Ever notice when you read some writers’ work, that you can almost hear them? I don’t just mean that they write conversationally. I mean that, well, you can almost hear the pitch of a voice, a twinkle in an eye.
How do some writers do that? How do they become real in your mind while you read? [Read more…]
They say that when the learner is ready the teacher appears.
I had the privilege of attending a Seth Godin seminarthis week. My closest friends can’t believe I managed to get there.
Getting to a seminar is a problem for me. There are so many seminars, and there’s so little time. I have a problem choosing. I don’t really like to commit my time. I really like learning, but I’m leery of things that look like school.
Learning is task that I do by myself. A seminar is a BIG DEAL — It’s an investment of time and money. I have a whole speech that talks me out of such things. I can call that speech up in a second.
“NO WAY! Can’t afford it. No time. Too much to do. Need to be working, not spending. That would be fun. That would slacking. . . . taking the easy way. Can’t buy folks’ wisdom just ’cause I feel like it.”
What a crock!
It’s a great speech. It’s not a valid argument . . . but it works when want to talk myself out of something. It’s not about time or about slacking. NO WAY, No time is my back door to avoiding something that I feel is risky.
Attending a seminar is saying out loud that I want to learn something.
What if I go and it’s not what I thought? What if I don’t learn anything? What if I fall off my bike?
The answer’s the same to all three questions. But you knew that. I had to learn the hard way. I skipped the seminar on the value of seminars. If had skipped the Seth Godin seminar, I would have missed so much more.
A messy desk is like a garage – it’s where you keep your tools. It helps if it’s organized, but your car will run fine even if it is not. But messy writing is a sign of messy thinking. It’s proof that our ideas are not under control. No one wants to be behind the wheel with someone who can’t keep the car on the road.
Organization is the second trait of good writing. Great writing needs a plan, like a road trip needs road. Ideas need to be organized before we set off.
I’m sure you’ve read a blog post, or maybe twenty, that left you wondering where it was going and why it kept stopping and starting. Reading was like riding in a half-dead jalopy. (Jalopy don’t you love that word? It sounds like a food.)
Reading should be like a fabulous road trip — the blog equivalent of riding in a fast machine stuck to the road, handled by an experienced driver.
It’s true.
I’m Italian. I’ll take the Ferrari. [Read more…]
Just updated on May 31st — Believe me, there are WAY more WordPress themes and variations here than the title of the post says.
Great Find: Comprehensive list of 875+ Free WordPress 1.5 and 2.0 Themes / Templates available for download
Type of Article: Resource of link throughs to WordPress templates
Permalink: http://www.emilyrobbins.com/how-to-blog/comprehensive-list-of-615-free-wordpress-15-and-20-themes-templates-available-for-download-266.htm
Target Audience: Every WordPress user
Content: Emily Robbins at How to Blog did the work. It shows. Emily not only made the list, she gives the details. She tells you which templates require word 2.0, which offer 3 columns, and which include WordPress widgets support. She even makes notes on specific themes, such as those that are appropriate for photobloggers. This list might not be as pretty as the WordPress Theme Viewer, but I don’t think there is a more useful list available anywhere. To find the list click the title below.
Ready to brand your blog or your business properly? Try new WordPress Theme that says what you stand for.
Congratulations and thank you, Emily. Give this woman links and links. She’s earned them.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related
The Ultimate Blog Directory Handbook: Over 1800+ Submission Sites
Great Finds: EchoEcho on and on and on
Great Find: Easy File Backups
Every few months someone compiles a new list of blog directories for submission. I thought it might be nice to pull them together with a basic how-to piece on using directorires best to promote your brand and your blog. With that in mind, I’m reposting I piece I wrote and combining the several directory lists I’ve been able to gather into one Directory Submission Handbook. This will have it’s own page in the sidebar for easy access whenever you need it. It will be called the 1800+ Directory Lisitings page.
The blog looks great. Youââ¬â¢ve been through the Blog Review Checklist. Youââ¬â¢ve got several posts with great titles and compelling contentââ¬âto let readers know youââ¬â¢ll be around, when they come back. Now itââ¬â¢s time to let people know that you exist.
List your blog in the Blog Directories. Which ones? All of themââ¬âevery one that you can find the smallest reason to. Listing is a slightly longer and more involved task than changing phone companies. However if you take the time, your work will last for the life of your blog.
Prepare a document with the following information before you start. Keep this document. Itââ¬â¢s your blogââ¬â¢s biography. Youââ¬â¢ll have reason to use it as your blog makes friends and influences people.
Your username. Pick one with no spaces. Many directories and forums require that, and no one needs too many usernames.
Your email address This email address will get directory updates and be used for verifications. You may want it separate from your personal email address. Youââ¬â¢ll need a system to keep track of directory correspondence. Much of the login/password email that you want to keep will have subject lines that start with blog-something.
Your password Iââ¬â¢m sure you know the cautions and rules about passwords.
The name of your blog Be sure that you have the spelling, spacing, and everything about the name exactly as you want it. Some directories make it difficult to go back to change it later.
The URL This is http:// (nameofmyblog) .com
The feed Some directories will ask for your RSS or XML feed. You should be able to find that address within your blogware documentation. It will look like your URL with an extension.
The description Though youââ¬â¢re probably anxious to get done, donââ¬â¢t hurry through this one. This is your advertising, and it will be out there a long time. Again, in some places you may not be able to change it later. Make two versions one under 150 words and one under 300 words. Some directories have stricter length limits.
Keywords Choose keywords that readers would use to look for a blog like yours. Review them to make certain that theyââ¬â¢re not so broad that they apply to every blog, or so narrow that only you would know them.
Then start with one of the lists below. Approach the task as suits your nature. I did a few every day until I was done. That way I could work on writing and do things on other parts of my blog too.
You don’t need to be in every list and you don’t need to carry ever link on your blog. So take a look around before you submit. Will someone new there ever be able to find your blog in the crowd? Will you? I’ve gone back to directories and not been able to find my own blog even though I knew it was there!
Certainly you the more “phone books” you are in the more chances that people will find you. But if the phone is poorly organized or shoved off in a drawer the chance that particular phone book will help is fairly slim for you.
.
There are some duplicates in these lists. Not nearly so many as you might expect. I quite counting how many links to directories were here when I reached 1800.
Google’s Blog Directory List
Robin Goodââ¬â¢s RSS Top55 – Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites
Free Web Directory List from Smiley Cat
Top Rank Monster RSS and Blog Directory List
These Lists from The V7 Network
Nine lists here.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Other posts to check out:
Directories and Click Exchanges as Promotion
Blogger Forums as Promotion
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This is me. I’m Liz. I’m the nice one.
I love 9rules Network. This Not a critique of the blogs there.
I never imagined in a million years it would be taken as such.
I’m sorry it was mistaken for that.
My apologies. I am truly sorry if that was not clear..
It saddens me to think someone would mistake this as something like that.
I’m so very sorry to all of you and so embarassed.
So I set the record straight.
I loved 9rules and everyone I met there when I was member and I still do.
Paul Scrivens has only been good to me. I consider him a friend.
This piece was simply meant as study in how quicky readers can sometimes make decisions
That was all.
As my dad use to say, “Only believe 1/2 of what you see, and none of what you hear.”
Sincerely,
Liz
PS. This was a post about the mathematics of a customer’s quick scan. 13,5% of 111 made a “I wanna look later list. Read the post again. There is no critical malice in it. It is an emotional observation of my own behavior.
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A week ago the 9rules Network announced 111 new sites had been selected to join them. I had the interesting experience of going through the list of 111 domain names looking for the blogs of folks I knew. I learned a few things from that experience that I think are worth sharing.
UPDATE: It seems I need to update this. These are the response of a cursory look through a bunch of 111 blogs that I knew nothing about, except that within them there were a certain number I already knew well. I had a limited lime as I went through list to capture those that immediately grabbed my attention. This doesn’t mean those that didn’t have something wrong. I wasn’t judging a contest. I was supershopping as some customer on timed reconnaissance might do. There is no intended implication that the blogs I left behind have anything lacking. This is about 15 unnamed blogs I happend to pick up on my way through a list of 111 that were selected.
Think of these as observations from the field. Do what you will with them.
Only 6 out of 111. Granted I went through the list fast and furious, but . . . even 6 out of 15 is disappointing. . . . I’m going to keep watching all 15 of them. I’ll let you know whether things change.
PS — I still like the ones I knew were great going in.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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