So, I was searching for a way to get rid of the bland Blogger icon that appears on the browser tab, and in the URL of some browsers, and stumbled upon a set of directions that were really simple to follow.
I first went to this page to learn about the term "Flavicon", and read up on how to edit this in a typical blog editor:
http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/2006/06/favicon-for-your-blogger-blog.html
I then saw a link to this page, which had another link to a free Flavicon Generator:
http://blog.blogger-book.com/2008/06/favicon-generator-free-host-blog.html
Apparently, there were some updates to the directions in 2008, so I followed here:
http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/2008/10/fix-for-missing-favicon.html
And, finally, I went to the Flavicon Generator on this site:
http://www.iconj.com/
If you can find the image file on your computer you want to use as the Flavicon, you too can do this. It was SUPER easy, and as you can see, there is now a small head shot of me at the top of the browser page. I used their free hosting service, and I have to say I am proud of myself for accomplishing this in a matter of about 10 minutes. Feel like a blogging champ this afternoon.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Up All Night: Why Entrepreneurs Find Productivity in the Wee Hours
As the first post in my new blog, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about a topic that many entrepreneurs agree on - the middle of the night is the only time to get things done.
I have been the type of person who gets up in the middle of the night to write since I was in high school. But, back then, it was a combination of insomnia, seismic activity due to being within 100 feet of Western Avenue in Chicago, puzzling lucid dreams, and thinking that poetry written in the middle of the night is deeper and more meaningful. I am all for being transparent, but I think I will hold back on publishing my teenage poetry a bit longer for now.
When we first started our own business, we loved the fact that we could work on our own schedule and answer only to ourselves. When I was making macrame jewelry for a full-time living, this meant that I could be in production at any time of the day. The only schedule I had to keep was to be at the festival or craft fair during the hours that they advertised. Living in the mountains in Telluride, it meant that if a hike during the day was a better use of daylight, I could make up for it by working in the evening.
It was great. Except for the pay.
Later, we started a business on eBay, and it had some of the same benefits. While buyers on the site tended to be more active during the day, we could answer emails at any time, so we were free to do whatever we needed - even during "business hours".
Somehow, however, as our eBay business turned into a multi-channel business selling on multiple marketplaces and our own websites, those business hours became more and more packed with activities. Emails were a constant, but the phones rang more than ever, there were phone conferences, interviews, consultations, and even some time to build new relationships with suppliers. But, running a warehouse during the day, and having to be available for our overseas employees who worked in the night, suddenly we found that spare time was no longer spare.
In the past few years, I have found that certain projects and tasks tend to get put off day after day, until days become weeks or months. Accounting is a good example. We keep our own books, but some tasks are only done a few times per month - just not date specific. It seems that I am always in a 3-week-behind mode on accounting, with something causing me to have to stay up into the middle of the night to accomplish data entry on invoices or financial data from Paypal, or worse - sorting out inventory issues, or dealing with a Quickbooks payroll update.
Well, starting a blog happens to be one of those tasks that gets put off too. I have started one several times before. And, some would say that our eBay About Me page, my posts on various discussion boards (eBay Voices of the Community and PeSA to name a few) equate to being a blogger. And, this isn't to mention all the stuff I post on Facebook. Some days I feel like I write all day long - mostly cause I do.
But, after seeing Phil Leahy at the PeSA eCommerce Summit in Las Vegas last week, he showed me the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) value of a blog, and the fact that he had this nifty new template that I could plagerize to get started. It took me 5 days to recover from the trip (OK, there was a bachelor party at the end of a 4-day Vegas trip that helped), but I found myself awake at 2am on a Wednesday night (or early Thursday morning, if you like), and highly motivated to make this thing a reality.
Being a fan of everything Google, and seeing as Phil used the same platform, I finally plowed ahead and got it launched. The only way I could do it, however, was in the quiet of the night. I find that without the interruptions from a constantly filling inbox that I can't stop checking, lots of pings and chats via AIM, Facebook, and GoogleTalk, and without the phones interrupting me every 7 minutes, I can actually get quite a bit done in a short amount of time.
Not only that, but I can focus my attention for longer periods of time, which allows me to actually complete a task before I forget what I started. I tend to also get a bit deeper in thought, which has the benefit of adding to my creativity as well as my accuracy.
So, while staying up all night isn't something I can do every night, I find that in the proper dosage, it helps me catch up on many of the business and personal tasks that never seem to get crossed off the old to-do list. It may not be for everyone, but it works for me. And, our cats Wilson and Sunshine love me being up at those hours - we get lots of quality hang-out time. Plus, every now and then, the sky rewards me with a beautiful sunrise to confirm it was the right call.
I have been the type of person who gets up in the middle of the night to write since I was in high school. But, back then, it was a combination of insomnia, seismic activity due to being within 100 feet of Western Avenue in Chicago, puzzling lucid dreams, and thinking that poetry written in the middle of the night is deeper and more meaningful. I am all for being transparent, but I think I will hold back on publishing my teenage poetry a bit longer for now.
When we first started our own business, we loved the fact that we could work on our own schedule and answer only to ourselves. When I was making macrame jewelry for a full-time living, this meant that I could be in production at any time of the day. The only schedule I had to keep was to be at the festival or craft fair during the hours that they advertised. Living in the mountains in Telluride, it meant that if a hike during the day was a better use of daylight, I could make up for it by working in the evening.
It was great. Except for the pay.
Later, we started a business on eBay, and it had some of the same benefits. While buyers on the site tended to be more active during the day, we could answer emails at any time, so we were free to do whatever we needed - even during "business hours".
Somehow, however, as our eBay business turned into a multi-channel business selling on multiple marketplaces and our own websites, those business hours became more and more packed with activities. Emails were a constant, but the phones rang more than ever, there were phone conferences, interviews, consultations, and even some time to build new relationships with suppliers. But, running a warehouse during the day, and having to be available for our overseas employees who worked in the night, suddenly we found that spare time was no longer spare.
In the past few years, I have found that certain projects and tasks tend to get put off day after day, until days become weeks or months. Accounting is a good example. We keep our own books, but some tasks are only done a few times per month - just not date specific. It seems that I am always in a 3-week-behind mode on accounting, with something causing me to have to stay up into the middle of the night to accomplish data entry on invoices or financial data from Paypal, or worse - sorting out inventory issues, or dealing with a Quickbooks payroll update.
Well, starting a blog happens to be one of those tasks that gets put off too. I have started one several times before. And, some would say that our eBay About Me page, my posts on various discussion boards (eBay Voices of the Community and PeSA to name a few) equate to being a blogger. And, this isn't to mention all the stuff I post on Facebook. Some days I feel like I write all day long - mostly cause I do.
But, after seeing Phil Leahy at the PeSA eCommerce Summit in Las Vegas last week, he showed me the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) value of a blog, and the fact that he had this nifty new template that I could plagerize to get started. It took me 5 days to recover from the trip (OK, there was a bachelor party at the end of a 4-day Vegas trip that helped), but I found myself awake at 2am on a Wednesday night (or early Thursday morning, if you like), and highly motivated to make this thing a reality.
Being a fan of everything Google, and seeing as Phil used the same platform, I finally plowed ahead and got it launched. The only way I could do it, however, was in the quiet of the night. I find that without the interruptions from a constantly filling inbox that I can't stop checking, lots of pings and chats via AIM, Facebook, and GoogleTalk, and without the phones interrupting me every 7 minutes, I can actually get quite a bit done in a short amount of time.
Not only that, but I can focus my attention for longer periods of time, which allows me to actually complete a task before I forget what I started. I tend to also get a bit deeper in thought, which has the benefit of adding to my creativity as well as my accuracy.
So, while staying up all night isn't something I can do every night, I find that in the proper dosage, it helps me catch up on many of the business and personal tasks that never seem to get crossed off the old to-do list. It may not be for everyone, but it works for me. And, our cats Wilson and Sunshine love me being up at those hours - we get lots of quality hang-out time. Plus, every now and then, the sky rewards me with a beautiful sunrise to confirm it was the right call.
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