Successful Blog

Even the Link Leaks Were Misbehaving!

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We Told Stories Out of School

Yep. Tuesday Open Comments Night took us back to when we were kids. We shared our stories. Water balloons and paper clips showed up. We had adventures. Wait until you hear the one where . . .

The Link Leak Virus was with us as well. — The Link Leak Virus is a special strain of the indie virus with blogtipping mutations that occur in threes and keeps Open Comment Night a link free-for-all.

I like it when we tell stories. . . . Chris, there’s a linkto the story of how I was trained to a whistle. It’s at the end of the summary.

Cool links were shared. Here’s a list of them.

Did You Hear About the Time . . .

[Read more…]

Chris Cree and Liz Converse and Conspire

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I agree
Last night I had dinner with Chris Cree. What a thrill that was. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes.

People from the same family are rarely born under one roof. Richard Bach, Illusions

That’s how the conversation felt from the first word to the last. The food was excellent, as was the company.

We talked about life, work, family, and philosophy. We talked about times when we feel sorry for ourselves. I told him the best cure for that was Phil Gerbyshak. To prove it, we called up Phil and Chris only had to hear his voice to see what I meant.

Then Chris and I did some conspiring about Successful-Blog. Yep. We came up with a really cool idea or two — ways to broaden the scope and depth, to offer more, and more fun to readers. I’ll be announcing what’s happening in a day or so . . .

Meanwhile this morning, I went back to find the first comment that Chris left on this blog. Here it is.

. . . It doesn’t matter if the conversation ends up being about work. The take-away is that it is about making a connection. If a connection is made, it will most likely help work too.

Talk about a simple yet powerful tool to hang on our belts! Thanks. –Chris Cree, comment on “Better Than Hi! How Are Ya?” April 25, 2006

I guess that kind of explains everything.

Liz's Signature
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Link Leak and Lists — Say that Fast!

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Listening to our Lists

This time of the year, we’re all so innundated with things to do. Many of us make lists and other folks make lists for us. We talked about all kinds of them and what we think about them. Tuesday Open Comments Night was a list of lists.

The Link Leak Virus was with us as well. — The Link Leak Virus is a special strain of the indie virus with blogtipping mutations that occur in threes and keeps Open Comment Night a link free-for-all.

Welcome to every person who came — all of you are on my list of favorite people in the blogosphere.

Cool links were shared. Here’s a list of them.

Twisting the Listing by Rick Cockrum

A list of lists is what you missed
If you weren’t here for last night’s tryst
Bloggers from around the globe
Tipped their hats to those they know
Newfound friends came out to play
As we all had our say

Joe was first as he tries to be
Making lists of what he’d see
Liz the ever gracious host
Watched neighbors list what they loved most.
Scorpia panned the creation of lists
Stultifying shells to block her bliss
John T Unger sat a spell
But Typelists’ called sounded his knell
Carolyn said she loves lists
She may explain to a therapist
Valeria came for the first time
Lists for her, harness the mind
Delphine, too, was also new
Lists for her keep things to do
Trisha stopped just to say hi
To her lists she says goodbye
Chris is in a frigid clime
But with Klondike’s he’s doing fine
Derek came, proud to say
His new blog layout makes him say Yay!
Vaspers returned, with his unique sound
Bearing links and quips, and links round rou….
Char says she’s a lover of lists
For holding her thoughs so life she won’t miss
Roger surveyed the list on their blog writing time
Was he making a list? I gave him mine
Ben stopped in. We gave him pink slippers
And promised him links if he’d just send us pictures
Cat is busy, preparing to fly
To England for Christmas – now she’s lacking time
Shopping lists are popular at this time of year
Meikah really does hope the list of bills disappears
Christine (she’s a P) doesn’t follow her lists
Resolutions are out, but a year’s word can bring bliss
Rodney just joined the BAD blogger club

For Starbucker ice cream supplied the true grist
For a mouth-watering, luscious, flavorful list.
Tony felt bad that he came so late
John R brought books, a list that was great
Troy Worman said hi, Jeff Brown was alone
Douglas winged in and back out on his own
Jessica’s list gave us food, not just a bone
And 1-800 HART said a last hi from his unique time zone.
David said he’s from Chicago.
Liz said they’d have to meet in town.

As Joe said in his great rendition of Rudolph
And the end of the year comes once more to be
With lists like this
You’ll go down in history!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Once Upon a Time: Five Things in a Story

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Oh Okay
I’m not a big believer in memes or tagging games. Most folks have plenty to do. Plenty of them want to keep their blogs focused on their blogging goal.

However, this one is short, and seems to fit almost any blog scenario — it offers more details about the blog writer. Our friend, Phil Gerbyshak passed it me, Troy Worman, Jodee Bock, Ted Demopoulos, and Kammie Kobyleski. That hero man, Troy, already has his up. AND it’s not just some list; it’s packed with his personality.

So here I sit with the gauntlet on the flat screen before me. I feel the beads of sweat beginning to form on my forehead. Where will I find five things about me that the committee of me will agree are interesting enough folks will want to read them? Perhaps if I pick five things and put them in story form. That will make the difference.

Once Upon a Time: Five Things in a Story
Once upon a time a little girl was born, and though today many people know her, details from those days aren’t well known. That’s what this story will share.

The little girl’s surname at birth is Italian. It’s long and musical. It means “star of the mountain.”

It could be that the star name ties to the branch in her family tree where she shows up. She’s the second daughter in three generations on one side of the family. On the other side, she’s part of the third generation that is made of two boys and a girl. Figure that one out.

She was a long-awaited daughter of an Italian father. So when she finally came, her proud papa rented a 40-acre farm and hired an accordion band for a party.

She was painfully shy as child, totally not a risk taker — even grass was suspect in her book. People, however, could win her over. That’s how she ended up with two childhood nicknames — Bashful and Mushy. They came at almost the same moment in time.

Her mother sent the three year old off to traditional dance training because she said the child was clumsy. The little gifl must been very clumsy because she was still training 14 years later.

The rest of the story is not nearly so interesting. . . .

Ah, to have the best life details of your story show up before you are four. I guess worse things can happen. 🙂

Now I tag Mike Sansone, Drew McLellan, Delaney Kirk, TechZ, and Ann Michael.to do the same. What are five things we don’t know about YOU?

Liz's Signature

PS. I’ve been tagged again.
Tag It Is, Then

December Blogtipping Positivity!

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Link Love for Making Things Brighter

blogtipping icon 1

Today I’m celebrating official Blogtipping Day. How about you? As the song goes “Give a little bit . . .” Here’s how it works.

  • Choose three bloggers you admire and link to them.
  • List three reasons why you admire each one.
  • Then add a tip at the end.

That’s all there is to it.

Phil Gerbyshak

  • When it comes to positivity, Phil, you are the REAL THING. No question.
  • On and off your blog, Make It Great! you take genuine pleasure in the success of others. You’re not shy about saying so.
  • I’ve read your entire blog. Your ideas are compelling. You write well and with passion. You are one in a million.

Tip: Keep some of that energy just for Phil. Don’t ever forget that folks who know you are with for the long haul.

Dr. Kirsten Harrell, Psy. D.

  • The Think Positive Blog is popping with energy. I feel it as soon as I click in there.
  • Kirsten, you are the same way. It comes through in every blog post you write and in all of your ipopin affirmations.
  • You’ve brought a bundle of positive insights to discussions throughout the blogosphere. I always look forward to your comments when you visit here.

Tip: You have so much to offer. My only tip is that we want more.

Troy Worman

  • Anyone who’s been to Orbit Now knows that it’s a positively amazing place. It’s always changing in a way that makes me look forward to going there for a fresh new outlook. I find myself re-reading nuggets of wisdom, just to stay a little longer.
  • Troy, you have a positive world view that is creative, clever, and contagious. And interwoven through that is a quite dose of compassion.
  • You and your blog are a category of one. It’s a category worth keeping.

Tip: I think your “I want to be your mentor idea” is fabulous. Please ask for help if you need to find people to sign up.

Thanks to all three of you for bringing positivity to the blogosphere. I’m smiling just to think of the contribution you make.

–Me “Liz” Strauss

Related article
Blogtipping Three of the Best
Link Leak Virus Page

After Thanksgiving Link Love — 15 Links that Are Better than Left-Overs

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Can’t Have You Sitting Home with Left-Overs

I’ve collected 15 links for you to read or add to your tool kit over the weekend. A wealth of interesting stories, toys, and treasures.

News Stories

  • Roundup: Digg’s crisis, Odeo, Amidzad’s touch, Mobio’s movies, HAVA for Christmas

  • Best of the Web 2006 Clicke the categories in the sidebar to see each list.

    • Tools for Developers and Developer Wannabes

  • the web developer’s handbook Subtiopics in this resource include: creativity tools, css showcases, css galleries and showcases, color tools, color schemes and palettes, color patterns, fashion color selections, color theory, royalty free photos, css daily reading, css in German, web design daily reading, css theory, css layout, css navigation menu, css technique, css software and Firefox extensions, css web tools and services, html web tools and services, accessibility checkers, miscellaneous tools, javascript, ajas, DOM, fonts, typography, RSS, CMS and forum software, blogging, specifications, usability and accessibility, add a link (free), seo tools, seo references, how to get things done, freelancers, web 2.0, 2reads this week.

  • Online Generators ascii generators, css generators, color generators, domain name generators, email generators. favicon generators. flash generators. form generators. fun & humor generators. graphic & image generators. htaccess generators. metatag generators. misc. generators. password generators. pdf generators. php & MySQL generators. popup generators. robot.txt generators. rss generators.sitemap generators. text generators.tooltip generators. weblog generators.xmnl generators.

  • Curvy Corners Does what it says.

  • Best of the Best Web 2.0 Web Sites Includes links to The Complete List of Visual Studio Add-Ins and Tools, The Complete List of Ajax Tools, The Complete List of CSS Tools. The Complete List of Great Free TV Web Sites on the Internet. The Complete List of Software Development Events to Attend in 2007, The Complete List of Software Development Frameworks, Process’s, Methods, or Philosophies

  • Full Web Building Tutorials – All Free Too many to list.Includes basic HTML examples and color codes.

    • Buzz, Comments, and Links

  • Web 2.0: Buzz-Monitoring and Tracking Meausre, observe, analyze link popularity, track comments, get links

  • Blogger ForumTopics include Newbies, Template Design, Link Eschange, Coding, Getting Noticed

    • On Jobs

  • Steven R. Covey on Job Security In this pieces at JibberJabber, Steven Covey discusses the employment cycle, career management, branding and building a real network, and adapting to a new career.

  • A Job Candidate’s Bill of Rights 10 Traits to Expect from an Interviewing Process.

    • SEO/Marketing/PR

  • 10 Shortcuts for Successful SEO 10 Steps to follow.

  • Judy’s Book: Word of Mouth Website You Need to Know About

  • 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic from SEOmoz Solid advice.

  • PRWEB Where it is and how it works.

  • Top Seven Ways How Writing Articles Can Explode Your Business

  • Creating a Slogan from Scratch Define your niche. Test adaptablility. Check for Matches.

    • No turkeys in this bunch. That was last Thursday’s deal. 🙂

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

    Related
    Great Find: Boosting Blog Traffic
    Thinking Inside-Outside the SEO Sandbox
    Blog Archive Promotion To-Do List
    Turning Reluctant Readers into Loyal Fans