Reliability is a really big word. Another Everyman coming your way tonight because I’m trying to succeed at content marketing even if my content skills suck. Great CopyBlogger article on the importance of reliability in marketing (and I would add blogging.) “I just want to see it same bat-time, same bat-channel.”
Tax time for Freelancers. Tax time is tough for Freelancers like me, which a lot of you fellow freelancers can probably relate to. So much money going out is in our face all the time. The four quarterly estimated tax checks we write to federal and state, the monthly check to our broker for our retirement fund, ongoing business expenses at Staples, putting money in savings for down times and R&D, and of course putting money in a Lock Box for end-of-year tax time. I thought I was sitting pretty this year, with sufficient dollars in savings and ready for the final numbers to come in. My tax accountant called at 9:15 last Saturday night (not a good sign) and said , “I wanted to make sure you had enough money put aside.” Then she dropped the hammer. The IRS will certainly get their due, which I’m cool with and had planned for, but I wasn’t ready for the contribution I’ll be making to my retirement account. Those dollars were supposed to be a cushion for a few months. Hey, it’s all good, but some times this damned hamster wheel goes faster than other times.
The ChangeThis Economy Survey. I’ve been reading ChangeThis for years. A lot of really excellent articles in attractive PDF layout often written by cutting-edge leaders in various fields. Here the editors of ChangeThis sent out a survey to their readers asking, “How is this economy affecting you?” The responses were often wise and even inspiring. Many people responded how they chose to be optimistic and view this time as an opportunity. “The current economy is squeezing me into becoming aware of what’s most important to me.” I’ve been thinking about that, too. I also like the advice of several respondents who limited their exposure to news and financial media. For me that means removing MSNBC.COM from the circuit of sites I pass through during a normal workday.
TV is so amazing and nobody is happy. (That’s an inside Everyjoke from last time.) For the last few days I’ve been checking the main menu on our Roku for the new Amazon Video On Demand services and tonight it appeared! I went to our Amazon Video Library and was prompted with our Roku’s 5-digit alphanumeric code to enter at amazon.com\roku and register the service. Drop dead simple. A few cool ramifications of Amazon VOD on Roku is that we can view Stargate Atlantis episodes directly from our Amazon Video Library on Roku instead of retaining them in our TiVo Now Playing list. The Amazon offerings are also interesting when compared to Roku Netflix Instant View. Definitely some coordination there. For instance, Deadliest Catch Seasons 1-3 are available for instant viewing on Netflix Roku, with Season 4 available for purchase on Amazon Roku to complete the Opilio crab fix. Another Roku Amazon bonus is that I had Firefly Producer Tim Minear’s excellent but short-lived Drive television series in our Netflix DVD Saved Queue for months. It’s still not available on DVD, but it’s available on Roku Amazon Video On Demand.
Instapaper and dead trees. The Instapaper project for Kindle is how I always viewed the smart newspaper and which would inspire me to lay out the bucks for a Kindle. In the meantime I’ll remain Burlington Free Press subscription free and keep marking up my geeky books with a Bic Papermate while on the Nordic Track.
Company selections coming in for Mark Cuban’s Stimulus Plan. Mark Cuban has begun picking businesses to support with his personal Stimulus Plan we mentioned last time. Some healthy pizza joint and a company who makes stuffed chicken wings made the cut. I don’t know, man. Who in the heck wants healthy pizza? And stuffed chicken wings is simply an abomination to all that is righteous, red, white and blue.
Google never forgets housekeeper posts. Wonderful two-minute story from Seth Godin on how the Internet never forgets. Story is about what happened when a friend of Godin’s Googled on the names of perspective housekeepers.
Sad note to end our time together. Call me Carol Burnett, and while I’m glad we had this time together, I’m sorry to report that ViewMaster 3-D Reels are no longer being produced. I LOVE the ViewMaster, and always look for reels in gift shops when we travel. Crap. With a tug on my ear I’m outta here.