The current offerings are:

• Encourage a conversation
• GIve your blog exposure and get visitors and readers
• Avoid writer’s block
• Become a better blogger
• Client questions should become blog post

Take a look at the post we have up so far and if there are other blogging tips or questions about blogging you might have, leave a comment to this post. I will continue the series with my own ideas. But, it is always fun to answer my reader’s questions as that is one way we can get the conversation going.

Time tracking is an important component in the virtual assistance industry.  Because clients are only billed for time actually spent on their tasks, it is vital that a virtual assistant have some sort of system in place to track time.  Some clients are going to demand to see the exact breakdown of time, while others will be the type that aren’t concerned with it all that much.  I think it’s a good business practice to have (and use) a time tracker that allows you to send every client the breakdown regardless.

As I’ve mentioned before, I started my little business on a non-existent budget, so finding free applications to use was of utmost importance. There were several free options available at the time, so I chose one called Time Tracker.  It was a download-able stand alone that allowed me to personalize by client and tasks.  But in the free version, I had to export the information into excel and toy around with it by adding the name of my business, etc. before it was ready to send to a client. Then I started doing research for my post here at HOW last week.

It was eye opening, even for an established virtual assistant like myself, to see all of the options out there.  I decided that it was time for me to see if I could find something…still free…that gave me a little more than my current program was offering.  I decided to try MyHours.  It was a bit different since it was web-based and not a stand alone, so at first I was skeptical.  After spending just a few minutes inputting information on tasks and projects I notice that there was a ‘lite’ version that opens a little pop up window, which gave me the feeling of my old stand-alone.  I liked that feature.  I also liked the fact that I could generate reports by project, task, client or category and those time-sheets could be printed, exported to excel or e-mailed directly to the client.  This might seem like a small thing, but the added convenience is nice.  The time-sheets are also extremely detailed, allowing my clients to see just how their time was spent.  I can also look at my hours in a daily view, giving me just the tasks and time for the day I choose; or by month.  I can also input clients, work categories, projects and individual tasks which lets me literally account for every minute spent on client time. ( an example of a timesheet can be seen by clicking the image at the top of this post)

I can also access MyHours from my nifty new Blackberry Pearl, which makes it handy on those occasions when I need to make post office runs for mailings, etc.

In conclusion, after a weeks trial, I really like MyHours and will continue to use it.  However, I haven’t deleted my old standby Time Tracker from my system yet, mostly because I want to have a back-up in case of Internet connection issues. Honestly, I think it’s a personal preference like anything else, but for those of you looking for a really good, no-cost time tracking application, you might want to check out MyHours.

What really got me to thinking about all of this was a recent article which predicts $7 gas in two years. And what that possibility really means for those commuting to work every single day. My commute takes me a matter of seconds. I only have to walk down the stairs to my basement office. No driving, no paying for gas, no wear and tear on my car. And, for those concerned about the “Green” factor, no carbon signature either.

Why is it that employers are not stepping back and looking at what their employees are facing with the cost gas and commuting to and from work? Is it the fact the employers are not having to pay out of their own pocket for the cost of the commute? Forgot about the politics. Forgot about the “Green” factor. Lets look at the economic impact only. I really think that is key in all of this. If the employers were actually facing first hand the economic consequences of $7.00 gas, they might just see how telecommuting or teleworking would benefit them too.

Let me be one of the first to say, whether employers believe it or not, $7.00 gas, even $4.00 gas will have a significant economic impact on their own pocket books. Just for a moment, lets step back and look at this from an economic view only. Each day the price of gas increases, the employees commuting to and from work see their take home pay decrease. Not that the employers are withholding the cost of gas out of their check each pay period. But, the impact is the same. The employees are having to fill their gas tanks up just as often, but at a higher and higher cost each day. Their actual disposal income is decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting.

How does this have an economic consequence on employers you ask. Easy, what is the one BIG distraction most of us have each and every day. Money, right? And if I was driving to and from work each and every day of my work week. Spending god knows how much on gas. And seeing my actual disposal income decrease right along with the increase in the cost of commuting, I would venture to guess I would be very distracted. Not only at home, but at work.

If employees are so distracted about money and having enough to buy those things they need, won’t that affect their productivity? I can not see how it won’t. To that end, the solution is easy as far as I am concerned. While I agree, working from home is not for everyone, nor every employer. However, if your office is made up of mainly those who work from a desk some of the time. Or travel from the office. Why not provide them the option of working from their home? Telecommuting and teleworking just makes sense. No longer will the employee be worried about the cost of gas and in turn be distracted at work and not get their work done. It has already been proven more than once that those workers who work from home actually get just as much or more done. And employees who work from home can work when they are the most productive.

Not only will workers save on the cost of commuting. They will save a huge chunk of their day by not being on the road driving to and from work. How much time is wasted every day by employees having to get their mind around working once they drive to the office in morning rush hour traffic? Telecommuting and/or teleworking would put a stop to that little problem. Again, the home office worker would be more productive as soon as they get to their home office desk and computer.

Employers, stop worrying there are tools for this:

The usual excuse I hear from those who are reluctant to allow their office workers to work from home is, “how do we keep tabs on what they are doing?” Let’s be “frank” for a moment. If you are having to keep tabs on them, fire their sorry asses. I am serious. And then step back and take a look at what you are doing or not doing that causes your employees to not feel like they have a stake in what happens in your company. If you are giving them a reason to give a crap, maybe they just might.

Instead of worrying about keeping tabs on them, give them and yourself the tools to make telecommuting and teleworking work for you business or company. Most workers are worried they won’t be able to keep up on the “water cooler” talk. Workers, take advantage of all the free stuff out there for this. Instant messaging, twitter and other social tools. And employers, set up IM groups and even twitter groups just for your employees to keep up on what is going on at the “water cooler.”

You don’t have to be sitting in the office to have a staff meeting either. However, in my opinion, staff meetings are a complete waste of valuable time anyway. You usually sit around and argue about something or give your worthless opinion about something. But, if you have to do this, use the tools available. ooVoo is a free video chat and video conferencing tool you can use to have a video conference with up to six people. Skype is another free tool you can use to stay connected with home office workers.

No longer can employers and office workers use the excuse there are not the tools available to work from home. And I only named two. There are tons of them. (And I will do a future post on some of the other tools available in the very near future).

Employers, work into telecommuting or teleworking slowly:

If you are worried it won’t work. Try it in phases. Let workers work from home 2 or 3 days a week to start with. You will know if it works and you will know if they are working by the amount of work they get done. Some of the workers will make this work and they will work from home the entire work week. And some will need to come to the office 1 or 2 days a week for whatever reason. However, in the end this is a win-win for the employer and the worker. The worker will save commuting cost and be less distracted with the bottom line issues for their household budget. The employer will find out quickly that the worker will be less distracted, less tired and more productive working from home.

Lets keep the conversation going:

Leave your comments on your own experience working from home for an employer. And leave your comments with the tools you and your employer use to make it work. The comments you leave will be worked into that future post I mentioned above.

Social Networking

Blogs

Personal Contact Methods

As Eric states, “We’re making Mac software for smart document and information management as well as AI-powered web search. Our company is completely home-office based as we see this as the future for small companies like ours, but we maintain an official office in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.”

Eric sent the two photos of his home office away from his home office. “I usually spend two to three hours here every other day. In our small German town of Bietigheim-Bissingen we have a number of nice locations with great coffee that offer free WiFi or a T-Online hot spot where I can log-in free of charge.” In the café I find the peace to work on concentration-intensive projects like documentation, web site, or design away from the turbulences of my family with three kids. In addition I meet friends and business partners there, e.g., our graphic designer.

I do some of my best work at my own favorite coffee shop. It was nice to see someone else who’s business is centered around the home office also use the coffee shop as a place to go.

UPDATE: Just found out DEVONagent was picked as a Staff Pick over at Apple. Not bad for a company that is “completely home-office based.” Way to go Eric!!!

It appears Mark Shead challenged the Virtual Assistant industry with his “Ultimate Virtual Assistant Guide“  over at Productivity 501. So much so that he was prompted to write a follow-up post called “Offending the Entire Virtual Assistant Industry” due to the negative responses he received to his guide.  Most of the negative due to his quoting of the low pricing available by utilizing overseas virtual assistants. Oh, and apparently his mention of choosing a local college student to do the tasks he needed.

As a virtual assistant, I can honestly say I found a lot to be positive about in his ‘Ultimate’ guide.  I love to see clients writing about their experiences, good or bad.  It provides me with information that I can use to tweak my services to better serve the needs of clients.   Does this mean I’m going to lower my rates from the $30-$45 range (depending on the tasks/skills required) to the rates of overseas VA’s or a college student?  Of course not.  After all, what constitutes making a decent living in India is not the same as what pays the bills here in the U.S.  That also doesn’t mean that I feel ‘undercut’ by those overseas VA’s.  It’s like anything…some people prefer Wendy’s burgers to McDonald’s.  Some clients are going to be looking for virtual assistants with great English grammar and speaking skills, while some will be looking for a bargain. It’s business. And competition is healthy.

Do I agree with everything in the ‘guide’?  No, but I don’t think one has to in order to gain something from it.  Personally, as a professional virtual assistant, I would steer people looking for a VA to the forums and websites where many of us ‘hang out’.  There are a wide variety of talented VA’s that can be found over and the Virtual Assistant Forums and VA Networking, among others.  But that’s coming from a virtual assistants perspective. 

Regardless of the controversy the post stirred up, I believe it provides valuable information, both to clients curious about the industry as well as for VA’s themselves. Keep an open mind and head on over to check it out.

Since my series  “I want a virtual assistant…now what?” went into some details of working with a virtual assistant, I thought it might be helpful to share some information on some of the ‘tools of the trade’ that a virtual assistant may use in their business.  This list is no where near complete, as I’ve just listed the ones that I’ve been made aware of.  If you know of some that I haven’t listed, feel free to share the information in the comment section.

Phone:  Many virtual assistants rely heavily on telephone communication.  Some of the telephony type services available are:

Fax:  In lieu of a tradition fax machine the following can be used: *note: Onebox and RingCentral also offer fax services*

Time Tracking and Billing:  It is crucial for a virtual assistant to be able to track time spent on individual clients and client tasks as well as invoice for those hours.  Here are some of the time tracking and billing choices available.

Money Transfer/Wiring:  You’ve billed, now it’s time to get paid. You can go the traditional pay by check route or you can try one of these.

File Sharing/Collaboration:  Having a central location or ‘online office space’ is important for the sharing and collaborating between client and virtual assistant.

Online Calendaring: Many of the collaboration sites listed above also have calendaring features.

Marketing: Whether you’re doing your own marketing or it’s one of your client assignments, these may be of help.

Remote Access:  Being able to access client e-mail, databases and other programs resident on their computers can be a big part of a virtual assistant’s services. To accomplish this, remote access is key.

Freelance sites: Looking for more clients?  You can try one of the freelance sites listed below.

As I said, this list is just a jumping off point, as I’m positive there are many, many more tools out there that work well for virtual assistants.  Feel free to add to the list, and if we get a  huge response, I’ll republish with all of your links added as well.

I also briefly mentioned Gcal, Jott, Remember the Milk (RTM) and sync’ing all of the data with each other. Because each of these and others are such an important part of my every day functioning and being productive, I have decided to break them out into a series of post. And the first one we will discuss is Gmail.

First of all, some of what I am going to discuss and the ideas I use are not original to me. There are some huge gurus of Gmail out there. And Steve Rubel is one of them. Some of what I am going to discuss are some of the ideas Steve has posted about.

Gmail to organize your emails:

I get a ton of emails on a daily basis to multiple email addresses. There is no way I could manage this without Gmail and the built in tools it contains. One of the built in features I use the most with Gmail are labels and filters. First, I set up labels for the different type of emails I get. Labels are actually like folders in other email programs or services. For example, I have labels for staff emails, client emails, listserv emails and even one for social media emails. And those are not even all of the ones I use.

To get my emails directed to these labels (folders) I have set filters inside Gmail. Another very important built feature of Gmail. Setting up filters is easy to accomplish with Gmail. You first need to choose a search criteria. You start the process by deciding what email addresses you want to be sent to a label (folder). Than you decide on the action you want it to take. I usually have mine skip the inbox and send it right to the label (folder).

The only emails which go to my inbox are those who don’t get filtered to a label. One key to this is to make sure you keep the emails filtered “marked as unread” so you know how many unread emails are in each label. I also use the process to manage the number of comments I get from my blogs and any “quick contact forms” I get from my blogs. In other words, I have one label marked as “blog management”. And another marked as “contact us form”. You should get the point by now. You can make any label and filter you want which will help you to be more productive and keep track of the emails you get. Oh, and lets not forget about the label I have called “listserv”. All of the listserv emails I get go there so they don’t plug up my main inbox.

Have I mentioned lately that I love Gmail? However, I don’t use Gmail in my browser window. I use a great third party program called Mailplane. Mailplane is for Mac OSX and it is wonderful. You get all of the features and benefits of Gmail in a desktop application. It does cost $24.95 and in my opinion is worth every single penny.

Gmail to organize your data:

Besides using Gmail to organize your emails, you can use it to organize the amount of data and information you deal with on a daily basis. One of the tips I use almost on an hourly basis is “turn Gmail into your personal nerve center from Steve Rubel. Steve provided such a great idea when he suggested you can use Gmail as a massive database. And he is right. If you use Firefox and the Google Toolbar, you can use the send to Gmail function to send items right to Gmail. To do this, you should first set up a secret email address. What I mean by this for example may look like this: grant.griffiths+[secretword]@gmail.com. Keep in mind [secretword] can be anything you want. For example you can call it notebook, data, archive, or whatever you want. The main thing to remember is the +[secretword] acts like a filter. You than set up a label (folder) in Gmail and set up a filter to send all the emails you get with the +[secretword] to that label. I also set the filter to mark these as read since I know what I just sent myself and will view them later.

Because Gmail has the same great search abilities as Google itself, you can search and find anything you have stored in these labels you have set up as database storage.

I also have one of these special +[secretword] Gmail addresses to be a location where I send blog post ideas too. If I am reading items in my browser, I can send a link and an idea to myself as a blog idea for later use. How many times have you been looking for something to blog about. If you use this system, you can search the blog idea database in Gmail and come up with ideas.

Just remember to change the subject line in these emails so they aid in your searching of these labels (folders).

iPhone and Gmail:

What I love about this system is that I can use it with my iPhone too. Gmail works great with the iPhone’s built in mail application. And lets not forget that Google has optimized Gmail for the iPhone with its own iPhone interface Gmail web based service.

Tomorrow, I will discuss how I use Gcal and a couple other select web based applications to manage my events and to-do’s. In the meantime, leave your comments on how you use Gmail to organize your own daily life.

I’m still a Mac user. My current main computer is a 17″ Macbook Pro tricked out with the glossy screen, max RAM (3GB in this one), and the largest hard drive they were selling in March 2007 when I purchased it. This is my first Intel mac. I actually had no plans to purchase this but my trusty 15″ Powerbook G4 from the winter of 2005 died during a client trip in Dallas.The Macbook Pro is connected in my office to the granddaddy of all monitors - a 30″ Apple Cinema Display. The laptop itself sits on an elevated stand just to the left of the monitor providing me with an enormous amount of screen real estate.To the right of the Macbook setup is a Dell XPS workstation running Windows XP with Dual 20″ LCDs. I primarily use this for gaming, though the dual monitor setup and PC software is sometimes needed for specific applications. For example, I keep the books for Bryghtpath LLC (my company) using Quickbooks Pro from Intuit, which simply doesn’t have the same functionality in its Mac version as its original PC version does have.I also have an older Powermac G4 tower on the other side of the office that serves as an iTunes server, a backup server, and the main podcasting machine. It’s too old for much else at this point.The entire office is backed up to a 1TB RAID5 Appliance from Infrant.

I get this question often. In an effort to get some idea of what the readers of HOW are using, I wanted to make this an “open thread”. And if the response is good, we can make this a weekly feature. Also, if there are questions you would like to ask your fellow readers of HOW, add those to your comments.

This should really be fun. I love comparing the different tools people use to be productive and to get work done. Include anything you feel you could not live without.

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: ‘I am blind, please help.’

A marketer was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it.

He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon the marketer returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins.

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it.

The marketer responded: “Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently.” He smiled and went on his way.

The new sign read: Today is Spring and I cannot see it.

Sometimes we need to change our strategy. If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always gotten.

And a big HOW thank you to Jay Fleischman over at Bankruptcy Practice Pro for posting about this today. It showed up in my RSS reader and I knew I had to post it for the readers of Home Office Warrior to read.

Jay Fleischman is one of those guys who just gets it too. For the lawyers who read HOW, you need to stop by Jay’s Blog. He has some great information there and also provides his services to other bankruptcy lawyers.

And today is no exception. Tina Hilton who is a regular on Home Office Virtual Assistant has provided today’s guest post about Onebox.

by Tina Hilton:

When I started my small business, I knew I was going to have to choose how to spend my tiny budget in the most effective way possible. I believe that my choice of Onebox Virtual PBX Phone System to host my business phone/fax service was an ideal example of doing just that.

I needed a system that would route my business calls to either my home phone or my cell, depending on just where I might be working. It needed to also deliver my faxes to my e-mail in a format that made it easy to share with my clients, and also allow me to fax files on my computer to clients when I was away from my home office fax machine. Onebox provided me with that and more.

The computerized auto-assistant answers all phone calls to my business number with a very professional sounding message. It announces itself as my personal assistant and asks the party to wait while ’she’ connects them. You also have a choice of recording your own message and uploading it for free or having Onebox professionally record one for you for a fee. I’m a one woman operation, so I didn’t need the additional extensions, but you can add up to four for no additional cost. Each extension acts independently, and has separate forwarding options, etc. I can set up a schedule, for example, perhaps I’m in my home office in the morning, but heading out to the coffee shop to work remotely during the afternoon. I can go into the call forwarding settings and specify which hours I want calls forwarded to my home phone and which hours I want it forwarded to my cell.

If for some reason I’m not available, the system prompts the caller to leave a voicemail. It then forwards the voicemail in mp3 format attachment to my e-mail, along with the originating phone number.

The system automatically recognizes faxes and forwards them to your e-mail in .pdf format with the originating fax number. It will even send you an e-mail if the fax is incomplete. In order to send a fax through Onebox, you have to log into your account online and send it through the web interface. Since the majority of items that I find myself faxing are saved as files on my computer, it works fine for me. For people who prefer to fax directly from word processing applications, etc., it could be considered a bit cumbersome to save the file and then log into their account, open the interface and send the fax that way.

You are also given an e-mail address @onebox.com, which some might find useful, and conference calling capabilities for up to 32 people. There is also a Calendar, Bookmarks, To Do List, Contact storage and Onebox Wireless for your WAP enabled phone. These are features that I haven’t had the opportunity to try out as of yet, although now that I have my new Blackberry I’m looking to test out the Onebox Wireless soon enough.

And what do all of these nifty features cost? Plans start as low as $16.95 a month for 100 free minutes. I started out on the 400 free minute plan for $19.95 but upgraded to the 2000 free minutes for $29.95 plan in order to compensate for the large amount of faxes I receive in relation to one of my clients. For most, the 400 free minutes plan would be more than sufficient for a small business.

This Virtual PBX worked so well for me, my biggest client decided to forgo having an expensive in office phone system installed and uses it for his business. One of his four lines is forwarded directly to me, allowing me to answer calls in relation to the task I complete for him. I can easily differentiate his calls from my own, because his Onebox business number shows up on my caller ID. This allows me to answer in a professional manner with the name of his business, just like I would in a traditional office. No one that calls is even aware that I’m not actually in his offices.

As I said, I feel that Onebox not only gives me a lot of bang for my buck, it also presents a very professional image and provides a huge amount of flexibility for my business. I give it two thumbs up!!

I could not have been more excited with the thought of working from home. For months prior to leaving the corporate scene I was looking forward to having No Bosses! Flexible Hours! (More) Savings! Working in My Jammies! Well, maybe not so much the latter, but you get what I mean.

There are a lot of pre-conceived (glamorous) notions of working from home and while they sound promising and fun, one needs to have grounded expectations, especially when it comes to money. Remember: You are the boss. ‘Company expense’ is now your expense. You’re the one to approve AND pay for it. And most often than not, you don’t get paid when you don’t work. Leaving a regular office structure also means saying goodbye to some perks that go with it — immediate equipment replacement, retirement contribution matches, medical insurance, free lunches and/or coffee, reimbursable expenses, paid sick days/leaves/travel, paid-for conferences, etc.

(more…)

I have been thinking about LinkedIn quite a bit lately, especially the various ways that it can be used as a social media tool, rather than just an online resume. One feature that I had not taken advantage of was the Question and Answer, so I decided to perform an experiment.

I asked a question that was sent out to all of my contacts (and made it public), looking for some tips and tricks on working from home. The response was phenomenal, and I have compiled the answers below. There was definitely a theme running through most of the responses - having discipline about your routine and taking a break from the grind to interact with other people.

I can say that these two points have been most difficult for me, in my own Work at Home environment. (It does get lonely, sometimes.)

The top tips and tricks follow, with a list of contributors at the end, as I have done a mash-up of the answers to get to the heart of it.

Working from home takes a lot of discipline but the upside is well worth it.

1. It is vital to have a routine:

• Get yourself ready, just as if you were going to an office. If you feel like a professional, you’ll work like one.
• Start the day with a clear purpose. Know what your most important tasks are. (E-mail is not your most important task!)
• Set a time frame for projects/activities and work to keep it.
• Find your best hours for working - high energy, low interruptions.
• Take breaks in between tasks. Go for a short walk, get a drink of water.
• Let your family know that certain times are for work, and you can’t be disturbed for non-emergencies.
• Leave time in your day for the unexpected.

2. Schedule your personal activities:

• The doctor’s visit gets put after hours
• A trip to the store fits into your lunch break
• Do this with your home chores as well (post office run, laundry, personal calls).
• Schedule a time to quit working and live your life.

3. Invest in the right tools and use technology for your benefit:

• A good-sized desk and quality chair.
• All of the equipment and supplies that you need.
• Up-to-date computing hardware.
• A back-up plan in case there is a hardware or internet problem, back up your hard drive regularly, know where you can get internet access if it fails at home.
• A dedicated business phone and/or fax number.
• Set yourself up for online banking and bill-paying.
• Use voice recognition software if you type slowly.

4. Take pride in your space. Your work area should be clean, with good light and air circulation. Also, a few other amenities can keep things fresh:

• Pictures of family or friends.
• Outdoor scenes if you don’t have a window.
• A door to your office is an under-appreciated asset when you have small children.
• Communicate the boundaries of your space and time.
• Get out of your workspace from time to time. The patio can be nice. So can Panera.

5. If you feel isolated there are a few suggestions for social contact:

• Go out for lunch with others
• Go to the gym and work out. This helps with your energy level!
• Participate in (real-world) social networks.
• Go work at the local coffee shop for a few hours.
• Use Twitter (sparingly) as your virtual water cooler.
• Treat yourself with a trip to the bookstore when you reach a major milestone/accomplishment.

6. A couple of respondents provided a list of more technical issues that face the work at home professional:

• Don’t under estimate the amount of time you’ll spend on overhead. Billing, marketing, cleaning your office, supporting your computer, dealing with taxes etc. Make sure your rate reflects the fact that you may only have 3 to 6 hours of billable time each day. If you are working for another company this may be less of an issue because they provide some support services.
• Consider paying $50 per month to have a payroll service handle all the payroll paperwork. It is well worth it to know everything is done right and to keep from hassling with it yourself. To keep things inexpensive only pay yourself once per month.
• You need a solid tested backup plan. If your computer gets destroyed or stolen how long will it take you to get back to work with a new system?
• Unless your employer supplies you with a phone of some type, get a line you can dedicate to business. This can be Skype, a cell phone, or a traditional land line. I give people my cell phone number, but then call them back on Skype if the call will be more than a few minutes long. Skype is particularly useful if you are working with tech support or long conference calls where you may need to spend 2 hours on the phone.
• Consider getting an assistant. Someone who comes to help for a few hours every other day can be very valuable in allowing you to focus on things that actually make money. They can run errands, handle shipping, do research, make appointments, make travel arrangements and a host of other tasks that are time consuming but don’t necessarily require your direct attention. A local college or even high school student may appreciate the flexible schedule you can offer and come with a great deal of talent for the price.
• Prepare for taxes every month. For my business, I purchased an acordion file and labeled each tab with a tax category: meals & entertainment, office supplies, postage, printing, etc. As I gather receipts from various cash expenses, I toss them into the respective folder. At the end of the quarter, they’re already categorized, so I just add them together and enter them as a line-item journal entry in my quickbooks file.
• Get your business cards professionally printed. It makes a difference.

7. Find or develop your own master mind group/coaching/mentor around something you love.

• Whether it is growing your business, marketing, a book club, whatever, build a solid support network that you can go to for outside viewpoints and candid observations.
• Hiring a business coach is another possibility here. The goal is to have a full blown support network. Informal networks at the office must be replaced when you are away from the office.
• Recruit a mentor to bounce ideas off of, and to turn in regular status reports to.

Some of my contacts replied with blog posts of their own:

Agent Sully provided Should You Start Your Own Work at Home Business

Words Within wrote Working from Home: Challenges and Opportunities

Jared Goralnick submitted How to get started with working remotely

Ron Haynes wrote:

…a blog post about some ways to make money while keeping your day job.

Here are a few tips to follow in your quest for extra income.

• Always get everything in writing.
• Always consult with a qualified tax adviser for mileage and other potential deductions.
• Always try to get payment up front.
• Always ask for referrals from your existing clients.

When it comes to tools,

Brad Shorr added:

I really like my Moleskine 12 Month Weekly Planner Notebook, which I’ve been using for a couple years. It’s about 5-1/2″ x 8-1/4″, and surprisingly thin. The left page gives you 7 good size blocks corresponding to the days of the week, and the right page is a blank, lined sheet of paper. Simple, yet very functional for keeping track of appointments and tasks.

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I would like to thank all of the Contributors who made this post possible, and taught me some valuable lessons about personal productivity and working from home:

Mike St. Pierre
Brad Shorr
Ron Haynes
David Zinger
Stephen Hopson
Stephanie Schwerdel
Judi Jones
Liz Crystal
Jim Bouchard
Mark Shead
Naomi Dunford
Lance Dunkin
Byron Van Arsdale
Hamish Taylor
Carla (Fischer) Haase
George Krueger
Patricia “Miche” Mayo
Susan Sabo
Rick Mahn
James Mallinson
Andrew Flusche
Ray Drossaert
Cortney Sellers
Christine (Chris) Brown
Ruth Marie Sylte

After 30 years I have decided to go home. That is, take my law office out of the office building and take it into our home. I have primarily a transaction practice with four or five pieces of litigation going at anyone time. (It helps the cash flow ).

To do this we have decided to make some additions to our home, including expanding an existing back bedroom/office into a room to serve as a fulltime office, with additional storage. French doors opening onto the pool will be a nice touch, don’t you think?

In preparation for this, all new files are scanned – everything. We are currently keeping a hard copy of the file but the goal is to eventually be fully electronic and only retain necessary originals, such as contracts that are evidential, etc. Scanning currently consists of a single page scanner and I am researching various laser multi-functional printers (“MFP”) and stand alone sheet-fed scanners, and accompanying software for purchase. (I don’t see the need, yet, why we would need to have OCR software – I never “change” anything I get – we just scan existing hard copies into PDF format – somebody tell me why a law office would need anything else?)

For back ups, each computer has a stand-alone external push-the-button backup harddrive. In addition I have a small 160 gig pocketbook hard-drive I carry with me. I am testing various on-line backup companies now.
Recently, I had occasion to go to Texas for nine days (a new grandson – mother and baby are doing well – thank you very much!) But, I had a lot of “deals” and contracts going on. So I had to work. Took my Dell laptop, my daughter has wi-fi, and we used a free internet message program call “Hello” by Picasa. I had my pocket hard-drive with me so I had my complete office with me. With this I “talked” to my secretary back at the office all day. It was like she was in the next room. We emailed and transferred scanned and typed documents back and forth all day.

When I needed to dictate something (which I don’t do often anymore) I used a Sony IC Recorder ICD-SX25 and download and email the dictation to her. She types it up and emailed the draft back. I marked it up, she corrected it.
Clients called and she put them right through to my Motorola Q. They thought I was in my office in Arizona! I also use a cam at the office and one built into my laptop. I use Skype and have talked face to face with clients I had never previously met – a CEO in New Jersey, for example.

I read Technolawyer avidly and well as Home Office Warrior. Because of Home Office Warrior I was able to direct my legal assistant to a Virtual Assistant blog so she can learn about being a legal assistant out of her house.
I am convinced this is going to work and work well. Because of the technology available. Whine! Why didn’t I do this sooner!

This is the first in a series of 5 blog post we will be doing. We are looking at answering 5 questions you should be asking yourself when you are looking at your business or professional service firm’s blog. Who are you blogging too? Why are you blogging? What are you blogging about. When should I be blogging? And finally, what tools can I use to accomplish what I want to accomplish? Or in other words, how to I do it?

Take a look at the first post in the series and leave your comments or questions. Lets keep the conversation going. And don’t be surprised if your comments become part of a Part 6..the conversation continues in the series.

Home Office Highway, the digital road show that this summer will showcase how personal electronics and small business technology can empower the digital lifestyle from within the comforts of a recreational vehicle, has
signed Verizon Wireless as a presenting sponsor.

“Verizon Wireless is an ideal sponsor because its communications products are vital to any road warrior or digital consumer,” said Jeff Zbar, the tour’s creator and host Home Office Highway. “People who work from the seat of a car or a tech-laden RV must be able to reliably log on to the Internet or communicate with their wireless phone. It’s essential to working and living in the Digital Age.”

“Home Office Highway is a great new concept that relates to such a large part of today’s mobile society,” said Chuck Hamby, public relations manager for Verizon Wireless in Florida. “We’re glad to have the opportunity to show off a variety of our wireless technologies that meet the dynamic lifestyle wishes to work and play while on the move.”

Setting off in a recreational vehicle packed with the latest office technology from partner Office Depot, Zbar and his family will reveal just how productive the modern family can be when traveling the nation’s highways. A widely published technology columnist and author, Zbar will write from the road; his wife, Robbie, will manage the family’s home finances; and their kids will stay connected with friends as the RV travels from Florida up the Eastern Seaboard.

Home Office Highway’s target audience is large and growing – with spending power in the billions. It includes home-business owners (14 million), teleworkers and corporate employees who work from home or the road (25 million), and heads of households who manage family finances via the Internet, electronic banking and bill-pay services.

The 25-foot RV will visit small towns, popular tourist destinations and Office Depot locations. The family will live digitally, networking multiple laptops on latest wireless broadband service, while Zbar files dispatches, blogs and Webcam videologues to reveal how productive a “road warrior” – and his family – can be from the road. Visitors will receive a booklet on setting up an ideal workplace from the road – courtesy Design Print Ship Depot.

ABOUT THE HOST: Jeff Zbar’s work has appeared internationally in Entrepreneur.com, Costco Connection, JuggleZine, the South Florida Business Journal, the South Florida Sun- Sentinel, among other outlets. Learn more at Home Office Highway and Chief Home Officer.

Zbar will be available for media interviews before and throughout the tour, which is scheduled to depart South Florida in early July, and remain on the road for three weeks. For media availability, contact Alan T. Brown with Fish Consulting (954-893-9151) / alan@fish-consulting.com.