Homeowners policy won't cover all home-based business

By Joanna L. Ossinger, The Wall Street Journal

If you run a business out of your home, the risks can add up fast. Do you see customers? You could be sued if someone trips on the steps. Make crafts? Your glue gun could cause a fire. Use your garage as an office? Your inventory or equipment could be stolen.

But the biggest risk of all is assuming that your homeowners policy will cover these damages. Regular homeowners policies cover only a fraction of business-related claims -- yet many entrepreneurs don't buy additional coverage, leaving them potentially exposed to huge losses.

Madelyn Flannagan, vice president of education and research at the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, says a typical homeowners policy covers only about $2,500 of on-premises business equipment, and just $250 off premises. In addition, the policy is unlikely to contain any liability coverage for business-related accidents.

"You have to look at your policy, but most likely, since (the liability is) related to the business, it wouldn't be covered," says Robert Hunter, director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America in Washington.

It's not clear just how many home-based businesses are underinsured. But some evidence suggests that many entrepreneurs don't know they aren't covered.

For instance, a February 2004 survey conducted by International Communications Research for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers group found that nearly 60 percent of home-based businesses lacked insurance coverage beyond the homeowners policy. Most of the uninsured business owners said they thought that they didn't need insurance, that they had other coverage or that the business was too small or didn't carry any risk.

Given the risks, experts advise home-based entrepreneurs to beef up their coverage by buying business insurance. There are three general types of policies available; the best choice depends on the size and nature of the enterprise.

First, there are endorsements, also known as riders. These are provisions added to your existing homeowners policy that bolster the coverage to include your business. If you opt for this type of coverage, check whether it includes liability insurance for your business -- if not, you may need to purchase a separate liability policy.

An endorsement usually doesn't offer a great deal of coverage, so it's probably best for businesses with a small amount of equipment and space that don't get visitors or deliveries at the home. A typical endorsement might cover $5,000 of contents and $1 million of liability for about $200 to $250 a year. That's on top of the homeowners policy, which on average costs about $675 to $800 a year.

An in-home business-owners policy combines coverage for the home and the business into a single contract, eliminating duplications and gaps in coverage.

This type of policy, which generally starts at around $100 to $150 on top of the regular homeowners-policy costs, usually covers you for liability and loss of income. It's a good choice for businesses with limited risk exposure, such as crafts or accounting -- but not if much of the business is conducted outside the home, because the policy covers only household activities and property.

A business-owners package policy is the most comprehensive type, and is more like a regular commercial policy than the other two options. It's completely separate from the homeowners policy, and coverage usually includes liability on and off premises, business property, loss of income and injury.

Larger businesses, those with high liability risk and those that stock merchandise on the premises will probably be best off with this package policy. That includes home-based day care, bakeries and any venture that involves a large amount of off-site work. This option could run about $250 to $500 a year, but may cost more depending on how risky your business is. Ventures such as day care and doctors' offices, for example, have large amounts of liability risk.

Ms. Flannagan of the insurance agents association says the agent who provides coverage for your home is the best person to ask about additional coverage. Your agent will be familiar with your current level of coverage and is therefore in the best position to determine what else you may need.

Ideally, though, "you really want to check with your (insurance) agent in advance of starting your business," she says.

Full disclosure and planning ahead will help the agent determine exactly what your business's needs are. "You need to tell the agent everything" about what the business will be doing, says Andy Thompson, an agent with Thompson Group in Parker City, Ind.

For instance, the agent will need to know how much property will be dedicated to the business, and whether it will be in your home or in a separate structure, which can affect what type of policy you need. If your business is located in a separate building such as a detached garage, a homeowners policy may exclude coverage entirely.

Mr. Thompson also suggests that you bring your agent a copy of your business plan. This will help identify, among other things, your exposure to liability. A baker could be sued if someone fell ill after eating a cookie; a consultant could be sued if a piece of advice landed a client in hot water with regulators. A day-care operation could be targeted if a child had a medical emergency.

And there are incidental liability risks as well. Someone who wants to offer piano lessons in the home could be held liable if a student were bitten by a family pet, or if a delivery person slipped on the sidewalk coming up to the house.

Product-liability coverage for products, and workmanship-liability coverage for services, will insure you against those risks. The costs vary widely, depending on the type of business and your level of risk.

"The liability exposure is always the greatest exposure somebody has," says Noel Edsall, director of product development for MetLife Auto & Home, a unit of MetLife Inc. "When in doubt, buy the extra coverage."

Another often-overlooked insurance item: Your personal auto policy is unlikely to cover claims from such mishaps as car accidents or break-ins if you're using the vehicle for business purposes. A commercial auto policy will close that gap in coverage. The cost varies widely depending on how heavily you use the car: If all you do is occasionally drive to see clients, you probably won't pay much more than you would for a personal policy. On the other hand, if you have a taxi business and ferry around customers, you'll probably pay considerably more than a personal policy.

Moreover, if you have employees, most states require you to carry workers' compensation insurance. Scott Hauge of CAL Insurance & Associates in San Francisco says many business owners think that by submitting the Internal Revenue Service's 1099 form for their employees -- usually reserved for independent contractors -- they can avoid having to pay workers' comp. But, he says, if you pay someone a regular salary and they're working "at your direction," you'll probably need the insurance.

Costs vary widely, depending on the number of employees, the nature of the work and your state regulations. Indeed, workers' comp rules vary by state, more so than many other types of property or casualty insurance. So make sure the policy you choose fulfills the proper requirements.

Working from home isn't all PJs and cream

There are distractions, delays and do-it-yourself details. Still, it does beat a day at the office.

By Mary Beth Swindells

I work from home. People are either telling me I have the best of both worlds or making jokes about my short commute from bed to desk and the luxury of holding conference calls in my pajamas.

Working from home has its advantages. I am free to run over to the school to drop off forgotten lunches. On a stressful day, I can walk outside and pull weeds for an hour. If a child is sick, there is no panic over who will stay home.

Of course, there is a flip side. Some days, I do participate in a conference call while in my pajamas. This is not because I have had a relaxing, leisurely morning but because we overslept, the bus was late, my daughter couldn't find her left sneaker, and I haven't had a chance to take a shower or brush my teeth, much less get dressed.

At 9:05 a.m., I can be found on the phone looking like death warmed over while sipping a lukewarm cup of coffee that I poured at 7:30 and reheated in the microwave at 8:59. As you can guess, I am vehemently opposed to video phones.

When you work from home, people assume you will be available 24/7. One client asked for my house phone number in case he needed to reach me in an emergency. I didn't realize that with him everything was an emergency.

He called our house so often that our kids began to refer to him as "Uncle Phil." Each conversation began with, "I tried to reach you on the business line, but I realized it was dinnertime, so I called your home number." Then he would ask my opinion on what font size to use for his pending PowerPoint presentation.

On the rare occasions when I travel, I get to go to great places: Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Naples. To minimize my time away from family, I fly out as late as possible and return as early as possible, so my knowledge of these locations is limited to the airport and the inside of a hotel.

Preparing for the first shuttle launch was probably less complicated then preparing to go away. I draft lengthy documents detailing the kids' activities (where to find the snacks, color of homework folders, location of pediatrician), which my husband glances at and then uses to wipe milk off the table.

I recently saw pictures from the kids' first day of school. My daughter went off wearing flowered pants and a plaid shirt. As my husband wryly commented, I should just be grateful he captured the Kodak moment.

The kids understand what I do, but they are kids and sometimes lose sight of important concepts like: If Mommy is on the phone talking to a client, that would be a poor time to interrupt her with the news that the cat threw up on the bed. I am quite sure my husband never terminated a briefing call to rescue a 5-year-old from a tree, faxed back a contract with stick figures drawn all over it, or sent an incomplete e-mail because the cat sat on the keyboard.

Some days, I wonder what it would be like to sit uninterrupted and finish a report without stopping to fix snacks, capture an escaped lizard, or find a treasured one-armed Barbie. However, despite the glue stick stuck to my desk and the reams of drawings littering my floor, I wouldn't trade any of it.

Not even for a shower or a steaming cup of coffee.

Mary Beth Swindells writes from Moorestown.
The Philadelphia Enquirer

Network Marketing Success: A Simple Strategy

Copyright © 2006 Nabil Khoury

If you are looking for network marketing success, I would like to tell you that success in network marketing is not magic: there are no secrets. You should stop searching for exotic solutions and learn that success simply takes discipline and action.

The formula for success is simple but takes time, commitment, persistence, and patience. The following is a simple formula for network marketing success.

1. Generate your own leads.
I do not recommend buying leads; most lead brokers are looking to rip you off. Their leads are shared with many other network marketers, and when you call the leads, they are often already disgusted from the attentions of other pushy, aggressive network marketers. If you are not sure how to generate your leads, then you need to learn the basics of both direct and Internet marketing; there are plenty of courses in which you can enroll. Using internet marketing as a lead generation tool in particular allows you to put your lead generation on autopilot, it allows you to make the whole world under your reach and one email away from you.

2. Prospect your leads.
Call your leads, build a relationship with them, and try to get to know them. Your job is simply to inform them about your opportunity; it is not your responsibility to ensure that they join. Do not be pushy, aggressive, or manipulative. Your job is to find their dreams, desires and see if your opportunity is right for them. In prospecting you need to place your prospect's interests before yours. Your prospect can sense your intentions.

3. Connect your leads with your team.
Invite them to your company conference calls or to your own presentations. Invite them to be a part of the family. If your company does not offer regular conference calls then it is your responsibility as a leader to arrange them for your team.

4.Follow up with your leads.
Most prospects are never going to sign up from the first contact, they need time to investigate the opportunity, and they need time to feel comfortable working with you. So, keep growing this relationship, and keep connecting them with other team members.

5. Sponsor your leads.
Ask them if they are ready to join. Make sure you connect them with the system; keep building your relationship with them so that they stick with you for a long time. Introduce them to more team members.

6.Teach your team what you did.
In order to achieve momentum, your team should be connected with a training program, so they can duplicate and replicate you.

This network marketing strategy if followed should lead to progressive exploding organization.

------------------------

Nabil Khoury, MD is a medical doctor and an entrepreneur.
He likes helping people with their health and wealth.
Visit his website for generic practical network marketing tips
http://www.networkmarketingsuccesstips.com

Work & Family: Call centers tap people who want to work at home

By Sue Shellenbarger, The Wall Street Journal

For many years, demand for at-home employment far outstripped supply, giving rise to a perennial crop of work-at-home scams, from pyramid schemes to phony job referrals.

Now, working at home is taking a leap forward -- in the customer-service arena. Instead of sending call-center work to India or the Philippines, a growing number of consumer-products and -services companies, from Office Depot and J. Crew to Wyndham Hotels and Sears Holdings, are outsourcing work to people in their homes here.

The development, driven by expanded broadband access to the Web, cheaper computer technology and improved call-routing systems, has opened the door to an entirely new group of at-home workers. Home-based call-center agents have tripled since 2000, estimates Art Schoeller, a senior analyst for research concern Yankee Group. A survey last August of 350 U.S. and Canadian call centers by Yankee Group found that 24 percent of agents, or 672,000 workers, are now based in their homes. IDC, a Framingham, Mass., research concern, sees the growth continuing, with home agents increasing at a rate of 24 percent each year from 2006 through 2010.

The pay for home agents is limited, and most jobs come through outsourcing firms and lack benefits. Also, the work -- such as taking telephone orders for things ranging from airline reservations to workout gear -- can be wearying, repetitive and stressful.

Nevertheless, such jobs are a potential boon for people who care for children or elderly family members at home. There's so much pent-up demand for home-based work that people who would never dream of taking a job in a brick-and-mortar call center are flocking to become home agents. Research firm Gartner Inc. says 70 percent to 80 percent of home-based agents have college degrees, compared with 30 percent to 40 percent of workers in call centers. Most are in their 30s or 40s, older than the average call-center employee, and they often have management experience, say outsourcing firms. Mark Frei, a senior vice president of West Corp., Omaha, Neb., which operates both home- and office-based call centers, says home-agent turnover is only about half the 40 percent to 100 percent attrition in traditional call centers.

Melanie Qaiyyim, a 46-year-old single mother from Chicago, has a bachelor's degree and formerly worked as a sales manager for a health-club chain. Now, she works six to eight hours a day from home selling rotisseries, makeup and other products for clients of outsourcing firm

LiveOps of Palo Alto, Calif. She sets her hours around the needs of her teenage daughter. In 13 months with LiveOps, Ms. Qaiyyim has recruited 20 new agents to the firm.

Flexibility is the primary draw. Home agents typically apply online for the weekly schedules they want, in shifts as short as 15 minutes. Kathy Thill, 40, of Westminster, Colo., a former corporate advertising manager with a master's degree in communications, wanted to supplement her family's income after leaving her career to stay home with her three children. Now, as an agent for Alpine Access, an outsourcer in Golden, Colo., she works only early mornings and afternoons when her kids are sleeping, and weekends when her husband is home.

The trend opens doors for the disabled. The $35,000 a year Katey Glass, who is legally blind, makes as an Atlanta-based agent for outsourcer Working Solutions enabled her to get off Social Security while caring for her husband, a dialysis patient and double amputee.

The downside: With a few exceptions (including employees of airline JetBlue, who are allowed to work from home as reservations agents) most home agents are independent contractors, lacking benefits. Workers must equip themselves with a computer, costing about $600, outsourcing firms say, plus a phone line and Internet access.

And income potential is limited. The most a full-time agent usually makes, outsourcing firms say, is $25,000 to $40,000 a year, although a few hard workers surpass that. Agents usually take only incoming calls and typically are paid by the call or by time spent talking, usually amounting to $8 to $18 an hour, plus incentives for selling products and services callers aren't requesting.

Calls are closely monitored, so that some agents feel like Big Brother is watching. "No kids, no pets, zero tolerance," says Tim Houlne, CEO of Working Solutions. "If there's a dog barking, that's not just a red flag, that's probable cause for termination."

Some calls can be stressful. Lydia Chang, 43, Pembroke Pines, Fla., an agent for Miramar, Fla.-based Willow CSN, once took a call for roadside assistance from a customer stranded in Ohio by a tire blowout. The man was livid that a previous agent had hung up on him and was unable to tell Ms. Chang where he was. Enduring a stream of cursing, she studied an Ohio map, called the man's aunt on another line, and searched landmarks online until she figured out where he was. She stayed on the phone with him 40 minutes, until a tow truck arrived.

The setups are also a fertile field for workaholism. Cathy McAlister, Murfreesboro, Tenn., routinely works seven days a week. She loves being able to combine running her farm with working flexible hours for West, she says.

But the drawbacks aren't even close to quenching demand for agent positions. Willow CSN will probably accept only about one-fifth of the 34,000 applications it expects to receive this year, says CEO Angie Selden.

Home-based jobs may soon expand further, as outsourcers look beyond call-center work. ARO Outsourcing of Kansas City, Mo., employs 225 home-based auditors, insurance salespeople and underwriters, says Michael Amigoni, chief operating officer. He adds, "A lot of other kinds of jobs could be workable under this model."

Working From Home

The typical home-based call-center agent:

Has a college degree

Often has management experience

Is female

Has family care duties, such as kids at home

Is between 30 and 50 years old

Sticks with the job twice as long as regular call-center workers

Separating The Work At Home Opportunities From The Scams

People who dream of working for themselves in a home-based business have plenty of business opportunities to choose from. Unfortunately, they also have to sort out the legitimate opportunities from the growing number of scams.

Online scams are being created on a daily basis. They usually promise something that sounds too good to be true. Regardless, consumer advocates say people keep spending money on them without getting any results as promised by the promoters.

The demand for running a home business is also growing exponentially. Everyday entrepreneurs keep searching through Google, Yahoo, and MSN for of ideas, and opportunities.

But how can consumers avoid thef Internet scams? Scam investigators say most people are victims of their own greediness and that's what makes the scam artists successful with selling their information.

There are simple steps consumers can take to protect themselves from being cheated.

• Always do research on the website or business opportunity you want to participate in.

• Do a search on Google for the domain name and include words: scam, review

• Contact the website owner and evaluate the way he handles you as a customer.

Following the steps above should decrease the chance of people being cheated out of their money for worthless home business idea.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news

Extending the Outdoors into a Comfortable, Usable Space for Work or Play

If space is all that is between you and enjoying the freedom of working from home, then please read on.

If you read The Popcorn report from 15 years ago, the author Faith Popcorn was right - what she calls cocooning, a new phenomena where people spend more time at home - made possible by new technologies and driven by the need for people to have more flexibility, spend less time travelling and more time with the family - has happened.

We probably live in one of the most exciting times with so many new options available - just a generation or two ago controlled factory workers would never have imagined that their great grand children would have a space in their garden where they worked from with total flexible working hours.

Most people have a strong desire to work from home, despite having little free space in their homes and even if they did have sufficient space working at home is often too noisy with many distractions and what about mum not wanting you in her space, whose space?, well admit it you are supposed to be at the office during the day.

Besides the strong desire and endless benefits for people to work from home there has been one draw back - SPACE. The shortage of space has, until now, inhibited many people from giving up the humdrum of a 9-5 working day in place of creating a peaceful comfortable space to work in.

Most of us know an extension will cost about £50,000, assuming your house can accommodate one, and what about planning permission - even then your office is still part of the house.

There is however one perfect solution: a timber building at the bottom of your garden away from everything - a place where you can double your productivity and at the end of the day you can lock the door and be home in a few seconds. You do not need planning permission or a huge loan and when you move your home will be worth more, in fact a lot of homes don't sell easily if they lack office space.

For Outdoors specialize in building quality garden offices that are comfortable, warm, with a feeling of space that provide the very best life / work balance. If you would like to learn more about building that special space then please call Roy Jackson on 01483-889666 or visit our website www.gardenofficeco.co.uk.

(PRWEB) January 13, 2006

Has My Sanity Deserted Me?

By Janice Sharman

On Christmas day I got a shock which I am still reeling from! After a delicious Christmas lunch and with feelings of Christmas cheer, I headed over to my laptop to check my mail.

The top letter in my mailbox was from google adsense with the heading:
"Google AdSense Account Disabled".
In total disbelief I read on. "It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on the Google ads on your site(s)..."

I thought for a minute that I had inadvertently opened the wrong mail as I know I had not clicked on any of the ads on my sites. I honestly thought that when they went back over their recorded clicks they would have realised their error.

Needless to say, my happy feelings evaporated. I had tons of google adsense ads on my sites. After visiting them I realised that they had indeed withdrawn their ads from my sites.

Thinking this must be an error on their part, I wrote to the faceless "Google AdSense Team". They did not even bother to reply. My husband thought that they probably had not received my email so I resent it and wrote two subsequent ones with the same result.

When something like this happens one begins to doubt his or her sanity. I do not have any children around the house that could have inadvertently clicked on any of the ads on my site. My husband does not spend time on the Internet so it is highly unlikely that he did the dirty deed. It means that I am either loosing my grip on reality or I'm going stark raving bonkers!

The problem with that is that I seem to be functioning on all cylinders in every other department, so I must be suffering from selective amnesia where google and their adsense program are concerned.

Their decision to disable my account has cost me countless hours of work and made me extremely distrustful of BIG invasive corporations who have the power to disrupt your life, act as judge and jury, and declare you guilty without a trial.

As I surf the Internet, I see many websites with google adsense ads. Beware! Your contract can be revoked without reason and you will be proved guilty without a trial.

Home Business Entrepreneur Janice Sharman has helped lots of ordinary people start profitable Home Businesses. For FREE information on how you can start a successful Home Business go to http://www.profits4sure.com/lifestyle.com and join the thousands of successful Home Business Entrepreneurs.

Figota Enterprises & eGoldCalling.com

GoldCalling®, an innovative software system created by Steven Burke, offers every business & salesperson something that has only been dreamed about but never really been implemented up until now. With the integration of land and internet based voice broadcasting services, VOIP, Email, and sophisticated data basing technologies, Gold Calling® has the functionality to instantly reach your database of sales prospects, clients, customers, business contacts, etc. by the click of a button.

Why is this one feature so critical? As Steven Burke is quick to remind us, “The fortune is in the follow up”. Up until now, it has been impossible for the average business owner or sales professional to database and follow-up continuously and effectively with their entire ever-expanding list of leads and prospects. Many in sales only work with the "hot" prospects without any time spent to maintain relationships with the rest of their prospect base. As Steven points out, leaving the majority of your leads and prospects behind is a huge mistake; those who do this are wasting the majority of time and money they spent on leads and prospecting in the first place. He goes on to say that the #1 reason people do not database and continually contact every lead and prospect by email and telephone is unquestionably because of a lack of time. The Gold Calling® software system is designed to solve this problem and develop relationships and trust with prospects, but to do so by leveraging technology.

Gold Calling® is an Automated Relationship Marketing (ARM) tool. In order to stay in touch with an ever-expanding contact list, automation is the key and email just isn’t enough anymore. According to Burke, here is when Gold Calling® shines. When a prospect contacts you, they are automatically loaded for you on your PC. Then, within the same software system, email and voice broadcasting campaigns can be managed seamlessly. With the integration of 3rd party voice broadcasting services one could dial an entire list of 25,000 people from their contact database in just minutes with a push of a button. Gold Calling® is designed to make prospecting and follow-up a "no-brainer".

Initially, Gold Calling® was introduced to home-based business entrepreneurs giving them a standalone automated prospecting and relationship marketing system. The current version of the software comes with a list with approximately 3 million leads of other past home-based business owners… in addition; there is a master version of the software that also includes 25,000 additional fresh leads per week. Business professionals do not have the time to spend six hours a day prospecting the old fashioned way. The Gold Calling® system allows part-time marketers to set up the campaign to receive 10 to 15 inbound calls a day and full timers 25 to 50 calls a day, not to mention drive hundreds to their website daily.

Burke points out that it was the intention of Gold Calling® to level the playing field in home business between people who are “part-timers” and people who work at home full-time. As several users have pointed out on the Gold Calling® information call… anyone using Gold Calling® will have a substantial advantage over others in the home-based business arena by not having to cold call or buy another lead again.

GoldCalling® will soon offer a commercial version of the software to traditional business as well and take this revolutionary product out to the masses. "This software will take this industry by storm and steal a whole market away from ACT, Outlook, and Goldmind." says Steven Burke as he is referencing the current “top three” contact management solutions. This is only just the beginning.

"The Gold Calling® system will truly revolutionize the way business professionals, MLM’s, and Home-base businesses will run their marketing efforts," Burke states. "Our system does not require pay per click ads, buying leads, (but includes over a million leads), and does not promote some video, email or auto-responder system, all of which are useless old concepts that require a lot of time, patience and money to work.”

Jose Figota from Figota Enterprises uses this program on a daily basis. “Gold Calling® is a total no-brainer for me, I have an entirely internet based business in direct sales and referral marketing. Prospecting has always been the most difficult part. Who wants to buy leads and cold call all day? I don’t, and I don’t want anyone that comes into any of my businesses to have to either.” "I firmly believe that this software is a "must" for Mortgage Consultants, Insurance Agents, and Real Estate Brokers." states Mr. Figota.

People interested in the product or service I offer, call me back. When a prospect responds from one of my advertising campaigns or voice broadcasts, they are automatically stored in my personal Gold Calling® database. Then whenever they contact me in the future, their contact file is instantly available with all of their previous information and notes I may have typed in…it makes my life easy”.

“The other thing that is amazing is all of the integration. I can literally be anywhere in the world with my laptop and internet connection and I can manage email campaigns with all of my contacts, create and schedule massive prospecting and follow-up voice broadcast campaigns, and I can directly make calls to and receive calls from prospects as well. It doesn’t matter where I am. I can do this all this on a beach if I want to. It’s a great way to do business and I recommend it to anyone”.

To get more information about this innovative software solution, get all the details at: www.eGoldcalling.com You can also contact Mr. Figota for a FREE demonstration.

Contact:
Jose Figota
Figota Enterprises
Tel: 702.267.8880 PST
www.eGoldCalling.com
www.eGoldCalling.net

Business and daily living under one roof a challenge

By KELSEY HOLM, Courier Staff Writer

WATERLOO --- Four years ago, Kris Pond-Burtis took her work home with her --- and she never left. A college professor who worked out of a traditional office for 18 years, Pond-Burtis started Krisalis Incorporated Business and Professional Organizing and Training in 2002, setting up an office in her home.

Though her office is located in the center of her house, Pond-Burtis says it's possible to keep work and home life separate, even when they are located under the same roof.

"It's really important when trying to do something like a home office to dedicate space in the house over to what that business is," she says. "...There needs to be a delineation between your work space and your home space."

Pond-Burtis says she initially tried to separate herself entirely from the main floor of the house, turning an upstairs unused bedroom into her office, but it was too quiet. Now, she's found her niche in the corner of the dining room, just off the kitchen.

"I am not right smack in the main traffic flow, but I do have an awareness of what is going on in the house. Location is a really key thing for people working from home," she says.

Teresa Carr, owner of Organized for Living, found she needed to be away from the action to function in her work space, which she created on the third floor of her home.

"No one else uses that space, and having those physical boundaries is very important," says Carr.

Establishing boundaries that aren't quite as tangible also can be important to keeping your work out of your home life and vice-versa.

Pond-Burtis says her family respects her working hours, and her clients respect her home time. She has an office phone line separate from her home line, as well as a fax machine. After 5:30 p.m., Pond-Burtis says she makes an effort to not grab her office phone if it rings.

"It can be even harder to disengage because if I'm home, if I have trouble getting to sleep, I can just slip down into my office and start working," she says. "Sometimes it's a very productive thing to do and sometimes it isn't ... There is a risk of never getting out of the office."

Carr says it's easy to want to work all the time if the hours are available, but she tries to only work with clients until 5:30 p.m. so she can spend time with her family. Carr's husband, Brian, also works out of the home, but the couple doesn't keep strict schedules. Like office space, Carr says the way people organize their days is a matter of preference.

"No matter what your organizational and work style is, planning is absolutely essential, as is prioritizing and setting goals," says Teresa. "You should have a yearly plan, a monthly plan, a weekly plan, a daily plan. It's an absolute framework."

That framework should be communicated to the business person's family as well, says Mike Hahn, senior program manager at UNI Regional Business Center.

"I think it's important that you work with the family and communicate with the family and tell the family that this is serious," says Hahn. "Tell them, 'These are my set hours and you are not to interrupt me. There needs to be borders there as well."

Contact Kelsey Holm at (319) 291-1464

New Year's Resolution: Say Goodbye to Office Politics

By Bill Schnarr

Looking back on it all now, you probably shouldn’t have had that extra six pack at the office Christmas party last year. Professing your love to anyone who would listen may have not been such a great idea either. The result? Spending the rest of your working career dealing with the looks of scorn and shame from your co workers, and forever being known as “The Maytag Man” for reasons you may or may not be able to completely understand. Office politics can be cruel, and when you are on the short end of the stick it can make your working life unbearable.

The solution?

Well, it may not have occurred to you, but an internet home business based out of your living room could be just the thing to get out of the rat race and hang up your suit and tie for good. Working from home is becoming an increasingly popular career choice for those who have no interest in climbing corporate ladders or fighting for crumbs like pigeons while the CEO’s grow fat eating bread.

There are a lot of different things that an internet home business may entail. In fact, you could be qualified to run your own boss right now – you just haven’t realized it.

In today’s computer and networking age, the idea of a central office for a business can almost seem archaic. If your company deals with a lot of foreign business and networks with other companies, than you may not even need to be in your office to do your job properly. You could do just as good a job at home in your pyjamas or hanging out at the local cyber cafй, and no one would be the wiser.

Many artistic jobs are also uniquely suited to an internet home business. Writers and graphic artists especially find the exploding internet market to be a great place to make money and ply their trade. In the business world this is called “freelancing”, and is an attractive option for anyone who considers themselves a “Hired gun”. Personally, I like to wear a Clint Eastwood poncho I found on EBay, sip dirty whiskey, and chew on a cigar while I write articles for web sites and other related jobs. “Go ahead, punk, send me some email.”

Of course, your internet home business won’t be like mine, or anyone else’s. In fact, the more diversity between internet home businesses the better, because overlap means you’ll be competing with other folks for work you could use.

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.If you are interested in becoming an affiliate marketer (and after you see the pay checks some of those guys pull down, you’ll want to seriously consider it), your internet home business is the perfect venue to carve out a niche and make yourself a career. Do yourself a favour and dig up a system that works, order their manual or online course, and study your heart out. There is a lot of money to be made preselling for other companies, but you have to be smart about it because competition can be fierce.

The really great thing about office politics in an internet home business really surround things you are used to and can live with. Your daughter hogs all the phone time and your son wants you to buy him a video game that has been banned in most God fearing Muslim countries, and your spouse is after you to make sure the dog is let out before you come to bed or that the dishes are done on time.

Isn’t that a heck of a lot better than having to stay on top of the rat race, Maytag Man?

I thought so too.

For more information, see www.work-at-home-net-guides.com.

About The Author:
Bill Schnarr is a single parent and freelance writer who works from his home in Calgary, Alberta. As well as writing about the various ways to make money online at home and having dozens of online and print publishing credits, you can also look for him in the latest "Chicken Soup for the Single Parents Soul" which was published in February 2005.

Pajamas have no place in home office

By Jill Andrew — CYW, BA, BA (Hons.), BEd.

WORKING FROM HOME TAKES DISCIPLINE

Q: Jill, I am in a consulting job but I’m really considering working from home — a small business maybe. What advice do you have for me to help make the transition easier?

—Sharlene N. Reid

A: Hi Sharlene. Considering you’ve done your research and have decided the type of at-home business you’d like to pursue and the financial gains you stand to make, thinking about how to effectively manage working from home is your next step.

Working from home has many advantages. You are your own boss, set your own hours, and can likely dodge those cold winter days in your heated home office.

There are a few things to keep in mind though. Be sure to start each day by getting dressed and ready for work. It might sound funny, but staying in your pajamas all day – even if your office is five feet away from your bed – takes its toll on your energy and your creativity.

Don’t forget to set specific work hours and stick to them. Personal phone calls and friends stopping by to chat should be discouraged during working hours. Remember this isn’t your hobby, it’s your job.

Although you are working from home remember to keep your visibility in the industry up. Attend networking events, research and adhere to new industry trends, and have monthly meet-and-greets to bring your clients together and keep them in the loop of your company vision.

Also, never be afraid to ask for help.

KEEPING A JOURNAL

Q: Hi Jill. I’ve tried your idea of keeping a journal to help me stay more on track, but I’ve often forgotten to document daily occurrences as thoroughly as I guess I should have. I’d like to really make this goal stick. Any suggestions?

— Gloria Derrick

A: It can be difficult, especially for first timers, to stick to the daily logging of journal writing. My biggest suggestion would be to remember the reason you’ve decided to keep the journal.

If doing daily writing is a bit much for you try scheduling a time over the weekend to spend looking back at your week and documenting lessons learned, challenges overcome, and accomplishments made rather than simply an overview of what’s happened. I’ve come to realize keeping a journal has to take the shape of the writer’s personality for it to work. Decide what works best for you and how often you need to record it and go from there. As you find a system that works for you you might find yourself having more time to write than you think. So don’t get stuck on remembering and documenting verbatim what happened, look more at the bigger picture of what was learned for that week as a result of a handful of events or connections you made. Good luck and let me know how it’s going.


Jill’s tip of the week
Many of us talk ourselves out of ideas and opportunities we could grow from because we’re scared. This is the year to stop negative self-talk and replace it with positive self-affirmations. Whenever you have an opportunity to take a positive chance on yourself take it. If you don’t you should never expect anyone else to.

Jill Andrew/for metro toronto