Medical Equipment

There are so many ways that you can injure yourself when you are working at home, not the least of which are things such as carpel tunnel syndrome. I have been using assorted crafts to help me with easing the pain of writing, but I also have purchased some more traditional hand exercising products simply because there are some things that you just need a specific piece of medical equipment for. Such as Carpal Tunnel Computer Gloves to help with working on the computer.

Allegro Medical has a whole category on products for hand exercises. In fact, their website, online since 1997, carries a wide range of medical equipment for all sorts of home medical needs and they have served over a million customers needing home health care products.

Citizen Journalism

I'm working on some articles on Citizen Journalism. This is something that I have been working on with some of my websites, setting them up to be places for me to post news on a citizen journalist level on topics that are important to me, so I have decided that it is time for me to share some of what I know about transforming a standard blog into a journal for reporting information that is news worthy. When I get the articles finished and published, I'll drop a link here on where they can be found.

So much for eventually moving away from paid posts

I'm not going to say exactly what it is that has ticked me off, but suffice to say that something happened that has really screwed up my plans for the future. I have a business plan laid out in a notebook on the shelf beside me, and one of the first things that I have listed in my future goals for earning a income while working as a full-time family caregiver is to work my way towards no longer taking on paid posts for my blogs.

At the moment the rules state that you can do paid posts in blogs, but if you do then you have to place a Rel=Nofollow tag in the link or you are slapped down to a PageRank of zero by Google. They don't forbid ads that have not got that in blog posts, they just strip you of your page rank if you don't have it.

I got into the paid to post about companies in your blog deal close to the start of it, and I have worked hard to change as the rules are changed. I have been working specifically toward getting the few sites that have paid posts on them away from having to post any without a rel=nofollow tag and seriously want to move out of the paid blog posts entirely. The trouble is, my plans for how to do that rolled onto their back and kicked their legs up into the air this morning.

Really fricking pissed me off because I had not done anything to initiate the demise of those plans - outside sources messed them up. So, I am working to get something done to revive the poor plans and if that don't happen... I suppose if that don't happen I am f*cked and will be following the paid to post advertising stuff since I can not work outside the home. Right now I am just really really upset about this and want to hurt something, but there is not a lot I can do other than start deciding if I will post blog ads on all my sites or let them expire when they come up for renewal.

At the moment, I am facing doing paid to post advertising for a long time simply because it is at the moment impossible to move away from that as I had planned. I'll go growl about something else now, just needed to vent and this was the most appropriate place for that.

Financial jobs blog

With the way things have been going it can be harder to find a new job than to loose 50 pounds. And if you are looking for something in an executive level...

If you are job hunting then you might want to take a look at the latest job opportunities on the financial jobs blog by A. E. Feldman Associates, Inc.

A. E. Feldman Associates, Inc. focuses on employment in the financial services, accounting and legal fields, their blog offering information on those fields and providing expert advice on the executive search process.

Find out more about A. E. Feldman Associates, Inc. and their financial jobs blog by vising the link above.

Puppy Play Pen

I need to do something about the pile of puppies under the desk in the office. My feet won't fit down there with them and their mother, and I have a lot of work that I have to get done this coming week. So, I'll be spending the weekend cleaning up the office and bedroom and then dig out the old playpen of my nephew's that has been in storage in the basement for years - it'll make a wonderful puppy play pen in the corner of my bedroom.

Distributing bookmarks

Okay, I think I have come up with a possible answer on how to distribute my bookmarks. There is a site called Book Crossing that I found a long time back and have been meaning to participate in. The basics of it is that when you have a book that you have read, instead of tossing it out, leave it somewhere for someone to find and read. I could leave the bookmarks I make with little polymer clay danglie dragons and stuff on them in my left books for people to find.

Online Degree Programs

When you are working at home, you tend to get an appreciation for other things that you can do from home as well. Such as pursue a masters or PhD degree. Capella University has made it possible for students from all 50 States and 56 countries to pursue their dreams and earn online degrees from the comfort of their own home - or a reclining pool chair on the beach.

Offering over 100 graduate and undergraduate degree specializations and 15 certificate programs, Capella University is an accredited online university offering online degree programs in areas such as business, information technology, education and more.

Find out more about the opportunities for furthering your education by visiting the Capella University website using the above link.

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Marketing idea - bookmarks and crafting

I love creating little sneaky advertising gimmicks, so it just made sense to me that someone that loves to craft should be able to figure out a way to make that love help their business. I think I have it. As a writer I often want to create book marks, but book marks need tassels. Ah ha! I love working with polymer clay, why not a danglie instead of a tassel?

I have plots to start creating some book marks to advertise and putting little dragons and fairies and castles and gnomes and... you get the idea. Make small fantasy type fellows that dangle off the laminated book mark with a nice picture and my website information on it. I think it should work really good... now how do you distribute them?

I could never turn crafts into a business

As a crafter I have often thought about the possibility of turning my craft into a business, but I have been holding back for one important reason. You have to be 100% dedicated and addicted to something to want to make it your business. Now, that is not a problem for me with writing - I love to write. In fact, I write so much that I am writing this through hunt and peck typing with only very limited looking down at the keyboard. I would love to know what my speed could be if I was able to touch type with my fingers actually on the right keys, but I have never been able to master that skill. Small hands I suppose.

The crafts are something that I fear trying to make them into a business would remove the fun from the craft. Nothing can make typing no fun for me, I am a word-a-holic. So, my crafts remain just a hobby, maybe one day I will make them a second business, but I can not see my crafting ever being a primary business for me.

Credit cards

Small businesses need to have the ability to buy what they need when they need it, so being unable to have a credit card is simply not an option when you are trying to run a small business.

If you are running a delivery business, or any business that requires you drive a lot, then you will probably be looking or some good offers on Gas Rebate Credit Cards. Poor credit? There are credit cards that can help repair bad credit. Or maybe you need a credit card that can help you build up airline miles? (A great way to have your small business help you take a much needed vacation after tax season.)

The CreditCardSearchEngine.com website can help you to compare cards so that you can decide which ones are best for your individual needs, then you can easily apply for the card you want. Find out more by visiting CreditCardSearchEngine.com at the link above.

Why I won't go into business with friends

Should you go into business with a friend? That is a tough question, and one that I have experience with.

I had a friend who kept at me to join her in her business cleaning houses, but it turned out to be a disaster. She did not want to pay me a fair share, but I was expected to do more work than she was. The work load was continually spread out to my cleaning 2/3rds of the houses we cleaned and her picking the rooms she wanted to clean and leaving me to do the remainder.

The time I cleaned a house all by myself she still took 80% of the money from the job. When she decided to give clients a break on the cost for cleaning (knocking 3+ hours time off on how long we cleaned), she took the loss out of my portion of the pay for the job - even though we ran over because she talked to the person owning the home and left me to do most of the work myself.

And how was the "partnership" dissolved? She dropped me off and said she would see me when she picked me up for the next cleaning job in a few days - I have not seen her in several years. She never had the guts to tell me to my face (or even in an e-mail or anything else) that I was no longer working with her. She did have the gall to call and invite me to a going away party for a mutual friend, I forced politeness and never went to the party.

So... the lesson here? Know what you are getting into and be certain that the work you enter into is something that you both can agree on the work and pay distribution of. I might go into business with a friend again, but only if I am certain the friendship can survive anything.

Do-It-Yourself Advertising

Advertising can be expensive, and most small businesses can not afford to invest a lot of money to advertise. The problem is, they also can not afford to invest a lot of time to do advertising.

One simple way to advertise inexpensively and easily is to make shopping bags.

Create a grocery bag with your advertising on it. Green shopping by taking your own bag is a great way to go, allowing you to save trees (both normal ones and plastic trees!). Create your own shopping bags from inexpensive canvas bags from the hobby shop, using iron on printouts you make on your computer to place your business information on the bags. Whenever you shop, the clerk and whoever is behind you in line will see your logo as you pack your groceries into your bag.

You can even create bags for friends and family to use.

Michigan beauty schools opening in April

In April 2008 the Regency Beauty Institute will be opening three beauty schools in Michigan. The schools will be located in Detroit-Southgate, Flint, and Grand Rapids.

Founded over 50 years ago in Minneapolis, Regency has grown from two Minnesota schools in 2002 to almost 30 campuses across nine states. And their growth continues with three michigan beauty schools scheduled to open in April.

With campuses that Hayes Batson, Regency’s president and CEO, says "mirror upscale salons and provide an exceptional education that benefits our students, the salon community, and the public," the Regency Beauty Institute continually produces graduates that are sought after throughout the United States.

Find out more about Regency by visiting the Regency Beauty website via the link above.

Work at home blogs

I have decided that this weekend I am going to spend some time visiting other blogs on working at home and see what they are up to. I want to do more reading in similar blogs, but never seem to have the time. This weekend I will be making the time to get that done and go on a little virtual road trip to see what other work at home types are blogging about.

Temptation begins at home

One drawback to working at home is that among the other things that you have easy access to is the kitchen. It makes it harder to be on a diet when you get stuck on what you are working on and take a walk into the kitchen. I have been resisting the temptations of the kitchen so far today, but it is annoyingly tempting to go fix myself a little snack to help me get refocused and back on track with what I need to be doing. Thankfully it is true that if you resist temptation for 15 minutes it is broken, but that 15 minutes to resist it is excruciating.

Blister prevention and relief patches

Working at home does not mean that you spend all of your time sitting. If your job requires you to be on your feet and dashing here and there all the time, then you might be interested in finding out more about ENGO® Blister Prevention Patches.

Manufactured by Tamarack Habilitation Technologies, Inc., the ENGO® patches were awarded the National Health & Wellness Club Seal of Approval. Over 1,000 sample packs of the Blister Relief patches were sent out to National Health & Wellness Club members earlier this year and were tested for, among other things, effectiveness at preventing blisters and relieving blister pain. The testing seems to have been a success based on the comments that were sent back and on the awarding of the National Health & Wellness Club Seal of Approval to the patches.

Used for things such as breaking in new footwear and patching abrasive seams, formal product reviews and testimonials will be released for the ENGO® patches by Tamarack Habilitation Technologies, Inc. this fall.

Taxes and reciepts -ewww

:::pounds head on desk::: Oh man... I have to work on taxes still this weekend. Why can't taxes be easier? And don't get me wrong, they are not that horrible for me, but I still hate having to face the things. I need to clean my office and move the puppies so I can access the end of my desk and get to work on sorting receipts that I have collected for business expenses, see what I can get done on that at least.

It's not easy to write a novel

Trying to write a novel is hard work, a lot harder than one would expect. I can see why many of the famous writers ended up working on their first successful novel in spurts here and there. I heard that John Grisham wrote on scraps of paper while waiting between sessions at court. Someone told me that J.K. Rowling scribbled out notes during breaks as she worked. It seems that to actually get published, you have to steal the time to write wherever you can steal it from. I have started stealing a few minutes here and there whenever I can get time to breathe. That has added over 1,000 words to my novel in the past week, so I Just have to keep up the steadfast plugging away. If Grisham and Rowling can do it then I can, right?

Wedding Flowers

Whenever I think about businesses that I would like to start up, one that repeatedly comes to mind is wedding planner. I think it would be a wonderful line of work to be helping couples create the most perfect and memorable day possible.

Aside from the planing of a wedding, I'm not sure which I would prefer, designing lovely floral arrangements or designing wedding gowns. I have always loved creating floral arrangements, and I enjoy looking at all of the possibilities for creating arrangements offered by Fifty Flowers. The six foot roses that they carry are something that just captivates my imagination. I think it would be a magical setting for taking bridal pictures to arrange a couple of dozen six foot roses with a scattering of fresh rose petals across the floor, then have the bride stand in the center of the display with her gown draped and pooled at her feet. What could be lovelier?

If you are planning a wedding, or have been asked to help with the floral arrangements for any special occasion, then Fifty Flowers would like to invite you to browse their website and see what they have to offer.

Their flowers are cut fresh at flower farms and bulk shipped, using express shipping, to the location of your choice. Or you can have the flower facility at Fifty Flowers create arrangements to your specifications.

Office evolution

One of the important things about getting work done is having the right place to do it. I have decided that my office is a work in progress that will keep progressing for years to come. Every time I think I have it sorted out to how I want it to be, I figure out what's missing and need to adjust my plans and accommodate the missing element. Rather that is a layout board or somewhere I can pin up a map while I am working on the novel.

Right now I have discovered that I can't stand sitting in the office chair as many hours as I have to to get my work done, so I am trying to work in an alternative that will let me work in more comfort than sitting in the office chair.

Flaw in WordPress theme means more work

Something that I find frustrating about my chosen work is that I sometimes feel like I am taking ten steps back for every step I take forward. I found out the other day that the theme I had been using on many of my WordPress blogs was not showing up right in Internet Explorer. It looked right in Firefox, but when I opened one of my sites in Internet Explorer it was all messed up. So... back to the drawing board on all the sites I had carefully created using the flawed theme. grrrrr

Destination Weddings at Karisma Hotels

When you are working at home it can take a lot of your time, leaving little time for anything else - even planning your wedding. Something that not very many people realize is an option is the destination wedding. Destination weddings are considered to be an expensive extravagance enjoyed by the elite and celebrities.

Karisma Hotels has destination weddings to the Riviera Maya, which they say is "one of the most romantic destinations in the world". The lure of a destination wedding is easy to see when you think about getting married in a beachfront chapel, spending your honeymoon laying on warm beaches and enjoying nights of magical delight as you relax and dream of your lives together.

For more information see Karisma Hotels weddings page at the link above.

Junk e-mails

E-mail has long since become a nemesis of mine. It takes up so much time that I could spend working for me to sort through the junk and find the things that really matter. I have actually stopped checking e-mail unless I have to check it for something I know is going to be there. There has to be a better option than not checking it any more. SPAM filtering does not work, because the morons sending the SPAM know what is sorted for and they change their e-mail to allow it to slip past the filters. I'm at the point where I want to just trash the whole thing and start over from scratch, but that is not as easy as it sounds like. Not when your e-mail address is akin to a business phone number. So, I'm on the lookout for how to cure the junk mail problem, but I'm not about to hold my breath as I look for an option.

Keeping the passion

Why is it that when you work at home, the work is never as exciting as cleaning the refrigerator? I discovered this phenomenon when I decided that I wanted to be a writer. You can spend a lifetime writing and never tire of creating stories, but the moment you decide that you are going to make a living at it - then the writing becomes grueling work that is no longer any fun and you look for any excuse to escape it and do something else - anything else.

The trick to keeping at work when you are working for yourself is to keep the work fun and entertaining. If you are not entertained, then how can you expect anyone else to be? Granted there are some jobs where it is easier to keep up the entertainment factor than others, but you started working for yourself because you wanted to do something you enjoyed - why let the enjoyment fail just because you have turned your passion into a business?

I guess there has to be a different method of keeping the passion up for any business, so it really is something that everyone needs to determine for themselves. My best advice is to think about what you enjoyed about your work before it became work, and try to get back to that level of enjoyment. It won't be easy, and you might experience a drop in earnings for a little while, but you'll be more inclined to keep working and in the long run that will mean better income potential.

Working at home is not as hard as saving for the future

IT is hard to think of the future when you are working yourself to a frazzle just to get by day to day. When I started my own home based business I was thinking, like a lot of people, that I would be my own boss and set my own schedule and everything would be grand and glorious and I could play more than work and... yeah. Not quite. Working at home is tough, being your own boss is tougher. There is never enough time to do anything in the day and you find yourself wondering if you will ever get the chance to invest in your own future.

I will. I have no idea how I will manage it, but one day I will buy me some gold or silver or other precious metals and stockpile them away for my future. I even know how I'll do it. I'll be buying my metals from the Monex Deposit Company, which has over 40 years experience and has become America's trusted precious metals investment leader. As tempting as it would be to have them send me my metals, I would have their hard asset professionals assist me in getting it into an independent bank or depository. It would make it less tempting to me to just cash it in for a whim if I don't have it sitting here in a safe deposit box or something.

It might take me years of scratching and scraping, but someday I will be able to save for the future. I just have to work my tail off and get myself to that point.

Getting organized for tax season

It is almost time to get taxes started. I got another 1099 the other day, so I have began getting things organized in my antique secretarial cabinet for my taxes so that it will be easier. This is a plan that I really wish I had schemed up last year, so that I would have all of my receipts tucked away in there this year, as it is I need to dig out the folders, envelopes and boxes that I have tucked them into over the past year. Not to mention rummage into my purse and desk drawer and briefcase for anything that was not yet accounted for. Next year I will be ready. I want to create a perfectly organized accounting center in my secretarial and will share tips and information on that here as I work on it. Maybe next year we can all be a little more organized and ready for tax season.

A taxing morning

What a way to start the morning. I woke up and immediately dove into working on tax stuff. You would think that I could at least be like most of the other people out there and wait until April 14th to mess with this stuff, huh?

I'm still waiting on another one or two 1099's to get here before I can file my taxes, but I suppose it is better to be ready than to wait and put off something that has to be done. Right?

CarsBlvd - get quotes from local car dealers

Working from home can be tough on cars, with all of the hauling and errands and mail runs, then chances are that you still have to use your work car as a family car which means little league and school events... It is amazing that a car can survive any work at home job that requires the use of a vehicle.

If your car is starting to feel the wear and tear of working for you, then you might want to visit CarsBlvd to do some online comparison shopping on Car Prices for your next purchase.

CarsBlvd collects your information by first asking which car you would be interested in buying, they then request contact information (including what time frame you are looking at for purchasing a car within) which they will pass on to a dealer in your area. This is followed by a request for two more choices on cars that you would be interested in purchasing, then an optional auto loan quote. (Note: I did not investigate the loan quote because I did not wish to get one and did not want to share my SSN.)

Hmmm.. test failed

Huh, that's strange. The SEO Quake bar that I had installed has a deal that seems to be for marking all "nofollow" links with a strike-through, however, I can see ho change in the display on the screen when I use nofollow in a link and bring it up using SEO Quake. I'm not sure if I am making a error in entry or if it's en error in how I am interpreting the feature.

Testing 1....2....3....

I am running a small test between the Work at Home do follow vs the Work at Home no follow versions and how they show up in the SEO Quake display for my sites, so please excuse this little post as I see what the settings do and if they work. Thanks.