Day 2 of using Outlook 100%. Had a single hiccup where my google IMAP account for RUWebby timed out the connection and wouldn’t reconnect until I logged into the webbased access. But after that, all clear going.

Gloriously, I am a Twitter user. Not as much as some, but a Twitterer nonetheless and whilst adding a new entry I had the brilliant thought of “I wonder if there is a plug in for Outlook to use Twitter?”. So a-googling I go and lo and behold I find: OutTwit! Amazing. Downloaded, installed and away I Twitter. For the reasons why I would bother using Twitter is fodder for a different day and a different post. In the meantime, check out TechHit.com. Lots of great utilities for you Outlook peeps.

I’ve been using Outlook since way way back in 1999. I’ve always loved it’s organizational feel and the ability to manage many email addresses. Of course I’ve lost PST’s along the way or crashed it a million times and I tried to switch to Thunderbird or another email client like Netscape, but the allure of Outlook never went away. Then, in January of 2007 I found Google Hosted and it was the answer to my prayers when it came to SPAM. My dedicated servers, whilst running Declude, just weren’t keeping up with the deluge of SPAM I received on a daily basis from the dozen plus accounts I had to manage. At the same time, I also went through a hard drive replacement and had to re-install Outlook.

When I switched the majority of my domains to Google, I was ecstatic over the difference. Hundreds of thousands of SPAM messages, poof! Gone! Funneled into Google’s SPAM folders, never to be seen again. I loved it. AND I got used to using the webbased “gmail” version of my inbox. Lots of great features, etc. I kept saying I would go back to Outlook, but I never quite got around to it. One thing or another cropped up. Notably keeping my work going to pay the bills.

Finally, over the past week, needing to organize my whole company and make sure I wasn’t forgetting about email accounts I only check on a weekly basis, I turned back to my beloved Outlook. At first I tried Microsoft Live Mail, which by the way is awesome. Microsoft’s replacement for Outlook Express is definitely a great tool for those only having one or two accounts. Me? I have over 20 now that I need to keep track of and that number is only going to grow. So after several hours of configuring and playing, I’m now running my IMAP and POP accounts in Outlook and whilst I really miss a few of the little Google features like grouping conversations and my fun little logo, I’m glad to be back.

I’ve been hard at work over the past several weeks, rewriting and adding content to my business website, RUWebby.com. I’ve also overhauled the design a bit making it a little cleaner and more fun to look at. It is a long ongoing process at the moment since I’ve done so much with the technology I use, the clients and projects that are part of RUWebby’s portfolio and the new developments and arenas I am getting into.

I added a new reseller this past week and current resellers are continuing to expand their businesses. I now use Basecamp to manage all client/reseller projects. It’s a fantastic lightweight application and I heartily recommend it for those of you who are a bit unorganized, but don’t need a huge solution.

I am hoping to wrap up the last of the content and design changes by the end of next month. Sooner if I can. Scheduling time in for your own business marketing is a bit tricky.