One of my goals for working from home is to have more time with my family. Because of my decision to buy a farm in 2007, I have an 80-mile commute. My employer helped me out by allowing me to work remotely, one day a week. (I must say that they have been very open-minded and supportive!) Recently, I was able to expand that to two days a week. This is a real blessing to me as it eliminates almost 8 hours of drive time each week.

I have always been interested in managing virtual teams, since I went to a ProjectWorld conference in the late ’90s. At that conference I went to a workshop on managing distributed teams. My reason for attending was that I was beginning to manage a team of programmers in India to help with system maintenance and Y2K work. Now, I am the one who is a virtual/distributed (40% of the time) team member!

Two books I read, this past year, gave me encouragement to step out in this way: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss and Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke–the Simple Change That Can Make Your Job Terrific by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson. The 4-Hour Workweek gave me some strategies for changing my work schedule to allow me to work remotely. Why Work Sucks gave me solid strategies for focusing the evaluation of my work on results (ROWE) and for dealing with negative comments that the authors termed “sludge.”

If you are looking to have more freedom in your work life - the freedom to get results, then I recommend that you read both books. My life now has better margin and control. It is intensely liberating, less stressful, and now has some margin. Most of all, it is already having a positive impact on my family life.

The 4-Hour Workweek

Timothy Ferriss. Crown 2007, Hardcover, 320 pages, $11.56

Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It

Cali Ressler. Portfolio Hardcover 2008, Hardcover, 224 pages, $2.25

I have been doing some sort of on-line retailing since 2002. While selling physical products is something I love to do, it has been only marginally profitable. In fact, the last two years I have lost a little money. The biggest cost has been on my time. It never grew large enough to justify having a payroll and as a family business, it didn’t involve the whole family. The time cost is larger than just spending time on the store. Selling physical products always had time pressure to get the orders out. It is the time I am not spending with my wife and children. The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my journey to spend more time with my family. This change of direction will help with that.

Beginning immediately, I will be shutting down my physical products operations. I will be selling out my inventory. The stuff that sells well will be sold at regular retail. Everything else will be discounted to move quickly. I plan to have most of my inventory liquidated by the end of January. What’s left will go on eBay. By the end of December, the present incarnation of Ten Foot Table will be gone.

What will I do? I plan to write - both e-books and blogging. I also plan to do affiliate marketing. This kind of work can happen in the fringe hours after God, family, and my regular job. I think I will have a lot to offer by going in this new direction. Mostly for my wife and children.

I am not down about this decision. In fact, I am at peace with it. It is the right thing to do. I will have better focus. It is in God’s will for my life.

There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. - Proverbs 13:7 (KJV)

Many people struggle with putting up custom forms on their websites. These are invaluable for all kinds of web applications. Joel Comm’s company, Infomedia, has just released Instant Form Pro. This is a piece of software that you host on your own domain that makes creating web forms a snap. This type of product could easily been produced as a subscription service, but with this offer, you can buy the software including the source code (subject to license restrictions).

One of the most important things for an internet marketer or entrepreneur to remember is to do things efficiently. That is where this tool will pay for itself. (Just think what it can cost for a few hours of a web developer’s time!) As you put up web pages, the need for custom forms is an on-going one. Instant Form Pro will make this task easy and it automates routine tasks like email notification when a form is filled out.

Check out this product and look at the bonuses that are included. It also has a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can’t go wrong by trying Instant Form Pro.

Several months ago, I contracted with an accountant through Elance to help me with my books. I was using GnuCash at the time and she was willing to give it a try. (I have used GnuCash for several years in my business and it suited me well.) My accountant was able to help me to a point, but I finally realized that I needed to switch to an industry standard accounting package if I was to continue to work with outsourced help.

On the recommendation of my accountant, I am switching to QuickBooks. She recommended that I buy either the 2006, 2007, or 2008 version on eBay to save money. I buy and sell on eBay, so this sounded like a good idea. For about a week, I watched some auctions, hoping to get a bargain. This wasn’t working out so good. Older versions of QuickBooks were selling close to the retail price of new versions!

So it was on to one of my favorite sites for price shopping, NexTag. I found better prices here and even started to purchase from one of the companies listed. Then, just before completing the checkout process, I decided to try amazon.com. Here, I found the best price yet for QuickBooks Pro 2009 ! It was even better then eBay’s prices for QuickBooks Pro 2007.

It just goes to show that it pays to shop around. I’m going to place my order now.

If you own an e-commerce site that ships physical products, there is an easy way for you to improve your image. It is your shipping operation! Believe it or not, how you ship is one of the most tangible ways to connect with your customers. Think about online companies that you do business with. What is your impression of their packaging and speed of shipment? I would venture that some companies give you a positive impression while others, well, not so good.

I have chosen to make shipping a positive experience for my customers. Whether they buy through my eBay store or website, I focus on good packaging and fast shipping. I use USPS Priority Mail to do both. The Priority Mail boxes are both free and good looking. You can’t help but give a positive impression with these red, white and blue boxes when compared to the normal brown. Priority Mail also helps with fast shipping. You can ship anywhere in the U.S. in two to three days. With online purchase of postage you get a discount plus a tracking number. (Your customers feel better about their order when they get a tracking number.)

While Priority Mail helps with fast shipping, that is only half of the equation. I know that I have been frustrated by ordering online, then waiting days until the order ships. I make it a point to ship my orders out the very next day. I pack the items carefully and make sure the box is securely closed. (I also include some free product samples as a bonus.) I then order Carrier Pickup and wait for the mailman to pick up my packages.

Using these tips, you can give your customers a positive, fast shipping experience and improve the image of your online business.