Suddenly the offers became “doable”. There’s nothing as nice as a REAL computer chair for good back support and comfort in a home office. I’m so used to getting by with junk, I would consider a really good computer chair once the mental barrier of “free shipping” is overcome!

If you’re in the same situation, check out their computer chairs. You might find something you’ll like.

I love Google Voice and highly recommend it for your business. I recommend having a Google Voice “Call Me” button on your website to instantly connect you with web visitors.

But just DON’T as yet take everything transcribed as “Gospel”.

As a test, Google voice transcribed these words (first line of the Star Spangled Banner):

O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

As this!

Hello say and use the 5. Delyn truly as bud with so promptly. We pay you, and I was at the primaries. Lastly, I mean through the wrong it’s really a good of the bomb includes the new there’s camp you through the night. The but wants to banner. Ohh say. Denise. It’s times and go up. Manning at when we or the double Freddy. I don’t know. I’m on my phone rang.

In other words, give your caller the benefit of the doubt!

Gotta go, need to tell my wife to keep typing for a while longer yet!

So what can you do? Here are some tips from  Freelance Apple:

1. First you have to allot time. This is something that needs to be thought about before you accept a deadline. If you have multiple projects going, hopefully you have enough insight into the projects and work habits to know how the “flow” will work and how much to allocate to each project each day until it can be accomplished.

2. Give yourself breathing room. It’s better to ask for a few extra days and be early than to hyperpromise and be late.

3. Stuck on a project? Change your focus to another one you can make progress on and return when you’re “unstuck”.

Want more great tips for  freelancer productivity? You need to check out Freelance Apple. While you’re there, be sure to learn about their free ebook: “The Grand Marketing Manual for Freelancers” to discover great ways to get more customers for your freelance work at home business!

Note: Work At Home Business Opportunities Blog is an affiliate for this company should you choose to purchase.

I was always the little boy who, when sent to clean up his room, started reading the books and not doing much cleaning.

If only I’d had this knowledge then and known how to use it!

This is about how to stay focused on those interminable conference calls, but I think it has some application to other situations …

Use small distractions to help you stay focused:

• Visual distractions help you focus. Don’t watch a movie (that is too distracting), but some low-key Internet browsing can work well.
• Do something with your hands. Play with a desk toy, pass a ball back and forth, knit, anything that you can do mindlessly.
• Walk around. Exercise is good for your brain and movement helps you focus.

Giving yourself small distractions while you are on conference calls will help you stay focused and be more productive.

HT: Maine Business on Twitter

If you’re planning to do some gardening for the monetary value – or just the stress relief this spring and summer – I thought I’d pass this special offer along.

It’s a great way to balance out working at home.

Money doesn’t grow on trees, it grows on vegetable plants. Therefore, Burpee offers you a collection of six packets of vegetable seeds (over $20 if purchased separately) for only $10.
This $10 investment in seed can produce over $650 worth of vegetables on a mere tenth of an acre. Watch your assets grow before your eyes; unlike any stock you ever bought you can enjoy your returns sautéed, boiled, braised, broiled or served raw. This is interest worthy of the name. Enjoy your savings and happy gardening.

Includes 6 seed packets.

Say what you want about digital calendars, PDA’s or whatever gizmo you want, I want some paper in my hand.

I also like some paper on the wall in full view. So in the home office I share with my wife, we have a Thomas Kinkade calendar between our two desks so we can have a “month at a glance” view readily at hand with a beautiful picture from Thomas Kinkade… this month’s calendar is a beautiful Christmasy image of a snow covered “Ginger Bread” looking house with a snow man and snow covered Christmas tree in the foreground. Like most Kinkade pictures it has water flowing in the picture. We find a Kinkade Calendar like this very relaxing.

There is another calendar I’ve seen I might also like though for putting up on the wall… I’ve never been much at astronomy. But with Mars and Venus so evident this Advent season in the Southwest sky, this Stargazer 2009 calendar caught my eye:

I live outside of town and love to look up at the sky on a clear night… so this calendar might be relaxing too.

But I like paper in my hand too. I use a pocket notebook daily for my “to do list”, for monitoring my cash flow, recording what I eat (when I’m being disciplined!) and that takes PAPER… For my money, there’s nothing I like better than Moleskine notebook. That means I keep a supply of Moleskine notebooks handy but would also consider this: Moleskine 2009 Calendars

Moleskines are classy… I don’t go to Starbucks, so I can afford one extravagence! You can see what they look like here.

Those are my picks for the kinds of calendars I’ll be checking out. I want something RELAXING on the wall… and practical in my pocket!

Here’s a solid review of the office suite.

Best things I’ve heard so far:

* Faster and cleaner interface
* Opens .docx files
* Can edit .pdf files (limited)
* Can export as hybrid .pdf file

Best thing – it’s still free if the price of MS Office has kept you from using a fully powered office suite.

It’s called “Cash is KING: Increasing your cash flow during a recession.” It will presented by Pam Newman, president of RPPC Inc., who is also an Entrepreneur.com columnist and certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

The webinar can be accessed at http://www.quickbooksgroup.com/getbacktobusiness.

The series builds on the recent Get Back to Business survey results from Intuit, which found that small businesses were overwhelmingly upbeat about the downbeat economy and that that 23% of small business owners are focused on increasing savings to avoid business failure.

(It was already cool that you could save as a PDF file, but this is even better!)

If this were all the upgrades, that would be neat enough but there’s dozens as you can see when you click through.

Along the above line, you can insert VIDEO into your presentations too!

Even better, you can view or edit your Google documents while you’re OFF LINE too.

This post makes a good point. Many small and home based business people are generous to a fault. They also may want to be loved at any cost and believe giving away their product/service will help them get more in the future. Sadly the “future never comes” most of the time.  So in the end, they-we are taken advantage of by freebie seekers.

It’s one thing, for instance, if you’re an accountant and your tax preparation client who pays you $350 per year and never does much more than drop off their data suddenly asks you a question. They’re a paying customer.

It’s when people ask you questions out of the blue and never put any money in your pocket. That’s when we’re selling ourselves and our families short.

The best thing to do is to have a guideline in your mind about what’s free and what’s not and stick to it.

Different people may get more of your time and advice for free… other’s won’t.

Where will you draw the line?