Snippets Part 1
  Written By Raven

There are times when my connection to the Internet goes away. There's no one to blame. No one to yell at. It happens. Storms. Electrical failures. Phone line troubles. Someone accidentally cuts a fiber optic cable while building a shopping mall. The end result is the same. I'm offline. My first reaction is annoyance. I am a spoiled American who is used to having an Internet connection twenty-four hours a day. This is probably a good time to point out that having a back up is part of a good business plan. Since we just moved from one state to another, we are still putting things away, finding files, fixing computers that went bump in the night.

The gods of connection know I have not set up another means of connecting to my online world. DSL went down this morning. I sit here, my umbilical cord broken and I'm momentarily at a loss.

While Tev is on the phone to our DSL provider, I'm sitting here, thinking about what people do when they are unintentionally offline.

I thought, perhaps, this would be a great time to walk away from my computer. I have a thousand errands to run, books to read, rooms to clean. Why am I still sitting here in front of a computer? That's when I realised there are plenty of tasks I can accomplish. There is mail that needs to be filed. I have articles I need to write. I have client work that I can do while I'm waiting for my connection to be restored. There are notes scattered all over my desk I could organise.

When this dreadful event occurs, a grand opportunity presents itself to those who work online as a full-time career. While it's tempting to walk away and read or watch television, there are so many hours in the day to be productive. Straightening out your desktop may seem trivial and menial; but, the importance of having organisation is paramount when in this business. There are multitudes of text files scattered all over my computer desktop. I haven't seen my desk in three weeks. There are papers everywhere, from bills to hastily scribbled notes I've taken when speaking to clients. My 'ToDo' list is endless.

Instead of leaving my office, I am slowly going through the massive job of sorting and filing. One of the keys to running a successful business is the ability to find things quickly. Having a system means spending less time looking for what you need. Organisation allows for increased productivity. I will take this time forced upon me to finish up, file, write, analyse and clean up my Internet act.

Board Etiquette
I was posting on one of my favourite boards the other day and I noticed that someone's tag line held the url for their message board. I will venture an opinion here. There are many resource boards out there, more than I've ever seen in my years among the Internet community. It seems that, every day, another board pops into existence. I believe in healthy competition, so I do spend a good part of my day reading posts, always on the search for new snippets of information. Continuing education is part of running a successful business, whether online or off. For me, it's well worth the time to visit as many resource boards as I can.

There are too many to cover in one day, so I have a list of those I visit from one day to the next. While I might not post on every single one of them, I do try to keep up with new ones. Tag lines are fantastic. It's free advertising for the one who is posting. My 'Sin-Text' tag line always comes after my name. If I'm representing another company, I have the freedom to post my client's URL. Having the privilege of a tag line carries a responsibility. Be careful whose URL you put after your name. Posting the name of another resource board is tacky, in my opinion. There are other ways to entice webmasters to visit your board. Write them an email. When in a chat room, private message them. If you're a moderator on one board posting on another, I don't think it's very good board manners to lure other webmasters to your board. Don't do it.

Off Time Activities
What do you do when you're not at your computer? Do you schedule time away? The only time I leave my office is when I'm bleary eyed from staring at my screen or I'm hungry or I want to smoke. Since we moved, in order to cut down the amount of cigarettes we inhale, we've moved our smoking to outside the house or in the garage. I love my garage. In Seattle, it's grey and misty most of the time; so, having a covered garage makes a huge difference for my smoking comfort. An added benefit to not smoking around my computers is probably longevity for my system. I know my monitor doesn't have that icky film on it anymore. The house doesn't stink from three smokers. There was smog in my other house and I was smoking almost three packs a day. Now, fortunately, I'm down to a half-pack. I can breathe again. When I need to get away from my computer, I read or play video games. I go food shopping. Working sixteen hours a day doesn't leave me a whole lot of relax time, so I have to carefully choose my activities. Cleaning the house is at the bottom of my list, other than bathrooms and offices. This is not meant as a complaint. I'm just observing my own habits and wondering about yours.

Text Tips
I surf the Internet daily, perusing sites. One thing I've noticed is the use of smileys and frowns and other shortened versions of words. Example: :-)
Back in the day, when I first discovered the web, there used to be lists for us newbies to learn the language of abbreviations. Typing the word 'smile' was inconvenient. Using the [:-)] was fun. It gave us a sense of belonging. [LOL] and all of the variations for laughing made sense, when keyboarding was the form of communication. They gave us the ability to convey emotion. On a web site, it's wholly inappropriate. There is a surfer born every few seconds who has no idea what those symbols mean. While they give your site that amateur look, it could be confusing to one who has never seen it before. Language amongst webmasters and those who are used to chat talk is a great tool; however, as a marketing tool, it's not a good idea. These symbols are also not spiderable. Find words that convey the emotion you want to impart to your surfer. Use language that gives the surfer the message.

Internext
January is just around the corner. It's time to start planning for the biggest conference of the year. Those who don't think they can attend may want to reconsider. While I realise that sometimes life gets in the way of webmastering, there are good reasons to try to get there. I've talked to many people about why they aren't going. Money seems to be the biggest impediment. There are hotels close to the Sands Expo that are very inexpensive. Look into them. Ask around on the boards and in the chat rooms. A friend of mine wrote an article about how he 'did' Internext so cheaply, he was able to go and enjoy the benefits. Registration tickets can be won at parties. Resource boards give them away for free. Talk to your friends about sharing the cost of a room. Go to lots of parties, so you can eat. It's a three-day conference. If you look online, you can find all kinds of airline deals. I can't stress how important these conferences are. Talk to those who have gone to either Internext or an AWE or Cybernet Expo or Phoenix Forum. There are so many, I can't list them all in this article. Attend just one and you're hooked forever. Suddenly, you're not alone anymore.

The isolation we all feel is replaced by that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you meet someone else doing what you do. It's hard to talk about our lives to those who aren't involved or enmeshed in this business. They don't understand the problems we face, the risks we take, the mistakes we make. Internext is not all about the parties and the naked chicks. There are people to meet, seminars to attend. With the thousands of webmasters who go, you're bound to make friends. These friends can be helpful to your business. Deals are made in elevators. Opportunities present themselves not found in the chat rooms and message boards. Being able to put a face to the screen name goes a long way toward theirs and your credibility, realness. Shaking someone's hand gives meaning to an already established online relationship. Hugs are important. Find a way to go. It's a necessity that will nourish both your spirit and your business.