iphone4casessite: Business Making Money

This series is supported by RingCentral, the leading business phone system designed for today’s small businesses, entrepreneurs, and mobile professionals. Visit RingCentral.com to learn more.

Finding the right workspace is like dating — the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet has made it a lot more complex. In essence, this means more options.

Whereas the traditional office once served as the default choice for effective communication and collaboration between coworkers, today’s businesses can be just as productive by collaborating on the web, with as little as $10 and a Google account. Entrepreneurs operate from coffee shops, kitchen tables, and coworking spaces in addition to the traditional office.

We asked three entrepreneurs with drastically different office strategies for their advice on choosing a workspace. Read on for their tips and add your own in the comments below.

What Kind of Office is Best to Start In?

“When you’re starting out, you should absolutely not be spending money on rent,” says Jason Fried, the founder of web-based software company 37signals. “It’s a huge waste of money.”

After Fried started 37signals, he and the other two employees working for the company at the time shared a room with another business. “Basically we had a corner of a desk,” he jokes. Assuming you can find another company that is willing to share, teaming up on a space saves cash while still providing a place to work away from the distractions of home.

Others see value in setting up their own offices from the get-go. After a brief stint at the virtual office, Anthony Franco chose a house in Denver to set up his company, EffectiveUI. It wasn’t an ideal workspace, but he got a deal on the rent. New employees were often greeted on their first day with an Allen wrench, to be used for assembling their own desks.

“We started at home, but if we were going to handle demand, we needed to have a place where we could come and work,” Franco said. He added that the extra value of being able to work as a team (in person) more than made up for the cost of an office.

While the lease route worked out well for EffectiveUI, there’s a certain amount of risk involved with jumping into your own space too soon.

“Most commercial leases are for three to four years, and so if you’re small and you’re starting out and you’ve got a couple people, you’re making way too much of a commitment,” Fried argues. “You don’t know where you’re going to be in three years.”

Is Coworking Right for Your Business?

One modern compromise between working completely virtually and committing to a lease is working at a coworking space. These office spaces provide a work environment and an alternative to coffee shops for independent workers.

Campbell McKellar discovered the value of coworking spaces when the company she worked for left their expensive traditional office and started working virtually. The move allowed her to work from anywhere, and she chose Maine. “I was trying to do work in a cottage with family members and dogs running around,” she said. “I loved being fully mobile and independent, but I also wanted to have a platform to do my work.”

LooseCubes, the company McKellar founded in May, runs a website that matches independent workers with coworking spaces and spare desks in other companies. Quite appropriately, it’s currently being run out of a coworking space. McKellar says that working from the space has helped her launch.

“Especially if you’re in a creative business, the best way to get ideas is to meet new people,” she says. “You can get stale by talking to the same five people every day.”

Coworking allows McKellar to “unintentionally network” with the other people in the space, to seek advice from other entrepreneurs, and to host meetings and work with her team at a place that isn’t her living room.

On the other hand, coworking has its challenges and might not be a great fit for every company. Coworking spaces can be distracting, and most of them are set up in a way that requires people making phone calls to seek silence in the hallway.

“For us, quiet and privacy is very important,” Fried says. “So, coworking spaces and coffee shops don’t work for us.”

McKellar admits that on days when she’s “under the gun,” she chooses to work at home. And there is a point at which a company outgrows a coworking space. LooseCubes, for instance, plans to move to its own office space sometime in the next three months.

When Should a Company Transition to a Traditional Office?

“We need to be in a room with a whiteboard that isn’t erased every day, where we can have a conference call in an open environment,” McKellar says of her hopes for transitioning to an office space. Before she commits, however, she wants to wait to see how her site’s public launch goes. In the meantime, she’s renting a room at a Manhattan coworking space called New Work City.

All companies should do something along these lines before committing to a lease, Fried says. “You don’t know if you’re going to be successful,” he says. “And if you are, you might need more space than you have right now…You don’t want to lock yourself into anything when you’re getting started. You want to be as flexible as you possibly can.”

For some people, this means staying virtual for as long as possible. For others like McKellar, it means launching from a coworking space. For Fried’s 37signals, which is based in Chicago but has employees in 11 cities, it meant working from a variety of shared office spaces for about ten years before finally opting for an office of its own in August.

But how do you know when it’s time to make the switch?

One obvious factor is space: “We were only able to rent five or six desks in our last office,” Fried says. “We had nine people in Chicago. We were out of desks at six. So everyone couldn’t come in at the same time, and that was problem.”

Another factor is work environment. If the space you are working in is interfering with your work, it might also be time to opt for an environment you can control. “We work very quietly,” explains Fried. “So our whole thing is be as quiet as possible, don’t talk throughout the day, just have a very quiet setting like a library…You can’t impose those kinds of rules on another company, especially if it’s the other company’s space.”

What are the Benefits of a Traditional Office?

For EffectiveUI, the traditional office was always a great fit. Having grown from a couple of founders to 100 employees since 2005, the company long ago left its house-office behind. They now work from a 12,000-square-foot office space.

But both spaces fulfilled the same requirements: “Whiteboarding, talking with each other and eating lunch together: It’s part of the team culture,” Franco says.

The more traditional office, however, has given him some additional perks. “We have clients come to visit us. We’re able to brand the building and the space, and when people come they can see we’re a real business,” he says.

A lot of people associate traditional offices with being trapped in a cubicle, but Franco maintains that it doesn’t have to be that way. “Just get creative and make it fun, but also give everyone a place to go,” he says.

Can I Have an Untraditional Traditional Office?

Fried thinks of his new office as more of a home base than a traditional office. Employees are free to work at home whenever they want, and half of the company still works in other cities.

“We feel that a combination of both is the best route,” Fried says. “Because we all do want to get together occasionally, and sometimes small teams of five or six people want to get together for a while.”

The home base strategy combines the benefits of virtual and traditional workspaces. When people want to work from another city or find they work better in their pajamas, they can stay home. When they need to collaborate or want to get out of the house, they have a great place to work.

“Our office is highly customized for the way we work,” says Fried. For instance, it has soundproof walls, phone booths for people to make uninterrupted calls, and rooms for small teams.

Most employees who work from Chicago come into the new office about three or four days a week. “We want people to work wherever they work best,” Fried says.

What are your tips for choosing a workspace? Add them in the comments below.

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December 2009: Rove reportedly urges tea parties to support Castle

9-12 Patriot activist, O'Donnell: Fox's Rove lobbied tea party to endorse Castle in Republican primary. In his book, The Backlash, Media Matters senior fellow Will Bunch writes (pages 291-295) that according to 9-12 Delaware Patriots executive director Russ Murphy, in the early stages of the campaign, Rove met with a group of tea party activists and urged them to support Rep. Mike Castle's (R-DE) Senate campaign. In an MSNBC appearance, Bunch said that meeting occurred in December. O'Donnell herself made the same claim during a September 15 interview on Fox & Friends.

July
2010: Fox-backed Tea Party Express endorses O'Donnell, aids
campaign

Tea
Party Express provided O'Donnell with money, staffers, phone
banks. On July 27, Tea Party
Express endorsed O'Donnell. The Atlantic's Chris Good reported that
in the wake of that endorsement, Tea Party Express fulfilled a $250,000
fundraising pledge, aired radio and TV ads on behalf of O'Donnell, sent staffers
to Delaware, attracted the endorsements of Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint
(R-SC), operated phone banks, and worked with "local Tea Party and 9/12 groups
to coordinate volunteer activity, which included sign-waving at intersections in
addition to phone banking."

Fox
News has relentlessly promoted Tea Party Express. Media Matters has detailed Fox's
News heavy promotion of the Tea Party Express, from sending reporter Griff
Jenkins to travel on the bus for the group's first cross-country tour to touting
a later rally held by the group as a "conservative Woodstock." Tea Party
Express has praised the "great television coverage" given to it by Fox
News.

September 2010: Fox
News hosts, contributors endorsed, touted O'Donnell

September
2: Cavuto tells O'Donnell, "the Tea Party saw something in you, galvanized its
efforts and away we go." In a
September 2 interview on Your
World (retrieved
from Nexis), host Neil Cavuto
said to O'Donnell: "You know, it was sort of like you became like an overnight
emerging force. And I don't know whether it had to do with what was going on,
you know, in Alaska, but bottom line, the Tea Party saw something in you,
galvanized its efforts and away we go."

September 8: Malkin tells Hannity, "I endorsed Christine
O'Donnell." On the
September 8 edition of Hannity (retrieved from Nexis), Fox News
contributor Michelle Malkin said, "I
endorsed Christine O'Donnell. I met her over the past couple
of weeks in D.C."

September
9: Palin endorses O'Donnell on Hannity's radio show. On the September 9
edition of Sean Hannity's radio show, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin endorsed O'Donnell,
after having earlier re-tweeted a
positive statement about O'Donnell from radio host Tammy
Bruce.

September
13: Van Susteren airs Palin's endorsement of O'Donnell. On the September 13
edition of On the
Record (retrieved
from Nexis), host Greta Van
Susteren said "O'Donnell has Governor Palin in her corner," then aired the
endorsement robocall Palin made for O'Donnell's
campaign.

The
holdouts: Rove, Perino, Krauthammer criticize O'Donnell over
electability

September
13: Krauthammer calls O'Donnell supporters "disruptive and
capricious." On the September 13
edition of Special
Report (retrieved from Nexis), Fox News contributor Charles
Krauthammer criticized endorsements of O'Donnell by Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint
(R-SC) as "disruptive," "capricious," "irresponsible," and "a big mistake." He
added, "O'Donnell is very problematic, she probably will
lose."

September
14: Perino says "I am for whoever the best candidate is that can
win. And I don't know Christine O'Donnell." On
the September 14 edition of Hannity (retrieved from Nexis), Fox
Business anchor Stuart Varney asked "Why do we buy the line that Mike Castle can
win in November and that Christine O'Donnell cannot win?" Fox News
contributor Dana Perino answered: "one of the reasons they're called
establishment candidates is because they are established. And I am for whoever
the best candidate is that can win. And I don't know Christine O'Donnell. I have
known Mike Castle for many years. I see him as a stand- up
guy."

September
14: Rove says O'Donnell will have to explain "checkered background"; she does
not "evince the characteristics of rectitude and truthfulness and sincerity and
character." On the September 14
edition of Hannity, Rove said:
"One thing that Christine O'Donnell is now going to have to answer in the
general election that she didn't have to answer in the primary is her own
checkered background." He later said: "I've met her. I'm not -- I've got to tell
you, I wasn't, frankly, impressed as her, you know, abilities as a candidate.
And again, these serious questions about how does she make her living, why did
she mislead voters about her college education, how come it took her nearly two
decades to pay her college bill so she could get her college degree. How does
she make a living? Why did she sue a well-known and well-thought-of conservative
think tank?" Rove went on to criticize "candidates who, at the end of the day,
while they may be conservative in their public statements, do not evince the
characteristics of rectitude and truthfulness and sincerity and character that
the voters are looking for."

Post-election: O'Donnell credits Fox figures and movements for win as
network celebrates her victory

O'Donnell
cites Palin, groups with ties to Fox News during victory
speech. In her victory
speech, O'Donnell thanked Palin and the
Tea Party Express for their support. O'Donnell also thanked
the Glenn Beck inspired
9-12 movement for
"laying the foundation and stirring things up."

Hannity touted his support for O'Donnell. On the
September 14 edition of his Fox News show, Hannity highlighted how
"talk radio, including myself and Mark Levin and Rush and others ... got
involved in the Delaware primary and people's awareness went
up." He declared that O'Donnell's success was another sign that "we are seeing
the establishment being beaten by the tea party movement and by conservatives
that are saying, you know what? We've had it with RINO [Republican In Name
Only] Republicans."

Fox's
Cameron to O'Donnell: "It must feel good." On the September 14
edition of On the Record, Van
Susteren introduced an interview with
O'Donnell by saying, "The world of politics is stunned to the core. Christine O'Donnell, backed by the Tea Party Express
and Governor Sarah Palin, has won Delaware's Republican primary for the U.S.
Senate." Fox News
correspondent Carl Cameron said to O'Donnell: "They said it couldn't
be done and here you are, the U.S. Senate Republican nominee for Delaware. It must feel good." Cameron also
asked McDonnell, "Did the party bosses get the message of your victory?" Cameron
concluded: "Mike Castle is over. Christine O'Donnell is now, running against
Chris Coons for the Joe Biden former U.S. Senate seat, and one of the 10 that
could potentially mean the Republican majority come
fall."

Carlson: It's "suicide" for Republicans not to support
O'Donnell. On the
September 15 edition of Fox &
Friends, co-host Gretchen Carlson criticized the
idea that Republicans are considering "maybe not to even support O'Donnell.
That, I don't think, is a smart move at all. If you want the Democrat to win,
then go ahead and let her flounder by herself." Carlson later added, "This is
suicide for the party." Later in the show, Gretchen said:
"You've got to wonder right now -- and I've been saying this for the last year
on this show -- the Republican Party has to get together with the tea party.
They have to. And for the RNC to come out now and say they're not going to fund
this race? So what are they going to do, fund the
Democrat?"

Gingrich
throws support to O'Donnell. Following O'Donnell's
win, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich issued a series of tweets
praising her:

"Christine
odonnell won in delaware. She got more votes in the primary.
The elite media wants to declare her unelectable--nonsense-she
won"

"There will be
an all out effort to discredit christine odonnell in delaware just as there was to discredit sharon angle in nevada"

"Angle will
beat harry reid and odonnel will win in delaware. 2010 is the year of the grassroots
over the establishment"

O'Donnell credits Palin for "mak the
difference." On the
September 15 edition of ABC's Good Morning
America, when co-host George Stephanopoulos asked her, "Did Sarah
Palin make the difference here?" O'Donnell responded,
"Yes, she did. ... She helped to bring it back on
track."

Fox & Friends told O'Donnell the "good news" of McConnell's
support. Co-host Steve
Doocy touted O'Donnell's appearance on the September 15 edition of Fox & Friends as being "fresh off the
win last night," and Carlson concluded the interview by noting the "good news"
that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said that "he is not backing away
from supporting" McConnell. O'Donnell is the latest in a
series of Republican
candidates who have turned
to Fox & Friends as their
favored venue to mark the launch of their general election campaigns following
their primary victories.

O'Donnell far from the only candidate to benefit from association with
Fox

Fox
routinely provides airtime to Republican and conservative
candidates. As Media
Matters has repeatedly documented,
Fox News is a friendly and receptive home for Republican nominees, as well as
the most conservative candidate in a Republican primary, where they can benefit
from repeated appearances and opportunities to promote fundraising campaigns.
Further, Fox News hosts and contributors such as Palin and Gingrich raise
money for Republican candidates and causes using political
action committees, 527 and 501(c)4 organizations.

Kilmeade
says Christine O'Donnell is "starting to win me over." On the
September 15 edition of Fox News Radio's Kilmeade & Friends, Kilmeade said,
"Christine, I talked to her this morning, O'Donnell, she's
starting to win me over. She's starting to address the problems in her
background." Kilmeade added, "I think the RNC will be right behind
her."

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! News As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

United Nations general assembly – live | News | guardian.co.uk

Barack Obama, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Nick Clegg are among the world leaders in New York for the United Nations general assembly. Follow live updates here.

Breaking News: Eliza Dushku Has a 'Big Bang Theory'

'The Big Bang Theory' is no stranger to sexy sci-fi starlets, having scored geektastic cameos from Katee Sackhoff and Summer Glau in seasons past (wit.

robert shumake

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! News As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

United Nations general assembly – live | News | guardian.co.uk

Barack Obama, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Nick Clegg are among the world leaders in New York for the United Nations general assembly. Follow live updates here.

Breaking News: Eliza Dushku Has a 'Big Bang Theory'

'The Big Bang Theory' is no stranger to sexy sci-fi starlets, having scored geektastic cameos from Katee Sackhoff and Summer Glau in seasons past (wit.

This series is supported by RingCentral, the leading business phone system designed for today’s small businesses, entrepreneurs, and mobile professionals. Visit RingCentral.com to learn more.

Finding the right workspace is like dating — the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet has made it a lot more complex. In essence, this means more options.

We asked three entrepreneurs with drastically different office strategies for their advice on choosing a workspace. Read on for their tips and add your own in the comments below.

What Kind of Office is Best to Start In?

“When you’re starting out, you should absolutely not be spending money on rent,” says Jason Fried, the founder of web-based software company 37signals. “It’s a huge waste of money.”

While the lease route worked out well for EffectiveUI, there’s a certain amount of risk involved with jumping into your own space too soon.

Is Coworking Right for Your Business?

“Especially if you’re in a creative business, the best way to get ideas is to meet new people,” she says. “You can get stale by talking to the same five people every day.”

“For us, quiet and privacy is very important,” Fried says. “So, coworking spaces and coffee shops don’t work for us.”

When Should a Company Transition to a Traditional Office?

But how do you know when it’s time to make the switch?

What are the Benefits of a Traditional Office?

But both spaces fulfilled the same requirements: “Whiteboarding, talking with each other and eating lunch together: It’s part of the team culture,” Franco says.

Can I Have an Untraditional Traditional Office?

Fried thinks of his new office as more of a home base than a traditional office. Employees are free to work at home whenever they want, and half of the company still works in other cities.

“Our office is highly customized for the way we work,” says Fried. For instance, it has soundproof walls, phone booths for people to make uninterrupted calls, and rooms for small teams.

Most employees who work from Chicago come into the new office about three or four days a week. “We want people to work wherever they work best,” Fried says.

What are your tips for choosing a workspace? Add them in the comments below.

Series supported by RingCentral

More Startup Resources from Mashable:

- 8 Funding Contests to Kick Start Your Big Idea/> - HOW TO: Run Your Business Online with $10 and a Google Account/> - 5 Startup Tips From the Father of Gmail and FriendFeed/> - 6 Ways to Recruit Talent for Startups/> - 10 Essential Tips for Building Your Small Biz Team

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, francisblack

For more Business coverage:

December 2009: Rove reportedly urges tea parties to support Castle

July
2010: Fox-backed Tea Party Express endorses O'Donnell, aids
campaign

September 2010: Fox
News hosts, contributors endorsed, touted O'Donnell

The
holdouts: Rove, Perino, Krauthammer criticize O'Donnell over
electability

Post-election: O'Donnell credits Fox figures and movements for win as
network celebrates her victory

Gingrich
throws support to O'Donnell. Following O'Donnell's
win, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich issued a series of tweets
praising her:

"Christine
odonnell won in delaware. She got more votes in the primary.
The elite media wants to declare her unelectable--nonsense-she
won"

"There will be
an all out effort to discredit christine odonnell in delaware just as there was to discredit sharon angle in nevada"

"Angle will
beat harry reid and odonnel will win in delaware. 2010 is the year of the grassroots
over the establishment"

O'Donnell far from the only candidate to benefit from association with
Fox

robert shumake

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Business Making Money

What Kind of Office is Best to Start In?

Is Coworking Right for Your Business?

When Should a Company Transition to a Traditional Office?

What are the Benefits of a Traditional Office?

Can I Have an Untraditional Traditional Office?

More Startup Resources from Mashable:

For more Business coverage:

December 2009: Rove reportedly urges tea parties to support Castle

July 2010: Fox-backed Tea Party Express endorses O'Donnell, aids campaign

September 2010: Fox News hosts, contributors endorsed, touted O'Donnell

The holdouts: Rove, Perino, Krauthammer criticize O'Donnell over electability

Post-election: O'Donnell credits Fox figures and movements for win as network celebrates her victory

O'Donnell far from the only candidate to benefit from association with Fox

What Kind of Office is Best to Start In?

Is Coworking Right for Your Business?

When Should a Company Transition to a Traditional Office?

What are the Benefits of a Traditional Office?

Can I Have an Untraditional Traditional Office?

More Startup Resources from Mashable:

For more Business coverage:

December 2009: Rove reportedly urges tea parties to support Castle

July 2010: Fox-backed Tea Party Express endorses O'Donnell, aids campaign

September 2010: Fox News hosts, contributors endorsed, touted O'Donnell

The holdouts: Rove, Perino, Krauthammer criticize O'Donnell over electability

Post-election: O'Donnell credits Fox figures and movements for win as network celebrates her victory

O'Donnell far from the only candidate to benefit from association with Fox

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July
2010: Fox-backed Tea Party Express endorses O'Donnell, aids
campaign

September 2010: Fox
News hosts, contributors endorsed, touted O'Donnell

The
holdouts: Rove, Perino, Krauthammer criticize O'Donnell over
electability

Post-election: O'Donnell credits Fox figures and movements for win as
network celebrates her victory

O'Donnell far from the only candidate to benefit from association with
Fox

July
2010: Fox-backed Tea Party Express endorses O'Donnell, aids
campaign

September 2010: Fox
News hosts, contributors endorsed, touted O'Donnell

The
holdouts: Rove, Perino, Krauthammer criticize O'Donnell over
electability

Post-election: O'Donnell credits Fox figures and movements for win as
network celebrates her victory

O'Donnell far from the only candidate to benefit from association with
Fox