Simplifying SEO and SEM

What they mean
You’ve probably heard the terms Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM), but do you know what they actually mean? After readingThe Difference Between SEO and SEMyou will. This article makes both tools easy to understand and shares guidelines for using them.

How they work
After you understand the difference between SEO and SEM, you can put them to work. The article 10 Practical Small Business SEO and SEM Marketing Tips gives suggestions for making your SEO and SEM efforts count. Two of my favorite tips are #5. Pay attention to landing pages10 (you don’t have to send visitors to your home page) and #10. Stay True To Your Business. Write for your audience, not for search engines. You don’t need to implement all ten tips but you’ll find some good info you can use right away. Isn’t that the best kind?

Making Money and Saving Money

More money, more money
An article posted on Technology Toolkit called Five Great Home Business Ideas That Could Make Money offers a few tips worth considering, including writing articles and completing surveys. If you’re struggling to come up with a way to make money from home, this article is a good place to start.

Verizon + Office Depot = savings
There’s a new team in town: The Verizon Small Business Center and Office Depot. Reuters reports that this new team’s goal is to offer small businesses discounts up to 12% when they buy office supplies. That’s a definite improvement from the 0% discount I’m getting at my local Office Depot.

To participate, businesses need to log on to the Verizon Small Business Center’s Web site and click on the “Office Depot Discount Program” link (under “Alliance Discount Program”).

Make Room for Incubators, Baby

Working from homeWhen I think of an incubator, I picture sweet babies lined up in the pediatric ward waiting for their families to peek in the window. The Clarionledger.com recently featured an incubator in Mississippi, but it has nothing to do with babies.

The incubator they described is a place where business professionals share office space with other professionals in different fields. The Jackson County Small Business Incubator, now with eight tenants, has been so successful that they’re opening a second location. [Read more...]

The Garoffice in Full Swing

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me about two brothers, Jackson and Justin Kelly, who run a business out of their garage in Costa Mesa, California. When she told me they named their office the garoffice, I had to find out more about these guys. I wanted to know what they really did in the garoffice, a space filled with everything from computers, to interesting gadgets, to a bed (yes, a bed). The garoffice guys have found the perfect mix of business, pleasure and fun. And their creative office set-up matches the high level of creativity they bring to their clients’ projects. [Read more...]

Virtual Help

You may be working naked but you still wear several hats from marketing director to business manager to publicist, among other jobs. While some of us (myself included) think we can do everything ourselves, others who know they can’t and are ready to grow their businesses, hire virtual assistants. I put a call out to folks working naked with virtual assistants and asked them what their virtual assistants did for them. In some cases virtual assistants seemed to be even more valuable than their spouses (no comment). [Read more...]

Shredding a Few Pounds

Shredders are invaluable for protecting information.

Shredders are invaluable for protecting information.

The other morning while I was working in my home office, I heard a strange grinding noise. (Sounds like the opening line of a gory, horror movie!) I knew it wasn’t a lawn mower or a leaf blower or the neighbor’s go cart so finally I went outside to check it out.

Parked in front of my neighbor’s house was a huge truck with a shredder inside. My neighbor had trashcan loads of paper to shred and instead of wasting time shredding each piece, he had hired an on-site shredding company to do it for him. [Read more...]

Working Naked in a Box

The OfficePOD

The OfficePOD

What do you get when you put a cubicle inside an enclosed space and then install it in your backyard? You get an office-in-a-box or an OfficePOD.

I have to admit that when I saw this photo of the “next generation of workplace,” my claustrophobic tendencies kicked in. I don’t think I could work in a fishbowl. But if you need a quiet, uninterrupted place to work—really, who doesn’t—a portable office may be the answer. [Read more...]

More Tips for Working Out While Working Naked

Schedule workouts the way you would an appointment.

Schedule workouts the way you would an appointment.

When you’re working naked and handling everything yourself, squeezing in a workout can be nearly impossible. In another blog post, folks working naked and working out shared their exercise tips. Before you completely dump the idea of fitting a workout into your day, consider more tips from other folks who are working naked.

“For the greatest energy and focus, take a break from your desk every 90-120 minutes. Use the time to take a brisk 10-minute walk, do a few crunches and push-ups, or stretching exercises. You will return refreshed and rejuvenated.”
— Ellen G. Goldman, M.Ed., Cert. Wellness Coach [Read more...]

Creating Famous Flocks

Take a rubber ducky, give it a famous face and you get a “CelebriDuck.” CelebriDucks is the original creator of the first ever collectible rubber ducks featuring icons from film, music, athletics, and history. There are currently over 200 different CelebriDucks in the flock. The story of how Craig Wolfe, founder of CelebriDucks, started his business and what he’s learned along the way was enough to fill two blog entries. Look for the second entry tomorrow.

CelebriDucks includes a famous flock of musicians, sports figures and more.

CelebriDucks includes a famous flock of musicians, sports figures & more.

Working Naked: When did you start your business?

Wolfe: We actually started the business in 1986. Back then we were buying and selling original Disney animation drawings. That evolved to us becoming the largest publisher of advertising/animation art in the country [Read more...]

Cubicle to Couch: a Grilling Business

When I recently asked folks to share their stories of leaving the corporate world to work from home—or going from cubicle to couch— the response was overwhelming. Some people left their jobs out of boredom and others realized there was more to life than a long commute and endless hours.

Grilling and golf or a less-than-challenging job? Tough choice

Grilling and golf beats a boring job every time

Michelle Mobley, who spent nearly a decade in the political risk and kidnap & ransom consulting field, surprised her friends and colleagues when she unshackled her golden handcuffs and left the corporate world. That was more than 10 years ago when her first child was born.

While being a stay-at-home mom was challenging, Michelle said that she knew she’d be back in some aspect of business. She was right, and five years ago she and her husband published a golfer’s cookbook, I’d Rather be Grilling!, based on their passion for golf and their interest in cooking and entertaining. Their book was an immediate success and inspired them to develop their current line of products for golfers who like to grill.

They sell their products—golf-inspired grilling merchandise and customizable gift sets—to some of the most prestigious golf resorts, casinos and corporations throughout the country. Since their business is mainly Internet-based, Michelle can attend every soccer game, gymnastics meet and school function without any guilt, conflicts or commute.

I’d rather be grilling too.

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