Successful Blog

Beach Notes: Would Now Be a Good time To Start on Your Dream?

by

True Story from Our Local Neighborhood
by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

At Kirra beach, near where we live, there is a new landmark, the multi-storey Kirra Surf apartment building, the latest manifestation of local retailing icon of the same name.

Its history is closely linked with that of another local retailing icon, internationally famous surfwear label Billabong.

Thirty-five years ago, in 1973, Kirra Surf did not exist and Billabong was just getting started.
The now very wealthy founder of Kirra Surf, Peter Turner, tells with some amusment the story of meeting for the first time the now also very wealthy Gordon Merchant, founder of Billabong.

Turner was working in a local surf shop, now long closed, and as he says, a young guy had walked into the shop trying to convince them to stock a new pair of board shorts Ð or ÒboardiesÓ as we call them here. The young guy was Gordon Merchant, , then eking out some income from what was basically a two person operation, himself and his wife. Merchant was selling surfboards and swimwear out of his station wagon.

As Turner tells it, Merchant “came in with three new pairs of boardies that he wanted us to stock.”

“He had written on the label: ‘Billabong, since 1973’ and I said “Mate, it is 1973” and he just looked at me and said “Well, you’ve got to start somewhere.”

Four years later, Turner took the young guy’s advice and opened Kirra Surf.

In March 2008 Billabong acquired Kirra Surf!

One story, one young man with a big dream inspiring another, two multi-millionaires.

Do you have a dream you’ve been putting off
till it’s a good time to start?

Would January 1, 2009, be a good time to get moving?

And if you share your dream and your decision here,
then someone can tell your story years from now.

Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh wishing everyone an abundant 2009

Story Source:http://rewarddevelopments.com.au/_assets/57-23-02-2007-15-12-23.pdf

Thanks to Week 166 SOBs

by

muddy teal strip A

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.

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.

deep purple strip

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

What Tony Lawrence Said … About Commenting on Blogs

by

A community isn’t built or befriended,
it’s connected by offering and accepting.
Community is affinity, identity, and kinship
that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.
Wherever a community gathers, we aspire and inspire each other intentionally . . . And our words shine with authenticity.

Getting Folks to Follow You Home

When new bloggers ask how to get more readers, one of the first answers offered is usually to comment on other blogs. Connecting with like-minded thinkers with a thoughtful response to what they write is a strong way to let folk know who we are. The key is in the quality of the comments we write.

Here’s what Tony said . . .

I don’t think I like the idea of commenting on every post.

If you are really adding something worthwhile, fine. But how many of us have something useful to add on each and every post? And if it IS that useful, I’m probably going to blog about it myself and include a link back to my inspiration rather than leaving a comment. Of course that does zilch for building traffic links, but if I’m really saying something important, it may be better for me long term.

In fact, whenever I start writing a comment and it gets over a paragraph or two I start thinking “Shouldn’t this be a post?”

This comment qualifies, but I’ll leave it here just this once

I also don’t necessarily like putting links in my comments. If I honestly feel that I have something you really have to read, I might, but I’m more apt to just say “I do have a post on this at my site” or (most often) say nothing at all. I just don’t like using other people’s comments to promote myself.

When someone comments on one of my sites for no apparent reason than to get a link, I delete their comment entirely. If they have added something at least marginally useful, I’ll leave it be. I’m not draconian, but I’m not going to be spammed.

If somebody asked a question and I have a good answer on one of my sites, yes, of course I’ll link to it. But sometimes, and particularly if the post at my site is short, I’ll just cut and paste from the post instead of linking.

I’m probably too conservative in that regard.

Tony Lawrence from a comment on October 31, 2005

A successful and outstanding blogger said that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

SOB Business Cafe 12-26-08

by

SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

COLOURlovers has a legendary gift.
Why does Santa wear red?

Believe it or not, present-day Santa owes his red robe not to an ancient legend or to an early myth but to …

How to Split an Atom has 33 gifts that worlk
Here are a few resources to help you out. This list focuses pretty heavily on design, development, marketing, advertising and “Social Media” jobs but there is something here for everyone.

mousewords has a gift for seeing things.
My synesthesia has been giving me troubles.

It’s not the sort of thing an aspirin will cure. Synesthesia—specifically, in my case, grapheme ? color synesthesia—is a neurological phenomenon that causes people to see letters and numbers in different colors.

Zocalo Group has a gift advice on behavior and a cool treehouse. One of the keys to successful social media for companies is to avoid being creepy.

The Viral Garden has a gift of intelligence.
Is he wrong? I would say his methods would work, at least in the short-term. But the idea that you ‘have to target the influencers’ is SO 2005.

Here is what I did; Instead of targeting ‘influencers’, I targeted smart people.

Related ala carte selections include

The Paisano has the gift of song …

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 5-Step Plan for Work in a Time of No Jobs and 25 Services that Could Be Sold Separately

by

At times like this, you don’t need to be unemployed to need more money coming in. All of us have higher costs than we did a few years ago. My assessment just went up by $100 / month. It does that every year. How we approach this thinning cash flow is important to our future situation. It’s hard to be saving when the bills are growing faster than the income.

The answer used to be to find a job, but finding a job in a recession could take more time than we have available.

So I suggest we find work instead.

Here’s a 5-step plan for doing just that.

  1. Identify a problem everyone has … lack of time might be one.
  2. Choose a subgroup that knows you and your skills … let’s say, your network of business bloggers.
  3. Look how you might use your time to improve what they offer … find a problem or a wish they have in common that you can solve or make happen
  4. Package that problem or wish as a reasonable offer … be able to explain why it’s smart, appealing, and incredibly easy to hire to for that small thing you offer.
  5. Ask them to refer you to other folks who might benefit from the same offer.

and here are 25 services that could be sold separately

  1. True up my social media profiles.
  2. Keep follower lists up-to-date.
  3. Monitor the social sphere and clip posts.
  4. Set up interviews and guest posts.
  5. Update old content.
  6. Rewrite old blog headlines for more power.
  7. Identify archive posts that could be revised.
  8. Suggest and gather content for an eBook
  9. Develop a plan for a newsletter.
  10. Update and organize the pages in my sidebar.
  11. Make a blogger’s press kit.
  12. Write a Wikipedia page about the blog or the blogger.
  13. Shoot a video interview.
  14. Clean up the old code on my blog.
  15. Suggest a new color palette and header for an existing design.
  16. Research photos.
  17. Research trends and topics.
  18. Try out tools.
  19. Find and fix broken links.
  20. Delete dead content.
  21. Organize an editorial calendar.
  22. Set up a file system.
  23. Make a blog post like this into a slideshare presentation.
  24. Update my plugins.
  25. Suggest entries for a link post around a theme.

Most of the folks I know can’t afford a VA or a full-time assistant right now, but they could use some help on a discrete task or two on this list. If you chose those things you quickly and well, you price these tasks attractively and folks would feel good about the improvements you made.

I’m thinking of quite a few. I’d like to hire someone to do — one at a time. Are there other services you might like for you blog?

It’s good us and our blogs. It’s community-centered goal. How might we get some folks back to work this way?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

The Travellers Three

by

It’s that time of year when people are planning events, gathering together, sharing in laughter, food and friendship. Many stories will be told, old and new. As people come together with family and loved ones, many will be thinking of the infamous event many years ago, which led to the celebrations, most of us are now having.

 

I like to think about all the stories being told at that time in history, long, long ago. My favorite story goes something like this: It was dusk in the desert. Three travelers from different parts and backgrounds gathered together to share food, fire and companionship. They began to tell stories and someone mentioned the divine birth of a mysterious child, a miracle, which was intriguing and spoke of hope. The night goes on and many more stories are shared and passed on. In the morning the strangers part ways leaving for their respective lands and taking with them memories. These stories travel and get re-told, passed on for years to come. The story changes as each teller recounts the memory of that night around the fire, just as the stories you share change with time. Remember to make sure your message is clear so even if the details change and subtle nuances are added, the central message or theme remains true to your intent.

I like to think that the story told that night about a mysterious child, a story of hope, remains clear through whatever lens you choose to view it.

Thanks to you all for sharing your stories and for the ones I know you will. A sincere thank you to @iamkhayyam for helping me understand my story.

Peace to you all.

Kathryn aka@northernchick

Â