I never win anything. Ok, there was the time in college when I won a gift basket from 9News for filling out a survey on the new StarTrek exhibit at the museum. (no, I’m not too embarrased to have been a Trekkie in my former life!) But other than that… My sister has always been the lucky one for things like that. We used to exchange scratch lottery tickets at Christmas. The 10 tickets I bought her invariably ended up netting her $30 or more. The 10 tickets I received netted… $3. And if I had bought 10 tickets for myself, I’d have the same result. Just last year, my big sister won a fabulous trip through her work to the Caribbean. I just don’t have that kind of luck.

But this week was different. I won where it counts – exposure to my business. A few months ago, I joined yet another online networking group – WorldWIT (Women, Insights, Technology). I’d known some other VAs who were involved and had success with the group, so I decided to give it a try. Shortly after joining, I placed their logo and link on the home page of my website alongside several others. I had forgotten about it entirely. Until I received a phone call last week from the National office for WorldWIT. They’d had a contest running and out of all the members nationwide who linked to them, I won their contest! Woo-hoo! I never win!

They had several prizes to choose from, and frankly, I would have been happy with either the iPod Shuffle or the free marketing exposure through the WorldWIT newsletter. But I chose to take the free registration for Camp WorldWIT, their national conference coming up in May. I love conferences and know how much they can help with networking and promoting my business, in addition to giving me a big boost of energy to work on my business when I get home.

It’s not quite to the level of winning the lottery (I’d have to buy a ticket to get that, anyway!), but it’s certainly more beneficial to my business. Thank you, WorldWIT (and my local group, RockyWIT!), for supporting women in business. I look forward to meeting you all at the conference in May!

Here’s a new way to see what your website visitors are doing on your site: visually see where their mouse moves to and how long it stays there. Intriguing!

TechCrunch – See What Your Website Visitors Are Doing With Crazy Egg

Here’s another twist in the free speech debate: bloggers posting anonymously (on personal time) get fired for their comments. CNet.com – Bloggers: Use caution

Trying to network your home computers? Can’t figure it out? Baffled? The good news (if there is any) is that you’re not alone.

One of my clients is a local ISP and I work with his customers every day troubleshooting networking issues. Therefore, this article came as no surprise to me: “Wireless networking baffles some customers“. Even in my own home, I can’t get the wireless feature of my (aging) router to work with my brand new computer. It’s an industry-wide problem that needs some serious consideration. How can they make it easier for the average consumer to use this technology? And when will they improve the hardware so the failure rates are significantly lower?

From my experience, the easiest wireless router to set up is Linksys. But even that is no guarentee everything will go smoothly. My recommendation: Try setting it up first on your own. Then call the free product support number for help. Then call a professional, we can help.

You know you need broadband internet for your business – it’s no longer a luxury, but a necessity. With so many options available today, which is the best one for you? PC Magazine explains your options so you can make an informed decision!