Working at Home on the Internet

Work Like a Water Department Crew When Working at Home

Today I am sitting out on the patio while I work, it’s such a nice day. It’s great to have the option of doing that without being cooped up in an office (home or otherwise) all day and answering to some nimrod boss.

 It is a little difficult to concentrate though. Not because the weather is so nice, but because the Water Company is digging up the street in front of my house. They are replacing the water lines for the whole block so there are actually 3 full crews working within sight of me and my little laptop.

Have you ever noticed and complained about how there is always one guy working and the rest just stand around? I know I have. But in sitting here watching these crews do their job of digging holes, loading dump trucks, laying pipe, etc and seeing them in action, I have changed my mind about how things could be done in a home business.

Each man is assigned a specific task which he does well.

The guy in the Backhoe is an expert in digging the holes and filling the trucks.

The guy with the Jack hammer is an expert at laying out and cutting the boarders for the hole.

The Truck driver is in exactly the right position for the dirt and/or dumping.

You get the idea. They work as a Team.

But, they all wear different (hard)hats.

When we work at home, even though we may be the only employee, we are still the whole crew. We are the Mail room, Investigators, Researchers, Tech guys, Writers, Problem solvers and Boss. Just to name a few of the hats we have to wear.

I think a good way of handling our Work at Home business is to work as a crew of one.

Define as best you can what hat you are going to wear in the morning, maybe the Mail room guy. Follow that up with the persona of the Researcher for a while. Then move on to the Writer.

Intersperse all them with the Tech guy and Problem solver all the while remembering that your ARE the Boss and you may be able to get through your day and accomplish something worthwhile.

So, in closing, work like a Water Department Crew. Do what has to be done in the right order and complete the job with the right person in the right place at the right time. You may even get the water running again in time for dinner.

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November 7th, 2007 at 06:28am | Posted by Joe | Basics, Organization, Work at Home | reader remarks | Print This Post

Five More Work at Home Tips

 Ok, Change-up

I had started the Work at Home Tips Series about a month ago and had posted 5 separate articles that basically rehashed some old ideas. Some posts were entirely new, but the ideas were old. Others were old, rewritten and presented in a newer light, but still old.

So what I decided to do is just link to old ideas in old posts (they all are around a year old). For those of you who have been around that long, they are still valid ideas and worth looking at again. For newer readers, visitors and hopefully new friends, I didn’t want to waste any time in sharing these old, but timeless posts with you.

So, here are #’s 6 through 10 of the Work at Home Tips Series

6. The Balancing Act… Work and Home… One of the most difficult parts of Working at Home can be where to draw the line between Work and Home. I share some ideas on how this may be accomplished.

7. Procrastination Dosen’t Work at Home… When you are faced with something you may not feel like doing, it is easy to put it by the wayside. Maybe this will help when that happens.

8. Put the Customer First… I learned how some pretty big names think of and make sure the Customer is #1 in a presentation on the History Channel and wanted to share it with you.

9. Reliability in Business… In this one, I relate a little story on how I learned that Reliability in Business is of paramount importance to the customer (through personal experience).

10. Work at Home Pitfalls… Not everyone is cut out to be self-employed. This may just give you an idea of what to look out for before jumping into your own business with both feet.

Besides, if I’m going to do a link post, I might as well intra-link and provide some insight and helpful Work at Home Tips that are semi-hidden in the Archives here, instead of looking elswhere. Huh?

I hope you enjoy them.

August 22nd, 2007 at 06:08am | Posted by Joe | Basics, Tips, Work at Home | 1 reader remark | Print This Post

7 Necessary Steps When Launching a New Blog

Did you know it is a lot of work to launch a Blog? Of course you did, and so did I. But I almost forgot How Much Work it really is to set things up the way I want them.

Why am I telling you this? Because FINALLY after two years of waiting and trying to secure the URL I have wanted is now Mine, all mine… mcbsconsulting.com will be the Main Site for My Computer Back in Service. That, if you don’t already know, is my actual business. Helping people when they are having problems with their computer, Website or Blog. But I won’t bore you with that right now, I’ll bore you with some of the steps I will be taking this time around.

• The easy part is done, I installed WP 2.2.1. This was never a question as I have found WordPress to be the best platform for my Bogging.
• Picking a Theme is not quite as easy. The first one I tried would not render anywhere close to Internet Explorer using FireFox. The next choice was a little better, but no final decision yet.
• Then there is the matter of Plugins. Luckily, I have tested quite a few and have a good idea of what I want to do with the presentation and usage features they provide.
• Meta Data is something I really have to work on. The Blog Info and Tag line are set, but Keywords are important to get right in the beginning. Content will help with that later, but I want to get a head start with SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
• Setting the Options the right way now will help later. I set the Permalink structure without the date, just the Title/post will show for entries. I always wanted to do that here, but it would cause problems with ALL the links, internal and external.
• Another important thing to do is to register with all of the pinging services and sites like Technorati and FeedBurner. I still have to set up with Google for a Sitemap and get the code for StatCounter.
• I also want to have some posts written and ready to go Before the launch. That way, I should have a head start on posting and it should be easier to maintain a consistant schedule.

Even with the experience of Blogging and being part of such a great community, it is still a lot of work to get a Blog off the ground. I have no doubt that I have left things out but this little list will keep me busy for quite a while. Not to worry, I will let you know when I Do launch My Computer Back in Service.

Let me know if you come up with any suggestions for missing steps in comments, Please.

August 8th, 2007 at 11:24am | Posted by Joe | Basics, Blogging, Management, Organization, Resources, Tips | 4 reader remarks | Print This Post