Comment spammers are relentless. I have not posted to DaveWrites recently, but I spend time every day just deleting the comments that make it through Akismet and other spam filters.

I believe the spam-filtering service Akismet defeats most automated spam, but I suspect there is a class of low-wage human-powered spamming going on based on some internet marketer's idea of link building.

The reason some people post short comments like "Nice job. Keep up good work." or "Good information, thanks for the post!" is because the comment form gives them the opportunity to link to another web site. That link becomes a part of my blog because it is published with the comment. This a legitmate way to build connections between bloggers. When I comment on someone else's blog that has much more traffic than mine, I hope that people will check out my site to see what else I'm writing.

But the reason spammers comment on blogs is to improve search engine rankings. Links from blogs to web sites increase the ranking of those sites, because search engines believe sites with many inbound links are more authoritative and creditable. So a business might pay a marketing firm to go out and comment on all the blogs they can find. Then, they report back to the company: "we've generated 100 inbound links for you!"

The sad thing about such an approach--apart from my annoyance at these bozos--is that it is a fraudulent scam on the companies who are paying the "internet marketing firm." Read Google's opinion of comment spam on their blog. The message from Google is clear:

• it does not work; they will detect it and ignore it
• it can hurt you; they will penalize sites that use it

My simplistic description of how inbound links affect search engine ranking is NOT very accurate. Google has spent the last decade refining their algorithms for ranking sites. So it is not as simple as getting some links.

None of this is new. I've been deleting comments like this for years, and I try to avoid even thinking about it because it is a distraction from working on something that might actually generate some revenue for my business. But I think all bloggers should review Google's recommendations on how to fight comment spam just to make sure they are not just hitting the snooze button every day for years. Let's walk through Google's recommendations with some real world practical commentary...

I think the CAPTCHA and Akismet approaches are the most worthwhile to pursue. Many of us set up our sites years ago and it's worth a review of the technologies available to update our sites to make sure we are minimizing the amount of predictible spam, then, just delete those bogus comments that slip through.

This post turned into more than a few minutes diversion...feel free to submit your own comments and links to practical ways to fight spam. I'm sure this post will itself create a moderation challenge for me. :)

I realized the other day that my Dad was only 39 years old when he lost his "stable" job as a mechanical piping designer at Newport News Shipbuilding. It was April 1, 1977; we had just purchased our first "brand new" car--a Honda Accord--and then the union decided to strike. It was a long summer...and ultimately, the union was broken and the strike was never settled.

It was a difficult time for my parents. I was only 10 years old, but I recall that my Dad was unemployed for what seemed an eternity. He received some money from the union for picketing, and I remember him going out to stand on the picket lines of a strike that went largely unnoticed as the shipyard replaced the designers and draftsmen. He took a welding class and then worked nights in the Union Camp paper mill--bringing home the unforgettable "aroma" I would recall years later as I attended law school in Tacoma, WA. He made money on the weekends using his home-built stump-grinding machine, and eventually found an engineering job again--but commuting 90-miles each day to Richmond.

I wonder what our kids will remember as my family embarks on a very different journey in 2010? I hope we will look back upon 2009 as a transitional year and 2010 as the time when we began to really establish our future. The circumstances are very different in many ways for us...but it is a surprise to consider, to recognize all these years later that my parents once stood in similar shoes and must have felt similar things about the challenges of navigating the future.

I digress mightily in this blog that has fallen rather silent lately...but I know big things are coming. The "plan" will be better drawn from the perspective of future history.

As I have formalized my business organization, I learned a few things I am going to share here--sort of a corollary to my popular post on What I've Learned about Unemployment in Massachusetts.

But First Things First

Until you are seriously committed to starting a business, you don't need to do anything more than find clients with work to do and make sure you get the work done on time. Thinking about tax issues and forming a corporation or LLC...even doing a business plan, spreadsheet, etc.--these are all distracting time-wasters that get in the way of generating that first bit of revenue. As a sole proprietor, working out of your home or a coffeehouse, the first step in forming a business is to get a client.

When you contract with your first client, rather than worry about whether you have formed an LLC yet or obtained a DBA certificate from the Town Clerk...just make sure you have a signed proposal that states the work you will do, how much you will be paid, and which includes a limitation on your liability such as:

CLAIMS. All claims for defective or incomplete Services must be made in writing fully setting forth the nature of the alleged defect or damage, within thirty (30) days from the date of the invoice. CLIENT’s failure to so notify PROVIDER shall constitute acceptance of the Services. PROVIDER’s liability is limited to the total cost of services invoiced.

Then, do the work. Do it well. Repeat.

When I started Dave Atkins Media a year ago, this was the rule I set for myself because I knew that as someone with legal training and curiosity about everything...I would quickly get lost in the fascinating details of things that mostly don't matter. For accounting, bookkeeping, and taxes--use excel. Use a single worksheet of date, revenue, expense, description to start. Don't run out and buy Quickbooks yet.

I also used Freshbooks--an online invoicing and time tracking system--to record my hours and expenses--then, each week, I would generate a report which gave me earnings - expenses = the amount I reported as freelance income for unemployment claims.

Ready for Prime Time
I reached a point where I decided to go "all in." It would be nice if that point had been precipitated by a steady stream of cash flows and the growing realization that my business was taking off--but it didn't work like that. I just decided that I needed to get out of my house and separate the business from my personal finances. I decided that whatever I built, it was going to be much bigger than just some temporary hourly contract work thing that I did until the next job came along. I think, for me it coalesced around the finding of an office space in the center of town with the opportunity to post a sign.

Choose the Form of Business
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has some guidance online: Forming a Business, Step by Step. It's a good starting point, but it is easy to get lost in the details.

I chose an S-corporation as my business form. I started to write about why here, but then I found a blog in California that covers it pretty well. His decisions are influenced by the particulars of California law, but the Federal tax issues are the most significant to consider.

To form an S-Corporation:

Note: Your tax year will be January-December for all things. No Fiscal Year treatment for S-Corporations in Massachusetts.

Go to the Secretary of State's Corporate database search and make sure the name of your company is not already taken. More info here.

Obtain a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). You will fill out an online form and get an ID number immediately.

Use the online filing system at the Secretary of State's website to create your Articles of Incorporation. Some key "hints":

• specify 275,000 shares of undesignated stock. That is the maximum amount. If you want to change this later...$100 fee to file and $100/100K additional shares authorized.
• specify 1/1/2010 as the effective date of organization. Do NOT make the mistake of forming a corporation in November or December if you can postpone to January. This will save you $456 in minimum corporate excise tax you would otherwise pay in March 2010 for the first partial year.
• One person can serve as President, Secretary, Treasurer and Director. It looks silly, but if you are a sole incorporator, this is what you do.
• Submit the form and pay with your credit card.

There are two forms you must file with the IRS to elect S-corporation status. Go to the IRS website to download the forms in instructions for:

• Form 2553 Election by a Small Business Corporation
• Entity Classification Election ("check the box form")

The paperwork is far from over, but you are now a corporation. You will need to draft and file additional documents including your bylaws and minutes from an initial meeting (with yourself!). I'll blog about that separately...but it is critical that you follow the rules and keep up with the formalities/requirements.

At the end of last year, as I started Dave Atkins Media!, I made a conscious decision to limit my "organizational activities" to avoid being sidetracked into non-productive activity. I spent about 2 hours making a website and elected to operate as a sole proprietorship with an excel spreadsheet as my general ledger. I used Freshbooks online invoicing to track my hours and bill my clients. Then, I landed the contract job at Mass.Gov and dove into that...

I'm going down to Needham Bank this morning to open a business account. Then I will turn in my d/b/a certificate at town hall, apply for an occupancy permit from the building department, apply for a sign permit to go on the front of my office space at 291 Washington Street, then get to work drawing up my articles of incorporation. What's different?

I will provide more details here, but basically, I'm more serious about this now. I have less time to talk about it and more time to do.

And yes...that website needs some work. I know where it needs to go now though...

Last Friday night, I attended an unconventional book-signing/networking party in Boston that brought together Gary Vaynerchuk, Jeff Cutler, and Mike Langford along with the usual suspects of the Boston social media scene. I picked up a copy of Gary's book and then--because I missed the earlier train home, had an hour and a half to read it while waiting for the next commuter rail.

Gary is a "rock star" in the social media space because he used Twitter and Facebook to take his video blog, Wine Library TV, to stratospheric levels of popularity. He's an inspirational phenomena of optimism, energy, and attitude whose contagious enthusiasm motivates and inspires.

I have a skeptical streak...and I will not to waste time here critiquing but instead focus on my takeaways. Like so many sources out there...you take what you need; you find the parts that challenge you to think.

People like Gary have aligned their passion with a platform that essentially makes sharing and self-promotion one and the same. The more he talks, the more people want to listen. Are his ideas revolutionary? No. Is there some deep insight in this book that will change your life? No. Is there a plan you can apply to your business idea to make a fortune and replicate Gary's success, including a 7-figure book deal? No. So what is the point?

The point is that social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, and blogging give every person the power to both publish their own experiences AND, more importantly, CONNECT with others who share and amplify those passions. Find what you love to do and "Crush it!" Every person can become an enthusiastic authority about something and then, as they draw attention to their passion, perhaps they can "monetize" it. It's not even all about money though really--if you could just afford to live your dreams, would it matter to make $60 million or $60 thousand a year?

But on this path, you really need to "Crush it." To do that, you need to love what you are doing. A hobby blog about something you are kind of interested in is not going to do it. Starting a blog at your company and following the steps to promote it...is not going to do it. It's not that Gary Vaynerchuck has a great video blog about wine. It's that Gary Vaynerchuck is the Wine Library TV guy.

It's not about expert opinions. I don't know if Gary is an expert on wine. It doesn't seem to matter. If you want a professional wine evaluation, I'm sure you can get that from people who are much less famous and making a lot less money. But they are boring. Gary is fun. You can complain that it's not fair (if you are one of those people, for example) or you can realize, hey, it doesn't freakin matter. Maybe if I find the thing I love and share it with everyone, they will love me enough that I can just do that and be happy.

But you've got to Crush it. Can you think of 100 or 500 blog posts you could write about the thing you are excited about? Do you want to scour the internet for information on that topic, commenting on everone else's blog and engaging with everyone you can find? Are you motivated to hustle in this way? If not, don't bother because there can be only one.

You need to find that passion...the thing that keeps you awake at night and is the burning fuel that will sustain you through what others would see as a lot of hard, tedious work. The good news is that social media gives you another tool that has the potential to hit the ball out of the park.

But you also have to pay the rent. That statement is the dream-killing, self-defeating reality check on so many aspirations for so many people. Fine, so pay the rent. Get a job and work 8 hours a day or whatever. But that leaves 16 hours for other things. After family and eating...ok, I guess you need to give up sleep. That's the deal, really.

If you want to turn a dream into reality, you need to "Crush it." You go "all in" on it and when you see an opportunity, you throw everything you have at it. Sunday, the Patriots beat the Titans 59-0 in 3 quarters of football. That sucks for the Titans, but it's what happens when one team gives up against a team that doesn't have a concept of "dialing things back a bit." It does not mean you have a license/excuse to neglect other priorities...but when you are doing the thing you love--you need to give it all you have.

The passion is hard to find.

I found it hard, it's hard to find, oh well, whatever, nevermind.

I don't really know what Curt Cobain was thinking when he wrote that, but for me it symbolizes the fleeting nature of dreams for so many...especially those of us in Generation X who allow our cynicism to truncate promising optimism.

I do not write from the platform of a $60 million wine busines. I'm excited I found a project to do some consulting work this week that could turn into a longer term project. But what keeps me awake at night is thinking about how I can take this topic of active transporation, apply it to my town, and pull together my love of cycling and running, my desire to be a part of civic life, and my analytical and techincal skills to not only support my family, but make my world a better place.

My job at Mass.Gov, as manager of the Massachusetts Recovery website, ended on September 30. I have hesitated to blog about it here for two reasons: 1) I do not want to "burn any bridges," by writing negatively about an experience that did not work out for me and 2) I need to honor the standard contractor confidentiality agreement I was asked to sign before I was told my contract would not be renewed.

The job was not a good fit. The people at Mass.Gov are doing great things and the Governor's Office in particular is embracing social media and interactive communications as part of an engagement strategy that will positively change the way our government works. They--the full time staff--are laying the groundwork for the future that will be adopted gradually as leaders responsible for results see the value in these tools.

But it was an awkward situation for me. First of all, while I worked for Mass.Gov, my real "customer" was the Massachusetts Recovery Office--an oversight agency that was in the process of being formed. My position was a contract job--and contract jobs have to be renewed every 90 days, so technically, I was not fired--the contract was just not renewed for me. I should have had no expectation of automatic continued employment. But I never thought of it as a just a contract job.

My leaving was not for performance reasons--in fact I was told repeatedly that I had accomplished a lot, my work was appreciated, but the Recovery Office wanted a more junior person for this particular role--to focus on just posting content to the web site. The requirements of the role changed significantly over the course of a few months--and I wanted my role to be more expansive than it was.

I'm sure for many, my presence was a mystery. How could someone with my experience be happy managing a web site? Some people felt I was "overqualified." But I saw the job as an opportunity that fit into a larger vision of how I thought I could do something good for others while developing relationships with influential people in state government. I canceled a final round of interviews with another company because I saw the potential of this role to allow me to make a significant contribution by using my talents in communication, technology, and social media to help economic recovery.

I think that ambitious attitude wasn't perceived as altruistically as I'd like. I don't know really. I felt as though there was something wrong about me. I didn't understand why people did not want to take advantage of what I thought I was offering.

I had similar frustrations years ago working for a legislative committee staff in Washington State. The role was non-partisan--a summer internship in 1992--but I was most definitely identifiable as a Democrat when I attended the 1992 Democratic National Convention as an alternate delegate for Paul Tsongas. I was careful to separate those things--as careful as I was to separate my own personal blogging from my work with mass.gov--but I think there is just a fundamental conflict that makes bureaucrats and staff uncomfortable. When people did not assign me projects...I sought them out. People were polite but non-responsive. I created projects and tried to find work to do. I remember creating study of all 50 states welfare reform initiatives. When the summer ended...no followup, no explanations, no invitation back.

What have I learned? I think I will never be comfortable sitting in the chairs behind the people at the conference table. I was not patient enough for that when I was in my 20s; why would I want that in my 40s? I need to work and make money--we all do. But for the things I want to do with my life, I need to just do them and not look for someone to hire me. I would rather serve as an official in my town than be the Governor's chief of staff. I would rather see a single bike lane painted in my town...or a crosswalk improved...and have a neighbor thank me for doing something that matters to them--than draft "the solution" to health care reform.

So now I focus on what next...and fill out my work search log and file my weekly claim.

to be continued...

I believe our most fundamental challenge is to restore a sense of community--a building and strengthening of the ties within our neighborhoods and between our communities, especially the neighboring towns where development is uncoordinated and often in opposition to the interests of the next town over. But what can any of us really do about that on a daily basis? It's not even really my problem--it's a theoretical observation, an explanation for some frustration about how our society can't seem to solve big problems like ensuring health care for all citizens or delivering accountability and integrity from our government.

So instead of dreaming up "macro solutions," perhaps we should consider some basic, day-to-day activities that permeate (or could permeate, with greater participation) civic life: walking and bicycling -- what many term "active transportation."

Boston has begun to improve the cycling infrastructure with new bike lanes, a bikeshare program, and bike commuting promotions like Bike Fridays. We should support, advocate, encourage, and educate about the benefits and practicality of cycling in the city with the dream of transforming participation into something like what the Netherlands experienced over the past 30 years. My ride in from Westwood is a physical way I feel more connected to the city, and I think the more people who share that kind of connection, the better.

For walking, we need to get out of our houses and apartments and onto the streets. Our kids need to feel safe walking to school. We should meet and know our neighbors. Walkable communities are not only safer, they are stronger--and the more people who share this experience, the more a sense of "connected place" will develop.

There are plenty of problems to solve and things to improve in our society, but where do we start? I think a sustained emphasis on encouraging and making safer these modes of active transportation could have systemic benefits to facilitate all other efforts while providing immediate improvements to our quality of life.

I still get nervous when it's my turn to speak at a meeting. When I organize and lead meetings, I still feel like the novice upstart. I still assume there are older people who know better, and I wonder if they will take me seriously.

Then I realize I am 43 years old, and I recall what I thought of 43-year olds when I was 12. I thought they had it all figured out. They were my parents, my parents' friends, the leaders in the community, etc. Sometimes I thought they had it figured out WRONG, but it never occurred to me that those "old" people felt the same feelings--when they were chairing a town committee or standing up to speak in front of a couple hundred people--that I still feel. It is a surreal experience to consider what I would have thought of myself.

We are all still kids in many ways. We don't have it figured out. When we start something new, we are just as nervous as the first time we had to stand up in front of the class. When I talk to people about topics that I have a lot of knowledge about...the reality is, I am still hoping people don't figure out I'm a phony or something. I don't think it ever goes away.

But the excitement of learning doesn't go away either. We are forever young in that when confronted by new experiences, we are like kids again, learning by experience, making mistakes, and figuring out enough to get through today's challenge. As long as the challenges never end, we keep repeating the cycle, and while there is some discomfort in those feelings, there is also the thrill of learning something new and discovering that we can.

I'm too young to write advice on how not to get old, but I believe finding those moments of uncertainty in our lives--and embracing them, not fearing them--is how we stay young.

I recently reviewed the mission statement of this blog and was struck by how it sums up my own "mission."

The purpose of this blog is to connect topics in economic development, community development, and new media technology and identify practical actions readers can take to make a difference in improving our society.

I want this to be more than a writing project. I wrote a series of posts about a business plan, a sort of thematic arrangement of content topics I would write about to create a popular blog. That's not really a business plan--the business plan was just to get more traffic and use google adwords to make some money off clicks. But for that to work, I need hundreds of thousands of visitors...I need the blog to be an end unto itself...and that is not what this is about.

The blog is a tool, a communication medium that has connected me with people who share ideals and passions about improving society. I think there are many of us who are engaged in what Ed Morrison of the I-Open Institute describes as "Strategic Doing." Some of the things I'm "doing" strategically are to:

• create a blog in Westwood to encourage greater participation of residents in our community
• form a Pedestrian/Bicycle Safetey Committee in Westwood to look for opportunities to make the town more walkable
• get a Community Access Television station up and running in Westwood

Now what does any of this have to do with economic development?

The older, traditional ideas about economic development were about attracting business to locate in town. It was about creating a regulatory climate friendly for business and identifying opportunities--then clearing obstacles. I'm not a practitioner and I cannot claim expertise about the work that continues in that conception of economic development. But I think there is a "New Innovation" growing based on an increasingly engaged and creative Citizen 2.0.

If we can find ways to connect the people who are innovating--problem-solving individuals who care passionately about issues of sustainability and growth--I believe people will be begin to see opportunities to invest. This will become "Enterprise Collaboration."

Again, what does it mean?

To revitalize a town, you need people, not just business. You need the people who will shop there and the people who will open stores. You need people who live there and care about the community and who choose to make their stake in town, rather than hopping in a car and driving to a job in the city where they can collect a paycheck and go home to sleep and watch TV. You don't need EVERYONE to do this, but you need a critical mass of a few people who are no longer fighting the good fight alone, but who network with each other, draw strength from each other, and see opportunities they would not have seen alone.

It is the same principle in schools--to make them better, we don't need more money alone, we need parents to be involved. We need that elusive and powerful force of responsibility and activism that is more evident in its absense in the anonymous suburbs and isolated communities of regions in decline.

What next? What do I do?

That's the $100,000 question, really. I need to find a way to take these ideas and passions and not only accomplish things, but generate income for me and my family. My website describes one approach of the type of consultative advice I believe I could deliver. But talk is cheap...or, more realistically, just sitting around talking about theory is not something cash strapped town can afford to bankroll.

I could create a non-profit, an association not unlike a chamber of commerce, but more of a business facilitator...then choose projects to tackle and start delivering value to the members of the organization. Perhaps opportunities come out of more of these discussions...perhaps it is as basic as helping civic organizations set up blogs and facebook pages. But I think fundamentally, I need to identify some real, specific needs of the community and find how money is currently being spent towards that need--then propose a less expensive alternative.