Tag Archives: freelance

Is High Tech Finally Going Green?

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Wrapping that makes sense

Internet superstore, Amazon recently announced that they were offering recycled “frustration free” packaging for some of their top selling items this holiday season. This is one of the company-wide initiatives to be a bit more eco-sensitive. Aside from being eco-friendly, it also promises to reduce “wrap rage” this season, so we can all rest a bit easier.

Wood is the new metal

I just bought a couple new leather cases for my iPhone (the price was hard to resist — $6.00 for each one, complete with my personalized engraving on the back of each — thrown in for free!) I was feeling pretty good about my purchase until I saw a wooden, laser engraved iPhone case by Miniot out of Holland. Now, you will need to be prepared to pay alot of green to be THIS green with your iPhone… but isn’t it so pretty? I may be salivating over that one for awhile.

Even computers are showing up with wooden chassis — and some of those are easily renewable bamboo rather than hardwood. But a few (like the Asus) are discovering that function has to come before form. Asus had to rescind this bold, green move due to overheating issues. The newer model has just a bit of bamboo trim, and underpowered cpu and an inflated price.

You can also get bamboo keyboards, bamboo monitors and even a bamboo mouse.

Conserve by Comsuming Less

I’ve been watching the independent builders mod out uber-low power tiny boxes that allowed computers to run on itty bits of energy, but the pet project of the uber-geeks has now gone mainstream. Dell has come out with a “hybrid” computer that is low power (70% lower) and low profile for a greener office.

It even has a wooden cover option if you want to LOOK as green as you are. It’s all about recycled… from packaging to the “system recycling kit” for when you are finished with the computer. It’s also just a little larger than a standard external hard drive for easy grab-and-go options. It’s pretty easy on the eyes, too.

Do Your Part:

One of the biggest consumers of energy in your home office is that big, widescreen monitor. It’s nice not to squint, isn’t it? But setting your monitor to go off when not in use and powering down your hard drives and hibernating your computer after just a few moments of inactivity can also add up.

Even something as simple as using Blackle (a dark, energy saving version of Google) as your homepage and yoru primary search page will save quite a bit of energy over Google’s standard bright white page. (They claim over 900,000 watt hours have been saved through its use so far).

Why Web Entrepreneurs Need Social Networking

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Being “sociable” on the web can have huge payoffs. Provider-customer communications have never been more important. In the old face-to-face days, small business owners maintained a manageable number of extremely loyal clients, all of whom were accustomed to seeing the small business owner in person.

If customers had a concern, a question, a request or a problem — the business owner was there, in person, to work it out.

Social networking and web 2.0 (yeah, I know, I’m tired of those phrases too) are high tech tools offering new delivery platforms to achieve this classic caliber of old-time service.

  • Loyal customers develop as a result of good relationships. (Give someone a bad experience when they are buying products or services, without remedy, and they will probably not come back.)
  • If you have a relationship and there is a problem and you FIX the problem personally, they will not only come back, they will love you for going “above and beyond.” This scenario will build loyalty more than a flawless experience.
  • They will talk about you. If you give excellent service or exceedingly poor service, your customers will tell others. That word-of-mouth advertising will make or break your business — especially online.

Social networking helps you to build strong, personal relationships with potential and existing clients, even though you may never meet them “face-to-face.” The new social tools permit personal interaction even before the first sale. It also offers an amazing built-in referral network.

If you aren’t currently participating, consider broadening your horizons. Select one or two platforms from the major players, fill out your profile page and join in the conversation.

Quit being a wall-flower at the Internet dance!

(NOTE: photo courtesy of Clarita at MorgueFile.com)

Free Software Program for All Serious Writers

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It’s amazing how complex life can become. Writing, it seems, is more difficult every day. I love to write, but whenever I sit down to do that (especially creative writing) I find myself torn by the constant dings of this program or flashing notifications of that one.

Sure, I should be more disciplined when I write. I should ignore all that noise. I should be able to just mentally turn it off — but I can’t.

Alternatively, I should be able to physically turn off all the distractions, disable the notifications, log out of all the programs that clamor for my attention before I even begin a serious attempt at writing…

But I won’t. I don’t. It’s too much trouble. Besides, once I’m finished, I’d have to go back and try to remember everything I turned off and flip it all back on. What a hassle. So… I tell myself:

“Maybe it’s just better to wait until things are quiet to write. Now’s not really the best time… later I’ll be more focused…”

And that’s how the writing I really want to do never actually happens.

Now, I have a way to do it all — keep all my techie stuff up and working and have a clean slate to do my writing without distraction. I’ve looked at several of the “blackout” programs that take your stuff off-screen and give you a blank slate for writing.

Most of them look like one of the old computers my father built in the late 70s and early 80s. So, there’s an attractiveness for me to that black background/green text look. It reminds me of the Multi-mate program I used when I was first hired as a reporter at the newspaper in St. Mary’s County, MD.

So, it has some sentimental value and a offers me a reminiscent feel that others may not enjoy.

Today, I tripped across one that was free! And it’s multi-platform. So no matter if you are a Mac user, a Windows buff or a Linux fan — there’s a version for you. You can change some of the colors to fit your own preferences and there’s even a PDF Manual available for those who need to know everything about a program.

This writer’s tool is called JDarkRoom. Check it out for yourself.

It’s not really a word processor. It’s not going to tell you if you have spelling errors or grammatical issues. It’s basically a typewriter — a distraction-free environment for those who take writing seriously and need a place on their computer to slip into the creative “zone” for a few minutes… or a few hours.It delivers your writing in a plain text file that you can then import into a word processor for editing, spellcheck and format tasks.

Personally, I find it terribly alluring. It’s already got a place of honor on my iMac’s Doc. I love it.

High-Tech Theft: KY Governor Seizes Domain Names

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governor steve beshear swipes domain names

Kentucky Governor, Steve Beshear --gives orders to swipe domain names

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear’s Office recently seized 141 domain names belonging to Internet gambling sites. Those names have been transferred, by court order, to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The DNS information was ordered to stay the same while the court case was being resolved.

There was an outcry this week in a Press Release I received this week by Jim Waters of BIPPS — the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions:

For Immediate Release
Monday, Oct. 6, 2008

Contact: Jim Waters

270-782-2140

High-tech hijacking: Web site domain names seized, Internet freedom threatened

(Frankfort, Kentucky) – The Commonwealth of Kentucky has taken unprecedented legal action by seizing more than 140 Web site domain names belonging to online gambling sites.

Due to the dangerous and far-reaching implications of this high-tech hijacking, the Bluegrass Institute will hold an emergency summit in Frankfort on Monday, Oct. 6. Timing is critical as the next legal hearing on this issue takes place the following morning, Oct. 7, before the Franklin County Circuit Court.

The Bluegrass Institute urges anyone with an interest in protecting Internet freedom to join us in protest against this egregious action. While the primary focus in this legal matter is online poker, the ramifications extend much farther into the entire realm of online commerce.

This radical approach is disturbing for many reasons. Chief among them is the concept that domain names of Internet sites operating legally in their home nations can be seized by other nations for violation of local laws. This should be of concern to all Americans. If Kentucky is successful, a very dangerous precedent will be set.

The Bluegrass Institute will be joined by several other groups who stand in opposition to Kentucky’s actions. They include the Internet Commerce Association; Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association; Americans for Tax Reform; The Poker Players Alliance and many others who continue to join with this cause.

We will convene a panel discussion on a range of topics requiring immediate action. The meeting is open to the public and all participants will be available for media comment.

The summit will take place at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort (405 Wilkinson Blvd, Frankfort, KY 40601) at 1 p.m. (EDT) on Monday, Oct. 6. Please RSVP to Jim Waters of the Bluegrass Institute at 270-782-2140 or jwaters@bipps.org.

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
400 E. Main Ave. Suite 306
Bowling Green, KY 42102
www.bipps.org

The court, on October 7th, decided to rule on the case next week, on October 15th. I anxiously await this historic ruling. I can only hope that (as a small Internet business entrepreneur), that my state fails miserably to make this action stick. I’m honestly appalled that they would even try. What a month to be a Kentuckian!

Learn more about this topic here:

DomainNameNews.com

Entrepreneurs: Weathering the Economic Storm

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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.)