Take this example: oDesk. Basically it’s a service that hooks clients up with service providers, and helps clients make sure they’re getting their money’s worth by spying on the service providers while they work.

As a freelance writer, I find this pretty alarming. One of the reasons I started freelancing was actually to get away from micromanaging, control freak bosses! I don’t want someone checking in on me while I work, no way. That’s why I negotiate a per-project fee — if I slack off, I want it to be on my dime, not the client’s, so that there is no reason for them to get all huffy about it.

There are much better ways to use the Internet to keep track of people. Rather than spying on someone via their web cam, you could use group management software to keep in touch with all of your freelancers: keep their contact info handy, maintain a shared calender, automatically remind them of deadlines, and so on. Databases and writer logins are fine with me too — but tell me you’re going to snap pictures of me with my web cam occasionally to be sure I’m working, and I’ll run screaming in the other direction!

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I found this to be especially true when I had small children.   I never wanted to take them to a place of business!  And I began to realize that if I wanted to run a business, that was the only way for me to do it, too.  So now I have a small internet business where I have in one place lots of tricks and resources to help a harried mother.  I started it when we moved to Tampa. Tampa Pay per click advertising has been instrumental in helping me to make my business a success.  

So whether I’m trying to sell a Bumbo or Bebe Pods, or one of those Elmo potty training DVD’s, any type of help I can get with my internet business is a big plus-especially in the crowded market of baby items AND the crowded market on the internet!

Technorati Tags: Bebe Pods, Bumbo, Tampa pay per click

My favorite sushi restaurant is a perfect example of how you can work in an industry, gain experience, and then open your own small business.

The restaurant is owned by a married couple; the husband, who is Japanese, does all the cooking, and the wife, who is actually Thai, greets people, takes orders, and serves the food. As a result, we’ve only ever met the wife, but she is an absolute sweetheart and we just adore her.

The two of them actually started out working at a very popular sushi restaurant in town. The husband worked as a chef there too, and the wife worked as either a hostess or wait staff (I can’t remember which). Although the husband already knew how to make sushi, working at the restaurant was a good way for him to learn how sushi has been Americanized.

For instance, the wife has told me before that the Japanese don’t eat ginger with sashimi (which is just raw fish, no rice), but I love ginger with sashimi, and so do many Americans. Also, there is a sushi roll called a Philadelphia roll, or a Philly roll, with salmon and cream cheese in the middle — obviously not a traditional Japanese recipe (or name)!

Anyway, working in this restaurant enabled the husband to hone his skills without getting a culinary education, allowed them to see what the sushi restaurant business is like in our city, and gave them a way to save up money and start their own business.

Technorati Tags: culinary education, small business, sushi

Shortly after I bought this common stock, a proxy arrived in the mail. I opened it, and it was like an election form. I had the opportunity to vote for or against a bunch of people that I had never heard of. Imagine that: stockholders really do have a say in how the company runs. We really are the owners. Of course that means there are a lot of owners. I imaging that they hire some sort of document imaging service to take care of compiling all of these proxies. I guess the bottom line is that I would not have considered myself to be an owner of this company if they would not have sent out these proxies.

Technorati Tags: document imaging service, HOG

Take for example the families that have lost their jobs.  It would just seem inhumane to take advantage of people in that situation (or take advantage of anyone for that matter), but instead I have come up with a solution to help many of them out.

You see, many of these families have accumulated a lot of valuable objects such as gold jewelry, paintings and other collectibles that have monetary value.  Even though most of them know that they can turn to these items to help sustain their lifestyles, many of them don’t have a faint clue how to sell jewelry online or where you can get the best price for their paintings on their walls.

I provide them with my services as a reputable gold buyer and seller and help them to get top dollar for anything that they want to sell.  I take a percentage of the sale, but everyone so far has been very happy for the help and hope new cash in their home brings.

Needless to say, I think a recession isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It is just an opportunity for businesses to help out in their community so that everyone prospers.

Technorati Tags: gold buyer, sell jewelry online

It shocked me that the guy hadn’t thought to go see how the other businesses in the area were running things. How else are you going to compete with people in your industry? But then I realized that I don’t check out the competition much in my field either. I blame it on the fact that I work on the Internet but that’s not really a good excuse.

Of course, some types of businesses are going to be easier than others to review. If you offer FTP service via the Internet, then you’re probably not going to get much opportunity to go to every other business ftp site that you compete with. Still, you could check out their websites and brochures to see how yours compare. It’s wise to know what your customers see when they look at who you’re competing with. It’s the only real way to know if you can truly compete with them.

Technorati Tags: business ftp site, FTP service

I complain about this problem sometimes. When the recession started hitting home, a lot of my friends turned to me to get advice about how to start doing what I do. I found myself getting snappy with them because I was offended by the fact that they thought my job required no real skill.

However, I know that I’m guilty of making this assumption about other jobs as well. How many times have I looked at a job and thought “oh, I could do that”. You see jobs that look simple - selling food at a farmer’s market, doing diploma framing - and you think that they’re easy enough for you to handle. The truth is that most jobs require some sort of skills and those skills might not be as natural to you as you think at first.

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Repurposed clothing is clothing that someone was going to get rid of but has instead turned into a new item that is worth wearing. The most common repurposed item to see is the T-shirt. Old T-shirts can be turned into a number of different clothing items if you know what you’re doing.

You don’t have to limit yourself to T-shirts when repurposing clothes though. I recently saw someone make a really cool new shirt out of an old maternity skirt. I wouldn’t be able to do this myself but someone with some talent at sewing could probably do this fairly easily.

These home businesses that sell repurposed clothes are doing really well right now. They are green businesses since they’re recycling old materials. Everyone loves a green business! They are artsy, crafty and generally run by smart business women. They’re a cool new addition to the home business scene and I hope that they continue to develop over time.

Technorati Tags: maternity skirt

It just seems like a mistake to mix your business life and your home life too much. I’m afraid that the pressures of a business situation would end up causing problems in our relationships with one another. We don’t have any problems now. We serve as the reprieve from one another’s problems. I’m not sure that I want to take the chance on changing that.

Then again, sometimes I think a family business would bring us even closer together. I’ve heard of these family-owned businesses like Bernardaud that have been in the same family for four or five generations. I love the idea of creating a business that can be passed down through the future of our family. I like the thought that each family member could bring something new to it and to change the original vision of it. I’m just not sure if I’m someone with enough vision to get it all started.

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Do you have to work in a cubicle? Many people find it depressing to spend their days sitting inside of their own little cube. The best way to combat this feeling is to personalize your cubicle. Make it your own little space.

Great easy ways to personalize your cubicle include:

- Get a funky chair. A really unique office chair can change the feeling of the space.

- Use a fun screensaver. Make your computer a fun thing to look at by using a screensaver that you enjoy.

- Put up photos. These don’t just have to be the usual family photos either. Hang up silly photos that make you laugh.

- Hang bold jewelry on the walls. Necklaces and earrings are light enough to hang on cubicle walls without weighing them down. They add texture and color to your space.

- Write out favorite quotes on colorful paper. Song lyrics can also be written down. Tack these up inside your cubicle.

- Get a toy or stuffed animal. Put a little bit of playfulness on your desk.

- Grow a plant. Having a living thing growing in the cubicle can make it feel a lot better!

What other tricks and tips do you know of for making a cubicle space a bit more personal?

Technorati Tags: jewelry, office chair