Successful Blog

What Remarkable Footprints Have You Already Left?

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A Minute Reflecting Can Change the World

Some mornings when I’m ready to be still and reflect, I’ll sit back, click over to my writing blog, and find something I’ve written before to see where I’ve been while I think about where I might be going next. This morning in seconds I landed on something called, “Remarkable Footprints.”

Whenever I’m in the midst of travel or meetings, it seems a nice way to explain how the world has supported me and how I rely on it to keep me going. Here it is.

Remarkable Footprints

I’d been watching the water since just about sun up. I’d been writing in my journal, thinking about life and stuff. A reoccurring theme kept playing in my head and on the page I was writing on. Like the waves on the ocean that theme kept repeating, repeating without regard to the sky, the sand, or my staring and wondering.

My life keeps circling round to lessons I’ve met before. The same mishaps keep happening. The same rugs keep getting pulled. Two years now had been as if all of the losing and learning had been wrapped and served up to me at once. This time it had come close to changing me. The concrete way down there was all that had kept the wolves from coming in.

I put my pencil down to watch the water. Watching was all I had been good at doing for quite a while there. I mentally let the waves wash away worries, clean off the weight of fears that I’d fought my through. I saw myself lean back on the surface to let my cares float to the sky to dissolve. The bubbles in the wavy foam would have done the same if they could have done what they wanted to. All things in nature know what they must do. People could learn something from that natural way of thinking.

People had told me I was too much or too little, too tall or too filled with feeling. They had made it clear that I couldn’t do what I do so well. I came close to actually believing them. What made me want to listen? What stopped me in the end from giving in, from giving up?

Who knows how long before I packed up my journal to walk back to life again. With a new resolve I set off. It was time to say, You’re wrong. I can. I will. Stand back, and watch me.

When I turned for a last look, I saw people caught in a conversation. They were gathered together at the path I had taken. Who could explain what they saw before them?

They were staring at remarkable footprints in the sand.


credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/500089

What Remarkable Footprints Have You Already Left?

Every step we take leaves a footprint.
We move the molecules of life, earth, air. People see where we got and are moved by our travels.
Others follow because we’ve made the way safer, easier, more meaningful because we’ve been there.

Have you thought about the remarkable footprints you’ve already left for others to follow?
Think about them again.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there back to your blog.

How to Drive Sales Using Pinterest

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Richard Franklin

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11.7 million unique U.S. Users had hit the social site in January, making Pinterest, the fastest website to ever exceed the ten million marks. The aforementioned is a report published about the growing popularity of the social site. This user attracting site has now become a great platform for marketers to generate sales online.

Pinterest users publicize their favorite images, and can also manage the subject groupings into their interests, such as hobbies, travel, favorite foods etc. People make use of Pinterest to promote their personal passions. And now, businesses have ventured with the expertise of a social media marketing agency to use this new social networking platform to earn exposure for their brands.

How to Drive Sales Using Pinterest

Here are few factors that will encourage you to incorporate Pinterest in your social media marketing:

Referral traffic more than any other site

Business on Pinterest can earn benefits from winning referral traffic. It has been discovered in the studies that Pinterest brought more traffic to the sites in comparison to Google Plus, YouTube and LinkedIn.

“Is your content pinnable”- this is the first requirement of tapping the referral feature of the site. For monitoring the transferring frequency of your content to Pinterest, you can install “Pin it” button on your toolbar. Besides, you directly install a “Pin It” button on your site.

Detailed information with quickness

You cannot just get advantageous with the referral traffic but you can also know what audiences think about your product. Being a great source of consumer insights; make a quick keyword research to expose with the facts what audiences are discussing and sharing about the keyword. You can investigate about competitor’s activities, and can also compare the products and services. There is a category search on Pinterest to get the insights or follow the pinners to get exposed to the things that are trending.

Gather ideas and thoughts

From color palates to food styling and camera techniques to dressing; Pinterest has become a diverse platform when it is about fetching the innovative ideas and inspiration. Companies cruise the site to get inspired with new ideas and also get exposed to the trends.

People on the social site not just share to inspire but also share so that they can be established as a thought leader in their field.

Ground for recruitment

Pinterest’s benefits are also actively utilized by many HR departments to appoint top talent. After all, it has become a medium to associate with people over shared interests. Besides, companies are also using it to flaunt their unique culture by pinning the highlights of the employees. Companies have grown creatively with features of Pinterest.

Author’s Bio:
Richard Franklin is a social media strategist and wants to share his knowledge with people who are about to hire a social media agency for their businesses. He writes about latest trends used in social media companies. You can find Richard on Twitter as @AgencySEO.

Thank you, Richard! Will you be pinning this?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

3 Steps to Start a Successful-Online Business

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Danielle Rodabaugh

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Take Charge

If you have a tech-savvy entrepreneurial spirit paired with an old-fashioned hard work ethic, starting a web-based business might be a great option for you. By managing web-based businesses, innovative entrepreneurs can work from home, set their own schedules and take charge of how much they earn each week. But what does it take to start, and then manage, a web-based business that’s profitable?

1. Choose a product or service in a profitable niche.

The first step to starting and running a successful web-based business is determining the products or services you should sell. As with traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, you’ll have to do a great deal of market research before you even think about starting an online business. If you want to make a profit for the long-term, you need to choose a market in which people consistently spend money. Then you need to find a niche audience within that market to specifically target online.

For example, my boss was interested in starting an online insurance company. He soon realized how difficult it would be to build one from scratch when so many national brands had already claimed substantial ownership of the market. So, he zeroed in on a very specific segment of the industry: bond insurance (http://www.suretybonds.com). This allowed him to market his company to a specific online audience that insurance providers had largely been ignoring.

You can determine whether a niche is profitable by researching keywords related to that market. A variety of free and paid SEO research tools can help you determine what your potential clients are looking for online. These tools can also give you an idea of what the competition looks like within the industry as a whole or one of its specific niches. Once you’ve gathered a comprehensive understanding of how your market works and what it’s missing, you’ll be able to develop a brand.

2. Launch a professional website.<.h3>

Once you’ve selected a niche that has the potential to turn a profit, you’ll need to launch a website that features your products or services. Although you could hire a professional web developer to create a fully customized website for your company, you might not want to invest a significant amount of your start-up capital on web design right away. If you want to keep start-up costs down, consider using a template for your website.

Free templates usually don’t offer many ways to customize the look, feel and navigation of a website; however, you can usually purchase a $100 template that offers a great deal of customization. These templates are simple for beginners to install, and many provide user dashboards that will simplify the way you manage your site’s layout, colors and other features.

3. Implement a commanding online marketing strategy.

Simply setting up a website doesn’t guarantee that customers will find your online business (http://www.sba.gov/content/setting-online-business); you’ll have to heavily market your company to garner traffic that generates sales. Paid placement advertising can drive traffic to your site immediately; however, doing so requires a substantial investment upfront. If you choose to use paid placement ads, start with a small budget and test your options before spending a ton of money.

Setting up free profiles on social media sites such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter is one cost-effective way for you to build interest in your business and attract potential customers. When you work with these sites, though, keep in mind that most of your interactions should build trusting relationships rather than promote products or services. You should focus on promoting your company though on-site content development and other SEO marketing strategies.

As a professional who works with entrepreneurs every day, I’m aware that many more factors go into managing a successful web-based business. However, I firmly believe that developing strategies to achieve these three goals from the beginning will give any new business owner a solid starting point.

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Author’s Bio:
Danielle Rodabaugh writes about surety bonds, business licensing and entrepreneurship at SuretyBonds.com. You can find her on Google+ or Twitter @darodabaugh (https://twitter.com/#!/DaRodabaugh).

Thank you, Danielle, for getting us started!!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Ask someone to dance

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Rosemary O’Neill

Ask Someone to Dance

There are so many small business owners and entrepreneurs out there, just plugging away, waiting for someone to reach out and invite them into the social media party. They’re excited, intrigued, and all dressed up, just waiting for someone to notice them.

The Gym is Crowded

The high school gym is sweaty, packed with breathless teenagers of all types. There is a gaggle of jock types over near the punch bowl, a gaggle of cool girls dancing as a group to Rock Lobster, and a slew of hopeful, terrified boys strung along the outer wall of bleachers. On the other side of the gym, against the wall, are clusters of shy girls, furtively glancing toward the other side.

Burning down the House


I have an idea. Let’s light this sucker on fire. Let’s run across the gym, grab one of those shy kids by the hand, and drag them out into the Soul Train line.

  • Pick one of your Twitter followers who has very few followers themselves and give them a FollowFriday this week.
  • Search for one of your customer’s blogs and comment on a post that had zero comments.
  • Know someone who’d be a great speaker? Email them the panel submission form for SXSW or another conference.
  • Ask to do a video interview with one of your colleagues who’s never done it before.
  • Find a way to shine a spotlight on someone who’s working behind the scenes (an IT person, a administrator, a great community manager).
  • Do you know a blogger who’s awesome, but just needs a little attention? Round up your Twitter friends and do a surprise “blog bomb” one day.

Report back, please…who did you ask to dance this week? Was it fun?

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

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Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

How to Be Passionate

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Christine Kane

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Stay Passionate

I have found that it is difficult to stay passionate in this busy world. Our attention changes so frequently that we forget what it is like to focus in on one thing at a time. We forget what it is like to really love what we are doing at the moment, with a single minded attention. We forget how to be passionate.

As a writer, I get burnt out. I have to write about this over here and that over there and research thins topic and find out information and quotes about that one. I just get sick of thinking. I get sick of coming up with new ideas all the time, or regurgitating the old ones in creative ways. I just fry.

That is when I know it is time to take a break. I need a vacation. I need to center and get back to myself. When I am writing not because I am passionate but because I have to, my writing is going to suffer – guaranteed.

But how can you regain your passion? How can you get passion in the first place? Isn’t it something you just fall into or are born with? Well, no, not really. I think of passion like I think of love. True love.

How to Be Passionate

Cultivate passion.

  1. Passion is a choice – Like love, passion is not something you fall into. Yes, you can lust and you can be attracted to a person, just like you can be attracted to certain topics. But to really be ‘in love’ requires that a choice be made. A choice to move beyond “this feels good” to “I will work to make this always feel good”.
  2. Passion requires concentration – Like love, passion requires your attention. Passion will run at the slightest opportunity. It will flutter away the moment you take your eyes off it. Like a lover left alone too long, the passion will flee if left unattended or ignored. Do not get caught up in the distractions of life, the other topics you may be ‘attracted’ to, and forget your love.
  3. Passion requires feeding – Not only do you have to give your passion your regular attention, but you also have to feed it. You have to add more knowledge, growing deeper every day in your topic. Like a lover, you must learn more about them daily. See what they are thinking and feeling, and find out their needs and desires. Only then will the passion stay.
  4. Passion needs a break – This all sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Well, it is. That is why, sometimes passion needs a break. Like a night out with friends, passion can handle some time apart, as long as it is limited. That does not mean you get to cheat on passion. No finding any other topics while you are away, okay? But you do get to give your body and brain a break and come back refreshed.
  5. Passion changes – Last but not least, passion changes. Like any relationship, nothing stays the same forever. Eventually you will focus on one area of your passion, becoming all the more involved in that. Other parts will fall away and be replaced. You passion can gradually change into something entirely different, and yet still the same. Like growing old with a mate, passion can change and be familiar, can get old and yet be no less loved.

Passion is universal. In love, in friendships, and in writing, passion is necessary to keep things vital and alive. Passionate work is the only work that will stay with you. It is the only work that you will ever really love. Others may not agree, but you know what you have written in passion is the best work you have ever done. Do not let go of that. Cling to passion and keep it lit. That is the way to keep your love for writing.

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Author’s Bio:
Christine Kane is a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about life, writing, and all things web, including internet service and you’ll find her on a variety of blogs.

Thank you, Christine! Great tips for keeping passion in writing and in life.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

How to Fix a Bad First Impression in Business and in Life

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CHANGE THE WORLD

A Bad First Impression Isn’t Good

Change the World!

They say we don’t get a second chance at a first impression. I don’t know if I agree with that. I’ve sure had some wonderful relationships that started on the edge. Some even started completely wrong. .

I know the sinking anxious feeling, that realization that I behaved badly on first meeting someone. It could even be that I know that feeling better than most. Over the years, I’ve devised many forms of the bad first impression.

  • I’ve been overwhelmingly imposing by talking too much.
  • I’ve been under-whelmingly boring because I couldn’t think of a thing to say.
  • I’ve been distracted, bored, aggressive, disinterested, and even argumentative, like a debater.
  • I’ve assumed things about the person I just met.
  • I’ve tried to keep someone engaged when they clearly had to leave.

    • How to Fix a Bad First Impression

    In business, first impressions gone wrong can be costly. They represent jobs not won. Relationships that don’t make into our networks. People who tell their friends that we may not be a good fit with the projects their friends have going on.

    But likewise, in business, some the strongest relationships I’ve enjoyed have started with a problem incident – a bad conversation at a high-level meet and greet, an important first project not finished on time, a speaking gig where the presenter totally misread the audience but kept going on.

    I’ve been on both sides of a bad impression and neither side feels great. What I’ve found is if I focus on the person and the relationship it’s much easier to get to comfortable and common ground where we can start again. If I value that new relationship I need to take my mind off myself and see the other person — no matter which of us made the bad first impression.

    People experience how we make them feel. They might remember what we say, but they’ll never forget how we made them feel. So the best way to a wonderful new experience is to make the person feel how much you value who they are, what they say, how they think.

    Forget the event and focus on the person. Communicate that you care about fixing the situation because you value the relationship.

    It’s not hard to fix a bad first impression. Just care more about what you think about them than what they thought about you.

    We can change the world — just like that.
    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

    Change the World!.