Workism.com

I want to share a website that I use in order to keep track of what I’m working on.  I use Vitalist, which is a free website.  It lets you create tasks with as much or as little information as you want.  You can also assign tasks to categories.  Since I have multiple web sites to work on, I have them separated by site.  Another great thing is they also have an inbox, where you can just put other tasks that are not under the projects.  Here I can put other things I need to get done that aren’t necessarily associated with any of the web sites I work on - like going food shopping, and other things that I need to get done.

I love using this, as I can easily cross something off when I am finished, so I can see how much I am getting accomplished every day.  I also like that it archives your finished tasks, so that you can see everything you have accomplished in the past week, past month, or within a certain project.

They have a version that you can pay $5.00 a month for, but since I don’t need to share my list with anyone, the free version is great for me!   I really recommend either this site, or using a similar site such as Ta-da List or Remember the Milk.  It will really help keep you organized, and help you get more work accomplished.

I had a friend mention to me not that long ago that she was the only one out of all of her (girl) friends that worked.  Now, not only do I work, but I work longer hours than she does, plus I work on weekends!  When I tried explaining that to her, she just pushed it aside saying, “Well you know what I mean…outside of the house.” 

For some reason, a lot of people assume just because you’re working at home, it’s almost like you aren’t really working, or your work is not as important as theirs.  They might assume that since you are home you only work a few short hours of the day, or that you can put it aside easily and it isn’t as important. 

So if you are going to work at home, you should set certain boundaries.  Let others know that there are certain hours that you are busy working, and can’t just talk on the phone or go run errands.  If you make it clear that you are working, people may finally understand.  Just don’t be surprised if others don’t take you as seriously as if you were working outside the home, no matter how successful your business is!

Another lesson I would like to pass on is something that is probably obvious to everyone else, but is something I did not do.  The smart way to start a business at home is to start it on nights and weekends, and only quit your day job once you are somewhat successful, and are making enough money to pay the bills. 

I unfortunately did not listen to that advice, and quit my job before I even started a business!  I was unhappy at my job, and quit first, and then started the business.  Forgetting about not having the money coming in anymore, my biggest issue was with stress.

Even though I had the money to pay the bills without working for a while, I was just so stressed all of the time wanting the business to succeed NOW, that it made it even harder to get things done.  When you’re sitting in front of a computer thinking that you MUST succeed right now, the extra stress really does make it harder to get work done. 

 Once I took the pressure off, it was a lot easier to think more clearly, and start getting things done.  And even if you think the business will take off right away, that is not always the case.  If you first have the business earning some income, and then you quit your job, you are much more likely to succeed as you will already be doing somewhat well before you quit, so you can then devote all of your time to making the business even better, instead of starting it from scratch after you quit.  I’m sure that it’s obvious to most people…but considering I did it that way, I’m sure others might be tempted to also!

One of the biggest mistakes that people starting a business do is try to have too many projects going on at the same time.  They start one project, get about halfway through it, and then have another great idea…so they stop that first project, and start the second.  This keeps going on and on, until there are many unfinished projects, and nothing to show for it.

How do I know this is true?  I’ve had this happen multiple times.  You want to work on all your different ideas, but the problem is none of them get finished.  The best way to avoid this is to write your new ideas down, but don’t start them until you finish what you are currently working on.  This way you will still get to your new ideas, and you won’t forget them…but you will finish what you started first.

In the last post I wrote about the first big mistake I made when starting my business, and how I fixed it. I had been talking about the website (and newsletter) Dreamline Savings.  While it is growing slowly, I love the fact that it is growing, and only a very small percentage of the people unsubscribe.

Since I chose something I was passionate about, I don’t mind putting in all of the hours it takes to get the newsletter done.  That is the way to do something.  When you hate what you’re doing, it just makes it take that much longer.  But when you love what you’re doing, it really doesn’t seem much like work at all!

I have learned a lot by creating this newsletter, and am still learning as I research more ways to get the word out, and to get even more subscribers.  I hope to share many ways in future posts!

Hopefully this will help someone else who is trying to figure out what type of business to start.
I love to save money. If I am going to buy anything, I will make sure I find the cheapest price before I buy it, especially if it’s a big-ticket item. I even go as far as to match up coupons to the grocery circulars, and go to 2-3 grocery stores a week if I can get great deals. I even order coupons on eBay if I see a great deal where I can get something for free (minus the cost of the coupons and shipping).

So when I was trying to figure out what type of business to start, I really genuinely wanted to help others save money. I thought, why on earth shouldn’t everyone do the same little things I do so that they could save money? I know a lot of people wish that they could save more, and if I could do something small that would help others, it would be a win/win situation!

I came up with what I thought was a really great idea. I spend a lot of time each week (and I mean a LOT…) looking for good deals. I go through the Sunday circulars we get in the paper, I go through the grocery circulars, and I also look online at many different places to find good deals on all types of products. So, I decided to create a newsletter that gets sent out twice a week. Each newsletter would have deals in different categories. So one newsletter would have clothing, electronics, and travel deals, and the next might have deals on home, kids stuff, and office supplies. I would even include links to free stuff in every newsletter, so that people can sign up to get free shampoo samples, snacks, magazines, and more. I would also take requests, so if someone was looking for a particular item, I would find the best price for them. I was also going to promise that each newsletter would have at least $200.00 worth of savings in it.

I first tried pricing it at $9.97 a month, and later went down to $4.97 a month, but never got a single subscriber. It seemed that no one wanted to pay money in order to save money, even though they would be saving so much more than they would be paying.

This is where I made my first mistake: Even if you have a passion for something, and think it’s a great idea…make sure that the public is willing to pay for it!

Well, once I realized that people just didn’t want to pay for it, I decided to make it a free newsletter. I would still put the best deals in the newsletter, but if they had an affiliate program that I was part of, I would make a tiny percentage of what they bought.

As soon as the newsletter became free, I had a bunch of subscribers sign up. A year later, I have an even bigger list of subscribers. So it wasn’t that people didn’t like the idea of the newsletter, and didn’t want to save money, it just wasn’t something that they were willing to pay for.

So I was still able to do what I liked, but I just had to change it around so that it worked for the group of people I was marketing to.

But if I had first done more research, and had realized that people might not be willing to pay for it, I might have either not started the newsletter at all or have come up with a different way to monetize it.

If you’re going to start a new business, you should first do the research to make sure people are willing to buy what you’re trying to sell!

I have since learned that lesson, and have moved on…but it was a hard lesson to learn!

Welcome to the Work at Home Wisdom blog. I quit my job on July 1st, 2005 (a little over a year and a half ago), and since then I have been trying to make my own business work. My goal from the beginning was to make enough money to pay all of the bills, plus put some into savings each month.

While I have not reached my goal so far, I have come a long way. In the year and a half, I have spent a lot of time researching, trying different things, and even buying different things to help make the business succeed.

I want to help others save the time that I have invested by helping share what I have learned. I will share ideas, suggestions on how to start or improve your business, and even how to improve other areas of your life since you’re working at home. If you have any questions, let me know, and I’ll try to answer them as best as I can!

I have been working at home for just over a year now, and have done a lot of research on it. I know a lot of people who would also like to work at home, and I wanted to help. I will share ideas, suggestions, and anything else I find out. If you have any questions, let me know, and I’ll try to answer them as best as I can!