Well, according to an article I came across today, small businesses are not so optimistic these days. In fact, the article states that optimism has sank to 28-year low!

Wow! The lowest optimism in almost 30 years--- not to date myself, but that is my lifetime. So, this is the worst the small business economy has been in almost 30 years.

The article, U.S. Small-Business Optimism Index Sank to 28-Year Low in March, can be viewed here.

from: http://www.worldwildlife.org/news/displayPR.cfm?prID=516

World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour Celebrations Spread to Six Continents in Largest Climate Change Event in History

Washington, D.C. – March 26, 2008 – With less than a week to go, participation in Earth Hour (www.earthhour.org) has grown dramatically as nearly 200 cities, including 35 in the U.S., join millions of individuals and businesses around the world in turning off their lights on Saturday, March 29th from 8 – 9 pm local time in a dramatic symbolic gesture in support for action on climate change.

I get a small business review newsletter that I truly enjoy reading. It provides me with some pretty valuable information, and this morning it really delivered. I have been going back and forth on different payment options available to my clients. I would love to be able to accept credit cards. Mostly to be able to get a quick payment from a client, but also to offer that flexibility to my clients.

Wells Fargo actually has a nice merchant account, or a business checking account, that provides for that ability.

You can read more about their service here:

As an owner of a small business, working for others that own their own businesses, one thing I have been trying to listen for in the election debates, speeches, media spots and any and all other media is what is the new President going to do for me. Call it selfish, but in these times, I would like to look out for my enterprise and for those that I work for. I did come across one article that did attempt to shed some light on the issue.

Taken from:
http://www.americancoinop.com/article.cfm?articleID=17618

My web host is upgrading their systems on Thursday March 13th, 2008. The full detail of the possible downtime:

Please be aware that the migration of your hosting platform to the new environment will be performed early March 13, 2008 between 12 am EST and 6 am EST. At some point during this period, your website / server will be temporarily unavailable for approx. 15 minutes. This migration has been planned to take place around midnight in order to avoid undermining your site's services.

Enhancements with the Upgrade