CT Biz Blogs

It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot in the past few years, but I’m moving on to other projects. I’m going to leave this site up, though, for however long people find it useful.

I won’t stop blogging; I’ve started a more general blog, called Odd-Lot Thoughts, where I plan to try to loosely connect all the bits and pieces of my brain.
Many of the blogging friends I’ve made along the way are still going strong, such as Liz Strauss at Successful Blog, Valerie Luther at Creative Concepts, J.D. Isles, at Lincoln Sign Company and Andrew Ewalt.
Some, like Heather Platt at Eie Flud, have moved on as well.

It’s all part of the journey, I wish you all the best on yours!

I’m very annoyed. I’m apparently locked out of my del.icio.us account. I have no idea why.

Here’s the message I get when I try to bookmark something:

Sorry, Unable to process request at this time — error 999.

Sorry, you’ve been temporarily blocked for accessing del.icio.us too rapidly. This could be the result of using a buggy, misconfigured, or malicious program. It could also be accidental on our part. Please hold off for a few minutes and try again later, in a gentler fashion.

There’s more, giving me a link to a form where I can ask for help. Sorry, but this is just so wrong.  Is Firefox suddenly “buggy, misconfigured, or malicious?”
Why should I use a web service if it doesn’t work when I need it? All I did is shut down my computer and go to lunch!

Was that so wrong?

Well, the contest is over. We reached the deadline with an underwhelming response. I’m not sure why the lack of response but I have a few guesses:

1. Maybe I have no readers. My stats say differently, but stats have been known to lie.
2. Maybe my readers are either scaredy-cats or already fearless about blogging.
3. Maybe you can’t even give Huffington’s book away. (OK, cheap shot. More likely: there are still books available at Huffington’s virtual book tour.)

My best guess is, as this is a blog about blogging for small businesses, a non-business book just wasn’t a good fit. I have mixed feelings about the book, myself, but this is not the venue for a book report. I’ll give the books to a few people I have in mind, instead.

In any case, we had one winner, but overall, the contest just didn’t work. Let’s all move along. Nothing to see here.;-)

Update 9/4/06: edited for clarity.

I went on a stealth mini-vacation, but I’m back. Tomorrow I’ll be posting about working on a blogging strategy.

Just a touch of flu.

Since today is a holiday in the U.S., I get off on a technicality. The last four posts in the 20 blog types marathon will be posted starting Tuesday, 12/27/05, and will end, neatly, on 12/30/05.

After that I’ll take a brief posting hiatus while I work behind the scenes updating the blog and (with luck) unveiling a new look.

I am going to be posting the next entry in the 20 blog post types series later this evening. I’m not breaking my streak at this late date (4 more to go after this one).

But I wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays, in case folks are leaving early for the long weekend. For those not celebrating, or not leaving, I’ll see you later today!

Next up in the 20 blog posts in 20 (business) days marathon, is the predictions and reviews post. I don’t really feel qualified to prognosticate, so rather than hazard a few random guesses, I decided to ask a professional. Here’s what I learned:

O wise and wonderful Magic 8-ball, we bloggers have many questions about 2006. Please share your insight with us.

http://www.magic8ball.net/

1. Will TypePad recover from their latest problem? You may rely on it.
2. Will Google be evil? Don’t count on it.
3. Will there be more multi-million dollar sales of blog networks? You can count on it.
4. Will small businesses in Connecticut get blogging? Don’t count on it.

(more…)

Lisa Haneberg writes two great blogs that I have in my RSS feed reader and read faithfully: Management Craft and 2Weeks2abreakthrough.

She writes sagely about management issues, and I have her ebook, Interviewers Secrets Revealed, which I highly recommend for job hunters.

She will be starting a class on helping people define goals and work on breakthroughs. Here’s what she says about it:

During this 14-day program, you’ll clarify your goals, move forward, and create at least one breakthrough in momentum or results. I guarantee it! If you fully participate in the program and commit an average of one hour per day, you are guaranteed to make at least one breakthrough. My program is interactive and personal, and requires you to try new approaches to solve old problems.

It’s not cheap, but not overly expensive, either. However, she has recently announced that she’s offering a scholarship to two people. All you have to do is write one paragraph about one goal you wish to achieve. The two people who write the best cases for their goals will win the scholarship. The contest details are on her Managment Craft site.

If you’re a small business owner who needs a boost, or thinking about starting a small business, you should check it out.

Update: The deadline for this is Saturday, December 17th. So get writing!

If you’re a small business, you don’t have a large budget. But you still need things for your business such as books about business, or even office supplies.

If you’re a small business in the continental United States, you might get lucky. InBubbleWrap is giving away free stuff. I’ve already won a book, Radical Careering. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Every weekday is a different contest, and all you need to do is answer some amusing questions to enter.

Here’s a snippet from the site:

iBW is a site dedicated to giving you the opportunity to win FREE business related prizes. Each day (Monday – Friday) brings a new contest with new prizes for you to win. All prizes are business related whether it’s the latest set of business books, nifty office supplies or advice from a business book author.

New offers are launched daily at 9 a.m. (Central Time) and run for 24 hours.