Taking this party to email...

Speaking of efficiency, what's the name of that program that blocks you from certain programs, like, um, Twitter, for certain time slots?

And does it have to be from say, 1 to 3 everyday, or can you set it up on a daily basis?

I work a ton, but it's totally not a fixed schedule, and will be even less so, when M gets here on Saturday. I think it would be very useful to block myself from certain sites sometimes, as I have no self-discipline when it comes to multiple tabs.

Also, and feel free to pester me and kick my ass about it, I have pushed back my official (in my mind) launch date for my website yet again. 3rd times the charm, right? I should have my header image and graphics all finalized and finished tomorrow evening (thank you, my dear friend J), and up Thursday morning. I have to drive to Topeka Thursday or Friday and take care of a car thing, which will take most of a day...ugh.

So, it's Friday or Monday. I'm thinking Friday, as M should be here this weekend and still getting situated Monday. But I wonder if things would get lost in the shuffle of a summer Friday? I mean publically.

I am possibly overthinking this.

Oh! And FYI, I will be running a giveaway for my launch, to drive traffic and interest -- I'll be taking entries and then doing a drawing through a randomizer (uh, anyone know a DEAD simple randomizer?) to give away a free copyedit of the first 50 pages or less of a fiction manuscript.

I'm still dinking around with my header graphics and such, and no info is set up on my webpage yet re: this giveaway (if you go to my website in the next 3 days, colors and images are likely to change w/o warning) but this is a FYI for anyone interested or with friends, etc. who might be interested. I'm still thinking aloud, as it were, right now about it.

Also, I'm looking for opinions on how long I should leave such a contest open? I'm thinking a week. And promoing the contest, and such on Twitter? How much is too much? 1 announcement a day, until contest is closed? Too much?

I want to be a positive promoter, but I don't want to drive potential clients or contacts away by being annoying.

(thread hijack, mea culpa)

Erin, I used Leech Block. [link] It's very customizable and easy to use.

bonny, insent with a draft.

That's the one I was thinking about! It looks perfect.

I'll install it, right after I check FB and Twitter!

I'll be taking entries and then doing a drawing through a randomizer (uh, anyone know a DEAD simple randomizer?)

Ummm. Who would know if you just closed your eyes and pointed at the screen?

Bonnie, have you ever looked at David Seah's productivity stuff? [link]

I really need to track my time better, because I'm easily distracted and tend to lose chunks of time. Ooh, look. Shiny.

Ginger, *I* would, and I would feel horribly guilty about not being as fair as possible!

It's a sickness...

I use Togl to track work projects, and it's useful to know how MUCH I'm working on a particular project, or section of project.

But you have to remember to HIT THE START BUTTON. Which is why I leave it open in a tab all day long; it stares at me, and I remember (mostly) to use it when I switch gears, or get a glass of tea and decide I have to clean the fridge, NOW, before I can possibly write anymore.

Okay, so I met this week with a buddy of mine who is wanting to start his t-shirt business. He's doing great; got a mentorship with a friend of ours who is also allowing him to use his shop during off hours. But he basically needs moved along in the process; he finds the various registrations and whatnot daunting. I have no fear regarding these things, so I put together a list of resources for him. You guys might be interested as well.

Legal advice on starting your new business, with a full 50 step checklist: [link]

Small business administration: lots of good info from the government here; for us I've selected their women-owned small business program. [link]

Service corps of retired executives. SCORE is a great organization that hooks you up with a retired businessperson in your field who can help walk you through many different aspects of your business, from startup to marketing to raising capital. I met with them in Santa Fe and they were fabulous, really friendly and unintimidating and helpful. [link]

Small business development centers: Also based out of the sba, like SCORE. The Indiana one I linked for my friend has specialty programs for minorities and women, but I've linked the general site here. You'll want to find your local. [link]

You'll also want to check with your secretary of state's office, for info, for registration requirements, and for your local legislation.

I can't remember if someone has suggested this (not sure if it needs a BS consensus), but I think that we should have a link in the header to a page of Buffista businesses, or to a bookmark on the Links page. Each link could have a one line description of the business.

Agreed. I totally forgot about that portion of the discussion in the glow of the shiny new thread.

And Vortex, do you by chance know anyone with a PR firm in DC? It's not for me, but for a local political issue (development of the Hine Middle School property). I used to have a great contact, but that company left town.

I'd like to make a referral to a community group that needs to get its voice heard.