Successful Blog

Thanks to Week 121 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

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

SOB Business Cafe 02-15-08

by

SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Chris Brogan gets to the heart of getting everything done.
I’ve been working towards learning how to scale my skillsets up to this next level, trying to rapidly prototype what I have to know how to do to get everything on my plate done. I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned with you, because at some levels, I think this is useful “how to” information for anyone working in the Creative class.

Logic and Emotion gets to the heart of Interaction 08.
The people at interaction 08 came from a number of different backgrounds. Graphic design, Information Architecture, Industrial Design, Programming, Development, Web Design, and others that I’m probably missing. Everyone seemed to share the same struggle—what exactly do we call what we do and how do we evalngilize the value we provide?

Conversation Agent gets to the heart of what a corporate blog can be.
Clearly not every company should have a blog. Last year I wrote about how to build a social media strategy. Without one, there can be no clear path to success. To me the most important point to consider is the organization’s cultural readiness.

All Things Workplace gets to the heart of whatevery leader should ask.
Greater profitability and increased effectiveness drives your business success. Yet your bottom line results also depend on how well you manage your emotions.

Diva Marketing gets to the heart of business relationships.
On Valentine’s Day it seemed like a fun post to explore business relationships. How do you build great business relationships with people? Do “clients” and “partners/vendors/suppliers” (I’m never sure word to use)have different points of view about what is important for each?

Greg Verdino gets to the heart of six-word life stories.
Could you write your memoir in just six words?

Related ala carte selections include

Servant of Chaos gets to the heart of 10 years of Cluetrain.
As I suggested in this post, the Cluetrain still holds sway over our imaginations because its promises are yet to be achieved. This is not a criticism, but in fact, indicates its visionary nature.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Late Bloomers

by

I've been thinking . . .

about late bloomers.

Recently I had a conversation with a friend who passed a landmark birthday a year ago. It just hit her. While we spoke she kept calling herself a “late bloomer.” Listening to my friend talk is when it hit me . . . I really don’t like that euphemism “late bloomer.”

In all of the years that I gardened, even when I needed two truckloads of bark mulch every summer, I never once heard anyone refer to a flower as a “late bloomer.” Flowers bloom when they’re meant to. Some show before the snow melts. Some come in early spring, some in mid-summer. Some are fall visitors. When I moved to a new home, what had been a spring flower became winter color.

Who’s a late bloomer? What are we late for? I’m not catching up to anything. I’m growing at exactly the rate I know how to, and I keep on growing. Everyone I know doing much the same thing. We’re tall, short, and uniquely beautiful. Each of us adds our own splash of changing color.

Flowers blooming

How boring if we were predictable! Flowers don’t bloom all at once or for each other. They bloom when they’re meant to. Some bloom once. Some are perennial.

We’re not late bloomers . . . but always blooming.

Liz's Signature

Procrastination: The Series

by

Recently I had the pleasure to have a conversation with Gaetano Caruana about collaborations. From that discussion a series was born. I invited Gaetano to write a series on procrastination. For the next few Thursdays you’ll find it here on Successful Blog. Today it begins with the Introduction.

Procrastination Mini-Series – Introduction

by Gaetano Caruana

A lot of people confuse laziness with procrastination. They are not the same. A procrastinator is not necessarily a lazy person. Procrastination is a personal behaviour that makes a person defer doing things for several reasons which will be discussed later in this series.

Procrastination varies in intensity from one procrastinator to another. Depending on the intensity, procrastination can pose a challenge to the life of the procrastinator since it can be a complete killer of his/her personal productivity, making the procrastinator feel useless.

Unfortunately procrastination is taken lightly especially in the U.S. One of five people consider themselves as chronic procrastinators — meaning that they get fined for not filing tax returns, handing assignments late and missing out on opportunities or discounts. Is that enough to prove how lightly some people view this problem?

Contrary to what people think, procrastinators are made and not born. A person chooses to be a procrastinator. Because procrastination is a choice, a procrastinator can also choose to start making good use of time. In this series I will be describing the main causes of procrastination, the effects of procrastination, and how to punch procrastination in the face by applying procrastination killers.

Is procrastination stealing your time?

Gaetano Caruana writes for the FruitfulTime Blog, where you’ll find the free ebook Stop Procrastination Now.

___________

Thanks, Gaetano! See you next week!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

How to Write Intelligently from the Heart

by

From the Heart

Words tell us how to . . . how to be beautiful, how to fall in love, how to make money by working online. Words try to move us to be happier, be greener, be more active in someone’s cause. Words us connect with each other. Words appraise us, explain us, and help us describe who we are. Words are how we find out what we need to know.

Yet there are far more words to read than there is time.

We can think and write. We can craft our sentences to be clever. We can make sure that each part is factually, structurally, gramatically correct. But clever and accurate only go so far in satisfying readers. If we want our writing to resonate long after, our words need to come from the heart.

How to Write Intelligently from the Heart

Intelligent heartfelt writing is respectful. It serves minds and hearts. It strikes a balance of logical thinking in the context of meaningful words. Here are some tips on how to bring together the best of your head and your heart when you write.

  • Know you want to say Distill your message down to one sentence.
  • Decide why you care about it. If you don’t care about what you’re saying, why should I?
  • Use simple words to describe your experience or argument. Choose words that you would actually say.
  • Write for an audience you respect and care about. Love your dissenters and detractors. Doing so will give your writing life and depth.
  • Write the whole piece entirely before you edit. A message from the heart still being formed won’t survive the scrutiny of a brain.
  • Revise it twice. Read once for logic and sense of what you’re saying. Read a second time — this time aloud — for the tone, voice, and words you’re using to say it.
  • Be willing to put yourself into what you write. Be authentically you. Show us what you see.

Writers who capture our attention share the experience of who they are. They connect with our minds and with our hearts. Great writers blend information, thoughts, and opinions with a light touch of humanity. It’s the in the humanity that we see ourselves. Head and heart together in writing for love, for business, for education, for any purpose make meaning in a way that intelligent words alone cannot.

Heart on the water

It’s the heart of light in this photo that makes this one sunset unforgettable.

How do you recognize someone who writes with heart?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think Liz can help with a problem you’re having with your writing, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

How To Win At Blogging and Keep It Real

by

by Guest Writer Alex Shalman

I have been blogging actively since December 15th, 2006, and have gained a world of experience while doing so. If there was any technique or trick for increasing visitors, or comments, or captivating an audience, I have tried it.

Some people would say forget the tricks, and stick to content, after all, content is king. I’m not here to say whether or not content is the ONLY thing that matters, but I’m here to let you know how to take your content element to the next level.

Be the content. In the beginning of my blogging career, not everyone in my life was actively involved in what I was doing or knew about my blogging. The more I became a personal development blogger in my life, the more that reflected on the blog.

Personal development, meaning constant and never ending growth, is part of who I am in every facet of my life. People close to me no longer think that this is a passing hobby, it’s more of an identity now.

Tell the people. If you don’t tell them, they won’t know. I took responsibility for people not knowing about my site, and actively began telling my friends about it. I would enroll them into all the possibilities of what the site is, and where it is going.

They became excited to be on that journey with me. My friends jokingly say, ‘Hey Alex Shalman, from www.AlexShalman.com.’ I think that’s hilarious! My girlfriend tells everyone she knows about the site, I think that’s precious.

Be your word. Not everyone took what I do seriously, not even after I told them. Two of those people were my parents. Over time, the more I became this personal development person, and the more this made our good relationship a great relationship, the more they believed in the validity of what I do.

The other day we had relatives staying with us, and I caught my parents telling them about the website. My dad even asked me about my Alexa traffic. Now that’s funny, and heartwarming.

From the heart. I remember Liz told me that when I write, I sometimes sound like I’m talking down from a podium. It wasn’t personal. I think this was partly due to me being an inexperienced writer and not having control of what my writing voice sounded like.

Now days I try to incorporate my life, and get as personal as I can, in order to give a part of myself to my readers. This is a much more engaging form of communication, because I’m talking to you, my friend, instead of a crowd of people I don’t know. I want to know you.

Remember to be proud of your work and tell people about it. Be the content, be your word, and blog from the heart.
___________
Alex writes about personal development at AlexShalman.com.

Thank you, Alex.

–ME “Liz” Strauss