Hi again!

Just a couple of days ago I mentioned how I’m coming up on three years working from home full time. It’s been a wild ride and I love being able to pick up and work whenever and whever I want.

That’s exactly what I want to talk about today.

Is It Lonely Working From Home?

For the first couple of years I spent all my time working on my home computer, which resides in the corner of my living room. Then I got myself a laptop and thought it was awesome that I could work from the couch, from the kitchen or while sitting out on the porch on a sunny day.

That was enough in the beginning.

But now, three years into working from home I realize how very isolating it can be. The only people I was seeing were my parents (who’s apartment I live in), my son and my boyfriend. While I love them all I believe we really need a LOT more human interaction than that.

So this year I did something about it!

Here are my tips and ideas on how to bust through work at home lonliness whlie keeping up productivity:

- Work somewhere else – Yea seems simple enough but sometimes we think it’s harder than it actually is to be mobile with our business. I do a number of services for clients including website updates, affiliate management, email marketing and more and I thought it would be just too hard to organize that all and take it on the go. Well, Roboform and a simple USB drive later my netbook is loaded with days work at the library, the coffee shop or even at a friend’s house.

- Get Networking – I love going to a monthly networking group I belong to for women. It’s not even really to me about making money. I just love getting out and getting to chat with people who can relate to the joys and struggles of being a business owner. If you’re interested in checking the group out it’s called WINGS. Of course I also love getting out to conferences and seminars too like my recent trip to Podcamp Toronto.

- Connect Via Phone – I’ve made some great friends at networking events and conferences and I love to connect with them via phone to catch up and talk business too. It’s a great way to get ideas and share stories with people who really get it. You could also add a phone component to your current business if you want more people to talk to. Schedule conference calls or teleseminars to share your expertise and talk with real live human beings all at the same time! (by the way CLICK HERE if you want to learn how to set up teleseminars for free)

There you have some of my best tips for beating the work at home blues.

Isn’t life a fun journey!

I think I’ve made a big mistake in the way I’ve blogged and marketed my business in the last few years.

You see, in an effort to keep up ‘professional’ appearances I haven’t talked much about being a WAHM.

WAHM being Work at Home Mom.

In some ways I was hiding it. Not really in shame but because I wanted to attract the kind of market that doesn’t talk about how to work around the kids or how amazing it is to be able to pick up and go on a field trip anytime your little guy has one. In past years I was blogging to get clients and I felt that field trips and volunteering at the school just weren’t appropriate to blog about.

Yep, I see now it was a big mistake not to get more used to sharing who I really am though and I’m a proud momma.
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Feeling Overwhelmed Working Online From Home?

You know when you’re so close to something all the time it’s hard to see it objectively? You needed rest you were working so hard? Well I’ll be the first to admit that I’m addicted to working on the internet. I absolutely love it and I absolutely love working with my clients. But when I ended up away from my work, that I’ve been so immersed in, for a couple of days it really helped gain perspective on what I WAS working for.

So, I know I’m not the only one who works too much because they think they just need to get a little further ahead. Maybe you feel the same way I was feeling and that every minute I could get on the computer would help me get that little bit further. There are so many ways to increase your profits online without spending every waking moment at the computer yourself.

I’m going to share what’s been working for me and hopefully you can apply some of this to your own business.

Tip 1: Get Away

You can’t see how much time you really spend on the computer and the internet until you get away from it. Take a couple of days to get away from what you do in your day to day and to really think about a few things:

* Is what you’re doing working?
* Where do you make the most money?
* Do you have dead projects that waste your time and money?
* Are you getting the help you need?

I came back to check my email and realized just how much time I spent on checking it everyday. I was able to sort through 3 days of emails much more quickly then I thought and this told me very quickly that I shouldn’t be checking it as often as I do. Of course I will continue to be very responsive to my clients needs but not every client needs an answer within 1 hour of sending an email.

Tip 2: Get Help

I have people who work with me (virtual assistants, designers and writers) in my business but I know I’m not using them up to the abilities they have.

Doing this means letting go of some of the control and being aware that sometimes mistakes will happen, people will be late occasionally and some things things just won’t work out perfect. These things are ok and are all part of running a business as long as the customer gets the best service on the receiving end, everything else can be handled and made to run smoothly.

Sometimes the bumps just need to be worked out to grow your business.

Tip 3: Get Out

Get out and meet other people. Go to networking groups and meetings. Have coffee with a friend. Get away from your computer and you’ll find more clarity and vision when you step back with a fresh perspective.