My Hip Office

No one reads your blog!

 
“They” say one of the most popular T-shirts selling in airports right now reads, “No one is reading your blog!”  Well, I took that as a challenge and started in on this blog again.  I gave it up for a while.  A long while. 

Blogging is hard work.  Many of my clients ask about starting a blog.   “Are you ready for all the thought and just plain hard work it will take?”  I ask.  What about you?  Are you thinking a blog is a cheap and easy way to market your home business?  It’s one strategy, but definitely not the only one. Have you started one? If so, Dave Risley wrote a great guest post on ProBlogger.net about why no one cares about your blog.

I'm taking his advice to heart and blogging on!  Stay tuned or better yet - follow me.  This blog is part of a new business venture and I'll be sharing the joys and tribulations along the way.  Tell me about your blog or new business venture.

One Hip Book for You to Read

I have shelves lined with books.  The shelves in my office are lined with the following:

1. books recommended by friends and collegues
2. books recommended by the pages of magazines and other books
3. books I think I should read
4. books that I think will make me look cool if others see my books (yet, the only ones who really ever come into my home office are my 6-and 9-year olds; one can barely read, the other chooses not to; so, so much for that excuse)
5. books that I started reading and didn't like (do I think they will get any better after collecting dust?)
6. and finally, books that I really enjoyed and actually refer back to.

Well, I am reading a book right now that is scheduled for category #6.  It is called Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths For Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self.  It is written by the guy who co-founded Fast Company Magazine, Alan Weber.  It's a great book.  Not only because it is well written and doesn't take forever to make a point, but also because it is full of information you can actually use.  Weber ends each one of his short, information-packed 52 chapters with a section called "So What."  He boils down what he's learned from some great experience over the years and lets you know how to apply it to your own situation.   No matter who you are or where you are in life, this book offers some great advice to push you farther. I loved chapter #45 - it really got me thinking - and moving; #23 is good; loved #39; #46 should be read by everyone leading any kind of an initiative.  The book is so good, I am going to go buy my own copy. (My current copy is on loan from my local library.)  I am going to read it again from front to back.   And then put it on my shelf, refer back as needed, and give it to my 6-year old to read one day.

What's on your shelf, nightstand or MP3 these days? Comment below.

Stay tuned for more Hip and Not-So-Hip reads!

What's Hip in the New Economy

My good friend, mentor and business coach, Jeff Jones, just forwarded me an interesting article from the July issue of Success magazine. In The Time to Prosper: Make the Choice for a Better Future, Amy Anderson talks about "betting on a traditional job" vs. going into business for yourself.  The "safety net" paradigm has changed, in case you haven't noticed.  Worth a read if that little voice in your head is growing louder.  You know what I mean!

The Home Office: Is it working for you?

So, after secretly coveting the lifestyle of your friends working out of their home, you either quit a great job (or not-so-great-one) to start your own piece of the economy, decided to stay home with the kids and set up a space for yourself or talked the boss into letting you telecommute (sucker!).

Oh, how great it would be, thought you.  Work when you want, less than you need and only moments away from your favorite cable channel.

So, how's that workin' for ya'?

If you actually need to make a living from your home office, you're most likely finding out that you need to be in your office from 8 to 5 and then some.  Forty hour work week - what's that? Can't even remember when you watched TV?

Well, My Hip Office is here for us home office owners to come together to commiserate, celebrate and share.  To make the best of our home office experience. To figure out what to do when you can no longer holler down the hall at the IT guy when your computer crashes.

Speaking of computer's crashing.  Mine did.  I thought I could get by on the cheap when I first set up my home office using one computer for my business and for the family.  Not good. Who knows what my 6-year old was downloading while searching for Barbie.com.   Anyway, I decided to act like a real business owner and go invest in a new laptop. I purchased a new HP at my local Office Depot.  Wow, great customer service from my knowledgeable professionals at Office Depot.    They turned frustration into relief!

I'm interested in hearing about prompted you to set up your domain in a spare bedroom or basement.  What are you doing out of your little corner of the world? What's been the best part?  What tips do you have for turning frustrations to relief?