Interview with Lisa Kanarek from “Working Naked”
“Working Naked”
I blog because I want to help others avoid the mistakes I made when I first started working from home. If I can shave years off someone’s learning curve, then I’m doing a good job with my blog. I want to be able to share my working from home experience with others so that they can enjoy the freedom of working flexible hours and being able to spend more time with their family.
My blog started in February 2009.
I blog about home office design, organization, attracting more clients, marketing, and new home office products. From the outside, working from home seems easy but there are so many aspects to running your own business and making your business grow.
I enjoy reading Mashable (http://www.mashable.com) and alltop.com (http://www.alltop.com) because deep down I’m a technology nerd minus the pocket protector. Technology affects so many aspects of our lives and I want to keep up with it. I also like copyblogger (http://www.copyblogger.com) which offers excellent tips about blogging.
The main advice I have for blogging newbies is to write the way you talk. If you’re too formal, your readers won’t be able to relate to your posts. My next book that will be published this summer has a more informal and conversational feel to it than my other books. Also, write about what you know and be willing to share personal anecdotes to illustrate your points.
Absolutely. Readers’ comments give me ideas for future blog posts and I like meeting (albeit virtually) other home office professionals.
Some of my friends read my blog. What they don’t realize is that some of the things they do and the stories they tell me inspire me for future posts. Of course I change their names or use the “a friend of mine” reference.
Sometimes I write a blog post the day before, lay it out on WordPress and then post it in the morning. Other times I write the blog post in the morning and post it by noon. My home office is blog central. When I’m tired of working in my home office, I take my laptop outside.
I spend several hours each weekday researching home office topics that I can share with my readers. Throughout the day I scan about 200 headlines for articles about working from home that I share through my blog and Twitter. Also, I read other blogs so I can refer my readers to them.
I’m inspired by “how they did it” stories of moms who’ve found a void in the market and created a product or service business that allows them to work from home. Also, my two sons inspire me to grow my business so that I can continue to be a role model for them.
