Page 17 - IT Essentials And Data Recovery For Online Businesses

Table

A table – aside from your desk – is an infinitely useful place for holding
brainstorming sessions (by yourself or with others), meeting with clients, having a

“working lunch,” or doing any work involving pen (or pencil) and paper away from
the computer (which is probably taking up most of your desk space in any event).

One caveat: there’s a real danger that a table will turn into a “catch-all” for books,

important papers, and more. Resist this temptation by making sure that (A) your
desk has sufficient drawer space, (B) you have a decent file cabinet, and (C) you

have enough shelf space (and you’ve made a habit of using it).

Telephone (And Phone System)

This is something to think about. If you plan on being able to talk on the phone

while having your hands free, you’ll need either (A) a headset or (B) a speaker
phone, or (C) both. Having both affords you a bit of flexibility, as you can conduct

both a private conversation and a conference with yourself, the person on the other
end and whoever is in the office with you.

Other elements of this system include answering machine, message forwarding and

paging. There are numerous ways to set this up.

The easiest and most economical is to simply have an answering machine (and be
sure to get one that allows the caller to leave a message longer than 30 seconds –

or you’ll have a lot of abbreviated and unfinished messages), then provide a cell
number in the outgoing greeting. That way, if it’s important enough, your clients

and/or customers can always reach you, and you can avoid the expense of a
paging/messaging service.

If you plan on taking cell phone calls while on the road, a “hands-free” set-up is

absolutely necessary. Many auto accidents are caused by people attempting to talk