Successful Blog

Moving Dots

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

They say that the Internet has made the world a smaller place, you can reach any location with a click of the mouse. Blogs have made the world a more meaningful place, you can reach a heart with a click of the mouse.

This week’s collection of dots have 3 things in common.

  • Each dot has a heart.
  • Each dot has a story.
  • Each dot is on a journey.

These dots are moving dots.

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This week starts with Karaoke Diva. Her blog entry Remember a year in the life is a YouTube video about her family’s challenge with infertility. As she puts it, they have been trying for 15 months for Kid 2.0. She made a soundtrack of a life, and I saw other lives touched by it. This is beautiful! . . . I will never listen to the song thinking about anything else again. It drew me to the many people whose thoughts and hearts have moved me when they speak of their journey at TheGoodBlogs

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As I look down the list one that stands out is Child Lost. I find something Pat was moved to write in response to words she inspired. She reflects on her life as a mom to an addict son. Yet she talks about gratitude. I have a purpose in my life whereas there are so many others who have no purpose and their days are filled with loneliness. I also hear hope. Her story begins again every day.

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Then there’s Karen, a deaf mom. She shares her world where many family members suffer from hearing loss. Beyond being a resource for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, Karen blogs from the heart. Heartfelt words in response — But I try, my friend’s [sic] try, our baby sitter tries, and that is the best we can do. — show the welcoming place she has made. Karen was at SOBCon. I remember her smile.

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Shannon shares with us her daughter’s world. Gabi has Down’s syndrome. Her blog is a way to share Gabi’s progress with her family and friends. But it is more, it’s love and courage. This is one part of Gabi’s journey. Sometimes a response, I’m so proud of you for doing this remarkable Blog, is from someone already connected to the story we tell.

I chose these dots because they represent the spirit of blogging. Stories told from the heart, inviting us to join their personal journeys. I’m struck both by the honesty and the dignity with which the stories are told. From their hearts, they inspire and move others to respond.

I’m thankful they move us.

May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

One Blinking Dot

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Connecting Dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

I started this week’s column with one blinking dot… actually it was my cursor. It was waiting impatiently for me to connect this week’s dots. The blinking dot could have also been my heart, thumping in anticipation of what is to come.

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Sara, over at Frugal Village would understand this, she inspired the analogy. I read her wonderful post about filling the blank page because the only reward she really wanted was to know that her voice, her one single thought could reach a total stranger. She said, I want to reach through the page and continually say I believe in you, you’re not alone, and everything will be OK.

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It reminded me of JJ, who describes herself as having an addiction to blogging. She shared her joy this week. She found her voice after searching many years. The people at this party are the coolest ever! she exclaims. She comments wherever she stops because it feels good when people do that on her blog and she wanted to help others know they are not alone.

Two dots, two voices, two hearts.

Speaking of hearts . . .

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Speaking of hearts, there is none larger that the one that belongs to my friend, Mike Sansone. The bear hug he gave me at SOBcon07 still lingers. Mike has been ill recently. The first thing he did on his blog was to create the biggest heart I have ever seen made up of all the logos of bloggers who wished him well throughout his adventure. To describe Mike best is to tell you what he wrote to accompany his post. . . Got better sooner, thanks to you.

What better place to speak of hearts, right here on Liz’s blog because she taught us all to never forget to connect our hearts to our heads.

And what did all this mean to me? I’m humbled… even after leading many companies and teams in my career, this master has become the apprentice.

I am thankful. And why not? Karin would tell you from her own experience, teaching and learning is the two way traffic of life. Joanna reminds us, we don’t need grammar books to write. All you need to do is identify the things you consistently do that might make you look dumb — then take responsibility for working out how to change them.

May the dots be with you!
Vern, The Idea Dude

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Connecting Dots

The Idea Dude Is Connecting Dots . . . Connecting Us

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Introducing logo

a writer I admire, the.idea.dude, Vernon Lun — Successful Blog’s newest arrival.

Behind the curtain at The Good Blogs, you’ll find, Vernon — and his partner Tony — reading every good outstanding blog that makes it into their amazing directory. The blogs that Vernon selects are a reflection of his values — quality, heart, intelligence, and spirit. I know. I’ve been talking with him since before SOBCon07.

Vern has natural insight and wisdom. Gosh he gets my brain going — check this post about his personal blog’s first birthday for proof.

Did you see that list of what he says he’s learned?

Vernon is not one to let the world know of his talents. But I am.

Did you know that . . .

  • Aaron Brazell, Director of Technology at b5 media said, . . . Vernon Lun . . . actually created the tool that allowed us to clone the design with unique colors and logos across all the [blogs.]
  • Vernon’s got a Ph.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. In his thesis he formulated a framework for distributed real-time intelligence.
  • Vernon’s words are sticky. See how Vern’s idea stuck with Haydn Shaughnessy. I hope the debate over collective wisdom is not over because every time somebody else puzzles over it we stand a chance of writing what Vernon Lun recently referred to as a digital sociology. Few writers can do that.

Vernon’s elegant thoughts and generous heart make such things happen. They also have me jazzed to announce Vernun is writing for Successful-Blog beginning today!!!

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Vernon’s column, Connecting Dots, is exciting and something uniquely Vernon. Vern’s a master at perceiving relationships that take us from one thought to another. So Vern’s going to take us with him as he travels the living web on that silver thread that connects us all.

The Idea Dude is connecting dots for our reading pleasure.

Like peanut butter and chocolate, it’s time we got together.

On a rare occasion, the reality is better than the vision.

Liz's Signature

For the sake of continuity, I’m publishing Vern’s first column right below this one . . . It’s called Connecting Dots.

Connecting Dots

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Connecting Dots logo

Being asked to be a guest blogger for Liz Strauss is akin to being asked to be the opening act for The Rolling Stones. There’s an expectation to be “knock your socks off” great. Of course, this is all in my head, because Liz, in her sublime way, would say, “be yourself.”

It is inevitable that Liz and I would cross paths one day, we were both on similar quests… “to celebrate good blogs.” So this spot in particular is devoted to connecting the dots. Dots being blogs from Liz’s list and mine at TheGoodBlogs. Perhaps the best way to describe this is to show you. . . .

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All blogs don’t start off as conversations, they start because something tugs at you enough to want to share. Blogs have made the Internet personal and it is the personal nature that brings me back to visit your blog again and again. Take Liz’s post about the word can’t for example, she made it personal because at the end, she says It seems to make me smaller. When you read that, you know something happened that day that may have seemed impossible but she found a way to overcome that sense of helplessness. It got me thinking of how impossibility would make me feel small too.

Being personal is infectious.

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I headed over to Sean and he asked the question Can it be that all our choices are dominated by fear? So is can’t a reflection of reality or a reflection of our fear? Hmmm… Food for thought. Sean made his fear personal. He said, So I want to tell you a story. About me. Having followed his blog, I can tell you his entries that resonate the most with me are the ones that grab him in his gut so much he needs to share, the ones that stop him dead in his tracks and makes him think. It makes me think too.

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My good friend, Ben, talks about whether bloggers always follow their own advice. His fear or concern? His blog may cease to be a mirror of him. He tells us, he doesn’t want to speak for the sake of speaking, to walk the walk and don’t just talk the talk. My interpretation is that it is really a reminder to himself to keep his terrific blog real and not post merely to feed the Google juice. Ben says his blog is a reminder to him of what he should be doing. In doing so, he becomes our mentor of what we should be doing too. Ben is being personal.

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And sometimes being personal and sharing doesn’t have to have a lesson. Amy shared her Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad Day. It would be hard for any parent not to empathize with her. Wikipedia calls empathy a kind of emotional resonance… that’s deep. I concur. Judging from the comments to that post, Amy’s sharing resonated. I’m sure a few moms who read that felt a little better on Friday to know they weren’t alone.

Although none of the bloggers contrived to participate in a conversation, they succeeded in creating one in my head. Many of the bloggers above may or may not know each other…yet. But they were unknowingly bound together by their ideas, thoughts and emotions. They provided the dots. Liz gave me the crayon to connect them. The way I connected them was personal. It made me feel richer and some kind of wonderful.

Have an awesome week!

Vern, The Idea Dude

An Exciting Day at Successful Blog

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As We Used to Say in High School

Back in high school, when the mood was high, and we knew we were about to embark on something great, we would break into a carnie’s pitch that went like this . . .

It walks.
It talks.
It crawls on its belly like a lizard.
. . .
$10,000 if it isn’t alive!

That’s how I’m feeling today.

A New Feature, A Writer I So Admire

In a few moments, I’m going to introduce a new weekly column, featuring a writer and a human being I so admire. The concept is one that connects the dots that we are, the thoughts that we have, the ideas and the dreams. We’re both so excited about this — It’s a way to bring more of us together. Read with a whole new mind. See the living web come more alive!

The BIG IDEA Begins! Changing the World!

In a few short hours, I’m introducing a new series. It’s a breakthrough for me. It’s changed me and my business. It can change you and yours. This is the tiny start of the BIG IDEA — how I plan to change the world with a capital C.

Yes, I did say that out loud.

So say it with me. . . . “It walks. It talks. . . .”

I’m getting serious. How can that not be fun?!!!

Yeah, I’m a little scared too.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.