Your work at home success for next year

One a scale from 1 – 10 (10 being the best) how satisfied were you with the way you handled your business operations this year. As we head into a new year, it’s a good idea to see what you managed to attain the prior year.

This helps us realize what skills we are heading into the New Year with and what areas we’re still struggling with. Perhaps you nailed the art of social marketing, but still struggle with copy writing. Or maybe while you managed to get your hands on some great tools you never really put any of them to use ie, buying an ebook and not reading it through to master the techniques.

For some, last year was their year. They either got the ball rolling or managed to maintain a satisfying profit level. For others, it was a stressful time; some may have seen their traffic and sales decrease or they had to close up shop completely.

Whatever happened in that time period, you’re entering another year and you have another chance to make your work at home business successful. If you started out by learning what you’re good at, what niches you want to cut a pie in, and how to properly operate your business, good for you. Next year will most likely be an awesome one. If you struggled, give yourself a pat on the back anyway; you’re still alive to try again.

For me 2009 was not bad. There were some personal setbacks (and those always leak into one’s work life no matter how much you try to block it) but I laid some strong foundations that I can build on in 2010. I’m proud of myself and you should be too, regardless of how your year went.

It’s not easy working from home. If you have done it, you know. The competition is fierce, the constant need to be on top of your game is tiring, and the multiple roles you have to play each day can get confusing. So, simply trying is sometimes enough to merit a reward. But you’re not average and trying isn’t enough. You want to succeed, and if you keep focused, next year will let you do that.

Even if you never make New Year’s resolutions, make one, just one.

Perhaps you want to learn how to article market better, or increase your list of contacts. Maybe you want to get organized and clear up clutter that is slowing down your business, or you want to increase your income by 12%. Whatever it is, pick one thing you need to do in order to be successful next year and seriously focus on it.

Now find one skill you know you have, and make sure you apply it next year. I find so many are so busy looking at what they do wrong they forget to examine what they do right. All of us have a natural talent.

If you come up with ideas easily, put that towards building content for your site or for marketing. If you communicate briefly and effectively, create videos that will send traffic. If you’re good with your hands, start making things to sell. You may need help, but as long as you tap into a least one natural talent you’re more likely to do well in the upcoming year. Because the focus is now on what can you do well, and how you can apply it to something you struggle with.

It’s going to be a great year for a lot of us, I can feel it. We just have to remember what we gained last year and let go of what we lost.

All the best
Adelaide

Work at home: Creating out of season sales

Yesterday, I bought myself a digital camera for Christmas. I don’t usually buy myself a present during the holidays because to be honest, everyone else comes first and then I may manage to scrounge up enough couch change for boxing week, when things are a little cheaper. This year, I was a little kinder to myself and wiser too. Instead of waiting, I started shopping during summer. If I saw something a friend might like I just picked it up; this helped me save a bit for myself to buy myself a nice expensive gift.

It’s great if you’re a site that sells general items, things that people can use all year long. It makes it great for people like me who like to shop earlier, but what if you are a seasonal shop? How do you promote yourself once your season has passed?

Here are three examples and possible ideas

1. Swimsuit website: Suppose you sell swimsuits and other fun-in-the-sun merchandise. You’re loved when April comes around but no one wants to hop on summer site when they have snow falling out their window right?

Wrong. If you own a website that focuses on summer goods, you can still sell a bundle when the weather gets cool, because holiday travelers need your wear. You can spin your promotion to target people who are going to warmer climates for the holidays. Surely, they can’t be caught in last year’s bathing suit. You can also offer great deals and even run contests.

Another target is people who shop out of season. Someone like myself, waits till the season is over to buy, because things are usually cheaper. By targeting your ads to hit us cheapos you can continue to make profits throughout the year.

2. Winter gear: During the winter months, you can drive traffic like crazy, but what happens when the snow melts?

You keep driving traffic. People may not want to think about winter when they are laying in their hammock, but it will return.

By publishing an ezine, to remind people of how to get ready for winter you can keep your traffic from ceasing all together. So let’s say you wrote an ebook on snowboarding tips, you can publish another about how to care for the equipment during summer, best places to store it during out of season months, as well as selling merchandise at great deals.

3. Holiday website: When everybody has Christmas, Thanksgiving, or even Easter on the brain, you’re their go-to site. But just because the holiday ends doesn’t mean your sales have to.

Find the root meaning of the holiday, so for Christmas it’s family. Don’t people celebrate families various times of the year? There are birthdays, anniversaries, and appreciation parties people throw and need stuff for.

If you’re going to pick a seasonal niche, create a strong list by publishing an ezine. This way you have people to send out offers to even when you are not in the lime light. Also, try looking for as many complimenting products and services as possible. So a summer site can include travel affiliate programs, weight loss programs ect. And a holiday site can pair up with event planning and stress reduction sites.

3 simple ways to increase holiday sales

It’s the season for selling, but with the state of the economy it may not be the season for buying. With layoffs at all time highs, and paychecks at extreme lows people just don’t want to spend their money. However, you can’t afford to let them keep their hands in their pocket. Thus, here are some ways to get your customers to buy from your website this holiday season.

1. Update your website. Many companies leave old content up expecting it to serve the same purpose it did last year. Every three months you need to go through your website to make sure the content is still relevant. Another big mistake webmasters make is leaving old pictures and links. It’s the holiday season, meaning it’s time to decorate your site with pictures and links that relate to the time of year. Change your banners to holiday related ones, spice up your site with winter and seasonal pictures, and put up content that meets the needs of the season. The more up to date your site looks the more likely you are to get your customers to buy.

2. Play up seasonal benefits. Now is the time to drop general campaigns. If your front-page looks like it could read for any time of the year, rewrite it. The reason for this is there is a different shopping attitude during the holiday season. People are looking for gifts, deals on gadgets, creative ideas. They don’t mind splurging, but it has to be the right item and give them the desired reaction from family and friends. Your campaigns should target not only the right consumer but meet the seasonal needs of that consumer.

Example: If you are selling GPS guides then your campaign can let consumers know, “they’ll be able to find their way to family and friends this holiday season by buying your GPS guide.”

Now more than ever, you need to hit the emotional cords. Go from “The is will help you lose weight” to “This will help you look like the most attractive person at your company Christmas party so the cute intern will finally pay attention to you.”

Playing up seasonal benefits will help prospective customers get in the mood to shop for the holidays.

3. Create urgency. People do this all the time, but the holiday season is the one time when it really works. Everyone shops around the holidays because they can get their hands on deals they may not otherwise get. If your customer thinks they only have 48 hours to get hold of the offer they will whip out their credit card. Once you’ve told them the time limit of the deal, follow through. Create the sales page with the original price. This way those who were rolling their eyes will pay attention to the next you hold a sale.

Ebay Sellers: Shop On Black Friday And Make Thousands

Black Friday is a goldmine for eBay resellers. On one single
day there are more profitable items for sale than during the
entire rest of the year. If executed properly, Black Friday can
easily create thousands of dollars in profit. This article
explains in detail how to find and buy deals on Black Friday and
then how to sell them on eBay for a profit.

Preparing for Black Friday

In order to make the best purchases on Black Friday, it is
necessary to start by gathering some supplies. Initially you
will need the following:

- Money
- Transportation
- Advertisements

The first requirement is fairly self-explanatory, but keep in
mind that the more money you can spend the more you can make.
Don't go out and spend $10,000 on your first trip though, as
that is a lot to loose if you mess up. Prepare yourself to spend
a set amount of money before leaving, that way you will know
exactly what you are getting into. The second requirement is
actually more important than it sounds. My friend and I went on
our first Black Friday trip over four years ago, and boy were we
under prepared. We went out with two sedans and came back with
two sedans filled with products plus another sedan's worth tied
to the roof. I highly recommend that you at least attempt to
find a rather large vehicle, though it isn't imperative. Lastly,
you will need to find yourself as many advertisements for Black
Friday as possible. The sooner you get these, the easier it will
be to do the research. I personally advocate searching online;
there are many websites that post Black Friday sales ads well
before they are printed. Look for deal sites and eBay selling
sites to have these. Now that you have everything together,
let's get to the important part.

Researching Products for Profitability

It is ironic that the most important part of making money on
Black Friday isn't actually done on Black Friday. This is the
part that separates those who will profit from shopping and
those who will just buy things. It almost all comes down to the
research. When the big day rolls around, it is important to know
exactly where you are going and exactly what you are buying Also
know how much money you expect to make from each product. Keep
the importance of this step in mind as we continue.

The initial research begins with finding the material, a.k.a.
advertisements. This can be done in two ways; the first is to go
and get newspapers on the Wednesday before Black Friday, the
second is to find ad-scans on the internet. I fully prefer the
second method, as it allows me to research weeks in advance. A
simple Google search for Black Friday will reveal many websites
that are dedicated to providing ads as far ahead of time as
possible.

Once your ad collection is assembled, you will need to sit down
and look through all of them, paying specific attention to items
you think will sell best. Next you want to write down a list of
the products that you think will be profitable when sold. You
will then check this list against the completed auctions on eBay
to get an approximate selling value. To reiterate, you will be
looking through ads to pick out valuable buys and comparing the
price with their current value on eBay. This will give you a
guess as to the amount of money you can make off of each item. I
recommend repeating this process of finding an item and checking
its eBay price several times so that your list will be fairly
complete. At the end of this process, you should have a good
number of products along with an idea of how much money you can
make from reselling them.

Ranking and Scheduling Stores

Now it is time to plan out our shopping trip. Here we have this
list of products and how valuable they are to us. The next step
is to arrange the items by store and by profitability. This
should make it apparent which stores are going to be more
profitable than others - these are the stores that you'll want
to visit first. After you have the stores arranged based on
profitability, you want to double check the hours of each sale.
This will assure that you catch all opportunities because of
differently timed sales (in a perfect world, each sale would
start about 2 hours after the previous, in reality they will
likely all start at the same time). The final step to this
process is to write down an exact order of the stores that you
will visit and an exact order of the products you will buy in
each store. This list makes buying the best products a very
straight forward trip. If you know what you want before hand,
you will get there before the people who will have to think
about it.

The Big Day - Black Friday

Believe it or not, this isn't nearly as difficult as it is made
out to be. Yes, there will be crowds. Yes, people will be acting
like maniacs. This is why you will succeed - because you have
already planned and researched everything and will not be acting
crazy. The drill is simple: follow your schedule and buy as many
of the profitable items as you can get. There may be times when
you need to be assertive to stay at the front of a line, or even
to push your way through a crowd to get to a product. The key is
to remain polite, confident, and assertive enough to get to
where you are going. Getting angry or causing trouble will only
make things worse. If you cannot get one of your best products,
it isn't the end of the world. Remember that there are a lot of
other items that you can get to resell for a profit. Here is a
general set of guidelines for getting the best items:

- Always remain calm. You must be in control and thinking at
all times.
- Be assertive. Say excuse me to get past people, don't just
wait there.
- Be polite. The moment you loose your temper, the sales reps
will turn on you.
- Stick to the plan. Purchase the items that you can, and move
on to the next store.

If all of these guidelines are kept in mind, there should not
be any problems during Black Friday. There is one other thing to
be aware of; up selling. Sales personnel will try rigorously to
add on warranties, surge strips, antivirus software, and many
other items that are not worth mentioning. Do not buy into their
sales hype - stick with the plan and purchase the profitable
items, nothing else.

Selling your Products on eBay

Almost there! Here is what's next: cataloguing and selling the
items online. This is pretty easy; the hard part is certainly
over. Sell as many of the items as possible within the next two
or three weeks, that way they will arrive by Christmas. Don't
panic or overload eBay in order to reach this deadline, the
items will sell nearly as well the first week into January. I
don't recommend selling products during the weeks before and
after Christmas, as this is usually a pretty slow sales period
on eBay. I would highly recommend reading these selling guides
if you need to brush up on your eBay auction technique. On the
most basic level, you need to at least include a picture in each
auction. That is about it - once everything is listed you need
only sit back and deal with shipping. There are also some
shipping guides in the above link if need be.

Let the Items Sell, and Count the Profits

This is the best part. Once everything is finished selling,
it's time to add it all up and see just how great Black Friday
is. I personally made well over $2,000 on my first Black Friday.
Give it a chance, do the research, and good luck!

About the Author: Mason Hipp is an eBay powerseller and a
regular contributer of selling guides, ebay products, and
information to http://www.selladeal.com

Source: http://www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=18762&ca=Internet

Do you need a business degree to work at home?

Did you ever question if you were smart enough to work at home? If you look at some of the sophisticated websites with all their fancy widgets and content written by people who claim to have a PhD in life, it can make you wonder if you’re smart enough to keep up with the competition. So is it necessary? Do you need formal education to run a home based business?

No, it’s not necessary, a commodity but not a necessity. Obviously, you need dental knowledge and experience if you plan to run a website about it. Knowledge and experience in your chosen niche is required, but formal education isn’t.
Formal education doesn’t guarantee success for online businesses. Because despite gaining useful knowledge, most people don’t learn the greatest factor in operating a home business—drive.

Most people fail at their work at home business because they just don’t have the drive, determination or perseverance. It has very little to do with what Ivy League university they did or didn’t graduate from.

I’m not saying you don’t need knowledge to run a home business. You do, and the learning curve can be great for those who know little about computers and marketing. Unless you have the funds to start hiring a team of experts, you’re going to be investing some time and money into learning how to get it right. What I am saying is it’s doable. The average person can escape the rat race. Your GPA isn’t a leading factor in how successful you’re going to be. It’s your commitment to your overall business goal.

The thing I love about home based businesses, and network marketing, is it levels the playing field considerably. Let’s be honest, in a lot of industries your chances of creating wealth are minuscule unless you already have a foot in the door. But network marketing lets you start from scratch and achieve financial success.
It’s not an easier way; you still have to work. However, it is a smarter way. You can find ways to create passive and multiple streams of income. In addition, by tapping into your networking skills you can employ the talents and knowledge of others.

Business is business, there are many aspects that don’t change whether it’s home based or traditional but a work at home business is considerably different. If you’re worried that you just aren’t smart enough to run your business, invest in some home business education. One of the best resources available is SBI! eLearning.

If you are worried that you're not ready to build an online business, don't be. If you can write a memo, then you're ready!

SBI! eLearning takes you by the hand beginning with a plan and a step-by-step process that has proven to work across industries, across continents and across age groups.
SBI! eLearning is not your typical course. You'll always know that you're on the right track and headed in the right direction.

Most school systems teach very little about being an entrepreneur online. Enter SiteSell Education and SBI! eLearning. Take the class and "graduate" with an income earning e-business.

It allows you to minimize your business expenses while adding to your bank account.

After you take the SBI! eLearning course you'll have access to a special Alumni Relations Group on LinkedIn. Networking with classmates and other SBI! eLearning alumni will become invaluable. The Alumni group helps you take what you've learned and continue to follow through on building your business.

If you are able to find an average of an hour a day to keep current with class work and build your business, then you're ready for SBI! eLearning.

In an uncomplicated, down-to-earth, and easy to understand way, your dedicated and experienced SBI! eLearning instructor will answer your questions during each live session and via e-mail.

Join the next SBI! eLearning class and get your business started on solid footing.

How to Increase Work at Home Holiday Sales

I hate to bring it up now since most of us just got back from summer vacation but Christmas is coming up. What this means for work at home business owners is now is the time to start creating your holiday marketing campaigns. Studies show that between now and March is when work at home businesses are most profitable and being prepared will help you increase your bottom line. So how do you cash in this holiday season? Here are some ideas.

1. Increase traffic and sign ups with a contest. A contest is one of the best marketing ideas out there because everybody wins (well not everyone but you understand). Create a holiday contest for your blog, or website and advertise it on several contest websites, don’t forget social networking sites too. As a prize you can give away a product if you have one, an Amazon gift certificate if you are an affiliate, or money. You can also ask your affiliate merchant to donate the prize.

2. Boost sales with discounts and savings. With the state of the economy people will be a little bit like Scrooge this holiday season. But you can still bring in sales by offering discounts and savings. This may include a percentage discount, buy now and get free shipping or including some free bonuses. Holiday sales work great because people know they won’t be getting that deal once the season ends and they are in buying mode.

3. Create brand awareness with PR. A lot of new businesses make sure they open in time for Christmas and new years. If you are a new business, write a press release and post on sites like PRweb.com (one of the best). You can announce contests your holding, your grand opening, and what your business is about.

4. Improve ad clicks. The holiday season is one of the busiest for information providers. People are logging on to find out what’s hot this holiday season, how to get it cheap, and other holiday related idea. From weight loss to holiday travel, people increase their search during this time of year. If you have a site that focuses more on content than products now is a good time to increase ad and affiliate clicks by creating more seasonal articles. Also change banner, if you can with a holiday related ones.

5. Redecorate your website. Change your pictures, banners ect to seasonal appropriate creatives. Websites that leave their summer content and pictures make less, since they appear out of date. Just changing a few pictures can help increase your sales.

6. Focus on backend sales. People are in the buying mood. Once they purchase something from your site, don’t just let them leave; they already have their credit card in their hand. You can increase sales in several ways:

a) Create a related products page (this works best).
b) Check out our best selling products (works great for sites that focus on trends).
c) “Don’t forget your Aunt Lucy” Where you suggest products for types of people (Great for sites that focus on gift ideas).

You can increase your backend sales by linking the page directly to the checkout page rather than waiting to send an email after.

There are so many ways to increase sales during the holiday season but you have to start planning before December. Look for as many places to advertise as possible and get creative in your market.

Working From Home-Get Inspried With Blogs

There are a lot of interesting blogs out there-blogs about people’s travels, daily food blogs; I especially love the home made crafts ones, probably because I secretly have no talent. Blogs are fun. They’re fun to read, and if you work from home they’re also very useful.

If you blog yourself, or run any kind of content based website then you know it can be difficult to come up with fresh quality content, especially if you are trying to focus on specific keywords.

Blogs are a great muse. You can find inspiration from blogs related to your niche and even those unrelated. When you see an article, don’t just read and pass by, ask yourself how you feel about what you just read.



I saw a great looking crafters blog the other day, and in her post she mentioned something about being out of the blogosphere due to too much work. I can’t relate to her craft, but I can relate to neglecting my blog. I know what it’s like to be well too busy to blog. And as a work at home blogger this is something I need to pay more attention to.

That one line on the crafter's blog inspired a draft for why we forget to blog sometimes. Content creation is vital for surviving in the blog world, but luckily inspiration is everywhere online.


Blogs are also great for research. Granted, they are not members of the encyclopedia since you can’t always trust what you read but they let you see perspectives.

Seeing different perspectives is great when you run a work from home business. It lets you understand your market better. Perhaps they are expressing a need not many people are addressing. Or it could lend a hand in your soft selling approaching.

If you are struggling to find content visit other blogs. You will learn, get inspired, or maybe even just laugh (which is always nice too).



Adelaide Kwaning

Deadly work at home sins

There’s a little devil in all of us. Some of us are full of envy some are lazy, but either way there’s at least one deadly sin that is hindering our success. Unlike the common 7 deadly sins, these ones pertain to working from home. Read on to see which one is challenging your work at home success.

1. Disorganized- Disorganization can wreak havoc on your business. If your office looks like hurricane Jane blew in, it’s time to get organized. A work survey found that someone who is disorganized is 3 months behind. That can translate to three months of sales. Your cluttered desktop could be keeping you from a very luxurious life.

2. Envy – Can’t get over the fact that others are successful and you’re still struggling? Then you’ll probably keep struggling. The problem with envy is it keeps you from embracing other people’s success that can potentially lead you to yours. Another reason is people who do things out of envy do it with a sense of bitterness. There isn’t the fun or healthy competitiveness; it’s a mean have-to-take you-down attitude which often leads to very lonely triumphs.

3. Know-it-all - Unless you’re willing to admit that you don’t know everything, you won’t be able to learn anything new and this will keep you back. Working from home means learning every day. Sometimes the information seems mountainous, but for those who love running their businesses they love seeping in new information. But if you close yourself off, and assume you already know how things are done, you risk being left behind because you’re less likely to be up to date and adaptable.

4. Fear of commitment. If you can’t commit yourself to your work at home business you most likely won’t be able to help the fact your business won’t grow. Too many people run too many home businesses. They treat their businesses like a cheap one night stand where they have a little fun but refuse to actually form a relationship. But like with any relationship you have to put in the effort to build it.

5. Lazy –If you do not work, you cannot expect to reap any rewards. There are a lot of lazy home business owners out there. They are always looking for the easiest way to make money, they don’t put enough hours into sustaining their business and they get bored quickly. Laziness is often a matter of dissatisfaction. If your home business doesn’t excite you then it may time to work with a business coach who can help you get motivated and passionate about your home business.

7. Affected - You are affected if you’ve been pretentious about your work at home job. You may make exaggerated claims on your website about how well you are doing. You’re only in the business to get rich and you have little concern for how you get there. You are all about impressing others and have become negatively influenced by the industry.


8. Timid- Almost everyone is a little shy sometimes, but if you’re shy to the point where you are not actively promoting your work at home business you are sadly causing its failure. Obviously you shouldn’t be too obnoxious, but sharing your opinion, content and putting yourself out there will let others know you and your business exist. You need a confidence boost and this in turn will help your business.

Beautiful work at home offices

Having a tidy organized work at home office can be the difference between making more and less. Not just because you are organized and can manage things with better ease, but because being in there makes you feel more relaxed than hectic cluttered spaces. Beautiful offices make getting the job done easier.

Creativity flows and you actually want to spend time in there so work actually gets done. If you are in the process of building your home office or are just browsing for some inspiration take a look at the home office spaces below. They may be able to give you some design ideas to beautify your work at home office.


This white office makes a beautiful minimalistic statement. I really like the black accents used, so the office isn't a blinding white slate. Another great idea is the vase with flowers. Having a plant in your office is a good way to bring a bit of the outdoors in and to brighten up the room. Sometimes it's all you need.


Designer Kim Myles creates a colorful home office and family hangout with natural accessories. The wall shelves are a great organization idea, especially for small spaces.


This sleek black office was made for serious business.


If you have the space, a wrap around office is a great idea. This is a custom built office from cheynnemillwork.com. I love the chairs. used in this office space.


This beautiful home office exudes sophistication. It's so simple yet it makes such an impact.



The only word to describe this work at home office is cozy. I'm not sure how much work I'd get done with that tempting window seat calling my name. Yes, I could always do my work there. But I'm sure I'd be taking a few naps.


This all oak work at home office is gorgeous. Crate&Barrel always has great furniture for the home office.


See any patterns in the home offices? I'm noticing that most of them have windows to bring in natural light. As well, there is uniformity in the design as well as personality. When designing your work at home office, make it your own. Try adding pictures of loved ones or drawing from kids. A painting is also a nice idea. It doesn't have to be grand, but it should be a place you want to spend time in. Now I'm in the mood to go shopping for my own home office.

Adelaide Kwaning

Can working from home make you fat

There’s no denying that sitting on your butt all day can sabotage anyone’s health regime. But are people who work from home more susceptible to weight gain?
Working from home can have negative and positive effects on your weight.




On a negative note:

1. Too many hours in front of the computer. The average work at home business owner spends about 6 hours in front of the computer working. Those who juggle several clients or deal with admin responsibilities can work for over 12 hours. This doesn’t give you a lot of time to exercise.
However, not all that time is spent working. Net surfing takes up a lot of hours from a person’s day. We easily become absorbed in watching videos, participating on forums and chat sites, and reading blogs or browsing profiles on social network sites. All this contributes to a lack of exercise.

2. Tend to work late. A number of those who work at home have day jobs. They work on building their businesses in the evening, sometimes late in the evening. Not too many people want to come home from an eight hour job, work 3 more hours on a web business and find time to exercise.

3. Food is within easy reach. It’s not a long walk to the kitchen to grab a snack or to make a meal. This can lead to eating more throughout the day. If we all ate well, eating several snacks may not be a big deal but honestly speaking, do you reach for an apple every time you have a snack attack. Even supposed healthy snacks are loaded with sugars. Because food is easily within reach, and many people have poor snack habits, it’s easy for work at homers to put on a little more weight.

4. It is easier to obey all your cravings. Ever been sitting in front of your computer and you see a picture of a great looking dessert? Before you know it, you’re in your car driving to the nearest bakery. It is so much easier to give into cravings. You cannot leave whenever you like at an office job for a coffee run. Many jobs do not let you eat on the job. But without the need for permission, you are more likely to give into the demands of your taste buds.

5. Juggling too many things. Stress causes us to overeat, and eat poorly, and there are many things that can stress you out when you work from home. The biggest problem is being your own boss means wearing a lot of hats, especially if you are on a budget. If you are not organized, you can be susceptible to bad eating habits.

But it’s not all bad there are also positives to working from home




The positive side:

1. Easier to make healthy meals. You’re home. You can make hot, delicious, healthy meals. When you work out of the home you may not have time to make great lunches or even time to eat so you grab whatever is convenient. More times than none it’s something fattening. But making your lunch at home means you can consider ingredients and portions carefully.

2. More convenient to fit exercise into your schedule. If you work at home full time, there really is not an excuse to not exercise. You can step away from your desk when it’s best for you and go for a walk, run swim ect. There are even workouts you can do at your desk. It’s just about finding activities you like to do and fitting them into your schedule.

3. Less lunch dates. Let’s be honest, friends and clients can make you fat. The daily latte runs, the lunch meetings where the only thing being served are too many carbs with a side of oil, and my favorite, when all the coworkers gather at their favorite greasy and fatty joint. Maybe it isn’t that bad, but being around others makes you eat more. You may miss out on the office gossip but your waistline won’t suffer as much.

4. Positive attitude. People who own work at home businesses tend to have a holistic view about life. They treat themselves the way the treat their business. That is they want to make sure they perform just as well. This means taking care of themselves by eating and sleeping well, finding ways to reduce stress and maintaining a positive outlook. I know we all sound like a bunch of happy sappy go getters ;P

Working from home can be either positive or negative on your weight. You choose how you want to be affected.

Adelaide Kwaning

Lose Weight, Quit Smoking, Drop Addictions and Other Bad Habits

Has working from home affected your love life?

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I’m writing this as a single person, since at the moment I don’t really have what you call a boyfriend. I’ve never been a serial dater but I have had a date or two in my life. However, working from home has changed my dating pattern a bit. Maybe it’s all the things I have to do in a day, maybe I’ve turned into one of those careers vs love girls, or maybe I just don’t feel like it, but I’ve noticed working from home has affected my dating life and even social life. Now don’t get me wrong I am dating but since I started working from home it’s been different.

Here are some ways my work at home business has affected my dating life.

1.Far more interested in individuals who also work for themselves. It could be because they are better able to relate to the emotional highs and lows of being your own boss. I don’t discount guys who don’t work from home but I notice I’m dating more men who are at least interested in it.

2. Whereas a few years ago I would never meet a guy offline that I originally met online, it’s not such a big deal now. Working online teaches you to develop this weird sense of trust since you often do business with people you have never, and may never meet in person. Yes you still have to be cautious of meeting anyone offline but the possibility of having a decent relationship with someone has increased. If I can have a good business relationship with someone I originally met online then why not a love relationship.

3. Long term investment. Maybe it’s the age I’m now (early twenties) but I no longer want to date just so I can say “I had a date.” Just like how I only want to invest time and energy into a business venture with long term potential, it’s the same with the guys I date. If I sense early on he’s not interested in anything more than a fling, I don’t even bother.

4. Networking more. Everyone knows owning a business means networking and this can help your dating life a lot if you are looking. Not that every time I go to a function I find a love potential but meeting more people, especially those you have things in common with, helps to open a lot more door and windows for the potential of a date.

5. Flexible hours make for better dates. I can set aside my work and make some time for a guy I’m dating. If he has the day off I can meet him for lunch or we can see 2:00 movie or go for breakfast. It’s also nice that I don’t have to rush home (sometimes I do) or worry about getting up early for work tomorrow. This makes me feel a lot more relaxed and of course him as well.

6. You seem more interesting. Telling a guy what I do for a living makes him sit up and pay attention. Owning an online business, being a content provider, or social media expert are all new career realms. While most of my friends have bosses and work in a cubicle, I work for myself virtually anywhere. This is attractive to a lot of people. It takes a lot of confidence, self trust, and perseverance to work for yourself. I know I’ve been interested in meeting guys who worked their asses off to build high traffic blogs.

7. More open. It could be because of my increasing networking skills, but I’m more open to new experiences and types of people. I really take the time to listen and be present with the person I’m dating now more than before. This makes dating a lot more fun. Guys are more open and honest and every date seems great. This new found sense of openness and exploration has allowed me to just have better dates even if a long term relationship doesn't ensue.

8. Easy to become work obsessed. Because there are so many things to do, and each project takes so much focus, it’s easy to become self immersed and enter your own world where you can forget the rest of the world.

If I have a deadline or a launch I have no interest in meeting anyone. My friends can suddenly take a backseat to my career. I’ll still call them but I keep it decreases when I have a project. The last thing I want is lose focus.

People think, “You work from home; you can always get back to it.” But the truth is when a good idea comes and the motivation is there, the last thing you want is a distraction. The problem is, unless the guy also works for himself he can rarely understand why I’d rather stay in on a Saturday night and work then to go out with him.

These are just some of the ways working from home and being my own boss has changed the way I date and go about my love life. I’m interested in knowing how your love life has been affected since you started working from home. Has it even been affected? Maybe you’ve managed to remain the same and in that case I want to know about that.

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Is it the right time for that type of work at home business?

A couple days ago I completed an article that I was eager to publish. There are several places I submit articles and Bukisa happens to be one of them. However, each time I tried to upload the article I got an error.

At first I was a little frustrated. Then I took it as a sign that I kept getting an error message and decided not to publish there. That meant of course looking for another avenue, while I was in pursuit of the right place for the article I took a good look at the article and asked myself “is it really the right time for this kind of information?”

After careful consideration, I realized it would not matter where I submitted the article, it could be online or off, the readership would be low. The information didn’t fit what majority of people were interested in at the time. Sure there might have been a few people that might take notice and even appreciate it but not near enough. When you work hard on any piece you need to get the most out of it.

This doesn’t just apply to a one little article, but work at home business ideas as well. There have been a number of times I had to reign in an idea because I knew it wasn’t the right time.

Businesses that survive meet a need that people desire right now. In rare cases some businesses were able to predict what people would be looking for months prior and build a business that way. Regardless, your work at home business has to be in accordance with today’s market place.

What are people reading, watching, buying, and doing right this minute? What challenges are people facing right now? And does your home business idea solve the problem.

It’s pointless to launch a business that does not serve today’s audience. You’ll spend too much time trying to convince people it’s worthwhile. Why not find out what’s on the minds and hearts of individuals and then offer products and services to help them.

For example, the number of people traveling this summer has decreased significantly from last year, but those looking for vacation ideas and activities in and around their city have increased. Thus, it would make more sense to provide advice and resources for people in your area to have the best summer vacation they can than to write about traveling abroad.

Does this mean that if your idea doesn’t suit the marketplace you should scrap it completely? Absolutely not! Just like how my article will be of use later on so can your idea. Always keep your ideas and plans someplace safe for you to refer to again. This way you don’t miss an opportunity to carry them out.

To help you decide if your work at home business has thriving potential and meets today’s audience take a walk in a book store. Book stores are one of the best places to get a quick take on what is relevant and current today since most publishers will only risk publishing books they know meet the general public’s needs and taste. Also hang out in forums and social networking sites like twitter.

Twitter is a great place to do market research since many of the users will post random rants and raves of products, services and issues. You can search twitter’s trends to see what topics are being posted about the most.

Do the research and make sure that it is indeed that right time for your work at home business.