Create a Home Office that Suits Your Needs
“Efficiency is intelligent laziness.”
–David Dunham, Software Company Owner
In This Issue:
- Main Essay: Create a Home Office that Suits Your Needs by Krista Jones
- Resource Referral: One Way to Value Your Services
- Quick Tip: Receive Your Faxes Via E-mail
Create a Home Office that Suits Your Needs
by Krista Jones
Monica and I receive questions on everything from how to write a lead to how to pick a niche. Recently we received a question we hadn’t heard before:
“… a question that might be a springboard for a future article on the nuts and bolts of furnishing one’s office for professional efficiency: Is a fax machine a necessity anymore?
I’m in the process of setting up my home office and am debating whether or not to include a fax line. The cost is negligible but, in the interest of having a professional work space that is both efficient and simple, I wouldn’t mind not having the fax. I’ve got a scanner and, of course, email, so I could scan and send anything I needed to. But I’m not sure how much that approach is used in the client world, generally. So the fax might be a necessity in terms of my ability to receive information.
Any thoughts or advice, based on your real-world experience and/or that of colleagues?”
I had similar questions when I was starting out, and I’m guessing a few other readers might too—especially in light of constantly changing technologies. So today I’ll share my experiences and thoughts on the most useful home office essentials.
I’m not going to cover the obvious things you’ll need, such as a computer with internet access, a telephone that is designated for business use, a printer, and a desk and chair. Instead, I’ll focus on more obscure tools that will make your copywriting life easier and more pleasant.
For instance, if you’re like the reader above and are wondering about the need for a fax or perhaps even a photocopier, my experience has been that they both come in handy. Not because I use them every day (I use the copier up to three times a week and the fax no more than once per month), but simply because it would be disruptive to have to leave my house every time I need to copy or fax something.
It really comes down to the value you place on your time. If you’re charging clients $50 per hour, is it worth wasting 30 minutes—or $25—to run over to the UPS Store to pick up a fax or make 10 copies?
Even though it’s more efficient for me to have all these options at my fingertips, like the reader above, I like an uncluttered office. So I bought an all-in-one machine that includes an inkjet printer, fax, photocopier, and scanner.
However, there is a downside to having a multifunction machine. Although they’re cheaper than buying each machine individually, when they break down, you lose four machines at once. I’ve had my HP Officejet 6100 for four years and fortunately haven’t had a single problem.
Also, a router is another must-have if you have more than one computer. I generally work on my desktop computer when I’m in my office, but I love the freedom of being able to access the internet on my laptop computer from any area of the house, including the patio.
And here’s one more thing you might not have considered purchasing: a telephone or digital recorder.
I have two recorders—an old school RadioShack voice-activated telephone recording system (it actually records on a cassette) and an Olympus Digital Voice Recorder.
While I didn’t think of a recorder as a necessity when I was starting out, it wasn’t long before I rushed to the store to get one. Why? Because part of doing research is interviewing clients, customers, authors, manufacturers, and other product or service experts. You can garner all sorts of golden nuggets from these interviews—but only if they don’t slip past you.
Well, I’m terrible at taking notes while I’m having a conversation so I would have been lost without a recording device, especially during my first couple of years of copywriting.
Knowing I’m recording the call allows me to relax and focus on what’s being said so I can ask the right questions at the right time. Plus, not having to interrupt people or ask them to repeat something so I can write it down lets them speak freely without disrupting their train of thought. When people can speak off the cuff, they reveal more. When I listen to the recording, I inevitably hear things I didn’t catch during the call.
If you’re nervous about capturing all of your clients’ thoughts and ideas, a recorder will be an invaluable addition to your home office.
One last thing. You’re going to be spending a lot of time in your home office, so in addition to making it efficient, it should be as comfortable and appealing as possible. I have an armchair in front of a large window, plants, a fountain, and personal photos in my office to make it a space that I enjoy being in.
Resource Referral: One Way to Value Your Services
A friend recently asked me how much she should charge for catalog copy. I had no idea so I loaned her my copy of Chris Marlow’s 2007 Freelance Copywriter Fee and Compensation Survey. She returned it a few days later and said the survey helped her land the job.
I’ve used the survey countless times for my own assignments. It provides an outside-in way to value your services – based on the competition and the market. By knowing what others are charging, you can talk more confidently about money to your clients.
Quick Tip: Receive Your Faxes Via E-mail
If you don’t want to buy a fax or a multifunction machine, you can also subscribe to a service that allows you to receive faxes through the internet as e-mail attachments. When you sign up for the service, you get your own personal fax number.
To send a fax to you, your clients and business associates simply dial your fax number from their fax machine. It is completely transparent to the sender and requires no special extension numbers or software.
A few advantages of receiving faxes by e-mail are you don’t have to deal with the poor print quality, it eliminates wasting paper unnecessarily, and you don’t have to deal with the annoyance of the phone ringing.
The prices for these services vary. I’ve seen some for as low as $5 per month (sometimes less) with an activation of $10.00. Since you likely won’t use the fax very often, it might not be worth the monthly fee.
Here are links to a couple of efax providers if you’d like more information: