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Beach Notes: Magic Spiral

November 23, 2013 by Guest Author

By Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

The beach is a magical place, ever changing and the morning we saw this spiral we knew that someone’s imagination was firing.

What do you do to fire up your imagination and leave a little bit of magic?

Beach Notes: Magic spiral

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

Filed Under: Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, beach, inspiration

Innovation. Ownership. Collaboration.

November 21, 2013 by Rosemary

By Sherrie Rohde

It seems that lately the words innovation, ownership and collaboration are cycling through my daily thought process and conversations at a rate that I can barely keep up with.

Innovation

Innovation is our starting place. With social media we’ve created an outlet for emphasizing every disaster, whether it’s a true world catastrophe or lapse in judgment. Instead of looking at the world with this emphasis of pain and failure, let’s look at it through the lens of “How can we make this a better place?” I’m not saying those problems aren’t real, but it’s time we step up and take ownership to be part of the solution.

Ownership

It’s a bit difficult to separate innovation and ownership, but taking innovation to action requires owning the problem and the idea with a commitment to work towards a solution.

The world would look drastically different if we spent more time identifying a problem to own, rather than fighting for more space, more time, or more money in our own little part of the world.
—Lara Galinsky, Harvard Business Review

When we have a sense of ownership, we take pride in that thing we have owned, whether it be an idea or a project or a community. I recently made the decision to identify what I’m passionate about and to learn to say no to projects that didn’t fall under that umbrella. Not only did it make life far less stressful, but it also made it easy to focus on those problems I did choose to own.

Collaboration

There comes a point where we realize that despite our aspiration for innovation and ownership of the problem, we can’t do it by ourselves. And why should we? When we connect with the right people, those whose goals are aligned with ours, our force is stronger and our reach is further.

Let’s work together to make a difference.

Identify a problem to innovate. Take ownership. Collaborate for impact.

Solve big problems.

Author’s Bio: Sherrie Rohde writes about community management at mycmgr.com. She is passionate about community innovation in the tech space with an emphasis on user experience and e-commerce. Sherrie loves learning and is energized by helping others succeed. Recently she’s collaborated with Jennifer Shaw to solve the big problem of tech education for rural women in America through bellaminds.com. You can connect with her on Twitter as @sherrierohde or Google+.

Filed Under: Community, Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, collaboration, innovation, inspiration

Beach Notes: Balance

November 16, 2013 by Guest Author

By Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

We found this at the beach one morning, a perfectly balanced cairn. Had someone left it to mark a passage in their journey?

What do you do to mark the passages of your journey?

Beach cairn

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: balance, bc, inspiration

15 Ways to Zig When You Want to Zag

November 14, 2013 by Rosemary

When you woke up this morning, did you grab your robe, shuffle to the kitchen, and press the Brew button? (Mine was a Starbucks Verona K-cup.)

How to zig when you want to zag

Most people spend their entire lives in that same state of semi-aware robot sameness. They do the same thing every day, say the same things, write the same things, look the same way.

And then they expect something to change.

They’re stuck.

My suggestion is: zig when you want to zag.

  1. Have tea tomorrow morning instead of coffee.
  2. Wear an acid green shirt.
  3. Drive a different route to work (or hitch a ride with a colleague).
  4. If you always write about marketing, write a post about neuropsychology or ant farming.
  5. Practice a new response to “how are you?” Instead of “fine, how are you,” what if you said, “I’m FANtastic!”
  6. Floss tomorrow.
  7. If you’ve been afraid to submit a guest post to your favorite blog, just do it.
  8. When you normally would say “no thank you” to something, go for it and say “sure, thanks!”
  9. Go for a full day without typing minimizing words in any emails (like “just” or “sorry”).
  10. Have lunch at a place you’ve never been.
  11. Have you become afraid of talking on the phone? Call three clients out of the blue.
  12. Mail a handwritten thank you note to someone.
  13. If you have a habit of checking email first thing in the morning, wait until noon.
  14. Pick a new habit to incorporate into your routine (listen to this awesome podcast from Michael Hyatt for some help with that).
  15. Choose one task you need to get done, and ask someone for help with it.

Get unstuck. Out of the rut.

Things will change if you change them.

The Successful-Blog community is here to help. What can we help you get unstuck from?

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 the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Photo Credit: purplemattfish via Compfight cc

Filed Under: Checklists, Inside-Out Thinking, Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, inspiration, Motivation, Productivity

10 Easy Tips to Develop Your Own Writing Style

November 12, 2013 by Rosemary

By Leslie Anglesey

Your writing style is something that is uniquely your own. While you can admire another writer’s voice, it would be a mistake to try to mimic it. You will only end up creating a pale imitation of the work you are trying to master. Stand up, take a deep (virtual) breath and be yourself. Follow these 10 tips to develop your own writing style.

develop your own writing style - inspiration
  1. Read other writers’ work.
    If you want to get a feel for how words fit together, read how other writers use them. Read for enjoyment and with an editor’s eye. Ask yourself why the author would choose to use them.
  2. Start by writing short paragraphs.
    If the idea of crafting a lengthy work makes you feel intimidated, start with something smaller. Try writing a single paragraph describing something that made you laugh or your favorite movie.
  3. Focus on getting your idea down first.
    For a first draft, all you need to be concerned with is getting your basic idea down. You can always edit and revise it later on.
  4. Experiment with some different styles.
    Keep in mind that writing is a solitary activity. You can work at it and choose not to share the content of your latest project with anyone unless you want to. If you are curious about a new genre, find a class or experiment with it on your own.
  5. Make friends with a dictionary.
    Part of developing your own writing style is to make sure that you are using words in the right context. If you are reading something and you aren’t sure of its meaning, take the time to look it up in a dictionary.
  6. Use a thesaurus to add new words to your vocabulary.
    Do you have certain words that you find you are always relying on when you write? If you and your friends tend to use the same phrases, it will be difficult for you to stand out from the crowd. The next time you find yourself using a stock phrase to describe something, stop and look it up in a thesaurus. See if there might be an alternative that will describe it more accurately. If not, you don’t have to use the suggestions, but you will have learned some new words to consider for next time.
  7. Read your work out loud.
    Does your writing sound like the way you talk? If it doesn’t sound like it was written in your spoken voice, you may want to work on it until it does. Keep polishing it until you feel that it reflects your inflection and tone.
  8. Turn off your inner critic.
    As you write, there will always be a part of your brain that will tell you that your work is unfinished or can be improved. You may even feel that other people can or have done it better, so why should you even try to get something down. This inner critic can be very harsh, and will likely judge your work even more severely than a real editor would. To the extent you can, try to shut it down and just focus on letting your work speak for itself.
  9. Take some risks in your writing.
    Once you turn off your inner critic, make a decision to step outside of your comfort zone in your writing. Nothing you write has to be forever. You can choose to delete it and start over if you want to. Think of the blank page like a playground, not something that is scary and intimidating. You can’t hurt yourself, so you really aren’t taking a risk at all. You are always in control of your writing.
  10. Write every day.
    If you think about writing as if it were a muscle, you will appreciate that you need to keep it limber. Work it often and it will reward you by being easier to work with. If you don’t use it, you’ll find that it is stiff and hard to get into the groove. Ideas won’t flow as freely as if you make a habit of writing every day.

Set aside some time to be creative regularly. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a novel, working on essays, blogging, or writing in a personal journal. Take time to explore the world of words regularly to develop your own writing style – and don’t forget to enjoy it.

Author’s Bio: Leslie Anglesey is an editor at Essay Tigers, a website about essay writing tips. She also works as a professor in the University of Southern California and loves teaching others how to improve their writing style.

Image via Flickr CC: Alan Cleaver

Filed Under: Blog Basics, Motivation, Successful Blog, Writing Tagged With: author, bc, inspiration, Writing

Get your Blogging Zest Back

September 5, 2013 by Rosemary

Are you still zesty?

get your blogging zest back

When you first start blogging, you are like a kid in a candy store with a million bucks to spend. Ideas flow readily, creative juices are on tap, and the world is yours. Who knows how many shares your next post will get? Maybe you’ll hit the bigtime and huge brands will knock on your door to advertise. Maybe you’ll get a book deal!

Time passes.

Many posts are written.

Daily demands start to distract you from your initial excitement.

You go three weeks with no comments.

No book deal yet.

It’s been a year or so, the magical tipping point, right?

Where are all of my readers? Why doesn’t my Google Analytics page view chart look like the Himalayas instead of a flatlining heart patient?

Stop the shame spiral, and stop torturing yourself.

How to Get Your Blogging Zest Back

Take a short break

Maybe you’re posting too frequently. If you are pushing to crank something, anything out several times a week, and it’s a chore, consider scaling back to once a week, or even every two weeks. If you need to get more drastic, tell your readers you’re taking a sabbatical of one month and stop blogging for a while. I promise the world won’t end.

Go someplace weird

Maybe it’s time to get out of your rut. When is the last time you tried something new, or went to a strange location? Stimulating our senses or intellect with new experiences is a great way to get a jolt. Take a road trip, go skydiving, start the cold shower regimen recommended by Julien Smith…anything that shakes up your world.

Have an at-home retreat

You know those corporate retreats where everyone does the trust exercise? You can do that for yourself. Set aside a weekend, or a couple of work days to focus, and revisit why you started the blog in the first place. What made you say, “I’m going to be a blogger?” Write down your reasons, and keep them handy.

Pretend you shuttered your blog

How would you feel? If it’s relieved, then it might be time to actually do it. Blogging should be joyful and rewarding. If you’re doing it right, it’s an outlet, not a draining slog. In fact, ask yourself if you would keep blogging even if no-one was reading it. That’s where you need to be.

Get an outside opinion

Talk to your friends or colleagues who have read your blog. Ask them why they read it. Do a quick survey of your readers (even if that’s only a small group of people) and find out what they think. You might find out that your writing is inspiring people. A lack of comments doesn’t mean a lack of impact. Read this amazing story about the power of 5 blog readers, if you don’t believe me.

Write for the trash can

Maybe you’re trying to live up to a blogging ideal that’s unrealistic. Take the chains off for a while, and just start typing. Write as if no-one will ever read it (hey, you already think no-one’s reading anyway). Get all of that stuff out of your head and onto the page, and then sort it out later. Sometimes a loss of zest is simply coming from an out-of-control negative voice. Shut that sucker down and get your groove back.

Share something personal

Even if you’re writing a pure business blog, you can let your human side out. Maybe you’re having a hard time because you’re trying to put on a facade of “corporate” when all you want to do is run through the sprinkler. Don’t go TMI, but try adding a personal story into your writing and let your community inside. Perhaps that will encourage your readers to come out of the woodwork and share their own personal stories too.

What do you do when you’re feeling squeezed dry?

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 the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Photo Credit: Patrick Hoesly via Compfight cc

Filed Under: Blog Review, Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blogging, inspiration, Writing

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