What is the right stuff for a writer’s home office?

As I see it, there are a few basic factors that are essential for you to focus on as you set up your home office.

Your primary concerns should be comfort, professionalism and efficiency. If you want to maximize your productivity and minimize potential problems, you should make a checklist to begin creating a successful office environment.

COMFORT -

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The right kind of chairs…

Each writer’s ideal chair will differ according to personal preference, but generally speaking you want one that is ergomatically correct and cushioned enough that you can sit in it for long periods of time in a semi-relaxed manner.

My chair allows me to lean back far enough to stretch without reclining so much that my position is too relaxing and not condusive to working.

My chair also supplies support to my back and my arms, while allowing me to adjust it as needed for me to easily reach my keyboard and mouse without moving into a stressful position.

The right type of desk:

Every writer will have different preferences for what type of desk design is best-suited for their personal needs, however, I can tell you a few basic qualities that I’ve found to be useful over the years.

Adequate desktop space for computer, printer, papers, index cards, disks, pens, files etc…

Good Filing cabinets

Deep drawers… Cleanable surface….

The right surroundings:

What do you like to see, hear, touch every day?

Include those things that inspire your creativity and enhance your focus. Eliminate those items that distract your development process and detract from your ability to concentrate.

Some ideas that make a world of difference in my personal world and home office:

1. Music (not a radio, but rather a cassette or CD player, so I can pick my songs)
2. Plants
3. Windows
4. Candles or Incense

PROFESSIONALISM

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Here are some of the primary items you need to conduct business professionally from your home office.

1. Computer (with word processor, printer, and Internet access)
2. Telephone
3. Fax machine
4. Answering machine
5. Letterhead
6. Business cards
7. Filing cabinets, tracking system and organized folders.
8. Accounts payable/receivable records
9. Billing system
10. Patience, persistence and practical sense.

EFFICIENCY -

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These are some of my suggestions for what supplies you should consider purchasing to make your home office run smoothly and successfully.

1. Calendar (one on the wall, one big one on desktop and perhaps another personal day planner type)
2. Rolodex
3. Floppy Disks
4. Disk Storage Bin
5. Pens, pencils, markers
6. Professional Paper, forms, envelopes
7. Yellow stickies
8. Index cards
9. File folders
10. Daily “To Do” List
11. Office and mailing supplies
    

Resource Box – © Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine – A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like – love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more. Read it online at – http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp

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Over the last few years I have helped thousands of people start their own home based businesses. Many of these folks have become quite successful and others, for various reasons, have failed to achieve success.

People starting out in their first home based business adventure almost always suffer information overload in the early stages of trying to get their business up and running. I often refer to this as the “taking a drink from a fire hose syndrome”.

For the first time home business entrepreneur there will be a great deal of “newness” to virtually all aspects of getting their business started. When you combine all of this “newness” along with the natural sense of excitement and eagerness, it is easy to understand how people can easily fall prey to the feeling of being overwhelmed and lost.

To a degree, the confusion/frustration/overload situation frequently encountered in the initial startup phase is often similar to the old saying about trying to run before learning to walk.

The steepness (is that a word?) of the learning curve depends not only upon the particular type of business that is being undertaken, but also upon the background and skills of the person starting the business. In any event, when first starting out, people will usually try to move forward too quickly.

I caution people to come to grips with reality and to be realistic in their expectations. Far too many folks read advertisements that are hype and imply quick money, and lots of it, from a home-based business start-up. It will certainly take at least a year, and in some cases two to three years, before you should expect to begin to truly make a significant profit from your business.

It takes a lot of time to successfully market and promote a new business. Starting out a new business with the expectation of earning a full time income from a part time effort is not very realistic and is likely to lead to disappointment.

If you are planning on starting a home-based business with the intention of spending a great deal of time with young children or caring for a sick or elderly family member, a full-time home business (and income) may not be a realistic objective from a time availability standpoint. Try to reconcile your income expectations with the amount of time that you have available to devote to starting your home business.

You can expect to experience periods of doubt in the early stages of developing your business…did I pick a viable business opportunity?…am I doing the right things to develop my business?…when will I start making a profit?, and so on.

A person working at a home based business may also experience occasional periods of feeling isolated…a feeling which is probably brought on by the lack of interaction of a work force or office environment.

Whatever type of home based business that you choose to start, you can rest assured that there will be some bumps in the road leading to your success. You should expect to experience the “two steps forward and one step backward” thing and try to avoid the ever-looming temptation to become overly discouraged when you take one of those backward steps. It is very easy to lose sight of the obvious fact that as long as you have more steps forward than backward you will eventually get ahead!

About The Author

Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and coaches others seeking to start their own home based business. Visit his website at Legitimate Home Based Business for more details.

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I started looking for viable work at home opportunities back in 2001. It was a time consuming process, but in retrospect, I give myself a pat on the back every month when I cash the check from my home based business. The purpose of this article is to perhaps help others make their selection with a little less time and effort than I had to expend.

Having spent many years running traditional “bricks and mortar” type businesses, I didn’t buy for one second the numerous heavily hyped, or worse yet, scam operations that touted the instant and fantastic riches that could be achieved (often with little or no effort required). While doing my research as to which business I would eventually pursue, this type of claim became an instant trigger for me to move on to check out some other “opportunity”.

I mean, give me a break, if those claims were close to being true, why would they share their “secret” with anyone else? They would just execute their “magic system” and in short order would have made all the money that exists in the world…yeah, right!

In the course of my investigations, a few other natural filters surfaced to help me narrow down the realistic and legitimate opportunities from among the far too numerous unfounded offers. Early on, I determined that the “get in on the ground floor” offers were essentially smoke. After all, if I wanted to take a chance on the lottery, I would have purchased a ticket. Because of my business management experience, it soon became clear to me that three of the primary factors that would influence my choice would be:

* successful longevity (how long has this particular company been successfully doing business?)

* reasonable income expectations touted by the top management of the company offering the opportunity.

* support systems and training resources available to help the participants succeed.

One thing that really struck home with me was a statement made by the founder of the company that I eventually selected for my home based business. It went something like the following:

“Hardly a day goes by that I don’t hear from an affiliate questioning why he or she is not seeing a big check yet. More times than not, the person asking hasn’t even been involved for more than 90 days and is only barely beginning to even understand how the whole system works. And frankly, even if the number was six months, it’s still much too early to be expecting a significant income stream to have developed.

I always say that if you’re not willing to give a business at least a year, don’t even bother getting involved. You need to understand that it takes time to get to know all the nuances of the compensation plan. It takes time to determine which products you want to lead with. It takes time to develop a game plan. It takes time to figure out what marketing activities deliver the biggest bang for the buck. Anything worthwhile takes sustained effort. If you’re not thinking long term, you’ve set yourself up for failure.”

To sum it up, the selection process should focus on reality (there is no “magic” in home based businesses) and reject any so-called “opportunities” that seem too good to be true.

About The Author

Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and resides in California. For more details, visit his website at http://business-at-home.us

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