Potential Problems of a Home-Based Business

As we are nearing the end of 2011, you might be thinking about ways to increase your home-based business or start one up. While there are many, many positive reasons to work from home, there are also potential problems that have to be realized. You may end up using this blog as a defense weapon as well, the next time someone tells you how “easy” you have it being able to work at home. No matter what your business is (inside or outside the home), there are always good and bad parts to it. One of the biggest problems you … Continue reading

How to Make Great eBay Listings

If you are working at home selling items on eBay either casually or through an eBay store, make sure that your listings stand out from the rest. Here are a few pointers on what makes a great eBay listing. The first tip is to check completed auctions from similar items. The auctions that ended with the highest price for your item will give you clues as to what helps sell that particular item. Pictures can make or break your eBay listing. Buyers want to see exactly what they are getting. A plain background and good lighting go a long way … Continue reading

Detroit: Urban Agriculture Capital of America?

I was watching some television show about Detroit not long ago and the state of the city saddened me. What was once the bustling, busy Motor City, home to Motown and a thriving auto industry, has now become a ghost town in many areas. It is estimated that there are about 33,000 vacant homes in Detroit, with many city blocks being totally abandoned. Overall, there is approximately 25,000 vacant acres in Detroit. City officials are facing a daunting task – how to revive this once lively city. Detroit seems the perfect place for urban agriculture. After all, there are cheap, … Continue reading

Changing Rules and Expectations–Expect Initial Resistance

When there is a problem with your child that needs addressing, or a phase that pops up that you need to deal with as a parent, it may seem like just figuring out what to do is the hard part. I think, however, that the hardest part is those first few days of balking and resistance that come from the child! Just because you have come up with a grand and logical solution, doesn’t mean that the child will be thrilled to welcome the limits and boundaries. As a parent, you should expect that the first couple days will be … Continue reading

Work and Bake

This is a bit of a kooky time of year for me–in addition to work and wrapping up the calendar year, I am like many others who run a business, work, and take care of a family–I also have plenty of holiday and seasonal obligations as well. As someone who loves to cook and bake, I often give homemade treats and goodies and gifts. That means I also often find myself trying to work and attend to my baking at the same time. This is another reason I am thrilled to work from home–I can do the seasonal multi-tasking! To … Continue reading

Working to Holiday Music

Several months ago, I wrote about how one of my favorite things about working from home is that I can listen to music while I work. As of yesterday, a couple of my “standby” radio stations have turned over to exclusive holiday music. While it is a nice seasonal change, I fear I may grow quite sick of “Rock Around the Christmas Tree” by the time the holiday season is only half-way through… I tend to prefer instrumental holiday music to work by in my home office anyway. I have several “Windham Hill” cds and other instrumental holiday collections that … Continue reading

Back-to-School Driving Tips For Teens

Did you know that vehicle crashes are the No.1 killer of U.S. teens? Studies show many of these deaths are the result of driver error to due to inexperience behind the wheel… AND they are preventable. It’s a fact that many parents of teen drivers need to be aware of especially with fall just around the corner. In less than 10 days millions of teens will be back on the roads heading to and from class and after-school activities. Experts say this last week in August is an ideal time to speak with your student driver about the rules of … Continue reading

But Wait, There’s More! MT Blogs Continued

This blog is part of a series on transcription. If you haven’t read the other blogs in this series, make sure to check out the summary page for a listing of all transcription blogs. Now that we’ve finished discussing how you’re going to survive working as an MT with children, we’ve got just one more important topic to cover: Life from the point of view of a person who is currently working as a transcriptionist. I interviewed the schools (which that is a very important part of becoming an MT, of course) but even more important than that, is deciding … Continue reading

Top 10 Things You Must do if You’re Going to Work at Home: Part Two

This started out as one blog, but got to be way too long. For part one, click here. Back up your computer every week ~ Need I say more? Buy Office from Microsoft or download Open Office ~ Although I love Open Office, I will the first one to admit that it can’t do everything that Word can, and some companies require you to use Word, not OO. If you are short on cash, download OO, and then buy the the Office Suite when you have the money. It may take a while to save up–that baby is expensive!!! Download … Continue reading

The Pitfalls to being an Independent Contractor

My friend, Darlene, has been working at home as a transcriptionist for several companies, including a general transcription (GT) company and a medical transcription (MT) company. She recently quit the GT company because she was making more per hour at the MT company, and she also liked the work that was available at the MT company more. Just yesterday, she got an e-mail: She was let go from the MT company effective immediately, because there was not enough work to keep her employed there. They told her that as soon as the work picked back up, they would love to … Continue reading