10 Ways to Set Up Yours for Under $100

By Kristina Wyatt

1.    Think outside of just office supply stores. Sure they have tons of supplies and equipment, but sometimes their prices are more expensive. Check out discount stores like Wal-Mart, Big Lots, The Dollar Store, and The Dollar Tree for items such as file folders, paper, pens, sticky-notes, and much more.

2.    Shop online for great deals. Visit www.dollartree.com to purchase office supplies in bulk at a great price. They also have stylish storage boxes for your desktop to hold paperclips and the like. Another great site is www.thecontainerstore.com. Although some of their items can be on the pricier side, check out their sale area for reduced and discounted items for your desk and office. Www.currentcatalog.com has great office supplies for reasonable prices. Their acrylic letter holder is only $9.99, stylish file folders are $9.99, and organizer books start at just $6.99.

3.    If you want to go green, go here. With so many people keeping the environment in mind, there are many options now to set up your home office in an earth-friendly manner. This site, www.thegreenoffice.com, has hundreds of items that are green, and they offer free next-day delivery on orders over $49, with carbon dioxide neutral delivery, as stated on their home-page. They also offer discount pricing and over 34,000 green and conventional products to choose from.

4.    Use what you already have on hand. Many of us already have tons of filing and desk accessories just sitting around in drawers, forgotten. Dig them out and take stock of what you already have. There’s no use in spending money on things that you have on hand at home!

5.    Look beyond conventional office accessories. Scavenge your kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom for ordinary things to turn into new office supplies. A kitchen utensil holder can be used for your pens and pencils. A silverware drawer divider can keep paper-clips, stamps, sticky-notes, and business-cards organized. A wire lid holder becomes a letter or file keeper for the desk-top.

6.    Scour thrift stores if you’re looking to buy a desk for your office. If you don’t already have a desk for your home office, visit thrift stores like Goodwill in your area to find one on the cheap. You can sometimes get a large desk, with a few mars, for under $20.

7.    Make sure your personality shows through. You don’t want your home office to be boring and bland. Use photos of your spouse, kids, or pets in eye-catching, chic frames. Use floral or stripe file folders (or whichever design you prefer) instead of the plain brown kind.

8.    If you can, keep your office off-limits to your kids. You want this area to be your own, to keep you inspired for your work. Don’t let your kids (or guests for that matter) clutter your office.

9.    Keep your new office organized for better proficiency. Every week or so, go through any mail or loose papers that always seem to accumulate on dinner tables and your desktop. Ideally you should be sorting the mail as it comes in, but with busy daily lives, that just isn’t possible all the time. A little effort can pay off in the long run when keeping your office organized and clutter-free.

10.  Now that you have your office set-up and organized, get to work! Whether you run a home business, do freelance work, or simply manage your household in your office, you now have a brand-new work space to call your own. So sit back, add up all the money you have saved and enjoy your budget-friendly home office. HBM

Kristina Wyatt is a freelance writer for over 10 years and owns two home businesses: Above the Call appointment reminder service and KLW Editing & Writing Services. She stays busy with her family and businesses, writing informative articles on how to juggle family and career, among many other topics.  V18-2 Add: 6/11 HP: 7/11/11 CAR: ??

Woman Overcomes Physical Challenges and Develops a Successful Online Business

By Nathania Stambouli

Until six years ago, Dawn Sander was a floor representative in the DVD department of her local WalMart. In 2004, her life was turned upside down when she suffered a brain aneurysm that left her missing one eye and functioning at the cognitive capacity of a toddler.

    She underwent rehabilitation treatments and slowly regained some semblance of a normal life, but the residual effects of her injury made it impossible for her to hold down full-time employment.
    Her sister, in an effort to help Dawn get back on her feet, started an eBay store for her with items they had lying around the house to generate some income. As soon as she could, Dawn took it over and after running out of items to sell from her closet, she began looking for products to source. "I started ordering wholesale lots through liquidation companies like Via Trading, and reselling them online.” Finding that they spend more lavishly than men do, Dawn focuses exclusively on catering to women with high-end and designer clothing.
    Since eBay is a global marketplace and listings stand on their own based on search queries, Dawn does not spend much time or money on advertising. "People find me because they're looking for a great deal on designer clothing," she says. "They wear it and refer their friends, family, and colleagues."

    Given the seizures she suffers and being the primary caretaker of her elderly mother, Dawn must remain as close to home as possible. She has grown her sales volume to a point where she now supports herself and her family exclusively through her eBay sales. "I am making way more money than I ever did at WalMart," she says, "and I do it at home."
    Her best advice for those who want to work from home is to "go for it but don't expect riches overnight. It takes time to get to where people trust you. Take care of your customers, and they will help grow your business. They’re your best assets."
    Dawn's business is expanding. She speaks proudly of her achievement; her ability to make the most of a difficult situation, develop a new business she knew nothing about, and make a better living than ever before. For more information, visit http://www.viatrading.com. HBM  V18-2 Add: 6/11 HP:

Family’s Love For Party Planning And Designing Invitations Leads To Success
By Amy Grace, Copywriter, CS Mgr, InvitationBox.com
Edited by Home Business Magazine

Jonathan La Nasa is a strong businessman that had a longing for workplace freedom and the desire to be his own boss.  Before starting his own home-based business, Jonathan gained a strong background in business and e-commerce from being the Director of Business Development for AMPHENOL RF, as well as the web producer for Priceline for Gasoline.
    Jonathan and his wife, Katherine, had long been creating custom invites to all their get-togethers.  Then they started doing it for friends.  As their creativity became more in demand, they realized they actually had a business growing out of their spare bedroom.
    Jonathan found that by combining his family’s pastime of creating stationery and moving announcements and invitations for family and friends, along with his passion for business, he could turn his business ideas into a lucrative home-based online retail business. In 2003, Jonathan and Katherine joined forces with their friend Derek Stockman and launched Invitation Box (www.invitationbox.com).  
    InvitationBox.com was created to give customers the opportunity to receive the personal customer service of a mom-and-pop stationery store combined with the variety of products one would find at an online retail store, such as birth announcements, party invitations, stationery products and gift items — all from the comfort of a customer’s home.  InvitationBox.com is mainly promoted via online search engines with emphasis with Google and Yahoo with PPC and SEO, which reaches out to a client base of independent women, mothers, families, and large corporate companies. 

    Jonathan, his wife, and business partner found that having a home-based business means there are no restrictions on working hours, one can dress for work more casual than in a formal business environment, and that one’s schedule can be worked around family time.  However, as InvitationBox.com continually grew larger with an increasing client base, the need for expansion became apparent.  In 2005, InvitationBox.com moved out of its home-base and into a corporate office where it continues to expand. Now, seven years later, the one-stop party planning site has more than 9,000 products and a wide variety of styles.  
    One of InvitationBox.com’s proudest business achievements is launching and growing a brand which reaches customers nationwide without any debt.  In the coming years, InvitationBox.com hopes to continue its positive expansion, hire more employees, and add new products and ideas to help their customers make every occasion special.  HBM  V18-2 Add: 6/11 CAR: 9/3/11 HP:

Vitiello started Rockwall iPhone Repair in his parents’ dining room after one of his friends broke her phone, and he fixed it for her. Because of such high demand, it quickly turned into a full time job, with Vitiello sometimes repairing more than 10 phones in a single day.
    The inspiration for United iPhone Repair came after Vitiello’s iPhone repair business was featured on national news. “I had dozens of people calling me asking if I could help them start a business similar to mine.” Seizing the opportunity, Vitiello compiled a book detailing how to do the repairs and business’ marketing. “Before I knew it,” he says, “I was helping people start iPhone repair businesses all over the nation.”  United iPhone Repair is dedicated to helping individuals with all aspects of the business, from learning the repair processes and supplying replacement parts, to advertising and bringing in customers.

    Vitiello says his clients range from college students like himself, to stay-at-home moms and middle-aged working men looking to supplement their incomes. He promotes United iPhone Repair primarily online by using SEO tactics to boost his search engine rankings, and by writing free articles about the iPhone repair business for bloggers and website owners. “I write content for other websites, because they have much more traffic than mine,” says Vitiello. “More often than not, the website owner will allow me to plug my website at the end of the article, and I can draw a lot of traffic that way.”
    Vitiello says, “I find that the freedom working from home gives me is the benefit I value the most.” He adds, “My greatest achievement is sharing my success with the dozens of iPhone repair businesses that are now operating because of my company.” Vitiello plans to continue to open new locations every week and wants his network of home-based repair businesses to dominate the iPhone repair industry. Visit http://unitediphonerepair.com. HBMV18-2 Add: 6/11 CAR: 7/13/11 HP: