I keep everything I read – that is, all the potentially useful tech/web/marketing articles. And anything else I see in print that inspires me – color guides from paint manufacturers; the National Parks mini-guide…

All of these things live in my closet in an ever-taller stack all year, and at the end of each year I cull. I use my X-Acto blade and slice out everything I want to keep. It then goes into my inconspicuous blue plastic file box into a folder: Graphic Design, Brochures, Social Media.

Some of these I use as inspiration for the monthly newsletter I send to clients. Others are just for my own inspiration – I browse the box for design ideas from time to time.

Today’s my day to cull, while my husband’s laboring over his Newcastle pot roast for Christmas lunch. So I thought I would share what I consider to be keepers (in no particular order).

  • How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live, Time
  • Ten Essential, Inexpensive Win7 Downloads, PC World
  • Speed Up Everything, PC World
  • Hey, Don’t You Want This? Inc.
  • Arrange In-Person Meetings with Online Tools, PC World
  • Create and Monetize Podcasts on Any Budget, Website Magazine
  • Get the Most Out of WordPress, Website Magazine
  • Making Widgets Work, Website Magazine
  • Choosing an Open Source CMS, Website Magazine
  • How Twitter is Revolutionizing Business, Entrepreneur
  • A stack of paint chips
  • Where Have All the Words Gone? Inc.
  • Google Voice: One Number to Manage Them All, PC World
  • Crowdsurfing, Top One
  • Word of Mouth: The Death of Advertising? Top One
  • Your Future Life Now, Popular Photography
  • Is Your PC Bot-Infested? PC World
  • Heal Your Hardware, PC World
  • Best Ways to Back Up Your Data, PC World
  • Design Influence 60th Anniversary Issue, NCSU College of Design Alumni Magazine
  • Keep Your (Business) Cards to Yourself, Entrepreneur
  • Really Simple Success, Entrepreneur
  • Content is King, But does It Ka-ching? Entrepreneur
  • 3 Timeless Landing Page Optimization Themes, Website Magazine
  • Inspiration for Reseller Hosting, Website Magazine
  • Getting the Most from a Client/Consultant Relationship, Website Magazine
  • RSS Advertising, Website Magazine
  • High-Risk Security Threats and How to Fix Them, PC World
  • Toxic Avoiders, Small Biz
  • Clip Joint: How to Run a Business on the Cheap, Small Biz
  • How to Market Via Your Email, Small Biz
  • Saving Face Online, Small Biz
  • A Terry bicycling catalog
  • /CSS/Convert Your Site to Mobile, .net
  • Reap the Rewards of Constructive Criticism, Top One
  • The Neverending Quest for Bandwidth, Top One
  • Mystery Solved, Inc.
  • It Isn’t The Economy, Stupid, Inc.
  • Reid Hoffman LinkedIn, Inc.
  • Get Started with a Small Business Server, PC World
  • The Conficker Worm, PC World
  • The Best Free Stuff You’ve Never Heard Of, PC World
  • Uncover the ‘Bugs’ Hidden in Web Sites, PC World
  • We Asked, You Twittered: What’s the Best Part of Owning Your Business? Inc.
  • How Low Can You Really Go? Inc.
  • Leverage Social Media to Help Recovery, Northern Colorado Business Report
  • How to Fix Your Display’s Pesky Stuck Pixel, PC World
  • Boost Your Multimonitor Experience, PC World
  • Go Virtual for Safer Online Shopping, PC World
  • Windows 7: The Smartest Way to Upgrade, PC World
  • Inside Windows 7, PC World

And of course, for some magazines I keep the whole issue: HOW, Dynamic Graphics, STEP Inside Design,Practical Web Design.

All done. My closet is cleaner, I have a lot of new ideas in my box, and I won’t have to do this again until the end of 2010. Now it’s time to go make sweet potato gratin and brownies.

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