Successful Blog

Drew McLellan Has a Gift for Graduates

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No Wrapping Required

drews-grad.jpg

If you’re a parent, you know . . . that the best advice your graduate will get could be your ideas and your experience expressed in someone else’s words.

If you’ve had experience beyond school, you know . . . that those share what they learned about where you’re ready to go can make the world a whole lot easier to navigate.

Back in March, Drew McLellan invited many people to share what they know about how to get that first job. Here’s what he said,

When you have a couple minutes, would you consider swinging by my place and adding your 2-cents? I don’t know about you — but I still remember how nervous I was and how desperately I wanted someone to give me a chance. I’d like to create a tool so the next generation can get over those nerves a little faster/easier with our help.

Drew’s request was generous. He was repaid in kind. The eBook that he made is complete and available now in two forms for you and your graduate.

In the pages you’ll find, words of wisdom from these professionals:

Take a minute to look at the names in that list.

Drew, that’s some list of friends you have!
Thanks for what it took to put this together.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

David Armano Was Drawing Conclusions Yesterday

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I agree

Look what David Armano has noticed something about business and blogging. Click his logo to take a look at what he said yesterday.

I agree.

In fact, as a web publisher who blogs, I inviteyou to consider this question posed by Robert Hruzek: How Has Blogging Changed You?

I’ll start. My answer’s in the comments.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

In This World of Amazing, Profound, and Frivolous Thinkings . . .

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Big Idea

I spend a lot of time in my head. Believe me, you don’t want to visit. It’s terribly unorganized to someone not from here.

My head is filled with fodder, kindling, string and ribbon. Sunlight shines on old blue jeans and comic books, on dancing shoes, and my younger, older brother’s junk drawer.

You can see the lights of a carnival at night, complete with the Ferris wheel, . . . and cotton candy, and plastic ducks in water. My older, older brother’s books are stacked tall in the corner.

Stories sit on a shelf, hoping I’ll find a reason to tell them.

Clothing hangs in bags above a wooden floor, that has the words, music, love, and people once written in the dust by a little girl’s finger. The letters are artful and lasting.

A world view from atop an elephant — I wasn’t the least bit scared because my dad was on the ground watching me — adds a gloriously inviting perspective. The colors turn to black and white and back again to the entire spectrum, even the shades we can’t see.

And the breathtaking harmonies whisper softly most days, except when someone is unhappy. Then minor chords filter through on a breeze too quiet, and too serene.

The best part is that no ceiling, no walls, define this bit of a place. I like to think I planned it that way, but who’s to say that’s so or isn’t? I only know it works best that it’s that way.

It’s where I imagine, wonder, puzzle, marvel, sense, and reckon, devise, remember, create, and conjure. It’s there I have ideas of amazing size or shape about profound and frivolous conceptual things.

In this world of amazing, profound, and frivolous thinkings . . . I have a big idea.

It’s as big as the world, and it’s getting bigger.

Wouldn’t it seem natural that our ideas should expand as we figure out what’s inside of our heads?

Liz's Signature

We Talked About Monsters . . . Well, Most of the Time

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Monsters Weren’t All that Scary

Hi Everyone! We talked about monsters. Who would have guessed that there could be so much to say that we hardly even scratched the surface? We never got to the Creature of the Black Lagoon . . . or t

It was a busy night. We were talking about

You can read all about it in the comments.

Here are some cool links we shared.

Thanks to everyone for the cool links and for being part of the conversation.

See you next Tuesday? I sure hope so.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

WANT TO GUEST HOST AN OPEN COMMENT NIGHT WITH ME? PICK A THEME AND TELL ME ABOUT IT. C’MON IT’LL BE FUN!

Questions to Get Closer to Your Brand: Question 1

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Questions to Get Closer to Your Brand

This is a series of questions, I don’t know how many. They are the ones I ask when I help folks get closer to their brand.

When you talk to your friends, what do you talk most about?

I’ll answer first to get things started.

What do you notice about my comment?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related
The Finest Way to Introduce Your Brand or Live a Life
Branding: 5 Ways to Help You Find Out Who You Are

Technorati 2007 — The Keyword Is Simple!

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Simple Is Elegant

technorati 2007

Today Technorati has unveiled a new site redesign that changes how it works from the deep backend to the beautiful, easy-on-the-eyes home page. The changes have been in the works since January 2007 and are made to reflect the new living web and people, like us, who live and work here. David Sifry explained it this way.

Whereas folks using Technorati a couple of years ago were predominantly coming to us to search the blogosphere to surface the conversations that were most interesting to them, today they are increasingly coming to our site to get the 360 degree context of the Live Web – blogs of course, but also user-generated video, photos, podcasts, music, games and more. They want all the good stuff out there, all in real-time, and we’re using the power of 80 million bloggers to help organize it and make it fun to browse; using the wisdom of crowds as a mirror on ourselves.

homepage at technorati 2007

Finally, the Keyword Is Simple!

You won’t hear me complaining about more bells and whistles this time. Finally, with a long hard look, the team has backed off what doesn’t work and put their stock in a new keyword — simple.

Here are some of the changes you’ll find when you go there.

  • Simpler interface. Everything is easier on the eyes and easier on the brain. Lots less visual noise.
  • Simpler context. Preview information is useful and cut back to speed up load times.
  • Simpler search. No more search silos, i.e. keyword search, tag search and blog directory search. One search gets you everything across the Live Web — blogs, posts, photos, videos, podcasts, events, and more.
  • New simple streamlined blogsearch. A new blog-only search homepage at search.technorati.com (an easy shortcut is s.technorati.com)

    technorati fast blog search 2007

Technorati has been listening. You can see it everywhere. I won’t ruin all of the cool stuff. But don’t miss the tickertape. It’s just fun — the web alive, on the move.

Sure, I bet you’ll find a few kinks to work out. If you do, feel free to leave word here. I’ll pass your issues along all at once for everyone’s benefit in getting problems fixed.

Sometimes we forget that Technorati is a small business, not some Google-sized corporation. It’s 45 people who are grateful when we remember to say, “thank you.”

Thank you, Dave, Janice, and Liz. Thank you to the entire team for listening and for a fabulous job! Good luck in catching all of those pesky bugs.
Liz

See Also
Come check out the refreshed www.technorati.com!
The Technorati Blog May 23rd