Articles – Page 13

Contracts & Business Insurance: Think you don’t need them?

Think again. The Small Business Administration offers 5 tips for buying commercial insurance Florida:

Assess Your Risks
Shop Around
Consider a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP)
Find a Reputable, Licensed Agent
Assess Your Insurance Coverage on an Annual Basis (read more at http://www.sba.gov/content/buying-insurance)

I’ve carried insurance on my business for the past 15 years. I’ve had to use my insurance due to damage left behind after a hacking in 1999 (which has never happened again thankfully) and I’ve had to use the lost income endorsement after a car accident while I was recovering). While I’ve not had to use it, I also have liability, data, equipment, buildings and more. Yes, it’s important. Without it, you could lose everything. Do you have a contract with your clients? Do you use it each and every time you bring on a new client? If you don’t you should. Not long ago I asked my insurance about a particular thing and if I would be covered in that event. First two questions asked were “Do you have contracts with your clients?” and “Do you use a contract every time you take on a new client?” The next question was, “Is the scope of work clearly defined in your contract?” What should be included in a contract?

Names and addresses of the parties involved. For example, Kathy McCabe, The Hilltop Group, LLC, my address and Client Name, Client Company, Client address….
Scope of the work: be clear and concise, and enter what you expect to be paid, as well as the terms of payment. Be sure to list what the client should expect in terms of expenses and fees other than your discussed rates and ways of payment, since you can be enlisted in a uk payroll process to accelerate payment. You can list the payment section with the Scope of Work, or in a separate section.
Contract Length: Define if your contract is for the length of the project or ongoing until cancelled.
Cancellation: Define your contract’s cancellation terms, be clear what constitutes a breach and cancellation.
Work ownership: this is a big one for me. I have heard many people say that they paid for the work however the designer of their logo, image, website or whatever belongs to the designer. For me, if I’m paid to design something for you, the client, and you’ve paid me. The end result is yours. The work leading up to the final result are mine.
Signatures! Make sure all parties sign the contract. It’s not worth anything if it’s not signed.

If your client has something in particular they would like in the contract, or would like something changed, don’t be afraid to negotiate your terms. You want satisfaction for both you and your client, both in the contract and in the work. Visit my Resources section and take a look at my sample contracts (and other forms). They are fairly simple, just tab through the form, fill in the information and print (2 copies).]]>

Another Productivity Tip

article about productivity. I’m already using a couple of them:

TV: Adam says to put on a station you wouldn’t watch just to have noise, that’s very helpful to me also in that it tends to distract me from my tinnitus.
Wear Dress Clothes: I generally wear a nice top (Or at least not a torn t-shirt or pajamas… 🙂 it makes me feel more ‘at work and in the moment’.

Some of my productivity tips are:

I use for productivity is to keep the cell phone downstairs, or turned off and out of my line of site.
I like to keep my iPad on my desk, but its generally closed unless I’m working on an article or book.
I keep my email up on the second screen, however I don’t check it often. In between projects is generally my time to checking and weeding email. I prioritize, client email always first, everything else comes second. Newsletters I generally read after work hours.
I use a webcam. Many years ago I added a webcam for the ‘virtual but real’ aspect. I can’t tell you how many times I’m heard “Does virtual mean you’re not really there?” Its an added bonus to those who are looking to use my services, I’m actually there, at my desk and working. Its a boost to my clients’ confidence in me. I don’t use an expensive service, but I do use a fairly decent webcam, auto focus is a must, and it should be one that doesn’t require tons of extra software. I use EarthCam.com which is a free service, and I’ve embedded the webcam applet into my page. Check it out here.

I’ll post more great tips as I find them. Meanwhile, have a really productive Monday! Kathy McCabe ]]>

How to Stay Productive When You Work from Home

Adam Riemer

I’ve been working from home for more than five years, and sometimes it becomes almost impossible to focus and get work done. Because of that, I had to come up with some creative ways to be able to motivate myself, stay focused and make sure that my work from home productivity stayed on task. Here are five of the ways I stay focused and ensure that my clients are happy and that my websites stay on track. 1. Wear dress clothing. One thing that everyone who wants to work at home dreams about is getting to be like a kid and work in his pajamas all day. Unfortunately, pajamas mean comfort and can distract you instead of help you focus. On days where I cannot concentrate and would rather watch TV or dose off, I get dressed like I am going to an office. By putting on a button- down shirt and slacks, or even a polo shirt and khaki pants, I am able to focus and accomplish more than I normally do when I work in my pajamas. When I was a kid, pajamas were great for things like coloring. As an adult, kids’ pajamas and coloring won’t cut it — so I get dressed up and am able to get more done. 2. Fake a commute to work. One thing that you eventually miss is leaving the house during the day. When your home also becomes work, you sometimes forget to leave. The way that I fix this is by faking a commute to work a few days a week. Instead of walking to an office, I walk to a grocery store, like Whole Foods, where I pick up breakfast and also stop at the cleaners, or other errands I need to do. This helps me to get out of the house and focus more. When you work from home, you have no reason to leave, which makes your days blend together. Making your fake commute actually helps to break it up and get you to concentrate. 3. Set up play dates. work from home productivityIf you are used to working in an office, you’ll find yourself craving human contact after you’ve started to work from home. One thing that I did was set up work dates once or twice a week with other local people who work for themselves. We meet at a coffee shop or all go to one person’s house and work from the same place. Not only do we get to have someone to talk to and interact with, but we also get to bounce ideas off people and get feedback, which helps better all of our work. 4. Find a way to break up your day. After years of sitting in front of a computer and forgetting to leave my apartment during the day, I gained a lot of weight. I also started craving daylight because my days blurred together. To help fix this and to get my endorphins going so I could focus better, I found classes like AntiGravity Yoga that keep me entertained, get me to work out, and help me get more work done because I come back focused and relaxed. (This is actually a picture from my second time ever taking the class.) 5. Create mindless background noise. Hearing noises outside or in the hallway becomes one of the biggest distractions. To help block those noises, I let the TV project mindless noise and colors on stations like Cartoon Network or the news. If you leave something on that you would watch, like the Food Network, that can become a bigger distraction, so find something that will act as background noise but not distract you. Working from home is something lots of people love. The problem is learning how to keep yourself focused. You’ll begin to miss day-to-day interactions with people at your office, and getting to work in your pajamas could actually make you less productive. By learning what helps keep you focused when you’re at home, and making sure you can keep focused by leaving your house for a break or setting up play dates, working from home becomes a lot easier and you can become a lot more productive. Working from home is great, but you have to learn how to stay focused and also get your work done. Visit Adam’s marketing blog for more tips and advice on marketing, organization and being an entrepreneur.

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