Working In PJ’s Articles

There is so much information available for people wanting to work from home. One great way to find help as you search for the right work from home job or business is to get help from other people who want to for work from home. These work from home forums are some of the best ones out there:

WAHM.com - This forum is incredibly busy and the ladies there are very helpful.

Internetbasedmoms.com - A wonderful resource for moms starting an online business.

Mommysplace.net - Nell is a genuinely nice person and her forum is fairly busy.

Of course, you can also visit Working In Pj’s work from home forum for support, as well!

Q: Why did you become a writer?

A: I became a writer because it is one of my first loves. I want to inspire people with poetry and share my unique talent with everyone around me. I’ve loved reading ever since I was a child, and I just want to make it enjoyable for everybody else. Writing is just something that comes naturally-and it feels right for it to be a part of my life .

Q: How long have you been writing?

A: I have been writing ever since I was 9 years old. I picked up these little slips of paper that was called “Story Starters” in our english center in my 4th grade classroom. I gradually switched to poetry at the young age of 11 and have been writing ever since.

Q: What is a typical work day like for you?

A: I typically write at night…..For right now, I have to admit it isn’t my full time job, but I would like for it to be in the future… So my typical work day as a writer actually starts the moment my head hits the pillow….Then I usually jot it down on pillow the next day. Since I write poetry, I combine everything into one collection once I have enough poems to fill it…Then I type it out into a word processor and create it into one pdf file….Some days may just include marketing my work and my book itself. Work days for writers vary–Its always something new and different

Q: Has anything odd or funny happened during your
career?

A: Nothing yet …..I am just beginning-I’m sure I have a long road ahead of me.

Q: You just published a new book. Could you tell us
about it?

A: “The Real Me -Xtended” is my first printed book. Its about 50 pages with 25 poems, some illustrations of mine, and also some photographs I have taken myself also. You will find inspirational poetry, narrative, freelance, and a little bit of me in almost all of the poems. …Its my own personal haven for you to look into.

Q: How did the publishing process work?

A: I first put all of my poems together into one collection. I edited and put together the entire layout for my book. Once it was into a .pdf file, I went to www.lulu.com to upload and design the cover of my book. I also took the picture that is the cover of my book as well. …Lulu.com doesn’t charge any set up fees whatsover…Its completely free to upload and publish your book.-Which makes it right up my alley.
Publishing my book was pretty easy–Whats harder is doing the marketing for it that it is involved-That’s usually what a self published author must do though–You are usually always responsible for your own marketing.

Q: Do you any advice for aspiring writers?

A: Follow your dreams, reach high ….Remember that anything is possible!!!…And even though you submit your work to other places and you might get rejected– KEEP GOING–Just because one place may not like your work doesn’t mean that everybody won’t like it..Don’t get DISCOURGAGED!..Keep on moving…. All writers will get a “no” at some point in their career. Keep on writing and keep on giving it your all-Anything is possible when you put your mind into it…

To find out more about Ariana and her book, please visit her site.

Believe it or not, when I mention to family members or friends that I’m going to my office to work, they know I’ll be outside in a refurbished 21 foot long camper. I’ve learned over the years that people who work at home have to be very creative thinkers to carve out space for an office. I’ve met people who work from home out of what used to be a walk in closet, a pantry, a formal dining room, a shed or barn, or even an attic. Few people, especially those with children, have a spare bedroom sitting around empty, and today it is fairly easy to put an office just about anywhere.

With the advent of cell phones, cordless phones, and wireless networking, my office can be just about anywhere there’s some quiet. However, I still wanted the feel of an official “Office,” so I took over the camper that was sitting around unused year after year, put in a lot of built in shelves, modified the table, ran a phone line and some electricity to it, and I was in business.

Take a look around your house and see if there are any areas you rarely use. For instance, formal dining rooms are usually wasted space about 360 days of the year. With some clever designing, you can still have a formal eating area when it is needed. Try built in bookshelves with nice doors that can be closed when guests are there, or even some of the nicer pre-made wooden bookshelves with curtains to hide clutter. Your dining room table can double as your desk, and a nice wooden file cabinet can be tucked into a corner of the room. Finally, make sure you install a nice, solid door so that you can have complete quiet if you need to make an important conference call.

Of course, if you live in a small apartment, especially a studio apartment, you have fewer options than other telecommuters, but you can still create an office for yourself. Make a “wall” for your office out of old shutters hinged together. It will hide office clutter, but is easily moved if you need to take it down or make your office area smaller or larger. Use the shutter slats for important memo storage, or hang a corkboard on the wall. Use a laptop instead of a desktop computer to save on computer workstation space.

Once you find a place for your new office, you may want to turn it into a wireless office. If so, then take a look at Setting up a Wireless Office.