There are so many free applications for business people to use! This is excellent for me, as I’m once again trying to get my independent business in motion. I don’t expect it to be robust or bustling, but a few projects here and there would definitely help things out.

This site (the former Tough Love Edit), for example, is free through Google Sites, as is the Google Analytics monitoring connected to it. I just signed up for Google Voice and got a new phone number I don’t mind advertising publicly, and it will redirect to my actual phone. I also confirmed my presence on Google Places and used that to start my Google Plus page. You’d think I’m a shill for Google, but I’m not: they’re just busy trying to offer quality services for free, and I’m busy exploring these to their fullest capacity. On the other hand, G+ forbids users from customizing their lengthy, memory-defying URLs, but you can get around that with Goo.gl (http://goo.gl/Xb3zZ), and they throw in a free QR code, though Bitly lets you customize it further (http://j.mp/toughloveedit).

I’ve got a Twitter account but I think I’ll skip Facebook for now. Maybe I’ll change my mind on that in the future (can’t change it in the past, obvs). And I’m trying to keep this separate from my regular online identity, but I need to be cohesive unto itself as well. Easiest way to do that is to bookmark all my “professional” pages in one folder, then open that folder in a new browser. Everything’s ready and waiting for me, and it’s easy to update a new parcel of information across other pages if necessary.

Still waiting to hear back from the businesses I’ve sent applications to. This is a bad time of year for job application: Twitter’s full of every company’s holiday party photos, offices readying to go on vacation for a few weeks. That’s why spending a day starting and promoting my own little editing service is not a waste of a day.