• Creating distance from others enhances productivity.
• Geographically decentralized teams work well together.

The 8 employees of 37Signals, a web-based applications company claiming 1 million users, are distributed around the globe. And the members that are located in the same office in Chicago are conscious of the fact that “proximity is an invitation to interrupt someone.” No wonder it’s so tough to get things done in a typical office environment.

But what does this mean for me?

It means that, since you have more freedom when you are working on your own web projects, strive to limit proximity to people (and things) that will invite distractions. Turn off your cellphone, avoid checking your email and lock yourself in your room. I know that doesn’t sound pleasant, but you will feel great about how productive your time can be. Afterward you will be in a better mood for spending quality time with the people you care about.

During the interview, Fried mentions that he views distributed teams as becoming more popular. Being able to choose who you work with is another magnificent freedom of working on your own web projects. Within a company, you are mainly limited to working with the people at that company. And oftentimes you’re going to find yourself to be the best of the bunch.

But you’ve got this great idea for a new website you want to flesh out. Only you’re a designer and you need a programmer to work out the coding. You have a friend in Massachusetts that programs, but you’re in California. No problem! Of course the Internet makes that kind of long-distance teamwork possible and Fried points out that it may be more conducive for producing better work faster.

Click the video screenshot below to watch the full interview (offsite).

He writes:

I had a great idea recently. Someone else did it and guess what? I am moving on. I lagged. I had other priorities. I was thinking of doing it another way.

When this happens, it’s easy to get discouraged and angry. But Kagan notes that this won’t get you anyway.

Instead, try to fight back those negative feelings and use the experience as a lesson. Let it motivate you to run that much harder and faster the next time a big idea comes your way.

And when it comes, consider the following quotes:

“Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement them are priceless.”
-Mary Kay Ash

“Ideas are just a multiplier of execution.”
-Derek Sivers

“Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.“
-Sue Grafton

But I’m sure you have questions, as I do too:

Where do I find the time? And what steps do I take?

There is plenty more to come! Stay tuned!

When you have had a similar experience as Kagan, how did you handle it? Please share in the comments below.

You’ve finally finished your latest website and you now want to expose it to the world so that people will fall in love with it just like you have.

There is no denying the value of a front-page digg, reddit or del.icio.us story about your website. Your site will see thousands of new visitors and get an instant bump in the search engines.

But this of course is very difficult to accomplish. Not saying it can’t happen, but instead of lamenting over the awful odds and hard work involved, remember that there are other fine places out there that will help expose your website:

For Blogs (or similar content-related sites)

• Technorati.com
  If you don’t have an account at Technorati, sign up for an account and then claim your new blog. You’ll have to upload a snippet of code to prove that the site is yours. Technorati will automatically update your site’s listing with the latest RSS feed items that your site provides. Although Technorati is known as a blog aggregator, you can really use it for exposing any similar kind of site. You don’t have to consider your site a “blog” for it to qualify.
• MyBlogLog.com
  Again, don’t let the”blog” part throw you. If you’re website is a blog, great, if not, you can still use this service. MyBlogLog is kind of like a social network distributed across various websites. If you are logged into your account and visit a website that has MyBlogLog enabled, the avatar that you setup in your MyBlogLog account will be displayed (usually) in the sidebar of that site. Other visitors to that site will be able to click on your avatar and then visit the sites that you have added to your MyBlogLog account. By simply surfing the web you are able to gain exposure to your own websites. Here you’ll also need to validate that you are the the site owner by uploading a simple snippet of code. And you’ll have to do the same in order to add the MyBlogLog section to your site’s sidebar. You’ll be able to customize how it’s displayed so that it can work with your site’s theme and layout. You don’t have to add a MyBlogLog section to your own website in order to use the system, but I think that people might appreciate knowing that there are other visitors going to your website. It might validate the value of the site for them. One word of advice though: don’t use your site name or avatar to directory advertise your website (i.e. use a banner ad for your avatar). MyBlogLog users do not like this and in turn you may receive some negative reactions to your website.
• BlogFlux.com
  BlogFlux is another blog directory similar to Technorati. I don’t think it’s as popular as Technorati but having added one of my sites to it I have seen some visitors trickle in from there (BlogFlux also has a section just for web hosting, if your working on your own web hosting site).

For Web Apps or Services

These sites are sometimes more difficult to expose to the wider web because they don’t necessarily produce fresh public content to act as link weight.

• KillerStartups.com
  With around 1500 RSS readers, KillerStartups is fast becoming a popular destination for people interested in up-and-coming web apps and services. They allow you to submit your own through their website.
  
• AppsMania.com
  AppsMania, created by the fine people from CSSMania, is a showcase for new web apps that you can also submit your site to.
• simplespark.com
  And yet another catalog of websites that you can submit to.

Design-based Recognition

Are you proud of the design of your new website? Then submit it to these design showcase websites:

• CSSMania
  Mentioned above, CSSMania is a popular showcase of websites with fresh and attractive CSS-based website designs
• CSSBeauty
  This website contains a catalog along the same lines as CSSMania. CSSBeauty also takes new site submissions. CSSBeauty also offers an active forum as well as resources for helping flesh out any CSS issues you may have during development of your website.
• DesignSnack.com
  DesignSnack is another design showcase that involves a community that can vote up or down a particular design. If others like the design of your website, then visitors to your website could really increase as the design would spread among the community.

Do you know of other good places that you can submit a website to? Please let us know in the comments below.