Well, at least as normal as things get around here anyhow. I have my computer set up probably 95% the way it was before the crash, and I’m able to work just about normally again. Few issues I still need to take care of, but I’m going to work on them according to how they fit in with my daily and weekly goals, rather than stop all work while trying to get them taken care of.

That may sound foolish, but in reality it’s quite practical. Much of what is left is how I submit to directories. The best way to set the system back up is to submit my websites to appropriate directories… therefore I can delay until my usual directory submission date.

Once I get things running smoothly, I really do mean to get the newsletter for this site up and running. That’s been on the list under “ASAP” for more than a year now. It was first delayed by my son being premature then having to have surgery at three months of age. Then it was adjusting to caring for two kids, then a variety of other problems, of which the computer crash was merely the latest.

Ah, the delights of running a home business.

But I really do think it is time now to get that one going. I have a pretty good notion how I want to run it; after all, I’ve been thinking it over for a rather long time! This will be the second site I’ve run with a newsletter, so getting two newsletters out a week should be interesting. I still need to get the autoresponder set up - that was one of the problems!

I’m writing this on my OLD computer. The new one that we got just before Christmas has some problem or other and won’t boot up all the way. No idea yet what the problem is, which is pretty frustrating because when I dropped the computer off at Fry’s on Friday, the guy said there was a chance it would be done that day. Here it is, Sunday night, and I’m still waiting. I finally went there to ask how things were going since they weren’t returning my calls, and the guy just said it was still waiting. He wouldn’t give me an estimate.

Now, this has me very, very disappointed in Fry’s Electronics service. I have a service contract, and if the repair is likely to take more than 24 hours, they are supposed to offer a loaner computer. Considering that things have gone significantly over that, I think it would have been nice of them to make that offer.

The initial hope had been that it was a bad hard drive problem, which the part of the diagnosis performed while I was there when I dropped it off was becoming more and more unlikely, so the next step would be to try reinstalling the system… which is where the importance of backing up data comes in. Almost everything I have was already on both computers, however, so while I’m wincing thinking of small things that will be lost, like my current to-do list, there really isn’t anything on there I can’t recreate with reasonable ease or that I wasn’t likely to get around to.

But not knowing whether or not things will be lost is driving me utterly up the wall! Giving me the hope that the computer might be fixed in a few hours really wasn’t a good choice on the employee’s part. If I knew that it would take a few days I would be much less anxious about this whole thing, and I really think the guy had to know that there were many machines in line before it that would have to be repaired first.

This is really a pity, because in the past I have liked Fry’s service. My older sister got her computer from them, and when she had a problem it was fixed quite promptly. I should know; I took it in for her.

One of the things I put into my weekly schedule was submitting my sites to free online directories. I’ve been doing a fair job of keeping up with it, I think.

One thing that amazes me, however, is how quickly some sites go from having a free option to being paid submissions only. Every time there are a few ones that have made the switch. I’m not complaining; keeping up with submissions can be a lot of work! But then I also don’t mind if it takes a long time for them to get to my free submissions.

I pretty much have a submit and forget policy on my free submissions. If I were paying, then I would care a great deal about it, but for freebies I’m not going to keep checking back to see what happened. I got into that habit with DMOZ, where resubmitting at best puts you back at the end of the review queue.

If you want to know my list of free directories, here’s the resource: Vilesilencer. He has the best list of free directories that I know of, and he maintains it. Beyond that, I strongly recommend using software that helps fill out the forms for you but still lets you handle some things manually. You don’t want to get labeled a spammer. If it fills out everything but you have to choose the category, you’re probably in good shape.

I use an old version of Ezine Announcer. The software has changed a lot in the past couple years, so I don’t know if you can still easily add directories so that you can quickly add your website to them. I just picked a category I won’t even be trying to make a site, never mind an ezine in, deleted the sites there and added in the regular website directories. After all, there is very little difference between submitting your ezine and submitting your website; much of the information required is the same.

It still takes a while to get through Vilesilencer’s entire list, but we’re talking a couple hours, not days, once you have all the sites added and have autoforms for them all. That part takes some time, but it’s worth it.

I’m in the process of building a bunch of new websites, and I’m trying something very different… for me, at least. I’m still focusing primarily on content with most of them, but the content is more focused on selling whatever the particular product is. I’m also not using AdSense on these sites.

This is pretty much a quick test of my skills. I feel confident that I can make these work, and it’s something I really need to get better at. AdSense pays some very good money, but I don’t want all my eggs in one basket. Besides, if people are earning enough to run those ads, I ought to be able to build a site that can earn from those same topics, except paying directly to me. If I can figure this stuff out, I believe it will prove to be far more profitable.

Now, don’t think I’m giving up on AdSense. Not at all. Once again, I refuse to have all my eggs in one basket, and that doesn’t mean quitting the use of something so profitable where it is appropriate. I am merely building a set of sites where AdSense is far from the focus. If things don’t work out well enough with these sites, adding AdSense is not that difficult.

I’ve always been curious about whether designing with both affiliate programs and AdSense was the right idea on my other sites. This experiment will help me to find out.

In a lot of ways, this feels very contrary to what a lot of people are doing. How often do you hear right now about easy ways to make AdSense sites? Isn’t that what a lot of the private label article sites promise you? I’ve seen a lot of people selling “AdSense sites” too. I hope that going against that trend will prove to be quite profitable.

I’ve changed my schedule around again. Instead of just having weekly goals, I’ve changed to a daily system. I’ve categorized things by the day I intend to work on them, and what priority they are. Some things absolutely must be done on the assigned day, such as newsletters. Other things will only get done if I have the time.

I figure I will be modifying this over time, as I see what works best for me. Some of what I did is to group my related sites onto the same day. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not yet. On the one hand, it may help develop content on related topics; an article for one site may inspire an article for another. On the other hand, if there’s writer’s block on the topic it might make things harder. We’ll just have to see if this is the right way to do things or if I will be happier doing things a different way.

I’ve also decided to give Google Pack a try. I waited this long because I wanted the free subscription to Norton Antivirus I got free with my new computer to expire so that I could make the most of the free six month subscription that comes with Google Pack. Seems like a good deal to me. Then, in six months I’ll actually have to decide which antivirus I want to buy. We use PC-cilin on the other computer, but it’s update function is rather annoying because it switches the entire screen to a DOS prompt for a few moments or even a few minutes as it updates. Very annoying when you’re in the middle of something. Other than that it does a great job, though.

I’ve done everything but the actual filing. We owe a bit, so I see no point in doing the actual filing and payment until I have to. Just doesn’t make any sense. Still, since this was my first year having to pay estimated taxes, I’m pleased that I didn’t do too badly at it. I have a bit of a better feel for it now, although I refuse to be very precise with my estimates. Considering how my income tends to vary, if I need to get more precise, I’m hiring an accountant!

We considered that option this year anyhow. My business makes things just complicated enough that it would probably be worth it. My father-in-law’s a retired banker, though, so it’s kind of hard to tell him that we’re going to pay someone else. Then again, he isn’t always 100% sure of the answer. He’s the kind of guy, though, that does his taxes on the computer because it’s so much faster that way, then checks the computer’s results by hand.

Yes, really.