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Home business life - Balancing Home business and personal life

I've read so many articles lately about balancing your life - family,
business, spiritual, health and wellness - all of it. Admittedly, I was
determined to do the same. Why not? There were all these power women out
there, doing just that! Why couldn't I do it? I'll tell you why - once I
realized what they were truly talking about, I didn't want it any longer.

Look, I love my home business and I wouldn't change it for the world.
However, if my family, friends and loved ones need me - this business
gets put on the back burner. I may be wrong in my line of thinking but
that's one of the reasons why I started a home business - flexibility. My
time is supposed to be flexible. I like it that way. I love knowing that
if my nephew calls me to ask me to run and give him a hug, I can do that!
I love knowing that if I have a special family gathering coming up, I can
go without clearing it with anyone. For me - the people that matter most
in my life, come first in my life - without question!

With that said, I still believe you should have a general guideline for
your working hours. Specially if you're a work at home parent with young
ones around. Otherwise you'll never be productive enough to get anything
accomplished. If you want to spend time with your children during the
day, get some exercise, work, attend to daily chores, it's imperative you
have an outline of a schedule. Just keep in mind that is just that - an
outline. It is not carved in stone and it should allow you the
flexibility to deal with important issues as they arise.

* Write out a list of required tasks and break that down to monthly,
weekly and daily lists. For example, if you do laundry twice a week -
write down what days you'll do that. Write down your minimum required
hours for work, grocery shopping, exercise routines, play
dates.....everything.

* Write out your wish list of things you'd like to accomplish. Let's
say you've been dying to join a health club, yet it's never been a huge
priority - write it down. This is your list of dreams. If you want to
take a painting class or you want to join your local Chamber of
Commerce - write it down.

* Write down your household's schedule as it is right now. This may
take a week to observe and take notes. You can't outline a new schedule
until you are fully aware what your current schedule is.

* Invest in a nice, large daily planner. This is something you
shouldn't be afraid to splurge on. Make sure you get one you like. I
don't want you to cringe each time you look at it.

Now, we're going to amalgamate your lists into one schedule.

* Looking at your current schedule, make notes in your daily planner
about all your required tasks: meal times, laundry, grocery shopping,
team practices and play times - everything that is a must do that you
know has to be done (or is done) on specific days and times. Don't be
afraid to overlap things to make yourself more productive. If you know
you can a load of laundry done at the same time you're making dinner,
write it down. Just be careful about spreading yourself too thin!

* Now that we have the bones of your schedule laid out, lets add your
work hours. If you know you must work a minimum of 25 hours each week
to stay ahead, schedule that into your planner. Some days you may work
more hours than others. That's okay. That's the beauty of working from
home - flexibility! Again, don't be afraid to overlap tasks. If you
have numerous postcards to send to your clients/customers, you may be
able to do this while you're attending your son's soccer practice! Pack
up your postcards, a couple of good pens (in case one runs out), your
address list and write them out during practice. I wouldn't advise this
during a game as your son would definitely be heartbroken if you missed
seeing him kick the winning goal because you were busy working.

* Before you go to the next step, you must schedule time for yourself.
Give yourself at least ten to fifteen minutes each and every day for
you to be with yourself! Do not overlap anything else with this block
of time. This is time for you to enjoy a cup of tea, read, talk to a
friend on the phone - just whatever you like to do. This small amount
of "Me time" will give you the intellectual and physical energy your
body needs to carry you through each day.

* Your schedule is most likely getting very full by now. At the same
time, I'm willing to bet you're surprised there are available blocks of
time left over. Now is when you add items from your wish list. However,
be careful not to fill up every available minute of time there is. If
you do so, I guarantee you'll end up frustrated at not fulfilling your
daily tasks. Keep in mind that your children will require your help for
homework, your spouse will need you to help with a project or lend a
supportive ear and your mother will call when she's not "scheduled" to.

Keep your planner with you at all times. Refer to it hourly and check off
completed tasks immediately. You'll soon realize you are accomplishing
far more than you were before and you're far more productive than you
thought imaginable.

Lastly, when you're working, place a sign on your door, forward your
calls to voice mail (if possible. However, look at your call display as
calls are coming in, just in case your child's school is calling or your
spouse is calling from work - it may be urgent) and send your family and
friends a cheerful email telling them your working hours for the week.
You need to make it as easy as possible for you to be productive while
you're working.

If you have toddlers around, have a "Special Toybox" (a Rubbermaid or
Tupperware container will do) filled with some of their favorite toys.
Pull this out when you're working and make a big deal about it. Let them
know that while you're working, they get to play with the "Special
Toybox" items and when you're done, that toybox goes away. They will be
less likely to wander around and interrupt you if they know their time is
limited to play with these toys.

Most importantly, remember the days of June Cleaver are long gone.
Besides, I never saw old June parked in front of her computer, answering
umpteen different emails, calling customers while at the same time,
getting dinner ready! Life is not perfect and neither are we. Do the best
you can with what you have available to you. And always remember, your
child's request for a hug should outweigh anything else your have
scheduled!

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Basic Guidelines To Keeping Your Work-At-Home Business Legal

A work at home business or home business can be an exciting, challenging,
and lucrative adventure. It is, however, relatively the same as any other
business, and is subject to the same laws and regulations that govern any
business, no matter what the size. Simply because home businesses are
sometimes "one person" endeavors (especially in the beginning) does not
free them from adherence to the same laws and regulations that apply to
all businesses.

In order to avoid problems both in the beginning, and in the future of
any home business, it is important to do some research, spend some money,
and otherwise make sure that all laws and regulations at the state,
local, and national levels are followed "to the letter".

Herewith follows some basic guidelines to keeping your work at home
business legal, and avoiding possible aggravation and heartache in the
future:

1. Call your Department of State, or other local government agency,
before starting your business. All information from local government
agencies is always usually free, and any required licenses such as DBA
(Doing Business As, or Fictitious Name Licensing), will be fully
explained, as well as Articles of Incorporation and other smaller license
requirements. Usually the fees and how to obtain all necessary licensing
will be explained as well in a phone call such as this.
2. Call your regional or local government office for any advice on zoning
permits that may be required or space and inventory requirements,
depending on the type of business.
3. Call an accountant or accounting firm. These firms are generally
hugely knowledgeable about how to start and maintain a legal work at home
business and will freely share this advice with others. They will in
addition have a good knowledge of local requirements and tax issues.
4. Find out before starting, what tax requirements are necessary and the
forms you must have on hand before beginning. These forms and
requirements will depend on the type of business, number of employees (if
any), etc., and are a necessary part of setting up any home-based
business.
5. Call a local business chamber of commerce if possible. Other business
owners can effectively impart information on other legalities, and
usually do so very willingly.

All of the above require some fees, but are usually very economical means
of preventing larger fines and sometimes legal action if regulations and
licensing requirements are not met. Remember, "An ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure", and this statement is no truer than when applied
to a work at home business.

at work-at-home-business-dot

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How To Be your own boss. Work at home!

Tired of being bossed around? Looking for something better than the rat
race? Maybe it's time for you to work at home. When people work at home,
it gives the impression of independence and entrepreneurial spirit. It is
not easy once you decide to work at home despite what everyone else
thinks. When you work at home, it only means you are confident and secure
enough to take on the challenge of making something worthwhile.

One of the most important factors when you work at home is scheduling
especially when you have your own family. Learn to separate the aspects
of your work at home and your family life. There will be times when the
lines will be crossed so having a timetable will be a powerful tool in
the success of your work at home business.

What are the benefits of doing work at home? One, you can set your own
schedule. You can put in as much time in the business as you want. Two,
you can take a rest or vacation when you want to. No more answering to
the boss when you work at home. Three, you get to meet a lot of new
people. Four, you learn a lot of new things regarding the work at home
business. Your creative side jumps in. And lastly, you get all of the
profit.

As with the big businesses, there is a downside when you work at home.
One, you pay for all the expenses. Even though you get all the profit
from your work at home business, your liability extends up to your
physical assets such as the house and car. Two, you may have a hard time
getting clients. With no referrals, your work at home might experience a
slow start. Three, the chances at failing in your work at home is 8 out
of 10. Doesn't sound so good but it is not without any learning
experience in the end.

There are many businesses that work at home which are available to you
once you are ready to take the plunge. Remember to do your research. Work
at home doesn't give you the license to sleep and lounge about. It only
means you can take more trips to the refrigerator. Work at home requires
putting the same focus, drive and attention you would in a corporate
setting while being at home.

Here a few tips to get you started on your work at home:
1.Know your strengths and abilities. If you are good at invention, make a
product for your chosen market. If you are good with people, selling
could be the ticket for your work at home. Are you good at programming?
You can offer web page creation services as your work at home.
2.Do the necessary research. If you decide to establish a direct selling
business and work at home, remember to be clear on the business' policies
and conditions.
3.Make a small office in where you can work at home. Bring in the
professional vibe to inspire you in your endeavor.
4.Learn to balance your books. Once you start your work at home, keeping
track of your finances will help make your budget efficient.
5.Use all available resources to help you with work at home. The Internet
is a great source of information on your chosen business and a huge place
to market your work at home.
6.Treat your clients with respect and courtesy. These people will be your
best advertising tool. Their referrals will bring in more clients for
your work at home business.
7.Quality service means quality business. With that, you will succeed.

It may take a while or maybe even sooner. Just as long as you keep a
positive attitude, your work at home will pay off.

About the Author

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Being Successful With Your Home Business

How to be successful with you home based business really depends on
attitude, persistence and of course what your business offers.

Let�s start with attitude. Everyone starts out with this attitude that
man I am going to succeed and be able to quit my full time job by next
year!

Well I am not going to say that can not happen, but let�s be realistic
here. A home based business is just like any other business, the only
difference is you are doing it from home.

And this kind of thinking that you will get rich over night is usually
the death of your business. It is great to have a goal, but keep it
within reach. To have a successful home business, the key is watching it
grow from month to month.

So keeping your attitude good, and not get discouraged when you are not
making $20K a month is the first key to being successful. Remember you
want to grow each month, as you grow you also expand bringing in more
business and revenue.

The hardest part about all that is when you first get going in your new
home business. You are not known to anyone, so you have to sell your
business to the public.

I can remember when I first started; one website on the internet where
you can put classified ads was not producing for me. And I had seen where
it was a very good website for getting business.

So after a few weeks went by, I came back to that website, and changed a
few words in my ad. Bingo, what do you know, I started getting replies,
and next thing I know I had people signing up under me to become
affiliates.

Now if I would have quit on that site, and said shoot this website is a
joke, I would not have signed up all those people who in turn signed up
people and they were selling, and bringing commission to me, and to
themselves.

So I learned quickly that persistence is a key to help make your business
grow. I wanted to give up, but I found it in me to keep trying, and
trying.

Let�s talk persistence, now this is where a lot of people die in the home
business arena. They run across failures of some sort, whether it is
marketing, people not following through, etc.

YOU HAVE to keep at it! Persistence is the key, if it failed once, does
not mean it will fail again, you have to keep trying and trying and
trying, and before you know it all that persistence will pay off for you.

Now we want to talk about what your business has to offer. We all know
there are so many scams or so called businesses on the internet.

Everything from taking surveys, to getting paid to read emails, to
selling Viagra! So what are the true legitimate businesses out there to
start in?

Well to find that answer out, you have to a lot of research. I have an
article on the internet explaining in detail on how to go about finding
the legitimate home businesses, and not the scams.

You can read that article on my website. I can proudly say that I have
found 2 work at home businesses that I am successfully running and making
money at.

So just remember if you are wanting to start a home business, it will
take some work, but the rewards are great! Persistence, attitude, and
what your business offers are the keys to being successful.

Being a Disciplined Home Business Boss

Leaving the corporate world for a home business is exciting. Being one�s
own boss and making one�s own decisions is a great feeling. However, one
still needs to have discipline to be effective at being a home business
boss. In my home business I have found at least two things that one must
be persistently disciplined about in order to achieve success.

First is the work schedule. A home business like any business requires
work and often a lot of work. While it is true you do not have to get up
at daybreak and put on a suit and tie to drive to work, one does need to
set a work schedule and stick to it. I have set my schedule to work 8 to
5 Monday through Friday. I take an hour for lunch. I require myself to
work a minimum of forty hours a week for my home business.

When I first started my home business it was easy to become distracted by
things that need to be done around the house: laundry, dirty dishes,
mowing the yard, etc. It is very important to treat the home business
like a regular job and in reality it is a regular job, it just happens to
be in the home. If you were working for someone else they would not
tolerate you going home to clean dishes or mow the yard, so to be a
disciplined home business boss and do not allow yourself to do things
other than working on your home business.

The second is in regards to interruptions. I have found it absolutely
amazing that family and friends seem to think that just because you stay
a home during the day that you have nothing else to do. When I first
started working at home I was surprised at the many requests my family
and friends had of my time. My best advice, which was given to me by
another home business worker, is, �If they are not on fire or if they are
not bleeding they do not need your attention.� Now don�t take the
statement literally but what it basically means is, unless it is a real
emergency do not let your family and friends interrupt your work schedule.

For those of you who already have your home business, you are aware of
the many requests that family and friends will make such as fixing their
sink, driving them to their airport or watching their kids while they go
to the grocery store. If you are not already assertive, learn to be and
learn quickly. Fortunately, I have had the assertiveness to say, �No.�

If you spend your time being the �go-for� for your family and friends,
your business will fail. You are not at home to be at the beck and call
for your family and friends regardless of what they may think. Let them
know that. I stubbornly refuse to assist family and friends with tasks
during the hours of 8 to 5, Monday through Friday.

Being a disciplined home business boss a giant leap towards creating and
maintaining a successful home business. Remember that your home business
is a real business. It is a real job. Most importantly, it is your
livelihood.

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Home Business; Paid vs Free Hosting for Your Website

The thing about free hosting and free auto responders is, you will likely
have to put up with a lot of advertising (not your own) put there by the
host. This is also why I don’t believe in banner exchanges. You are
working hard enough to get folks to your business, and just getting them
there is only part of the work. There is a well known axiom of Internet
Marketing that says over 95% of your visitors will NEVER buy anything
from your website on their first visit. It often takes not 4, not 5 but
SEVEN exposures before they make their purchase. This goes for E-mail
campaigns as well. You must follow up!
(What a pain!) Yes, this is a lot more difficult than it sounds.

For one thing, you must not SPAM, and even if you have legitimate leads,
you must
observe net etiquette, and allow them to opt-out from your mailings.

This is where an autoresponder will meet the needs, as one of the
essential tools of Internet Marketing.

As far as making your own web-pages goes, there are again, several ways
you can do that. If you know HTML, you can use any number of programs.

But you don’t have to know HTML, to make your own web-pages. Many hosting
services provide templates you can use to easily create your own. To be
fair, your own ISP probably offers such a service.

Having your own domain name makes it easier for people to remember the
address of your site and also enables search engines to pick it up more
effectively.

If you are involved with affiliate marketing, it’s a good idea to get
your own domain and set-up your own website, rather than just rely on the
affiliate web pages that you get with the program you’ve signed-up for.
Here’s why;

Your affiliate URL looks something like this;
The_Name_of_the_Company/referrer=yourID#

The part at the end, after the / is you. This last part is how your
company tracks sales that you have made and guess what? If you advertise,
nine times out of ten, anyone seeing your ad will just go to a search
engine and type in the company name, leaving off the last part which is
the important part to you. Then you’ve just lost a sale and are out
advertising expenses. Many search engines will also not accept these long
affiliate URLs, or, again, will drop-off the last part.
Brian Beshore has been involved with internet marketing for several years
and publishes his own home business guide; tinyurl /7yxhx Contact Brian
at dizzyobrian@excite and visit his website at bayshorerecords

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Career

Home Business Opportunity Abounds on The Internet!

Looking for a home business opportunity on the internet these days is a
pretty involved process. That is, if you don’t know how to eliminate 90%
of the junk that’s out there and pick among the home business
opportunities that actually have merit and track records.

What works?

Information sales, auctions, hard goods that can be shipped, books,
reports, network marketing, you name it!

There are just certain types of home business opportunities that you want
to stay away from. Those are things where someone you don’t know from
Adam is making guarantees that are way too good to be true. Anyone who
makes it sound like money is dripping from the internet for you to simply
catch in a bucket is a liar and a thief.

You will never have success with home business opportunities that promise
you that you will never have to work, or make things sound too easy. Take
it from a professional, working online or offline with a home business
opportunity is work.

But home business opportunities have perks that are better than any job
you could ever imagine.

You work for yourself and answer to no one but your customers

You can make as much or as little as you want

You can work as much or as little as you want

You can take time off whenever you want

You can make your schedule totally flexible

You can work on the internet and work from anywhere in the world

You can save money on clothes you had to buy for jobs

You can save money on gas, car maintenance and insurance

You can get great tax breaks owning your own business

Travel and other expenses can be tax deductible

The list of great things I can think of about a home business goes on and
on. Here are some of the things that can be a drain on you with a home
business opportunity:

You can’t leave your business at certain critical times of growth

Your family will sometimes become a distraction when you are working at
home

Your bed is in the same place as your work

There’s no boss to keep you honest about your hours

There’s no boss to keep you on your focus to complete critical tasks

No one will do the work for you

Customers can be a pain sometimes

The money in the beginning can come in sporadically (people who cannot
handle any kind of financial stress should definitely keep their jobs
until their home business opportunity starts paying the bills regularly).

No pain no gain. No risk, no profit. No investment, no return. A home
business opportunity is like any other business. Don’t let anyone tell
you differently!

But for those of us that thrive on making our own way in the world, who
love that there is no limit to what we can make, and no one but our
spouses to tell us what to do, there is nothing under the sun better than
a home business!

Darrell Knox is a writer and entrepreneur with 15 years of home business
and marketing experience. Free Home Business Tips Newsletter at:
cashgroup.biz/biztipspop.html.

Website: cgi.tripod /lazaraus26/cgi-bin/index.pl

dsknox@shaw.ca

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