personal-branding Archives - Page 34 of 41

Pick a Number–Just Make Sure It’s a BIG One

April 24, 2006 by Liz

The First One to Pick a Number

HAS POWER. I found that out last night. It was exciting. Here’s what happened.

In yesterday’s article, Job [and Client] Hunting ala Liz, I added three bits of advice I had learned about negotiating meetings. This was one.

The first one to name a number loses. To me thatÃ¢â¬â¢s self-explanatory. If I say a number, theyÃ¢â¬â¢re not going to go higher. If they ask, I usually answer with . . . what the work is worth, letÃ¢â¬â¢s talk a little more about whatÃ¢â¬â¢s involved and what you usually pay for this kind of work.

I found out in less than 2 hours I was wrong. WAY COOL. [Read more…]

Job [and Client] Hunting ala Liz

April 23, 2006 by Liz

Gosh You Look Great

You have your act totally together. You know how to answer every question. You can explain how to capitalize on your strengths and how you make your weaknesses irrelevant. You can explain your biggest challenge and how you handled it with finesse and outstanding interpersonal skills. Your resume is a personal branding brochure and an inviting picture of who you are. You can see yourself as a leader and explain what your best traits are in simple, clear sound bytes. Your personal branding BIG IDEA shines through your eyes, your words, and everything you do. You are cool.

That doesn’t change the fact that job [and client] hunting is stressful. Even if you didn’t put your pants on backwards. [Read more…]

A Timely Reminder

April 22, 2006 by Liz

When was the last time that you . . .

found a new blog in your niche to read? New blogs offer new communities of readers with fresh ideas and new points of view. Join their discussion by leaving meaningful comments and trackbacks. New friends there might read your comments and want to find out what you’re writing.
tweaked your blog description and checked your directory listings? Blogging is flexible and adaptive. How much has your blog changed since you last read your blog description? Have you visited the directories that you listed your blog in? Listings have a way of disappearing over time. Even when they don’t, they might need revising.
organized your archives as your readers would want them? Great archives are super blog promotion. For more on how to think like your readers see Watch What You’re Doing.

What other reminders might we need now that spring is here?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Spring Cleaning Your Blog

April 20, 2006 by Liz

Spring Comes Twice a Year

I highlighted this post last October, when it was spring in Australia. Still, I think the information is worth bringing forward now that it’s spring in North America. It’s an article by Duncan Riley from the Blog Herald called, Quick spring cleaning tips for your blog. Here’s what I take from Duncan’s article and pass on to you.

2. New header–If you haven’t noticed, new headers are sprouting like spring flowers.

3. Clean up your links–Sad to say some of those folks on your blogroll may no longer be blogging.

4. Edit old posts–Update old posts and add references so folks will go read them.

5. Take a walk around the blogs. Spring walks are always invigorating and inspiring.

Duncan also suggests signing up for an affliliate program. I don’t see any reason not to . . . It just didn’t feel very springy to me. 🙂

Got any to add to my list, since I already have the mop and bucket out?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Review Checklist
Blog Archive Promotion To Do List
GAWKER Design: Curb Appeal as Customer-Centered Promotion
Blog Promotion: Checking Out Curb Appeal

Editing: Just Some of My Very Different Thoughts

April 19, 2006 by Liz

Power Editing

Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very”; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
— Mark Twain

In the Successful Blog Cafe last week Rob at Jamdo’s article offered advice on how to strip out excess words in your posts to increase keyword density. That’s good editing advice. In fact, much of editing is taking out ALL of the words that you don’t need.

Words that Writers Don’t Need

As bloggers, we write in a conversational tone, but conversation moves fast and easy. We can correct if someone doesn’t understand what we’re saying. They can interrupt if we’re going on, and on, and on, and on. We’re likely to notice if our audience walks away while we’re still talking.

Unfortunately, we don’t have those luxuries when the words are written. More written words don’t necessarily build more bridges and rapport. Additional words can get between the reader and our message. Here are places I go to remove extra words that creep in while I’m writing. [Read more…]

Blogosphere Is Now 35.3 Million

April 17, 2006 by Liz

State of the Blogosphere April 2006

David Sifry posted State of the Blogosphere, April 2006 Part 1: On Blogosphere Growth at the Technorati Weblog today. It’s only been 3 months since David’s last report, and the blogosphere hasn’t shown any signs of slowing–in fact, it continues to double every six months. New weblogs are created at the rate of one per second. That’s one now, and now, and now, and now. AND I TYPE REALLY FAST.

A new word gets coined in this report, I’ll let Mr. Sifry do it himself. Of those that derive from spam, I think this might be my favorite.

There has been an increase in the overall noise level in the blogosphere during 2006, but aside from a few notable spam storms (“sporms”? Just how far can you take this naming system?) noted in red in the chart above, the high level of interesting, original content being created greatly outweighs the fake or duplicate content listed on splogs.

The Facts:

Technorati now tracks over 35.3 Million blogs
The blogosphere is doubling in size every 6 months
It is now over 60 times bigger than it was 3 years ago
On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day
19.4 million bloggers (55%) are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created
Technorati tracks about 1.2 Million new blog posts each day, about 50,000 per hour

David Sifry does a remarkable job of providing useful information to bloggers. I use this data regularly to help friends, family, and business clients to understand what blogs are and what impact blogs are having on the Internet and the world we live in.

Who needs this information to understand what you do? How might you package these facts to promote your business? . . . to help your clients promote theirs?

–ME “Liz” Strauss