Work at Home Newsletter

Being Home

2012-01-21T17:10:00.000-09:00

Thanks for the post from Barney Crosby

There’s something really great about being home with the kids all day because I’m always sure I’m not missing any of their big life moments, you know? I love them so much and I worry about their wellbeing so it’s hard for me to imagine them being in daycare or something like that because I want to make sure I can handle anything that might come up with them. I recently went to http://www.satelliteinternetbroadband.com/ to look into home internet solutions because I’d like to be able to find something I can do from home, too. it’s nice to have me home but we’re really missing that second income and it would be great if we could find a way to get a little extra money coming in and still allow me to be a mommy full time. I know my kids don’t realize now how great it is to have their mom around all the time but hopefully when they’re adults they’ll realize how much I gave up to be there for them!

What are the best work at home jobs for 2012?

2012-01-21T17:09:00.000-09:00

Everyone wants to find more work, but what are the best jobs for someone to get involved in in 2012?

While it is currently the focus of a LOT of debate, the Internet remains a good place for working from home. Multiple sites allow people to work online from anywhere.

Crafting: Create home made crafts and sell them on crafter sites or auction sites.

One Man's Junk, Another Man's Treasure: Create artwork from junk, or haunt rummage sales and local storage auctions to find junk that you can then sell in online auctions and on your own online website.

Local Tourist Guide: Do you know your local area and it's history up down and sideways? You might consider what is involved in being a group guide for local tourism stuff.

What ideas do you have for what jobs might be a good one for 2012 startups?

Where do jobs come from? Appaerntly from Presidental hopefuls

2012-01-21T16:53:00.000-09:00

Listening to the Republican party debate, they are where jobs come from and without them there can be no jobs. One of them swore that he would get every adult kid a job and move them out of their parent's house if he was elected president.

Uh, yeah... where is he getting the jobs that allow for someone to support themselves out on their own with a mortgage and utilities and food and and and...

I'm not sure how he thinks he can immediately make all adult kids self supporting - unless he plans to make it illegal to live at your parents house after age 18? Maybe that's it. Maybe he thinks he can pass a law that anyone over age 18 and living with their parents is arrested and placed in work camps until they are self sufficient?

Got it

2011-12-25T19:47:00.000-09:00

Thanks to Lemuel Craft

There were so many Texas Electricity Providers in my area I had no idea what to do so I called up a hotline one day to see if I could get some help. Wouldn’t you know it but I ended up on the line with the nicest man I’d ever talked to – I think at that point I was just so happy not to be talking to an automated machine I would have thought he was nice no matter what, to be honest with you. But anyway, Greg and I started up a conversation and it was just great – he was so sweet and we found out we lived only minutes from each other (he definitely broke protocol by telling me so many personal details!) Anyway, by the end of the call he gave me his email address so we started talking that way – next year we’re getting married! I know it sounds crazy but I guess true love really does find you in the way that it’s meant to. Just ask Greg and me!

Get your website ready for 2012

2011-12-25T19:45:00.000-09:00

Over the next few days is a great time to take a look at your business website and ask yourself some questions about it.

Is it easy to navigate? If you were a first time visitor, would you be able to locate what you are looking for easily enough that you would stay and browse, or would you leave the site in frustration at not finding what you were looking for?

What might a first time visitor want to find? Why would someone visit your website and browse around it looking at the information it has? Would they be able to find everything that they want to know? Is there something you could add that would help first time visitors?

How about clutter? Is there something you need to remove because it is just cluttering the site and not really of any actual use to anyone that visits your site? Things that have little to nothing to do with your business that might confuse visitors?

Are your social media links easy to find and navigate?

This is by no means a complete list of what you need to do for your site, but it will give you a easy to work with starting point from which you can at least say that you made the effort to improve your business website as the new year started.

Tax Season Approaches - do you know where your reciepts are?

2011-12-25T19:32:00.000-09:00

It is almost that time of year again, when the taxes are going to be due and everyone needs to think about just where their business receipts are stashed away. Old shoe boxes of stacks of receipts are the nightmare of everyone facing tax season, but they are at least a step above frazzled small business owners that scrabble through drawers and cars and old coat pockets trying to locate the receipts for the year.

If you are frantically trying to find your business receipts, then make a resolution this year to create a single file box with 12 folders in it into which you will drop all of the receipts for you business as soon as they arrive. Your tax accountant will thank you next tax season.

Internet Marketing for Small Businesses

2011-12-25T19:24:00.000-09:00

Something that every small business owner wants to see is their business doing well as they move into the new year. There are some things that can be done to help make 2012 a success for your business. Thing such as establishing a firm online presence through the use of a website and social media.

One of the most talked about online tools at the moment is social media. For those who don't know, social media refers to those sites where you create a profile to help you connect with friends and family, and soon you have a whole bunch of people that you never heard of following your posts (which are usually very short notes about what you are up to). One person might talk about what a great product or service they received from a company, and everyone on their social network will see it, perhaps someone else needs something like that and will check the mentioned business out. That is why social media optimization is a key component to small business success.

Another important element that should be familiar by now to anyone with a website, is search engine marketing (SEM). It is essential that any small business owner have at least some level of familiarity with SEM, or that their website designer have one or more search engine marketing experts that can make sure that they not only have a great website, but (often for a little more cost) are ranking well in the search engines.

You do not have to hire a search engine marketing firm to be able to get the word out and rank your business in the search engines, but if you can afford one it might be a good idea. The best, in my opinion, would be to have a website guru that knows not only how to make you a great site, but that knows more than a little about search engine marketing and social networking. I say this because who is better equipped (in terms of knowing your website) to get the word out about your website to the search engines and social media networks than the person who designed the website for you?

Five great Holiday Craft Fair items

2011-12-17T03:55:00.000-09:00

Looking to make some money to help pay the bills and thinking that local holiday craft fairs are a good way to make some? When you take into account the cost of reserving table space and gas to get to the fair and everything else, it adds up quickly.

Here are five great inexpensive ideas for craft fair items.

1. Greeting Cards

Get some card stock weight art paper and some art supplies at the craft store.
Don't forget to buy a box of invitation envelopes.

Let your imagination flow and create one of a kind holiday cards. Remember to put a little coordinating design on the lower left or on the back of the envelope, but don't decorate the places for the names and addresses or the stamp area.

2. Gift Bags

Making fabric gift bags is a great craft fair item going into the holiday season. Use heavy weight stabilizer in between the liner and the outside to give the bags a sturdier structure. Buttons, small ornaments and jewelery supplies are great for decorating the outside of bags.

3. Hobby Horses

Search online, there are lots of sites that explain how to make hobby horses based on your own preference for crafting style. Sock headed horses, wooden horses, knit ones and sewn ones.

4. Rag Dolls

Going into the holiday season, rag dolls are a great idea. You can make basic rag dolls intended for children to play with, or you can make more fancy ones that are intended for collectors and decoration.

5. Scarf, mittens and hat sets

Rather you knit, crochet, or sew, you can likely find patterns online for how to make warm scarves, mittens and hat sets. Create coordinating sets and package them in appropriately sized gift boxes ready for someone to give them as gifts.

There are many more ideas for things that you can make, so look around online, find some craft ideas that you would enjoy, and create an assortment of items that you can take with you to a craft fair.

Shop local this holiday season

2011-12-13T12:50:00.000-09:00

I see all sorts of talk on the local crafter sites about the local holiday bazaars and craft fairs.They are a great way to not only sell your crafts, but an excellent alternative to spending lots of money in those large box stores this holiday season.

Many of the people you will meet at local craft fairs are your neighbors, and some are there to make ends meet for their own family this season, so by purchasing your holiday gifts from a local craft market, you are helping your neighbors to stay warm and have a happy holiday season.

This year, think small and local when you do your last minute shopping. Pick up a copy of your local newspaper and sit at a local coffee shop to enjoy a warm cup of coffee or tea while you plan out what craft fairs you till shop at this holiday season.

What is your busniess competition?

2011-11-14T15:21:00.000-09:00

Discovering who your competition is is an important part of business success, and a good business plan can help you to stand out from those competitor and gain more customers.

As part of building a good business plan you will need to consider what you will offer your customers that your competitors can't. What will you do different from the businesses that are similar to your own?

Another question that working on a business plan will help you answer is if you are going to be the only one with your type of business in the area. If that is so, then that leads to a new question: Why are there no businesses like yours already in the area? Are you in a place where there is no demand for such a business?

While looking to see what your competition is, don't forget to look for any small home based businesses that might be similar to your business. Just because you do not see a similar business in any of the local shops does not mean there is not someone doing the same kind of business out of their home in a local subdivision. Local craft fairs are a good place to see if you already have any competitors if you have a product you want to make that might be sold at a craft fair.

Why Do You Need A Business Plan?

2011-11-13T13:49:00.000-09:00

Whether you are a hobbyist who wants to turn their hobby into a second income, or a serious small business entrepreneur that wants to start a corner store, you need to consider what a business plan can do for your business.

When you write a business plan you are not simply writing a document that a bank or potential investors would look at, you are writing a plan for how you will conduct your business.

Business plans are fluid things that transform with your business. You will start out with a plan for what you will do to get your business up off the ground and moving. What is your marketing strategy? How much money will you spend on advertising, building and maintaining a website, or other business necessities for your business? Will you need to spend a certain amount on inventory?

By spending a little time working out a plan for your business before you begin you will have a much better way to keep on course as you move forward. Then get into the habit of reading over your business plan and adjusting it once a year to match what your new plan for your business is and what you want to accomplish over the next six months, three years and five years.

And don't forget to save copies of older versions, so you can see where your business came from and how it got to where it is in later years. Particularly if you might one day want to track your business growth for potential investors.

Avoid the bad driving conditions - work at home!

2011-11-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

Taking a drive a couple of days ago, I was reminded of something. I *really* want to work from home!

I went out during the first real snowstorm of the season and at two of the places that I had to go I ended up doing as much sliding as driving. I was going slow for the bad conditions too, and still ended up sliding along the road. If my parents had not done a good enough job teaching me to drive on slick snow covered roads, then I am certain I would have ended up in the ditch or worse.

I dislike driving, spent most of my life as a passenger in cars, so having to get out there and drive in the lousy winter weather is just not something I want to do if I can avoid it. So, enter the plan to stay home and work rather than have to go out and about in the icy cold of the Alaskan winter. I think it is about time I dove back into making my at home job pay the bills and stopped looking for a job that forces me to leave home when I would prefer not to be out there driving around.

Applying for College

2011-10-11T19:28:00.003-08:00

Thanks to Roman May

We decided that we needed to get Bartlett satellite internet service when our oldest child turned seventeen. After our first junior parent/teacher conference, we were surprised to learn that to apply to colleges, everything would have to be done on the internet. There are really no more paper and pen college applications. You have to create an account through the college board to manage what colleges you are applying to. All of your application fees must also be submitted on-line using a credit card. You also use the websites to upload your transcripts from high school and to type and submit college essays. When my husband and I were applying to college, they sent your SAT score, your school sent your transcripts, and you mailed a check for the application fee. I did not seem like it was too difficult back then, but I also applying to a smaller number of schools than our oldest is applying to today. We are keeping our fingers crossed and can now check our e-mail at home to see if she got accepted to the places that she applied. I am hoping that she doesn’t move too far away!

This has been a guest post. Work at Home Newsletter does not necessarily endorse the products or services offered by this guest poster.

When writers can't write

2011-10-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

I have been faced by a potentially serious situation in my writing. I can normally be very selective in when I should write about something and when I should keep my silence, however, I have been drawn into a situation where I really want to speak up about the malicious things that someone has said about my deceased father. This same person has also, in a prior posting, made despicable insinuations about my deceased mother. It is very difficult for me, as a writer, to not express my disgust at the things that the person has wrote about my parents and yet I really do not want to let them goad me into responding to their writing, because they are very clearly saying things that they know are wrong and hateful only to force responses.

I have been effectively crippled in my efforts to write, since every time I start to write I want to address the lies that have been made about my parents. As a writer, this has caused a serious injury to my business. And that is serious since my business is just starting to pick back up following the triple hits the past few years of the economic crash hurting my earnings and the deaths of first my mother then my father.

What is a writer to do when they find that they can not write? It is a very frustrating situation. One that is made even worse by the direct attacks that the person has made on my parents, who can no longer speak up and defend the lies that were made against them by someone that never knew them and, from what I can tell, only seeks to harm their memory because it seems that it might gain her attention. That is, in my opinion, the most vile of things that anyone could do.

Crestor Lawsuit

2011-10-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

When our doctor prescribes a medication and tells us that it is good for us, we tend to believe them. And our doctors tend to believe the pharmaceutical companies when they tell them that something is safe for their patients to take. The cholesterol-lowering drugs known as "statins" are known to, rarely, cause serious side effects. In 2009 the Astra-Zeneca drug known as Crestor came under FDA scrutiny because of what CBS News reported to be misleading safety claims in the advertising for the drug.

Misleading advertising can be grounds for those who have been injured to file a Crestor lawsuit for any injury they may have been caused by taking the drug. Those wishing to know more about their rights in product liability cases should consult an attorney that specializes in product liability lawsuits.

This has been a sponsored post

3D 1967 Chevy Impala, the Supernatural car

2011-10-08T17:20:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs a relaxing hobby, mine is about to become building a car. In 3D. I really want to have the 1967 Chevy Impala that is featured in the series Supernatural. Fans will know it as Metallicar. I searched and searched but there is next to nothing out there that fits my needs, or even comes close to looking like the Impala from Supernatural, so I am going to make my own.

Here is a screen cap of my 1967 Impala 4-door after a few hours of work on searching for good pictures and getting it laid out for starting to build the basic body onto which the parts will all be crafted.This is shows the windshield and hood off and the front wheel wells starting to take shape. The overall body has been roughed in so I will be able to fine tune it as the vehicle progresses. If you look close you can make out where the driver door and driver side rear door are to be.

Home Based Bookbinding Business

2011-10-08T13:42:00.000-08:00

I have finally taken the dive into my second lifelong love and began serious work toward the start of a home based bookbinding business.

I have loved bookbinding since I was a little girl of around ten, and have taken that now to the level of selling my books at local craft fairs (when finances allow the gas and fair fees), and will soon have them listed for sale on my website and in my ArtFire store.

I will provide links to the shops when I get that far. For right now, I am still building inventory and getting decent enough pictures to be able to list them for sale online.

SEO for my websites

2011-09-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

I have been redesigning all of my websites to try to make up for the neglect they suffered while I have been battling depression. I have discovered that it is not quite as easy as just checking the long neglected sites and posting a new post to the blogs on them. For one thing, the rules of Search Engine Marketing (SEO) have changed in the at some points years since I first set up some of my websites.

There are ways that I could make this easier on myself, such as hire a search engine marketing firm to take care of all of my SEO needs for me, but I tend to prefer to do things on my own, and that includes sorting out my own SEO for my websites.

That is not to say that a search engine optimization firm is not the best option for most people, firms such as Wpromote can help kickstart your website's online reach, but for a small-timer like me, I prefer to work my way along and learn about SEO marketing for myself and that way, one day when I do have a large enough business that I need to hire a firm such as Wpromote, I will be that much more prepared for knowing exactly what it is that I want and need in an SEO campaign.

Is college worth it?

2011-08-21T17:20:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking, very seriously, about going back to college. First step is to sort out if I can get a loan or grant to help me pay for it though, so we'll see where that leads me. At $440+ per class average, with an estimate by the local college of around $4,488 per semester to take a semester of undergraduate courses, and a degree requiring 4 to 6 years to complete... that makes a 4 year degree, assuming only 2 semesters per year, a $36,000 investment. And that is before accounting for additional fees, increased costs for graduate level courses, books, and gas for transportation costs.

So, now the question becomes... is a degree worth well over $50,000 in debt? I'm still pondering.

Going back to college?

2011-08-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking I might go back to college, seek a degree in nursing and maybe study some legal stuff for being a paralegal. I would really like to be able to get into some kind of position to help out other family caregivers with legal issues and stuff. I love being a caregiver, so I am thinking my primary focus would be in nursing classes. I'm not sure about actually being a nurse, but I would like to study nursing for being a caregiver for people looking to remain in their homes.

Technology Boom is Making Jobs

2011-08-02T17:20:00.001-08:00

It seems that the technology s booming faster than the babies did once upon a time, and leaving some work places short enough on qualified technology experts that they are in some cases resorting to drastic measures to entice the right people in.

The snag in the system is that the lifespan of an employable technology worker is exceptionally short. The following excerpt is from an article in Business Week:

Companies tend to hire people with IT engineering degrees, use those skills for five years, and then they want a new crop, says Cappelli, who researches human resource practices and talent management.

There was once a time when a man working in the tech industry could make a good living and have a steady career - my father was working as a computer programmer in the 1970's and making $100 an hour at it. Today, however, the landscape is changing fast and those working in technology have to move faster to keep up with the pace it is setting.

To stay in the field a person needs to be working in their work time and studying the next big thing in tech programming in their free time. It makes it a job that requires as much dedication as any home based business, so I would think that it would be one that could be very well suited to looking toward as a home business base.

With the evolving technology and the revolving door on big business tech jobs, it would seem to me that the market is primed for those who have the skills to set up consulting businesses where they can work for however long the larger company needs their specialized skills, then move on to the next business in a freelancer style when their skills are no longer what the first company requires.

The freelancing IT marketplace can work to keep the person with the skills working and give the companies the workers they need, when they need them, without the need for hiring and firing regular employees - which can earn a big business a bad reputation.

If you are skilled in IT engineering, or looking for a new direction to go in your education, you might think of how your skills could work in this growing and ever evolving needs market segment.

Complicated Start…

2011-08-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Roman May

Owning my own business was much more complicated than I ever thought it would be. I had a really hard time finding the right store space for my stationery shop and once I did there were all these regulations in place since it was a historic building as to what I could change and what I couldn’t. I called shopelectricityratestexas.COM and got the scoop on electricity and hired a CPA to look over all my accounting stuff and spoke to a bunch of different vendors to determine where was the best place to get my product. We opened the store about three months ago and everything’s been going really well, if not kind of slow. I like working with brides and new moms on their very own personalized stationery since it’s really fun to be a part of such a big moment in people’s lives. I had no idea this job would get me so close to people and some of the clients I’ve met have become really close personal friends of mine!

This has been a paid guest post. Work at Home Newsletter does not necessarily endorse the products or services offered by this guest poster.

Work Challenge

2011-08-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

In my last post I discussed how people that run a small business from home might work in a fifteen minute break for every four hours of work time. It is not something I have managed myself to implement, but I am going to make a strong effort to make it work for me. So, a challenge...

Schedule your work day to include specific breaks and stick to that break plan.

I am going to set up my work day so that after every three and a half hours of working at the computer doing my writing, I take a fifteen minute break. I will also have a thirty minute lunch break in which all I am allowed to do is prepare and slowly eat a scheduled mid work day light meal.

I am going to keep this up for one week starting tomorrow, then at the end of the week, on the following Wednesday, I will report how successful (or unsuccessful) I was in maintaining my 3.5 hours of work and fifteen minute break. And if it gave me better focus in the time that I was at the computer working.

If anyone else wants to participate in the experiment, I would love to hear their results.

Working at Home and Fifteen Minute Breaks

2011-08-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

According to the Department of Labor, there are several states that require paid rest periods as part of a work day, with the average being a ten to fifteen minute break for employees to use the bathroom facilities for every four hours of time worked. That equates to two fifteen minute breaks in an average 8 hour work day.

People that work at home should keep in mind the necessity of taking a break after four hours of work. In fact, in Washington it is required that no one be made work longer than 3 hours before they are granted a paid ten minute break in which they can stretch their bodies and use the restroom facilities. Employees with work times of less than 3 and a half hours in several states, including Nevada and California, are not required to be given paid breaks.

When you are determining your work time for a project or for a day's work, you should schedule for taking a break after four hours of work. This is in addition to a thirty minute unpaid break for lunch.

Now... reality check time. Who can afford to take a full hour out of their work day? And what person running a small business can afford to pay themselves half an hour's wages when they have done nothing in that time to earn the money?

It is all well and good to draw out a timesheet that says that you will work for 8 hours, taking two fifteen minute breaks and half an hour off for lunch. Just try, however, to put that into practice for more than a couple of weeks.

Working from home means mastering the art of multitasking in everything that we do. As I am writing this I have a sink full of dishes behind me in the kitchen waiting for the water to cool a bit so I can finish the last of the more baked on foodstuffs, I have a nephew I take care of for several hours a day under watchful eye in the living room next to me, and I have a little dog wagging its tail and woofing at me asking for attention (I already got him water and food and let him outside).

I think the better idea - and oh shoot! I need to feed the fish! They can wait until I get this thought out though. But that is what it is like to work from home. You have all kinds of distractions pulling your attention this way and that, and I have not even mentioned phone calls and visitors and all of the other things that can distract a person over the course of an average at home work day.

So, yes, working at home and trying to take fifteen minute breaks is pretty much a failed plan as soon as it is set to paper. There is, however, hope!

While we can not, no matter how much we want to, just close the world out and do our work like people in office buildings can, we are able to take some control over the world around us and make our distractions less. Plan those fifteen minute breaks into your day, and use them to battle back the things that would force you to be pulled away from working.

Do you have children? If they are old enough to understand the "please don't bother me right now" requests make a bargain with them. Set a kitchen timer for three and a half hours when you start working, and let everyone know that until the timer goes off, you would prefer not to be disturbed. You have to stop work when the timer goes off, however, visit the restroom and then give your kids your full undivided attention for the remainder of your fifteen minute break so they can ask you about sleepovers and if they can get a particular video game and any other "water cooler" talk that happens in your home office during work breaks.

No kids? Do what I do, get up and take care of animals or wash the dishes or load the laundry into the washer while you stretch your legs and get away from the work for fifteen minutes.

I have, I admit, not yet successfully implemented the butt in chair hands on keyboard for three hours rule. I simply do not, at this time, have the necessary focus, but I am getting a lot better at it and can manage a couple of hours before I suddenly think of something else I just HAVE to take care of.

I am going to issue a challenge to everyone, but it will be in my next post, so make sure you check out the Work Challenge post that I am going to post next.

Shoulder Pain

2011-07-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

Work today has been reduced to what I am able to hunt and peck type using my left hand. My right has been incapacitated by pain.

I am not sure what I did to my right shoulder, but whatever it was it did not like it. For the past few days now I have had a painfully stiff shoulder and neck that makes it all but impossible to move that arm. This has made getting my work done also next to impossible, but I am still trying to get what I can do done as I am able to.

Topamax Lawsuit

2011-06-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

On March 4 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety announcement on their intention to reclassify topiramates such as Topamax from Pregnancy Category C drugs, that may cause birth defects, to Pregnancy Category D drugs that have shown positive evidence for risks to the fetus of women who take the drug while pregnant.

The announcement is based on new information collected from human data since the drug was released. Birth defects such as cleft palates are reported and would occur during the first trimester of pregnancy, when many women may not yet realize they are pregnant.

If you took Topamax while pregnant, personal injury lawyers O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath would like to invite you to contact them for a consultation. You could have just cause to file a Topamax lawsuit for compensation to assist in paying the costly medical bills needed to treat your child's birth defect.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue
Austin, TX. 78701

phone: 512-494-9949

Note that in their safety announcement the FDA stated that there are cases where the risks of taking Topamax, and other topiramates, by pregnant women may be acceptable due to the specific benefits of the drug in the treatment of epileptic seizures.

The 'Go the F to Sleep' success story

2011-06-09T18:58:00.000-08:00

It might be a surprising title, particularly or what looks on first seeing it like a children's book, but the book published by Akashic Books has even more surprises than the title

Check out the story at CNN Money to find out about "Go the F to Sleep" and see the 'children's book' style cover.

Written by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes, the book is in truth a book for adults dealing with getting children to go to sleep.

Another surprise for this little book with the eye opening title is that pre-orders for it have sent it skyrocketing up Amazon.com's bestseller list.

CNN Money advises business owners to forget Angry Birds and get these 5 best apps

2011-06-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

CNN Money looked at the 5 best applications for businesspeople on the go. Their suggestions can be found in 5 best apps for business.

Their suggestions range from an application that allows you to track your expenses on the go, to meeting applications, a even a presentation application to let you create charts and graphs.

Do you have a smartphone? If so UI would love to know what applications do you find indispensable as a home based or small business owner.

Topamax

2011-06-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

On March 4, 2011 the FDA issued a safety announcement regarding the risks of women taking Topamax (topiramate) while they are pregnant. New data determined that the drug, formally classified as a Pregnancy Category C drug, should instead be reclassified as a Pregnancy Category D drug. Raising it from a drug that studies had suggested had a potential for risk to fetuses to a drug that showed positive evidence for risks to the fetus based on data gathered from human usage.

Many women who were prescribed this medication might have been unaware they were even pregnant at the time, the first trimester, that the drug would have caused oral defect damage to the fetus. The law office of O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath would like to alert parents of children born with a cleft palate due to the use of Topamax during pregnancy that such birth defects might not be the parents' fault. Instead it could be the result of a known risk of taking the prescription medication and there might be justifiable cause for a Topamax lawsuit, and encourage parents of children born with a cleft palate, and the mother took Topamax, to contact their office for a free consultation:

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue
Austin, TX. 78701

phone: 512-494-9949

Note that the FDA stated in their safety announcement that there are cases where the risks of taking Topamax, and other topiramates, may be acceptable due to the specific benefits of the drug in the treatment of epileptic seizures.

iPad Cash Register from Square

2011-06-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is behind a new startup designed to help business owners abandon their cash registers.

The new iPad application for businesses allows you to use your iPad as a cash register. You can see more information on it at Squareup.com. This app allows you to customize your iPad with products and services, complete with photographs and prices, into sortable categories. When a customer makes a purchase you are able to conduct either a cash or credit card transaction.

To make a sale via credit card simply use the small square reader, it plugs into the headphone jack, to swipe the credit card. Customers sign their name directly onto the iPad touch screen and you can send them a receipt via text message or email. Customers even have the option to add in a tip when they sign the receipt.

This is more than just a sales app, it allows you to view a full report of your sales to better track your inventory and sales. Don't wait until you see excess inventory piling up to know what products are not selling as well as others that you can not keep enough of on hand.

This app also brings you closer to your customers. Imagine the capability to allow certain customers to open a tab using their phones. Being able to offer specials and sales.

If you are in the market for an iPad for your business, then you should really check out what it can do with the Square Register app.

Bad advertising

2011-06-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

I was looking up an article on using the iPad as a cash registrar for small businesses, and encountered one of the worst ads I have seen yet. And it was on MSNBC.

This is a screen shot of the ad and how it showed up on my computer...

The full screen length ad floated so that as I scrolled up or down the ad moved to stay in the way on the screen. It also, as you can seem messed up the page's formatting so that the page was unreadable even if the ad had not stayed over one third of the page.

This is why I do not put pop up type ads or things similar to it on my websites. They are annoying. When you advertise or place ads on a website, please keep in mind what they might do and the response your viewers might have to the advertising.

Floor cleaning in Texas

2011-05-18T06:34:00.000-08:00

Carpets get all of the abuse in the home, and they get substantially more abuse than normal when they are in a home with a home based small business located in it. It can often be very convenient to have our customers and clients come to our home based office, but it can add to the traffic levels walking across our carpets and even without the added wear, if you have small children it can be a bit embarrassing to ask a client to come in when you know there is a juice stain in the middle of your beige carpet.

The Steam Team of Texas, http://www.thesteamteam.com/austin-restoration-services/smoke-fire.shtml, would like for you to stop by their website and find out about all of their services, which go well beyond carpets to encompass all kinds of flooring from hardwoods to tiles.

If you live in the Dallas and Austin area and are not having any success with the do it yourself carpet cleaner solutions then The Steam Team would like to help you clean your flooring, remove odors from pets, smoke and other damage, and get you back your confidence in asking a client to step into your home knowing it will be a reflection once again of the care you will give to their needs.

Sewing on old fur coat

2011-05-17T22:20:00.000-08:00

I've been working on sewing back together a antique fur coat that the owner's kid was wearing when they played with the dog - or at least that is the tale I heard and I have no cause, having seen how badly damaged the coat is, to doubt the story.

When I got the coat it had already had some major repairs made to it, and I still could not safely put it onto my dress form. I've got it on the form now, however, finishing up a few final stitches to piece it back together as best as I can, but there are major pieces missing and what was present has been sort of Frankensteined back together in bits and pieces.

It has, surprisingly, gone back together in reasonably decent shape, and will be going back home tomorrow. I'll be glad to let the poor fingers rest a little bit from trying to get the needles to go through the tough leathers and not demolish the frail leathers.

7 Questions to ask before you buy something for your home business

2011-05-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

It is not easy to work at home, there are a lot of distractions and you need to make smart choices on what you really need for your home office vs the toys you would like to have because they are new and cool.

Take the iPad as an example. Yes, I would LOVE to have one, but... do I need to have one? When it comes to products such as the iPad or cell phones with two screens there needs to be a balance point between want and need.

Yes, I want an iPad, but I can do my work without one as I save up to be able to get myself one for next Christmas. Maybe. We'll see how the finances are going.

Before you buy that kewl new gadget or a more powerful computer stop and ask yourself a few questions:

1) Do I really need this to do my job?
2) What will this do that nothing else can do?
3) Is the price going to drop soon, and can I get by without it until then?
4) Will I strain my income if I buy this?
5) Could I buy a less expensive brand that does the same thing?
6) Why do I want this? List 5 good reasons to get it and 5 reasons not to.
7) Have I researched what others in my work area have to say about owning this item?

I think if you get through those seven questions you should be ready to ask a few more of your own, and have a better idea on if you want a new gizmo, or if you really do need to make that purchase.

Vista Print Business Cards

2011-05-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

Vista Print business cards.

Get 250 free business cards at Vista Print. Choose from 42 designs and full color printing. Already have a design you want? You can upload your design and use your own custom designs and logos.

As I am writing this they have an 80% off sale, so if you need business cards hurry and check out what Vista Print has to offer by clicking the banner below.

Confidence - Starting a Small Business

2011-05-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Another question I asked regarding small business owners was "Are you confident in your abilities without being over confident? Do you know that you can tackle a specific task and quickly do a good job?"

I have seen people that say "I can do that!" and then fail miserably at the task. They find out that it is harder than it looks. I have also seen people that will quietly do a task to perfection with no boasting that they can. They knew they were able to do it, and were confident in their skills without exaggerating them.

I think that a important skill for anyone that runs a small or home based business is to be able to confidently do a task that they need to do, and to be self confident enough to know they can do it. If they can't, they need to be able to be honest with themselves - and the client. This does not mean they can not do the parts they know and hire someone else to tackle the parts they do not know, but it does mean that a small business owner should never promise a customer something that they know they can not deliver. Know your skills and have confidence in your capability to do the things you know how to do, but never exaggerate your skills.

Take charge - Starting a Small Business

2011-05-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

In the Starting a Small Business posts earlier, I asked "Do you prefer to have someone else tell you what needs doing, or do you step forward and take charge when something needs to be done?"

Someone that runs a small business needs to be able to tell themselves what needs to be done. They can not sit around and wait for someone else to say "You need to do this" because there is no one else around that can tell them that. The owner of the small business or home based business needs to be able to tell themselves what needs to be done and to oversee themselves as they do it, and perhaps most important, they need to assure that they do their best work possible.

Repeat customers and referrals come from happy customers. So early on the small or home based business owner needs to develop the habit of stepping up and getting the work done to the best of their ability, and doing each job as good as or better than the last job.

Car insurance

2011-05-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

And now a word from one of our sponsors.

AIM AUTO INSURANCE offers auto insurance rates and quotes. Visit their website to learn more about their service and to find out about the different kinds of insurance from liability policies to no fault insurance.

Their website also offers a look at the six major insurance companies in the United States - such as AllState, Progressive and Geico.

They also offer information on what an agency broker is and what common terms used in the car insurance industry are.

Before you buy car insurance, make sure you at least know the options available to you

Self Starters Wait for No One - Starting a Small Business

2011-05-07T14:23:00.000-08:00

In my last post I asked if you were a "self starter and problem solver that can tackle a necessary task without being told what needs to be done?"

When it comes to being able to run a home based business, this quality is a biggie, but not necessarily the biggest.

It is essential to be a self starter, someone that can tell themselves to get up from the sofa, sit down at the computer, and work on a specific work related task.

If you can come up with a million and one reasons why the dishes need washed now, the floor needs vacuumed before you can work, the car has to be washed, groceries need bought now... if you can procrastinate with the best of them, then you really should reconsider if running your own business is the right thing for you.

And when I say sit at the computer and work - Farmville is not work. Not unless you work for Zynga and get paid for the game. Neither is Collapse, Tetris, Bejeweled, or solitaire. If your work computer has any games on it, you should consider removing them. If you have a computer that is dedicated to work, that one should never have any games on it. Leave the games on the family computer.

Self starters do not wait for someone else to say "stop playing the game and do that work" they see the work sitting there waiting and make sure that it is taken care of before they move on to something else.

That is part of what makes them a problem solver. I think any self starter is an innate problem solver as well (but not necessarily vise-versa - problem solvers are not necessarily self starters). A self starter can see a task and solve the problems associated with that task, or can find the right person for the task that can solve the problems.

This makes it essential that those who want to run a small business be good self starters that can make sure the necessary jobs get done, that they get done on time, and that they are handled to the best of their capability to handle them.

Starting a Small Business - What you need to know

2011-05-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

Do you have what it takes to start up a small business?

There are certain qualities that people that run their own business generally have in common, and those qualities can be used as a basic starting point in determining if someone has hat it takes to start a small business.

Are you a self starter and problem solver that can tackle a necessary task without being told what needs to be done?

Do you prefer to have someone else tell you what needs doing, or do you step forward and take charge when something needs to be done?

Are you confident in your abilities without being over confident? Do you know that you can tackle a specific task and quickly do a good job?

Are you willing to work longer and harder than you would need to if you worked for someone else? (We're talking no weekends here people - I'm writing this post on a Saturday afternoon when the sun is shining and my ATV is begging me to get out and hit the trails for the first time this summer.)

Can you prioritize your spending and separate money that can be spent from money that can not be spent? This is a BIG one.

I'm going to look more closely at each of these, and more qualities of small business owners, in greater detail, but this gives you an idea what qualities go into a potential small business owner.

Trade show advertising for your business

2011-05-07T00:12:00.000-08:00

Even when you work at home, chances are you still do a trade show or twenty during the year. Even if you only make it to the occassional trade show, the Trade Show Displays that are so often seen at shows are also a great way to attract some attention to your Saturday Market or holiday bazaar booths.

Creating a sale booth for your home made craft goods or a trade show booth to display your skills or services is a great way for the small home based business owner to get out and meet potential customers and clients. By using something as simple as outdoor Vinyl Banners you can make a great sign for your business that can be used at shows, markets and even at home to help make your home office look that much more like an office when customers and client stop by.

Check out all the trade show products that Post Up Stand has to offer. Want something unique to pass out to your customers? Check out their retractable banner pens that come with 6.3" x 2.7" banners that pull down from the pen and then retract back up into it. Great for advertising or as a fast map to your business's new location or -- there has to be millions of ideas for these, and I would love to hear what you would do with a retractable banner pen!

Speed Reading

2011-05-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

Working at home means that every second is valuable and another missed chance to earn money to pay the bills. So, it is essential that things that might take some time be made to move faster. I love to read, but I never have the time to. As a result I have found myself thinking for the first time in many years about speed reading.

I first heard about speed reading from my mom years ago when she mentioned it and, at my asking what it was, showed me ads in a magazine and explained it. I always equated reading with relaxation so have had the mindset that slow is the best speed. Now, however, I need to reverse that thinking and learn to speed my reading up.

In a test I clocked my standard reading speed right now to be about 165 words per minute. According to the below video, average reading speeds are between 125 and 200 words a minute. I seem to already read at about an average speed, even though I thought I read rather slowly, so it should not take much for me to speed up my reading speed - if I can just stop the tendency to want to silently recite what I read.

Getting ready for spring around my home

2011-04-27T19:50:00.001-08:00

Guest post written by Elizabeth Harriet

Spring is my favorite time of the year, by far. It's just always so pleasant and I would even say a little sleepy in a good way. Or at least more relaxed in comparison to summer when the kids are out of school and running around the house every day. One of my favorite places to be around my home is my patio area, but I don't spend any time out there during the winter because it's way too cold. Well now it's about time again to start enjoying that outdoor space, but it needs a little sprucing up first.

I have some really great wicker furniture out there, so i thought that I would take the furniture that I already have and improve upon it and the area without spending a whole lot of money. While I was looking online to see if I could find some ideas on how to do that easily, I saw some Internet provider deals and after I looked through it some, I chose to switch over to a new provider for our home.

i decided to make some new patio furniture cushions. My old ones were kind of lumpy and faded looking anyway, so that's going to make hte patio look instantly better.

This post was written by a guest blogger
for blog post sponsor get.wildblue.com

To-Do later notebook

2011-04-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

I've began to work on a way to help me remember what I need to remember during the work day and not worry if I later on forget things that didn't really matter. I'm sure that I am not the only one that can get distracted by something that seems like it just HAS to be taken care of *RIGHT NOW* and then spend too much time on it and fail to get some of my work done. Right?

I've started a notebook to help me stay better organized and on topic, rather than allowing myself to investigate things that can otherwise distract me from what I need to be doing. By making brief, and I do mean brief, notes in the pocket sized notebook, I am able to remember things later on when I can focus on them, and get my work done while I am supposed to be focused on the work and not things I find during researching things I am working on writing.

So far I doubt if any of the notes I have made are more than 25 words in length, each just enough to help me remember what it was that I want to look up when I am able to get around to it.

Motorola Milestone Smartphone

2011-04-27T17:27:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a new phone and have never before had one of those expensive Smartphones, then I suggest taking a look at the Motorola Milestone. I have had this phone for a couple of months now and I am exceptionally pleased with the little phone.

The only issue I have had with it was when I tried to watch episodes of Chaos at CBS.com I was unable to because I had to log into a WiFi network to watch them. But, if I had logged into the wi-fi network, I could apparently have watched them, so it is not something that really detracts from the phone. And I can watch a LOT of TV shows on it without being on wi-fi too.

It has come to be another computer to me, holding books and short stories that I need to read, allowing me to make posts to my website blogs when I have to on the go, and letting me post pictures or comments to FaceBook and Twitter on the run.

And, best of all, with the newer Smartphones now hitting the market, the Milestone will start being more affordable to the average user. Full slide out QWERTY keyboard and onscreen touch keyboards make it fast and easy to use on the go for any small business in need of a pocket sized computer.

Accutane Lawsuit

2011-04-22T23:01:00.000-08:00

Being in business means that it can be important to look your best, however, for many people that were prescribed Accutane by their doctors to treat severe acne the side effects have been extreme.

Personal injury lawyers O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath of Austin TX would like to let you know that you can call them if you have suffered from injuries that were caused by use of Accutane as prescribed by your doctor.

Accutane can result in serious injuries such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease or inflammatory bowl disease (IBD). Indications of these serious conditions can include cramping, pain and bleeding.

If you take Accutane and have any possible side effects consult your physician immediately. O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath also suggests that you contact their Austin TX office to find out if you have a case for an Accutane Lawsuit because of your injuries brought on my the use of Accutane as your doctor prescribed it. Use either the link above or the contact information below.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701
512-494-9949

Spring Cleaning the E-Mail

2011-04-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

I spent all day yesterday getting the spring cleaning out of the way, spring cleaning for my e-mail that is.

Most people think to air out their house int eh spring, but it is also a great time to do a little spring cleaning of work stuff as well, in particular of an overwhelmed e-mail account.

Don't let your e-mail be taken away from you. By taking the time to tackle a few steps you can reclaim your e-mail.

1. Update your SPAM filters to remove new keywords that have started to slip through your current SPAM filters

2. Unsubscribe from old e-mail lists that you no longer have the time to read, or set those e-mails to automatically delete themselves so you never see them until you have time to read them once again.

I found a good article for information on how to clear up issues with Outlook Express at Speed Up Outlook Express on GetISP.info

Extension to file Taxes

2011-04-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure just what I would do without the option to get an extension to file my taxes. Sometimes, when I hit a year like this where I look up and go "OMG it's April 15th already?!" it really helps to be able to calculate things out and request a bit more time to get the forms all properly filled out and get them filed with the IRS so that everything is right.

I spent yesterday and today calling the IRS to ask questions about where things go, what code is supposed to be used on someone's tax for general contracting labor and several other minor things that I just flat could not locate in the tax books that I have and could not find what forms and publications to look for online for some of it.

So, yeah, extension is good!

Crackers Destroyed Website

2011-04-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

I was rather annoyed the other day when I logged into my main website to discover that some cracker had cracked the code on it and plastered very nasty junk all over the website. I tried to hack into the code from the backend and remove the infection, but I did not have very much patience and finally just dismantled the entire website. I will be rebuilding it as soon as I have enough time to dedicate to a full rebuild.

Back to working at home

2011-02-13T12:40:00.000-09:00

Okay, I've been busy for the last couple of months in helping someone get a business up and going. It is a totally exhausting experience, but seems to be going reasonably good so far.

When I say exhausting, that is not to be underestimated. I finally ended up collapsing so badly yesterday that I slept the entire day away. Intensely exhausting, but things seem to be slowing down just a bit on my end of things now, and picking up on his business, so I am happy with the results and getting back to my writing and other things that were neglected a bit as I had my attention focused on other things.

I'll be diving back in slowly, not at all wanting to overwhelm myself with a to-do list that in some cases stretches back nearly four years. And as I get things back into motion I am going to be keeping a bit of a listing of it all here just so I know I am making forward momentum and so that others can see what I get done along the way that might pertain to their own small or home based businesses.

Card File

2010-12-05T00:39:00.000-09:00

In an effort to make my workday go a little smoother, I have decided to revert back to the old fashioned way of doing things. I am using a card file box from the 60's, a pile of file cards, and some file tabs to create a card file of all of my websites and blogs so that I can sort out ideas and short notes about what I will write about or things I want to include information on for each site and blog.

Office Depot Coupons

2010-12-02T03:32:00.000-09:00

Best Online Coupons (www.BestOnlineCoupons.com) offers an assortment of online coupon codes of interest to anyone that runs a home based business and is in the market for items such as a new Dell computer. Their Office Depot coupons page offers visitors an easy place to find all of the best Office Depot discount code deals that Best Online Coupons can collect together in one place.

Among the current offers in the Office Depot Coupon Codes are deals such as 15% off Office Depot brand inks and free delivery with a $50 or higher purchase at Office Depot online.

Also check out the related discount offers on things such as printing, ink suppliers, and office suppliers to name just a few of the additional discount offers that can be found on the Office Depot page at Best Online Coupons.

Unfamiliar with a store or product? Scroll down on the page to see store reviews to help you decide on how good the store is before you shop.

Working from home is a demanding career choice, so it only makes sense to save time and money wherever you are able. By using online coupons at online merchants you can avoid spending all day driving around to compare prices and find the products you need. Instead you can shop hassle free and still save money using online coupon codes at your favorite retailers.

Voynich Manuscript

2010-12-02T02:56:00.000-09:00

Something that has held my interest for many long years, longer even than writing, is the art of bookbinding. I love the feel of books and the way they are pieced together. Recently I had the chance, thanks to my brothers, to go and visit the Origins Museum while it was set up here in Alaska, spending a good long while just studying the lovely antique books and manuscripts that were on display in the museum.

After having done some more poking around online I discovered the Voynich Manuscript and have decided that I want to attempt a replication of this manuscript. It is going to be a long process, and will only be an approximate replication since I of course can not examine the original, but there should be sufficient images online for me to make a reasonable effort at a modern copy of the manuscript.

And yes, it will be a modern copy, I do not plan on using period materials, only materials that can create a reasonable facsimile of the original materials.

A Message from personal injury lawyers O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath

2010-10-23T16:06:00.000-08:00

With all of the great things about working for yourself, one of the major drawbacks is the lack of a good health care plan. It is all on your shoulders to make sure that you have good health care, so when something goes wrong, you need to be prepared. I have bum joints in my legs, both hips and knees, so it is quite likely that one of these days in the years to come, I might find myself in need of hip replacement surgery. I do not like the thought of it, but then things like the August 26, 2010 DePuy Orthopedics recall happen and I am made even less happy about the prospect of one day needing hip replacement surgery. I hate the thought of going through it once, but to possibly have to go through it twice - on the same hip? No thank you.

And yet, that is what happened to many people that had the ASR XL Acetabular Hip System and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System used in their hip replacement surgery. The issue affected surgeries performed after July 2003, and the Depuy recall was a voluntary recall issued by DePuy after the problems were discovered where roughly 1 in 8 hip replacement patients were requiring a second surgery within five years of their initial surgery.

The law offices of personal injury lawyers O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath, would like to invite you to contact them, information below, or to visit their website at the included link, and find out how they can assist you with your liability claim if you had hip surgery involving a DePuy product after July 2003.

O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath
Personal Injury Lawyers
808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701
Phone: 512-494-9949

This post was sponsored by O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath

Sometimes a course correction needs to be corrected.

2010-10-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

It has been a rocky year for me. A few years actually. In 2008 my work was on the decline because of the faltering economy, then my mom passed away and I all but had to stop my work. I started getting things back up and going, slowly but steadily, and a few months ago I finally got everything back up and starting to stabilize itself - then my dad's health started to falter. I spent more time begging family for help than working on my business, and once again, my business nose dived down to where I was not able to do any of my work.

I placed very serious consideration into ceasing my job at home as a freelance writer, even wrote up a plan for how to smoothly go out of business over the next few months until tax time when I would close down my home business and file one last tax return for it.

In the time since my father passed away I have been thinking seriously once again about my work, and while it is tempting to go ahead and stop working at home - particularly since I need to locate a steady job that has a reliable paycheck attached to it, I also know that what I am doing, writing as a living, has been something I wanted for a very long time, and it was something that my parents were both very proud of me for achieving. I'm not going to stop just because I've been stumbling. It is time to pick myself up and sweep off the dust from the trail and keep trudging along it.

So, this is the continuing journey of my efforts to support myself through my love of writing, and what I learn along the way.

Painted covers for handbound books

2010-09-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to get more into painting, and it occurred to me earlier this evening that I could start up a series of paintings intended to be used on the covers of handbound books. I had created a painting intended for the cover of a handbound book a few years ago, but I had not really considered it as much of a style of binding as a whim I had to create a specific cover for that particular book. Now, however, I am thinking I might make more such paintings expressly made to be turned into covers on handbound books.

Bookbinding as a second business

2010-09-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

I picked up a new domain name today to go along with my intention to turn my bookbinding into a second career. I am now the proud domain owner of www.handboundbook.com where I will be working to set up an online storefront for my bookbinding business.

I am working tonight on getting organized here at the house for what I will need to actually run a bookbinding business. I know what I need to set up a bindery and repair workspace, but I want to be certain that I leap in carefully enough that I am going to be able to not only create the books that people would order from me, but to be able to maintain a quality level of binding and book workmanship as my perfectionist attitude demands of me.

Invest in your future with precious metals

2010-09-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

When you work out of your own home, you do not have much in the way of retirement planning, and every day that passes is another day that you are closer to your own retirement. Are you prepared?

You need to be sure that you make the right investments. One of the best investments is precious metals. If you have an investment portfolio that you want to diversify with the purchase of silver, gold or other precious metals then the United States Gold Bureau would like to invite you to stop by their website.

As an investment product, precious metals such as silver and gold bullion are excellent ways to diversify any portfolio, and their hard asset professionals are waiting to assist you in your purchase. Your investment in precious metals can be delivered to you via personal delivery or, if you prefer, you can work with them to arrange for your investment to be placed in storage at an independent bank or depository.

Started in 2003, United States Gold Bureau was incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008. Their large, dedicated staff of hard asset professionals are committed to serving your precious metals investment needs and provide their customers with competitively priced precious metals.

To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

Bookbinding as a second job

2010-09-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be starting up an official second job soon, one that will nicely compliment my current work as a freelance writer. I want to turn my bookbinding into a full out income producing job.

I spoke to the people at the funeral home that we use in town, and they would be interested in seeing a sample of what I can do, so now I need to get things set up so that I can start mass creating hand bound books that I can sell. It is going to take me a little time to get everything organized and the room fixed for the work, but hopefully by the start of November I will be ready for basic book production.

I will then let the profits from the business help to expand things to be more and more advanced in my bookbinding until I can even craft my own hinges and things. I was taught basic metal working by a master metal smith after all, so it would be very cool to be able to craft my own hand made hinges for the books.

Need more monitors for my work

2010-09-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

My work demands that I do a lot of flicking between different websites and documents on the screen, so that means that I can not get my work done without some level of multitasking. That means I usually have my research open in one browser window, while I am working on another one and have a writing document up in the background.

What I really needs is two screens on the computer. Preferably more Unfortunately my computer is not set up for more than one screen right now, and even if it was - the other screen that I have is missing the power adapter.

What I really want is an accounting computer setup, one of those ones where the computer runs up to eight screens at a time. Now that would be nice! I could make do with two, would be happy with 4, but six or eight screens? Yeah, that's what I really need one of these days.

Gold Bullion

2010-09-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

Working as a freelance writer, I love to play with words. I spend my time organizing them into groupings that, I hope, make sense when read by someone else. And when I find a word that I get curious about I am quick to grab my dictionary to look it up. I even used to read novels with a dictionary close at hand, so that when I found a word that I was not familiar with I could look it up. So, is it any wonder in all of my talking about things such as the recent mentions of things like "gold bullion" and stuff for the United States Gold Bureau, I wonder what exactly "bullion" means?

Well, I went looking. The term "bullion" refers to a mass of precious metal, such as gold or silver, that has been formed into an easily sortable shape such as bars or coins. A pile of gold in a safe, for example, might be referred to as being "stacked bars of gold bullion".

Sounds nice, huh? Stacked bars of gold bullion in the safe. I think so, and oh do I wish I had stacks of gold bullion in my safe, but while you do need money to buy the gold with, you can (if you have the money to invest) have stacked gold bullion in your safe.

The hard asset professionals at the United States Gold Bureau can assist you in the purchase of precious metals for investment, then assist you in arranging for home delivery or safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

The United States Gold Bureau specializes in gold, silver and other precious metals in bullion form such as bars or ingots. They have a dedicated staff of hard asset professionals that are ready and waiting to assist customers in the purchase of precious metal commodities, such as gold or silver, for investment purposes.

Started in 2003, and incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008, the United States Gold Bureau provides its customers with competitively prices precious metals. To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

Working from home and sick days

2010-09-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

The good thing about working from home is that when you are sick, you can make up your own mind on rather you should be working that day or call in sick. At least, that is the theory. Now as for the reality...

There are no sick days. You can't be paid to be sick, and if you are going to keep income flowing, then you need to be working steadily at your work, otherwise you are going to end up losing money hand over fist if you fail to get your work done because you 'don't feel like working'.

I'm sitting here typing this with a nasty head cold that has me coughing, sipping hot tea and home made lozenges for a sore throat, and - on occasion - sneezing hard enough my glasses fly over the Kleenex I catch the sneeze on and land between the keyboard and monitor on the desk.

Miserable does not even begin to cover the way that I am feeling, but I don't have anyone that can fill in for me, so here I am, sipping tea and hugging Kleenex, and getting my writing done rather than calling in sick.

That's what it means to work from home.

Now, the good news? If I decide that I just can not do my work now, if it is not on a deadline I *can* put it off a few hours, or I can take my laptop and curl up on the sofa to work. Those are luxuries only the sick- I mean work at home types tend to enjoy. Yeah, hard as it is, I love working from home. Especially when my dad's cat Demon curls in my lap to try to make me feel a bit better.

October 15th ~ deadline on 6 month Tax Return extension

2010-09-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

It seemed like such a great idea back in April. 6 month extension, plenty of time to get the taxes filed, and they will be filed to get back the return just in time to help with the heating fuel. Wonderful!

Well, it seemed wonderful. Only now, in the wake of my dad's passing away, my tax paperwork is who knows where and I am trying to locate it. I ordered a replacement copy of last year's return, since I am not going to hold my breath that I find that particular folder in time, and will be diving back into trying to get the taxes finished and filed by the October 15th deadline just as soon as I get the chance ~ hopefully by tomorrow.

Gold Coin Investing

2010-09-25T22:47:00.000-08:00

While writing is a wonderful way to make a living, there is still a necessity to make wise investments for long term financial needs. The United States Gold Bureau would like to invite you to stop by their website to find out how investing in precious metals could help to diversify your investment portfolio.

The United States Gold Bureau's hard asset professionals are ready to assist you in the purchase of gold coin or other investment types, then assist you in arranging for home delivery or safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

Life Changes

2010-09-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

Life can change so quickly, and my life has recently changed quite drastically.

On September 10th, after a week long stay in the intensive and critical care wards of the hospital, my father Billy L. Fikes passed away from natural causes.

I spent the bulk of my adult life as a caregiver, and now find that I have to make many changes in my life. The first is going to be in my work. I am redirecting all of the efforts I placed over the years into providing care for my parents toward making my writing take off and become a full-time career.

Today, to keep myself active and busy, I am remodeling the work area and getting everything organized to make completing my work in a logical and efficient manner as easy as possible. I am living alone for the first time in my life, so my first goal is going to be to get my home office configured to help me maintain the home business I worked so hard to build, then nearly lost as I was forced to dedicate more and more time to helping my dad, and less and less time to my writing work.

eReader for under $150

2010-06-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

The good news for those of us that have been wanting to get an eReader is that it looks like the Barnes & Noble eReader Nook is caught up in a price wa with Amazon's Kindle.

The Wi-Fi only version of the reader is on sale for $149, with the Wi-Fi and 3G version selling for $199.

Amazon fought back with a price slash on the Kindle, lowering it to $189 within hours of the Nook's price drop.

The Kobo, an eReader by Boarders, is proced at $149, but they will soon also offer the very affordable Aluratek Libre for $119.

This puts the eReader in the realm of affordable to nearly any budget.

Investment in silver bullion

2010-06-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

The United States Gold Bureau is a precious metals commodities seller specializing in gold, silver and other precious metals in coin and ingot form. Started in 2003, and incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008, the United States Gold Bureau provides its customers with competitively prices precious metals.

The staff of hard asset professionals at the United States Gold Bureau can assist their customers in the purchase of precious metal commodities, such as gold or silver, for investment purposes.For those wishing to buy silver bullion, or other precious metals, the hard asset professionals can help arrange for either personal delivery or for their investment to be places in an independent bank or depository.

To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

This post sponsored by the United States Gold Bureau

Technology - Arrrrgh!

2010-06-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

I am very annoyed now. The disk on my computer drive stopped working a few months ago, which was not too big of a problem until I wanted to be able to lock up the wireless today so that only computers I designate can access it.

I've been trying, but have no idea how to get the disk drive working again. I even popped the case open on the computer, but everything seems to be hooked up right and nothing is loose, so I have no idea what is going on with the disk drive. Unless it just broke or something. It is really starting to frustrate me though, since I can't run any disks or save anything to disks or anything.

Because of the broke drive, and my router being dependent on a CD for changing the settings, I have no way to lock up my router and keep people from sapping off of my internet.

Why do you work from home?

2010-06-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons for working from home. When it first became popular it was as a way to stay close to the family. For me, working from home is not a choice, it is a requirement. Because of my role as a family caregiver for my dad, I can not work outside of the home. This necessitates me to work from home. It is not easy, there are a lot of distractions, not the least of which is my own comfortable bed that calls to me to lay down and stop forcing myself to keep working when I have no energy for it.

Worksheets

2010-06-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

I've been unable to get my work done every day, so I have made up a new plan and created some daily worksheets that will be tucked in with my caregiver worksheets.

I have been tracking the day to day stuff that has to do with being the full-time caregiver for my dad, so creating a daily work sheet that lists what I have to do during my work day is a great way to keep me on track with my work.

Now if I can just find some way to not fall asleep at 10am.

How do you keep on track working at home?

2010-05-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

Working at home there are hundreds of things that can distract you from actually getting any work done. Even as I type this I am being distracted by the movie that my dad is watching on the television. And then there is the knowledge that we need to get ready to go to town, and the thoughts that I should get the bills all in order for the month, the unfinished quilt I am working on, and the thoughts of wanting to work on things for the garden...

Yeah, there are a lot of things to distract someone from working when they are trying to work from home, so my question to everyone out there is; what do you do to help keep you on track and not distracted by the chaos of trying to work from home?

Gold Investing

2010-04-19T16:44:00.000-08:00

Working at home is one of those things that gives a person a lot of time to lean back int heir chair and take a good long look at what their home and life are like, and to think about where they want to be in their retirement years. I have been looking more and more at my future in recent years, and at what investments I need to make so that I can have the retirement I want to have.

One of my favorite investment possibilities has always been gold. It is one of the few investments that most people feel confident in the long term investment value of, which makes it the perfect way to diversify a portfolio, particularly one intended to provide for a retirement.

Over the years the price of gold has risen steadily, even with occasional declines, which makes it an ideal investment for long term investing. Those looking to diversify their portfolio might buy gold coins to be put in their private collection or deposited in a bank or depository.

The United States Gold Bureau, a precious metals investment company headquartered in Austin, Texas, can assist investors in buying gold and other precious metals in coin or ingot form, with the coins being available for personal delivery or the hard asset professionals an assist in arranging for storage in an independent bank or depository.

This post sponsored by United States Gold Bureau.

Gareth David-Lloyd penned Torchwood comic for official Torchwood Magazine

2010-04-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Just because I am very excited about it, and it is on topic with the post I made about getting your story posted in the official Torchwood Magazine, I wanted to let you all know about the comic titled ‘Shrouded’, that appears in the April 15th issue of Torchwood Magazine.

Written by Gareth David-Lloyd, the actor who portrayed the character of Inato Jones in the series, the comic focus primarily on the character Ianto Jones, and "...integrates a number of characters who have been missed by Torchwood’s ardent followers.” according to David-Lloyd.

The comic is illustrated by Pia Guerra, and is a two part comic with the first part in the April 15th issue of the Official Torchwood Magazine.

I plan to pick up my copy today.

Get your short sci fi story published in Torchwood Magazine

2010-04-19T15:00:00.001-08:00

As a freelance wtriter, I want to share this opportunity with other Sci-fi enthusiasts.

Are you a science fiction writer? Perhaps you just love the BBC's Torchwood series?

Either way you should check out the issue 20 of the official Torchwood Magazine, where they have information on how you can write a short story, 1,000 to 1,500 words in length, for publication in Torchwood Magazine.

Pick up your copy of Torchwood Magazine at your local retailer or at Titan Magazines - Torchwood Magazine.

See the magazine for details of how to enter.

Regency Beauty Institute

2010-04-19T13:26:00.004-08:00

Considering a career change? Thinking about maybe getting into cosmetology? Regency Beauty Institute would like to invite you to take a look at their growing network of over thirty campuses in nine states.

You can find out more about what their campuses are like by visiting their website and browsing through the information they provide for their cosmetology school in Wisconsin. Regency campuses mirror upscale salons and provide students with cosmetology training that is fully accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences (NACCAS). As a fully accredited cosmetology school, Regency is able to offer federal financial aid to those who qualify.

Regency Beauty Institute got its start in the 1950’s as Myndall Cain Beauty Academy, assuming the name of Regency in the 1980’s. Regency got its latest makeover in 2002.

This post sponsored by Regency Beauty Institute

Taxes

2010-04-13T00:12:00.003-08:00

Taxes have officially bested me. I can't find last year's copy I had saved, so I need to file for an extension and request a copy of last year's taxes from the IRS.

Find out more about filing for an extension on the time you have to file your taxes, and what you need to know before you choose to file for an extension.

And if, like me, you need a copy of a past return (up to three years back) you can get transcripts of past tax returns from the IRS for free.

Cold therapy nerve damage

2010-03-31T00:38:00.003-08:00

Something that I had never considered, despite having had physical therapists use it for my dad in the past, is the potential for damage if cold therapy, commonly used in the treatment of certain muscle or joint injuries, is used improperly or for too extended a length of time.

Being a freelance writer I am all too aware of things such as repetitive strain injury and the danger of carpel tunnel syndrome. Cold therapy, also known as cryotherapy, is often used after surgeries to treat swelling in wrists and hands (or for shoulders, knees and ankles). Used improperly, either for too long or at too cold a setting, cryotherapy can cause serious injury including nerve damage, chronic pain, or frostbite.

O’Hanlon, McCollum & Demerath are experienced cold therapy nerve damage lawyers dealing in product liability claims. If you have been treated with cold therapy and believe that you have suffered injury from improper treatment, then you should check the Texas Injury Lawyer's website and see their cryotherapy lawsuits information page and frequently asked questions.

This post was paid for by the Texas injury law firm O’Hanlon, McCollum & Demerath.

Taxes - Depreciation and Amortization

2010-03-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

I've been working on taxes. Let me just say that Depreciation and Amortization is the EVILEST thing that they ever invented for a poor small business owner to have to work their way through. I have everything else sorted out and easy to understand, but each year that form trips me for some reason. :::pounds head on desk::: I give up, I will tackle it again tomorrow. I'll let you know what I figure out on it.

Tax Time: Income from abroad is taxable

2010-03-17T00:44:00.003-08:00

It is that time of year again - taxes. The best place to start looking for information is the IRS tax information for business pages at the IRS website, but there is a lot of complicated information to try to sort through there. Where does someone start?

The best place to start is to figure out what your filing status is and what kind of income you will need to report. One key point to remember in this digital age where business can be conducted world-wide is that money you make from doing business overseas is taxable income. See Income from Abroad is Taxable on the IRS website for more information.

It's Just Business to Sell One Barbie for Less... Right?

2010-03-11T14:13:00.004-09:00

Wal Mart got news today for selling black Barbies for almost half the price of the same style white Barbies. When the Cafferty File showed it this afternoon I was not sure what to make of it, so I went digging.

Google lead me to the Huffington Post, which has a video from a news broadcast about it, and the video lead me to a site called Guanabee.com, a Latino news site that bills itself as "Spicy Coverage". I had to do a search on their site for "Barbie" to locate the article. Which is from the 1st of March. They updated with a point to the site Funny Junk as their source for the picture.

Note: I advise against visiting Funny Junk, since the only thing they seem to be is a "who can rant louder" forum of people throwing racist and sexist insults back and forth.

So, as for the picture that started it all:

You can see here in a picture that was, from what I can determine, taken by a lady shopping in a Louisianan Wal-Mart, that the store discounted Mattel's Ballerina Teresa dolls (blue dress) from $5.93 down to $3.00 each, while Mattel's Ballerina Barbie (pink dress) remained at the original price of $5.93 each.

Now, the buzz all over the place is that this is something pertaining to racism. The
Cafferty File says that Wal-Mart informed ABC News that this was no more than an effort to clear shelf space in preparation for spring inventory.

A lot of the comments at the Cafferty File point to it being a simple business decision. One product is moving slower means that it is marked down so it will sell at a speed equal to the other product. Had this been a gallon of fat free milk that was marked down beside whole milk, would they be making some kind of commentary on obesity? Or would it be a simple business motivated reduction in a product that was not selling as well as another product by the same company?

I doubt that Wal-Mart did anything other than make a business decision to help move one product at the same rate as a similar product in an effort to clear shelf space, but I welcome input from others on what they think of the situation. I checked Mattel's site, but I did not see anything to indicate any press releases on their perspective on the issue.

(Any comments that are of an attacking nature will not make it past moderation)

Open Office - Full Office Suite for home and small businesses

2010-03-11T14:07:00.002-09:00

Open Office
http://www.openoffice.org
Windows 2000/XP/20003/Vista, Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X

Open Office is what is called an Open Source program. This means that the program is free for anyone to use in any manner they desire – even for running a business.

Open Office is a full office suite program that includes:

Writer – Writer is a very user friendly word processor that allows you to create written documents as simple as a basic letter or as complex as any desktop publishing program on the market today.
Calc – Calc is Open Office's spreadsheet program and is fast to learn for anyone that has any experience with spreadsheet programs, even those who have no experience (like me) will pick up on how to create basic spreadsheets in no time at all. You can create multiple pages in a Calc document and use the SUM formulas to display a total from one sheet on a separate sheet, allowing you to create separate sheets for each month and compile the totals for each on the first page.
Impress – Create multimedia presentations with both 2D and 3D artwork as well as animations, multi-pane views and create PDF, HTML or Flash presentations.
Draw – I use GIMP, so have not had much experience with the Open Office art program. The little I have seen of its capabilities have been impressive, so I recommend anyone that will be creating presentations with Open Office investigate the Draw feature.
Base – Another part of Open Office I have little experience with, the Base allows you to manipulate a database and create tables, forms and reports.

The very nature of Open Office allows the average user to be a member of the creative team. If you need a feature that Open Office does not have, it is as easy as either getting in touch with someone in the design community that can assist you in bringing the feature to the program, or even (if you have the programming skill to do it) accessing the source code and programming the feature in yourself. Yes, that's right, the source code for Open Office is as free as the program itself.

Sounding too good to be true? Afraid there might be some kind of catch I have overlooked? Open Office has over 20 years of development behind it and uses the Open-Source license, which means that the program is and always will be 100% free. A freedom that can never be revoked.

I stronly encourage you to investigate Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/) before you consider buying any office suite. 100,000,000 downloaders can't all be wrong.

Trade Shows

2010-02-17T07:21:00.001-09:00

A trade show can give the small business owner a chance to get together with other vendors in a setting that will be filled with potential customers, all interested in your product or service.

Before the trade show, comes the research, and before that comes the question of why you want to set up an exhibition booth at a trade show.

Why are you exhibiting? What do you want to achieve by your participation in a particular trade show? Are you looking to expand your customer base? To introduce a new product or service? Has your company suffered from some bad PR that you want to get a chance to face and respond to with potential customers?

What kind of message do you want to convey? What do you want the impression of show attendees to be when they see your booth?

What are you hoping for at the end of the trade show? New leads? To have a set number of sales on a certain new product or service? To have your brand distributed through trade show giveaway merchandise?

As I prepare for the coming summer season of craft fairs and trade shows I am doing research into exactly what one should know before they approach such venues with their merchandise and services.

Tracking Receipts

2010-02-14T12:56:00.001-09:00

Those of us that work from home are already very aware of the approach of tax season. As I get ready for this tax season I have come to realize that I really do need a better way to keep track of my old receipts. Especially now that I am going to be running two small businesses from home (three if you count my work as a family caregiver). At the moment my filing system is pretty much tuck the receipts into a pencil box. That is not working.

I am not sure just what method I will be using, but I know I need a new method, so am looking for any suggestions anyone might have on how to keep track of work receipts.

I’m not so much interested in advice on the entry into a spreadsheet type of tracking, although I welcome that as well. What I need help with is what to do with the actual physical receipt to file it away after it has been entered into a spreadsheet.

How do you store your old business receipts?

Precious Metal Investing

2010-02-13T19:09:00.001-09:00

Being self employed, I am the only one that will be there to invest in my own future. So, I have been doing a bit of dabbling in the stock market for the past few weeks.

One investment I have been particularly interested in adding to my portfolio is precious metals. I was not sure, however, that it would be possible to buy gold bullion in the same way you can buy stock in a company. I have discovered not only is it possible to invest in precious metals, but there are several different kinds of metals, including platinum and palladium in which investors can invest.

Investors that are looking to invest in platinum and palladium should look into the recently launched Securities Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT) and Physical Palladium Shares (PALL), physically backed exchange-traded funds that allow investors to invest in physically backed holdings that are equal to one share equals one tenth of an ounce of metal.

This post was sponsored by USGoldBureau.com

Quilting Business

2010-02-13T13:53:00.001-09:00

So, I had great plans last year to make quilting a second business for getting a bit of an income doing something I love. Took some small business courses, joined a few organizations, even started attending a local weekend craft fair to start selling things. I had great plans and was really starting to see where things were heading, had sold a quilt already and had a website and everything…. then your basic life stuff threw all the plans out the side window.

Well, after a while of “what use is there in that? I have decided that I need to get back into it and get things sorted out so I can start making quilts that I can sell over the summer. So, I have began working on a Tree of Life lap size quilt based on the old Progress pattern. It’s going pretty good so far.

Freelancers Union

2010-02-10T18:35:00.002-09:00

I was watching the news the other night with my dad and they had a woman on one of the news programs that was talking about the Freelancers Union. I really liked some of the things that she had to say, so went out and took a look at what the site is.

From their About Us information:

Freelancers Union is a national membership organization that's free to join. We offer benefits like insurance and retirement to our members and provide political advocacy for all independent workers.

From what little I have been able to look around on the site so far, it looks like a don't miss site for anyone that works as a freelancer. Check them out.

Romantic Vacation

2010-02-06T05:19:00.003-09:00

Valentine's Day approaches, and that brings to mind all kinds of romantic ideas for getting away with your significant other. During this romantic time of the year, post sponsor Karisma Hotels would like to invite you to look at the possibilities of enjoying a romantic vacation riviera maya vacation at one of their five luxury hotels.

The El Dorado Seaside Suites, an adults only resort on the Riviera Maya, is just one of the resorts they have to offer those looking for a romantic getaway. A secluded resort on the Kantenah is graced with white sand beaches and offers a relaxed casual atmosphere that still maintains a touch of rich design and amenities that cater to those seeking a sensual experience.

Can't work while waiting

2010-02-05T17:24:00.002-09:00

Something that I learned about working at home yesterday. It does not extend to the waiting rooms of doctor's offices. After three hours of waiting I got no work at all done, even though I had taken my work with me to try to get it done.

I think it is the constant "Are they going to call me yet?" stress that prevents working.

Investing

2010-02-01T19:15:00.002-09:00

As of tomorrow I will officially be in the nail biting world of stock investing. I decided that it was time to take a bit of a leap and get started, It is not too big of a leap. Only $20 is being invested so far, but it is still a step into very unfamiliar territory that will be a slightly scary venture to learn about on the fly.

Tax season approaches

2010-01-30T19:30:00.002-09:00

I spent the past few days working on getting all of my banking stuff organized into a spreadsheet for organizing things for the coming tax season. I swear it's going to drive me insane getting that stuff all sorted into columns and cross referenced and everything. I am starting to win the battle, though, and even thinking I might go dig out last year's receipts and make sure I have everything entered right.

Someday I want to get into investing.

2010-01-18T18:15:00.003-09:00

Back when the economy took a nose dive, my dad and I sat and watched and wished that we had the money to invest in some of those pennies on the dollar companies that had nose dived on the stock market. Unfortunately, we did not have the money to invest in the market at that time, but I do plan to make some investments when I get a chance to start learning more about the market and what exactly it is that I am looking at when I am investing and how to do it right.

No time to work

2010-01-14T12:27:00.001-09:00

I am trying very hard to get things reorganized for my websites this year, however, for this first month of the year my focus has been off of work and onto getting a new heating system into the house and on fighting off computer viruses when I should be working. It is getting very very frustrating, but, one more week of insanity on the house stuff and I should be able to focus more on work projects once again. Which will be good, because I am going to have one heck of an electric bill by the time we get the heater in and can stop using the electric heat.

Work should not be hard when you do what you love

2010-01-05T15:02:00.002-09:00

The new year has got off to a rolling start, rolling right along to the 5th of the month without even a blink of the eye to separate it from New Year's Eve.

I am going into the new year with a determination that I am going to revitalize my work as a writer and start reorganizing things to make my work day as relaxing as I find writing to be.

Writing has always been a perfect way to de-stress for me, but I am so unorganized in my work day that I end up stressed out from work - not from the writing, but from the simple act of trying to work and earn a living from my writing.

I think that is where many who transform something they love into a job fail, they still love what they do, but they have shifted their perspective on it to the point that they allow themselves to stress about things associated with using that activity as a means of income.

So, my goal for the year, or rather my goal for the month of January, is to find a way that I can make my work as enjoyable as my writing.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T23:20:00.000-09:00

New Year, new start to my websites. As I enter into 2010 I have decided that I am going to rebuild my websites. Not all of them, and not entirely, but so many of them need vast modifications to make them more like what it is that they are supposed to look like that I find myself feeling a full clean start for the new year is in order. I want to have my sites all pretty much only need my attention a few times a month, so I am going to strip them down of the things that have been tapping my mental resources and get the sited set up to be mostly self sufficient.

I need to start actually earning an income from my writing, so I need to get a hell of a lot more serious on the WORK side of working at home. That is my 2010 resolution!

Spam is not just a canned lunchmeat product

2009-11-19T12:21:00.000-09:00

I've been sick for a few days and just starting to get back up and going, so it should be understandable why when I got a question on the blog asking:

"Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!"

Signed by anonymous, of course, it sort of set me off on a grumbling mood. You see, the first thing that I noticed was the question on where to find a program that "everyone knows about!" on a low outta the way blog that even I know does not have as much traffic as most business resources. It took me about 3 seconds to type the name into my search bar on Firefox and locate the Blogspot blog for this program. Another three seconds to type "xrumer spam" into the same search bar and find a bunch more information.

My second search turned up a bit on Panda Security about XRumer where Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, comments: “The program even has a FAQ section. Curiously enough, in one of the FAQs the author claims XRumer is not a program for creating spam.”

Not a program for creating spam... hmmm... I just watched their ten minute video at their Blogspot blog that explains how they use it to post to blogs and forums. In fact, the post is even titled "XRumer SEO Blackhat Post To 100k or Millions Of Forums Blogs"... that kind of sounds to me like they know that it is a Blackhat technique and that it will post to hundreds of thousands to millions of blogs and forums. How exactly do they define spam? "canned lunchmeat"?

XRumer, of course, does not care if those that use it are creating spam links that will, in the long run, destroy a person's credibility and online business. All the makers of this program care about is getting their $540 for the program.... or they'll let you try it for $50 a month. Rather expensive way to flush your credibility down the drain if you ask me, and only gets more expensive as your sites are labeled as spam sites that employ Blackhat SEO tricks.

New Scroll Saw

2009-11-09T19:20:00.003-09:00

My dad got me a scroll saw for Christmas, even if I have been given it a bit over a month early. I made my first project a eagle plaque for him, which turned out good for my first ever task with a scroll saw. I'm going to be using it to make covers for my handbound books and other assorted things that I can sell to help earn a bit of money.

I have to say that I am more than a little addicted to playing with the scroll saw. It is as much fun ti use as the sewing machine, but in a totally different medium so that it produces very uniquely different results while offering the same calming peaceful relaxation that the sewing machine offers.

Open Source Alternative for Quicken?

2009-10-18T00:06:00.003-08:00

I went back to the software aisle in Wal Mart yesterday to look for Quicken for my business stuff. I kind of choked when I saw the $80 price tag on it and started to rethink the logic of that. I am thinking I might be better off to pick up a Open Source alternative to that instead of trying to justify the cost of Quicken for home and business.

There has to be an open source alternative, so I am going to go digging and see what I can find that will work for it. I just have to get the time to get over to OSAlt and look one up, then learn how to use the thing. I had got something a while back, Gnu Cash I think it was called, that if I can find it on the computer I will see about using, but I think I had uninstalled it a while back.

Recharging mat for small devices

2009-10-16T21:52:00.003-08:00

I was watching something kewl on the TV a few ago. They got this plate things out now that you lay your electronic doodads on and it recharges them without need to plug them in. I did a bit of digging and in 2006 CNet had a article about a similar deal that was called the WildCharger, this one a charger that could be rolled up. The WildCharge works by replacement of the back cover of the device with a compatible cover that has small nubs on it that allow doe proper contact with the charging pad.

I can't find the one that was on the TV, so will watch for the commercial again and do a bit of looking into it when I find it. I did find the Powermat PMM-HO100 Home & Office Mat (Black) at Amazon when I tried looking there. Not the one from TV, but same concept and got a 4 out of 5 stars review from reviewers.

Karisma Hotels Resorts

2009-09-16T10:00:00.003-08:00

One of the dreaded things about working at home is that you need to plan out your own vacations. That is one of the things that is on my mind as I sit here trying to work and being distracted by the yellow-gold glitter of the sun on dew coated yellow leaves out in the garden. It will only be a matter of weeks, if not days, before the yellow tones of the trees will give way to the heavy white snows of winter. Oh how much I would rather take off to some warm sandy beach somewhere.

For those who are scheming a fall escape from the drudgery of work the Karisma Hotels, located on secluded white-sand beaches on the Mexican Riviera Maya, offer family all inclusive vacations that can help you plan your relaxing escape with services such as beach butlers, fine food, iced bartops, swim-up rooms, white gauze curtains around the beds, hot tubs, hammocks and more.

Please note that the Karisma Hotels resorts do include both adult only and family friendly resorts, so make sure you know what -

Family-Friendly:
Azul Beach
Azul Blue

Adults Only:
El Dorado Royale Spa Resort
El Dorado Seaside Suites

Naturalist:
Hidden Beach Resort

If you want to find out more about the Karisma Resorts then you should check out the link above and the information for each resort for more details on which resort offers what services and for details on services offered exclusively by each resort, such as relaxing 'forget your troubles' offerings like milk baths and aromatic massages offered by the El Dorado Royale Resort, or family-friendly offering like kid-sized bathrobes and coloring books offered by the family friendly Azul Beach Hotel.

Cood tootsies

2009-09-15T06:19:00.002-08:00

Do you have any idea how hard it is to work when your feet are freezing? I'm sitting here, sun just barely starting to cast a faint glow of a haze out there on the sky to the north north-east, and it is freaking freezing down on the floor where my feet are. Okay, I take that back, it is not freezing on the floor, but the feet freeze when I put them down there.

Shopping list has now got not just "slippers" on it but "Effing WARM slippers!" No way am I going to be able to get up early each day and work if I am sitting here with cold toes looking for something to warm them.