Work At Home: Stay Away From the TV

If you are going to or are thinking about working at home, you are going to have a number of temptations to sidetrack you. One of those tempations is to sit in front of the television while you are doing your work. If you have or are thinking about it, STOP, it is entirely non-productive.

Common sense would tell you that it is just simply impossible to be as efficient as possible if you're in front of the television. Watching Sports Center or your favorite game show isn't going to cut it. Even if you're simply listening to the television, you're most likely taking seconds, minutes, or hours by glancing at the tv on occasion or trying to focus on what you heard from the television.

Try something when you are watching television. Pick up a book and start reading a chapter. What happens? Sure you read it, but you really can't comprehend what is going on. There's a huge difference. If I read a book while I'm watching television, I'll have to reread over and over again before I can completely comprehend. This applies to the work at home situation as well. I can do menial tasks in front of the television. Repetitive tasks are easy watching television, very similar to driving. However, your job at home is going to require much more concentration than those everyday, menial duties.

If you have a tv addiction, try delaying turning on the tube. Get your major work done and then watch fifteen or twenty minutes and then get back to work. I find if I give myself small rewards I work harder and more efficiently. Fortunately, if you have a Tivo or Digital Video Recorder, you can simply record the television shows for a later time and save you even more time by skipping those commercials! Next time you think about watching television while working, think twice, turn it off and get to work! You won't regret it.

Work At Home: Write Articles

When you think about promoting your business and or/website, a great idea is to start thinking about writing. That's right! Start writing to promote your business or businessess. You will start to see the huge benefits of writing when you work at home.

I will be the first to tell you, I do not necessarily enjoy writing and I'm not very good at it either. However, if you're looking for great value advertising, you should think about taking five to ten minutes a day to write about your product. Here's why:

-You can use this content for your website and update it regularly. Search engines like relevant and updated content. You will see your website search rankings increase. Again, make sure the content is relevant to what your business or product is about.

-You can submit your articles e-zine sites (such as goarticles.com or ezinearticles.com). When people are looking for content relevant to what you wrote they will find your article for knowledge. You can have your link put in the resource/bio box which will direct people to your website accordingly.

-Writing simply allows you to become more well-versed about your product. I continually research what I'm selling so I know it better than anyone else does.

If you work at home, you really have no excuse for taking a few minutes every day to write! You don't have to be the best writer around, make it personal and be honest. I find people who are reading articles find a personal voice to be more effective as compared to a technical article.

So, what are you waiting for? Promote your website and start writing today!

Work At Home: Entrepreneur Magazines, Part One

Personally, I think there are a number of very good magazines for people who work at home or are thinking about it. They can provide a great resource for someone thinking about starting a small business. I came across a relatively new one earlier last week that I thought may be of some interest to any and all entrepreneurs.

Millionaire Blueprints is the name of the magazine I came across just recently and the sucker I am, decided to browse through it because I liked the way the front cover looked. Many times magazines such as these are a waste of my time. However, I must say it is a nicely done magazine and I was very impressed.

Basically, MB interviews successful entrepreneurs who are now millionaires and publishes article about them. I highly enjoyed reading these articles. Reading about millionaires' strategies for success as well as their obstacles definitely is inspiring. For me, I am usually skeptic when I see articles about people earning millions of dollars. But, there is instant credibility with the articles because many of the people are well known.

For example, Chicken Soup For The Soul author, Mark Victor Hansen, has a great article in the magazine. The magazine details how he started speaking in public and his difficulties he encountered. He continues to talk about how he improved, stayed the course and now earns thousands of dollars speaking in public today.

Hansen was much like you or myself when he began his effort to make money. It is nice and refreshing to see a magazine which takes time to focus on the people more so than what types of business opportunities are out there. At the end of these articles, great website resources are given to you regarding the article. Because Jack Hansen's article dealt with mostly public speaking, the magazine offers several nice public speaking websites.

I read the magazine from cover to cover in one reading. Something I rarely do because I can't stay focused longer than fifteen minutes. Mind you, it does have a lot of advertisements in the back end which can be a little annoying. However, its such a minor issue when you get such great information and great value ( I believe I purchased it for $3.95). This is probably my most recommended work at home magazine. It offers great inspiration to entrepreneurs of the world. I hope you are able to pick this up at your local bookstore, you may also order back issues at www.millionaireblueprints.com.

Work At Home: Stay Focused

One of the biggest problems I had when I started to work at home was staying on track. It became difficult for me to focus entirely on my online business directory. It wasn't even as if I was playing video games or watching television. I was finding other opportunities online and was interested in pursuing them as well.

Before I knew it, I was working on six different endeavors. I was working hard with my business, but I was devoting much of my time to working on these other "projects". The problem became I wasn't devoting all of my time to my original business. If you have started a business before, I am sure you understand the need for every hour in the day and probably an extra two or three. Your business can take up your entire day.

I have no problem with working on other projects. As a matter of fact, many entrepreneurs will tell you that always working and moving on to different projects is a quailty of many successful leaders. I agree completely. You just have to make sure you are putting your energy and efforts towards your main project so you can get it off and running first to become successful. You don't want to have seven or eight things going on and never have any success with any of them. Once you get comfortable with your main endeavor, feel free to start focusing on other ideas as well.

What I started to do was set some goals for myself to stay more focused. I told myself I could work for two hours and I could take the next fifteen minutes working on something else. Once that fifteen minutes was up, I would start working on my main business again. I found this to be very effective and helped me maintain better focus.

If you find yourself losing focus when you really need it the most, don't worry. Remember, this is normal when you work at home. Simply get back on track, write down what you need and want to accomplish with your main project. Then, you have to stick to it! Reward yourself for staying focused by taking some time working on different stuff. You'll regain your focus in no time!

Work at Home: Finally

You can't have a better feeling until you finally start to see all of your hard work start to pay off. There was a time when I started to believe that there wasn't going to be any benefits to working at home. However, the first dollars coming in were a godsend. Not only did it feel great that you can work at home, it gave me an extra little boost I needed to make sure I was going to be able to continue to work at home.

The funny part of it is you could make fifty dollars or fifty cents, it's all a result of your effort and pushes you in the right direction. I remember I was considering if earning money from working at home was something I really could achieve. Then, one day I earned a profit, then the next day I earned more. All of a sudden, things kept rolling. It was a great feeling I will never forget.

I always wondered why I would see business owners framing their "first dollar." Now I know why, it is a great motivator as well as a reminder of all the hard work and effort that a business requires. I would highly recommend keeping proof of the first dollars that come your way. Put it somewhere where you and others can see it. I actually kept it as well to show off to people who doubted that I could work at home and still have continued success!

When you do say that word, "Finally," I promise you working at home only gets better if you continue to work hard and stay focused. Best wishes!

Work at Home: Taxes

If you decide to work at home, seriously consider hiring someone to assist you with your taxes. It will definitely be worth the investment. When you work at home or become self-employed, understanding tax laws will be a huge part of running your business. Here are a few tips to help you understand the tax laws and might make your life easier at home.

Create a folder for any item you purchase for a business expense. Keep it. You will need this when you file for your taxes and keep them in case you are audited. Find a place to record your miles traveled as well. If you get audited, you will be responsible for producing this information. Recording miles can be a headache, but the IRS knocking on your door can be a huge problem!

If you do your taxes on your own, consider filing your taxes online. Good software will walk you through step by step how to complete a tax form if you are self-employed. Don't be cheap, if they offer different versions of the software for different prices, spend money on the better software. You can write it off as a business expense and it will have better features as well. I use TurboTax and have found it to be very useful, but there are a number of

Go online to find resources to help you. You should prepare yourself before you even file for taxes. There are a ton of websites that can give you advice or information on tax laws. Try www.irs.gov and www.moneycentral.msn.com/tax/workshop/welcome.asp to get you started.

Use money managemnet software. I would never start a business without it. Microsoft Money and Quicken, to name a couple are very valuable software tools that all you to view and categorize all of your financial information in one place. Very helpful and necessary tool for any business owner.

I mentioned this earlier, find a qualified accountant to help you. Yes, you will pay, but it will be worth it. Using software can be beneficial, but having someone sit down with you to explain something or answer specific questions can be priceless. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Don't wait, the longer you wait to think about your taxes, the more time and energy you will use for helping your at-home business succeed. Become knowlegdeable with tax-related issues and I promise, you won't regret it!

Work at Home: Stay Organized

Walking into my home office after a week of working at home, I saw something I figured I wouldn't have to see ever again. Clutter!!!! There were papers, letters, documents, everywhere on my desk. What I couldn't put on my desk, I put on my bookcase or printer. I knew I had to get organized if I wanted to work at home, and you will have to as well!

Because I had worked in an office setting, I knew getting organized was going to take some time, especially if you are new to the game. My first year as a principal, I didn't always know what I needed to organize until a certain situation came up. Fortunately, I had a secretary to handle most of my organization. Now I have no secretary, organizing is a little tougher for me.

Nonetheless, I spend a lot of time creating file folders that I know I need, for example, with my website, I contact a lot of local businesses. So, I search for local businesses that advertise in local newspapers and magazines and I then cut these out and put them in a folder I name "business advertising." Now, when I call businesses, I call them first because I know they advertise. This makes the process much easier for me.

The hard part of organizing for me is not knowing what I need until it comes up. I didn't realize I was going to need to organize my phone contacts made as well until I started calling and I would get people to tell me to call me back later, stop by, or not interested. There was no way I was going to remember what people were telling me what to do. I didn't know this up front, but now it has saved me from a ton of headaches down the road.

This is why it takes so much time to get a business started. You have so many things you need to know to get organized and stay organized. Put in the time upfront to get organized so you can focus less on cleaning and finding papers and focus more on selling your products/services!

It is hard to tell people how to organize, you have to organize the way that works for you. Organization is making your life easier and becoming more efficient. Don't do something if it doesn't work for you. Remember, no matter how you do it, just make sure you do it. Trust me, you will not regret it hopefully help you earn more profits in the process!