Review: Making Work at Home Work by Mary M. Byers (Blog Tour)

Title: Making Work at Home Work: Successfully Growing a Business and a Family under One Roof
Author: Mary M. Byers
Pages: 224
Publisher: Revell (April 1, 2009)
Genre: Non-Fiction / Women's / Self-Help
Edition: Paperback - many thanks to the author, publisher and Amy of litFUSE Publicity Group for sending me a review copy so I could participate in this tour!!



Perfect for : Personal Use, great gift/resource for any woman trying to work from home with a family!

In a nutshell: This is the perfect resource for the work-at-home woman who is trying to juggle both work and family responsibilities. Not only does author Mary M. Byers provide help to readers in establishing good practices and boundaries for their business at home, but she helps and encourages balance in such a busy and rewarding life. By sharing her experiences and those of 13 other women who have successfully been able to experience success and balance with working from home and caring for their families, she encourages women to follow their dreams and empowers them to make those dreams actually happen. The book is filled with real-life examples and practical advice. The end of each chapter has a great recap comment that talks about the purpose/lesson of the chapter. One important thing I learned was the importance of discovering why you want to work from home (like earning extra money for family "fun"), and learning how to discover how much is enough so that you can successfully create a balance between work and family. There is also a wonderful chapter on the importance of organized record-keeping and self-employed expenses/deductions. If you are thinking of beginning to work from home, or if you already do, this book will surely provide you help, insight and support in your endeavors and help to focus your priorities and create balance that you and your family can live with.

Extended Review:
Content: The book contains two main parts: Saving Your Sanity, and Preserving Your Profits. Within Saving Your Sanity: Being Honest, Why are You Working?, How Much Is Enough?, "I Can't Work in These Conditions!", Guilt, The Parental Pact, Child Care Strategies for Every Season of Your Work-at-Home Life, Client Crisis - or Is It?, Systematizing Your Business for Maximum Effectiveness, Refreshment, Facing the Daily Dinner Dilemma, Relying on Faith to Get You Through. Within Preserving Your Profit: Accepting the At-Home CEO Mantle, Professional (and Other) Advice, The Tax Man Comes, The Right Equipment, Subcontracting, Boosting Your Revenue, One-Page Planning, Rainy Days and Reinvesting, Retirement Planning, Giving Yourself Permission to Make Your Business a Reflection of You. The Appendix also contains some quick/easy dinner recipes

Format: The book is very well-organized. The first section deals with the actual issues of working from home, and the second section focuses on making wise decisions regarding money and your business. Additionally, there are real-life profiles of women who are working from home and still maintaining the importance of their family lives as well.

Readability: Easy to read, uplifting, helpful.

Overall: This is a must-have for anyone contemplating working from home, or anyone who is already working from home, but who wants to make things run a little more smoothly and make sure all their business-bases are covered!

From the Blog Tour:

A little about the book:
Making Work at Home Work shows moms how to develop an entrepreneurial mind-set without sacrificing their families. It covers important topics such as developing a successful business philosophy, balancing time between work and family, setting realistic goals, and handling the challenges of being both "Mommy" and "CEO" while running a profitable home-based business.

In addition to including her own experiences, author Mary Byers profiles real moms with home-based businesses who offer their hard-won advice.

About the Author:
Mary M. Byers successfully juggles both a freelance corporate writing and
speaking business and her responsibilities as a wife and mother of two
school-aged children. She is the author of The Mother Load: How to Meet Your Own Needs While Caring for Your Family and How to Say No . . . And Live to Tell about It. Visit her website to learn more: www.marybyers.com
or her blog http://www.makingworkathomework.com/

Other:
Making Work at Home Work will be launching a blog ring in May! I really want this site to be a consortium of shared ideas and advice in regards to WAHM! For more information go here! If you'd like to sign up, email me mbyers@marybyers.com. I'll be adding a page to this website where we'll be able to network. More details on that to come.

Contest! Win a copy of Making Work at Home Work (or another one of my books--your choice) AND a $25 Amazon gift certificate (for some WAHM essentials -- dayplanner, bubble bath, funky file-folders, toddler DVDs)!

There are three ways to win:
1. Leave a comment on this post
2. Sign up for my quarterly newsletter where I offer tips and advice about all facets of a women's life: WAHM, mothering, women's issues. More info here!
3. Join the Work at Home Blog Ring. More info here.

Also...be sure to check out the bloggers' blogs...a few of them are giving away copies of the book too!