Earthworms, Waiting, and Webmasters
by: Marnie L. Pehrson

If you are a webmaster, then you know the meaning of the word ''wait.'' You probably aren't very good at it and you probably despise it, but waiting is something you are forced to do on a periodic basis.

Some things that make you wait include:

- Technical difficulties that knock your site offline
- Server moves
- Special programming or graphic development
- Domain transfers and sales
- Did I mention technical difficulties that knock your site offline and
server moves?

When your Web site is central to or <I>is</I> your business, these delays
can really get frustrating. Down time with technical difficulties can cost
you thousands of dollars per day in lost ad and product sales. Server moves,
although they may not cripple your site, can drag on for months on end and
leave you with an ''up-in-the-air'' feeling about your business. You start
planning things ''after the server move'' when you'll have more resources.
Eventually, it feels like you won't be able to do anything creative or
expand your business at all until ''after the server move.''

The hard part about waiting is that someone else is controlling your
destiny - your hosting provider, your programmers, your graphic designers,
Internic, etc. As a Webmaster, you do all you can do. You talk to the right
people. You beg, plead and convey a sense of urgency, but many times you are
still left to wait.

I remember my first encounters with a server that knocked my site off line
for three or four days. I was furious, I was on the phone continuously. I
tried everything I could, but it made no difference. My site was still down
until the technical staff was able to fix the overloaded server. The second
and the third time my site went down, I acted similarly. From switching
hosting providers, I soon learned that it is the nature of the Web for your
server to go down occasionally. It shouldn't be repeatedly, but it does
happen occasionally, unless you want to pay through the nose for your site
hosting.

Granted, my hosting provider is much better now, but when my site is
experiencing technical difficulties, I report it, and then move on to
something else. It is so critical to move on to something else. Sometimes we
webmasters are not even as intelligent as an earthworm. Even the earthworm
when it beats its head against a rock twenty times eventually decides to go
around it. Our challenge when playing the waiting game is to find a way to
move around the problem. Basically forget about it and work on something
else.

Here are 10 things you can do, after you've done all you can do, and are in
for a long Web-wait:

1. Take a break. If it's a wait that will last for weeks or months, take a
vacation. Once the problem's fixed, and you get around to doing all those
things you put off until ''after the server move'' you certainly won't have
time for a break then. Take the break NOW. If you simply must be able to be
contacted, we do live in a very mobile world. That's why we have cellular
phones and notebooks. But, if possible, travel as light on technology as
possible. Try setting your email on vacation mode and take a beeper that you
only use for emergencies.
2. Take the time to do a business plan. This is something most of us skip
completely. Back up and do a real official business plan.
3. Take time to do a marketing plan. Again, this is something that's done
even less than the business plan. Waiting periods are great times to plan.
4. Reduce your work schedule. If a major wait is affecting the amount of
work you can get done, reduce your work schedule. Don't just sit there in
front of the computer fretting and beating your head against a rock,
readjust your schedule so you spend fewer hours at work and more time with
family and friends.
5. Do something relaxing that can help you relieve the stress like playing
the piano or some other instrument, painting, walking, fishing, etc. If it's
a several month wait, take up a hobby that you used to have or always wished
to have.
6. Get a Life! Don't tell me that you have a life. If you do, you must be
one of an extremely small minority of successful webmasters who do. Most of
us work too many hours for too little pay and we live, eat and breathe our
Web sites. Discover who you are outside of work. A good tool for that is a
free Strategy Map Workbook available at
http://www.focusedlives.com/services/workbook.cfm 
7. Join a gym and really go. Face it, hours on end sitting on your gluteus
maximus is not going to get you a shapely figure or even a healthy long
life. In that reduced schedule, take a few hours to exercise your poor
worn-out body.
8. Hone your skills. Take the opportunity to take some classes or read some
books. Try studying something less-technology related like marketing,
business, accounting, or business law. Develop your business skills to
strengthen your overall business.
9. Step back and analyze your overall business. Do you have multiple
marketing methods in place? Do you have multiple revenue streams in place?
Which ones are working best? Which ones are a waste of time and energy? What
hidden revenue pockets are lying dormant within your site? The more
marketing and revenue sources you have, the stronger your business. If you
are leaning completely on one or two sources of revenue or only a couple
marketing methods, take the time to brainstorm and implement some more.
10. Do something you've always wanted to do. What is something you always
wanted to do, but have never done? This waiting period could be just the
time to do it. Take out your old dreams and ambitions, dust them off, and
see what you can do with them today!

The biggest mistake we webmasters make is waiting to have a life after the
next big project is complete or after the next hurdle. You don't have to
wait for a major Web-induced wait to do the things listed above, but most of
us have to be knocked over the head with a major inconvenience before we'll
ever wake up. Recognize the wait for what it is - a wake-up call. Be smarter
than the earthworm!

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