More Than WE Know

This week’s carnival review starts with the Sixty-second edition of Working at Home Blog Carnival . There are lots of good articles to read. However, the don’t-miss article for Women Entrepreneurs is Six Time Management Tips for the Self-Employed During the Holidays posted at ask the CareerCounselor. 

According to the Career Counselor,  “Home workers and small business owners typically encounter a tricky balancing act during the holidays. You work from home, at least in part, in order to spend more time with your family, but during the holiday season self-employed folks just can’t drop everything to make way for family events and school plays. And, particularly for one-income households, holiday shopping may actually demand an increase in earnings amid all the distractions. Obviously, organization and planning are critical to making sure you meet deadlines and still have a merry holiday spirit at home. Read  for tips and ideas to help small business owners make the most, personally and professionally, out of the holidays.”

In the Carnival of Small Business Issues #29 I picked two must-reads for Women Entrepreneurs out of the many good ones there:

Michelle Cramer’s  article  The Psychology of Pricing posted at GreatFX Business Cards.

Michelle says, “There is more to deciding what to charge for your product/service than simply picking a price that covers your overhead and makes a little profit. You have to take into consideration the thought process of your average customer and the psychology of pricing.”

And Yaro Starak presents some unusual ideas for improving your productivity in    4 Tips For Becoming A More Productive Entrepreneur posted at Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak.

Elsewhere on the web, Wendy Piersall from emomsathome  writes about Top 10 Internet Home Business Ideas You Can Start and Run in Your Underwear.

And lastly, for all online retail entrepreneurs, an update on onine holiday spending.  Comscore is predicting a 20% increase in U.S. online retail purchases this holiday season. 

Spending in the first 32 days of the season (Nov. 1st through Dec. 2nd) was up 17%, surpassing $14 billion total.  The heaviest day was “Cyber Monday“, Nov. 26th, the first Monday after the U.S. Thanksgiving.  Online retail (non-travel) spend on that day reached $730,000.

If you aren’t feeling the increased revenue, it could be due to your product niche.  By far, the heaviest increase was seen in video games and consoles.

• up 145% - video games, consoles and accessories    

• up 45% - furniture, appliances and equipment      

• up 30% - sports and fitness

• up 17% - toys

                                                       

• up 17% - consumer electronics

• up 17% - books and magazines

• up 16% - apparel and accessories

• up 15% - computer hardware

• up 14% - music, movies and videos

• up 14% - home and garden

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