In five hours, I will start a web-based seminar on eNewsletter best practices and case studies. More than 60 people from around the country have signed up, and I have two sets of guest speakers.

Whew. I’m a little excited, a little nervous, pretty jazzed and very ready. I decided on a free seminar to combat the anticipated January work slowdown, and I had hoped for 20 participants. The success really makes me smile.

I’ve done these through my former company, but this is the first one I’ve done as the owner of a freelance copywriting business. People will call a number via phone to listen in, and they’ll login to a website to watch the presentation. When my guest speakers come on, we’ll switch to their desktops for their presentations. It’s pretty cool.

Setting this dang thing up has been quite a bother, though. Here’s a summary…

1. Decide on a topic and research backup material.
2. Outline the one-hour call.
3. Find guest speakers and do a practice run.
4. Find a service provider for webinars. I chose GoToWebinar for $99 a month.
5. Look for an adapter that will allow you to record both sides of a phone call into your computer. “They’re everywhere,” the lady at GoToWebinar said. Not True! I went to four stores then ended up ordering over the web for overnight delivery.
6. Once you have the adapter, fuss and hassle with phone and headset hardware that will work with everything. I had to buy another phone system, and I have to return the new headset.

So, wish me luck today and cross your fingers that all the technology works smoothly together. Here are some of the things that could go wrong:

1. I could get my missing delivery from Victoria’s Secret while I’m speaking, and I’ll have to stop to sign for underwear.
2. My landlord could choose today to finally come look at my heat, which keeps conking out.
3. My new phone could break.
4. My computer could die.
5. I could knock an entire double Americano over on my keyboard.
6. My cat could cough up a hairball in my living room/office.
7. Half the people on the webinar will try to instant message me with panic messages of “I can’t hear the audio” or “There’s nothing on the screen” or “You’re doing a horrible job!”
8. My guest speakers could lose their voices (my volunteer moderator had to bail last night — gulp!)
9. I could forget people can see my screen, and I will start surfing the web and checking to see if D.J. has written.

That’s all I can think of right now before coffee.