We all teach each other.
We all live for each other.
What else is there?

I am so grateful.

That is all.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Something blogging has taught me a lot about — not just the beauty of paying attention to one thing at a time — but the fulfillment of offering other people a chance to talk.

Half the show is in the comments. Thank you HART for saying that!

That was one of the first things we discovered here.

When I first started blogging, I often tried to do too much. I’d write a post that carried the load of too many thoughts at one time. Those blogging posts went both deep and wide. They were so complete, I left no room for readers to add their thoughts.

It’s not a conversation when all a reader can say is I agree with you, Great post. or You covered that subject really well. There’s just nowhere for a conversation to go, if I don’t leave room for a reader’s thoughts to squeeze in between my own. Now I know to think about the conversation when I write.

Here are a few things that I do differently now. What they add up to is staying in the mind of a beginner.

• I ask more questions without answering them.
• I don’t try to think through every possibility as I used to do. I write what I know and I let other folks add what they know to that.
• I’ve backed off on holding myself accountable as an expert on the what I write about and instead, think of myself as one of the audience talking to another reader about an idea, waiting to hear his or her point of view.

The result? This social media beginner is having so much more fun than any teacher … and feeling so much more authentic.

What do you do to stay a social media beginner?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Blogs tell stories. 

There are different elements within a blog that make people care about your blog. Joel Kelly would suggest these are “the story, the content and the offer”. All of this makes sense but, what happens when the story you’re trying to tell isn’t the one people hear? What happens when the conversation that occurs as a result of your story isn’t the one you were hoping would happen? 

People are commenting but totally missing the point of your story? You were writing about X and the conversation that happened was all about Y. 

It’s always great to start a conversation, especially one that leads to building a community, but what if you want to talk about your remarkable insights into marketing strategies, your product or service or just delight people with your amazing writing talent and your audience only picks up on a tiny detail you revealed about your personal life?

I keep mulling that over in my mind. I’ve listened to Brian Clark talk about finding your intersection, your purple cow (although I thought he said elephant). I started blogging on my own site this week. Maybe it’s too soon to tell what people want to hear from me. Or maybe I should take the advice of CCseed and wait for the people to find me that do want to hear what I think I want to say.

Or, maybe, the way I see myself as a writer, as a person, isn’t really what others see.

We’re all storytellers. Whether we practice the art through blogging, writing, painting, photography, film making, song writing, poetry  (I could go on) it doesn’t matter. 

What matters is we’re all telling a story.

Have you had any experience with this?

from Kathryn Jennex aka @northernchick

On Monday while waiting at DFW, I got a back channel message from @LisaDJenkins saying that a friend and potential client had asked for social media help in an area that “wasn’t her thing.” The message said, “Could I recommend you?” I checked it over, saw a nice fit, and said yes.

A relationship started … I haven’t met the client yet, but I’ve gotten to know Lisa pretty well. I wanted to know more about her and what she was doing. Her follow up email and the recommendation she sent her friend were well-written and compelling. A good turn on her part become more than that. Lisa tells the story better than I do.

On the other hand, once I had a conversation with a potential client that became a negotiation via email. We discussed a project in detail. It was a blast talking to him about the project. The conversation was more than worth looking forward to, but as he told me about his expectations, the more I felt I was unable to gather the resources I’d need to do the work to my satisfaction.

It was a sad moment for me. The project had sounded exciting. I’d enjoyed beginning a relationship that was authentic, filled with fun, and an example of with great communication.

I didn’t stay sad very long.

He must have felt the same values. When I declined, that potential client shifted the topic to other projects on which we might work together.

There is a lesson here. It’s one I like believing in.

Ever had a no become a yes like these?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

Guest Host: Lisa D. Jenkins

Starting Out Can Be Scary

The first steps in starting an Internet-based business might be thrilling. They’re also the scariest. We’ll be talking tonight with an entrepreneur who’s making the transition to becoming her own boss now.

• What advice might you offer?
• What questions do you have?
• Does being in a small town make it harder?

And, whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring example links.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
image: burningwell.org
Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

I keep encountering the phrase “in real life.” People use it often to talk about the offline culture. Most of probably first heard that phrase as small children. Our families use it to help us differentiate between fantasy and reality, fact or fiction. It’s education curriculum — a skill essential to literacy and critical thinking — teachers help children sort real versus make believe in schools all over the world.

Out of school and grown, we rely on that skill to navigate information and relationships — to identify competence, credibility, relevance, predictability, integrity, authenticity. We trust what is “real.” We look to uncover fallacy.

It’s how we learn to trust who and what we know. But reality is perception and perception is made of more than information — personal filters and cultural beliefs change our view of what’s authentic.

Hopefully with new information and new experience we changed how we see and what we know.

Culture Shock

Lately I’ve realized that my definition of real life and the words around the online experience need to change. My view hasn’t kept up with the new seamless online and offline line communication world. Here’s how I got to that thought.

When we go to another country, we find another culture. It’s just as likely that we’ll find another culture in the next neighborhood. Culture is a context that frames our reality.

What’s fine and natural in one context can be a reputational blunder in another. We start to “get” this the first time our peer group has different values than our family. Peer culture has different rules.

Vocabulary changes from one culture to another too. The most used definition of community can be a group of like minded thinkers here, a church group there, or a small town depending on the group we’re talking with.

Even the mode of communication has its effect. We dress and act differently in person than we might on the phone. Without the visual input our words have more power and are offered in a verbal behavior set. This tool changes the culture in which it works just that much. Yet we never say that we’re in another world when we talk on the phone or when we text.

AND it’s a new cultural fact: No one wants to hear our cell phone convervastions.

Similarly, online culture is developing rules of behavior that change in different situations too.

Yet because folks have imagined virtual reality that is not all true, we’ve developed this mindset that being online isn’t the real world when in fact, the Internet is just another set of tools.

Being online isn’t another world … it’s a set of tools in another culture paradigm. It’s no less the real world than being on the phone.

To be visibly authentic in every conversation in every every culture, it’s important to be aware that media only mediates relationships and it only causes contextual cultural shifts. .

The media we use doesn’t define real life.
Media doesn’t change the world, people do.

Is your definition of real life out of date too?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

JOIN US TONIGHT AT 7PM

Guest Host: Lisa D. Jenkins

Starting Out Can Be Scary

The first steps in starting an Internet-based business might be thrilling. They’re also the scariest. We’ll be talking tonight with an entrepreneur who’s making the transition to becoming her own boss now.

Oh, and bring example links and bring some perspective!

The rules are simple — be nice.

Do be nice.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

If you watch cable television carefully, you will see an interview clip from one program replayed again in another program. Perhaps you’ve had the feeling you’ve seen a show before, but then again . . . maybe not? Packaging and repackaging bits of content makes it worth more and last longer. Five uses for the same content stretches the corporate dollar.

It seems backwards doesn’t it . . . to reuse content in a time when there is so much of it? But it makes sense. If I know my content is accurate and high quality, I should share it with as large an audience as I can — particularly in this time of attention economy.

So Much Content . . . Why?

The amount of content and information available is more than anyone can read, yet we are all being asked to know more, and more, and more. If there’s so much content already, it seems miserly to repackage what is already published?

Not necessarily.

There are valid reasons to repackage content in this age of attention economy. Repackaging and repurposing content allows a publisher

• to custom publish for individual niche markets.
• to focus publications on key principles they want to highlight.
• to show their flexibility in the marketplace.
• to give old customers new reasons to buy.

Granted, those three points actually say the same thing in different ways. That’s exactly what repackaging is — tailoring content to suit the needs of the audience.

Just as some conversations are meant for an email, some for a meeting, and some are meant to be shared in person … content can be designed to fit the needs of the situation.

Giving the readers what they want instead of what we think they need — that’s a concept worth exploring. Much of existing content probably suits existing needs, if only we would structure it in way that our readers found it relevant and offer it so that they could use it as they want to rather than as we think they should.

How many ways do you offer your content? Just one? Is that enough?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

One morning recently at the beach we were reminded that in life as in business one needs to be open to opportunities.

As we walked onto the beach we saw the at the waters edge fisherman’s boats and trucks. One of the trucks had other walkers gathering around. As we got closer we realized they were buying fish fresh from the sea, the first time we have seen this happen in 5 years.

The still live fish were being offered for a ridiculously small sum of $1 a fish. All we needed was a bag and $1 for a fresh fish breakfast!

One bag less but enterprising woman with her newspaper money spread her jacket on the sand in lieu of a bag.

We don’t take money to the beach and missed the opportunity for fresh fish for breakfast.

Now days we keep spare money and bags in the car. Next time the fisherman appear we will be ready.

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

---

---

---

---

---

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss