Home offices come in all sizes, ranging from a corner of the dining room table to full rooms dedicated to the home business. What's your office like? No matter what size it is, there are a few things no good home office should be without!

1. A good chair. You'll spend more time there than you think, so invest in a good office chair. Your back and neck will thank you!

2. Good lighting. This is crucial to avoid strains and headaches. especially if your business requires long hours staring at a computer screen.

3. Fresh air. Good air circulation will keep you alert and refreshed and also help cut down on dust accumulation. If you don't have a window, invest in a small air purifier.

4. Quiet. Try and choose a place away from the main traffic areas of your house. Having a door you can close to keep the world out is ideal, but if you don't have one, think about getting a decorative screen to use a partition.

5. Organization. Before you begin work make sure you have everything you'll need within easy reach. Not having to get up or search for tihngs boosts productivity and helps you get your tasks done faster!

What are your office must haves?

Projecting a professional image for your business isn't always easy, especially when the dog's barking, the kids are fighting, and your neighbor's trying out his new leaf blower. Newsday has an excellent article on home businesses and how they can make their image as professional as possible. Here's an excerpt:

As a home-based entrepreneur, it's important to portray a professional image. Just be sure the image you create isone you can live up to, says Rudy Lewis, president of the National Association of Home Based Businesses in Baltimore. Don't give clients the impression you're larger than you are just to impress them. "If they find out you're projecting an image larger than the one you can handle, then you'll lose credibility," he says. Don't be afraid to say you're home-based; more than half of all small businesses are.

Check out the article here and then stop back and share what your do to make your business look as professional as possible!

Here's a great video from HGTV with tips on how to design a home office that's both functional and attractive!

Perhaps the most important tool a home based business owner has is Internet access. Without it, many of us would be hard pressed to get much done. Most of us pay a decent sum each month for either DSL or Cable Internet service. In my case, it's DSL, courtesy of Verizon. Having Internet access is crucial for my business. If I can't get online then I can't do business. My clients don't get the work they need done, so I don't get paid. You can imagine then my frustration when my DSL service, which had been rock solid, started constantly going out for reasons unknown. I called and has a tech come out a good half dozen times over the last few months. While it would improve for a few days, maybe a week or two, it would always go back to being spotty. It's not a case of being too far away from the Central Office, nor is it my wiring or hardware. It's been a real mystery-that is until the other day. I had another tech come out because my DSL was once again on the blink. Not only did he once again confirm the problem was on Verizon's end, not mine, he told me Verizon had begun to deliberately mess with their customer's DSL service. He said we were easily the 7th or 8th service call he'd had concerning DSL service not working, and not a single one of them had any problems on their line or with their service!

At first I was shocked and figured he was feeling disgruntled (as of this posting some 65000 Verizon workers have set a strike deadline-one of their issues is the fact Verizon is contracting out FIOS jobs rather than giving them to their techs) just but in thinking about it, it makes sense. I've been bombarded with pitches for FIOS for months. Postcards, flyers and sales pitches show up in my mailbox on a weekly basis. They call me constantly, and just a week or so ago someone actually knocked on my door and tried to sell FIOS to me. Hard. He even came back the next day and tried again! Completely ridiculous. I've never felt so harassed by a company before.

I'm sure FIOS is nice, but I'm just not interested! I think I know the reason why they are pitching it to the point of harassment. The compensation of the CEO is directly tied to the FIOS rollover. In other words, the more area Verizon is able to cover with FIOS service and the more people they get to sign up/switch to it, the more money the CEO gets. Nice huh?

Needless to say I will be switching to Roadrunner service as soon as my DSL contract with Verizon runs out. Internet access is not a luxury for me, it is crucial for my business.

Have you had similar experiences with Verizon? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

The BBB is warning of a new work at home scam. A website calling itself CashKrazy.com promises lots of cash for simply signing up and answering surveys. Users who sign up are also subscribed to "InBox Dollars" and "Survey Spot" which claim to pay people to read emails and take even more surveys. Not surprisingly this is a total scam. The company's corporate headquarters are a mailbox in a UPS Store and no one ever gets paid a dime, just lots of spam. In fact, that is all "Get Paid To..." opportunities are-a sneaky way to harvest email addresses for spammers. Users are encouraged to plaster referral links all over the net with promises they will be paid each time someone clicks on them and signs up. What's really happening is they are being used to spam for the GPT company, bringing in more email addresses for them to send spam too. Stay far away! This is not a legit work at home job!

hilton hotels has announced a new program that allows their Reservation Agents and Customer Service Reps to work from home. Called Hilton@Home it was designed in response to rising gas costs and the weak economy.

Today's consumer demands a heightened level of customer service, and HRCC delivers with motivated home-based sales and service professionals," said Russ Olivier, senior vice president, HRCC. "Today, more than 800 Hilton@Home agents book global travel and provide customer care for more than 3,000 hotels with 500,000 rooms among nine brands that comprise the Hilton Family of Hotels. This unique career offering from a world-class organization attracts experienced and educated professionals who may not otherwise consider a customer contact position in the typical call center environment."

For more information check out Hilton's employment page or their press release.

Hi everyome!

I am currently out of the country on vacation. Posts will resume on July 25th. Thank you for your patience and have a great week!