I just can’t hold it in any longer.

I am sick of all these stupid job titles.

Web 2.0 has brought a lot jobs, but with them has come the silliness.

Chief Innovation Experience Design Officer

Vice President of Interface Evangelism

Chief Evangelist

Chief Blogging Officer

What the heck?

Yes, when there’s a new job you have to create a title that fits, but some of these titles are taking it a little too far.

I’m all for creativity but there’s a hint of self importance that irks me. And sometimes it’s just plain silly.

What if you have to go back to work at a more traditional firm. What are you going to put on your resume? Good luck trying to network with some Corporate America Head Honcho when your job title sounds just as ridiculous as President of Donut Consumption.

What do you think about these web 2.0 job titles? Do you have one yourself?

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For me, it’s networking.

Over time I’ve found that a lot of people are only in it for themselves and they’ll suck you dry if you let them.

Someone clued me in that perhaps my problem was that I was seeking out the wrong type of people. To quote, “you need to be around people who are on your level.”

Hmm, I’m going to try that for 2009. I’m looking to connect with like-minded business women. Are you one of them? Drop me a line.

I’ve already got a great start by connecting with Natalie MacNeil of She Takes On The World.

She’s a great lady and we have a lot in common.

Check out this interview with me that she conducted.

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Personally, unless I have to meet with someone face to face, which is rare, I wear what is comfortable to me.

Most often that means shorts or sweats and I don’t see a problem with it nor do I feel that it decreases my productivity.

However one day I did get a little too comfortable when I had to make a quick trip to the store in the middle of the day. As I was walking around I was wondering why I was getting stares, and why every single man in the store asked if he could help me with something.

It wasn’t until I walked past the meat section and a cold breeze went up my butt that I realized that my shorts were a little on the short side. I’m talking Nair who wears short shorts. Never again will I rush out of the house without doing a butt check.

Besides, it doesn’t matter what you wear as long as you get the job done. But if you really want to wear something to make a statement then be sure to drop by Work At Home Wear.

What do you wear when you work from home?

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However I have improved in the past year and I think I owe it all to my mother for buying me a slow cooker.

There are so many wonderful things I can make and they aren’t plain and boring like veggie stew or other things that come to mind when you hear “crock pot”.

My current favorites are chicken parmesan and enchiladas.

The best part is that I whip everything together in the morning before I start working, or in the afternoon when I take a break so that my work flow doesn’t get interrupted just because I get a call that says “I’m on my way home.”

I’m still no Rachael Ray but my slow cooker sure does make my life easier.

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I guess I should blame that overpriced Secret movie.

What’s the secret, what’s the key?

You want to know the secret to working at home? You want to know the key to quitting your day job?

1) Either get a job where someone will pay you to work at home.

2) Start a business selling useful products or services.

There you have it.

I hate to be so terse, but sometimes it really is that simple.

But I do aim to be helpful so I’ve started a new section on All Diva Media where I’ll feature (what seem to be) legit work at home jobs. I only have time for twice a month so hopefully that will help someone.

As for the business part, I’ve always believed that if you need to ask someone what kind of business you should start, you really don’t need to be in business.

But here’s a clue; What do you know how to do best? How can you make that profitable?

Think about it and there’s your key.

I wish you the best!

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I learned two things:

1) Having a schedule for both you and the kids is key. Without it you are setting yourself up to be less than productive.

2) Even with the schedule things will still get off track.

Because I had a school-aged child as well as a newborn I got to see the full scope of things.

Newborns are newborns and you are on their schedule and that’s that.

School-aged children need to be kept busy.

What I decided to do what type up a daily schedule. I made sure I had activities for all times of the day so that I would have a chance to get some work done.

There was arts and crafts time, school work, reading time, tv time, exercise time, and so on. Keeping that schedule would probably get tiring day after day (because I had to come up with the school work and arts and crafts activities); but it’s better than having kids complaining to you every 5 minutes that they are bored.

Like I said, I don’t have kids but that was what worked for me. What has your experience been like?

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You see, while I’ve been a business owner ever since I can remember, I’ve only been free from traditional employment since 2005; and with this recession I’d like to make sure I stay there.

No more evil employment!

Back in March I wrote Have You Recession Proofed Your Home Business? If you haven’t read it, head on over, and then check out these other great posts about the topic.

Telecommuting Diva shares 5 Ways To Recession Proof Your Home Business.

Remarkable James tells How To Recession-Proof Your Business in 13 Steps; here is part two.

Biz Chicks Rule lists 9 Recession Proof Industries. While you could use this list to start a job search, if you are really savvy you might find a way to start a new business or add another aspect to your existing business.

Blevins Franks Accountants writes about Protecting The Small Business From Recession. My favorite tip is “Try and find additional income streams so that the hit isn’t so big if you lose one.”

It can be tough, but by staying ahead of the curve, keeping up with trends, and diversifying like crazy you can watch your home business grow and avoid returning to employment.

Good luck!

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I signed up for Vonage in March of 2007. I heard the horror stories so I decided to ask lots of questions, especially about canceling. The person assured me that if I canceled after a year, then I wouldn’t be subject to any fees.

Fast forward to today, May 2008. I haven’t used my Vonage in awhile so I decided to call and cancel. I read online that they have rebuttals for every reason you’d want to cancel so I simply told them I wanted to cancel because my dog doesn’t like the service.

I threw the Vonage lady off a bit, but she still tried to weasel me in by offering me one month free, then two months free, then a discounted monthly rate.

I said no, the Vonage lady put me on hold, and then told me I’d have to pay a $40 cancellation fee.

Excuse me?

She said that I had a two year contract as per the terms of service. I told her that I was told that I was committed to one year, and that either she was lying or the person who signed me up was lying.

So my question is, who is lying at Vonage?

I have a feeling that if I try to cancel after two years, they’ll tell me I agreed to three years and so on.

We went back and fourth for a half hour and she refused to transfer me saying she was the highest level and if I wanted to talk to someone else I’d have to hang up and call back.

Nice customer service Vonage.

So I told her to give me the two months free and in the meantime I’d be contacting someone from corporate. Now I am starting to rethink that, I think I will just call back and cancel Vonage. Meanwhile I’ll be devising a clever SEO plan to warn people about Vonage.

Here are some more experiences with canceling Vonage.

Tom Keating tries to cancel vonage and records the call.

Here’s another post about the annoyances when trying to cancel vonage.

Here are some more recent complaints about Vonage. Oh look, someone else was orginally told it was a one year term and then when they went to cancel they were told it’s two years.

I haven’t tested this number, but apparently you can call 1-888-288-7435 to cancel Vonage.

P.S. Vonage got booted by the BBB.

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Well that all depends, but generally it’s a good practice but only if you do it correctly.

WHY COMMENT ON BLOGS?

When you comment on blogs the right way you get your name out there, and perhaps you’ll pick up tons of backlinks and a great amount of loyal readers. However if you do it incorrectly you’ll simply have wasted your time and you might even get your domain blacklisted.

HERE’S WHERE PEOPLE GO WRONG

I saw this comment on one of my blogs and something was a little odd about it….it just didn’t fit.

I finally decided to write a comment on your blog. I just wanted to say good job. I really enjoy reading your posts.

Tina Russell

So being the nosey person I am I decided to Google the entire comment, and what do you know there are 80,600 results.

Come on, who gave you this advice? You are spamming blogs with the exact same comment?

That’s too bad because this persons name and domain name are probably set in a lot of spam filters. In fact, they are because today I’ve gotten made the same comment on other blogs of mine and they went directly into spam moderation. Ever heard of spam karma?

MY ADVICE

Dear Tina Russell,

Somebody gave you some bad advice. Here’s a tip, comment all day and all night, but only if you have something useful to say. Save the copy and paste job or automated software for the real spammers.

Signed,

A Very Busy Lady

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If it does, it’s time to cut it out and start being more productive.

No excuses! The time is there if you make it.

I’ve gone back and fourth between having a schedule, and not having one and there are some big differences.

No schedule

I get a lot done but something usually gets left behind. I’ll invest a lot of effort into a few key tasks, tasks that I enjoy. The things that I don’t want to do, I put off…and off…and off yet I feel so productive because I’m still getting things accomplished.

Schedule

I get a ton of work done and it gets done quickly. The day goes by faster because I have a checklist already set and there’s no time to twiddle my thumbs. Best of all nothing gets neglected. My day is filled with variety and my overall bottom line increases because I’m not only focusing on what I like to do, but I am also focusing on what I need to do.

If you find yourself just floating along flapping your wings, here’s what I recommend you do.
Make a list of everything you need to do in a week. If you are a writer what writing commitments do you have? If you are another type of freelancer what client commitments do you have? If you work in direct sales what are some key tasks you need to complete? If you are in web publishing, what sites need updating?

Put yourself on a five-day schedule, even if you plan on working seven days per week. Trust me, there’s a reason.

Make yourself a calendar, don’t use dates or days, use numbers. For example

Day 1| Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4| Day 5

Divide up your tasks evenly between the 5 days.

That’s your schedule.

Notice there are no days or dates. It’s not necessary if you are working a flexible schedule. Day 1 could be Monday, or it could be a Wednesday. Just follow the “days” according to the days you choose to work. If you take a day off, pick up on the next days task.

If you find that you don’t get something done, write it down somewhere. Do that throughout the week and you’ll see what you need to do on Day 6 and Day 7 if you choose to put in extra time.

If not, use Days 6 and 7 to do tasks you may not have thought of during the week; or just enjoy the time off.
Please keep in mind that you’ll have to tweak this to something that works best for your situation. If you have date-sensitive tasks then make sure you are keeping track of those as well.

Winging it just doesn’t cut it, but have a set schedule that’s somewhat flexible makes my life so much easier.

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