I tend to worry about things over which I have no control. It makes life more drama-filled than necessary. It makes parenting challenging. Heck, sometimes it makes breathing difficult!

Riding the economy’s roller coaster is a white-knuckled, teeth-clenching experience these days… especially THIS day.

It shook me today. I’ve been preparing for a “recession/depression” for several months. My debt load is probably lower than most peoples’ — but I still have debt. (I hate being in debt.) I live simply. I don’t have extravagant tastes. That all helps me to make it as a solopreneur.

My client-base is primarily real estate and that industry has been hard-hit of late. I don’t work with those new to the industry. My clients are the established, knowledgeable, experienced portion of the market. So when MY clients are feeling the pinch — it’s serious. When my clients go from immediate pay to 30/60 days, I get concerned.

But, for those entrepreneurs out there that are starting to worry, I’d like to share some sage advice from one of my clients (complete with my interpretation). I won’t identify the client because he admitted “I’m scared too” and that admission may alarm his agents. He said, “I’m scared too, Angela, but you are in a good place and so am I… we owe little and are not at the mercy of a big corporation for our weekly check. If it’s not working, we will reinvent ourselves!”

I took that information and sat on it awhile this afternoon. While I watched the stock market climb back up to a reasonable level (back above 10,000 for the DOW), I pondered the implications of what he said.

He’s right. As entrepreneurs, we are able to make adjustments, look for opportunities and jump on them in a way that others can’t. We do have the flexibility to “reinvent” ourselves, to refine our vision, or to completely rebuild our set of goals.

Another client commented (sometime last week) that there would always be work for someone who was knowledgeable in their field. He said the economic slow down would do two things: Clear out the “chaff” from his industry (real estate) and create an even stronger demand for my own services. He said, “People who need help will be less willing to offer work to those who are unproven and those who are less talented.”

Although his compliments made me blush at the time (and offer me an opportunity to brag a bit now), the fact is… when money is tight, you go for the “sure thing” in business and in personal decisions.

So if you are an established provider, there really isn’t a reason to worry. It may get interesting for awhile, but we will be fine. It may help to remember that these issues aren’t an issue for a particular country, they are world-wide.

We are participating in a global economy and no country will be its own little universe again. What happens from here on out will cause ripples across all oceans. That’s something that I find both comforting and alarming. It requires thinking about my tiny little business on a much bigger scale.

For those new to the industry, make friends with the “old hands” and show your stuff. The best way to land work in tough times is through the recommendation of trusted providers, subcontracting and concentrating on your best offerings.

If you aren’t advertising your niche or special skills, do it. If you haven’t established a short list of your best service offerings, there’s never been a better time. Choose them, communicate them and make sure they are “front and center” on your business website.

Just because there is a sluggishness in the economy does not mean we can afford it in our businesses. Now is the time to work harder and rise faster. These are the times when opportunities arise and disappear quickly.  Be ready.

And remember, in this era when mega-corporations are failing and floundering and drowning… you have the reins of your business. Here, at least, you have a choice on how your income is made and how your bottom line reads. Small businesses are the backbone of economies — we work even when others don’t.

(Photo from MorgueFile.com by MarkeMark.)

Until recently, I found it exhausting to juggle all the online “faces” of me. The social networking thing was just completely out of control. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been evaluating where I spend my online time (socially speaking) and where I enjoy being the most.

I wanted to do the 80/20 thing on social networking (the same way I’ve tried to apply it to other portions of my life). What I didn’t expect was to get all tied up with a massive time-suck while doing so. But, stuff happens.

It all started when I rediscovered Tumblr…

My Tumblr Experience

I’ve had a Tumblr account for forever, but it was just sitting there… like so many of my social identities. Recently, I wondered if I could use it as the “go to” place for all my online snippets and info. My experiment has become my own little monster. It sucked up alot of my time for a few weeks. I was always tweaking the layout, getting my own URL, trying new ways to get the information up there quickly and easily.

I fell in love! It’s so easy to post, so quick, and with a sidebar RSS here on WB, it makes my updates insta-matic!

I’m not willing to go with ONLY a Tumblr Blog — although the thought has been tempting. Using it really brought me into the “soundbite” era — and I now appreciate media catering to the “television-commercial-length-attention-span” I once despised. Gone are the overwhelming urges for long, verbose blog posts. (I’d rather just grab something interesting (or bizarre) that I find and slap it up on my Tumblr.)

Blogging on the Fly: No — REALLY!

Having a shortcut on my Firefox browser makes it easy to grab my online finds and share the golden ones. (If you want something to get ALL your social networking options in one place, try Sharaholic.) I also purchased Tumblrette for my iPhone (for $1.99) and find that having a quick and easy way to post when I’m out (including quick snapshots from my iPhone’s camera) makes me use the Tumblr blog much more often. It’s probably the best 1.99 I’ve ever spent at the apps store.

Tweaking it so my Twitters are automatically included, and so my blogs here on WB are also auto-magically added (along with other social networking automatic updates) has resulted in Tumblr becoming my personal online mashup.

I know that when I get time, I’ll be tweaking it more. I’d like to (eventually) host it myself — I’m not even sure if that’s possible yet. The brief research I’ve done hasn’t turned up any simple methods to accomplish this. In the meantime, visit my ever-evolving tumble log over at angelaallenparker.com.

And if you are just starting to blog… it’s a great “leg up” on the process. Tumblr makes blogging really fun. And it’s low-maintenance and it’s multi-format friendly. It’s a great way to create your own online “mashup” and can even be used to organize research and online finds (if you use your tags intelligently).

Now, I’ve “whittled down” my online time Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts and I don’t spend much time on them anymore. The others are there, and I add them to my profiles, but I don’t really spend time with them. (I can’t… all my extra time is spent on my Tumblr!)

If you are interested in learning more about running a services business online, you are in luck! RemoteProfessionals.com has a great lineup of professional outsourcing mentors who have the information you need to get started quicker and easier with fewer costly mistakes.

Jodi and I have been working on this mentoring program for freelancers and virtual assistants for several months. It was created to help save others the time, effort and mistakes that often accompany launching a new business. Basically, we wanted to find the experts to cover those areas that we wish someone had told us when we launched our own businesses so many years ago.

Even if your services offerings are perfect, you still have to run a business. It’s not as simple as it appears…But it can be easier with a little mentoring.

This 12-week program will include a one hour conference with a different specialist each week. The topics include: financial planning, branding, niche selection, time management, taxes, data security, social networking, online marketing, contracts, and more!

Visit RemoteProfessionals.com to learn more!

I’ve been juggling a business site and this blog site for YEARS (along with a couple other specialty blogs that have come and gone along the way). I was also blogging over on Active Rain for quite some time and I’ve recently picked up a bit of involvement in Facebook and Twitter (I just LOVE twitter!) and I’m getting more involved in Linked In and more interested in Squidoo.

As a result, I’ve started dropping some of the “balls” I try to juggle. My business site has not been updated in ages. That’s pathetic. I’ve quit doing submissions over on Active Rain (since putting them on my own blog and putting them over there causes duplicate content issues and I don’t have time to do both right now). I’ve not even been doing much blogging for RemoteProfessionals.com lately.

I’ve also determined:

• Research required to stay in step with all the latest in online marketing trends is time intensive and goes far beyond what’s required to write targeted, SEO-friendly web copy
• Successful online marketing hinges on two things: excellent, relevant copy for organic SEO ranking and intuitive navigation that makes it simple for visitors to get what they need quickly and easily. The rest is all black hat/white hat stuff and changes from hour to hour
• Splitting my concentration between multiple sites and services keeps me in front of my computer too many hours a day and my participation in the social web model needs to be managed more effectively
• I spend too much time staying on top of the latest in technology, encouraging clients to regularly call on me to serve as tech support - not a service targeted in my business model, but one that just happened
• I don’t want to maintain two “main” sites, it’s giving my marketing a split personality (and me a headache)
• Branding one URL will be more effective and easier than branding two, even if it makes me slide backwards a bit in Google while I get it done (and a few months thereafter). Howdy, sandbox!
• The overall SEO benefits of combining my blog with my business site are compelling

On the down side, moving my business and blog sites to another domain will damage the branding I’ve been building since 2002, when I switched over from my first business name to my current one.

Gradual changes

Being the “go to” person for a slew of clients is great for the ego, you are constantly in demand, constantly on call — but it’s hard on anyone attempting to have a life. It gets old quickly, and I’ve been in this business for a lot of years now.

I’ve been trimming my client list for the last year to offer better service to fewer clients. I’m now ready to try taking on writing project work. Until now, I’ve avoided “project” work. I preferred to build relationships with my clients. I treasure those I’ve built — both past and current.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve started sending my own favorite clients to other providers for services that aren’t my specialty. At first, that was scary. “What if they don’t come back?” I wondered. But I’ve not lost one yet.

This approach offers a better service to my clients, makes me the resource person for the services I don’t provide, allows me to help other outsourcing folks to gain access to fantastic clients, builds my professional network, and reminds my clients that I’m doing what’s best for them — even if that means referring them to someone else.

I want to keep my favorite long term clients through this transition and will only be trimming one or two more from my new better-sized list. Accepting project work will help me continue to expand the writing portion of my business — and writing makes me happy.

Sweeping changes

So the time has come to make some pretty drastic changes in my business model. I enjoy writing more than any other aspect of my business so that needs to be my marketing focus. It’s crazy for me to continue to perform all these other non-income producing research and learning tasks to support the services I offer that are NOT my favorites. What have I been thinking?!?!

I’m a geek, so some of the research will continue. I love it. But, I no longer want to “fool” myself into believing that it’s all business. When I’m working, I want a better billing ratio than 1 billable hour for every 3, 4 or even 5 hours of time spent. That ratio simply sucks.

Making the gradual changes has helped some; the sweeping changes will help even more.

Following my own advice

I’m doing for myself what I’ve been doing for clients for years — helping to organize and focus the business model and spend less time working and more time living — while improving the bottom line.

My whole life, I’ve been great at helping others, but not-so-great at doing the same things for myself. I have serious “do as I say, not as I do” tendencies — just ask my kids (for instance, when I send them to bed because they need sleep and I stay up all night working on the computer). Being honest to myself, about myself, isn’t always painless. It’s much easier to help others “fix” themselves!

I’m still working out the details of this next evolution in my business, but I know that there will (most likely) be a name change, there will be a merging of this blog and my business site, and there will probably also be a new site redesign, new logo, and LOTS of 301 redirects to try to help visitors find what they seek and to send old links to their new locations.

Transitioning

It will be a tremendous amount of work, and will have to be done in stages. I believe these changes will (in the long-term) make my life better, my workday shorter, and my business more focused on my best (and most enjoyable) services. Can you imagine only one site to maintain for the business? I can’t… but I will!

I may add other specialty blogs later, if/when I have time and energy… but the business site will be a singularity.

I’ve resisted this to date because I get “personal” on this blog. I often wander great distances away from business topics here. I’ve finally decided that’s ok. I’m not a big business, I’m a freelance writer who does small business consulting for a few choice clients. My personality IS part of my business. They really can’t BE separated. Like Popeye says… “I yam what I yam and that’s what I yam.”

Building good relationship with clients means having a common ground with them. I work best that way. So, the better we know each other in the beginning, the more likely we are to succeed in a mutually beneficial relationship.

I cross-promote my blog on my business site, so there’s really no reason to hide the fact that I write about a variety of topics on my blog. Anyone who clicks on the blog link already knows the “other side” of my story. Besides, I get more feedback from my blog right now than I do from my business website. (I’m sure that has NOTHING to do with the update ratio on each site *rolls eyes*)

With the all-in-one site, I’ll simply find a way to “highlight” the more “business-y” posts on the index page (maybe using a tag filter) and permit full blog access one click away from my index. I’ll be sticking with the WordPress content management system because I love it. It gives me enough control to do my own thing — without doing more HTML than I can easily handle or requiring me to call in my favorite programmer too often to extract my butt from the programming mess I’ve made.

Most of the issues I am still ironing out can be handled in the design and function of the website. I just have to figure out the particulars.

What I’ve learned

Since starting to serve clients online in 1999 and subsequently launching my first website in 2000, I’ve learned many things.

I know that simple websites are better than complex ones. Sounds easy, but knowing something and applying that knowledge are two different things. I like my blog better now with the current, cleaner look. The older layouts were too “busy” and less effective.

I’m a writer, so the text (not the photos) should take center stage. Graphics and images should only support the text, even if I like pretty pictures for their own sake.

I prefer simple, impactful logos. My logo incarnations over the years have often been too complex. They tried too hard. I do like the one for WickedBlog — even better than my business logo — despite that fact that it’s the only one I actually designed solo. The others required professional design assistance. It just proves that playing around with concepts works wonders. Sometimes when you try too hard, you lose the advantage of whimsy.

I may work toward a similar look for my new business logo.

Need your help

At this point, there are several contenders for the new name. I know that I want to keep my “wicked” branding. I like it. I’ll retain my purple and green colors. I like those too. These feel comfortable to me. They feel right. (They will also help with the branding transition and will permit me to keep my branded “wicked” 800 phone number.) I’ll have to replace all my pretty (and expensive) business cards, but I may replace them with a sleek mini card style.

Right now, the business name topping the list is Wicked Writer. I own the URL (and have for several years — which may reduce the time I have to spend in Google’s sandbox). A few other names are still under consideration. Since I haven’t gone through and cleaned out my domain name collection yet (yes, it’s on my list), I still own all the contenders as well.

I’d appreciate any feedback from my readers on using WickedWriter.com. Having a second, third… or even 20th opinion would really help me in this process!

It may be a couple months (or more) before I can get this transition completed. But it’s starting!

For the past week, every spare moment has been dedicated to the search for my own personal Holy Grail for my entrepreneurial business … A project management tool for the freelancer who collaborates with others.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? I’ve reviewed dozens (literally) of the options currently available. From the over 60 options I’ve seen, I’ve narrowed them down to just a few and then gone searching again over and over.

When I discovered Worketc.com, I started rethinking what I’d like this project management tool to do. I thought that maybe there was an “all-in-one” option out there that would replace all the little web-based apps I have started to use as well as the others I’m still seeking and/or evaluating.

Worketc.com has almost everything I want… close, but no cigar. I may have to settle for it, but before I’m willing to “settle” for anything, I wanted to define exactly what I want and search one more time.

In a perfect world, I’d be able to find a system that has all the tools I need to work more efficiently (from anywhere) the way I already work. I am no longer willing to change the way I work, the service I offer to facilitate the tools I use. Enough of that already!

With that in mind, I’ve created my “wish list” in two parts. One part is “Must Have” items and one part is the “it sure would be nice” list the third portion is me dreaming a bit, but still…

The program must have:

1. Simple intuitive interface
2. Tasks list that is sortable by project and by assignee
3. Email notification of assigned and completed tasks
4. Quick glance of latest activity on each project
5. File uploads area
6. Meeting notes area
7. Client login
8. Ability for clients to see progress
9. Client task list that they can check off

Would be nice:

1. Internal email
2. Contacts Management Database
3. Journal function
4. Searchable Notes area
5. Ability to create tasks via email
6. Timer (punch clock) and time sheet
7. Simple invoicing
8. Simple accounting
9. Multiple calendars (for each involved party, listing their tasks)
10. Ability to import calendars into Outlook and to subscribe in gCal

In a perfect world:

1. An offline option that syncs with the online option
2. Interactive whiteboard area for visual tools when meeting with clients
3. Ability to upgrade to self-hosted on my server
4. VOIP option built in for use with client and collaborative meetings
5. Ability to record and store whiteboard/telephone/webinar meetings in the project file area
6. Ability to host up to 20 people for a webinar
7. Ability to backup to/use from a thumbdrive
8. Skinnable and brandable
9. Logon widget for wordpress for clients to use from my website

I’ve said for some time that my business really isn’t that complex, and it isn’t. A tool like this would meet most of the needs I have in an easy-to-use, customer-friendly and portable option.

I love CashBoard for my timer, invoicing and simple accounting online. I’d like it even better if I could merge those features into an all-in-one freelance solution like this to work from anywhere. I can imagine the day when I would only need to find a computer with a browser to work from anywhere, and then could sync that data with my own freestanding version daily at my own computer as an “onsite” backup.

With that freestanding version, I could also continue working even if the Internet was down or unavailable or otherwise “wanky” and then sync the next time I connected. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Today, I’m back to the drawing board again. Now that I’ve finally reviewed enough to know what’s available and have considered more thoroughly what I need, what I want and what additional features would make it a “silver bullet” for my business… I need to try to find what will most closely meet my specs.

After the third round of shorting, I have a list of ten (some free, some paid) including (in no particular order):

• Webasyst.net
• EasyProjects.net
• 5pmWeb.com
• CentralDesktop.com
• CreativeProOffice.com
• OfficeZilla.com
• Sosius.com
• ProjectOffice.net
• OnstagePortal.com
• MyQuire.com
• WorkETC.com

But I may go back to the proverbial drawing board again. None of these offers everything I want, and many only offer a small number of the items in my “must have” list. The weekend is still young.

By the time this weekend is over, I’ll have found a workable solution — even if I can’t have all my desires filled by a single option. I’ll review again and pick the best of the lot and get my data settled in a new home. I’ll let you know what I find.

In the meantime, if anyone has a suggestion that will satisfy my list, I’d LOVE to hear from you!

I’m using any moment of free time for the rest of this month to simplify my work life and reduce what I have to handle this year. I am dedicated to finding better ways to handle the essentials of my business and my personal life.

I want shorter, more productive workdays and more time to call my own this year. Peace begins with simplicity — and simplicity is my goal.

As a freelance writer and marketing consultant, I need to reduce the interruptions during my workday to increase my productivity. If you are self-employed, you may want to use a few of my tips and tricks:

Phone

If you haven’t already listed your numbers on the national “do not call” directory, do so now. It’s not ok for telemarketers to interfere with your ability to earn a living or interrupt your family time when you are not working. Getting your numbers out of their reach is the first step to making this happen.

Be sure to inform anyone who calls thereafter that you are on the do not call list and request that they remove your number from their database. If a company continues to call, report them.

(Note: I didn’t register my cell phone number because I don’t give OUT my cell phone number. That’s one number that only a handful of people have — or will ever have.)

If you don’t have set business hours and a firm weekly work schedule, make it now. Let your family and friends know that you are not able to take personal calls during work hours. Don’t be negative about it and always give them a time when they CAN call:

“I work from 8 a.m. until 5:30, but I’d love to hear from you anytime between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. that way you and I will have eaten dinner and we will have quality time to visit.”

If they still call during business hours, cut it short (even if you aren’t swamped at that particular moment), “Joe, I’d love to chat, but I’m in the middle of a project. Can I call you back after work, say around 7:30?”

It won’t take long for family and friends to begin to respect your work time if you stay consistent and fewer interruptions means you will accomplish more (and make more money).

Mail

Reduce the amount of junk mail you have to handle, sort and discard. Visit http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm to remove yourself from a number of the top junk mail offenders. It will take up to two months to see any results, but you could have a cleaner, clearer mailbox before the first quarter ends.

E-mail

If your email account has been distributed to everyone under the sun, chances are you are overrun with spam. If you have a good spam program in place, great! If not, you may want to investigate getting one (a task that can devour days of your time).

If you are able to simply change your email address, without throwing your life into a tailspin, do so. A clean slate is a nice way to start the new year.

If you get a new “primary” email address, be sure to inform only the people that you trust not to share your information. This should be an account you protect and keep “clean” from spam.

If you are in business, set up a second account to put on your website. I use an altered image of that email address, rather than typing it in, to help reduce spam. It won’t prevent clients from reaching you, but it does slow down the bots. Since I never give this “web” email out to anyone, I can change it without a huge impact if I’m over run with spam. So far, I haven’t had an issue with that. To make it easy for me, I forward that web-only account to my main address so I see any contacts without divulging my primary account.

Set up a junk account. This can be a hotmail, gmail or yahoo account — or you can set up one using your domain name. I use my domain name and use this one account for all those places where I have to divulge my email and they actually require a verification before permitting me access.

I also use this account for any family members or friends who can’t stop sending me jokes, forwards of whatever, and email chainletters. If this email gets forwarded to everyone they know, it’s not a huge deal.

I have this account come into its own inbox. It’s loaded with spam and I just access it when I need/expect something to come in. If it’s a username/password that arrives in it, I transfer this information immediately to my KeePass program and delete the original email. Once a day, I dump the entire contents of this inbox and don’t waste my time reviewing any of it. Nothing that arrives on this account without my explicit request matters.

Passwords/Usernames/Logins/Etc.

The biggest timesaver I have for working exclusively online is my KeePass Password Safe program. This is where I store all my “username/password” combinations and the stuff I need to access to work online (host passwords, admin information, FTP for various sites, etc). This is my brain. I probably access this program 40-50 times a day and when I get a new computer, it’s one of the first programs to be installed.

Before I started using a password management program, I’d sometimes spend 5 or 6 minutes hunting around for the “critical” information I needed for my own work, or to help clients. Having websites “resend” passwords takes forever and knocks a hole in your time to work.

If you are still trying to remember them all, if you are using a spreadsheet to manage them or if you are using a single username/password combination for everything you touch, stop that! It’s not a secure way to handle delicate data.

Download your free copy of the open-source password manager today and start putting every one of your passwords in it.

Use it to store:

• Website username and passwords
• Access information for your website and hosting account
• Email setup instructions and Pop mail configuation settings

If you find the task of finding everything to put it in there daunting, just add them when you “touch” them next. That makes it painless to get the most often used ones in there quickly and you can add any new ones directly into KeePass without recording it elsewhere.

(Note: Be sure to backup your database! I lost mine once in a hard drive crash. It was horrible going back to the old methods to figure them all out again. Now, I keep it backed up once a week on a thumbdrive, and it’s always backed up in my regular backup series.

You

If you sabotage yourself during your work day, you need to correct this. Do you find yourself cruising Amazon or Ebay during your work day, or researching things that “seemed” to have something to do with work initially — but left you derailed somewhere during the search process?

Do you look up and realize that two or three hours have gone by and you have not finished the 15 minute project you started?

Entrepreneurs and freelance folks have a terrible time separating work from living. We almost always love what we do and spend WAY too many hours a day doing it.

The problem is, we also feel that we “deserve” a break and take it in little pieces, rather than in planned chunks. If you need some time, online, to chase some personal interests or to do research that’s not really related to creating income, then do it — but schedule it.

Plan to have one or two 15-30 minute blocks per day for any of these personal activities. Block it out on your daily schedule and set a timer to be sure you don’t “run over” the time allotted. Then, enjoy it — without guilt.

When your time is over, get back to work. The change of pace will probably refresh you and help you to be more productive. Limiting the time and not “fooling” yourself about how much time you are spending will prevent it from impacting your income.

Having a scheduled workday will also help with this. If you work all the time, you feel that you deserve some downtime (and you do!). but taking it without recognizing it can often leave you feeling that you work constantly without relief.

While gasoline prices top $4.00 per gallon and the economy pundits’ projections dip and sway, I’m glad that my business is already established and runs from a home office.

I’m also pleased that I’ve taken the time to evaluate my clients, services and my business expenses and trim them all back neatly. My next big “trim” will be the number of days I work per week. I’m preparing for it now and hope to implement my new, shorter workweek by the end of July.

Determining how much I should make this year made it easier to look at how many days a week would be required to make that target income and to plan accordingly. It’s also made me re-evaluate my original numbers and trim them back even more.

I credit the price of gasoline for encouraging me to take some steps that are improving my business and my life.

Dovetailing Errands

I’ll be spending one day out of the office per week to get the things done I need to do. I visit with my parents once a week and spend the day. They live two hours away. On the way up, I run errands for the business and pick up anything I need that’s only available in their city while I’m there (that way the trip can be expensed). They have an office supply store and a general merchandise super-store there. I don’t have either of those here.

I get an early start so I can arrive at their house between 9 and 10 a.m. In the late afternoon, I head back to the house and do my grocery shopping and other personal errands on the way home.

Living a deliberate life

It means I only get out once a week now, but it also means I accomplish the bulk of my non-client related to-do list on that one day. These choices aren’t purely financial. I’ve actually started recycling. (Dropping it off is another item on my errands list each week.)

My new push to live life more deliberately and to think things out before jumping and running helps me to minimize the ecological impact of my life. I watch the extra packaging and purchase fresh foods locally as much as possible.

I’m actually saving money

Making sure that I never make a trip out for just one or two things requires me to plan ahead, make lists — and an unexpected bonus is that I’m avoiding impulse purchases and using less gas every week. By doing the shopping on my way home from my parents’ house, after I’m already tired, I’m not tempted to participate in “entertainment” shopping.

I don’t stay in the store long enough for the bright packaging and the multi-million dollar ad campaigns to do their job. I go in, get what I need and get out. My shopping lists are pretty basic and fairly healthy.

An improved way to measure success

For years, I emphasized making more money. It was a “marker” of my success. It helped me to feel that my little cottage industry was real, sustaining and important. It meant that leaving my corporate job was the right decision.

Now, I’ve changed my approach. Now, I look at what I really need and am honest about what can do without. I weigh my purchases more carefully and I bundle all my travel into a single trip. Now, I realize it’s not how much I make that really impacts my quality of life — it’s how much I spend. (more…)

A recent NYT article chronicles the stress of being a full-time blogger, entrepreneur and participant in the Internet information industry. So, after staying up until nearly 3 a.m. last night working on my “new look” for WickedBlog — with proper validation, a new layout and a WordPress update (that I did all by my lonesome!)… I have to wonder if I’m not part of this craziness.

I’ve noticed the weight gain, the failure to eat properly and the lack of exercise — especially lately. But I keep telling myself that my life will calm down soon, that it will get better, that I’m “investing” in my future. I’m serving clients, dealing with children and family issues, maintaining my websites, blogging and doing constant research.

Hmm… maybe I’m merely continuing my life-long habit of “burning-the-candle-at-both-ends” and I’m just CALLING it something new. Food for thought. Definitely!

Are you just getting started as a virtual assistant, freelancer, remote professional or outsourcing provider? Are you wondering how to find the clients? Manage time and billing? How to get your business on the web?

Maybe you are an old hand and providing services remotely (like me) and what you REALLY want to know is how to gracefully “fire” a client that is no longer a good fit, or you may want to determine if it’s time to try your hand at blogging, or maybe you want to update your existing website to be more effective for your mature business model?

If you want an economical way to find solutions for any of these issues, you may want to sign up for the RemoteProfessionals.com Mini-Conference to be held on April 17th. It’s a great way to get answers from the people in the know!

Presenters include:

• Tiffanie Lyon of Lyon Sales Institute, LLC
• Marsha Kopan of Executive Secretarial Services
• Anna Baron of the Virtual Link
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• Mike Price of MLBroadcast.com
• Andrea Pixley of AndreaPixley.com

If you are interested, move quickly. Registration for the virtual assistant mini-conference closes soon, and the workshop sessions are limited to only a handful of earlybirds — keeping the workshop classes small makes them more effective! I’ll be there… maybe you will be too!

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I’m seriously considering moving from Kubuntu to Ubuntu. If I do so, I’ll want to use Evolution to handle my email and to serve as my PIM. Before I make that move, I wanted to try Evolution on Kubuntu.

First snag? Getting my email moved over.

I have all my essential information under a data storage file folder on my home folder — so I always know where my most important data is stored. This means when I set up a new system (or do a re-gen of a current OS) I point my programs to where the data is always stored so I don’t have to “hunt and peck” to find my mission critical info. I also don’t have to spend an afternoon Googling “where does ______ store ______” over and over again.

Since I’m just testing the Evolution, I made sure that the accounts I set up were marked to leave the email on the server — that way they will all still “land” in the Kontact system, until I make a decision.

To move my current email files from Kontact to Evolution, I took the following steps:

1. Copied my Kontact emails into a new folder (so I didn’t hose my current emails accidentally).
2. Created a new account in Evolution:
   1. Go to Edit, Preferences, Mail Accounts (and hit the plus sign to the right).
   2. Add in bogus information, calling the account “import”
   3. Select server type “Maildir-format mail directories”
   4. Under configuration, select other and add a path that leads to the top-most folder copied from your Kontact (called ‘mail’ unless you renamed it)
   5. Be sure this isn’t your actual Kontact data, but is a copy.
   6. Add in bogus information to complete the account.
   7. Open up the “import” account and all your emails should be present.
3. Move the emails (and folders) into your actual email account on Evolution.
4. Once all the emails are moved over, delete the “import” account.

Hope this makes it easier to move over and give Evolution a try, if you have been using Kontact. I’d love to hear the pros and cons of this move from others who have (or are) making the move.

I’ve been tweaking all my systems lately and I wanted to share the list of firefox addons I’ve settled in to use. These are all tried and true — no browser-breakers here. (more…)

I’ve been battling with the frustration of having a Thunderbird application that shuns it’s brother, Firefox, in my Kubuntu install.

Whenever I click on a link in an email, Konquer launches. I don’t like Konquer. I like Firefox. Firefox has all my cool add-ons and the tools I know. It wastes my time and frustrates me to look (in vain) for my tools before realizing that I’m staring at a Konquer window.

Setting Firefox as the default for Kubuntu didn’t work. Nothing I’ve tried before today worked. After searching high and low for some 5 months now, I finally found the answer.

Whoo-Hooo!!! Today is a GOOD day. (I’m a simple woman, it doesn’t take much to make me ecstatic.)

If you want to have Firefox launch, you have to make this change from inside Thunderbird itself in Linux: (more…)

If you (like me) have considered incorporating on multiple occasions, you may be interested in some information about the tax and simplicity benefits of staying ’solo’ in the legal organization of your business.

Learn more about tax benefits for sole proprietorships.

I’ve struggled for years to find the perfect accounting solution. I saw a T-shirt the other day that capsulizes my love of math. It read: “English Major - YOU do the math.” It fits.

Can I do it? Sure. I can do lots of stupid stuff… like plucking the hairs off my legs rather than shaving them. Or like calculus for example. Been there, done that. But it’s not my favorite activity. Calculus is tied with root canals on my extensive list of things I enjoy in life — albeit these two contenders are rather LOW on that list. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should — and it doesn’t mean you want to.

At my age, I’d prefer if my math were simple and my books were even more so.

While looking around for easy invoicing options, I found a few solutions that may be of interest to others who are trying to do the same or others who are tired of required updates from Quickbooks, battling with Peachtree or trying to figure out Microsoft Small Business Accounting or the Linux baby: GnuCash.

Maybe you just want an easier way to send and track time and invoices. Or maybe you don’t want to be tied to a particular computer or geographic location. In any of these cases, you may want to check into these online invoicing options: (more…)

This weekend, I met with my favorite book keeper. Despite the differences in our talents, I still like her. I met with her for three days to get my books switched over to a new system. Few things in life leave me as cold, frustrated and “put upon” feeling as having to do the books. Did I mention that my old MS Accounting program doesn’t offer a standard “export” format? Did I mention that everything had to be converted ONE LINE AT A TIME for the ENTIRE YEAR TO DATE?!?!

I despise accounting. I think I would rather have splinters shoved under my fingernails than have to endure accounting. I hate it. Having to do it makes me hate life. I simply can’t overstate this fact. (more…)

I have been working with my own personal “Linux coach” lately — aka Keith Burton. He’s a family friend and a bloody genius when it comes to all things technical. I go to my father, usually, when I have a weighty tech/hardware question. Pops and Keith use each other as resources on different topics and individual special areas of interest. Having them both available is one of the things that makes my life easier.

Keith has helped me to solve several Linux issues that have been bugging the crap outta me. I’ll be sharing some of the wisdom he’s passed on to me as well as some that I’ve picked up from Pops, some discovered on my own and some through online research in this and upcoming Linux posts.

First, the thing you need to know when you get everything tweaked just the way you want it — a FULL system backup! Although I’m still in the market for a GUI version, this command line will do the trick to get my system backed up to an external drive. (more…)

I’m brilliant. I’ve learned so very much about Linux in the last few weeks. Every day I learn something new and exciting. For instance, I’ve learned that you don’t want to go and uninstall things you don’t personally use… or THINK that you don’t personally use.

Case in point… Just because you don’t plan to learn to program in Python doesn’t mean you can safely remove that from your list of programs in Ubuntu or Kubuntu. (more…)

I finally made the switch from my paid password manager program, eWallet (which I loved, but which doesn’t offer a Linux version), to a nice freebie program, which I find quite palatable.

I keep up with far too many username/password combinations, logons and critical (but sensitive) information in my work-a-day world to try to remember them all. Unlike many people, I don’t keep all passwords the same — that’s too risky.

Granted, I had to copy all the information from the old program to the new one (which was a royal pain and took me a couple hours), but now I have all my information on a new program that will work on Windows, Linux, or even on a flash drive! (more…)

I’ve been looking for a Linux alternative to my current, beloved, timer program. Although I’ve not found what I’m looking for there, I have found a couple of fantastic resource lists that I’d like to share. They are lists of 100 software options for the “mission critical” stuff all remote professionals need. Lots of options here, and I’m seriously considering a couple of the web based versions to meet my needs rather than locating Linux friendly programs for everything.

I have always hesitated to have my mission critical stuff on web-based apps — but I’m beginning to embrace it. I’m using Basecamp now and I must say that I like it, I’m also poking around at Highrise, so I’m probably going to investigate othersimilar online options as well. I’m just not quite ready to turn over my timer and my accounting to an online web app. Not quite yet. I’m too much of a control freak for that — I want my data on my computer!

But if you are seeking a better way to do anything as a freelancer or as an outsourcing provider of any type — full-time or part-time — these resources may be just what you need… (more…)

I’ll be glad when I can say (with a great deal of pomp and circumstance), “I don’t DO windows!” For now, I’m struggling with a damaged operating system that is giving me fits. I’ve not been writing in my blog, I’ve not been getting all my work done. Nope, I’ve been trying to limp along Windows on my Tablet PC (my primary machine) until I could either reinstall the entire OS, or until I could get a Linux box up and running. I tried a repair install last week to get me by. It didn’t. (more…)