Successful Blog

A Memorable Blogger Is A Guest Under Many Roofs

by

By Terez Howard

You are a blogger. You want people to know who you are. You want the sight of your name to instantly remind readers of your brand. You want to be memorable.

The people I remember are the people that are everywhere.

Â

Bloggers that guest blog here, there and everywhere stick in my mind. They are the ones hat offer their insights on their own blog but aren’t stingy with their wisdom. They willingly share their expertise and musings with the audiences of other blogs.

Â

Â

The beauty of guest blogging is that a well-established blog already has regular readers, and they flock in droves daily. They talk; they comment; they tweet about this blog. Then one day you get to write for this blog, and you’re the talk of the town.

One Guest Blog Post Increased My Twitter Followers Sevenfold from writing at this very blog.

Not only that, I recently established a relationship with a blogger I met on LinkedIn who also wants to blog for businesses. Guess how she heard about me? Liz Strauss!

Guest blogging gets your name known, or at the very least, recognized. Don’t expect an instant surge in traffic to your blog or tons of requests for your services from a single guest blog post. While these are possibilities in the early stages, they are results that should come gradually… and not from just one post.

Get under many roofs

If you want to spread your image around, guest blog for several blogs. Choose blogs with readers that will be interested in what you have to say and that will benefit from your knowledge and experience.

If you know nothing about reverse mortgages (I don’t!), then don’t try to write for a blog about them. Readers will wonder why they are reading general, rehashed information from you. Further, you won’t have any fun writing on a topic that bores you to sleep. You’ll find yourself staring at the computer screen, waiting for the words to magically appear. They won’t.

If you hope for traffic from your guest blog post to go to your blog, then the topics have to compliment one another. They don’t have to be carbon copies. But I’m not going to click on a mesothelioma lawyer blog after I read post on summer hair care.

Be a good guest

When I am a dinner guest at some else’s home, I take off my shoes, compliment their décor and be as polite as possible. Hosts expects these pleasantries when having guests in their homes.

So a guest blogger should give her host respect. Even if you guest post for a blog just one time, you must give it your all. Your guest post on a heavily trafficked blog might get viewed hundreds of times over the course of time.

What do you want visitors to see below your name? An engaging post with little to no errors which provides readers of that blog with practical content. That’s it.

Do you want to get started guest blogging? We’ll talk about how to do it next week.

In the meantime, what do you like or dislike about guest 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!!

Social Media Book List: I’ve Landed My Dream Job, Now What? and The New Influencers

by

A Weekly Series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, Founder of Key Business Partners, LLC and I work with authors and writers by managing their online promotion. As part of my job I read a lot of books (and I love to read anyway!). I am here to offer a weekly post about one book author I am working with and one book I have put on my reading list. This week I will be highlighting ‘I’ve Landed My Dream Job, Now What?’. and ‘The New Influencers’ by Paul Gillin. The books I discuss will cover topics such as social media (Facebook and Twitter), organization, career building, networking, writing, self development and inspiration.

I’ve Landed My Dream Job, Now What??? by Scot Herrick

dreamjobmid

‘I’ve Landed My Dream Job–-Now What???’ is designed to be your constant companion during the first thirty days at your new job. It will help you think through what you’re going to accomplish and how to measure your accomplishments, right from day 1 all the way to day 30. Weekly tasks and action items make sure you are on track and end-of-week reviews help you assess how closely you are meeting your goals. With Scot Herrick’s book at your side, you can be sure to survive and thrive in your new cubicle.

About the Author:
Scot Herrick, founder and owner of Cube Rules, LLC, provides online career management training for Cubicle Warriors, his catchy term for today’s knowledge workers.

Scot has a long history of managerial and individual contribution in Fortune 100 corporations. He has implemented individual products for customers and enterprise-wide customer relationship management systems. At CubeRules.com, Scot shares his wisdom and experience to provide career management guidance for all cubicle warriors, to survive and thrive in these turbulent times.

You can purchase a copy of ‘I’ve Landed My Dream Job, Now What??? How to Achieve Success in the First 30 Days in a New Job’ online at ThinkAha Books or at Amazon.

This blog post is part of a virtual book tour done by Key Business Partners and I have received a complimentary copy of ‘ I’ve Landed my Dream Job, Now What??? ‘ by the author.

The New Influencers

Now I would like to highlight a book on my “review” reading list–The New Influencers.

Here are some editorial reviews shared on Amazon about the book:

“This is essential reading for anyone who missed the blogging train when it left the station.” —Seth Godin, author, Small Is the New Big

“Offers practical advice for anyone to increase brand presence and capture new audiences in the online space . . . Gillin’s in-depth analysis, research and insights remain strong and reliable.” —Fast Company

Want to know more? Read here–

Exploring how and why online forums such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs have gained such popularity—and credibility—with consumers, this practical guide offers proven strategies for organizations to leverage these new internet-based social media outlets. The differences between traditional and new media are explored, as are simple ways business owners and marketers can use these new resources to communicate with their customers. Practical tips on gaining the attention of and interacting with influential bloggers, the pros and cons of creating a company blog, guerilla marketing on the internet, and restructuring marketing expectations are also discussed.

About Paul:
Paul Gillin is a writer, speaker and online marketing consultant. He specializes in social media and the application of personal publishing to brand awareness and business marketing. His books includ The New Influencers (2007), Secrets of Social Media Marketing (2008), The Joy of Geocaching (co-authored with wife Dana in 2010) and Social Marketing to the Business Customer (co-authored with Eric Schwartzman, January, 2011). Paul is a veteran technology journalist with more than 25 years of editorial leadership experience.His website is www.gillin.com and he blogs at www.paulgillin.com*courtesy of Amazon

You can purchase a copy of ‘The New Influencers’ on Amazon


I truly hope you will check out these books and please comment and let me know your thoughts on them.

12 Hands-on How-tos for Repurposing Blog Content into a Book

by

Bookcraft 2.0 – The Series

Now that more of my blogger friends have several years of experience, they’re getting serious about the idea of turning the body of work they’ve focused into a book.

Though writing a book can seem a great way to establish proof of expertise, it’s easy to overlook the work we’re taking on while we consider the positive recognition we’re sure it will bring. A solid business person needs to be aware of the process of thinking through a great book and finding a publisher or deciding to self-publish it.

Even repurposing the content on an existing blog to share as an eBook takes more work than we might think.

Then there’s the year of marketing the book that comes after …

What follows are some articles on the subject that you may missed (if you recently tuned in to my blog.) Bookcraft 2.0 was a project that Phil Gerbyshak and I shared in 2006 — a look at how to make a book from an existing blog.

Depending on your plan of action, the quality and kind of content you start with, and your final goal, some posts will be of more interest than others. I include those that have the most relevant information to the process of repurposing content to prepare for a publisher.

Be sure to read the Post 1 and Post 12.

  1. Write a Book? Assemble the One in Your Archives!

    2. Have you looked at your archives lately? If you’ve got a blog with 200+ posts, I’m betting you have at least one book’s worth of content. Go look. Here are the basic of what to look for and what to do.

  2. How to Make Sure Real People Will Want to Read Your Book

    3. I’ll bet you’ve looked at a book and wondered why someone wrote that. Maybe the book is a hit with readers — just not for you — or maybe it had an audience of one. Now you face the same challenge.

  3. Archive Mining: How to Get From Working Book Title to Rough Cut Content

    4. With the working title in my head, I wrote a subtitle — the 25 words or less definition/premise of what the book would be about. That definition would be my tool for deciding what content to keep. Some folks call that statement the “elevator pitch.”

  4. How to Make Sure Real People Will Want to Read Your Book

    5. I’ll bet you’ve looked at a book and wondered why someone wrote that. Maybe the book is a hit with readers — just not for you — or maybe it had an audience of one. Now you face the same challenge.

  5. How Many Words Does It Take to Make a Book?

    6. Editors and agents often quote a word count to writers in order to establish basic parameters. “Casting off” pages also once was a common practice in which the word count was used to determine how much paper a book would require.

  6. Why No Bound Book Has 666 Pages and Get Your Free Blank Bookmap

    7. Books are made from large rolls or large sheets of paper that get folded in a certain way. When they are folded, they are called “signatures.”

    Most books are made of 16-page or 32-page signatures. This picture of how a 16-page signature looks unfolded.

  7. The 90% Rule of Repurposing Content

    8. When my job was finding product to repurpose for the U.S. market, what I realized was that people could repurpose anything. I had to curb my enthusiasm for finding the cool product inside everything that came my way. So I made the 90% rule.

  8. Book Research at Amazon, the Data Giant

    9. Amazon is not just a place to buy things. It’s an incredible source of information about what is selling in the book world right now — updated every hour. So let’s explore some of the informationa that Amazon can offer to help with Phil’s upcoming book.

  9. Even the Best Shoes Don’t Belong in a Bookstore

    10. To me, that advice seem counter-intuitive. Why would a publisher want another book about writing if they already had a list full of them? Shouldn’t I go to where a publisher didn’t have any?

  10. Why Consistency Makes Authors Look More Intelligent

    11. Consistency is a value, a benchmark of quality, and a support for readers. It also makes authors look smart.

  11. Writer, Book Editor, Copyeditor — What Do They Do?

    12. You have to build the book, before you can see the commas.

    This diagram shows the part of the writing process that Phil and I are currently working on.

  12. 12 Cold Truths about Publishing and The 2 Proofs Every Publisher Wants

    13. Well, we think the relationship is with the book, but really it’s with the content. That’s where the misconceptions start. Here are some cold truths publishers wish every author realized.

The traditional book making process hasn’t changed much, but the options for self-publishing have.

What do you find the best way to promote your business?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

The Preschool Teacher and the 3 Year Old: When Customers Misbehave!

by

Not a Focus Group Kid

cooltext443809602_strategy

I’m a teacher. I love teachers. We’re all teachers in some way. So I can tell this story with friendship and compassion. Besides if you read on, you’ll see it’s not about teachers at all, but about companies and customers …

From the start we knew our son wasn’t going to be “focus group” material. He decided when to be born — and even then, the doctor had to go to extremes to convince him to join the world. (I was pretty sure he’d be driving a car out when he did.)

By 2, he could write, spell, and read, but he had no interest in conversation. He didn’t draw until he was 5. He preferred to examine the world through his own eyes and perfect his handwriting, like an athlete or a musician might — hours a day, practicing each movement until he perfected it and then practicing again. That same year, he developed an entire sign alphabet.

Let’s just say that in his preschool class, our son was a niche market. His preschool teacher, an upright authoritarian, was used to serving a one-size-fits-all market. She had her objectives, her goals, and her expectations. As you can imagine, theirs was not a relationship made in heaven.

At the first teacher-parent conference, Ms. Authority laid it all out for me exactly what my son was doing wrong. I heard a short litany of complaints about this young customer misbehaving.

Of course, the problems were all his.

  1. He doesn’t pay attention. “I work hard everyday planning magnificent lessons around fans and feathers,” she said. ” … so that he can learn the letter f,” she went on. “He ignores what we’re doing and walks over to the magnifying glass. He looks at wheels on toy trucks and spines on books.”
  2. He’s defiant. “When I tell him to sit in the time out chair, he defies me. He outright asks what will happen if he doesn’t sit there!”
  3. He’s got a hearing defect and could be deaf. “No matter how loud I talk, he doesn’t pay attention. You need to have him tested. I think he might be deaf.” (I’m not making this up.)

Except, I knew the problems weren’t problems at all. It was all I could do explain that to her. You see, this customer was ignoring her because she had nothing to offer.

  1. He already knew how to read, write and spell. Had she let him near the magnetic letters he would have written out words like “cough” and “pharmacy.”
  2. He’s curious and careful, not defiant. Had she gotten to know him, she would have found out that he can’t make a decision without knowing where it would lead.
  3. It wasn’t his hearing. Had she walked up behind him to whisper “chocolate cake,” she might have seen how well he listened to important words.

Instead, she was the center of her universe. She saw her customer through a filter of expectations. The data set said his behavior was not right and she filled in an explanation.

She had made the offer about HER … not about him.

487232_magnet_letters

With the right offer to the same customer — say a magnifying glass and a set of magnetic letters — she might have made a loyal fan who would be looking for what she was going to bring out next for him.

We do the same thing in business, we design something that we’re sure the perfect customers will love, but sometimes we forget to ask them what thrills them.

What do you advise when someone complains about customers misbehaving?

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

I’m a proud affiliate of

third-tribe-marketing

Beach Notes: Oystercatchers

by

by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

These are fascinating birds. Where we see one we always see another at the same time or pretty soon after. An online search told us that as a species they are generally monogamous and show great fidelity to their mate and loyalty to their nesting site, which they apparently defend vigorously. Watching their behavior that all makes sense. They are quite noisy and always seem to be bustling about, presumably looking for shellfish and other delicacies for dinner.

Nothing to do with business, that we can think of: just fun to watch, although no doubt for the oystercatcher and her/his mate it is all quite serious.

oystercatchers

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

Thanks to Week 241 SOBs

by

muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A

amp-your-brand
dave-peck
the-elder-generation
socialgumbo

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

deep purple strip

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss