Liz, Author at Successful Blog Page

Link Love for Making Us Smarter

Today I’m celebrating official Blogtipping Day. How about you? As the song goes “Give a little bit . . .” Here’s how it works.

Choose three bloggers you admire and link to them.
List three reasons why you admire each one.
Then add a tip at the end.

That’s all there is to it.

Improbulus

When I go to your blog, A Consuming Experience, I know that I’ll find deep content that’s unique and useful.
You test the tutorials and tools that you discover. I can trust that your review is what it says.
I don’t know what you do when you’re not blogging, but I’d like to suggest some software companies who could use your documentation skills.

Tip: Happy New Year! Are you best friends with your header? It might be fun to plan a new one for the new year. I would rewrite your description as bad poetry . . . Just kidding.

Lorelle VanFossen

It’s a favorite trip to visit Lorelle at WordPress. I’m always surprised and delighted at what I find there to get my brain going.
Lorrelle, you write posts about how folks get ideas, but you have so many. Every post has a new and interesting twist. I’m always amazed by them.
You know your stuff, but you translate so that nongeeky folks like me can understand what it’s about.

Tip: You’ve gotten so good at this . . . could you mess up once in a while?

Becky McCray

One visit to Small Biz Survival and I get my energy renewed and my spirit lifted.
Becky, your new design is an example of how a small biz can present itself and I applaud every one of your brag backet features!
Your ideas are fresh and yet, the’re imminently doable. They work in Oklahoma and the big city.

Tip: I might be missing it, but I don’t think you talk enough about ALL OF THE THINGS YOU DO SO WELL. I know you brag once in a while, but one conversation let me know that it’s so understated.

Thanks to all three of you for bringing positivity to the blogosphere. I’m smiling just to think of the contribution you make.

–Me “Liz” Strauss

New Year’s Eve Snacks and Beverages in the Sidebar

December 31, 2006 by Liz

Holidays Come with Traditions

This holiday brings celebrations of things to come . . . of great things that have happened . . . and of great burdens that we have faced down. Congratulations on having made it through another year! May you have a great one before you filled with happiness, joy, and wonder.

I’m happy to be here tonight, making sure that there’s at least one safe place open with plenty of snacks and beverages in the sidebar. If you need anything, I’m right in your computer, enjoy the evening and follow the usual rule — be nice.

Be nice to everyone. Don’t drink and blog.

Happy New Year’s Eve,

Your local saloonkeeper’s daughter.
Liz's Signature

Related
My Blogging Goal

The Cool Kidâs Guide to Blogging in 2007

December 31, 2006 by Liz

The Baton and Disclaimer

A friend and reader, and very intelligent person, Amrit Hallan, who writes the Content and Copywriting Blog made 6 Predictions for 2007. At the end of his post he passed the baton for predicting the future to four others. I was one of the four that he chose.

The Disclaimer: Anyone who wore brown knee socks in high school — as I did — cannot claim the title of “Cool Kid.” However, it is just that fact that makes me “acool” — as in apolitical or asymptomatic — the right person to write this guide. You see, the inherently acool become great observers. We watch the cool kids to see what makes them tick and how their rules of survival work. That said, I move on to the guide.

The Cool Kid’s Guide to Blogging in 2007

Who exactly are the cool kids of blogging? Who will be the cool kids in 2007? What do cool bloggers do? What won’t they have time for? I talk to several bloggers every day on my cell phone. I read their blogs and have conversations in comment boxes. What pattens come through from all of that fodder?

Here’s what I’m finding from this informal data. Things this year are different from last year. Things next year will be a new again. Cool kids don’t let things stay the same for long.

Having Fun and Learning: Cool kids are no longer enthusiatic beginners. They are serious bloggers having fun at it. They are no longer tweaking templates for discovery. They know exactly what they want to do. XTML, HTML, CSS, PHP, aren’t new toys to learn, they’re a means to an end. If they can’t do it, they’ll find, hire, or barter with someone who can.
Focus: Cool kids know whether they’re information or relationship bloggers. Either way they are narrowing their focus. They are dropping feeds that don’t provide what they’re seeking. Cool kids talk about blogs they have outgrown and things they now know that they never used to. They no longer spend hours looking for new blogs. They find themselves in new places by going where their friends already are. Cool kids are starting to read books again — some never stopped.
Branding: Cool kids are going narrower and deeper. They’ve got a blogging identity. They’ve found a unique and authentic voice. Cool kids know their brand, their readers, and their blogging style.
Communities: Cool kids don’t worry about Social Networking. That’s so five minutes ago. It will have to evolve to exist next year. Cool kids only go to MyBlogLog regularly and peek in on the others when they have a special need to. No Cool Kid that I know has figured out a genuine use for LinkedIn or its clones.
Writing: Cool kids are becoming writers and they’re doing what they can to be even better at words in print. Content and communication is the beginning, middle, and end for every cool kid online.
SEO: Google loves cool kids because cool kids don’t game the system. They blog for readers and know the spiders will do the rest. They link and stay connected, because they value the thoughts of others.
Thought Leadership: Cool kids have stopped being snarky, started thinking deeper, and learned that self-promotion doesn’t win a prize. They’re not buzzword crazy. Cool kids talk with words that humans use.
Productivity and Listening: Cool kids have nearly reached the end of their need for productivity tools. They’re becoming less enamored with multitasking — except talking with friends while consuming food and drink. Cool kids know that listening is a value we shouldn’t lose.
Beta toys: Cool kids don’t need to download more stuff. Invitations to betas are a dead idea. Don’t talk to them about being a user. They know what they need and what they know. You won’t get their attention with anything less than spectacular, and then it better fit their niche.
Blogging and the World: Cool kids have quit trying to prove something. They no longer worry about whether grandma, the media, or anyone else doesn’t understand what a blog is.

Cool kids have a beginner’s mind and an independent, helpful spirit. They love, listen, and learn all at the same time.

If you want to be a cool kid in blogging in 2007, it isn’t hard to do — just keep a couple of things in mind. No one makes the blogosphere run and no one needs to make that sure it does. Being helpful, not hypeful still wins respect, and respect is still how relationships thrive.

It’s awfully nice to be in a place where everyone can be cool, by showing respect. I guess that’s why it’s called the IN-ternet.

To the IN-credible, IN-telligent, IN-sightful readers of Successful-Blog, may your 2007 be ever so very cool.

Liz's Signature

Jesse Petersen Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

December 30, 2006 by Liz

Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Jesse there?

I found an email in my old Successful Blog account. It was from a young man named Jesse offering to do a guest post. I suggested to him that we have a B.A.D. Blogger call. That’s how we came to talk. Jesse Petersen is one interesting man to have a conversation with.

Jesse told me that he got married a few months ago. We talked about the first year of being married. We discussed the way the world changes how it looks at person the second that the wedding takes place. That it changes the way we look at ourselves, our jobs, and our lives and how everything fits our world view.

Jesse told me that he’s technical editor for flight simulators. I asked him what that meant. He said he translated and trued up the documentation. I laughed and said it must be a lot like the work that I used to do on educational textbooks. We found a lot of places where the two jobs were the same. Jesse said he had an affinity for formatting the documents. I told him that was also my favorite part. We talked about the difficulties in turning what engineers wrote into prose that regular people might read. I mentioned an engineering text I worked on last year that had engineering editors from four different countries. I think we moaned in a sort of harmony, understanding the unique misery.

Jesse and I discussed the post that he wanted to write for Successful Blog. He was looking for feedback and was ready to hear what people had to say. I told him if he would rewrite what he sent that I would edit it. He said he’d be happy to.

Jesse sent a sincere and honest post asking how he might make a difference. The post went up. The discussion was interactive and enlightening. Jesse listened to the answers he got, and the answers he got were the best in the blogosphere.

I think Jesse will find that difference.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

I like the interaction of hearing people respond and knowing what people think about what I think whatever that is. — Jesse Petersen

Stop by Jesse’s Blog, Gitr’s WoW Blog, and say hi!

Thanks, Jesse, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Thanks to Week 62 SOBs

December 30, 2006 by Liz

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

muddy teal strip A

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

New Year’s Resolutions, No! How to Make Positive Changes that Have Meaning and Stick

December 30, 2006 by Liz

Never Made One Yet

The first time I encountered the term, New Year’s Resolution, was in the comic strip, Peanuts, by Charles M. Shultz. I was 8, maybe 9, years old, and Peanuts was the top comic in the Chicago Tribune. As I went through the comic strips that day, making resolutions was a recurring theme in them.

I found the idea of New Year’s Resolutions curious, and I wondered why I’d never heard of them. I sought out the only available expert I knew. I asked my mom.

My mom answered, “Because most folks make resolutions and forget them the very next day. That’s just not how most people change.”

I can still tap into the relief I felt when she said that. My imagination had made this ferocious picture of what a resolution was. I had seen myself climbing into a splintery, wooden shipping crate labeled “FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH NO HOPE OF EVER GETTING OUT.”

Thanks to that conversation about New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve never made made one yet.

New Year’s Resolutions a New Approach

On Open Comment Night December 5th, the subject of New Year’s Resolutions came up. We agreed that they don’t work as a list. Christine Kane explained her approach was to choose a word. Ben took that idea back as the Absolute Best Way and described it on his Instigator Blog.

Boy, I sure like their ideas a lot!

But I need more than that to execute — if I want to make a positive change that will stay with me. So if Ben and Christine don’t mind, I’m going to expand on the spirit of their ideas, knowing they already “get” it.

How to Make Positive Changes that Have Meaning and Stick

Changing habits is hard to do. The hard part is getting the new ones to stick. It’s easier when we approach our habits the way we approach our tasks and our skills — knowing our goal, not taking on too much, and making use of the “do over” rule when we need it.

Here’s how to make your positive changes stick.

Choose one thing to change. One thing done is always better than 12 things started. If you’re working on gratitude, you might narrow it to saying thank you and meaning it. If you’re working on snacking you might replace one snack food with a healthful one or one time that you snack with another activity.

Write your choice down and define it as an objective. I will say thank you out loud and give a brief reason for my gratitude when folks do things simple for me, such as listen to my ideas, and I’ll note their response. Now you know it is that you’re going for and you’ve got a clear objective.

Make it measurable and make a measurement goal that increases. The measure can be simple. It might be how many smiles a day you get. Without a measure though, a goal is easy to lose track of or forget. How will you know if you’re getting better without a measurement?

Check in at the end of the day to see how you did. Record your measurement and compare it to yesterday. Plan for tomorrow, but don’t think about next year — that’s a lifetime away.

Forgive yourself when you slip or have a bad day. Everyone does that. Don’t give up — with that response no one ever would learn to bicycle, skate, or be a leader in any sense. Pick up where you left off, knowing the practice you already have will make the forward momentum that much easier.

Celebrate your successes when you have a great day. When you live up to the change you are going for, let yourself know that by doing something really cool with a friend, taking in a great movie, CD, or book, or whatever else feels like a reward.

When the change is fully a part of you, go on back to choose another positive to add to what you do.

Changing habits is like taking on new skills. We need to make room to learn, see progress, dust off our mistakes, and celebrate our successes. We’ve been doing that since we went to school. It’s what learning is.

Take a word from Christine and Ben, don’t make a resolution. Make a change that is meaningful.

When you make a positive change that sticks, other positive things will happen too. You’ll also be changing the world just a bit.

New Year’s Resolutions. Positive changes in the world. Have you thought about this? The quickest way to change other folks’ behavior is to change our own?

Thank you for that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss