Successful Blog

How To Write Great Blog Posts – Quickly

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Successfully Working From a Home-based Office

A blog is a convenient tool that can serve many purposes. It can be used to chronicle personal events, marketing or branding. There are millions of blogs on the internet and the competition is fierce. The job of the blog writer is to write interesting posts so that it proves useful to the readers and keeps the search engines interested. The onus should on writing quality articles and not on increasing the number of articles mindlessly.

Think of blog post ideas

You should devote some time to think of blog post ideas or go into the admin section of the blog and add them in the drafts. This will save a lot of time and you can find the topics very easily. You can also think of using a timer if you take a lot of time in writing a single article. Once you are using a timer you will not be tempted to check your email or open the social networking page in the middle of writing an article. Always try to complete your articles before the deadline that you set.

Write what’s in your mind

This is the simplest way to write. Just write what’s in your brain at the moment. Choose a topic from your list, give yourself a 60 min time and start writing. Just keep writing whatever comes to your mind so that you do not lose the flow. If there are any spelling errors, you can always correct it later. Start by jotting down the facts related to the topic. Then one-by-one starts expanding on those topics and provides useful ideas. Readers are always in search of ‘benefits’ and ‘tips’. So write accordingly.

You can do your own research or just read 2 – 3 articles on the topic and summarize that information in your blog post using your own words. However, copying or duplicating information is strictly unethical. By the time your timer goes off, you should have a reasonably good content at your disposal.

Think of a good headline

All great blog posts boast of good headlines. It is prudent that you think about the headline of the article after you finished writing it. It is always easier to create a catchy and accurate headline once you have finished writing the post.

Add the final touches

Once you have completed writing the post, read through the article at least twice to ensure that there is no phrase which does not sound right. Your post should not sound like an editorial; the reader must feel that you have written the post exclusively for him/her. Talk to the individual and not to the general public.

If there are any spelling errors, correct it. Run the spell check function in MS Word to be doubly sure. If possible add photos to your post as they introduce an element of interest in the article. You can create your own photos or get them from Google but use only those photos which are not copyrighted or has watermark in it. If you follow these guidelines diligently then you can soon write great blog posts quickly.

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Author’s Bio:
About the Author-: Brianne is a freelance writer and writes about most expensive cars and Lamborghini Aventador. She has also written a number of articles for different blogs. She loves writing on technology and luxury. You can find her on Twitter as @Brianne. ”

Thank you, Brianne!

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

Build a house made of bricks

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Rosemary O’Neill

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When my dad used to read me The Three Little Pigs, he’d put a lot of gusto into the Big Bad Wolf’s famous threat…”I’ll huff, and I’ll puff….and I’ll BLOW your house down!” He’s an amazing storyteller, and that one has stayed with me. I always strive to assemble bricks, rather than straw.

Every day on the internet, status updates, blog posts, pins, and various pieces of social flotsam and jetsam flow by. You’re probably contributing to the flow yourself. (I know I am!)

Today’s question is…

Are you contributing anything of lasting value, either to your business or to the world?

Take a look at last week’s social output and see whether any of it will:

  • Be true 3 years from now (evergreen content)
  • Add beauty to the world (original artwork)
  • Teach someone a valuable skill (how-to)
  • Build a searchable resource (SEO)
  • Help make your business case (customer support)
  • Lift others up (inspiration)

You’ve heard of the Three Little Pigs …
Which little pig are you?

The house made of straw – you’ve got a Facebook page, which you haven’t updated in a couple of weeks, and a website that’s “brochure-ware” from 2005. They aren’t linked together. You think you’ll get around to fixing it “someday.”

The house made of twigs – you’ve got an up-to-date website, and social accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, but the content is not connected, and there’s no editorial calendar, no plan behind it. You spend the day flitting around from one platform to the other, ignoring your core business.

The house made of bricks – your website is an interactive, social hub, with deep resources for your customers. It’s optimized for search, and you put out a steady, consistent stream of varied content. Your audience responds and shares their own related content on your site, building a valuable asset that’s under your control. Your social streams are all accessible from one elegant, branded home.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day social whirl, and never take the time to make a blueprint for your house. My recommendation is to set aside a few hours a week to work on the plan, build an editorial calendar, and be sure you’re building with bricks.

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out their blog. You can find her on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee
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When the going gets tough — The Tough don‒t give a damn

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For quite some days, I’ve been caught in a writers’ block. Now, I am a web content writer and writing is my bread and butter. But despite the fact that I felt like writing, and I had quite some ideas to write on, and I felt pretty much capable to write, still I just kept failing at it, failing to put my pen to paper, just like a bird caught under a cast net, who knows and feels he can fly but fails miserably when trying to take off. And there I was, dawdling for weeks and hoping that all of a sudden, the “net” will disappear and I will be able to take to the air … How wrong was I and how wrong is everybody else who thinks procrastinating will somehow put an end to the predicament they are facing.

Problem with dilly-dallying and waiting for the right time is … it never arrives, the time just keeps flying by, and when you are aware that something needs to be done, the passing moments will just keep adding to the pressure, and the mounting pressure will make it even harder for you to do anything about it. And that is exactly what I was going through, and it’s not that it was the first time. In fact, the pressure cooker situations are quite frequent since my early years of education, the time when exams or final dates for assignments were fast approaching and I had spent all the time procrastinating and waiting for my geniuses to arrive (and I am still waiting …). These are the times when it gets tougher and tougher as the time pass, and getting depressed doesn’t help at all, you know that you’ve got to do something, but knowing that “I’ve got to act fast” only adds to the problem.

So what’s the best way to break the shackles, and to avoid giving in to the pressure?

To be honest, there’s a very easy way out. All you need is to follow two simple steps, first give a damn to the circumstances, and second get down and start doing something about it. Problem with getting bogged down by the circumstances is that you get stuck in the paradigm and get paralyzed. It transpires into a downward spiral and you start to fall short at everything, you fail to do a post on a topic when it’s hot, you can’t cash in on a trend or platform when it’s relatively new, you don’t get to pitch your product or services to some potential client you’ve stumbled upon, the opportunities keep slipping away and it gets even harder to come out of the trap, in spite the fact that most of the times, there’s no real trap, it’s all between the ears, a decoy that you shouldn’t even bother about in the first place.

The take-home point for this post is best described in the old adage …”when the going gets tough, the tough gets going” but what I was looking to add is to stop bothering about the tough goings as soon as you’ve got down to work, because if you do, the resulting panic will start consuming the much needed energy and time. So, from now on, when the devil throws the “cast net” by reminding you of the circumstances, you can simply dodge it by not giving a damn and continuing with your work.

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Author’s Bio:

Rahil of www.WeightLossTriumph.com is an Internet Marketing expert and a part time writer. We specializes in reviews of weight loss programs and diet plans. His blog is affiliated with merchants in the diet niche. Part of his marketing strategy involves featuring stories of people who have lost weight successfully and kept it off.

Be Still

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A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

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“Still, still, still…one can hear the falling snow…” That’s the opening of my favorite Christmas carol.

It speaks to something buried deep inside us that craves absolute quiet and solitude. Picture a midnight snowfall, before the footprints. Picture being alone on the beach in the early morning. It doesn’t matter what your spiritual beliefs are, or your religious tradition, we all need to withdraw occasionally from the heat of battle and restore ourselves.

How does this relate to our online selves?

Here are some ideas:

  • White space on the website
  • Pause between questions in the conversation
  • Room to breathe
  • Remove one popup window
  • Say no to animated gifs
  • Clear every single thing off your desk
  • Offer a single button
  • Don’t pitch in every communication
  • Stop keyword stuffing
  • Think for a moment before typing a response
  • Don’t hold yourself to a 5 minute turnaround on all emails
  • Turn off the social alerts for part of the day
  • Cut back on the multitasking

And now that you’ve read this, sit up straight in your chair, close your eyes, and breathe in and out slowly five times. Be still for a moment.
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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee

No Time this Week to Do It Right? Stop! Right There!

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Why Those Four Day Weeks Seem Even Longer

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I’m not sure who make the sure that most holidays would be celebrated on Mondays, but I’d like to to talk to … ahem … brilliant person who first had that backward idea.

The way I see it play out in reality often looks something like this …

  • The Sunday night “impending doom” of the new work week that usually sets in some time Sunday afternoon still shows up sometime Sunday afternoon as we forget that we have Monday off. For just a few moment, thoughts of work intrude on what is supposed to be a “free day,” before we brush them off.

  • The usual Monday buffer that eases us into the rituals of the work week     becomes another Sunday with that “impending doom.” We enjoy the off time, but feel it going, going, and then gone — knowing, knowing and then well aware that we’re facing a week with 20% less time.
  • Tues must rise to the challenge of handling the Monday rituals

    • while carrying the weight of the regularly scheduled Tuesday catch up meetings.

  • And Wednesday through Friday – we fret the time we lost, while reminding each other quite often which day it is because our weekly calendars are screwed up.

Certainly, a better way would have been to choose to offer Fridays as the recurring holiday – Then we’d get our work in order and be able to enjoy the day off without guilt or confusion that the Monday holiday causes. Just a thought.

Of course until that happens, we really ought to give our responses to recurring short weeks a little more thought.

No Time this Week to Do It Right? Stop! Right There!

Rather than “hit the ground,” might I suggest that we stop there, reflect on what actually needs doing and then slow down to thoughtful walk.

Early in my career I heard this saying …

We never have time to do it right, but always have time to do it over.

Short weeks seem to bring out more of that “never have time to do it right thinking” than ever. Part of what gets the momentum of a over-stressed, “no time to do it right” short week going is that we buy into having the same amount to do in less time. We think of ourselves as “time poor.” Time poor thinking is running into a situation because we start out sure that we don’t have enough time to walk. That leads us to

  • shallow planning
  • half-attention
  • inefficient participation
  • false engagement as we “multi-task”
  • unfriendly, hurried responses – that make the work more important than the people we work with
  • hyper-responses to small interruptions
  • an air of contagious agitation

all of which can be alleviated by walking with a “time rich” approach to the the week.
“Time rich” is being generous with the time we have and realizing that we have all of the time we need for important things. We’re more aware of what it means to connect for others who need help. In a short week, that would bring …

  • setting realistic priorities
  • listening and participating fully in important events and conversations
  • focusing and engaging in what can move things forward most efficiently
  • knowing that taking care of the people will often make it so they can take care of the work they do.
  • a welcome response to news and a easy way of making a later date for less urgent to dos
  • an atmosphere of breathing easy and control

I’ve found it’s a truth in my life that
Every time my brain needs to run faster — that’s a time that I need to slow to walk. So I remind myself that …

If we plan it and do it right the first time, we won’t have to do it over at all.

How do you get to “time rich” thinking to do right, when everyone is thinking “time poor”?

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

5 Focus Strategies to Seize the Right Opportunity Right Now!

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The Signal to Noise Issue Isn’t Only On the Internet

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Has it happened to you that you’ve invested your best strategy into landing a chance — an introduction, a project, small job for a potential client. Now is your moment! You can move forward your mission, change your position, take advantage of the changing conditions this chance affords you to leverage your expertise into new rewards and new experiences.

Even on a small scale a new opportunity ripe with potential can set off a world of thinking that undoes our ability to get down to what needs doing. We find ourselves over researching, procrastinating, contemplating the future, and social networking to see what others have done who have had the same experience.

The signal to noise ratio ratio on the Internet may be a distracting influence, but nothing undermines our ability to seize the opportunity right in front of us more than the signal to noise ratio that we allow in our heads.

What We Do That Undoes Us

In faster than you can fragment a computer, we fragment our heads and convince our hearts that they’re not a part of what we’re doing. We get busy with thoughts past and future and irrelevant arguments about what we could, should, or might be doing. Does any of this sound the least bit familiar? We fill our heads with

  • how we’re the wrong person to do this.
  • how we’re much better suited to be doing what we’re always doing. .
  • how people won’t respond well to what we end up doing.
  • how while we do this we might be missing other exciting opportunities.
  • how our results have backfired or fallen flat in the past.

    • And the big one …

  • how boring, uninteresting, long, hard, difficult, not fun, time-consuming and beyond our abilities we’ll find this new opportunity — among the 23,067 other reasons we might have for not doing it.

All of which are centered in the past or the future, not the current reality.

5 Focus Strategies to Seize the Right Opportunity Right in Front of You Now!

How do you know that you’ve got the right opportunity? A well-chosen opportunity is a match of our skills with enough challenge that we’re the perfect halfway between anxiety and boredom. We’ll need to stretch just a little bit, learn a few things as we’re doing it, but that will keep our concentration.

If you’ve chosen the right opportunity, the key is to focus and to stay completely in the moment. NOW is the only moment and the opportunity is the only the focus. Here’s how to do that successfully.

  1. Focus in on seeing the project finished. As Tim Sanders says and my experience agrees with, when our brains know that we plan to succeed, our subconscious releases the chemicals we need to help us do that. Call it flow or in the zone, but it’s the optimal experience. In order to get there, we have first have to know exactly what the task is. Every task you successfully finished had as many roadblocks and snags as those you left by the ditches. The difference in your successes was that you knew, you had decided you would finished and that became your first point of focus.
  2. Focus on the process and resources you need to do it well. In your mind plan through the process and see yourself doing it. Break that process into stages and determine what resources you need to complete each piece of the process. Bring the resources you need to where you will need them. Get serious about dedicating a true workspace to the project.
  3. Focus on making that opportunity a priority.Decide how much time you will dedicate to moving it forward every day and allow yourself no excuses. Include time for rests, rewards, breaks, and some play away from it — but don’t let the play be more important than the opportunity you’re ready to seize right now.
  4. Focus on working in the moment. Keep every step of completing the process in the NOW. Don’t relate to past successes, except to move this process forward. Don’t think about future rewards until it’s over. Don’t let other things interrupt you.
  5. Focus on how any opportunity can be the vehicle you need to learn what you should be learning. Love the faults and flaws of the project. Challenge yourself to value everything that you wouldn’t normally like doing. Find the fun in the most mundane tasks and huge overwhelming challenges. Turn every bit of the opportunity into a smaller, exciting opportunity of its own.

If you can master those five strategies, the payoff for you will be huge and long lasting. You’ll find that your life is more in control because it’s more focused, less hurried. The things you’ll be doing will be more efficient because you’ll be choosing to focus on doing only one of them at a time, which means it will get your concentration and best thinking.

Listening will be easier and you’ll be more likely to know what to ask and what to listen for.. Fewer communication problems will be happening. You’ll find yourself easier to work with and other people will agree with that assessment. Your confidence will rise.

Work will be more enjoyable and you may find that you like doing more kinds of work than you ever thought you would. Proof of concept is that what I’ve written here is exactly what I did when I didn’t want to write this blog post. And I had a blast doing it.

It’s really just a matter of turning down the signal to noise ratio in your mind. Are you ready to seize the opportunity right in front of you now?

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