Kristie T’s Home Business Blog Fun, mom-geared work-at-home tips and advice on making money on the net.

Working from home can present dangers to your pet if you don’t take some time to pet proof your home office.

The same items that cause danger to children, can cause harm to your cat or dog as well.

After getting a new puppy, I discovered pretty quickly what she was getting into and wanted to share some pet safety tips to help you.

9 home office safety tips for pets

1) Protect your pet from power cords. Tuck electrical cords out of site when possible. You should block power strips so that your pet can’t access them. Put outlet covers on any unused outlets to prevent electrical shock.

Here are some products to protect your pet from power cords.

-
A clear cord protector that goes over power cords to prevent your pet from chewing on it and getting shocked.

- 1.2 inch flexible plastic tubing - You can pick this up at Menards or Home Depot. Just take scissors and cut the tubing open. Use the opening to insert the cord. That way when your pet bites the cord, they bite the protective tubing instead and won’t get hurt.

- Bitter Apply spray - You can get this at any pet supply store. Spray it to stop dogs from biting furniture, cords, and other items. It has a bitter flavor and will discourage them from biting again.

2) Remove small items from the floor.
If you have any paper clips, binder clips, loose change, staples, push pins or other small items your pet could choke on, remove it from the floor.

3) Secure any bookshelves to the wall.
If there is something tempting on your bookshelf that your pet my want to climb to get, make sure your bookshelf if secured to the wall so that it won’t tip over on them.

4) Set ground rules. Tell your pet what behavior is a “no no” in your home office. If they chew on something, climb, or do something you don’t want, say no. It may take some reinforcing, but they’ll get the rules if you are consistent.

See IAMS free dog training videos to teach your dog to behave in the office and the whole house

5) Keep messy items out of reach. Store ink cartridges, white out, pens, markers, highlighters, stamps up on shelves where pets can reach.

6) Keep computers and equipment up high where pets can’t reach.

7) Contain pets if you can’t supervise them. If you are working intensely on a project and can’t keep an eye on your pet, you may consider putting them in a kennel, play yard, or fenced in area where they will be safe.

7) Store office cleaning supplies up and away. If you have special cleaning solutions for your laptop screen, your desk, and other areas of your office, keep it out of pets reach. These items can be toxic and possibly deadly to your pet.

Shredders. Keep shredders unplugged and put away so pets can accidentally access them.

9) Sharp Stuff. Take extra care to put scissors, letter openers, and other sharp items where pets can’t reach them.

Have you found any other pet safety items or tips that you use to keep your pet safe in your home office? Any tips on how to keep pets happy (and not jealous) when you are spending time working on the computer? Share your tips for keeping pets happy when working from home here.

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This morning we made a new addition to our family - a sweet little puggle named Ginger. She is 8 weeks old and sooo loving and sweet. She is 7 lb 8 oz. We are soooo happy. Can’t tell you how long and how many years we have wanted a dog.

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Leo Babauta has a great blog called dumb little man - tips for life. Just stumbled across a great post on the top 20 online time wasters. Are you guilty of these?

The only 2 I struggle with is the constant email checking and the forums. At times I have gotten caught up with chat.

1. Email
2. Google Reader
3. Chat Software
4. Solitaire
5. World of Warcraft
6. Blogs
7. Forums
8. News sites
9. YouTube
10. Facebook/MySpace
11. Digg
12. Productivity Tools
13. Online Shopping
14. ESPN
15. Humor Sites
16. Wikipedia
17. Flickr
18. IMDB
19. Ask MeFi
20. Blog Stats

Okay, fess up. Which ones are you guilty of wasting time with?

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Just got my brand new Verizon wireless card today for my laptop. It is so AWESOME to know I can pick up my laptop, login to my wireless card service and work any where I please. Man is that cool! Just $59/month for unlimited use. Plus, it’s broadband speed. Sweet!

I want to call out to Carolyn O’Daniels at the new Verizon Wireless store in Gurnee, IL. She gave me excellent service. Even let me bring my laptop and try out the cards for size. She was awesome, answered my questions, and super helpful.

Do you have wireless service for your laptop? Who do you use? What are the best deals out there? Where’s the coolest place you worked using your wireless service?

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Found this cool word - clockroaches. It stands for people who spend most of their day watching the clock - instead of doing their jobs

Funny huh?

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Here are some more cool acronyms

TEAMS - Together Everyone Achieves More Success

SODA–Simplify, Organize, Delegate and Automate - This original one is by Michael Angier by SuccessNet

SPACE - Sort, Purge, Assign a home, Containerize, Equalize (maintain the space)

KISS, Keep it Super Simple

FEAR, False Evidence Appearing Real

LSGBS - Let Something Good Be Said.

SIN - Self-Inflicted Nonsense

SABBATH - Stop And Begin Blessing All That Happens

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Do you set SMART goals?

SMART is an acronym for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic and
Timely

(Leave a Comment)

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When someone is really successful, you might hear someone say, “Oh, they are so lucky.”. The truth is that luck has nothing to do with it. We make our own luck in life. We are 100% responsible for everything that happens to us. Here’s a fun acronym for what luck REALLY is:

L.U.C.K. is “laboring under correct knowledge”

Isn’t that the truth? When you have a good strategy and you apply that knowledge, that’s when you start the “magic” beginning in your life.

Do you feel lucky? What do you do to stay positive and create your own luck? Do you believe in lucky charms like 4 leaf clovers or a rabbit’s foot?
What are your thoughts on being lucky?

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Last Wednesday was my birthday. I had a plethora of client projects going on. And there’s always things on the to do list. Some of my friends were asking me, “Kristie, are you going to work on your birthday?”

So, I decided to take my birthday off. And MAN did I have a great day. I went boating with some business friends of mine. We cruised on Lake Michigan to Kenosha. Then we grabbed a bit to eat at Chops. I had the salmon and the most incredible potatoes with bacon, cheese, and the works. YUM!

Then when I got home I was greeting with gorgeous peach roses from my mom (Mom - I love you! Thanks!). And my awesome husband baked me a cake. (Wow was that awesome - totally blew me away!). It even was decorated with my new “forever age” of 34. (decided that was a good age to stop at *grin).

And to top it all off, I got the biggest pile of birthday cards. It’s funny, this year since I got big into sending cards and things to build the relationships in my life, now I get WAY more cards too. And it’s FUN! I never felt more loved in my life.

I had a very happy “34th” birthday! You don’t work on your bday do you? Hope when it’s your birthday that you take the day off too!

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I had a reader ask this morning how to create a marketing plan for her new business. That’s a common question many mom entrepreneurs have as they launch their new businesses.

Here’s what she wrote:

Dear Kristie.

I am just starting a business. With very little marketing skills, and currently no website, what recommendations do you have on a marketing strategy? Also, with no capital for my business, and no financial support system, how do I grow my new business while keeping enough income from my current job to pay the bills?

Thanks!
Carol

Here’s what I wrote Carol:

==========================

Hi!,

First you need to “test” your business viability. See how much of a market is out there and if your ideal clients like your products and services. See what price the market will bear. See what the demand is. You want to make sure your business is viable before you go investing your money and time in it.

Start with your warm market first. Who is your ideal target market? What industry are they in? What pains do they have? How does your stuff help solve their pains? Why should they choose you? What benefits will they receive as a result of your work with them?

A really affordable to start your marketing is local networking. Attend the local chamber of commerce breakfasts.
Go to Business Networking International meetings (www.bni.com you can find chapters by you). Letips and LeadShare are two other referral marketing/lead sharing groups you can join.

I recommend starting by answering a few questions.

Who is your target audience - get specific. What industry, age, demographic.
What your product/services are.
Why people need it
How does your product/service help people
What are the costs of not using your product
Why are you qualified to do this
How will their lives change when they use your products/services
What success stories can you share from people who have used your products/services
What are some of the most asked questions people have about your product
What is the cost of your product
How does it work

Here is a business plan template you can use:

Unless you know the answers to those questions. You aren’t ready to market yet.

Then, just pick some promotional vehicles and “go for it”.
Try to pick a few, focus your efforts, measure your results.

Here is a promotion planning checklist to make it easier.

I suggest you run this as a “moonlighting” business till you have enough clients lined up and business to keep things going.

Tell everyone you know what you are now doing and ask if they know anyone who needs your help. Give them your elevator speech

I work with (WHO YOU WORK WITH) to help them (WHAT YOU HELP THEM DO) so they can (WHAT BENEFITS THEY GET)

That is your 30 second introduction.

Good luck!

Kristie T

What challenges have you had creating a marketing plan for your business? Do you have any advice to share with Carol on what worked for you to market on a shoestring budget?

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