I am considering getting a portable lighting tent kit, since at the very least my first (hopeful) job may include setting things up for e-commerce, and taking photos in a controlled condition will help considerably.

I’m trying to decide if I need to make an S-Corp or LLC filing. The business license is currently a sole proprietorship, and I don’t know enough to decide about making the changes. There’s some small business starting things going on in Seattle, so I may attend those to figure out what’s best.

I think, though, that I’m starting to get my brain around some of the ideas for this. However, the one I’m least-aware of is how to get more clients. I just lack the knowledge, I guess, but again, the small business startup seminars should help with that.

It’s just strange to think that… this is actually happening.

I admit to being somewhat less than informed about Ignite-style presentations. Basically, a presenter gets 5 minutes to present, slideshows automatically update so they need to keep up, things like that.

There were three, and I’ll link them as I can.

First was Sheila Hoffman, who talked about WordPress plugins. She posted all of the information at a page on the Hoffman Graphics website (her business).

There were also presentations by Larry Swanson on Workplace Fitness, and Grant Landram, called “How to be a better WordPresser: Tips & Tricks for users & dev/signers”. (As I’m a user, moving to dev/signer, this was one I was mightily interested in. Sheila’s was also very helpful, and interesting, for me.)

The chat after the break, where I sat in on the plugins discussion that Sheila and Bob Dunn moderated.

I’ll try to keep up with what went on at these, even as I know other people do, because the more word gets out, the more people show at the meetups and the more interesting discussion goes on.

I’ve been trying to put together in my head what my new business idea is going to do. I know I can do WordPress setup and design; I can use Photoshop; I can write (as a technical writer and as a fiction writer); I’m working on programming again (JavaScript/Ajax, PHP and Python). Ten years of work for my previous employer gave me a number of skills, some useful and some not so (due to in-house-developed, non-portable programs to do what some companies do manually). I can take photographs fairly well, but not professionally so.

But what does all that do for me? What do I do with all that?

And I have an idea. I just don’t know quite how to phrase it. Online concierge? Digital Doorman? Technical Assistant? It’s not quite coming together.

The idea, as my business presentation showed, was offering myself to small business who have no online presence and helping them build one. Social networking, building a web page, getting themselves set up. Make some money from that, and maybe some followup work to keep them up to date (for, uh, a fee, of course).

I need a job title. That’s the thing that’s getting me right now.

A few months ago I put some JavaScript in so I could track when my resume was clicked. I botched it badly and did not even notice it.

But now I did! And I fixed it.

Also: trying to get back on the ol’ horse again, get things going. May do some rearranging, so if you see some old 1990s web-style under-construction signs… that means I’ve lost my mind.

I grabbed my ticket last night to WordCamp Seattle yesterday. It’s going to be fun and interesting, and I’m looking forwards to it.

If you’re in Seattle and into WordPress, you should grab it soon – there’s only 300 total, and I think I’m still in the top ten.

You can check it out at http://www.wordcampseattle.org/ – see the schedule, the speakers, and the plans.

I’m starting to put together a version 2 – or maybe just a 1.1 – version of the Twitter Tools setup walkthrough. My goal to add in this one is a simple set of locations to paste things into, so you can grab your OAuth information, paste it in, then when you go back to the Twitter Tools setup, you can paste it over quickly.

It’s more of an ease-of-use for the setup than any changes, because I think it’s a solid piece of work.

When that happens, I’ll probably change the previous post to point to the new one, so that it’s obvious that it’s been updated.

I haven’t been around for a bit, I know. I had things to take care of. Taxes, bills, and the Emerald City Comic Con. (Which was great. I met some really excellent people there, and got some things that I really enjoyed.)

Starting to get some ideas together, work on some plans, see about finding more things to talk about. I’ve been kind of quiet lately, but with spring coming, I’m hoping that I start to take off and do things.

things are still moving around here. I’m working on a new header image, because I want something a bit better than I have already. It should be just as simple, just enough to make things interesting.

Keep watching – I plan to keep going.

Are you in the Seattle area?

Then you should go to WordCamp Seattle.

I also suggest you sign up at the WordPress Seattle site and with the the Seattle WordPress Meetup.com site.

Because the more people involved the better it gets.

It’s January 17 and I haven’t posted since before Christmas. It was a busy time – I am in Seattle now, but my family is on the East Coast, so I went back there for a couple of weeks, seeing family and friends, catching up on things, and doing the whole visiting-family thing you do when you live on the opposite coast.

In other news, my development machine – my older MacBook Pro – is currently running on its MAMP install the WordPress 3.1 beta, which I am poking at to find holes. I’m also working on some stuff with theme design, learning that, which involves learning PHP.

I’m also working on a new header graphic for the page, but my art skills, well, don’t really exist, so this is becoming interestingly difficult.

In short: visit back East, now working on more skill enhancements, some of them coming from farther behind that others.

Hope things are good for you! Have a good day.

I’m going to try to write here more often, so that I can keep myself going with my writing.

Hope all is well.