The end of the private line . . .

This recently came to me via an email.

Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to type a telephone # into the search bar, hit enter, and you will be given the person's name and address. If you then hit MapQuest, you will get a map to the person's house.

Everyone should be aware of this! It's a nationwide reverse telephone book. If a child gives out his/her phone number, someone can now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming.

Note that you can have your phone number removed or blocked. I tried my number, and it did come up. I clicked on the map and sure enough, Mapquest gave complete directions to my front door.

Want to test your number is mapped? Go to: GOOGLE Type your phone number in the search bar (i.e. 555-555-1212) and hit enter. If you want to B L O C K Google from divulging your private information, simply click on your telephone number and then click on the Removal Form. Removal takes 48 hours.

When ordering business cards, I made sure to remove my address – no need to give out information that folks don’t need. However, my phone number is certainly listed on those cards and those cards have been distributed many, many places. As of now, my phone number is blocked from GOOGLE.

If any of you have heard of other cross-reference sources on phone numbers, please share.

Business Card Website

Useful writer site:
http://www.vistaprint.com/

Looking for self-promotion ideas? Business cards lend the air of professionalism to any business--why not to a writer? I found a great site at Vistaprint to order ‘nice’ business cards for reduced rates.

I clicked on their webpage and and signed up for their mailings and received a number of Free offers. Okay, they were FREE from a select grouping of their stock paper and IF I paid for the shipping, which was reasonable.

Below are the cards I had made for just the cost of shipping. That’s inexpensive enough to use a different card for each of my book releases. Hey, I believe it thinking positive and that I will have scads of new book releases.



On my actual cards, I added phone numbers, but not an address. Not really advisable, per several established authors who had some strange fans show up at their very doorstep. Something to consider.

Have you found a helpful promotional website? Please leave a comment and share it.