HomeOfficeVoice

An Update and a Quick Roundup

Hey all,

Just a quick roundup post of what’s going on here at HomeOfficeVoice and some little insights and thoughts on what’s been capturing my attention.

Redesign

I’m having a full on redesign of HomeOfficeVoice. This is being done behind the scenes. In days past, I would do such a thing on another “dead” blog to get everything right and then migrate it over to the blog that was being redesigned - which usually meant lots of little bugs and bad links that needed to be cleaned up.

Well not anymore!

I recently came across a beauty of a plugin called Theme Test Drive which allows me to tweak a new blog design (on the same blog) while you guys still see the current design - ie: no messed up messes :-) and css butchering. Very Cool.

The Interview Series

Wendy Piersall - of sparkplugging, formerly eMoms at Home, has done an outstanding job (imo) of answering a bunch of questions that go straight to the heart of what she’s been up to these last few weeks and months - both professionally and emotionally. This is going to be a must read - but then again, I’m biased. ;-)

A Mini Rant

Of course, no week can go by without a little bit of a rant. Well it can, but not this week. ScribeFire. An excellent Firefox addon that is near perfect as a blog editor. I love it and have used it on and off since it came out when it was created by the original guys over at Performancing.

My rant, and it’s not just against ScribeFire, is this one: If It Ain’t Broke, Then Don’t Fix It. That post will come to you on Thursday.

9Rules

Someone alerted me to the new 9rules… not interested. They’ve been off my radar for so long that I even thought they had folded up or something. For me it’s about the blogs not the “me too” walled-in community and ego-driven individuals behind it. But for the uninitiated, I have had my run-ins with them folks over at 9Rules over the years - but those days are long gone. Next…

LinkedIn

I’ve had a love/hate/puzzlement affair with LinkedIn for so long now that I get a headache just thinking about it. The foundations are solid. It’s clear-cut what it’s all about. But, and there’s always been a but… It never seems to live up to its expectations - well, for me anyhow.

Even so, it came as somewhat of a surprise and shock reading Scott Allen’s post about the future of LinkedIn Intelligence (especially point #3). Scott has been THE evangelist for LinkedIn for so long now that everytime I think of LinkedIn I automatically think of Scott Allen as a leading (independent) authority figure.

I’m really looking into whether LinkedIn is an ideal place for us lifestyle entrepreneurs to network. My research continues and yes, Scott’s announcement does have an impact. Obviously, I’ll be trying to get Scott over here for an interview. Scott! Hello! :-)

That Twitter Post

It’s been three weeks in the making, but I have completed a thorough post on Twitter. It’s obviously geared to an audience of lifestyle entrepreneurs and basically asks, and sometimes answers, the question of whether it’s a “must have” tool, a waste of time or just one more thing in the web 2.0 bag of cool apps.

Have a good week, enjoy your business but more importantly enjoy life.

Cheers,
Martin

PS. Happy Birthday to my little girl - already 7! Your Daddy’s proud of you.

Posted in Home Business | 2 Comments »

This Week: Twitter, a Guest Post and Watching a Re-Branding

I just thought I’d let everyone know what this coming week entails for me.

Twitter

I’ve caught the Twitter bug as of late, something I never thought I would say. Hence, I’m working on an in-depth look into Twitter (from the perspective of the home business owner) and will post it later on this week.

I’ve also noticed that there has been a surge of interest in Twitter in recent weeks. Lots of posts being written, especially from a business perspective. Lots of ideas out there. Catch my post later on this week (oh yeah, and you can follow me via Twitter if you’re into Twitter).

Guest Blogging

Did you know I have never done a guest post … yet? I had a writing gig for a while at The Blog Herald in ‘06 but have never done a guest post.

Well that’s about to change. Grant Griffiths from Home Office Warrior has invited me to do a guest post. I asked him if he had any requests or any direction he wanted me to go down. Nope, I’m to write whatever I want. :-)

I’m polishing up a nice piece for him on the topic of … ;-)

Re-Branding

Wendy Piersall has done a tremendous job over at eMoms at Home, turning it from a small hobby blog into a well-respected, multi-channel “internet home business magazine”.

Well because of her roaring success, she’s doing a total makeover of her site to move to the next level - and when I mean a makeover, I mean a major makeover!!! This week she will Rename, Rebrand and reBirth eMoms at Home.

As a big fan of what Wendy has achieved, I’m following all this with great expectations … and of course, wish her all the luck.

That’s my week in a nutshell - as well as my continuing behind-the-scenes work here on HomeOfficeVoice. You’ll notice the little graphic up top here. By weeks end, it should be rolled out and available to all.

Have a good week and remember … business success means little without the lifestyle you want.

Cheers,
Martin

Posted in Home Business | 6 Comments »