Luminati's Weblog

A Home Business Requires Discipline

luminati — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:30:38 +0000

Choosing to have a home business is a great step towards achieving self-reliance and financial independence. But often times when people start working from home their level of productivity drops. Why is this and what can be done to change it?

Most people’s productivity at work is a direct reflection of their pier group there. At work you had many people on which to compare your level of productivity against. Now that you are working from your house you often have no measure of how productive you are, so most people’s activity levels drop.

Also, while at home there are many distractions during the day, which can lead you astray. Television, newspapers, internet, phone calls, and laundry all lead you astray from your good intentions to get work done.

On key thing you can do to increase your productivity is to plan your day out, and write what you want to achieve for that day and stick to your plan. Some activities require a certain amount of time to be put into it, while for other activities you need to achieve a specific outcome. Often times it is better to set daily goals as specific outcomes, otherwise if you just set time limits, the level of importance for that activity swells to fit the time you gave it when instead you might have been finished earlier with better results if you had focused on the outcome rather than the time put in.

Franklin Covey provides a wide variety of tools to help you plan your day, keep you organized, and increase your productivity, including PlanPlus. PlanPlus takes the time-tested planning methods from FranklinCovey and seamlessly integrates them directly into your Outlook software.

Another tip to feel more productive at home is to dress like you are going to the office. Every morning, get up, shower, and put on office clothes. Wearing your work clothes will put you into a different state of mind and will make you more productive. This will be a clue to your mind that now it is time to work.

Having a designated office area is another important thing. If you can have a room that doesn’t have a bed in it that would be great. Also, make sure your office is clean neat and try to work with the door closed.

Also, many people who work from home feel shut in. It is important to get out of the house a couple of times during the day and go for a walk or drive. Going to the mall is great for a quick walk and seeing people.

If you decide you really can’t work from home look into renting cheap office space somewhere. In many office buildings you can find a room to rent somewhere, which is much cheaper than renting a whole office.

Working from home is great if you have the discipline to keep at it. It takes consistency and drive just like any other job, but it can be a great experience. Start by making your to do list for tomorrow today.

Using Google Apps For Your Business

luminati — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:44:52 +0000

In the modern day of technology Google has become the leading figure in search engine tools, but the thing that most people are unaware of are the valuable business tools that Google has available for free. I’m not talking about Google Earth or Google Maps, I am talking about Google Apps. This free tool offers users the ability to create free email accounts, share files, create schedules, and communicate with people in real time. Although most of these tools are used for personal use, businesses should look into Google Apps. The price is right and it is one valuable piece of software.

Gmail: With Gmail businesses are able to create email accounts free of charge. Sure the email address will have “@gmail.com” attached to it, but nobody wants to pay big bucks for a custom email address when Google offers a solution for free. Gmail also has enough storage for your email needs, and the user friendly interface makes this tool a valuable resource.

Google Docs: Google Docs allows individuals to share files and store data on the internet free of charge. In todays world of technology businesses require files to be shared over the internet and Google Docs is an excellent way to do that. Businesses can create files, make changes to them, and republish them online.

Google Calendar: With Google Calendar people can manage there time better than ever. People can schedule tasks, set due dates, and use time more efficiently. This tool also lets individuals share schedules with others making it easier for people to collaborate with each other. This again comes at the amazing price of free.

Google Webtalk: Webtalk is perhaps the most valuable tool that businesses should use to elevate there business. This tool allows individuals to converse with one another from anywhere in the world in real time. Employees and business owners can conduct meetings from a computer anywhere in the world. This means more business can be done with more flexibility. Webtalk will allow businesses to conduct company meetings, allow employees to collaborate, or do anything else that helps businesses grow.

All of these tools combined will prove to be beneficial to any business. Put all of these resources together, and a business can be run from anywhere in the world. The best way to get started with Google Apps is to create an account with Google and download this powerful application.

Getting started

luminati — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:48:56 +0000

Well, I finally decided to join the blog revolution. My poor husband is tired of hearing me talk about all things web, and since there are millions of people trying to run Internet businesses out there, I figure *someone* will be interested in reading about my ideas and the knowledge I’ve gained (mostly through trial and error) over the past 12 years of building and marketing websites.

Looking forward to it, and hoping my readers get as much out of it as I have and continue to do!