Had to run out to Starbucks real quick before they closed!

While I don’t consider my blog to be of great literary value, there are a lot of blogs out there that are creating some truly valuable content.  Blogging is like the modern-day newspaper column, except you have no censorship and you get a live, active community of readers that become involved with all your writing.  Blogging creates a unique creative outlet, and in my opinion can be used educationally if you do it right.

That said, there are many technical aspects that determine whether anyone actually gets involved with a blog.  Things like Search Engine Optimization fall into this category, but right now I’m thinking about the stickiness of a blog.  How likely are you to stick around and read that blog?  We’re superficial creatures.  Looks count.

If you want to do it up right, the best way to go is to get a custom design.  However, some people can’t justify the expense of something customized.  Today it was announced that free WordPress themes will now be available on WordPress’s actual website!  Take a look at the WordPress Theme Directory and pick out a shiny new suit to wear!

I’ve been doing a bit of research into being a virtual assistant. According to Wikipedia:

A Virtual Assistant (or simply VA), is an independent contractor providing administrative, technical, or sometimes creative assistance to clients–usually to other independent entrepreneurs and solo and small business practices, such as that of a lawyer or realtor. Virtual assistants work from their own office (hence “virtual”), thus making it a fairly popular (and growing) profession. It is estimated that there are about 5,000-8,000 virtual assistants worldwide. Common modes of communication and data delivery include the Internet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and fax machine. Although the occupation gives a degree of independence, work is on a contractual basis, and a long-lasting cooperation is standard. Typically 5 years of administrative experience in an office is expected at such positions as executive assistant, secretary, legal assistant, paralegal, legal secretary, real estate assistant, office manager, etc.

This is basically the work that I do at E. Webscapes. Even though I’m technically the Assistant Project Manager, when Lisa first started looking for someone she referred to them as a virtual assistant. In all honesty, I’d never even heard of a virtual assistant until I read Lisa’s post. I thought that it seemed like something I’d be good at and a great way to earn a little extra money.

However, I have LOVED working at E. Webscapes, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe I should look at this whole virtual assistant thing a little more seriously. There’s an intensive training course offered by AssistU - basically it’s a semester long certification. If I were to do this seriously, I would apply to AssistU. But I still don’t know if that’s what I want to do. Don’t really have any resolution on this, it’s just been on my mind, so I thought I’d post it. Thoughts?

Wow, it really has been a while since I did a WFMW! I thought I’d jump back in with this week’s theme - the “Brand Loyal Edition.” We’re supposed to post about what brands/products we can’t live without. So, here are a few of my favorites!

Starbucks - there’s a reason I love my job. Not only do they make quality products, but they are becoming more socially responsible and they are an AWESOME company to work for (that is not marketing hype - all the rumors you hear about them being a great employer are true).

E. Webscapes - there’s a reason I love my other job too, LOL! I was a very loyal customer for E. Webscapes before I joined them this past spring, and now that I get to work for them every day I see just how much hard work and personal care goes into each design project. Most definitely worth the money!!!

WordPress - it is so freakin’ versatile! If you haven’t experimented with WordPress as a blogging platform (or just a site management too) I SERIOUSLY recommend that you do so. I’ve tried many different platforms, and WP by far outshines them all. You can do so many things with it, and it is super crazy user-friendly. I have 2 blogs run on it, plus I’ve set up blogs for 4 or 5 friends on WP as well. And they are people who don’t know HTML from PHP from voodoo . . . and they love using WP.

Bookcrossing - this site has revolutionized the way that I think about books. I was always taught to hold on to your books since they are such a precious item. I still have great respect from books, and if a book holds special meaning for me or if I REALLY enjoyed it, I will still hold onto it. However, I’ve also learned the joy of sharing books. It’s so awesome to read journal entries as your books travel around and are enjoyed by countless others. And, if that’s not enough incentive, think about how many trees you could save by not printing new books!

Amazon.com - speaking of books, LOL! Amazon is almost ALWAYS my first stop when I’m buying something new. The prices are almost always the cheapest (plus, within 30 days if the price changes you can get back the money you would have saved by using Price Protectr), the reviews are EXTREMELY helpful, and if you join Amazon Prime you get EVERYTHING with free 2 day shipping (yes, there is an upfront fee, but I’ve found that I save way more than that by not paying for shipping or having to bump my order up to $25 for free shipping, and there is the benefit of not waiting a week). I even applied for the Amazon.com credit card, and I use that as my primary card. I get 1 point for every dollar I spend, and once I get to 2,500 points, I get a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com! Since I keep track of my spending like a debit card, it’s not rare for me to see one of these almost every month. AWESOME. Books? Check! DVDs? Check! Canvas grocery bags? Check! New external hard drive? Check! All things I’ve bought (for less) on Amazon.com!

Finding awesome brands that I trust and have proven themselves to me time and again? Works for me!

As you know, I am a HUGE fan of E. Webscapes. They’ve done four blog designs for this site, and they also designed Reading Red Letters, my faith blog! As a result, I try to keep up with what they’re doing.

Yesterday, I saw an awesome design come through on their RSS feed. It’s for a cool new site called New Music Nation, and the design is so seamless that if you didn’t know better, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that it’s a WP design! So go take a look - content’s not bad either ;-)!