WorkFromHomeMomma

Try Empire Today for Your Next Home Improvement Project

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:58:32 -0700

As if juggling a family and working from home weren’t difficult enough, add other projects such as home improvement to the mix and things can get a little hectic to say the least. One of the main difficulties with home improvement projects is finding competent and dependable help. Empire Today is a home improvement store with a long history specializing in flooring, windows and bath renovation products. For 50 years Empire Today has cultivated a brand and has become a household name.

Founded in 1959 and based in Northlake, Empire Today has offices in major cities across the US and Canada. As a brand, the company has become a cultural icon of sorts with several generations of people coming to know and recognize both the Empire Man and the "588-2300 Empire Today" jingle internationally...Oh that catchy jingle that is burned into our brains... And their commercials were always campy and funny.

While most notably known for their carpet, Empire Today is a full service home improvement store offers other types of quality flooring, including hardwood, laminate flooring, and ceramic flooring. And they do windows too!

A Happy, Sad Time of Opportunities and Farewells

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:39:27 -0700

On Monday I posted about my oldest child's graduation. It's a time of excitement and change for her. Opportunities and learning opportunities await her, and she can't wait get started, to move on to new things.

Like my daughter, I'm now facing a time of excitement and change. You see, it's time for me to move on to new opportunities as well. This is my last post here at Work From Home Momma.

It's been nearly a year since I wrote my first post here, and I have to say that I've enjoyed every bit of it. I've learned so much. The team here at Know More Media is terrific and I know that I've made many long-term friends. I'll miss them very much.

Most of all, I'll miss you, the readers. This blog has been for you. I've always strived to make this blog the kind of resource that would have helped me when I first started working from home.

During my time here I've enjoyed getting to know work-from-home moms all over the world and I hope to continue to hear from some of them. The truth is, I've learned as much from all of you as you may have learned from me.

Farewells are hard to make, but I believe that the future holds much promise for all of us - for me, for my daughter, for Know More Media, and for you who read this blog.

Best wishes to all!

Image Source: www.sxc.hu

Do You Need Child Care To Succeed as a Home Business Owner?

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:15:21 -0700

Schools are about to close for the summer, and many work at home parents will be facing trying to work and entertain their children at the same time.

In fact, some would say that you must have child care in order to get your work done.

Others would say that you should never leave your child in child care under any circumstances.

Many bloggers have dealt with this situation:

Congratulations Graduates!

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:44:37 -0700

Across the country and even across the world, thousands of young people will be graduating from our nation's colleges and high schools this week.

(For the first time, one of my own children will be among them. My oldest child will be a high school graduate.)

What kind of world will the new graduates be facing?

I decided to check on some key areas and find out:

How Fuel Prices Affect Home Business Owners (Part 4)

Fri, 30 May 2008 08:10:47 -0700

This is the fourth and final post in the series about high fuel, and this is the post that you (the readers) put together. Other posts in this series include:

I promised that I'd share your comments about fuel prices and here they are:

Dealing With High Fuel Prices (Part 3 - Saving Gas)

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:18:55 -0700

For the past few days, we've been running a series on rising fuel costs. This is the third in the four part series.

Earlier installments in the series included:

Tomorrow, we'll run all of the comments on this topic. Today, however, I want to take another look at how to save on fuel prices.

Gas prices are affecting Americans across the board. In fact, some districts have decreased the number of days that children attend school. You can read the ABC News story here.

Here some additional tips you can use to save on gasoline costs:

How Gas Prices Affect You and What To Do About It (Part 2 - The Grocery Game)

Wed, 28 May 2008 10:29:21 -0700

Yesterday I began a series on the high price of fuel and how it affects you.

(Note: I'm still looking for reader comments for the final piece in the series, to be published later this week.)

High fuel prices impact businesses directly, by increasing the cost of transportation. They also impact businesses indirectly by increasing the cost of goods (as the manufacturers increase prices to keep up with the fuel cost).

If you have a family, then this means that your grocery prices are increasing. More money spent on groceries means that your home business has to earn more to maintain your family's lifestyle.

I've found a neat way of dealing with the high cost of groceries that saves me about $5,000 a year. For the past for years, I've been using The Grocery Game to control my family's grocery costs.

How Will The Rising Cost of Gas Prices Impact Your Home Business? (Series)

Tue, 27 May 2008 09:42:38 -0700

(Important Note: Read to the end of this post for a way that you can participate in this series.)

In my look at how gas prices were going to affect Memorial Day Weekend, I included four sites that have sprung up to help consumers find the lowest gas prices:

Since that time I've found a few more such sites:

Happy Memorial Day, 2008

Mon, 26 May 2008 08:11:52 -0700

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. This is a day set aside to honor those who gave their lives for the country.

Many towns and cities will have parades and picnics. For most U.S. workers, this is day off to spend with friends and family.

The Memorial Day holiday goes all the way back to the Civil War in the United States. Most of the National Cemetaries will have memorial services. If you homeschool, a study of the history of Memorial Day can make an interesting school project.

Are High Gas Prices Going To Affect Your Memorial Day Weekend?

Sat, 24 May 2008 09:19:12 -0700

Gas prices are on the rise with no relief in sight.

Will high gas prices affect your Memorial Day weekend?

For a lot of Americans, the answer is "yes."

Gas prices have been increasing at record rates, and in many parts of the country the price for a gallon of gasoline is close to $4.00.

This means that fewer Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend. To make matters worse for those who would travel, American Airlines now charges for checked bags in an effort to offset fuel costs.

The rising price of gas has spawned a number of websites designed to help consumers find the lowest gas price. Existing sites are also adding this feature. A few examples of sites designed to help you find the lowest gasoline price for your area are:

Do You Know How To Inspire Customer Loyalty?

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:43:19 -0700

Loyalty!!!

It's the gold standard of business. It's what keeps your customers coming back time and again.

Yet few business owners really understand how to develop loyal customers.

Do you?

I recently learned a lesson about customer loyalty from one of my own clients, believe it or not.

Battling Distractions While You Work: Top Tips From Twitter

Wed, 21 May 2008 17:59:37 -0700

I asked the Twitterosphere how they dealth with distractions today. I did it for this post, but I had a personal reason for asking as well.

First, here's my story:

Today was supposed to be an easy work day for me. I had my schedule set up (or, so I thought) and even had time worked in for an outing with my daughter. Then . . . it happened. I couldn't open a client's attachment and I had a project due for that same client. To top it off, Twitter kept going down. All of the sudden my easy day looked tougher.

Now, I don't know about you, but I find problems extremely distracting. If too much goes wrong I tend to get flustered and have trouble focusing. Well, all did end well. I got my projects done and I'm getting this post up. Still, I'm eager to learn some tips for dealing with distraction.

Here are some of the top tips for dealing distractions, by category.

Happy Birthday Blue Jeans!

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:13:41 -0700

Today is the birthday of every home business owner's favorite uniform (or at least the favorite apparel of this work-at-home mom): blue jeans.

There's something about an old pair of blue jeans - the comfort just can't be beat.

Well, it's hard to believe, but blue jeans turn 135 years old today. That's right, the patent for blue jeans was obtained in 1873 by Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis. You can read all about it on History.com or on the Wikipedia.

You can also learn about the history of blue jeans on the Jeans and Accessories site or the Levi Strauss site.

The makers of blue jeans clearly did something right since their product has now been around for over 100 years and is more popular than ever. I think all business owners can learn from the success of blue jeans. Let's take a look!

Work From Home Momma - Featured Today

Tue, 20 May 2008 08:33:45 -0700

I thought I'd take time out today from the regular posting schedule to let you know that Work From Home Momma has been featured on Home Biz Notes blog!

Stay tuned for our regularly scheduled blog post, later on today.

Home Biz Notes blogger, Yvonne Russell, calls us "A Great Home Business Resource." She then goes on to list some of the topics that I've blogged about.

It's an honor and a privilege to have my work here recognized like this. Part of my vision has always been to help others (and especially moms) succeed in the work-at-home environment.

If you haven't yet visited Home Biz Notes, be sure to do so. It is another great resource for work at home moms.

Image Source: Laura Spencer