source: miss.killer!

For years, I’ve worked with clients who’ve tried everything to organize their home offices, but then have finally given up. Either they didn’t know where to start or were overwhelmed by the process. They also started to believe the negative comments their family and friends were telling them about getting organized.

If you’ve tried to organize your home office and have given up, or have started to believe what others have told you for years about getting organized, it’s time to change your thinking. When you stop believing old organizing myths, you can move forward and get your home office organized.

Myth #1 You have to be born organized to be organized

We learn both good and bad habits at an early age and you can change any bad habit, including disorganization. When I was in the corporate world, co-workers who had organized offices told me that their homes were a mess. They focused more on their workspace because that’s where they generated their income. By the time they came home from work every day, they were too exhausted to organize anything. The bottom line is that you can learn to be organized, and it’s easier if you’re motivated to make a few changes.

To read the rest of my guest post on Success Your Way, click here.

I think we’re better off as friends.

It’s not you, it’s me.

The timing isn’t right.

We’ve all either heard or used those excuses during a breakup in our personal life.

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when it comes to clients. But when a client has been with you from the start and your services are worth more than you’re charging, what do you do? Consider the following three options.

Gradually increase your fees

If you give your clients fair warning that you’re going to raise your rates, then your clients can make the decision to keep working with you or find someone else. If you’ve met your clients’ needs and helped them to achieve their goals, chances are they’ll stay with you and pay more for your services. If they decide to leave because of pricing, then you may need to question how much they valued your services.

Decide whether to keep current clients or try to replace them

Keep in mind that if the services you provide are worth more than what you charge, eventually you’ll resent your current clients. At the same time, consider how much time and effort it would take to find new clients and how much will it cost to market your services. If you weigh the time/cost benefit, you’ll have your answer.

Add additional services at higher prices

Ease your clients into a higher price bracket by adding additional services and charging for them. Early this year I added video consulting to my list of services. One of my clients moved to another city and wanted help with the set up and design of her new home office. We designed her office virtually, down to new light fixtures and artwork. The entire process went smoothly and she’s happy with her new workspace.

A business coach could add video consulting, weekly or monthly memberships to group masterminds, and could create new products for clients. While you’re expanding your business to provide more services and products for clients, you’ll also attract new clients.

Maintaining business relationships isn’t easy and creating new ones can be overwhelming and expensive. Rather than let your clients go because you’re not being paid what you’re worth, add additional services, gradually increase your prices and consider one more thing: announce your price increase. You may be surprised at how easily your clients will accept your new pricing.

Have you had to let go of a client because of pricing?

One of my clients, a business consultant, has worked with the same clients for years. She helps a client solve a problem, the client’s business grows, and then she finds other ways to help that client again. She knows that if her clients are happy, they’ll refer her to new clients…and they do.

When your business is thriving, you may not be worrying about getting more clients. On the other hand, if you’re waiting for the phone to ring, hoping that prospects will fill out your “get more info” form, and you have more bills to pay than clients to cover them, you’re probably thinking about ways to find more clients.

You can go after new clients, which can cost time and money, or you can find new ways to serve old clients. Studies show that it’s less expensive to service an existing client than to market to a prospect.  Consider these tips before you spend more time and money trying to find new clients.

• Anticipate your clients’ needs. You don’t have to be psychic (although it wouldn’t hurt) to gauge your clients’ thoughts and concerns. Some people use intuition while others use a more direct approach: they simply ask their clients for other ways they can help them. If you ask the same question rephrased differently each time — try not to be annoying — you should get the information you’re missing.

• Be a resource to your clients. If a client asks you to do something that’s outside your area of expertise, recommend someone else. Your client will appreciate your willingness to help and when they need your help again, you should be the first person they call. Make sure you recommend someone reliable, because if they drop the ball, it reflects poorly on you.

• Create new products or services based on your clients’ needs. For years I’ve heard from clients who have moved from one part of the country to the other, but still want to work with me individually. Some weren’t able to fly me to their home offices, so I had to refer them to a colleague in their city. The light bulb finally went off and I started offering consultations via Skype. At first I didn’t think the virtual consultations would work, but they do, and have become a large chunk of my business.

Before you give up on a client who hasn’t contacted you lately, ask yourself it there are any other services you can offer them. They’ll enjoy hearing from you, you’ll enjoy reconnecting with them, and the bottom line: you’ll be able to help them again.

How have you found new ways to help old clients?

Guest Post by Michelle Shaeffer

Are secret fears holding you back from jumping head first into blogging? Don’t let them! Blogging is nothing to be afraid of, and nothing has done as much to boost my business and my visibility as blogging has.

So let’s talk about some of those fears that might be holding you back from blogging:

1. I’m not sure I have anything to blog about…

Everyone has something to share. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re in business for yourself, then it’s safe to assume you’re passionate about something, right? Blog about that!

If you’re blogging for business, then it doesn’t necessarily matter what you feel you’ve got to share–it only matters what your audience wants to read. They’ve got problems, challenges, questions, and you can be the one to deliver the answers they’re searching for.

Once you’ve got your main topic or theme for your blog, you can find inspiration everywhere. Here are some great resources to get your brain going:
Chris Brogan
Blogging Bookshelf
Social Media Examiner
Simple Storming

2. But I’m not a writer!

So do a video blog or an audio blog. Create a blog that’s just you doing a weekly interview with experts or sharing a book review on video. Use a voice-to-text program to speak your blog posts and let your computer do the typing for you. There are options that don’t require you to write at all.

You could also consider hiring a ghostwriter, using PLR articles, reprinting free articles, featuring guest bloggers, or using the content you’re already creating (for your marketing materials, ezine, newsletter, ebooks, or whatever else you’ve got).

Or, be okay with the fact that you aren’t a “writer” and blog anyway. Blogging isn’t like your thesis where every word has to be perfect and every sentence has to be grammatically correct. It’s a conversational, relaxed form of written communication. Basic writing skills are necessary if you’re going to write a blog. In general, if you can write an email, you can blog.

3. I’m too busy and I don’t have time to blog!

Blogging does take time. There’s no way around that. But it doesn’t have to take hours a day. And since blogging allows you to create content that you can repurpose into other materials (articles, ezines, ebooks, print books, and much more) it’s definitely not wasted time.

Remember that you set your own blogging schedule. You don’t have to blog daily. I blog nearly daily and it works for me. But many bloggers post 2 or 3 times a week. The key is consistency with whatever schedule you choose.

There are sneaky ways you can speed up your blogging, as well. Here are 10 ways to blog better and faster.

4. What if no one reads my blog?

If you don’t let people know it’s there, they won’t read it. But it’s not difficult to promote your blog. You just need a system of where and how you’ll promote it and drive traffic (just like you already do for your website, right?). This is one of the easier obstacles to overcome.

Get a group of friends together and ask them to actively comment on your blog. Some bloggers even ask their virtual assistant to leave comments. Setup a commenting circle where you subscribe to a few friends’ blogs and they subscribe to yours, then each leave a comment when new posts are published. Once you’ve got a few comments appearing, it’ll be easier for new readers to jump in and comment, too.

Join a comment tribe. Comment tribes are groups (on Facebook or other networking platforms) where everyone shares their blog post, then comments on others in the group. Just check the rules before joining any so you know what you’re in for.

5. How will I find time to promote my blog when I’m already busy?

Once you’ve created a blog promotion plan, it’s easier and doesn’t take too much time.

There are many promotion strategies that can be automated so they happen every time you post a new entry on your blog, without any extra action from you (such as using Twitter Tools to send your posts to Twitter, NetworkedBlogs to send your blog to Facebook, and ping to tell the search engines you’ve shared something new).

6. It’s too expensive (or too technical) to get it set up.

No need to start with a whizz-bang fancy-shmancy custom blog design. WordPress is free software and there are 1,000s of free themes. Many website hosts will install WordPress free for you, so your only initial expense is the hosting (under $10 a month).

One of the coolest things about WordPress is that it grows with you. You can easily upgrade later to a customized header, theme, and other shiny things.

7. Why would anyone pay for my services if I’m sharing what I know free?

Flip that question right around. Why would anyone pay for your services if they don’t know what you can offer them? Blogging allows you a way to showcase your expertise!

8. There are already blogs about the same topics I’d blog about.

So what? I can buy shoes at a hundred different stores online but that doesn’t stop the smart ones from making sales. There’s the low price leaders like Payless, fashion boutiques like Nordstroms, charity supporting stores like Toms, service-centric sites like Zappos. They each choose a specific audience, play on their uniqueness, and it works.

Remember that when we’re learning about any topic, we generally don’t choose only one source of info. I’ve got marketing books on my shelf by more authors than I want to count! All of their voices add something different to my knowledge. Blogs are the same way–a chorus of easily accessible information we can learn from. If there are successful blogs on your topic already that’s a sign that people want learn about it which is a good thing!

You are unique. Your voice is unique. And there are people waiting to hear you share your knowledge and life’s journey in the voice only you can share it in.

And that, in a nutshell, is what busts through all of these excuses. Your blog is your stage. And your audience is waiting. So get out there!

Michelle Shaeffer’s Twitter profile describes her as: “Caffeine powered, Libertarian gal enjoying life with my kids and husband. Empowering entrepreneurs.” That sums it up nicely. You can find her helping to simplify online business at MichelleShaeffer.com or serving up ideas for bloggers at Daily Blogging Ideas.

In my last corporate job before I started my first business, I represented cartoonists and negotiated licensing deals for them. The first mistake I made was that I didn’t have an employment contract.

The second mistake was that I trusted my boss to have my best interests in mind. He didn’t.

For every deal I negotiated, I was supposed to earn 15% of the final price of the contract. When my boss realized how much money I was going to make on my first deal, he changed the rules and paid me a percentage of the amount the company made, not a percentage of the whole deal.

I quit shortly after that.

When friends asked me why I quit, and I explained what happened, they asked me why I didn’t have a contract. Ummm…I didn’t think I needed one? Obviously, I did.

Start with the contract

The purpose of a contract is to make sure that you and your client understand what services you’re going to provide and at what cost. Otherwise, your client’s perception of what you’ve agreed to provide may be different from yours. With a contract, no one has to second guess what the deal involves and who is responsible for what. When you create a standard contract that you can use for most clients, consider having an attorney review it.

Create a relationship built on trust

It’s important to build rapport with your clients and offer to help them as much as possible, yet you need to set limitations. When a client asks you to perform duties not included in your contract, let them know ahead of time that they’ll be billed for the extra time. No one likes surprises, especially when they involve money. Your clients will receive the services they request and you’ll be compensated for your time.

Keep the lines of communication open

Stay in touch with your client throughout the project. It’s up to you to let them know the status of the project, so make sure you know whether they want you to call them or communicate via e-mail.

Fulfill your commitment

Work to fulfill all of the terms of the contract and to meet the agreed upon deadline. Don’t assume anything. If you’re unclear about any aspect of the project, contact your client.

A contract doesn’t ensure that everything will run smoothly, but it’s a good start.

Have you ever had a problem with a contract or the lack of a contract? Please share your comments below.

Guest post by Michelle Shaeffer

Sometimes we’ve only got a few minutes here and there to work on our home-based businesses.  Don’t let this stop you from marketing and building your business network!

If you’ve got just 10 minutes, you can take positive actions that will help you move forward.

If I had to write a 50-page marketing plan and spend 4 hours a day implementing it… well, either it’d never happen… or I’d never get anything else done and never have time to complete the services I need to for my clients and create the products I offer. Or, I’d never get to play with my kiddos and my house would look like a hurricane hit it. There just aren’t that many hours in the day.

Always remember the reason you started your business – I’m pretty sure that “So I can test out how much stress a human body can handle, then end up in therapy!” wasn’t on your top ten list of reasons, right? Yeah, it wasn’t on mine either.

My strategy is more of a one-page style marketing plan.  Beyond the big things on the plan,  the rest of my marketing revolves around QUICK things I can do in between everything else that’s going on in my world. So I’ve made it a point to know what I get done in 5 or 10 minutes.

Anyone can squeeze in 10 minutes at least a few times a day, right?

Remember that done is better than perfect!  To get these done in 10 minutes each you need to focus on fast action and getting it great, but not perfect, or any of them can easily end up taking an hour instead of 10 minutes.

Here are some ideas:

1. Write a quick blog post and promote it.

Jot down some random thoughts about something helpful for your readers.  Try a top 10 list or top 5 list.  You can polish it later and use it as an article, in your newsletter, for a podcast, in a video, etc.  Take time to tweet your post and add it to your Facebook status.  If you’re using Networked Blogs or a similar plugin or service, it will tweet/update for you.If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of posting in 10 minutes, here are some tips to help you blog better, faster.

2. Write a few thank you cards or emails.

It only takes a few minutes to write out a card, but it’s so nice to receive a thank you in the mail.  If you don’t have thank you cards or aren’t a handwritten card person, try Send Out Cards, which lets you pick a card to send and personalize it, and then they mail it snail mail for you.  Or, send out a couple of quick emails or ecards.

3. Pick 2 or 3 blogs to comment on and leave a thoughtful comment.

Choose blogs that either you want to connect with and get known by the authors, or that reach your target market.  Leave a comment to let them know you appreciate their content, or that it sparked ideas for you or helped you in some way.

4. Hop on Facebook and do a super fast like/comment spree and update your status.

In 10 minutes you can hit like and leave short comments on a lot of posts.  Update your status, and your fan page status while you’re there.

5. Use HootSuite to schedule tweets and status updates for the next couple of days.

With HootSuite you can schedule your tweets and status updates and set what time you want them to post.  Very cool way to stay visible on the social networks without being chained to your computer.

6. Send a short note to your email list recommending a great resource.

What have you found lately (especially free or low-cost) that would be helpful to your mailing list?  Write up a quick review with how it’s saved you time, money, frustration or energy and share it with them.  People love being connected to helpful tools and services.

7. Pick one person you’d like to get to know and send a short, professional email introducing yourself.

No need to ask for anything or have a specific project in mind.  Just a note to let them know you appreciate their information, blog, articles, whatever you like, and send it.

8. Connect people.

Think of someone you know who could help someone else you know and introduce them to each other.  In 10 minutes you could come up with several sets of people to connect.

9. Go answer questions on a niche forum or a website.

There are always people looking for help on forums or sites like Yahoo! Answers and Quora.  Go find some that have questions you can answer and help with.  Save those answers – you can re-purpose them into articles, blog posts, etc. later.

10. Take action on something to build your business.

Find a blog post, article, ezine or something else you’ve got filed or bookmarked that had a great idea you meant to implement but kept forgetting.  Implement it!  Most little tweaks and action steps take very little time, we’ve just got to focus and get them done. Fast action!

Ready… set… go! Take 10 minutes and go implement one of these ideas, then come comment and tell us which you did.  You’ll feel great when it’s done — positive action in our businesses always feels fantastic!

P.S.  Don’t forget to bookmark this blog post so next time you’ve got a few minutes you can use that time to take smart action to move your business forward.

Michelle Shaeffer’s Twitter profile describes her as: “Caffeine powered, Libertarian gal enjoying life with my kids and husband. Empowering entrepreneurs.”  That sums it up nicely.  You can find her helping to simplify online business at MichelleShaeffer or serving up ideas for bloggers at DailyBloggingIdeas.com.

As much as I enjoy working from home — I’m the first person to try to convince anyone to keep his or her overhead low and set up shop at home — I realize that a home office doesn’t work for every business.

At some point, for whatever reason, it may be time for you to move out of your home office. Consider whether any of these reasons for leaving home apply to you.

Lack of room

As your home-based business grows, you’ll probably need more employees (unless you want to use freelancers and virtual assistants instead of an in-house staff). That means you’ll need more space for everyone to work.

Sure, your staff could spread out in the chairs and sofas in your family room and work on their laptops, but that’s not an ideal situation.

One of my clients ran an Internet consulting business with a staff that filled his home office, overflowed into his dining room and took over his family room. His family finally convinced him to rent outside space for himself and his staff.

Need for balance

It’s not easy to balance your personal and business life, especially when they’re in the same place. You may have in-home care, but if your kids don’t understand that you’re home but can’t spend time with them, it may be too much for everyone. (This does not apply to teenagers!)

Too many distractions

Working from home requires discipline, and with several distractions including the television, refrigerator and dirty laundry, being productive and staying focused can be challenging. If you’re having trouble blocking out those distractions, renting outside space may be your best option.

Human interaction

Working from home can be lonely, and not everyone enjoys spending each day alone. Talking on the phone or Skyping with others doesn’t count as having live, human interaction. If you rent outside space — co-working spaces are an affordable option — you won’t be lonely, especially when you’re surrounded by other business owners.

Client visits

Not every home office is conducive to meeting with clients. Ideally, your clients shouldn’t have to walk through your home to get to your home office — they’re not interested in seeing your personal life up close. If you have clients who don’t understand your work-from-home situation, an outside office is a better solution. If needing a place to meet with clients is the only reason you would rent outside space, you have a few options.

Before you make the decision to move out of your home office, carefully weigh your options. You may decide to take the plunge and leave your home office, but keep in mind you can go back home.

When my sons were little and we were bored one rainy Saturday, I decided to give them a small business lesson.

We went into their bedrooms and they each picked out a few toys they no longer used and were willing to sell. Then we clicked on eBay, researched similar toys, set the price and listed their items. Within a few days, they each earned around $25.

A few things happened:

1. My sons learned a bit about researching competitors

2. They gave their old toys new life

3. We spent quality time together

Other entrepreneurs have taken this one step further and instead of a one-time business lesson, they’re giving their kids a regular business education by including them in their businesses. It’s a win/win situation for the parents and their kids, especially for these four businesses.

Business: Stork Gifts — personalized children’s gifts sold online

Age of kids: Three daughters, 15, 12 and 9 years old

Kids’ responsibilities: The 15-year-old enters shipping information, occasionally makes personalized books for the company, attends fundraising boutiques and works at the company booth. The 12-year-old and 9-year-old sort and organize.

The benefits: According to owner Melissa Chelist, “Working in the family business has taught my kids many business and customer service skills. The girls participate in conversations about business happenings and decisions. They’ve learned responsibility, especially that the shipping needs to get done even when none of my kids feels like doing it. They also see how problems are solved.”

Business: Linaloos Designs — creating accessories from recycled vintage wool and 
cashmere sweaters

Age of kids: Twin boys,8 years old, and a daughter, age 4

Kids’ responsibilities: Sort sweaters or fetch items for their mom. One of her twins helps her punch out the paper tags that attach to the 
designs.

The benefits: According to owner Jennifer Malone, “One of the twins will sit
 and punch and chat with me about school and Pokemon cards and anything else
 that crosses his mind. I am guilty of stockpiling far more tags than I
 probably could ever need, just to have him close and talking!”

Business: Media Vision Group — a print on demand book publishing company

Age of kids: 14-year-old daughter

Kids’ responsibilities: Edit books for authors (she has already published two novels, both available on Amazon.com)

The benefits: According to owner Brent Farley, “My daughter is a great sounding board when it comes to marketing ideas and is the reason I decided to jump into the publishing industry. Our relationship plays a dual role. When she is my employee, I treat her like an employee. She has due dates and expectations because she is paid. I may even expect more out of her because she is my daughter. But when work is done, she is my little girl.”

Business: ize-T — produce t-shirts for kids, by kids, to help kids

Age of kids: 12, 9 and 5

Kids’ responsibilities: They create the designs and have been involved in the whole process.

The benefits: According to owner Matt White, “I actually started the business last year because I wanted to connect more with my kids and help them understand what I do in business, but also to get involved in a good cause. For every shirt sold, we donate an insecticide-treated bed net through World Vision’s ACTS to End Malaria campaign. It’s great to be literally working with my kids (and my wife helps in fulfillment, too, so it’s a whole family affair!) and to be involved in something that helps others.”

Some home offices reflect what their owners do, and when you look at Julie Fountain’s home office/studio with its colorful walls and containers overflowing with supplies, it’s clear she runs a creative, artistic business. As a lampworker and the owner of Lush Lampwork, Julie melts glass to make stunning beads and buttons. Checking out the designs on her Web site is like being a kid in a glass bead candy store.

For three years she worked in her covered porch but after she outgrew it, she hired a builder to convert her garage into a studio. Her 9′ x 13′ studio has a partition wall almost 5′ back from the overhead door, which leaves her with room for a general storage area.

Julie encourages visitors — students and past students come back to rent the equipment and work on their own projects — to bypass her house and come through the side gate, which brings them into a little graveled yard area. The studio door and window also open into the yard.

Across from her desk is a long work counter with a wavy mirror above it, and plenty of room below it to store equipment. The chrome stools with adjustable seats tuck out of the way when not being used.

Along with making jewelry and teaching lampworking to beginner and intermediate students, Julie travels to other studios to teach larger groups. That’s a longer commute than the few steps from her back door to her studio.

A few days ago when I was finally on a roll and tearing through my To Do list, I reached over to grab something on my desk and knocked a full glass of Crystal Light grape drink into my laptop.

Crap!

A long list of “non-family-friendly” words flew out of my mouth as I grabbed my laptop and turned it on its side. The drink didn’t drip out, it gushed out. For the record, cussing does nothing to dry out your computer, but it may ease the pain a bit.

The next thing I did was to call my Mac guru, Chelanie Israel (“Miss Mac”). She gave me ideas for drying out my computer and told me to call in a few hours if it still didn’t turn on. A few hours later my computer was officially dead, so I scheduled an appointment to meet with Chelanie the next day to get some Mac tips and advice. Now I’m writing this blog post from my new MacBook Pro.

The good thing about writing a blog is that when anything unexpected happens, it usually makes a good “here’s what I learned” blog post. So…here’s what I learned:

• Never – not even for a minute – set a drink near your computer unless it’s in a sippy cup.

• Make sure your have a reliable back-up system. I back up my data often and had backed up my data the night before the big spill, so I was covered.  I also keep two extra backups off-site, but after this I’m going to start backing up my data even more often.

• Keep a computer guru’s number on speed dial. Chelanie is the only person I trust with any Mac issue. I think I’ll call her once in awhile to say hi instead of only when I’m in crisis.

• Own or have access to a backup computer or a tablet. In my case, I pulled out my iPad and used it to check email and do social media updates like this one:

• Invest in a good protection plan. Last year my older son bought a laptop with a 3-year warranty that covers everything. The Apple Care package I’ve bought with every other Mac I’ve owned doesn’t cover “stupid.” My new plan does. The sales guy told me that last month a guy spilled a Dr. Pepper in his keyboard. For some reason, I felt better.

I’m enjoying my new laptop and I’m glad I have it. It’s cooler, faster and the information I transferred from my backup is organized better than before.

It would have been nice, though, to have bought a new laptop because I wanted to, rather than because I had to.