Penelope Trunk is a columnist at the Boston Globe and Yahoo! Finance. She suggests that in the near future things will change.

The end of office life

People will work from home, from their friends’ homes, from the beach, all the time. The need to have a home office will decrease because Generation Y will never really learn how to work 9 to 5 in an office anyway. They grew up blending homework and friends while they multi-tasked in their bedroom, and once they enter the workforce, they extend this behavior to everywhere — work life and home life will be blended in a way that makes each more rewarding.

We can already see a growing movement of mobile jobs where people can work at any time they choose from any location. Think back to NBC’s recently run feature of an entire large sized office where all employees were excused in order to work from anywhere they wished and only come in for meetings.

source: BrazenCareerist

Lisa posts a cute comic about google AdSense.

Cindy writes about the great flexible work opportunities there are for women who would like to work from home.

Many webmasters have learned how to make a sizeable amount of money on their sites through posting google ads. They learn how to put in high paying keywords in order to keep their page ratings high and have people clicking on their ads. Yet, many times the money does not just roll in after putting up the supposedly correct keywords to generate maximum growth.

The answer lies in a simple secret: location, location, location. An easy navigation system which pulls readers to the correct pages is what is lacking. Having the pages with the high placed keywords is one thing, getting your traffic to click and go to those pages is entirely another thing.

The links on your pages which lead to the desired pages you want your readers to navigate must be attention grabbing and look interesting. It all comes down to good marketing skills in advertising your links and a good navigational site which contains a menu on each page and is easy to go through.

One way of doing this is by placing those links on the pages which most of your traffic comes to. It is a good idea to test this option by choosing a few high earning pages to link to. Come up with a catchy and unique name for that link. Think of something which will trigger the readers curiousity. And don’t forget to use interesting graphics on your site.

Many sites these days have lists of “hot pages” and “most read pages.” Get to know which lists websites are using and try to come up with your own version of a unique style. Try putting different texts on different pages. Doing a little trial version with mixing things around is a great idea to test your site out. Put links both on top and bottom and see which links are being ignored and which are being clicked.

Test and track until you find the site navigation style that works best for your site.

In today’s competitive world, how can you stand out and shout to the world “Look at me, my business is worth coming to?” It sounds like one of the biggest challenges of internet marketing, and yet the solution is remarkably easy. It’s called “branding.”

Branding is when your personalize your business and your site in a way where it becomes synonymous with what your personality reflects.

How can this be done? Number one, you can start through having original content instead of just copying and pasting what’s on the web. Original content means that you yourself thought up the ideas and wrote your own articles. If you aren’t confident enough in your writing ability you might want to look for an editor just to offer insight into your writing, but the writing should still be yours.

Your site should boast your personality; your voice, your colors, your clothes. Your home business was created from your experiences, your talents, and your skills so in a sense your website is you.
A Brand is like a human being, there is not another one in the whole world who is the same.

The brand is something which can be built over a period of time. It is an emotional relationship between your website and your visitors and over-time it will get stronger and stronger, especially if it is not changed.

Running and maintaining a website should not cost you big bucks. Paying for a super package on an internet hosting site will probably not do much more than leave a burning hole in your pocket. Optimizing and personalizing what is out there for free is much more cost-effective, has a warmer friendlier touch, and yes, is tons of fun.

The first step in order to make your site attractive, informative, and interactive is through posting articles which either you write up or find online. Submitting articles for your web site is what gives it a non threatening super commercial look.

The second step is to start blogging. Many people these days turn to blogs first when they are looking for anything from a new product they wish to buy to their daily news. Blogs are probably the most personal method of getting through to people and can build a community of loyal readers who will stay in touch with their input in the form of blog comments. Business blogs should be no exception.

The third is to start an automated e-mail list of people who fall into your target market audience and send them automated discounts and newsletters. This can be a bit tricky, because over-doing it may backfire, but if you make sure to send out useful information and promotions, chances are it will turn into a great form of marketing.

When all is done being said, it’s not the money which will get your business going, but rather the content. Good strategy which includes having all your mediums updated and answering the customers questions is what will keep your business going.

We’ve all heard about how important customer service is to any business. If people don’t feel they are treated well and in a timely fashion, unless there is a major price advantage to your business, chances are they won’t feel very comfortable coming back. Making sure your customers keep coming back to you is what will make your business last.

The best way to put good customer service into practice is by knowing what exactly the customer needs are. For example, if you are selling a children’s play station which needs to be assembled, see if the customers would like having someone do the assembling for them. If you are selling a diet plan or a self manicure kit, check out if your customers want a personal training and teaching session first. You may think that this is totally obvious, but many times even a simple product which you wouldn’t think is too complicated to use, can be a challenge for people to figure out the most efficient way to use it.

The best way in today’s world to know what your customers needs are, are through web forums. Practically everyone today has internet access, if not in their private home then the local library, and letting your customers leave a few comments which in turn can be analyzed to see both the positive and negative are crucial. Information is power, and the more data you have, the better decisions you will make.

By using forums you can gain a competitive advantage through understanding and pinpointing your customers needs and accommodating to them in the most effective manner.

Networking in today’s age has vastly improved and changed from what it used to be. Knowing how to optimize and manage networking is probably one of the most important, if not the most important part of your business. Customers are the life and blood of any business, and targeting as many as possible in a dignified professional way is a real key to success.

One great way to start is with social media websites. There are a plethora of forums, blogs, and friendly networking sites to choose from. Forums and online discussion groups are another great way to boost sales.

Another idea is to give out free speeches. Volunteer your time at popular events and speak about your products. If you know your stuff well, you’ll be amazed about how many people will start enquiring after you give out your business cards.

One of the most optimal ways of really gaining a name for yourself and spreading the word is through actively helping organizations. Volunteer your time, and especially if you offer a service, see if any fundraising events or even company hosted parties will allow you to do free trials on people. They will most always be more than accommodating, and you will definitely gain plenty of exposure. People love getting things for free, and once you have them, if they considered it a positive experience, many times they will become addicted to you and your service.

On the other hand, here are a few old fashioned time-tested networking practices which have completely failed the test.

Building a List of Family and Friends- This only works when companies hire people to do the dirty work for them, and of course it only works for the company. If 10,000 people that they hired each got 2 people that’s plenty of money for them and a $3.50 check for you. Not to mention, being black listed from all the family parties.

Hotel Meetings and Driving all Over Town- Time and gas are costly and just because you pick up the tab for their lunch doesn’t mean they will sign up for you business. A “home based” business should be just that, home based.

Building a Fancy Website- There is no question that websites are a must in today’s world to really expand and face a nation wide market. On the other hand, spending huge amounts of money on a super fancy website which doesn’t necessarily do the job well in terms of targeting and putting the correct information with an easy navigation system. Having a fancy website which is useless to most people means nothing.

So make sure to use the right methods, have patience and persistence and before you know it, your business will expand boundlessly.