Successful Blog

You Can Do It: 4 Celebs Who Lost It All and Came Back Again

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A Guest Post by Katheryn Rivas

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If your life is suffering because of the economy, personal issues or relationship failures, you still don’t need to give up. As you’ll see below, even some of the most successful and popular public figures of our time are not invulnerable to losing it all. See how these actors, producers and business moguls turned their lives around and got it all back.

1. Mickey Rourke

At fifty-seven years old, Academy Award-nominated actor Mickey Rourke has had a roller-coaster life in and out of the Hollywood spotlight. But with the 2008 film The Wrestler, many fans and industry insiders were excited to see Rourke make a comeback after he spent nearly a decade on the fringes.

Rourke broke into acting during the 1980s with small appearances in films and in TV movies, and became a veritable celebrity after roles in 9 1/2 Weeks, Barfly, and Year of the Dragon. In the 1990s, Rourke felt like he was a terrible actor and turned to boxing, almost as a way of punishing himself. Despite his success in the ring, he underwent lots of plastic surgery — some needed and some not — and many outside observers wondered what direction Rourke would take next.

Mickey Rourke had a hard time making it back into the spotlight over the next several years, but he allowed himself to take small roles — even in Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero” music video — in order to rebuild his repertoire with critics and the public. In 2008, The Wrestler opened to immense critical acclaim and public excitement, and the film and Rourke were nominated for — and won — several prestigious awards. With the summer 2010 release Iron Man 2 many believe Rourke is continuing his comeback.

Robert Downey, Jr.

Another actor who was popular in the 1990s but who suffered a long-term absence in Hollywood is Robert Downey, Jr. Downey has been working in the entertainment industry since he was a child, and has been a high-profile, critically and commercially successful actor since his 1992 Academy Award-nominated role in Chaplin.

Along with his movie successes, however, Downey was known for having serious drug problems, landing in jail and rehab centers several times and getting kicked off movie sets. Relationships with actresses like Sarah Jessica Parker also failed during that time allegedly because of his drug use. Because of his talent and charisma, however, Hollywood continued to give Downey second chances, and in 2000, he joined the cast of the then-popular TV series Ally McBeal. He won a Golden Globe for his work, but was arrested and sent to rehab soon after.

When Downey finally decided that he could regain control over his life, he — like Rourke — turned to small roles and even music videos to get work. Friend Mel Gibson paid Downey’s high insurance bill as a favor, and Downey was allowed to work on Gibson’s film The Singing Detective. Directors continued to hold back some of Downey’s salary until after filming for their own insurance purposes, and higher profile roles in films like Zodiac and Good Night and Good Luck, Downey was rewarded with blockbuster roles in Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes. Downey has been married to his wife Susan Levin — the producer of Iron Man for five years.

Drew Barrymore

Today, actress and producer Drew Barrymore is known as a bubbly star who supports environmental issues, works regularly, and wins awards, such as her 2010 Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards for her role of Little Edie in Grey Gardens.

But after she won over Steven Spielberg and the public with her adorable portrayal of Gertie in 1982’s E.T., Barrymore fell into a life of alcohol and hard drugs. She allegedly was already into cocaine by the time she was just 13 years old, and attempted suicide at age 14. After rehab and becoming emancipated from her mother, Barrymore began to work again in her late teens. During the 1990s, she appeared in films like Poison Ivy but refused to give up her rebellious attitude. She posed nude for playboy and even flashed talk-show host David Letterman while standing on top of his desk during filming.

Her buoyant, positive attitude today has helped Barrymore to win over critics and the public, and she was hired to star in a string of successful movies like Riding in Cars With Boys, Scream and The Wedding Singer. By 1995, Barrymore started her own production company, which backed films like Never Been Kissed and Charlie’s Angels, which were both big hits. Today, Barrymore continues to act in romantic comedies and more independent films, and is a vocal supporter of women’s and children’s rights, as well as the environment.

Martha Stewart

By the mid-1990s, Martha Stewart was one of the most powerful women in the country, and also one of the richest. She began her own catering business in her Westport, CT, basement in the 1970s, and quickly expanded her network and experience, starting a partnership with Clarkson Potter, which published many of her cookbooks and and homemaking books. Stewart appeared on talk shows like Oprah, had her own newspaper column, and even got her own magazine, and by 1997, she was chairman, president and CEO of the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia company. Going public with her stock two years later, Stewart was officially a billionaire, until she lost it all.

Stewart — a former stockbroker — was pursued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading, and by 2003, was indicted on nine counts of fraud and other crimes. Besides stepping down from her business duties, Stewart had to go to federal prison for five months.

Almost immediately afterward, Stewart began publicly working on several lucrative projects, including collaborations with Kmart, Macy’s, and other top retailers. She also has her own radio channel is slowly building up her multimedia empire once again.

Four celebrities each went down a bad road that led them away from their success. The powerful point is not in where they went wrong, but how they are working their way back. Certainly, with the odds they face and people watching them, any one of us with the right focus and determination can get our lives going in the direction we choose.

Katheryn Rivas writes on the topics of jobs and online universities. She welcomes your comments here. You can find her at katherynrivas87 @ gmail [dot] com .

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Write For A Blog Reader And Not A Book Reader

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By Terez Howard

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When you sit down to read a book, you read from left to right, paragraph to paragraph, page one to page two. That’s how I read a book, anyways.

When you read a blog, how do read it? I scroll like I’m looking for something, even if I don’t know what I’m looking for or what I’m going to find. I go up and down like a yo-yo, deciding whether or not a post is worth my time to read it. I check out subheadings, bullet points, bold characters, italics, a discernable font, and I love short paragraphs.

Time for a new paragraph. That last one was getting too long for my eyes. Why should you care how people read blogs?

First impressions – the worst impressions?

Because if readers don’t like the way your blog looks, even if you’re a first-rate writer, they are not going to read what you write. I do it all the time. I discover a post with an interesting headline and excitedly click on that link. When I see huge clumps of text and yellow-colored, size 8 font on a black background, I’m done.

It doesn’t matter what that blogger wrote. I’ve made a judgment call. Slap my wrist and tell me that I’m wrong. I don’t care. I’ve decided that if that writer doesn’t know the basics about blogging, then he/she couldn’t possibly have anything worthwhile to say.

It’s not the nicest way to be. I wasn’t always like this, tough. I’ve stumbled upon poorly constructed blogs that I have attempted to decipher. A deeper dig reveals typos galore, poor English and terrible content again and again. So why waste my time trying to translate?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression

Make a good first impression on your readers. First and foremost, you need original, well-written content. That is the foundation of a great blog.

Second, and this may seem ridiculous to say, but please make sure that people can read the size and style of your font. If you try to be too fancy, say with a script-type font, people will click away. If your words are too small for the average pair of eyes, people will click away. If the font is too big and overbearing, people will click away.

Either while you write or after you write and edit, you should try to include:

  • Subheadings. These break up text and summarize what readers can expect as well as build anticipation.
  • Bullet points/numbered lists. These are my favorites to read and write. They, too, break up text so well. I notice that if I read nothing from a blog post, I will read the list.
  • Bold, italics, underline, etc. Pepper your post with these font features when you want to stress something. But do not inundate a post with them. No need for the entire post to be bold.
  • Short paragraphs. Don’t write an entire blog post with just one paragraph. Staring at a computer screen with one long block of text is rough on the eyes. You can’t see anything. Experienced bloggers recommend three to four sentences per paragraph.

Use common sense

When you write for blog readers, don’t be a stickler to any rules. You’re thinking, And what’s the reason for this post if I can do whatever I want?

Well, of course you can do whatever you want. I’m saying that you don’t have to count the number of sentences per paragraph or include a bulleted list in every single post. Be natural. Think about your audience. Remember, write how you read.

A computer screen looks much differently than a book. Make it easy for people to read your blog.

How do you write for blog readers?

—
Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

21 All-Star Entrepreneurs’ Best Decisions to Grow Their Business

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2009 … We couldn’t get it far enough behind us. Who wasn’t ready for the calendar year to turn? We were ready to be back on the winning team again. Many of us revisited our thinking, our our strategies, our resources, and our work styles to be on our best game.

What Was the Best Decision You Made to Grow Your Business in 2010?

I asked 21 entrepreneurial All-Stars (add me and you get 22) to share in a few words what was the best decision they made in 2010 to keep their businesses growing. The answers sorted easily into five major ideas — best practices for sure.

Here’s what we all said. [I’ve included the links to their blogs and their twitter streams. If you subscribe to them, you’ll have your own online entrepreneurial advisory board.]

Have a strategy

Strategy is a practical plan to move forward over time. Great strategy is based on a solid foundation based on who we are, where we sit in the overall picture,the current conditions and the unique opportunities that are ours.

Sheila Scarborough, @SheilaS jumped on this with her thoughts …
My best move this year was to embrace the realization that even as only one person, I have as much ability as a “big agency” to attract quality clients. Why? Because in 2010 I saw that my supposed weakness (being one lone person) is actually my strength. As a solo operator, I don’t have to deal with time-suck meetings, clients that are assigned to me, having to go through a bunch of committees to get things approved, etc. I can organize my time, smarts and effort to be more nimble, more responsive, more knowledgeable and quicker-on-the-draw than anyone else. That rocks!

Carol Roth, @caroljsroth added foundational wisdom to support what Sheila laid out …
Let myself take a few steps backwards in order to build a foundation to make leaps and bounds forward. In concrete terms, this meant not taking on a few very lucrative clients and projects in order to invest more time and effort in a foundation that will allow me to achieve the next level of goals for my business. As difficult as it was to let the proverbial bird in the hand (or should I say “Benjamins” in the hand) go, the potential ROI from the investment more than makes up for that risk.

Turn Decisions into Action

We can strategize ways to grow our own food and cook it, shop for salad, order in, or dine out. But if we don’t decide, execute on a plan, and eat. We’ll be dead.

Michael Martine, @Remarkablogger has decided …
The best decision I made was to decide to grow it instead of just wishing it had already grown, setting goals, then creating and following a plan to reach those goals.

Britt Raybould, @britter moved to action on a long-term plan …
Attending SOBCon helped me kick off a long-awaited project to add knowledge products to my business, creating an additional income stream separate from my hourly and project-based work. The time investment now in creating these products will pay off huge during the next five years. It’s will also add some much-needed balance to my business.

Jason Falls, @JasonFalls decided focus is crucial….
The best decision I made in 2010 was to eliminate distractions and really focus. The flood of messages, requests, things to do and what-not that social media brings will drown you. Prioritize, eliminate the unnecessary and focus on the important parts and you’ll see a noticeable difference in moving your needles.

Pamir Kiciman , @gassho has put his strategy to work in new venues to get new results …
I opened a personal Facebook account. This has helped engage my audience much more directly. For instance, people who weren’t subscribing to my blog via email/rss, did start following it via NetworkedBlogs. This also attracted others on the periphery. And many more people are voluntarily promoting my content. This, and starting a YouTube Channel have put me on the map in new ways.

Stay a Learner

A growing business needs growing leadership to move it forward. Leaders listen, learn, and reach out to others who are finding new solutions, who are testing new ideas, and who have been where we’re trying to go.

Christina “CK” Kerley, @CK says is moving outward …
The best decision I’ve made in 2010 to grow my business is, consequently, the best decision I’ve made in other years, namely: to keep breaking new ground through learning new methods, new media and new solutions around which I can build new practice areas for my business. In 2010, it’s ‘B2B mobile marketing’ just as in years past it’s been around B2B social media, Speaking, Training, Strategy and more.

Terez Howard , @thewriteblogger learns from the best …
The best decision I’ve made this year is to follow the advice of seasoned professionals. I look to successful freelance writers and bloggers to give me the guidance I need to succeed.

Jyl Johnson Pattee, @jylmomIF is getting uncomfortable …
The best decision I made in 2010 to help my business grow was to go outside my comfort zone and do things I didn’t know how to do—things that were necessary to take my business to a new level. This has required putting fear aside, asking for help, listening, and being willing to shift directions. Ultimately, it has helped me grow my skill set, increase my knowledge, and form amazing relationships. It has helped me see that the path to business success is made up of opportunities that require dedication and pushing forward, even when that forward motion is, at times, foreign and/or difficult.

Sally Hogshead , @SallyHogshead is using her beginner’s mind.
I aspire to be the dumbest person in the room. I surround myself with people who are smarter than I am: people with knowledge, experience, skills, network that’s greater than my own. If I’m intimidated by a certain person or group, all the better — these are the people who can challenge and inspire and push me to the next level.

Hank Wasiak, @HankWasiak isn’t holding back …
“Embrace Risk, make a mistake and then fix it better than anyone else. This is the first time in history that how we address and correct a mistake or deal with an issue is perhaps even more important than the mistakes themselves. I see it as a way to put my values and commitments on the line and an opportunity to create a distinct advantage and leapfrog competition.”

Enlist Reinforcements

A person who walks solo is limited by what one person can do, see, perceive, learn, and know. Great businesses are build on relationships that align goals to build something greater than anyone person can alone.

Barry Moltz, @barrymoltz explains how is investing in others …
I invested money in smart people to help me evolve my business thinking and execution.

Janet Fouts, @jfouts deepening relationships ….
I decided not to go in for the conventional business promotion ideas like yellow pages and print ads and trust my instincts. i know that almost all of my business is word of mouth referrals, so I dedicated more time to deepening existing relationships on and off line to encourage the people I know and work with to help me promote my business. I got more speaking opportunities which led to more business as well as a second book!

Shelly Kramer, @ShellyKramer is including others and herself in her business plan …

I’ve made two strategic decisions thus far in 2010. First, I follow Hank Wasiak’s advice and collaborate more instead of less. Today’s business world is about collaboration, not competition, and the people who get that are, in my opinion, strategically positioning themselves for growth and prosperity. Secondly, I consciously try and pay myself first. That means that instead of always letting others’ needs (including my clients) come before my own, I make a concerted effort to pay myself first. That means writing blog posts for MY blog, doing press releases about MY business, and never forgetting that I’m the only one responsible for growing and maintaining my business.

Lorelle Van Fossen , @lorelleonwp gives herself over to the team.

Collaboration. I realized a long time ago that I couldn’t do it all alone. In order to make my business dreams come true, I needed to throw off the mantle of “I am the only one who can do it all” and realize that it takes a village.

Coming on board the incredibly creative team of a few years ago brought home this thought of the joy of teamwork actually ingnited by my work with on Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference (SOBCon) and other projects. She taught me how to “play nice” again with others, something I abandoned years ago when I left the corporate world with intent, an atmosphere of “if you can’t step on them, fire ’em.”

Last year, I solidified my investment in with the innovative thinker and rule breaking producer, Dave Moyer, and Kym Huynh, the Aussie surfin’ lawyer. With their help, I’ve put passion back into my work and my life. Working with people who challenge you to be you all the time, call you on your ignorance, and make you sit up straight, pay attention, and think harder and faster than ever, as well as produce better and with greater quality – it’s so exciting.

I’m now bringing this same energy and enthusiasm – okay, call it passion – to all of my work, with all of the customers, clients, and companies I work for, to my training programs and workshops, keynotes, and every part of my life. All because I changed my thinking. You cannot do it all alone. Reach out. Connect. Share. And mean it.

Let Go to Create!

Holding tightly to what once worked or to what might earn some currency or credit can also make it hard to grab hold of the opportunity that will take us to our ultimate dream.

Tammy Lenski, @TammyLenski
“I decided to stop offering peripheral services that took time and energy away from work that’s at the core of my value to clients, even though the peripheral services were bringing in income. The new doggedly focused approach has been substantial growth.”

Oded Noy, @SocialApproach adds a measure of awareness …
Have the discipline to let go of those aspects of the business that don’t work.

Toby Bloomberg, @tobydiva points out that to grow it’s important …
To take more chances to color outside the lines.

Rajesh Setty , @UpBeatNow chimed in with a similar thought …
Letting go of deals that were not there in the first place. Just that one action saved a lot of time that I was able to put to use more productively.

Nurture and Feed Your Purpose

Tending the dream fire and keeping the resources that ignite it could be the most important idea of all. Building a business takes energy, passion, and a willingness to work when the work isn’t always fun.

Becky McCray , @BeckyMcCray added something that we often overlook …
I took time away from my business, in order to grow my business. After three days at a terrific business conference, I took three days of quiet reflection with only a few friends. The result is a better focus, renewed purpose, and many new ideas, and now I’m sure I’m on the right course to grow in 2010.

Live the Person You Want to Be

More than half of any business success is showing up with all that you have — integrity, consistency, competence, confidence, and compassion.

@LizStrauss
The best thing I did for my business this year is decide to “kill off all other options” to be known for the unique, strategic, innovative, community builder I am. I am showing up fully, entirely, and living my abilities and passion full out. I am focused on my priorities, with a clear vision of where I’ll be when the year is done and where I’m going after that.

To keep me on that path, I’ve built the following model on which to test everything that comes up.

  • How can I incorporate this idea, action, or plan onto the path that moves me to my destination? If I cannot, who would could gain traction from this great idea, action, or plan?
  • Does this offer to speak, work, or volunteer move toward my goal?
  • Is there a way to partner with others with similar goals so that we all benefit at the same time?

What about you? What is the best decision you made for growing your business in 2010?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Get a Great Deal When You Join Third Tribe Before June 1, 2010. I’m a proud affiliate.

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Get Visible! Grow UP! Solve Your Problem for Everyone

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When Location Becomes Solution

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In the days of my dad’s saloon, everything was location, location, location. If you wanted to be noticed, you put your store at the corner of State and Main. Every car driving past, every person on the sidewalk saw you.

Big brands and entrepreneurs now find ourselves in a 24/7 world where time and space don’t limit our community as they once did. Many businesses only meet customers on their computer screens.

And location is taking on new meaning online and off.

Now the grand location might be at the top of the search engine page 1 or a huge twitter retweet list. Social Media’s new Location, Location, Location is another thing. It’s showing up on your smart phone screen.

To do that it’s really solution, solution, solution. Solution is the new location. People search for answers to the problems they have.

So it makes sense to have a problem-solving mindset.

Solve problems in your own business.
Solve problems that everyone has.
Solve problems that will still be problems when the social media tools change.

Make a habit of recognizing what’s a problem in your business and solve that problem for everyone else. It’s a strategy that works to raise visibility and grow a business because …

  • Though we may think we’re the only ones who have a certain fear, problem, or issue, a conversation about almost any problem will prove that we’re not.
  • The people you can reach as clients, customers, and readers are a lot like us. It’s the nature of how people connect. We gravitate toward those who have similar values and think in similar ways.
  • Some of those people are looking for the same solution. If we talk to them about solving their problem, we move outside of our view of the problem and our feelings about it. Being outside of the problem brings new perspective, new ideas, and new approaches to solutions.

With a problem-solving mindset, we stay in a learning and listening attitude. Leaders who reach out to listen and learn, to find solutions and value the people who share their ideas are irresistibly attractive. The leaders grow and so do their businesses.

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And when you’ve tackled one problem, look again for the problems or glitches inside that new solution, the discomfort around the new process, or the old habits that no longer work. That’s how we keep our growing businesses growing up when we reach a small hitch.

Which of your business problems can you solve for someone else?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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SOB Business Cafe 05-21-10

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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 Specials this Week are

Ramblings from a Glass Half Full
“It can’t be done”

“You can’t do that”

How many times have you heard these words? Plenty of times, I bet. “Can’t” is a big, fat, stop sign designed to sabotage a dream.

The Social Media Marketing Blog
It turns out that it’s pretty simple to understand what women want. All you have to do is ask them. Of course, you have to be listening and willing to put it into practice. Having been married for nearly 9 years, I’m no genius at dating; but there are some parallels here that even my feeble brain can pull out.

Read more: http://www.scottmonty.com/2010/05/online-ad-targeting-is-pretty-much-like.html#ixzz0oXCwqvf5

ReveNews
The service is called CinemaNow, partnering Best Buy with Sonic Solutions Inc. The service will start as a la carte, and hopes to progress to a Netflix like subscription service. Movie rentals will start at 2.99, videos for purchase will run from 9.99 – 19.99.

C-Level Strategies and Awakenings
To be honest, I used to avoid networking events if I was not absolutely sure that someone I knew would be there – someone for me to “hang out with.” This was a real detriment to my career as it drastically limited my exposure to executives outside of my little “bubble,” and prevented me from making wonderful new business connections.

One Mann’s Opinion
It’s scary and exciting and big monsters are there to eat you and you don’t know where to start. The best place is with your personal or business strategy. You don’t need to embrace it all, you don’t need to be everywhere and frankly no one can.

Des Walsh
Conversations about social media in business often start with questions about tools. “Should we have a Facebook page?” “Should we be on Twitter?” “Should we have a blog and if so how do we go about that?”

These are perfectly reasonable questions. But they jump the gun.

Related ala carte selections include

Connie Reece
As they say about a picture …

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

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Know Your History To Shape Your Future

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By Terez Howard

We all have a story to tell. Some naturally have more interesting stories than others, while the great story tellers have a way with words, even if their tales are not particularly earth-shattering. What we experienced in the past and experience at present, whether it directly relates to our niche or not, makes its way into our blogs.

But what is a blog? If you’re reading this, you have some idea. My husband recently asked me how the term blog got started. This definition is for him and anyone like him who would like to know the etymology of the word.

William Safire put it so well back in 2002. He wrote this: Blog is a shortening of Web log . It is a Web site belonging to some average but opinionated Joe or Josie who keeps what used to be called a ”commonplace book” — a collection of clippings, musings and other things like journal entries that strike one’s fancy or titillate one’s curiosity. What makes this online daybook different from the commonplace book is that this form of personal noodling or diary-writing is on the Internet, with links that take the reader around the world in pursuit of more about a topic.

That 8-year-old definition still applies to the present blog. It isn’t just about writing a journal. It’s about making a difference.

You have to know where you came from to know where you’re going.

That old adage has been recited to me many times. What does it mean to bloggers as a group? According to Safire, a blog would “strike one’s fancy or titillate one’s curiosity.” When I read this, I wondered whose curiosity he was speaking of? The blogger’s or the reader’s?

It should be both. A blog is meant to be shared and get an audience involved in a subject. You write what you know. You write what you love. You write what you hate. But more basically, you write what you find is interesting, and you hope that others will be interested, too.

How do you keep people interested?

Let’s go back to our history. Safire said bloggers should “take the reader around the world.” One way to keep your audience interested is by guiding them through the world wide web with links that explore your topic deeper.

Bloggers can link to the following:

  • Other people’s blog posts related to your topic.
  • Your own related blog posts.
  • Websites of businesses, communities and people you mention in your posts.
  • Your other blogs.
  • Your own websites.
  • Videos relating to your content, by you or someone else.
  • Audio downloads that explore your topic further, by you or someone else.

You can place these links at the beginning or end of your posts, depending on the link. You can have a designated page for these links, such as one that includes links to your other websites. You also can put links in your right or left panel, so they’re easily accessible to visitors.

 

When your blog thoroughly provides answers to readers through content and external links, your audience will look to you as an expert in your niche. They will come back for more.

Now that you know your history as a blogger, how will that knowledge affect your future in blogging?

—
Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!