Successful Blog

What You're Thinking, What Chris Brogan Said, and a Contest

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I've been thinking . . .

about what you’re thinking and about something Chris Brogan said.

Every day people ask me about you and my blog. They ask the about time I spend, about the investment and return. People make suggestions about how I might change things to make more money.

Chris Brogan said this about me on a blog post yesterday.

When I look at the networks people have built around them, there’s value there. Tangible value. Consider someone like Liz Strauss. She reaches out deeply into her community to build events like her popular and successful SOBCon. She gives and gives, and then when she needs something back, Liz has a strong network of multi-layered contacts to reach into for her needs.

It’s amazing, really. Liz alone is a powerhouse to hire, but if you really did give credit for her extended network, which reaches into the largest companies in the US, UK, and for all I know, the rest of the world.

How do you place a value on that?

I’m working on a new expanded version of the design of this blog. One that would make it easier for folks to see the depth and breath of what’s already here. Truth is that as I take back the keys, I’m working to get a training business off the ground. I could use your help and insights on a few things. Would you answer three questions for me?

  1. What do you hope to find when you come here?
  2. What would like me to see more of my blog?
  3. What product or service could I make to better serve people like you?

I’ve added a sign-up box for a community newsletter in my sidebar, if you’d like to participate more and to hear about new things coming, please sign up there.

I’m also giving away 10 — that’s TEN — free blog / business consultations ($1500/value) during the month of June. I’ll pick the winners from the most insightful comments on this post.

Chris said, “She gives and gives, and then when she needs something back, Liz has a strong network of multi-layered contacts to reach into for her needs.”

So I’m asking, will you help me make this an even more successful blog?

Liz's Signature

Why Write When You Can Twitter?

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Passion Hasn’t Left the Building

The Living Web

Every morning I fire up Twitter. Sometimes I participate. Sometimes I only listen in.

Few messages of importance can’t be delivered in 140 characters.

I’ve heard folks say that they have found Twitter so efficient, that they’ve lost their reason for writing. I thought I might suggest a few reasons to keep writing while we still Twitter.

    1. Writing helps us develop a natural, confident voice in text that communicates and is attuned to readers. My voice on Twitter is different than my voice when I write here. I like them both.
    1. Writing challenges us to organize our thoughts. We get practice at building a meaningful message that goes deeper. Big ideas and new thoughts need room and time to be explored.
    1. Writing gives readers a complete idea with facts and details to consider. A more complex conversation results. Fun and fast happens in 140 characters. Thoughtful takes more.
    1. Writing gives us practice at accessing our deeper thoughts and insights. We get familiar with how we most efficiently work with and filter ideas. We can choose a variety of genre to express a viewpoint.
    1. Writing teaches us not to be frivolous about the ideas we put in text. We take time to edit so that the message we send is the one that is received by a reasonable reader.

Some ideas can’t be explained or supported in a small character set. Twitter works for fast, efficient one liners. But writing about passion or problem solving will always need something longer. A quick conversation on Twitter cannot replace a written piece well-considered.

Twitter can inspire us, provide the research of a crowd, or be the seed of a piece we write. But we cannot tweet a big idea with justice, heart, and in a totally accurate fashion.

How do you use Twitter?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
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The Mic is On: It's About When We Were Kids…

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It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

The Mic Is On

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

kids with ice cream

Let’s start with:

  • The first “kids” we kissed
  • The traditions we had
  • The stories we made up about neighborhood folks
  • The games after dark
  • The things our parents never knew

And, we’ll talk about whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring links about when we were kids to share!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

Image source: sxc.hu – standard restrictions

Open Mic 7pm Chgo Time: It's About When We Were Kids!

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Join Us Tonight

We might talk about the first “kids” we kissed, the traditions we had, the stories we made up about neighborhood folks, the games after dark, the things our parents never knew, and whatever else comes up, even flamenco dancing.

Oh, and bring example links to share — about when we were kids.

The rules are simple — be nice.

Do be nice. 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

No Matter How Much We Learn . . .

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We Stay the Same

Personal Identity logo

Last night, in answer to a challenge — one that I put to myself and one that came from a friend — I went back to work on an ebook that I started to put together way back when.

The reasons it never got finished are Internet typical — noise, clutter, other ideas, and being time poor got in the way. As I look back it was so close to finished, I also know that some of the reason it sat was a sheer sense of feeling overwhelmed by what I perceived that I didn’t know.

Last night, I tripped over this sentence in my biography written two years ago.

Liz is a writer, career coach, and strategic planner with a focus on blogging and strategic marketing.

It stopped me cold, because it’s the best description of exactly what I’m doing now. All of the fancy words on my business card, don’t say it nearly as well.

No matter how much we learn, we’re still best when we’re ourselves through and through. I’ll be finishing this ebook on how to write a Successful and Outstanding Blog.

The Internet can be a noisy room of messages that can make us constantly question what we’re supposed to do. Don’t be overwhelmed, stuck, or swayed in the wrong direction, find yourself, your passion, and be you.

If you need help with that, just ask.

Smiling on a Tuesday,
Liz's Signature

Get unstuck work with Liz!!
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Change the World: Be What You Need

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It Was a Decision

changetheworld8

My experience is that each of us has a time when someone has treated us unfairly. It’s what we do with those occasions, those stories, that make our lives and maybe change the world.

Not long ago, a friend told me about someone in his past who hurt him terribly. The person said my friend’s work, his life, and his being were worthless and cheap. I’ve never met a person who had no worth. If I do, I’m sure he or she would look nothing like the man who told me this.

At first, I wanted to help. Then I realized the story had happened over 20 years ago. Instead, I asked how that event had affected his life.

He said, “I decided I would be sure to show people their worth.”

Wow! Fix a hurt by being what you need.

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