Successful Blog

Thanks to Week 184 SOBs

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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.

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

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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.

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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

SOB Business Cafe SOBCon09 Edition!!

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The SOBCon Speaker Specials this Week are

Chris Brogan
We face moments in our lives all the time when risk is the gating factor. Do we dive off the bridge like our friends, or just stay put? Do we seek out that mortgage we can’t exactly cover? Should you quit your job, even though you’re not sure where the next check will come from?

Confidence is about taking a risk and seeing it pay off, or taking a risk, failing, and moving on from the failure.

Brian Clark
Have you ever noticed when a new free report is announced online, it’s often pitched as “controversial” and “likely to upset people,” but mostly, it’s not controversial at all?

David Bullock
Face the facts. There is no way to manage time itself. You can’t move 2pm to 9am just because you want to. You can’t stretch an hour by 5 minutes. Oh, but I wish I could. And I bet that if you had the “magic power” you would manipulate time too.

Lorelle VanFossen
Isn’t that where everyone starts? Totally clueless. Everyone is talking blog this, blog that, social media, Twitter, Flickr, tweet, but really, until you dig in, you have little understand about what this bloggy thing is all about.

Terry Starbucker
As a “Baby Boomer”, I’m old enough to remember a world without computers, the Internet, blogging and social media – the days of pencils, paper, stamps, payphones, rotary dialing, social centers, happy hours, discos, and all the other “analog” ways we used to communicate and meet up with each other.

Chris Garrett
Social Media is not just a new bull horn for the loud and abrasive sales types to use to make our ears bleed some more. If you go against what people want and need then don’t expect to get great results.

Geoff Livingston
I know how human I am. And I fear that my personality while clearly me and not contrived, will in some way eclipse, or worse, harm a client or my company. Because, yeah, I do screw up just like everyone else.

Jason Falls
What this piece, and a lot of the accompanying statistics, might indicate is that our society is waking up from the self-indulgent bender of the last 50 years and shifting to a more sensible way of living. What that might mean to marketers is that premium is no longer chic.

KD Paine
Richard Stacy has written a great post about how all the people wringing their hands about Social Media Measurement are looking at the wrong thing.

I would take it one step further and argue that all of marketing is looking at the wrong things.

Related ala carte selections include

Give someone a hug today!
Two people will depart in a small prop plane, to fly 31,000 miles around the world, stopping in 50 locations on a 5-month tour to gather inspiration, deliver 100,000 hugs and share $1,000,000 with important causes…

Oh and..

Visit the SOBCon09 Blog to see what’s going on !

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

A Community Gathers SOBCon 09

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I grew up in a small community and gatherings were a regular thing. The community gathered, through some type of religious affiliation or volunteer organization, and the people came together. There was the planning that occurred up to the event, the talk surrounding who was going, and the conversation about looking forward to seeing so-and-so. People came together to learn, to discuss ideas, to renew old friendships and make new.

People worked hard and long to arrange schedules, offer up what they could, and sometimes make sacrifices to attend these community gatherings. I feel it’s all very much the same, as we have been getting ready to attend SOBCon 2009. I appreciate all that everyone has done – I want you to know that.

The theme this year of the “Biz School for Bloggers” is the ROI of relationships. I want to learn as much as I can from all the various sessions and bring back new tools to help me move forward. I also am very much looking forward to expanding the relationship part of that equation and adding a new dimension to the relationships I have developed through this blog, Twitter, and the online community in general.

Tomorrow I head to Chicago to meet people from my community. The journey to this point has been a crazy one! I’ve been ill and felt defeated. I lost hope and motivation. But, right now, I am holding the ticket in my hand and am more than ready to get on that plane!

Because I was so late in actually knowing whether or not I would be attending (seriously – I just found out for SURE yesterday!) I was holding back from announcing my excitement. But tonight it’s actually palpable out there on Twitter. I want to thank all of you, and you know who you are, who offered encouragement, support and really kept me going in my quest for a Chicago adventure.

I look forward to meeting you all. I feel like I have known many of you forever. Those in our community who cannot make it – trust me, I understand. Please ask us who will be there for the information and/or things you need.

And please comment about the relationships you’ve built through this community, through Twitter, and through your other online communities!

from Kathryn Jennex @northernchick

Starting a Low-Cost Business at Home

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The theme of SOBCon09 is the ROI of Relationships. To underscore the importance of relationships in business and to have a chance to make and celebrate a few while we’re doing that, I’ve opened up this series by successful and outstanding bloggers like you.

Starting a Low-Cost Business at Home
by the writers of Bizymoms.com

An increasing number of people today are opting to work-at-home. This is understandable – especially with the rising costs of living and all the problems associated with the recession. Work-at-home jobs make it possible for people to save hundreds of dollars every year.

It’s obvious that those who work away from home will incur additional expenses in comparison to those who work-at-home. And most of these expenses are incurred on an almost daily basis. This is especially true today; with the rising costs of gas, most people find that the “daily commute” is becoming increasingly expensive. Traveling expenses aren’t the only ones you’re going to incur if you don’t work at home. Consider additional costs such as food and clothing. For those who work away from home five days a week (or more, in some cases), extra costs for food and clothing can mount up.

Some work-at-home jobs, such as writing, can start with near zero investment. The internet is a valuable resource for writers of every genre. If you’ve got good writing abilities and a command of the English language, you can take on a variety of work-at-home writing-jobs that might appeal to you. Having your doubts? Conduct a search online. You’ll see that online, the services of freelance writers are in constant demand.

For more information on freelance-writing and freelance writing jobs, visit:

www.freelancewritinggigs.com

www.freelancewriting.com

www.freelancewrite.about.com

A “rising-trend” is that more and more moms are opting to work-at-home. Most work-at-home jobs are great for busy moms because they allow great time-flexibility. This time-flexibility factor allows mom to be more “available” for their children. Work-at-home moms save a lot of money – especially on day-care expenses!

For more information on work-at-home jobs, visit:

www.entrepreneur.com

www.work-at-home.org

Advancements in technology and the widespread use of the Internet have given hundreds of thousands of people the chance to work-at-home. The truly global use of the Internet has made it an invaluable marketing tool; one that most businesses will want to use. This offers lucrative work-at-home opportunities for people around the world. These work-at-home options will allow people to save hundreds of dollars a year – especially on traveling expenses.

Atya Shakir is Manager of Webmaster Relations. he arranged for this article written by the writers of Bizymoms.com , which has been dedicated to helping women work from home for over 10 years! Visit their interactive message boards, informative articles, help and advice from the Bizymoms’ Home Business Support Team and achieve your own work at home dreams with our home business start up kits.

Register for SOBCon09 NOW!!

Experience the ROI of Relationships

How Do Get You People to Stop Listening to Words and Start Hearing Ideas?

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Semantics Isn’t Conversation

In any conversation, a simple word I choose may have an unexpected effect on you. I have no way of knowing when you have “history” with ordinary words I regularly use.

A word such as curiosity, or money, or gorgeous might trigger a specific and negative response. I’ll have no clue that I’ve touched off feelings, negative feelings. I won’t suspect that one word has changed the tone of my presentation from neutral to negative.

It’s an accident because of something or someone in the past.

Looking for the Wrong Words

What folks encounter negative words it’s easy for them to have negative thoughts. They transfer their experience to the the person who said them, even when the words said aren’t thought of as hurtful, negative, or mean to most people. Communication breaks. Those listeners get distracted in that way.

It’s confusing when folks flinch at something we think is innocuous. We often feel misunderstood and try to explain that we meant no harm. It’s a defensive posture that rarely works. Rather than getting caught in explanation, looking for the tripwire word can be most helpful. If we ask about the message received, we avoid the risk putting our focus on our own intentions, but on the hearing the person who feels something wrong was said.

Here are some ways to bring the focus back to listening — when it seems that we’re getting distracted by words, and not hearing ideas.

  • Know what you want the outcome to be That means listening to the people — their tone, their pauses, their enthusiasm level — not just the words they’re saying.
  • The fear of negative comments — in person and on our blogs — is over-blown. Allowing people to play with language and to enjoy the conversation can be a conceptual collaboration.
  • Giving up the need for control — making room for tangents — can reap great benefits in involvement.
  • Look at faces when the eye contact is too intense.
  • Notice how your conversation partner sits and moves. Lean into the conversation, literally and figuratively.
  • Ask questions about points that interest you. Find many of them.

In other words, let the person talking know you value what he or she is saying. Signal everyone around that person’s importance to all who might be around. Listen actively. In other words, pay attention with the expectation that you will be asked to solve a problem with the very next question.

Conversations sometimes derail over words that we think about differently. When that happens how do you get people to stop listening to words and start hearing ideas?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The Mic Is On: We're Talking SOBCon09!

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It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

The Mic Is On

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.

Who, What, When, Where, Why and What’s for You?

The event that started right here in the comment box is taking place for the third year in Chicago this week. Stop by to add a word or two or to find out what will be happening that you might want to pay attention to.

  • How’d it get started?
  • Who’s going to be there?
  • Who are those speakers?
  • What will the sponsors be doing?
  • What’s happening for the folks who can’t go?

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 links of memories or bring your questions.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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