In this series of articles so far, I have argued the need to use management practices even if you have your own home based online business. The discipline imposed on yourself will eventually make the business stronger and more profitable. I have touched upon the need for good financial and marketing management in the last two articles, and will now discuss another area of management that affects all others: Time Management.

To anybody working in an office or factory, time management may well be something they hope to escape from by having their own business. A highly pressured executive may well feel the same. They could work at home, where they’re the boss, and they decide what to do and when. They could watch tv when they want, sit up in bed with their laptops, or without, and numerous other symbols of freedom from being an employee.

Of course, these things are all possible when you work from home. Of all types of home business, though, working online is probably the most difficult to manage from a time point of view. Perhaps difficult is the wrong word. It’s actually easy. What is difficult is the high level of potential online distraction and having to resist it. Add the online distractions to those around you at home, and you have the ingredients for an awful lot of wasted time.

What Are All These Distractions?

There are many potential distractions online. Millions of them when you consider there are millions of websites, and millions of advertisements advertising those websites in often exaggerated, but tempting, ways. If you are trying to get traffic to your own website by surfing for advertising credits, you are particularly vulnerable to distraction, as you may spend a large part of your day being bombarded by advertising. Once you are drawn off into one tempting website, it can lead to others, then others and so on.

The same can be true of your email inbox. You may be signed up to various newsletters and ezines, you may be spammed, you may belong to safelists that require you to receive the owner’s emails. All or some may cause a distraction from your day’s business activity. You may reach the end of the day and suddenly realize: “Hey, I’ve achieved nothing today.” That can be a demoralizing feeling.

Offline there are many distractions too: you may have children around, your partner may want your company, you may want to laze in the garden as the sun’s come out for the first time in days. There are endless possibilities, depending on your own circumstances, interests and weaknesses. You need to be very much aware of what your own distractions are, and then manage them according to your business, domestic and personal priorities.

How Do You Manage Your Time?

However you manage your time, the first part of the process should be to:

• Decide what the essential elements are for developing and growing your business, steadily and profitably.

• Consider your domestic and personal situation. Now you have your own home business, you have a chance to build into your daily routine activities that will enhance your own happiness and that of your family. This is a great opportunity. Make the most of it.

• Take some quiet time and reflect on the first two items. Let them meld together in your mind and visualize how they can be brought together to make your perfect day/s.

Whatever the outcome of the above three steps, the result is not set in stone. You can change and adapt according to experience, but for now use this as an exercise in getting into a time management frame of mind.

Now that you know what you need to focus on, start to put a bit of pressure on yourself. Not major pressure; that would be counter productive. Start to structure your future, whether one day, one month or one year. Set yourself achievable targets each day, week and month; a list of tasks that you need to do to help your business and you to grow. I use a good old fashioned diary, just to get my eyes away from the screen a while, at the beginning and end of the day, and at intervals as each task is completed. Here are a few tips that I try to stick to:

• Set out a series of tasks to do each day. Make sure they are achievable.

• If you have any regular daily, weekly or monthly tasks (you should have), build them into your diary in advance so they do not get forgotten. For example, I do a daily Blog. That’s there in my diary every day of the week. You will need time set aside to consider finances. Put it in your diary in advance.

• If you have a long task to do, split it over a few days, rather than spend a whole day on the same thing. If it can be split into sub-tasks, all the better. For example, if you’re building a website, you may be able to split it into content headings or pages. Give yourself an achievable amount to do each day, allowing time for other things.

• Try to include one task per day that involves you increasing your knowledge and expertise. For example, if you have a new instructive ebook to read, set aside some time each day for it until finished. When finished, note in your diary to check on your implementation of suggestions you want to adopt. The same goes for new software and other new technology. A steady build up of knowledge can be planned for just by putting these things in your diary and sticking to the plan. Trying to master something new all in one go may cause unnecessary frustration and weariness.

• If you really must surf for advertising credits, do that as your last set task of the day, otherwise you may not achieve as much as you would have.

• If there’s something you can do away from the computer screen, try to plan for it. For example, if you need to plan website content or write an article, you will benefit from at least thinking of the main points by relaxing. If it’s warm, sit in the garden, somewhere to give you a break from the computer.

• If you think you will benefit from so doing, use the same diary to schedule in domestic activities too. Don’t forget, this is your home business. The home and your family are part of it. If you want to take the children to the beach after school, schedule it in. You can do that and still achieve something for your business that day.

• If you find that a task cannot be completed, or its priority should be lessened, don’t try to force yourself to do it the day first scheduled. Reschedule it for another day.

Time management is a very personal thing, especially when you have your own business at home. I am sure you can adopt your own techniques that suit you best. The most important thing to remember, though, is that time needs to be managed. If you’re alone in the business, time is a major limiting factor. It is important you make the most of your time, and for your own morale, to end each working day feeling you’ve achieved something.

Roy Thomsitt is the owner, webmaster and author of http://www.change-direction.com, a new website in late 2004, about working online in a home based business. He has a background in offline advertising, with practical experience of working from home in marketing since 1995, plus 2 years of experience with online marketing. Professionally, he was trained as a management accountant and has substantial background in project management, implementing new office, accounting, computer and management systems.

Yes, a good copywriter “paces and leads” the reader in the copy that she writes for her clients. But did you know? She must also pace and lead as part of successful copywriting project management.

If you’re a copywriter, you know the frightening feeling of having stated on paper that you plan to have a project completed for a client by Date X, and then knowing that client is not rolling out feedback and updates fast enough to make that deadline reality. If the client is someone familiar and trustworthy, okay, no big deal. But if it’s a new person on whom you want to make a favorable impression and do a good job, this can be quite a predicament.

So, what do you do? Bite your nails and suffer through sleepless nights? Start work with someone else, hoping that if your client has gone away, she’ll “stay away” until you’re ready to resume the work?

No. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to be proactive in pacing and leading that project. If your client is clearly waffling along, then you have to take matters into your own hands. Is she withholding information that you need to progress further? Then you must clearly state that in writing. Remind her of her deadline, which you committed your signature to.

Give your client constant progress updates along the way and request more information repeatedly. If the information is something that she can provide in bulk, ask her to hit you with it all at once and then pace and lead yourself. If she refuses to relinquish control, then do your best to keep at her, keep at her and keep at her some more.

Your client cannot fault you for being fastidious, or for requesting needed information. Even though you may feel like a pest, if you’re not receiving, then you must ask. There is no way around it, if you ever expect to make the completion date.

If the deadline is fast approaching and the project goes unfinished, you must beat your client to the punch and let her know that the work has not been moving along at a desired pace. Again, state in writing that your needs have not been met, and have your email and drafted evidence stacked up in case she tries to put the blame on you for not being vigilant.

Pacing and leading the project is NOT one of the most exciting parts of being a copywriter, but it’s something that needs to be done if you can see that your client has no sense of timing. Do not think that if your client pulls a disappearing act, you’re permitted to do the same. It’s not responsible, and it’s certainly not professional.

Better still, avoid signing any contractual agreements that lock you into a final due date. You really never know what circumstances could throw the project off course. Whether it’s a difficult client, an unexpected illness, or some other unforseen event, just about anything can throw your schedule off course.

If your client does decide to stick you for the last payment because she’s arguing that you didn’t make the deadline, consult with a lawyer if you have one. Otherwise, cut your losses and make a promise to yourself to pace and lead every project from now on. Better still: next time, don’t commit to a deadline in writing!

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Dina Giolitto is a copywriting consultant and ghostwriter with 10 years of experience writing corporate print materials and web content. Trust her with your next e-book, article series or web project, and make a lasting impression on your audience of information-hungry prospects. Visit http://www.wordfeeder.com for more information.

So, you’ve decided to start a home based business.
Congratulations! and welcome to the fast-paced world of
entrepreneurship. While there is a lot to learn, your effort
will be worth it. The thrill of growing your business, the
freedom and flexibility to set your own hours, and the
possibilities of ever-increasing financial rewards are all
wonderful reasons to start your home based business.

Now that you’ve decided to start your business, you might be
wondering “How can I get it off to the strongest possible
start?” These seven tips will help:

1) Set up a separate working space in your home. It doesn’t
matter if this is a small bedroom, one part of the garage, or a
corner of the living room. The important thing is to have some
space that you can designate as your working area. This will
give you the space and room you need to craft your dream.

2) Stock your working space with materials. This sounds basic,
perhaps, but one underlying element of success is that you have
easy access to the tools, materials, and other resources you
need. Gathering everything close by also keeps you from wasting
time searching for it, so this step can be considered a time
management strategy, too.

3) Speaking of time management, your third step is to define the
parameters of your business. What days and hours will you work?
When will you market? When will you provide services or products
to clients? How will you keep all of this straight?

4) Balance action with planning. One of the most common pitfalls
to successful entrepreneurship is getting too caught up in
action without enough planning. Stated another way, this means
that you confuse “being busy” with “working on important
projects.” The best approach is to plan your next couple of
goals and then work backwards to create step by step action
plans to reach them. Once you have the plan, then it’s time to
take the action.

5) Network like crazy. One of the fastest ways to grow any
business is to make connections with other people. Be sure to
share your passion and enthusiasm with others at every
opportunity. Let people know who you are and what you offer.
Remember, people can’t buy if they don’t know you’re selling.

6) Present a professional image. If you want to be treated
professionally, present a professional image. Set up a separate
bank account for your business. Install a separate phone and fax
line. Create professional marketing materials. Be courteous and
pleasant in all your customer facing interactions. Basically, be
someone people want to do business with.

7) Automate your business as much as possible. Granted, you are
just one person (right now) and might have a lot of extra time
to take care of all the details. This might work for now, but
won’t work into the future as you get busier and busier. It’s
best to set up automatic systems and processes right from the
start to free up your time to concentrate on the most profitable
activities.

These seven tips will get your home business started (and
growing) in the right direction.

Listen, consider this scenario.

You have a deadline to honour. Time is pressing, tighter and tighter. You are hoping to come up with some topic for your project…..

However, ideas on what to write about keep eluding you.

What are you going to do in situations like these?

Today there are various software and information to start you off when finding yourself in such a rut. They all can come handy, but one sure technique to provide quick results is Keyword Brainstorming.

Let’s see what this is all about and how it works in practice.

• find a quiet place and set a time limit
• take a sheet of paper and write the subject keyword at the top
• now, any idea that this word brings to your mind, jot it down
• don’t be judgmental, and keep focusing on the start keyword
• just write key words - enough to trigger your thoughts in future
• keep going as fast as you can
• jot down in a list form, without analysing for spelling, validity, etc
• derive as many ideas on paper while keeping the fast pace

Here is an example of how a KEYWORD brainstorming page would be:

HAPPINESS

laughter

water

food

solitude

simple

sleep

relaxation

nature

family

meditation

friends

calm

prayer

heart

tranquility

sunshine

children

smile

jokes

quiet

holidays

health

therapeutic

alternative

This can be taken further by building another keyword from this very list to start a fresh list and getting you deeper into the subject.

You can even challenge yourself to stick to only a predetermined number of responses you are able to come up with.

As you see every word in the list can provide you with a particular angle in relation to the main keyword which in turn can lead you to a totally unique approach to your writing project.

There are times, as everything else in life, when writing is a bit of a chore, but having the right tools at hand it can be turned into an enjoyable experience and even fun to do.

You can kick start your juices with the right tools!

Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. Mary Attard is a freelance writer and photographer. For more ideas like this check this site at http://www.blastthoseblocks.com. You are free to reprint this article in your ezine or ebook, or on your website, as long as the contents in the article and the resource box are not changed.

samba@waldonet.net.mt