Nancy's Biztalk posts

I need a RELIABLE web hosting service

Hi all,

I need a reasonably priced and reliable web hosting service (is that what it's called?)...you know, the company that has the server that hosts a website. I have an email account through my website (nancy@hop.....) and I had problems once before with my current server and I was not receiving emails. They claim they fixed the issue (disc space limits, I believe) but I heard from a client today who emailed something last week that I never received. I have one website (but it comes from two domain names...my newer domain name and old website addy) and only use one email account through that site. I need to be able to switch to this new host server and not lose emails in the transfer. Any suggestions for reliable companies and how to do this seamlessly so emails are not lost in the switch??

When I set up the current account with the current server a friend helped me with this and I pretty clueless when it comes to this sort of stuff. My current company came as a recommendation from that friend but seeing as their support is very minimal and everytime I actually get through by phone (long distance...doesn't even have an 800 #), I always get the same guy. I really think it's just his cell and the server is just in his basement. Seriously. I'd also like to transfer my domain names over to the new company, too. I don't want to give this chucklehead anymore of my $.

Thanks much.

Nancy

www.hoptosignaroo.com

I enjoyed meeting you, BUT....

Hi fellow Biznikians,

I have a request. You know I love meeting all of you at events...ok, MOST of you! ;0) And ya know that I want your business to succeed and having met you and likely started building a relationship with you, there's a very good chance I will hire you at some point if I need your services...or at the very least tell others about you. I have already done business with several Bizniks I've met over the last year and have made many, many referrals. But hey, a request....PLEASE do not add me to your mass email list without my permission. I think this is tres tacky and I suspect others feel the same way.

I can definitely see following up with an email after you've met someone and even putting in a plug for your business. That's just good business practice, follow through and relationship building. However, to be added to an ongoing email list without permission seems like poor business etiquette to me. This has happened to me at least a half a dozen times after meeting people at events and resulted in many unwanted newsletters and mass emails sent to my business account. Even when I choose to be part of any mass email list, I have a separate email account for that, knowing that if it's "clogged up" with spam or long emails or newsletters with graphics (i.e. large files), emails from clients won't get lost in the mix, b/c they are in my dedicated business only account.

I would not be offended if, upon meeting someone at an event, they asked if I would like to be added to their email list. Great...ask and I will say "yay" or "nay", but b/c I gave you my biz card does not automatically imply that I want to be on your list serve.

Finally, when people do send mass emails, PLEASE use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy). I am shocked at the amount of emails I've received from various businesses in which all recipients' emails were visible (and vulnerable) b/c the sender does not understand the concept of CC vs BCC.

Okay, there's my rant for the week. Have a nice day! ;0)

Nancy

www.hoptosignaroo.com

ghost in the machine

My profile is now showing assorted events that I attended last June through September 2007 in the Upcoming Events I'm Attending section of my profile. How do I get rid of those?

Biznik on PBS

I saw a commercial several times this weekend for a show on KCTS (The PBS Station) for the Show "About the Money" and this week's episode is about social networking sites. Looks like Biznik will be featured as they showed the Facebook home page and the Biznik homepage. Surprised that Dan and Lara have not posted this. It's this Tuesday from 7:30 to 8:00 on KCTS.

Nancy

Live Link Troubles

Hi all,

It's been a while since I posted and i am trying to post with a live link included in the text. At first I thought I forgot how to do this but I'm pretty sure it's done with the follwwing format w/parenthesis, etc...

(http://www.whatever.com)

That's not working. I emailed Dan directly and he sent a response that was a different format with "less than" and "greater than" (math-like) arrows before and after the web addy. that didn't work either. What am I missing here, or is there a ghost in the machine and I'm doing this correctly?? Thanks! Nancy

Late Fees

Hi all, I need some input. The majority of my work requires clients to pre-pay for my services. When I work with parents in their home I ask them to send a check within 7 days of confirming their class with me. I'm not taking credit cards yet and this has worked just fine. As an aside, when I gave clients 10 days to pay, I often had to call them and remind them as they couldn't seem to get the check in on time, but now that I tell them they have just 7 days to pay, this rarely happens. Funny, huh? With a shorter time span, they figure they'd better mail the check immediately.

Anyway...I am working more and more with state agencies which have accounting departments and hoops to jump through and pay after services have been provided. This is fine and I typically give them 30 days to get payment to me...the industry standard. However, I've had several instances recently in which it took nearly two months to get paid (school districts are the biggest offenders), so I now want to add a late fee clause to my contractual agreements with them. So my question is, what's the "industry standard" or what do you charge for late fees when payment is not received within 30 days. I'm looking for the percentage that most businesses considered equitable or "the standard". Thanks!

Nancy

(http://www.hoptosignaroo.com)

$5 Bargain Bonanza Snow Sale!!

Hi all,

Well the snow scared away a lot of customers from the Phinney Arts Festival this weekend and I have more stock left over from my little art biz than I wanted to. And because I love alliteration, I am having a $5.00 Bargain Bonanza Snow Sale! ;)

How can you pass up creative, hand-made gifts for just five bucks each?! The sprays and scrubs are ALL NATURAL and made with the finest ingredients and are attractively packaged. (Ping me for photos if you’d like.) My remaining stock is listed below and we can meet up for goody delivery!

MONSTER BE GONE! All natural calming bedtime spray to chase scary monsters away!! This lavender spray can be spritzed around the room and on bed linens to chase away scary monsters and ensure a restful night’s sleep!

ALL NATURAL LAVENDER SPRITZ – Made with calming lavender essential oil. Use when ironing, as an air or clothing freshener, as a bed linen spray or on your body as a light perfume.

PEPPERMINT FOOT SCRUB - Exfoliate, moisturize and invigorate tired tootsies with this all natural scrub made with French Grey Sea Salts.

CHEF'S HANDY LEMON SCRUB - Remove odors from your hands after cooking fish, garlic and onions with this all natural salt scrub made with French Grey Sea Salts. A great gift for the man or woman on your gift list who loves to cook!

LAVENDER BODY BUFF - Exfoliate and moisturize and with this calming, all natural scrub made with French Grey Sea Salts.

TERRA COTTA AND COPPER GARDEN MARKERS – Whimsical, hand-painted terra cotta and copper garden markers to spruce up your garden and mark your plants. Even if you have a black thumb, your garden will still be beautiful and the copper helps to repel slugs! Email me directly for a photo and list of the veggie markers I still have in stock.

print cartridge refills and printer help

Hi all,

Two great resources I have stumbled on recently....

(http://www.fixyourownprinter.com) Forums with solutions to problems with any and every printer!

Cartridge World here in Seattle. Super helpful, great deals to refill cartridges and trade in old ones for credit, always has coupons in the Val-Pak blue coupon mailer. Check them out at (http://www.cartridgeworldusa.com/store319/) Check local listings for other cities!

Nancy

(http://www.hoptosignaroo.com)

Phinney Neighborhood Assoc.'s Winter Festival

Hi all,

In addition to my Hop to Signaroo biz, I have run a small art biz for the last seven years. I teach art classes (although that's rare now as my main biz keeps me so busy) and have made and sold a wide variety of handmade items.

For the last 5 or 6 years, I have been participating in the Phinney Center's Winter Festival. This is hands down THE BEST arts and crafts sale in Seattle...better than Best of the Northwest and all the others! It's a fund raiser for the Phinney Center and features the varied works of amazing Northwest Artisans and even fun entertainment. You can literally do all your holiday shopping at this center and find something for everyone on your gift list with gorgeous and unique items from under $10 to several hundred dollars. Don't let the name "craft fair" fool you...there isn't a crocheted doily in sight! Everything sold here is hip and very well made for this juried sale. The sale is December 1st and 2nd from 10 to 5 each day.

I will be at the fair again this year selling four items from my all natural spa products line. They are:

LAVENDER SPRITZ - All natural spray with a calming, subtle lavender scent. Use when ironing, as a linen spray, as an odor removing freshener or even on your body.

PEPPERMINT FOOT SCRUB - Exfoliate, moisturize and invigorate tired tootsies with this all natural scrub made with French Grey Sea Salts.

LAVENDER BODY BUFF - Exfoliate and moisturize and with this calming, all natural scrub made with French Grey Sea Salts.

CHEF'S HANDY LEMON SCRUB - Remove odors from your hands after cooking fish, garlic and onions with this all natural scrub made with French Grey Sea Salts.

I hope you'll visit the Phinney Winter Festival. I will be in room 7, which is on the second floor of the main, brick building. Please come introduce yourself, as all Bizniks will receive 10% off of their purchase of my products! I will be in room 7, which is on the second floor of the brick building, just to the left of the entertainment stage. Details on the fair are at

(http://www.phinneycenter.org/events/wf.shtml)

Can't make it to the fair but are interested in these great gift giving ideas? Email me and we can arrange to meet up!

Nancy

(http://www.hoptosignaroo.com)

Overlapping events

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well and their businesses have been booming as mine have lately. We must all be doing something right as I see that many of the BizTalk regulars aren't posting as much as usual (hopefully, b/c they are too busy!) and the Biznik friends I have connected with lately have been prospering….great news for all of us.

I posting b/c I'm a little disappointed to see that there are four events being hosted at the same time tomorrow (plus an afternoon event). I'm looking forward to the Happy Hour that Michael is hosting at the Columbia Tower but there are three other events at the same time tomorrow and people I would love to connect with people at each event. When proposing an event, it would be great if we could all be more aware of checking to see what's already on the schedule for that day. Also, Dan and Lara, when people propose an event could you encourage organizers to choose another date if other events are already being hosted at that same time or are pending approval to be hosted for that same date and time? When it comes to members at an event...the more the merrier, so I'm saddened to see a handful of people at four events vs all of us at one event for the same evening.

Also, anyone thinking about organizing an "Anti-Office Holiday Party"?? We indies don't get the perk of a holiday office party and it would be great if Dan and Lara planned something (hint, hint) or someone else did if they aren't planning to. I would, but my plate is too full these days!

Nancy

(http://www.hoptosignaroo.com)

Ain't love grand?

I’ve come to the realization lately that running your own business is a lot like being in a committed relationship with a significant other or even being a parent (although I have to just imagine that analogy, as I’m not a parent). Sometimes you’re madly in love but other times, the business (much like a child or partner) is just not acting the way you’d like. Sometimes, the business leaves it dirty socks on the floor for the 50th bleepin’ time or is acting just plain bratty and petulant. Sometimes the business takes everything you have and leaves you feeling down right unappreciated. Sometimes the business seems to have changed into something you never expected and something you just don’t recognize anymore.

Then other times, the business surprises you with a big, fat, juicy, sentimental kiss that you didn’t see coming and gives you the warm fuzzies in a way you never imagined possible. Like love with a partner or child, you get to experience it all…the good, the bad, and the ugly…because this is what you signed up for. And what makes you stick it out? Being flat out in love. That’s why most businesses don’t succeed. It’s about love as a verb, not a noun. It’s about letting go of the entrepreneurial fairy tale and sticking with your commitment through richer and poorer, through the sickness of working 24/7 and the health of being #1 in your field. Two weeks ago, I celebrated the seven year anniversary of my business and I’m more in love than ever…no seven year itch in sight here. What about you?

Donations and Auctioneer Needed for a Benefit

Hi all,

I know you're tired of seeing my face on the Coffee Break thread but hope you'll read this, as it's for a great cause. A friend of mine is battling cancer and is a indie business owner (a photographer), so her health insurance is very limited and many of us know how that goes! Her friends and family are holding a benefit/silent auction for her on Sunday, December 2nd from 5 to 8 p.m. at Pasta Freska to raise funds for her medical bills. They need a volunteer auctioneer (you will be well fed for your help!) and donations for the auction (local services and tangible items). What's in for you? Exposure for your biz and great karma, baby! If you'd like to help out, pls email organizer Karla Oman at kjoman@writeme.com

XOXO! Thank you!
Nancy

Seattle's Best Halloween Party

Hi all,

Wanted to clue you in to Seattle's best Halloween party. I've attended for the last 4 years and it's always a blast and I've never seen such amazing costumes as I see every year at this party! The band they've booked, Cool Ade, is great fun and has played this bash for the last two or three years. Early bird tickets are on sale now. I have a lot of friends who attend this every year and it would be great to see some Biznik buddies there, too! ;0)
(http://www.halloweenseattle.com/details.php)

Nancy

(http://www.hoptosignaroo.com)

Anyone have any scrap wood from a building project?

Hi all,

I'm looking for some scrap wood...just one piece about 3 feet by 3 feet or slightly larger. It doesn't need to be in great shape. It does need to be thick enough to hammer large nails into it, as I will be using this as a template for an art piece. Fiberboard or plywood would be fine. I've been perusing Craig's List and that hasn't been fruitful and the lumber stores only sell huge pieces, so I was hoping a Biznik might have something suitable from a remodeling project or such. Pls ping me if you have anything along these lines. Thanks!

Nancy

(http://www.hoptosignaroo.com)

Biznik Birthday Babes!

Ok....a little self-serving I know, but tomorrow is my birthday...but what's even groovier is that two other brilliant and beautiful Biznik Babes share the same birthday...Allison Nelson and Rebecca Kraus! Any other Bizniks celebrating tomorrow?? :0)

Nancy

(http://www.hoptosignaroo.com)

Attention mommies and retailers of products for babies and kids

A graduate of my classes and Seattle Mompreneur has a great website which is a "mini Ebay" for new and used baby and kid-related items. It's called Mommy Auctions (http://www.mommyauctions.com/index.php)

I just posted my Roo-minder Ring American Sign Language Reminder Cards for sale on the site. Biznik Moms and Bikniks retailing baby and kid-related items should check it out...pretty groovy!

Nancy (http://www.hoptosigaroo.com)

Book Club

Hi all,

Just wanted to give you a heads up on a Biznik event I'm hosting in a few weeks. Because there is some "homework" before the event (i.e. reading the book), and people may not be scrolling all the way through the events page yet for end of the month events, I thought I'd draw attention to it here. Would love to have more people join us to discuss "Made to Stick" by Chip and Dan Heath. Pls check out the details on the events page and hope to see you there! Nancy

Back button goes to far back

Is it just me?? If I hit the back button from any place on the site it takes me too far back. For example if I type in "photographer" from the members page, I get results of several photographers. If I click on one to view her profile and then click the back button I am taken back to the general members page again and have to search on photographers again. I can't just get back to the page of all the photographers who popped up. Same happens on the events page. If I look at the profile of a person attending an event and then hit the back button I am back to the top of the general event page and no longer in the page of the specific event that person is attending, which is how I found their profile. Make sense? This is getting annoying as it requires A LOT of seraching and researching and fo me it's happening on every function of the site. Dan, can you weigh in here???

Evil Paypal

I hate Paypal...and I'm likely not alone. I spent three hours of the last two days trying to rectify a situation with my Paypal Merchant Account via phone and email before I finally got a straight answer and found out that they've changed their policy and did not feel the need to notify their merchant clients about this change. (This included 40 minutes on hold at one point...argh!!!!)

I recently added two new retail items to the shopping page of my website. The only CC processing I have is via Paypal with online shopping and a limited amount of phone-in's or virtual log-ins to manually add a CC sale. This has served me so far, as clients pay me by check or cash because of the nature of my class registration process. Well, we add in the new Paypal button codes for my new online retail items and suddenly the shipping rates are no longer visible as soon as you add something to your shopping cart from my site. Shipping charges used to be visible immediately. Seems Paypal has changed the code recently and shipping rates are now a mystery to customers until after they have entered all their contact info and a CC#. I don't think that's okay. As a consumer, I have left sites that did not have shipping charges visible as each item is added to the cart. I want to know my complete total with shipping before I enter a CC # and personal info and feels this info is only fair for my customers, as well.

Time to dump the evil Paypal. I called a fellow Biznik who is an Electronic Processing Consultant but would love some recommendations from the rest of you. I will not be having a large volume of online sales until I establish more of a web presence for sign language materials. My clients, by and large, have been agreeable to paying with checks and cash for classes and products sold in my classes, so I don't see that taking CC is suddenly going to bring in tons more revenue for me, so I need to keep my CC processing costs down. Any suggestions? What are other people using who don't do a lot of CC processing? I need it for my (small) online store and a virtual option so I can log or call in with a CC # when a customer wants to use a CC for a class or products purchased in class.

Thanks!

Any interest in a workshop such as this?....

Hi all,

I was wondering if there would be any interest in a workshop on the topic of interacting with clients who are deaf and/or clients with various disabilities. As many of you know, I teach sign language for a living and spent the first part of my (non-indie) career working with deaf kids and adults and have worked with people with a variety of disabilities.

I would love to share my knowledge and passion about these populations with fellow Bizniks who have questions about how to use an interpreter, the etiquette of interacting with clients with special needs, etc. etc. Is there interest in this and how would a session work best for your needs? Would you want an informal Q and A session (maybe some of you are working with such clients now) where you can come and ask questions about how to handle specific business situations with these populations. Or would you like some guidelines of what to expect and how to interact with a deaf client? Don't know how many of you interact with this population but I always meet people who are confused by the role of an interpreter or have assumptions about this population or are afraid to ask questions about business dealing with folks with disabilities or still have common misconceptions.

Therefore, I'd love to share my knowledge in a workshop if there is interest and if fellow Bizniks can identify areas they would like to discuss and learn about. I am not the "end all/be all" expert in this area, but after many years working with kids and adults with various disabilities, I would love to share my insight if the topic would be helpful to you. Pls post your thoughts. Thanks! Nancy