The downside to following a whole bunch of news outlets on Twitter is that I’m now constantly barraged with: news. And, of course, most of it is bad. Instead of the urban murder du jour, however, the current economy is the leading topic of every newscast. I suppose we should be grateful for the break, yo?

But actually, the constant barrage of statistics and the media’s analysis thereof hits a lot closer to home than anything they could yank off the police blotter. Today’s labor report indicated 533,000 people lost their jobs in November alone. And 1.2 million for the year. Everyone I know knows someone who has lost their job. I’ll bet you do, too

First, some perspective: Dawn Rivers Baker, aka The Journal Blogger and editor and publisher of the The MicroEnterprise Journal points out in today’s post that though unemployment has reached 6.7% (the highest in 15 years) that the labor force participation rate in the United States is still 65.8%. Meaning close to two-thirds of the nation’s able-bodied workers are still working. Meaning: Most people still have a job.

My point is (get ready for a shock) the media (for myriad reasons) often don’t tell the entire story. To keep from getting completely depressed and immobilized by their gloom and doom prognostications (designed to attract viewers and boost ratings) requires equally drastic measures. Here are three recommendations:

1. If you meditate, increase your practice. If you don’t meditate, this is a great time to start. At the heart of meditation is the mastery of thoughts. The more you increase your ability to choose what thoughts you think, and ultimately arrive at the place where you can think no thoughts at all — also known as being at peace — the better you will feel. If you’re in Chicago, which most of you are, the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Logan Square is a wonderful place, and has a whole meditation program. And it smells good, too.

2. If you exercise, exercise more. If you don’t exercise, start. Even 10-15 minutes of exercise bathes the brain in powerful chemicals that facilitate clearer thinking and an increased sense of well-being. For a great audiobook on the brain and how it works check out BrainRules by John Medina.

3. Limit your exposure to bad news, as much as possible. All over Twitter today was this link about how happiness is contagious. Well, the converse also is true. If you must constantly watch the news, be sure you take the above (or other) prophylactic measures to keep yourself from coming down with the “Bad News Flu.”

And bear in mind, everything is cyclical, even this “reset.” Actually, this is the time to revel in the fact that, as solopreneurs, we can never lose our jobs. Think bigger not smaller. Approach some bigger accounts. Everyone is looking for ways to save money right now and what might be chump change to a bigger firm might just pay the bills for a year for you and I. How about that for positive thinking, huh?

Good luck, stay calm (and warm), and remember to breathe.

Om.

Our July meeting focused on web sites we love: sites that help us meet the right people, sites that help us communicate our messages, sites that help us build a client base…we talked about so much! Here’s a recap of the sites mentioned and some general notes. If I missed something, please add it in the comments below.

Facebook: Some members use this for both personal and professional networking.

LinkedIn: One of our member favorites, a great tool for professional networking.

MySpace: A few of us are still using it, mostly because we have a history with it or readers or followers who still use it.

Twitter: Some of us are devotees, others are poo-poo-ing the tool. But it’s fun and useful for keeping track of friends or promoting yourself.

Plaxo: A few of us have been invited, but most have turned it down. General feeling: another social networking site? How many must we keep track of?

Naymz: See Plaxo. This site looks like it’s trying to be more like LinkedIn than Facebook.

Biznik: We do love its slogan, Business Networking that Doesn’t Suck, but wonder how it fits in the bigger picture. Some are using it to promote ebooks and webinats, and membership is free.

Meetup: A cool way to gather groups of people and organize events. Many of our members belong to at least one Meetup group.

Ning: A tool to create your own little social network, with forums and chat rooms and photo sharing, oh my! And it’s free. A couple members are exploring it.

Fast Company: Terrific business resources, and you can become a member and join groups, blog, etc. It integrates the old Company of Friends that some members were active in.

Agency Pimp: Advertised as “The List of Chicago Creative Agencies: 340 and Counting,” this could be a great tool to market your services to agencies.

Create Magazine: Which seems to have morphed into something a little different, but still has a forum for creatives. (Folks who suggested this…care to comment on the redirect?)

Colour Lovers: Follow color trends and use them in your work - and for your clients.

Freelance Switch: Designed for those in transition, but full of useful info for all of us independents.

MediaBistro: Join its AvantGuild and get the inside scoop on job opportunities, use the forum, read up on the latest media trends and news, attend an event or seminar, or check out their member health insurance benefits (!!!). Some members feel its news is more current than Bulldog Reporter, below…

Bulldog Reporter: “Media news and intelligence for PR pros” and extremely useful for many of us.

Freelancers Union: Insurance (!!!), advocacy, events, discussions, news…what’s not to love?

EzineArticles: Post some original articles in your area of experience and folks with web sites and enewsletters can use your content - giving you full credit, of course. A great way to increase your exposure.

Writers Weekly: The scoop on the publishing biz for freelance writers - and book authors.

OK, so obviously this is not a complete list of the sites we use as resources. But these are some of the most popular - or they’re on our minds right now. Please comment below to add any additional sites; each comment will only accept one URL, so you may need to add a few comments if you have a list. (Or email it to me and I’ll add them.)

I’m getting ready for a big purge - of client files, physical and digital; emails; old magazines I plan to pitch (but whose editors have probably moved on, my back issues are so old!); financial paperwork…everything. I know I need to save anything tax-related for seven years, but everything else is up for grabs.

So, what do you save, and for how long? Do you have a regular schedule of purging, or do you just wait ’til it piles up and makes you crazy (that would be me)? Also, how often do you back up your digital files, and how do you do it - thumb drive, offsite server, etc.? Comment with your strategies and help me and your fellow ideaXchangers!

To promote my business, I’ve tried a variety of sites with mixed results. I like MediaBistro for job hunting and resources, and Freelancers Union for even more excellent resources. And of course I’m on LinkedIn and Facebook (and MySpace and Twitter, sheesh!). I have even played with nifty buttons like the one below for promoting myself:

All of these sites help me promote my writing business, and draw readers to ChronicBabe.com. But I have yet to find a useful resource for posting my clips and qualifications, so I stick with my Orange Grove Media site (soon to be redesigned).

So what are you using? Undoubtedly, there are other sites for web designers, photographers, graphic designers and more. I would love to know what all our members are using to spread the word about their businesses.

You may want to consider this update I received from colleague and Kyle Shannon mystery series author, Linda Mickey. An excerpt:

“Happy Spring. There is some big news in the publishing world that has a direct impact on me and thousands of other writers.

Amazon announced that unless certain publishing companies (mine included) use Amazon’s printing company, Amazon will not sell the book. An article in Business Week points out that Amazon’s real goal is to print ALL the books it sells on a print-to-order basis. Why? Because warehousing is costly. If Amazon switches to a print-on-demand business model, it will save millions of dollars. It’s a smart business move on their part and they have the marketplace muscle to pull it off.

There’s only one problem. Amazon’s print company, Booksurge, is not a good printer. iUniverse (my publisher) and others switched to Booksurge’s competitor because of quality issues. The Internet is full of complaints about Booksurge’s quality. (Some copies of my first book, Greased Wheels, had green pages that matched the cover.)

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to assure you that my books are available at www.bn.com and www.powells.com and many other book selling sites. If they order from Amazon, I cannot guarantee the books will ever ship. Barnes and Noble also has a $25 free shipping program.

As always, thank you for your support. Keep reading!”

Most of us work from home; a few of us have outside offices. I’ve always worked from home, but am now getting ready to split my time between my home office (ChronicBabe HQ, or CBHQ) and an outside office space I’ll share with a group of cool, creative folks. It’s exciting! But it creates some questions and challenges for me:

- How should I keep my computers connected? I use MS Outlook to manage my calendar, email, task lists, etc. I don’t want to bring my main computer to the remote office (let’s call it CBHQ2) but I want access to all that stuff. I’ve checked out GoToMyPC and it seems workable. I don’t like to work for hours at a time on my laptop, so I’ll probably get a dock so I can use a bigger monitor, keyboard and mouse.
- How should I handle phone calls? I spend a lot of time on the phone, and I suppose I’ll just forward my home office phone to my Blackberry to answer at CBHQ2. Time to get a hands-free headset, but I’m super-picky about them, so I’ll call my usual provider, Hello Direct, and see if they have something that I’ll like.
- How will I manage paperwork? I think it will be best to keep my main filing system at my home office, and have some sort of smaller file-holder at CBHQ2. That way I can carry that day’s important files with me back and forth. But I think I’ll need to think strategically about keeping more information digital so I can always access it. (I’ll be killing fewer trees that way, too.)
- What about office supplies? Good think I never get rid of anything, like old staplers, trash bins, scissors…I have duplicates of lots of stuff. I’ll gather up the most vital things and find a nifty storage container for them. Too bad I don’t have a spare office chair; that’s the only big purchase I’ll need to make.

And finally,
- What about my attitude? I’ve always poo-poo’d working offsite. I don’t even like to work in coffee shops! I’m easily distracted and I don’t like to be interrupted a lot. So working in a shared space with other folks will take some getting used to. But I think the payoffs will be worth it: Regular contact with creative, interesting people. Folks to have lunch with. The chance to get out of my house when the neighbors are being particularly noisy. A reason to put on big-girl clothes and makeup and stuff. (Or maybe they won’t care if I work in my PJs.) Yup, worth it.

So…I’m ultra-curious to hear how other folks prepare to work offsite. What software/ hardware/ equipment/ gadgets help you? How do you balance your time? How do you minimize distractions? Handle paperwork? Chime in with a comment!

The Trib featured ideaxchanger Jackie Sloane this month discussing the benefits of virtual networking. If you would like to learn more about e-networking and e-marketing, come to my presentation tonight. Hosted by Independent Writers of Chicago, I’ll be highlighting the work of several ideaXchangers in a discussion titled “Writing for the Web: How to Find, Get, and Do Your Next Writing Gig Online.”

On Thursday, mix your virtual and physical networking at the mediabistro.com Chicago party for creative, content, media, and publishing pros at D4 Irish Pub & Cafe, just in time for the holiday. My cohosts and I enjoy getting to know your professional endeavors and introducing you to people with similar goals. Hope to see you at one or both events!

I found this article, Recession Spending: Ad Cutbacks Don’t Always Make Sense (byAndy Marken, President, Marken Communications) in one of the b2b advertising e-newsletters, and only after I read it, did I notice that it was written back in 2003.

Despite the fact that online advertising plays such a big role in marketing budgets today, the basic info in this article is still sound. If you stop advertising when the economy gets tough, you’ll have an even harder time when the recovery comes. The trick is to market a little differently, not to stop.

An ideaXchanger asked me this question, so I thought I’d post here for everyone to get in on the discussion, especially for those who are into GTD.

First, I’ve been in goals partnerships of some sort for over 5 years and have found them indispensable. In short, a goals partnership helps two or more people achieve their goals in a mutually supportive and accountable arrangement. It’s a two-way exchange, whereas professional coaching is better if you need to focus solely on your own goals. You can set it up in any number of ways. Some are more organized and linear; some are more brainstormy and collaborative.

Curious? Check out the power of goals clubs and this online goal-setting community.

I just devoured Seth Godin’s The Dip, which I chanced upon in Barnes aand Noble the other day. It’s a great little lunch break read, with one really big idea that has me seeing things in a new way in this new year. The essential idea is: get comfortable being a quitter. But quit strategically, when you realize you’re in a situation that isn’t worth the work to complete. And quit the distracting pursuits that take you away from the really big pursuits that are your passion and offer the best success potential.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s still a powerful idea. And after a few months of upheaval and the opportunity now to sit back and make a fresh plan for 2008, it’s just what I needed to read to get me in the right mindset to plan for success. I give it my highest recommendation!