owner.

Where does this leave home office businesses?

Most of us don’t need to pursue trademark registrations. But if you’re putting lots of time and money into developing a brand, you need to think about pursuing a trademark registration. Why build a valuable brand if someone else can easily steal it?

Before I end there, you should understand that there are two levels of trademark protection. Simply creating a brand and using it in commerce creates a trademark. You can (and should) use the “TM” next to your brand and slogan. These are your creations that identify the source of your goods and services.

But a trademark really gets teeth when it is registered as a federal trademark. Successful registration gives the trademark owner powerful rights and protections to fight abuses of the mark.

Finally, if you’re considering trademark registration, be sure to talk with a trademark attorney. There are online services that will fill out the application for you, but it’s no substitute for an attorney’s help. Registering a trademark is not a simple fill-in-the-blank process. Consult a professional.

Productivity Starts with Equipping Your Home Office with Reliable Technology

Grant Griffiths — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:32:53 +0000

We talk about productivity a lot here on Home Office Warrior. In fact, you will notice we have an entire category devoted to the very topic. And Kris is doing an outstanding job by providing some awesome post. Lord knows I need to listen to and read everything she talks about in my own home office.

What I want to talk about in this post may not be your typical GTD productivity tip or hint. However, I do think some of those working from a home office are truly missing a major part of being productive. You can have and use all of the best and greatest planners and graphs you can find. But if you are skimping on the actual tools in your home office you are not going to be productive.

The very first thing you have to have is good reliable technology in your office. Don’t skimp on your computer. Spend some money on this very important tool as it is without a doubt one of the most important ones you will use every single day. The excuses I hear are usually the same. “I can’t afford to get what I want.” “Oh, the one I have will get me by.” “This one works OK.” And on and on and on.

How productive can you really be if you are spending more time fighting a slow and sluggish computer? How productive can you really be if you are spending your time keeping that old computer working? I have had my MacBook now for right at 2 years. It still works and works well. It could “get me by.” And, it is paid for. But, I could be more productive with a new model MacBook Pro. Or better yet, a Mac Pro desktop. I am going to get the MacBook Pro because I like to take my office with me when I am out of the office.

And yes, the MacBook Pro is going to cost me some dough. Do I have the spare money just sitting around, most likely not. Do I have to have the tools that make me the most productive, yes and so do you.

I don’t know how many of you know anything about farming and the cost of machinery. I like to equate buying office technology to buying farm equipment. Productivity and being efficient is the key to modern day agriculture. If a farmer is not using the more advanced and most reliable equipment, he is not going to be producing at his/her fullest ability. The same applies to those of us who work from a home office.

Usually, those of us who work from a home office don’t have employees. (Thank God). And we have to rely on our tools to get done what needs to be done. We can not afford to just get by. Get the best technology you can for your home based business which will do the job you need to do.

Remember one thing, how is it going to look if you are competing with a business that has employees and you both are working on a new project and you run into a snag because your tools fail you. Equip yourself with the tools so you can compete and be successful.

We will discuss more about what you need to equip your home office in future posts. In the meantime, please, please leave your comments on what other tools you feel you have to have to compete and be productive. Also, I know this post is going to generate some negative thoughts on your part. Tell me what you are thinking. If you disagree, tell me in your comments. I do not hold any ill feelings to any of our readers who disagree. In fact, we grow and change when someone has a different view.

4 Reasons You Shouldn’t Become a Virtual Assistant

Tina Hilton — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:36:29 +0000

Before beginning to write this post I googled the term ‘virtual assistant’. I got 1,440,000 hits. We’ve come a long way baby. When I first began researching the possibility of starting my own virtual assistance business in the summer of 2007 I didn’t get nearly that many hits. It’s nice to see that at least half of those hits are valid, respectible sites giving honest information regarding virtual assistance. Of course there are a few that pop up that describe being a virtual assistant as an ‘easy work from home job’. I personally get inquiries from people looking to enter the VA industry, I know that those five words grab the attention of thousands of people unhappy in their current job situation. In light of that fact, I thought perhaps it was time I shared some of the advice I’ve been giving to others.

Simply put, If the reason you’re interested in becoming a Virtual Assistant is listed below…Don’t. Don’t become a virtual assistant that is.

1. I want a career that is so simple it practically runs itself. Being a VA requires work. It requires dedication, business acumen, knowledge and expertise in not only computers, Internet and applications, but also in administrative procedures and tasks. Experience working in an actual professional office atmosphere is a requirement. Just because you use e-mail, shop online and play Pogo all the time does not make you expert enough to be a virtual assistant. Nor does answering phones for Smelly Shelley’s Seafood Shoppe.

2. I want to do what I want, when I want. As with any home based business, one of the perks is being able to write your own schedule. If you do your best work at 2 am, then you can work then. If you need to be at lil’ Cameron’s Christmas Pageant at 11 am, you can schedule around it. But as a business owner you still have to work. And you generally end up putting in more than 40 hours a week. Remember, not only will you be doing work for clients, but you’ll have to invoice, market and work on your own business as well. I’m pretty certain there are few, if any, VA’s working a true 4-hour work week.

3. I want to get rich quick. Didn’t your mother ever tell you there’s no such thing as getting rich quick? That doesn’t mean that you can’t become financially successful as a virtual assistant, but it requires lots of hard work, setting up multiples streams of income and above all…time. Sometimes we should listen to our mothers.

4. I don’t want to answer to anyone. Sorry, just because you’re the boss doesn’t mean you don’t answer to anyone. If you want a successful virtual assistance business your goal is superior client service. That means listening to and answering to your clients. Sure, you’re the boss, but what good is being a boss if you have no clients? You also should remember that you answer to the IRS. Yes, the TaxMan cometh.

So there it is. You won’t often find me giving you reasons not to become a virtual assistant as I really love my job and enjoy teaching others about the benefits. Starting a virtual assistance business is just that, a business, and requires time, energy and patience. Lots of patience.

Something different, an audio podcast of this post:
Listen to the Podcast

A Must-Have for Productivity & Organization - Patience

Kris Rowlands — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

The hardest thing to do with emotional issues is having the patience to see the logic in the situation.

There couldn’t be a more true phrase on this entire planet.

Patience is something that is learned: you’re not born with it, but you are taught it: by parents, teachers, siblings and all those that you come in contact with during your daily life. It certainly isn’t easy to learn patience, and there are some on the planet that will never master it. But in order to be productive and have your wits about you, patience is a necessity.

So what do you do to retain your head in times of great stress and pressure? I know one trick that works for me, and you might have success with it too.

WALK AWAY.

Go somewhere else, even for just a few moments. Go smoke a cigarette, grab a cup of coffee, or go outside and enjoy some fresh air. Allow your head to wrap around the situation: the key is NOT to do it while you are in the thick of the situation. Your head needs room to breathe, just as the body and soul do. Allow it that space, and you will be amazed at the results!

What do you do that allows you to have patience. Let’s chat in the comments!

Comprehensive List Of Productivity Applications

Clay Griffiths — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:30:55 +0000

One of the hardest things to do sometimes is staying productive and organized. To keep myself on my toes I use [some] of the following programs. Most of the following programs are free, but not all.

Mac OS X

Things (Free Until January 6th)

I myself have used Things quite a bit. Things is the perfect blend between features and simplicity. Things will also support “teams” and you will be able to share tasks with other people. That feature hasn’t been ironed out yet, but Cultured Code has promised it will happen. And if you’re an iPhone user, they have an iPhone version that syncs flawlessly with its desktop counter-part.

Things is currently free, but will cost $49 when it it released on January 6, 2009. But if you subscribe to their newsletter, it will be $39.

[Cultured Code: Things]

Home Office Warrior

Anxiety

If you’re looking for a simple and beautiful to-do list, Anxiety is a great contender. Anxiety integrates with your “calendars” in iCal and sits in your menu bar.

[Anxiety]

Home Office Warrior

CheckOff

Another worthy contender for simply managing your to-do’s is CheckOff. CheckOff is an independent application unlike Anxiety, which is simply a separate interface for the iCal to-do’s. CheckOff does run in your menu bar though.

[CheckOff]

Home Office Warrior

Backboard

Backboard is a simple Mac application that merges Backpack (a simple web-based to-do application) with your desktop.

[Backpack]

[Backboard]

Home Office Warrior

Windows

Home Office Warrior

FruitfulTime TaskManager Free Edition

FruitfulTime’s website says the following about FruitFulTime TaskManager.

Basic todo list management tool for Windows available to download for free. Limited features, no support, for private and non-commercial use only.

[FruitfulTime TaskManager Free Edition]

Home Office Warrior

Cross-Platform

Home Office Warrior

Task Coach

Task Coach’s website says the following.

Task Coach is a simple open source to-do manager to manage personal tasks and to-do lists. It grew out of Frank’s frustration that well-known task managers, such as those provided with Outlook or Lotus Notes, do not provide facilities for composite tasks. Often, tasks and other things todo consist of several activities. Task Coach is designed to deal with composite tasks.

Task Coach is for both Windows and Mac OS X.

[Task Coach]

Home Office Warrior

Slife

Slife’s website says the following.

Slife is a time and activity analytics application for both Mac and Windows that automatically keeps track of where you spend your time on your computer.

How Does Slife Work?
Slife observes as you interact with applications, documents, email and web sites and then displays detailed statistics of your computer usage in a set of intuitive and easy to use visualizations.

Why Do I Need Slife?

With Slife, you can finally understand where you are spending your time and energy, and focus on what really matters. Thousands of designers, architects, consultants, developers, and many others use Slife to keep track of time and manage their productivity.

[Slife]

Home Office Warrior

JDarkRoom

For many of us, our attention spans usually can last about 3 minutes at a time until we see a Growl notification telling us we have new articles in our feedreader or MailPlane telling us that we have a new e-mail. This is where JDarkRoom is great. It is simply a full screen text editor to block out all distractions.

[JDarkRoom]

Marketing Productivity – Learn Social Media in a Snap!

Kris Rowlands — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:07:28 +0000

We’re all busy – and we know that there are things we need to learn, but just never find the time. Now is the time for you to stop procrastinating and learn how to productively leverage social media to your business advantage.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are proving to be important places to market your business and make valuable connections with clients, referral partners, the media, and more. This past year millions of business owners jumped into social networking for the first time… but many are now finding themselves knee-deep in overwhelm and alienating future clients along the way. In order to stay productive and on top of our games, we need to utilize these services, but learn how to do so in the quickest and most productive way possible.

Nancy Marmolejo, social Media expert, has a solution for entrepreneurs who are eager to reap the benefits of Facebook and Twitter quickly and productively. On December 16 and 17, Nancy will host a virtual class "Quick and Easy Social Networking Tips For Entrepreneurs:A Proven 3 Part System to Boost Your Visibility, Expand Your Network AND Save You Hours of Time On Facebook and Twitter".

If you don’t yet know Nancy, she’s an experienced social networking user who teaches highly effective, time saving tips to entrepreneurs. Her 2 part class will reveal a proven system that she personally uses to stay highly visible on Facebook, Twitter, and beyond.

Along with the course, Nancy will be giving out five additional bonuses for all those that sign up:

Bonus #1: Official Quick Start Guide with easy to follow steps so you can start implementing TODAY ($49 value)
Bonus #2: Video tutorial literally walking you through the quick and easy steps to huge visibility. ($97 value)
Bonus #3: Complete mp3 audio recordings of both class sessions ($59 value)
Bonus #4: Word-for-Word transcripts taken directly from my video tutorial so you can read the information and have it handy no matter where you are ($49 value)
Bonus #5: “Facebook Finesse” mp3 audio interview by me and my good friend, Facebook guru Mari Smith. We outline the Do’s and Don’ts of Facebook and how to maximize relationship building on this incredible site. ($49 value)

Space is limited, so do sign up today. Even if you can’t make the live class, Nancy will make sure you get her customized video tutorials, complete Quick Start Guide, transcripts, bonuses and more. I can vouch for the fact that Social Media is a GREAT way to market your business and services, but it does indeed take finesse to do so. Coming from someone that is learning herself, I recommend that you do get some training. It is so easy to alienate people, and once you lose them, they are usually gone for good.

Take a look at what Nancy has to say, and then sign up for her course. It’s not extravagantly priced at $97, and I know that the advertising techniques that you learn will more then make your money back on the effort put forth. Heck, the five bonus items are worth triple the enrollment cost!

Personal Productivity: Achieving Balance in Your Daily Life

Kris Rowlands — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:46:35 +0000

As Home Office Warriors, we often get caught up in the day to day trials and tribulations of running our business(es). But one thing that you must bring to the forefront is balance.

Balance is key to maintaining a strong mind, soul, and spirit.

If you are not balancing your workload, play time, and time with self, you will end up crashing and burning. While it may be something small, like catching a cold or getting a headache, it could be a major crash and burn such as a breakdown or an illness that puts you in the hospital for a undetermined period of time.

As we all feel, we cannot afford to take time off. We feel that we are the back bone (and we most likely are) of our business and that no one can do things as well as we can. While that may be true, the fact still remains that you have to balance your workload in order to achieve personal productivity. Taking a day off here and there (make it a weekly habit to take at least one day completely off) will allow you to rejuvenate yourself and keep you functioning at the top of your game. The consequences of crashing and burning are far greater than the consequences of taking one day off a week.

The body demands balance, and you, as its caretaker, must listen to what your body tells you! You know the signs in your own body that tell you when you need to rest or take a break. But I know that you sometimes turn a deaf ear to it. I realize how we feel that we must push on and through in order to Get Things Done. But when you have balance in your life, you are able to work at the top of your game, and you will be able to put forth a much better quantity and quality of work than if you are unbalanced.

Some things that I do for balance are:

Play with the Wii
Play with my dogs
Take walks
Meditate
Escape for a day out of the office

Tell me, what do you do to retain the balance within your life? What are the little escapes that you take? Let’s chat in the comments!

Dear Santa…, A Virtual Assistant’s Wish List

Tina Hilton — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:17:00 +0000

As a child, it was always proper Christmas list etiquette to disregard all thoughts of gifts being too big or too small, too expensive or too cheap. When it came to compiling the perfect Christmas Wish list it was all about what you wished for. As an adult I often find that hard to do. So here is my attempt at a ‘proper’ wish list for my Virtual Assistance Business.

Dear Santa,

I do believe you’ll find my name on the ‘Nice’ list this year, filed under home business owners and virtual assistants. Following is a list of items I’d be thrilled and thankful to receive as gifts this holiday season.

1. Apple MacBook Pro - 4 GB of RAM please, as virtual assistants tend to use lots of technology at the same time. Please include Office for Mac if you don’t mind, as I really do rely on it.

2. A Verizon Wireless Express Card - No more trying to find wi-fi hotspots. I would truly be able to work from anywhere. Even the beach.

3. Timbuk2 Laptop Messenger Bag - A durable Laptop Messenger bag in girly geek pink and gray,

4. Online Business School from Itty Biz - I love to learn. After reading Naomi’s posts at Itty Biz, I’m positive this course has plenty to teach me about making my business better.

5. SolidTek DigiMemo 692 Digital Notepad with Memory - In my attempt to make my business as green as possible, a digital notepad would alleviate all of those spiral notepads and post it notes scattered around my office, plus it would allow me to store everything electronically. Never another misplaced message or post it note.

6. A Girly Home Office in a new home in the North Carolina foothills - Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying my temporary home with my friend in Richmond, Virginia, but my goal is to find a new home somewhere nestled serenely near the mountains of North Carolina.

There you have it Santa Claus, I appreciate your time and consideration.

Sincerely, T. Hilton

*psst, don’t you love the new design here at Home Office Warrior? Kudos to Grant Griffiths for all the wonderful work he does here at HOW*

Greetings and Salutations!

Kris Rowlands — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:08:49 +0000

Well hello there!

I’m very happy to be a part of the HOW contributors group. I love meeting new people and hope to share with you (and have you share with me), lots of great ideas on how to be productive and organized in this world of chaos that surrounds us.

Today, I’m just throwing myself out on the table in order to greet you and get to know all of you. You can take a trip over to my spot on the contributors’ page to see who I am and from where I come.

I’m very pleased to meet all of you and wish you a great day, today and every day! My first content post will be on balance. Tell me though, how do you acheive YOUR balance? Let me know in the comments. Looking forward to interacting with you!

Personal Productivity: Achieving Balance in Your Daily Life

Don’t Wait for January! Get on board for Barefoot Bootcamp now.

Grant Griffiths — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:14:45 +0000

2008 is winding down…

And most all those resolutions we began earlier this year are now just distant memories. Life gets kind of blurry this time now… as we charge into the much-anticipated ‘new’ start…again. Lots of changes for most of us, new schedules, new plans, new goals…

As the kids prepare for the holidays we love, we also consider how expensive things are getting and have been…and perhaps how things will change in our job, our life, our business in January. Before you focus too far into the future, take a good, hard look at today. Are you where you need to be to make this your best year yet? To reach your full potential in life, family, and business?

It’s OK if you can’t answer yes.

Maybe you plowed right through the last few months, taking care of business as usual, but still not seeing the results you want…

Maybe you’ve been studying internet marketing, buying big box homestudy courses, reading every newsletter with great interest and wondering why you’re not having the same results as ‘the big boys’…

Or maybe you’re starting out, doing your research, plotting, planning and hoping that something about this ‘internet marketing stuff’ will work for you.

Whatever the reason, you are ready to:

Focus on your online business without losing sight of your life.
Find out what it takes to make your site, your offer, your product unique and set yourself apart from the rest.
Layout your step-by-step plan for growing a strong, profit-generating online business.
Get more done AND have more time each and every day.
Connect with other positive online marketers, men and women with the same interests that you have.
Bust through those mental walls (and or technical hangups) that have been holding you back.

You know it’s time to pull out the stops and make it all happen. But what you may not know is that you don’t have to do it alone…

NOW OPEN – Internet Marketing Barefoot Boot Camp registration! Six INTENSE and interactive sessions of coaching that Carrie Wilkerson, The Barefoot Executive created specifically for internet marketers, LIKE YOU! Six power-packed strategy sessions, exercises, and a host of resources that will transform your mindset, your business, and your life. Her easy-to-understand (AND PROVEN) blueprint model that will get your profitable as quickly as possible. She doesn’t promise you overnight riches, but she DOES promise to teach you what works for her! Where you are at next month, next year, five years, and even ten years from now, all starts with today.

You can get more details at

Barefoot Boot Camp

Carrie is not the same-old hypey, aggressive marketer you expect to hear from… there is something different about her – but you need to check it out for yourself!

But hurry – Carrie limits these classes for maximum interaction and there will only be 75 total slots sold! (last I checked, there were
just 62 left)

Ask Legal Andrew — Are affiliate marketers responsible for illegality of the marketed product?

Andrew Flusche — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:06:53 +0000

Q:

Are affiliate marketers responsible for illegality of the marketed product?

A:

Possibly. But let me first explain the question a little bit. Affiliate marketers get paid by a company to sell a product or service. They typically earn a commission for each lead or sale. What happens to the marketer, if the product is illegal in some way?

Your legal liability will depend upon a lot of factors. But the most important one is probably whether or not you knew about the illegality.

Let’s say that you’ve found an incredible deal to market cheap DVDs. As it turns out, the DVDs are bootlegged (illegal copies). If you knew (or should have known) that the DVDs were illegal, you can probably be held responsible for selling illegal goods.

What does this mean for your future affiliate marketing? Be careful! You should only work with reputable companies who have proven track records. The old cliche applies: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

A Law Practice on a Treadmill Desk

Grant Griffiths — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Lisa Solomon posted about her new home office desk on her blog Legal Research & Writing Pro Blog. You have to check this out.

A contract lawyering practice is very conducive to working from home. When you work from home, you can arrange your office to suit your needs. You can also wear what you want.

My continuing quest to get into better shape, along with the time limitations of a busy professional and personal life, have led me to put together this treadmill desk.

Lisa states, “the treadmill (which I bought in 2003) has been gathering dust in the family room since 2004. I already had the laptop and extra monitor. The cart next to the treadmill is used during the summer to ferry food from the kitchen to the patio for barbecues.”

This is not Lisa’s full time desk, but it is a great idea on how we can work and doing something to get off our rear-ends at the same time.

Source for Post Legal Research & Writing Pro Blog.

Fishing Lesson #5: Fishing with Squid(oo)

Tina Hilton — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:57:00 +0000

In this, our final fishing lesson, I’m going to talk about squid. Or rather Squidoo and how you can use it to make your virtual assistance (or other business) more visible.

What is Squidoo? It’s a network that allows you to build quick and easy websites for free, get noticed by people looking for information on what you know and even earn money from them for yourself or for charity. For free. Yup, you heard me right, Squidoo is free. The brainchild of marketing guru Seth Godin, Squidoo is a community website that lets users create pages ( called lenses) according to their interests. These lenses will have advertising placed on them that coincides with the content.

How and why should you create Squidoo lenses? In July of 2008 was listed as one of the top 500 most visited sites in the world. That means there are lots of potential clients and customers visiting Squidoo. That’s the why. The how? Start by creating a lens that showcases your business, who you are and what you provide. Then make another one on a topic you’re an expert in, linking of course to your website. Crazy about some of the applications you use as a VA? Make a lens dedicated to your favorites and showing others how great they are to use. The possibilities for lenses are as limitless as the number of potential clients that are out there.

The best part about Squidoo is how easy it is. In fact, before writing this post, I decided to make my own lens about my e-book. I created the lens “ How to Make Virtual Assistance Work for Your Business” in just 30 minutes. The front page of Squidoo says you can do it in 60 seconds, and you can, but I added my own pictures and links to my websites, so it took me a little bit longer because I kept tweaking it. Following the step by step wizard you can add news about your topic gathered from Google and the latest posts from your blog. By editing with a few easy HTML basics you can add hyperlinks to your website. And I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface in my brief 30 minute foray into the world of lenses.

Oh and did I mention that 5% of the profits from Squidoo are donated to charity? Or that you can choose to earn money for yourself or for a charity of your choice? Pretty cool huh?

So go ahead, make a lens. But I’m warning you, I bet you can’t make just one.

Moving Your Home Office

Grant Griffiths — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:45:00 +0000

Ricardo Gonzalez is a content writer for uShip.com. He recently contacted us with some helpful suggestions for moving your home office.

Preparing your home office for a move

One of the challenges of a Home Office is that when your home moves, your office moves with it. Whether you are moving across town or across the country, you have to take special precautions with your home office that you would not have to otherwise.

Keep or Shred?

The key to any efficient move is to bring only what you need, and trim the fat off. Look through your files and decide what you need to bring, and what you can shred. Make a special pile of documents that you cannot afford to lose: licenses, mortgage papers, birth certificates, passports, et cetera. These documents should go in your briefcase or a special file that you carry with you on the day of the move. Any other documents and files that you would like to bring with you, you can put into a “banker’s box”. These boxes are specifically designed for storing and transporting documents, and should keep your documents safe and organized during your move.

Make sure you shred anything you no longer need. Although it may not be useful to you anymore, it can still contain personal information that you don’t want others to have. You can even use the shredded paper to cushion other belongings as you pack up the rest of your house.

Books, Journals, and Magazines

Books are heavy, bulky, and in most cases, completely unnecessary. Take a look through your office bookshelf, and get rid of any books you haven’t referenced in the past year. Most of your old magazines, journals, and trade publications now have archives online that you can search through much more quickly and efficiently.

Back up your computer files

Your home office would probably not work without your computer. Be sure that, before you pack it up, you back up all of your files to CD or DVD. While it is unlikely that your computer will suffer damage, the information you have on it can be invaluable. Pay special attention to saving your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, e-mails, and financial records.

Time for new furniture?

Some office furniture can be easily disassembled and loaded into a moving truck. However, if you have a large desk or bulky chair, you may want to consider replacing it. Ask yourself if the desk worth the hassle. You probably spend over 200 hours a month at that desk, and you should make sure it is one that suits your needs. If you are unable to invest in a new desk, consider checking craigslist in your area for bargains on a used desk.

Look at packing your office as a great opportunity to make it a more efficient and manageable work space. Organizing and cleaning out your office now, rather than after you move in to your new home, will help you save money your move now, and it is one less thing to worry about while you unpack your house.

Ask Legal Andrew - Software Manual

Andrew Flusche — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:37:00 +0000

Q:

Donna asks:

A software program I’m using (I bought a license) doesn’t come with printed documentation, and the online help files are dismal so I’m putting together my own documentation for the program. Now that I’ve gone through all this trouble, I’m wondering if I can turn my documentation into an ebook and sell it. If I do so, am I infringing on the software program’s copyright? Also, do I have to ask the software developer’s permission to document his program and sell the document?

A:

This is a great question! In short, you can write your own manual for the software, and you can sell it. But there is a caveat to this, so read carefully.

Software is protected by copyright law. This prevents users from making copies of the software, even for non-commercial use. When you pay for software, you are buying a license to use it on one computer.

Your license certainly enables you to learn how to use the software. And, as long as you are not copying the software, you can also teach other people how to use it. What do many tech blogs do? They provide software tutorials and tips.

The main caveat is that you shouldn’t copy any of the software’s existing manuals. Create your own, unique documentation. You will actually own the copyright in the manual that you create, even though you don’t own the copyright to the software.

I really don’t think there is anything to worry about with an idea like this. To see why, check out the computer section of your local bookstore. There will be hundreds of independently created manuals for different pieces of software.

I would include a disclaimer in the manual. Be sure it’s clear that you are not affiliated with the software creator and that you are creating the manual entirely on your own. While we’re talking about disclaimers, be sure to read mine below (this post isn’t legal advice).

Telecommuting is good for your company

Grant Griffiths — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:48:00 +0000

ITworld had a post recently near and dear to my heart. Why telecommunting is good for your company gives a company some considerations to be thinking about if they are looking at giving telecommuting privileges to their staff. (There words not mine)

If it was up to me, I would say, reasons you should give your company the advantages of promoting telecommuting to your employees. Companies need to come to realize and realize quickly the huge advantages of telecommuting or teleworking. Here is the list:

Telecommuting assures business continuity

Telecommuting reduces company overhead

Telecommuting promotes productivity by reducing stress

Telecommuting means no excuses for making deadlines

Telecommuting does not necessarily reduce data security

Telecommuting does not require expensive equipment

Telecommuting keeps the family together

Just one more list of reasons companies should be seriously looking at telecommuting as an option.