Successful Blog

What Are You All About?

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By Terez Howard

Do you want me to read your blog? Then tell me about yourself?

Dan Keller recently wrote that blog post, and it got me thinking. When I check out blogs, and I am in the constant state of searching for new content, the absolute first link I click on if I like what I’m reading is the About page.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

  1. Who is this blogger? What does he/she do for a living, and why?
  2. What does this blogger hope to achieve with this blog?
  3. How am I going to benefit from following it? Am I going to benefit at all?

I ask myself these questions every time I click on that About link. But I’ve never put them in writing. Now that I have, I feel I have some work to do. Are you giving your readers this basic information?

You know you need a change, but how?

So, I look at my About page on my blog, and it answers what I hope to achieve with my blog. That’s about it. I’d say this is the easiest question to answer. Most, if not all bloggers, know what they are writing about. This is the time to provide a brief synopsis to your readers. Simple.

Looking back at my About page, it doesn’t say who I am. How can I, and maybe you, too, get personal? I would like to tell readers:

  • How long I’ve been writing
  • Where I’ve written
  • Why I love writing
  • What I do for a living
  • A little about my family (They’re my life!)
  • Where I live
  • A fun fact about yourself (Be creative.)

I’m going to add a headshot to my About page. Dan recommends posting a quick video so that people can get a glimpse of your personality.

An About page needs to tell people why they would care to read my blog. This is going to be different for every niche. The basic, foremost question you need to answer is:

What are readers going to take away from your blog that they can use?

I only read blogs that somehow relate to my life. For instance, I have natural hair, and I’m constantly looking for new styles, hair care tips and insights. When I’m looking at a new blog, I want that About page to tell me that I’m going to get what I need. Of course, I enjoy reading about personal information, like why a woman went natural and rants on natural hair. But I want to learn something for my hair. It has to be about me to a certain extent.

With that in mind, bloggers write about personal matters. However, if posts never relate to your readers, there will be no readers. Right of the bat, readers can know from your About page that you are going to help them in some way.

Ask yourself:

  • If I were visiting my blog as an outsider, what would type of information would I want to see?
  • How can readers use the information in my posts?
  • Why will readers want to come back to my blog?

Answering these questions can help you get on task for constructing an About page that tells your readers what they want to know. I’m ready to make some changes on my blog.

What else do you include in your About page?

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility.  She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small.  She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Beach Notes: Beach Pen

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When we were walking on the beach today I saw a feather lying on the sand, I said to Des we could use this for Beach Notes today. An instant writing implement. I usually write my beach inspirations with a stone, a stick or a dried sea pod. The beach offers so many opportunities for improvisation and creativity.

beach-pen

Amazing how ideas appear just in time.

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

Cool Tool Review: GTD Software

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Todd Hoskins chooses and uses tools and products that could belong in an entrepreneurial business toolkit. He’ll be checking out how useful they are to folks who would be their customers in a form that’s consistent and relevant.

Cool Tool Review: GTD Software
A Review by Todd Hoskins

Are you a taskmaster?

If you’re like me, the answer is “sometimes.” Becoming focused on tasks and ferociously managing a checklist of To-Do’s has some risks including:

1. You forget the big picture. Vision and purpose disappear, and you adopt the perspective of the mouse rather than the eagle, moving from one crumb to the next.

2. You get overwhelmed by the amount of tasks to be done. Losing sight of priorities and limitations, you shut down, or do the easy/fun/random task rather than being focused and thoughtful.

3. You tackle the urgent rather than the important. Eating only when you are starving leads to peaks and valleys in energy, and creates a domino effect of bad habits.

4. You do what everyone else needs you to do. Not paying attention to your own needs and desires leads to resentment, depression, and lifelessness.

5. You rebel against obligation. Some addiction or distraction pulls you away from responsibility and you play the proverbial round of golf while the mortgage is 60 days overdue. The internal cry of “F*** this!” is a sign that some combination of risks 1,2,3, and 4 are demanding your attention.

The reason David Allen’s Getting Things Done system has become so popular is that we all get overwhelmed, lose focus, and find less satisfaction in the “raking leaves syndrome” of working than we want. Also, the concept of Getting Things Done is meant to be applied to your whole life, not just your job or business. It’s a great feeling when we are moving towards goals, personally and professionally, and on a daily basis enjoying the sense that “I was productive. I was focused. I did what I wanted to do. I did what I needed to do. And I am moving towards accomplishing what is important to me.”

The psychological basis of GTD is simply that we spend too much of our time with too much information in our head. The key is to get it out of our head, and onto paper (or software). Leo Babauta provides a great introduction here. The checklist by itself fails to recognize that many tasks must be done to complete a project (“Buy vacation condo” and “Send email to Dad” are not comparable). Ideas become projects that then are broken down into tasks. Then, the tasks must be prioritized and put in context – What can be done at home? On errands? At the office?

For me, GTD was a godsend. I juggle fatherhood, multiple clients, creative projects, websites, relationships, social events, and domestic activities. “Getting it all out” in order to get it done forces me to reevaluate what I’m doing, and lets me occasionally experience the bliss of flow.

So, after some research and conversations with other GTD believers, I can recommend the following software on their respective platforms.

Mac: OmniFocus is the favorite premium offering with lots of slick features, but for the money (donationware), the best is iGTD. “It works how I think,” said one user.

PC: Avoid the Outlook plug-ins, as they tend to make email the primary focus rather than an additional feature. Nozbe is built for individuals and organizations, and also works with Evernote. Nozbe also has an iPhone and iPad app. For installed software, Wieldy is nice and simple. I tried it, and found it useful, but I’m too dependent on my mobile device, and I prefer the cloud over a local program.

Android: ActionComplete gets the nod. The coolest feature is that it can be location-enabled. reminding you of tasks based on your geographical coordinates (You are close to the dry cleaners!)

Summing Up – Is it worth it?

Enterprise Value: 3/5 – GTD does not resonate with everyone, therefore it’s hard to implement for large organizations. Look at Nozbe. Also, Backpack is a good enterprise tool and GTD-friendly.

Entrepreneur Value: 5/5 – Focus. How many entrepreneurs do you know who need focus?

Personal Value: 5/5 – Getting your life in order + making dreams a reality!

Let me know what you think!

Todd Hoskins helps small and medium sized businesses plan for the future, and execute in the present. With a background in sales, marketing, and technology, he works with executives to help create thriving organizations through developing and clarifying values, strategies, and tactics. You can learn more at VisualCV, or contact him on Twitter.

When You Need To Reinvent The Wheel, Build A Hover Car

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By Terez Howard

Recently, I’ve felt like my blogging has become perfunctory.

The reason? It could be that my family took several vacations this summer. We were away for a combined total of three weeks out of three months. Each time that I returned home, I felt less and less energized to do my work. I wrote without a real purpose

My partner, Jael, and I have both been feeling like our blog needs a defibrillator.

Reinventing the wheel

What do you do when you feel like you are regurgitating the same information on your blog? Reinvent the wheel! What I mean is that you try something new to infuse life into your blog. What are your options?

Here are few that I came up with:

  • Invite guest bloggers to share some fresh ideas.
  • Spotlight notable individuals in your niche market.
  • Include a different medium in your blog, such as video or audio.
  • Expand your niche, or add another.

As you reinvent the wheel, you need to have a plan. I recently got to speak with Liz, and I’m sure that she would not mind me sharing this priceless tip she shared with me.

Get organized

Liz suggested to create a weekly or monthly calendar for a blog. It could look something like this:

  • Monday – Inspirational post
  • Tuesday – Business post
  • Wednesday – Review
  • Thursday – Guest blogger’s post
  • Friday – Interview

Every week would have the same routine. Now, I don’t claim to be an expert, but I like to think of myself as a reasoning person. I consider myself a very organized person. After she told me this simple idea, I had one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” moments.

It’s OK that I didn’t come up with this and that my organizational skills did not spill into my blog. I’m just grateful that someone wised me up to this level of organization.

My plan for a hover car

So, I’m going to reinvent my wheel by scheduling a certain type of post each day I publish a post. After I get that established, I will create a detailed monthly calendar, which outlines what I’m going to write about. Of course, if I’m struck by a lightning moment, I will blog about that and push my prescheduled post to the next week or month.

I figure that if I get very organized about my writing, I will maintain my excitement for writing, rather than fall into the perfunctory state I was in. Also, when I have a plan and a purpose, I feel more driven to reach my goal.

How do you keep your blog filled with fresh ideas? What’s your plan and purpose?

—
Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility.  She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small.  She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Cool Tool Review: FastMule

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Todd Hoskins chooses and uses tools and products that could belong in an entrepreneurial business toolkit. He’ll be checking out how useful they are to folks who would be their customers in a form that’s consistent and relevant.

Cool Tool Review: FastMule
A Review by Todd Hoskins

running-mule

Most of us have our fail-to-backup stories. For me, it was three years worth of financial records. At the time, I was backing up my music collection, but not my expenses, transactions, and bills. What does that say about me?

Cloud storage has changed the way we think about carrying around portable hard drives. No more need to worry about mysterious noises originating from hardware, or floods, or thieves, or Johnny discovering the poetry you are secretly writing. As long as you trust whomever is managing “the cloud” and are rigorous about your passwords, all your vital stuff can be safely stored in cyberspace.

Fastmule has a funny name, but a valuable service. While cloud storage has been accessible for awhile (measured in interweb time), Fastmule gives you up to 2 GB of storage for free, or unlimited storage for $50 a year.

So, employee and customer records, bookkeeping, taxes, anything prefer to keep rather than shred. Think of how clean you can now keep your desktop. Think about how you can sleep at night knowing every piece of valuable data is locked away.

Using Fastmule is very simple. After the install, a folder is set up on your desktop. Simply move the files and documents you want to backup into the folder, and then they are magically copied into your little vault in the sky. (Actually they’re on a server somewhere, but thinking literally about locked clouds is fun). The data transfer is encrypted – no one is going to steal your valuable data in transit.

fastmule

Summing Up – Is it worth it?

Enterprise Value: 1/5 – Lack of administering permissions make Fastmule better suited for small companies

Entrepreneur Value: 4/5 – Cheap. Encrypted. Easy. U/X and support could be improved

Personal Value: 4/5 – Pictures, video, music, journals, love notes – make your own cybertreasure chest

Let me know what you think!

Image courtesy of Jackiem552 on Flickr

Todd Hoskins helps small and medium sized businesses plan for the future, and execute in the present. With a background in sales, marketing, and technology, he works with executives to help create thriving organizations through developing and clarifying values, strategies, and tactics. You can learn more at VisualCV, or contact him on Twitter.

What A Timeshare Presentation And Blogging Have In Common

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By Terez Howard
When I went on vacation a couple weeks ago, my family was stopped on the street by a woman trying to get people to sign up for timeshares. We had no interest in purchasing a timeshare, but we agreed to listen to the presentation for the free gift cards to restaurants at the Virginia Beach resort.
After listening to the sales pitch and taking a tour of the condo we could have bought, the saleswoman asked us what we thought.

“We like what you have. The accommodations are beautiful,” we told her. “But we don’t see the value for our family.”

We just took a ten-night vacation and paid nothing for our rooms in three different hotels. Two of those nights were spent with my brother, but the rest were paid with credit card points we had accumulated.

After we revealed our travel secret, I wondered how this salesperson was going to try to hook us. Was she going to try to convince us that we could get a cheaper package? Was she going to say that the rooms we stay in are sub-par compared to their condos? What was her bait going to be?

Instead, she said that if people were as smart as we were, there would be no need for timeshares. She gave us our gift cards, and we walked.

What does this presentation and blogging have in common?

Well, a blogger can have a life-changing message or a time-saving product to share on her blog. Personally, I believe in the way that my family goes on trips. It works very well for us, and we save hundreds of dollars.

This is the bottom line: It’s not for everyone.

That saleswoman was willing to admit that their timeshares did not compare with what we do. To spend hundreds of dollars each month or to spend nothing? There’s no contest.

We bloggers get very passionate about our subjects, and we should not be afraid to bite the bullet and stand out. However, we do not and will not always have the best idea or product for every person in our market. We have to be open to admit that we do not have the best in every instance.

Humility is a virtue

I know that patience is a virtue, but I think that being humble is necessary to a being successful blogger. Some people might just be in it for the gift cards, like I was. In other words, some readers might want your valuable information and not want to buy into the whole package. That does not mean you are a failure.

It actually could mean the exact opposite. I will never forget this timeshare company. My husband and I decided that we would do our research to see if we could gain a profit from owning a timeshare.

If your blog is unforgettable, you have done your job.

 

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!