Biz Monday - Freshen Up in 2010

I made it over here with 30 minutes to spare...whew! This Biz Monday post is all  about freshening up your office space for 2010. New Year's resolutions usually include cleaning out your closets and getting rid of the junk that you haven't used for years but sometimes we forget about the spaces we use for work. Whether you have a whole room, half a room, garage or corner in the living room,  it is a perfect time to clean out, re-organize and redecorate (on a shoestring budget of course).
Here are some ways to start:
Clean out and unclutter.
Do you have piles of unfiled paperwork stuffed in every nook and cranny? It's time to get everything out in the open and go through it. Do you have a business that requires you to keep customer records? I put aside one day a week to do all my filing and paperwork clean up. I have a simple folder that I put anything that needs to be filed away during the week and on Friday I bust it out and get to work. Also don't forget to go through desk drawers...with children around they tend to collect all sorts of crazy stuff.

Create a system for your records.
We all know tax time is a headache but make it a little easier on yourself by keeping thing in order all year long. I keep a simple worksheet each month and then record my expenses and income. Then at the end of the year, you just have to add up each month. You don't need an expensive accounting program to do this....just a simple IRS tax form that tells you the breakdown of what categories expenses go in. I designed my worksheet to fit their requirements to make it even that much easier at the end of the year.

Spring for one new office supply.
Ok now I don't mean staples...go for something that will spruce up your space and put some color into your work life. This is probably my favorite tip because I have a freakish love of pretty office supplies. Why write with a plain black Bic pen when you could be using a uber cool Hello Kitty one? You don't have to spring for new furniture (unless of course that is in your budget) but you can get a pretty notebook, cool magazine boxes that double as file holders or funky pens and notepads. There are tons of places out there to find some really cool office supplies. Two of my favorite places are See Jane Work and Sorting with Style. You can also find some great handcrafted supplies on Etsy.

*On a side note, I have no idea where that photo came from but I LOVE that office. So shabby and modern (strange combo I know).

The Week in Review

Wow, this week has flown by! There has been so much going on that I just haven't had a chance to get over here and blog about it all. On Wednesday I went to my first acupuncture session and was surprised at how much it didn't hurt...at one point it was even relaxing and I forgot where I was. ;) My second session was on Friday and I am actually starting to feel better. I stopped taking my stomach medication and I haven't been in pain at all. I have two more sessions scheduled so we will see how it goes. The only downside I see so far is the fact that my hands and wrists look like I have been shooting up something awful because I bruise easily. Oh well, I am willing to deal with that until they get used to it because at this point it looks like the pros clearly outweigh the cons.

I have been working hard on clients projects and have a few of them coming to a close. One of my favorite parts in the design process is seeing everything come together on a live site. I will be sharing a few of those shortly. I also sent out the first Moxie Email. I have been working on it through the week but didn't get a chance to send it out until today. I am super excited about being able to offer this freebie to small businesses. If you haven't signed up, I recommend you do so. Oh and speaking of freebies...I have some cute Valentine's Day crafts coming soon! I am actually getting ready to take photos of the process in just a few so hopefully I will be able to post them on Tuesday so you have plenty of time to craft them up in time for VDay.

With the helpful of my creative assistant (aka Xander) I made my first full stop motion video. I decided that I wanted to document my web design process so this is the first of several movies to come. I love the look of stop motion and I plan on applying this to a lot of future projects. :)

Have you signed up?

Well, have you? If you own a small business then you definitely want to. I am talking about my new mailing list for moxie pear. For 2010, I have decided to send out newsletters with tips and helpful info for starting and running your small business. Just click back to my home page and scroll down to the bottom. You will see the sign up there. I am getting ready to send out my first email within the next few days so you may want to get a move on. :)

Holiday Updates

Busy, busy, busy! Just wanted to pop in and update everyone on the Holiday closing times for moxie pear.

Christmas Week: December 21-27th
New Years: December 31-January 3rd

Sickness has hit our house this week so between cleaning up yucky and going on Sprite runs I haven't been able to get over here and post anything. Thankfully, I think this was just a 24 hour bug so everyone is back to normal (or what counts for normal in this house) today. I will be back in just a few to update everyone of the Gettin Crafty Challenge for last week.

New Site Launch :: Market Mommies

We just launched a fabulous new web site dedicated to helping Moms get their businesses seen. Market Mommies was founded by Toni Bloomfield, a mom who wanted to showcase other Mom owned businesses and products on a large scale. I had an awesome time working with Toni. She let me do my own thing when it came to the creativity of her web site and logo. I love it when that happens!



Are you a Mom owned business? If so, get over to marketmommies.com and sign up for a FREE listing in their directory! They also have paid spots and advertising opportunities available.