ProfitBrite

When the Office is at Home

You'll do what??!!

It's so easy to get 'disconnected' from a balanced lifestyle when one or the other is vying for our attention. Getting control of both business and personal areas of our lives requires organization and self-discipline.

Here are a few 'tasks' to get you on track.

Determine where the time is spent.

By using a weekly Task sheet allocated in 15 minute increments, you will be able to determine how much time and where you spend the time on each task whether it's personal or business related. Record the amount of time spent on each task.

Colour code the tasks

Take a green highlighter and color code all the business activities and then use a pink highlighter for the personal activities. Is it entirely green with a couple of pink spots? Or is it all pink with the odd green splotch? (Sounds like a rare disease!)

Group the Tasks.

Tasks can now be grouped into blocks of time devoted to strictly business or strictly personal. A home office should be treated just like an outside office where personal matters (like laundry and hair appointments) should not interfere with business time.

Now you have the building blocks to create a balanced Task Schedule that will accommodate your business and personal life.

Simple guidelines to schedule your tasks include:

- Decide how many hours to devote to the business.

- On your Task Schedule, block off business hours to schedule work flow.

- Add personal tasks to the Task Schedule, to keep them from interrupting business time.

- Get a separate business line. (Yes, you heard correctly!) An all-purpose cell phone number is NOT professional. You may save a bit on your monthly phone expenses but you'll ADD to your stress level.

- Do not answer your personal line during business hours. If you have small children or aging parents that require you to be accessible by phone, have call display so that you can screen calls and answer only the emergencies.

- Keep partners and others out of your business space and business time. They wouldn't 'pop in' for a cup of tea in the middle of the afternoon if you worked in an office would they?

- Children don't belong in your office time/space. It's not fair to them or your business. Set time aside to devote your attention to them, uninterrupted. When you've scheduled business time, hire a sitter.

- Leave one day per week entirely free of appointments and paperwork.

The more organized you are, the more effective and profitable your business will be!

Cathy Kuzel is one connected woman! A dynamic speaker, trainer and business expert with a deep knowledge of the art of human connections, she combines her intuitive understanding and strong technical background in the theory of business with phenomenal energy and imaginative ways to get even the most skeptical group fired up to explore the value of "connecting". Cathy has been networking and building successful business relationships for more than 25 years and is increasingly sought after as an expert on her subject. Her services encompass the complete spectrum of sales and personal marketing and help companies and individuals increase sales and maximize profits through customized workshops, training seminars and coaching sessions.

Cathy is the Founder of The Connected Woman Network [http://www.theconnectedwoman.com]http://www.theconnectedwoman.com, Author of Are You a Collector or a Connector? and is a networking maven. For information on upcoming workshops or to engage Cathy as a Keynote speaker at your next event, visit http://www.cathykuzel.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?When-the-Office-is-at-Home&id=4339292] When the Office is at Home

Grants Consultant, A Great Work At Home Biz

Are you a good communicator? Can you sit with another person and understand what it is she wants? Then can you talk to her so she has a clear idea of your thoughts and opinions? Can you express yourself well in writing - take scattered information and put it together on the page so it makes sense to the reader?

Do you like doing research - digging deep and finding information? Are you computer and Internet savvy? Are you good at conceptualizing ideas, making plans and implementing them effectively?

Do you get a charge out of helping other people accomplish their goals? Are you inspired to improve your community and create new resources? Do you enjoy variety, and managing your own time and workload? Want to be your own boss?

Would you like a career that provides some visibility, and the opportunity to be well respected for your contributions, while you earn $50 to $150 an hour?

If this sounds like you, I'd like to suggest the best career you've probably never considered: grants consultant.

A career as a grants consultant does not require a college degree. This is a career in which your performance is much more important than any educational credential. Of course, grants consultants must be professional in their appearance and presentation of themselves and their services. That doesn't mean suits and high heels, however. The majority of clients are in the helping profession, so the dress code is usually business casual.

Grants consultants provide services to non-profit agencies and businesses in their communities. These services may range along a continuum from very simple to very complex. At the simplest end of the continuum, a non-profit agency, such as a shelter for battered women, may not have sufficient staff to write a proposal for a grant they have identified. So they enter into a contractual arrangement with a grant writer to prepare the proposal. Many agencies routinely use contract grant writers. Other agencies hire staff grant writers, and allow them to work from home.

At the more complex end of the continuum, a group of investors may be interested in building an affordable housing project. The consultant may participate in planning the project, help structure a consortium, lobby legislators, provide public relations, work with neighborhood associations, find a variety of funding resources, and write the grants proposals. At this level, the grants consultant may take an equity position and own part of the project, as well as earning a developer's fee.

Obviously, the services you could provide as a grants consultant depend upon your training and your existing knowledge base. If you have a background in business, management, finance, or real estate, that background has provided you with skills you may be able to share with your clients.

But even if your experience does not touch upon those areas, you can learn all the skills necessary to find funding resources and write effective grant proposals. And as you work on more projects, and gain more experience, you have ever-greater skills to offer your clients.

Here are three steps to get started on a career as a grants consultant:

Make an assessment of what you have to offer now. Write down the skills you have developed thus far, through previous work experience, volunteer work, education or training.

Enroll in a comprehensive, high-quality training program for grant writers. Be sure the training emphasizes research skills; writing foundation, corporate, and government proposals; and the politics and procedures of dealing with funders and clients.

Jump right in! Select a cause you support within your own community, perhaps your child's sports team, or a non-profit daycare center. Identify a small need (under $10,000), such as uniforms or playground equipment. Then volunteer to find money for them and write a grant proposal. With a couple of successful grants under your belt, you can begin to market your services to paying clients.

To learn more, get a copy of our Free Grant Tips at rel=nofollow [http://GrantMeRich.com]http://GrantMeRich.com.

Jillian Coleman Wheeler is a Grants and Business Consultant. She is also author of The New American Land Rush: How to Buy Real Estate with Government Money. For information: http://www.NewAmericanLandRush.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Grants-Consultant,-A-Great-Work-At-Home-Biz&id=28907] Grants Consultant, A Great Work At Home Biz