Volume 1: Issue 7

Work @ Home Newsletter
October 15 - October 31, 2007

The Work @ Home Newsletter is dedicated to bringing its readers the best information I can find on working from home no matter what your profession or even if you are just starting to look into the possibility of an at home profession.


Ah yes, those of you paying attention will notice that the date is a little off looking. You are right, I have merged two weeks into a single newsletter here. I have decided that rather than scrap things out or have it all crumble or whatever else I will instead revise the newsletter into a bi-weekly format. The Work @ Home Newsletter will now be issued twice a month with a set theme that I will look at for those two weeks. This will make the newsletter easier for me to keep up with and make it more focused on the general subject matter that I want to cover in the newsletter for that issue. I have been finding myself out of time for a week's theme before I got a chance to cover what I had intended to cover, so let's move things up a little and give us two weeks instead, shall we?

In This Issue:

I will be looking at Business Travel. As I get ready for my trip down to the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas I am getting ready for my first business trip, which means that I need to go over a lot of beginner's things. I want to explore some of that in this issue of the newsletter and share some tips that I discover along the way.

Home Office Candy Jar

Working at home it is even more important to have a office candy jar. You can pass a treat out to the kids when they have been extra quiet while you are on the phone or let them have a nice treat from the candy jar after you have had their help in the office with something you are working on.

And don't forget yourself. Maybe you can't find anything you like, but chances are there was once a candy that you would love the local stores to carry. One you would have on your desk all the time if you could only find it. Well, that's where eSnacks.com can help.

eSnacks has all the candies you loved in the 50's through the 90's, and you can buy it cheaper than you would buying it retail. Check out the vintage bulk candy that they have, or the movie theater candies, and they have so much more, including specialty candy and gourmet chocolates.

Don't let your office lack a candy jar just because it is a home office, a few minutes looking around eSnacks.com is sure to turn up a few favorites that you want to stock your office with.



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This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

Traveling with children

Traveling with children is difficult enough, but what if you had to take your children along when traveling for business? That can get really difficult. If you find yourself in this position here are a few tips.

If they are old enough, then involve them in the process of picking out the hotel and rental car. Have them do some research on things that can be done while you are there, set them to the task of finding a good restaurant in the area and attractions such as museums or historical points of interest they might want to visit while you and them are there.

For younger kids make sure that you do research in advance on what kind of care facilities might be available and call the facility to make sure that it would be possible for you to bring your child for just one or two days while you are at a business meeting.

A Traveling Desk

Okay, with the introduction of things like iPhones and laptops and PDAs the travel desk has sort of gone out of style, but that does not mean it has been forgotten. There are still instances where the travel desk is as much of use to the modern worker as it was back in Victorian times.

Do you like to make jewelry? Work with polymer clay? Do sewing or embroidery work? Do you create any type of product that can not be made using a computer? Then you are a candidate for needing a travel desk.

The desk can be of any design you want. A fancy craft tote or a simple plastic shopping bag if that is what you prefer. Even a antique desk like the one shown here. The important thing is that it holds what you need to work with to run your business when you are waiting in the car for your significant other to get out of the optometrist's office, or for your child to finish their soccer practice, or any of a hundred other things you might have to find yourself waiting for. Even just to take to the park and sit in quiet and work.

Build one to fit your business and stock it with extra goodies that you can keep ready to go when you have to dash off somewhere and want to have your work along with you.

Weight Loss Options: LAP-BAND®

Have you been struggling with losing weight? Working at home can result in finding yourself not getting out and moving around as much as you know that you should. Your work usually involves a lot more sitting than running and you don't even have the option of taking a bike to work, unless you bike around the block and go back home before you start your work day.

If you are having trouble losing weight, and have a significant amount of weight to loose (100 pounds or more) then you have probably considered surgical weight loss options such as the lapband system for laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

The LAP-BAND® System involves a doctor surgically inserting an inflatable adjustable gastric band through small incisions and positioning it around the upper portion of the stomach to create a pouch, thereby reducing the amount required to make you feel full.

If you are considering the use of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding to assist you in significant weight loss you should research the procedure through sites such as the Journey Lite website (www.journeylite.com) and consult your doctor to find out if the LAP-BAND® procedure is right for you.




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This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

Job idea: adult costume designer?

And on the same vein as the children's costume designer would be the adult costume designer. I feel this deserved it's own posting, because the two are so totally different that someone would not want to get into both of them. One or the other would be better than trying to tackle both markets.

And besides, the all year sales on adult stuff would be to a VERY different target market than for the kids. For adult costumes you would want to target not dress up (although I guess the adult novelty shops would disagree), no, you would want to target the reenactment, theater, and LARPG markets.

Reenactment covers everything from the Society for Creative Anachronism to Living Museums to Civil War reenactment groups.

Theater would not only be stage plays, but they could also cover movie production companies and other types of theater. How about targeting the local college theater market?

LARPG stands for Live Action Role Playing Group and those are the ones where you could sell the most Halloween stuff. From medieval maiden attire and knights amour to ugly beats and vampires, werewolves, brutish orcs, wizards and witches. Anything that you could find in the Halloween market can be found in the LARPG circles, including super heroes and aliens.

Want to get into the more focused ones? There is always adult novelty shop markets for them French maid and slave master outfits. How about a sexy devil? And don't forget the Furries.

Okay, that is more than enough reason to separate this job idea from the children's costume designer. So, if you love sewing and want to run with this idea start thinking about what market you would have the most fun making costumes for and give it a try.

Job idea: children's costume designer?

You know, I was just thinking of something here, I wonder how a home job making costumes for Halloween would work out? Creating children's costumes throughout the year then selling them in the weeks approaching Halloween at local craft fairs or online?

It would be a very kewl business to be a part of, and you could store the costumes from one year to the next so you can build up your stock each year from stuff that did not sell the year before.

Some costumes could even be kept up for sale all year long as children's dress up stuff.

Investing in precious metals

Thinking about making an investment in precious metals as part of your retirement plans? Precious metals are a great way to save for the future and The Monex Deposit Company can help you if you have considered an investment in precious metals.

Check out their website and the page there that can help you find out what the gold and silver price is doing, as well as other precious metals, so you can make the best decision on when to get into precious metals investments.

The Monex Deposit Company has been one of America’s trusted leaders in precious metals investment for over 30 years. They have a dedicated staff that can help arrange for personal delivery of your investment or for safe storage at an independent bank or depository.



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This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

What will you be tonight?

I have always dressed up as a witch for Halloween. Oh sure, I have gone to a party or two as a scarecrow, a dead bride, a gypsy fortuneteller and even a hobo, but save for one night when I was about seven and my mom talked me into being a goblin instead of a witch, I have always dressed up as a witch for Halloween.

So, what will you be this spooky night? Will you be taking the kids out trick or treating? Will you be going to a party? Will you be staying home to watch the door and pass out candy? or will you stay home and turn off your porch light and let the night pass you by without notice for the wonderment that goes on outside?

Wishing a safe and happy Halloween to everyone!

Halloween is here, and you know what that means - right?

Time to stock the office candy jar!!!!

This night will be filled with children and Jack-o-lanterns that grin candlelit grins from porches as candy is passed out to assure homes stays safe through the night.

So, stock up on those goodies quick before the little hands start knocking and have a very safe and happy Halloween, whether you stay locked away indoors awaiting the stroke of midnight (to start typing for NaNoWriMo like I plan to do) or you venture outdoors to share in the wonderment of this charmed night (and maybe collect a few goodies for the office candy jar).

Take a winter vacation to Sea World

You spend all your time working hard. Isn't it about time you surprised your family with a vacation? When you take a vacation you want to go somewhere that everyone will love, no matter their ages. That place is Orlando, Florida. Check out Orlandofuntickets.com for information and discount tickets for all Orlando theme parks, dinner shows and attractions.

Not sure where to start? How about starting with some Sea World Tickets, a place that everyone can enjoy exploring. Next check out tickets for Kennedy Space Center, Universal Studios and yes, Disney World too. Can't forget that place, can we?

Can't forget to eat either. Thankfully OrlandoFunTickets.com offers the lowest discount prices for all Orlando dinner shows, such as Arabian Nights, Medieval Times, and Pirates Dinner Adventure.

For the lowest prices, and fun destinations that everyone can agree on, visit Orlandofuntickets.com.


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This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

Thermacare heating wraps for the wrist

I saw a commercial last night for Thermacare heat wraps that go on the wrists. I want to get some of them things. After a hard day of writing and making my wrists ache it would be nice to lounge back in the arm chair and let the muscles in my wrists soak up the nice soothing warmth to relax the pain away.

The things are intended for soothing arthritis pain, but I think they would fork for muscle pain from writing.

So much to do, so little time

Arrrgh! I have to sort out what I am taking to Vegas tonight so I can be sure I have time to buy anything I am missing. I'm sure I am missing a lot, and it is very tempting to buy some new luggage while I am buying everything else. I think what I have in luggage will work for now though, so there is no need to get new luggage.

I do need to get my Vaio configured so that it will be all ready for the trip. I have to get it somewhere that I can play with the wireless and learn how I use that - must catch my sister, she uses that stuff all the time in her business work, so she'll know.

Comparison shopping online at Krillion

Do you need to find a new television that can keep the children, or your significant other, occupied while you get some work done? It can take up a lot of the time you need to be working to have to go comparison shopping for a new television, particularly when you are looking for something like a large screen one. I know. Me and my mom went comparison shopping for a large screen television a few times in the past few weeks. We did the traditional running around store to store checking the prices and finding out that no one had what we were looking for.

Don't run yourself ragged. Stay home and let someone else do the comparison shopping for you. No, don't hire a helper, you can comparison shop at your local stores online at Krillion. For example by running a search for Magnavox HDTV, you get a list of the various kinds of Magnavox HDTVs that are available. Select the one you are looking for and it takes you to a page that has the product details. A tab lets you to enter your zip code to get a list of nearby retailers (including their price). Toggle a radial button and you have a Google Earth map view that pinpoints retailer locations, even using colored balloons that tell you if they have what you are looking for in stock.


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This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

Gas prices going up - oil is at $93, could gas be $3.00 a gallon soon?

One more reason to work at home, oil topped out at $93 today according to the news this morning. They said on the news that there was a good chance we would be seeing gas prices of $3.00 a gallon by the end of the year. If that's not a good reason not to make a probably 20 mile commute to work I don't know what is.

End the chaos of notes - check out Livescribe

Are your office habits as bad as mine are? Do you end up with a desk and monitor and wall covered in scraps of paper and notebooks and random notes that you have made for work? If so then you want to look into Livescribe. This is a computer inside a pen that allows you to write and draw and have your notes and sketches instantly sent to your blog, or you can load them up onto your computer. By tapping on any note you can hear your dictated notes about what you were thinking when you made the notation. This is a great looking thing that looks like it has a million and one plus applications for the small business owner.

Make your work truck more user friendly

A lot of work at home jobs are easier when you have a pickup truck. Things such as landscaping or working at handyman jobs requires you to be able to load your tools into your vehicle and take them to someone's home pr property. But pickups limit the amount of cargo space you have for carrying things such as groceries because of the open back.

Tonneau Covers are the best solution for this. They cover the bed of the pickup so that you can haul things you could not haul in an open bed. BuyAutoTruckAccessories.com has a wide selection of Tonneau Covers to find the perfect tonneau cover for your truck whether you are looking for hard or soft covers, hinged, even tri-fold. BuyAutoTruckAccessories.com carries Tonneau Covers made by popular brands such as Torza, Lund Genesis and Tekstyle.

Don't let your need for a work truck force you to get two cars when an easy to install and easy to use Tonneau Cover can make your truck's open bed much more usable for carrying groceries and other easily blown around or lost items.



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This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com

Ball Point Pen Debuted in 1945

Open your desk drawer, your kitchen junk drawer, your purse, your briefcase or your car's glove box and chances are you will find a ball point pen. It has long been the staple of most businesses and is a favorite item along with pencils for imprinting company information on. My favorite has always been "This pen was stolen from..."

But did you know that the ball point pen made its American debut on this day in 1945? That's right, the ball point pen first went on sale at Gimbels department store in New York City on October 29, 1945 at a cost of $12.50 each. That would be like paying roughly $130 for a pen today, and the early ball point pens were really bad about leaking ink everywhere (according to my mom).

It sure seems strange to think that it was only 62 years ago that the ball point pen made its American debut and now we have pens that contain a computer in them and can store whatever you write or draw to be transfered over to your computer.

Preparing for a business trip

I have been going over things getting ready for my first business trip and it all seems to be so overwhelming. What do I need to take? What can I leave behind? What if I forget something crucial? Do I have enough business cards with me? What information should I have on my business cards? Do the clothes I have been considering taking work? Are they nice enough? Are they too fancy for a jeans and t-shirt girl? Can I take my preferred shampoo with me or will I need to buy some from the hotel store when I get to Nevada? How can I make sure my shampoo does not leak onto my clothing? Will my laptop battery last for a 6 hour flight or do I need to get an airline adapter?

It is so insane some of the worries that you can face when you are getting ready for taking a business trip, so I am going to look for some information on getting ready for your first business trip and share it here for everyone to benefit from.

Printer cartridges

Having trouble finding the right ink cartridge for your printer? I'm sure that it is not just in Alaska where it can be a pain to find the right kind of ink for an older model of printer, it is something that can be a problem almost anywhere you are using a printer that takes a specific type of cartridge. I know that I have stopped using more than a few printers for no other reason than because I could no longer find cartridges that fit them.

Now you can find cartridges for over 10,000 different printers by searching Cartridge Finder and using their easy to navigate pages to request a price comparison from Price Grabber.

In just a few minutes I was able to even locate cartridges for my first printer, a Lexmark z11, for under $20 with no charge for shipping and handling.

Tavel Bag

I went into town and bought me a new briefcase for taking to Las Vegas with me, a nice dark brown colored side bag that is made out of that ugly vynal stuff. I much prefer to have real leather, but those are a little out of my range at the moment, so I will have to go with vynal for now. At least it has a reasonable appearance of being made out of leather. It is the Overland Travelware Executive Portfolio. (seen on the right)

I got the distressed brown version of the bag, which seems to be working really good so far. The stitching all seems to be well done and the shoulder pad on the shoulder strap has a bit of a curve shape to it so it fits better on the shoulder than a straight strap would. My only complaint is the buckles for the shoulder strap are set too low, so when holding the bag by the strap if it is not against your side it can tip the bag over. The other point I wish I could change would be to add a place for my cell phone to be easily accessed and to be able to tuck the handles down out of the way when I want to use the shoulder strap.

All in all it seems to be a really good bag so fat, though, and I am very happy with it. Paid under $30 down at Wal Mart for it, so is a very good price for a bag like this too.

Review: Mac Poker Online - online poker for Mac users

Mac Poker Online. The name is an accurate summation of what the site is all about, but it hardly does a good job of defining everything you will find at Mac Poker Online. So, what is the site? It was started back in early 2006 as the first online poker site dedicated to Mac Poker players, since then it has evolved to include information about online poker for users of other platforms.

Not merely a list of online poker sites that are Mac friendly, Mac Poker Online is more of a site review for poker sites that screens online casinos to assure that those they recommend to their players are trustworthy and provide security for the players.

Featuring extensive reviews of such popular sites as Fulltilt Poker and the highly popular PokerStars, Mac Poker Online has put together reviews that will guide you through the pros and cons of each online casino to help you find out more about them before you start playing.

Find out what options for deposit and withdrawal of money are available for the poker sites as well as what games they offer. A good feature that I liked was the competition information, letting you know how strong the players you can expect to meet at the sites are. There is also information on their help system and what the expected response time and level of knowledge of the support staff is.

Mac Poker Online has more than reviews, though, they also offer basic rules for new players, strategy guides, and articles on the games and players. There is a lot to explore on this site, including a poker forum that I was unable to access at the time I was looking the site over.

Find out more by visiting MacPokerOnline.com using one of the above links.

Neglecting blog, but got new Vaio to help me keep up now

Okay, I admit it, I have been very bad about updating this blog. I have been busy with getting ready to attend the BlogWorld and New Media Expo in Las Vegas and that has meant that I have been having a hard time keeping things going in areas that I am not specifically focused on.

I do have a new toy that I do not believe I have mentioned over here yet. Something that will help me keep up with my writing and other work. I bought myself a little Sony Vaio the other day when I went to town. I have been in desperate need for a new laptop and when I saw the Vaio about a week ago in the local Wal-Mart I just fell in love with it. I went back down a few days ago and bought it for myself, a nice little sleek black and gray computer with a footprint smaller than a sheet of printer paper, less than 1" thick and weighing in at a mere 2.3 pounds. As I told one of my friends, I have standard spiral bound notebooks that are bigger and heavier than this little laptop. I love it. It is going to be so nice to have it going down to the conventions, and right now it is wonderful for taking along when I have to take my dad in for physical therapy sessions. He can go in for the physical therapy and I sit in the waiting area and work on my novel.

The Alphasmart is still my tool of choice for hiking or taking along on my bike or my ATV, but this little laptop is going to be invaluable for business travel and keeping up with my work when I can not stay home and work.

Volume 1: Issue 6

Work @ Home Newsletter
October 8 - October 14, 2007

The Work @ Home Newsletter is dedicated to bringing its readers the best information I can find on working from home no matter what your profession or even if you are just starting to look into the possibility of an at home profession.


This newsletter is morphing just a bit - it will still be a stand alone newsletter, but I am going to use it for collecting information like in a notebook for the newsletter I will be writing for Freelancer's Office

BadCreditOffers.com

When you are trying to run a small business, your credit can sometimes be the difference between sink and swim. Having bad credit can mean not being able to get the tools you need to do your job, which can mean your business fails.

BadCreditOffers.com allows site visitors to compare offers from major providers for "bad credit" cards to help repair bad credit, letting you find the best offer to fit your needs. They would like to invite you to take a look at their website and see what their offers are.

Also check out their pages on credit counseling and home loans to help you with repairing your credit and refinancing your home.

This post brought to you by BadCreditOffers.com

New printer arrived

I got me a new printer today that I get to check out. Have not got it hooked up yet, but really glad to have got one since the old printer has been threatening to die out on me just as I have been preparing for major mailings of manuscripts. I plan to get the printer hooked up this evening to see just how it works and test print a couple of pictures of my newest grandnephew. That's something else I am hoping is that it prints photographs better than the old printer since I was having trouble getting good looking pictures printed with the other one.

Mailing List

Want to get a mailing list for your next direct mail campaign that is full of proven direct mail responders? Looking for a higher response rate? Need better profitability from your mailing list? A ResponseCom Mailing List can help you with all of this.

Created from decades of tracking, compiling, and optimizing data, ResponseCom is a proprietary blend of over one hundred demographic and psychographic selects that creates a database of proven direct mail responders.

Martin Worldwide, one of the leaders in direct marketing, is one of the only major list providers to guarantee their data integrity in writing. This means that you can be sure that you are getting the best you can buy.


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This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

Freelancer's Office

I am going to be kick starting Freelancer's Office - hopefully by tomorrow. I had some things that kept me from getting it done sooner, but it should be up by morning if I don't go comatose at the keyboard here tonight. I will post a link to it as soon as I have it up and going the way it should be going so you all can check it out. It is sort of going to be my freelancing office online with a lot of helpful stuff for both other freelance writers and people working from home.

ReAction Gel pen for shaking hands?

When I was in town the other day, I picked up a pair of pens for my mom. She has Kathrine Hepburn Syndrome, so her hand shakes sometimes when she tries to write. It makes it really hard for her to write things down. I found a set of gel pens by Bic called ReAction Gel. They say they have D-Flection technology for comfortable writing. It seems to be a feature where the pen tip has some sort of shock absorbing spring system to it. I am hoping that it will make it smoother for her to write with when her hand begins to shake. She has been having good luck with the gel pens that I had been buying, so I had got her some of them, now I am hoping this ReAction Gel pen will be even better.

Volume 1: Issue 5

Work @ Home Newsletter
October 1 - October 7, 2007

The Work @ Home Newsletter is dedicated to bringing its readers the best information I can find on working from home no matter what your profession or even if you are just starting to look into the possibility of an at home profession.

This week, I am working on my home office, so I will be focusing on tips for home offices and things that can be incorporated into the home office to help make work more productive and go smoother.

Search Engine Marketing Hints

I am always on the lookout for good places where I can find out ways to market my websites, so when I took a look at what search engine marketing hints had to offer I was very happy to find myself printing out the very first article I read there (How To Make $20 Per Day From Google Adsense in One Year). That article is, for the most part, common sense, but sometimes that is the stuff we tend to need the most help with. And I am such a prolific writer that I can skip the step on finding content, and just kick my tail in gear and write it for myself and use these steps.

The site's PPC tools offers e-books and tools to help with PPC campaigns and making them a success for your website. Also be sure to take a look at their SEO tools which will tell you what toolbars to have and other tips and tricks for SEO such as forums that you can check into that can help you out with SEO.

I'll be making return visits to Search Engine Marketing Hints to find out more great SEO information as I get my own websites up and launching and would suggest anyone else that is looking to launch a new site, or relaunch one they want to shoot more life into, to look at the site as well.

Cabinet lighting

Working on the office I have got a bunch of new tools for building my shelves, and I came up with a scheme. I have some wiring and doll house lights that I was going to use to rewire a doll house - I think I am maybe going to wire them all in and use them to make my shelving on my desk illuminated. My other option is to go down and buy some hocky-puck under cabinet lighting. I may decide to do that instead. Right now I need to decide where the lights will go on the shelves so I can router in the grooves for the wire to run through and get the holes drilled out on the shelves to where the lights will be located.

Think I need to buy a longer drill bit - don't think I have one long enough to go to where I need the hole on the shelf. Need to check that out.

Looking for deals on home office supplies

Redesigning the office means that I am looking for things that I will need for going into that office, and while I may not be buying it all right now, I still want to do some shopping around and find out what I will be buying in the coming weeks and months. And who knows, if I am browsing and find any good Dell deals I might just go ahead and buy myself a new computer for the office now rather than later. Can never have too many computers you know.

Other things that I want to check out are the Office Depot deals, they are one of my favorite stores for shopping for office supplies in when I can get to Anchorage and one of the stores that I have earmarked for shopping at now that I have a credit card to use online. The other thing I want to keep an eye on is Best Buy coupons, since Best Buy has a lot of great things that I want to get for my office as well as home theater stuff that I will be needing for my home theater system I want to try creating this winter down in the basement.

Browsing through places now lets me design the office around the products and have a place for them by the time they can be shipped to me when I buy them.

This post brought to you by CouponChief

Office design... and redesign... and redesign again....

I have been working on getting the shelves up in my home office. It is going a bit slower than I wanted because I keep deciding that something new would be better incorporated than what I had planned and so I will end up pulling things down and redoing parts of the shelves to make them fit the new design better. I think I have the area by the map figured out now though, so I should be able to bring it all together tonight and move the computer into there this evening. Then I can tear this desk out and finish work on the bedroom. YAY!

So much to do - no time or brain power to do it

Between working to move the office and getting things set up for making work go smoother and having been down with the flu and not to mention getting ready for winter --- I've just been so backlogged on everything.

This is one of the blogs that has kind of lost its way in my upkeep of things. I'm going to try to get it caught up tonight, promised myself no playing with my friends until the office is finished and things are moved around.

That was a big part of things being so neglected too - one of my friends had the last five days off so I had been slacking off of things I knew I should have been doing to play with her.

Have to get back on track and put in 8 hour work days again though, or I'm going to loose it entirely - mentally at least.