Let’s Bring January To A Close!

One day is remaining for this first month of 2009 and I cannot properly express to you what a whirlwind of a month that it has been for me.

Thankfully, my business remains stable, but the dark clouds are on the horizon. If I pay too much attention to the daily layoff reports, I can quickly grow discouraged. Instead, I’ve chosen to focus on those things which are much more uplifting or at least those things which have nothing to do with the economy!

The Time To Launch A Business Is Now

I am discovering what seems to be a greater number of people who have decided to go into business for themselves.  My cousin is partnering with a friend who launched a “green business” after spending the last twenty-five years in retail. He has had the unfortunate experience of working for two retailers who went bankrupt, though those jobs disappeared well over a decade apart.

I think a lot of people are deciding that they’ve had enough and have decided to venture out on their own. After all, what have they got to lose? Answer: steady pay, an ungrateful boss, crabby co-workers, lousy commute, etc. Best wishes with everything, Jerry, your past successes heading up various retail locations will work to your advantage.

As far as my current group of clients, I’ve encouraged everyone to hang in there. It is easy to focus on the negative while missing opportunities that are sitting right before your eyes. This is a good time to snap up a business (such as an online store or a blog) as prices are much lower and some people want to get out. I like to keep my eyes on Sitepoint to see what is out there.

Prepare Now And You’ll Prosper Later

I truly believe that people who position themselves now for the coming recovery — and the recovery will come — are those folks who will shine later on. I’ve come across any number of people who are panicking which can lead to irrational behavior. Don’t be too quick to make a drastic decision when the heat has been turned up in your life!

I distinctly recall the tough recession of the early 1980s and it was worse than this one, but we recovered and the economy eventually soared. That gave way to the go-go 1990s when the technology sector boomed. I am, however, cautious about this pork laden “stimulus” bill making its way through Congress — what impact that it will have on the economy several years hence is the great unknown.

Taking My Business To The Next Level

Besides meeting all of the needs of my present clients, I am keeping my eyes open for more work. But, instead of actively pursuing specific jobs at the moment, I’m gauging what is out there and considering how I can best accommodate an increased workload.

Part of that review involves me reassessing my business and planning for the future. I’ve never done this before (at least that far out), but I’m looking at establishing attainable goals that I want to reach three years or more down the line. I can see that laying a solid plan now will help me move in that direction.

Not Ready To Put Out The Help Wanted Sign

To this day, I’ve been a one person business but I’m mulling taking on — gasp! — at least one employee or perhaps contracting out work. Don’t send your resume to me just yet, because I don’t have anything in place right now and I can’t see me going that direction before the year is out.

I can recall quite a number of conversations I had with people early on (I launched my business in November 2002) where I insisted I would never take on staff. But, some of the projects I could end up handling would be all the more easier to do if I had people working with me. I write like the dickens all throughout the day, but some of those assignments could be farmed out to a qualified writer.

I suppose what we think is right for the moment will apply always, but just thinking about working with someone is a fresh thought, one that involves a lot of consideration. If and when I do make a change you’ll know about it here.

Enjoy your weekend.

Amusing Myself With Twitter

I had to check my blog archives to see where I’d mentioned Twitter previously and came up with just two occurrences. The first mention was in June 2007; the second one in December 2008.

That first occurrence was within an article I titled, How I Found You Online, where I marveled at the different ways I discovered people via the internet. At that time, I relied a lot more on forums such as Digital Point and Sitepoint as well as social media sites including BUMPzee, MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog to connect with people. Back then, I was a new user on StumbleUpon and was still stopping in on MySpace on occasion.

But it was my last comment that brought a smile to my face, particularly my comment about Twitter:

I plan on joining LinkedIn eventually, but I think I’ll sit Twitter out.

Yes, it just took me just seven words to explain that I wasn’t planning on using Twitter, likely for the reason that I saw no point in using it.  After all, Twitter was only a silly way for people to send one liners to each other all day, right? Who had the time for such nonsense?

Well, things certainly do change in the world of social media as I am basically forum free these days, choosing to meet up with people through their respective blogs and key social media sites. Yes, I even connect with a handful of people through email, but if you’re looking to IM me, that won’t happen — but feel free to send me a tweet!

It must have been an article I read, such as Mihaela Lica’s very first article on Sitepoint titled, “Twitter’s Little Known SEO Value,” that piqued my interest in Twitter. I’ve been following “Michi’s” writings for several years now and her candid explanation of Twitter caused me to revisit the site, digging a bit deeper to see what it is all about.

I joined Twitter long ago, have posted a bunch of links in the in the interim, but my network wasn’t much to brag about. But, this past week I invited a number of people to connect with me via Twitter, tripling my contacts and putting some life in my exchanges with other members. That move brought in a number of high end users, professional tweeters who add interesting stuff and make Twitter worthwhile.

Sure, there are some people who seem to be having conversations with nobody but themselves, but I’ve also come across a handful of really good articles that I probably wouldn’t have found had I not started using Twitter. In those cases I’ve read the article, posted a comment and, in a few situations, shared that information with someone else.

Mihaela’s article is a good read, making no silly promises that Twitter will do something that it won’t. But it was her last statement that I found most interesting (and true) — If you can make people come to your site via Twitter, then this is an SEO advantage you cannot afford to miss. – something I am taking into consideration as I tweet may around the site.

Oh, by the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter please click on the little tweety bird and you’ll be brought to my profile page for a connection.