It's midnight and I'm still hammering out the scope of my business plan - to bring technology to rural areas and businesses across Virginia. While the rest of the world is up to their eyeballs in beta programs for everything from eyejot to friendfeed and twittering like blackbirds in a dead oak tree, most rural residents don't even have internet at home. If they do, it's most likely to be dial-up, or an aircard they can down load email from.

Small business owners may have it at work, but many don't have time to surf the web or play online when they're running a business. They want to be connected, but don't know how. They don't understand what goes into creating a webpage, or what value they can bring, so they're reluctant to spend the equivalent of the cost of a used pick-up truck to get one.

They *get* the concept of social media - it's like meeting up at the grange hall or extension office, only on a computer.

One business, one farmer, or crafter or small business at at time doesn't generate the Cha-Ching factor of a large group of individuals. So, they're left pretty much on their own - to market, grow and make their mom & pop shops survive without the internet. Will they be able to do it?

I don't know. But I'm doing what I can to help. In 2009 I'll be hitting the backroads in VA in an RV, with my dog and a few flip-cameras and hopefully a few laptops, so I can teach basic internet skills - setting up a website, using social media, blogging, internet marketing - to residents in rural areas around the state.

I've teamed up partly with the Small Business Development Center here. I've created one social media site - with approximately 60 members - and have been hired to create four more sites around the state. The goal? Get rural areas online and interactive. Preserve and promote small businesses and bring rural businesses online.

As a former photojournalist I'm using my multi-media skills, writing ability and my knack at working with rural businesses and people to document the journey along the way. I'll be teaching, interviewing, posting and blogging about the ups and downs and posting my multi-media stuff and my journal and stories online - hopefully here, and at several other sites I'm in the process of setting up.

Looking forward to it and hope you are too.