Join Us | Cospace – A coworking community in North Austin

Keymaster ($300/month)
# Unlimited coworking 24/7 with keyed access to Cospace
# Access to a dedicated desk and private storage space
# Use of Cospace mailing address
# 1 free guest coworker pass per month
# Priority access to conference room

Found this via Geek Austin,

– North Austin’s first coworking space.
Cospace ( http://www.cospaceatx.com ) has just opened its doors.
To help them launch in style, GeekAustin will be hosting an open house on Monday, February 22, 6PM-10PM. For more details, visit the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=491446070105

Watching Chris Pirillo right now. You could say this is a motivational video. He says there are plenty of opportunities out there and he recommends blogging. I agree with him there.

I found this video interesting because you get a view of his office workspace. And the video has over 400,000 views. That tells you people found it interesting for whatever reason. What is that reason? His eye-catching dual-display setup? The crazy blinking lights in the background? Is it simply the quality of the content?

OK, 400k views isn’t *that* impressive, but it would take me 40 days to get that much traffic to my blogs. I have not spent much time playing with YouTube yet, but I’m going to assume he gets a fair amount of traffic to his website(s) from his YouTube videos.

What percentage of viewers actually hit his site after watching his YouTube videos? Is there really a way to measure that? I don’t think so, because that is “type in” traffic, which means no URL-referral data. In other words: no way to track it.

Also I’m wondering how he’s promoting his videos, if he’s promoting them at all outside of YouTube.

I unfollowed Chris (on Twitter) a while back because I found his comments a little too random–not very useful. Regardless, I’m on his site now and it looks like he’s using Ustream to live-broadcast himself working in his office. Takes a while for his site to load, probably from all the java code required to run the video streamer and chat app. This slow-loading could impact his ad revenue, increase bounce rate, etc. But it’s also possible this engages people in good way, enough to offset any loss in revenue.

I signed up for Google Affiliate Network a while ago. In short, I expected more from Google. I think they need to hire someone with more experience running an affiliate program. Most of the ads read like they belong on a coupon insert, about as interesting as the pet droppings they collect.

My biggest complaint: nearly all of the affiliate links (as far as I can tell) have an expiration date! Why on Earth would anyone post an affiliate link that expires? Everyone knows that affiliate marketers live and die by: build it, submit it, forget it. Residual income is the entire reason we build websites, it’s how we survive.

If I wanted flash-in-the-pan payments I would be better off working by the hour. Affiliate marketers don’t get a pension or a salary, all we have is our sites. You expire our affiliate links and you expire our business! I’m insulted Google is this inconsiderate to affiliates to allow affiliate links to expire like this.

For example, I wrote up a few posts about Cricket and I even signed up for a phone plan to see if the tracking really worked. A week or two later I get notice from Google that the links are expired! What?! You mean I worked all those hours for nothing? I’m thinking, maybe this is some kind of mistake? But the more I look at Google Affiliate Network, the more it seems this is Google’s strategy. You go into their “links” area and *most* of their affiliate links do *not* fall under the “ongoing” category. Even the word “ongoing” makes me nervous, how long is ongoing?

So who would waste time, money and energy to build websites and content for links that expire? Maybe email marketers are OK with Google Affiliate Network expiring links because emails have a shorter lifespan? I doubt it. Why spend time building email content that you’ll never use again? Content that you could also host on the web for years and years?

Am I missing something or is Google Affiliate Network really worthless?

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE: A Tale of Two Buildings : Austin’s Business District Magazine

Moreover, while its role as a major expense is considerable, a firm’s space plays a very important part in enhancing productivity and morale. It can be a positive influence on behavior, a tool to improve customer service to customers and an influence on business cultures. Thus, the value is both financial and productivity driven.

Maybe for the business owner, once you’re at the office. But what about all those hours lost in traffic? Stop lights, speed limits, road construction, traffic jams. Filling up your tank, extra car maintenance, wear and tear on your car. Wear and tear on your body, hours sitting in your car, hours you could have spent working. Shopping for clothes for work, ironing them. Packing lunch. Add it all up. Many days, many dollars you would not have spent if you worked most days at home.

Knowing this, does it boost your morale? My own toilet seat boosts my morale. My leftovers in the fridge (I love to cook.) boost my morale.

I believe the Internet will feed the most people, globally, going forward. If your culture can’t embrace the Internet, you will pay the price. The Internet is a great equalizer and accelerates the effects of globalization, good and bad.

Why are downtown storefronts empty? Could it be the Internet? Why pay rent and insurance and deal with drifters, thugs, pimps, drug dealers, lawsuits, parking and the rising cost of gas, when you have the entire world at your doorstep online?

Business Organization

I aim to maximize my capabilities online, to push what one person can accomplish as an individual interacting with other people online, within the organization that is the Internet. So I am a sole proprietor from a tax standpoint, but not working alone. I work with other people and organizations very efficiently, electronically, benefiting from web standards and APIs (Application Program Interfaces) and the English language, among other things.

The LLC was created to improve upon the corporation–so we should have new forms in the near future to take advantage of basic technological advances. It is absurd that our government doesn’t have an integrated software application to do such trivial things like: start a business, pay taxes, sell stock, transfer ownership, etc.

If I sell a product, my shopping cart system should know how to communicate that information automatically to my state government, and the sales tax should be calculated and paid automatically. In other words: no pointless repetitive calculations, no late fees, no fudging numbers, no wasted time, no guesswork! This would greatly accelerate our economy and you would see millions of new businesses created practically overnight. Business renaissance.

I saw this on LinkedIn today:

Work Space – Color Inspiration

I’m working on creating an inspiring work place (and live space) so that each day is kicked off with new ideas. In my opinion, paint on the walls is such a key element to making a space “more personalized”.

Is gray a depressing color for a freelancer office? For artists, gray is the ultimate complimentary color. Gray also diminishes value contrasts, which might help you focus on your work longer. I remember hearing about an IBM study that found gray interfaces cause less fatigue. Is it true? More discussion on color and eye-fatigue here.

Please RT the poll, thanks!

“RT @freelanceoffice If your office has windows, do you use electric lights during the day? – http://twtpoll.com/r/ybjt2s”

If you would be so kind, RT the poll too, thanks!

“RT @freelanceoffice If you lose your job, will you go freelance? – http://twtpoll.com/yn6n93″

My last poll needs more votes too: Do you rent/lease an office for freelance work?

Bored Working From Home | Freelancing and Outsourcing Tips, Commentary, Analysis, and News from oDesk

Try facing a window while you work, or paint the wall by your desk your favorite color

]]> http://freelanceroffice.com/facing-a-window/feed/ 0 http://freelanceroffice.com/moving-out/ http://freelanceroffice.com/moving-out/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:27:02 +0000 admin http://freelanceroffice.com/moving-out/ Good example of why I registered this domain:

Office Space: Why I Rented a Place to Write * Get Rich Slowly

I

]]> http://freelanceroffice.com/moving-out/feed/ 1