Successful Blog

The Importance of Dots

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Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

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Can you imagine a life without blogs?

Life would go on, there is no doubt but I would imagine it would be with a heart a little less warmer, a mind a little less inspired, a life with one less dimension and a lifetime with one less connection…

It makes us smarter, quicker

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Mike says it makes him smarter – quicker. It amazes me the number of technical issues I have solved in the last 12 months simply because someone else had faced the same struggle and taken the time to share it. The access to collective wisdom has made me smarter, quicker.

Getting to the heart of the onion

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Loz describes reading a personal blog is like being invited into someone’s house. Each post on a blog is another room, and as we read them a little more of the writer is revealed….if we keep going we will one day get to it’s heart.

A lens to another life

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For Sean it is a lens to a world he would not have known, But sometimes blogging exposing me to a world I couldn’t see any other way. And these moments move me and cause me to pause.

The blogosphere is living cosmos

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Kent takes us through the blog lifecycle. He is amazed at how many blogs live and die in a twinkling of an eye. He ends his post with this hope. What I do know is that all legitimate bloggers, regardless of our motivation for blogging, have a vested interest in nurturing the blogosphere and encouraging the creation and continued existence of legitimate blogs by people we don’t know yet who have a lot to say, a lot to share, and a lot to teach us.

It is my hope also.
May the dots be with you!

Vern, The Idea Dude

Free Spirit: Are You One?

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I've been thinking . . .

about spriritual freedom.

Free spirit. What a curious term that is.

free spirit — diver in the air

I suspect it’s like glamour and greener grass, only found where the speaker is not.

I’ve been called a free spirit.

When I hear someone say that, I immediately relate to the spirit . . . I’m still looking for the free.

I can’t think of any free thing that doesn’t come with an investment. Even sitting in the sunshine means I’m not doing something else.

So I’m wondering, this lovely ‘look at the lake” morning” what is it that makes a free spirit truly free?

Liz's Signature

Thanks to Week 108 SOBs

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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.

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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.

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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

Kite Flying and Nobility

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And I Heard Him Say . . .

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Only four years after college, my mother was diagnosed with only months to live. Then, my father took seriously ill. For a short time, it looked as though he was dying too.

In a restaurant, across the street from a Mayo Clinic hospital, my mother and I became friends with a waiter — a guy who was joyful, unique, and fully alive. His name is Paul. His eyes had depth beyond his twenty-something years.

On the third day we saw him, my mom suggested that I leave the hospitals behind and take him on his offer to see the countryside.

So I did.

Armed with a basket of sandwiches from the restaurant, we got in his jeep and made one stop on the way out of town. . . . at a hobby store.

“I’m taking you kite flying,” he said.

As we watched the kite against the blue sky, Paul used a movie metaphor to talk about life. It’s a natural subject with the newest of friends in a town where “life and death” is a way of life.

“It’s my movie,” he said. “On the last day, when my life flashes before me, I want it be a noble part that I played.”

Character . . . a role in a story, a movie, a play.

Character . . . a one-of-a-kind, remarkable person

Character . . . the moral, ethical essence and nature of a human being.

I’ve been thinking of that “when my life flashes before me” movie — it’s not high drama that defines the character of a life. I’ve been thinking about a guy who made the world safe again using some colorful tissue paper, four sticks, and a ball of string.

Taking a person kite flying can be a most noble act.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog World Expo: Internet People 3

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The Energy Was Amazing

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Bring out a bunch of bloggers and you’ll soon see a conversation get rolling. After all communication, information, and relationship is at the heart of every great blog.

Still on Wednesday night . . . I finally got a chance to speak with Des Walsh and Suzie Cheel. We’d been passing each other for days. They introduced me to Rich Brooks. Rich was interviewed earlier that day by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff of the Blog Squad — two ladies I’d had a chat with the night before. Teresa Valdez Klein introduced me to Matt Mullenweg and he gave me a fine WordPress t-shirt. Of course, we only spoke for a minute, but still Lorelle’s name was mentioned as a mutual friend.

Later I was thrilled when a fine man came up and said, “Liz, I’m Kevin Dixie.” It was a thrill to meet this guy, who first showed up in my email at 4a.m. Chicago time with a project that would become a dynamo. I so enjoyed talking to all of his team. It was a highpoint of the Las Vegas Trip.

Early on the next day, a voice said, “Liz! I’m Maria Palma!” Of course a hug shortly followed. Maria soon became a cohort of Robyn and mine.

John Hong introduced himself after I gave a came small talkon content and community that morning. John is the a virtuoso-to-be of Zappos’ soon to launch blogs . . . Zappos had an after-conference party. John and Ned gave Robyn and I a ride over in a real car. (Taxis are much less comfortable.) It was luxury. A little later, Maria drove over to the party in her own car.

The elegant host, Mr. Hong, showed us to the best seats, and saw we were taken care of. A special thank you to John who made sure our evening was with a friend who cared.

Thanks for the conversation about airplanes, business, and great music goes out to Matt Colebourne. And a thank you to Jeremy Pepper who joined us for a talk.

I heard a story about a pink shirt, and a shopping trip Jeremy went on that night with Robyn and John. hmmmm

I wouldn’t know about that — Robyn was already asleep . . . while Maria and I were still in the cafe drinking large cups of hot chocolate.

Those are just some of the Internet people . . . even more will be showing up next year in September.

Thanks to Dave Thomas and Rick Calvert and all who put the show on.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Related
Blog World Expo: Internet People 1
Blog World Expo: Internet People All Have Cameras

SOB Business Cafe 11-16-07

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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

Logic + Emotion asks “Is the business world really ready to work a little differently? Evolve business models and offerings? Offer new solutions? Or will we cling to how it’s always worked for us in the past?”

Cube Rules recalls how ” . . . a Google Alert sent me to a brand new web site and presented me with a great kernel of truth written in a way that is both inspiring — and obvious for those of us searching for the truths of career management.”

Sunny Schlenger says, “In Neale Donald Walsh’s workshop at Celebrate Your Life, he said that there are two basic questions to ask of life, and that it’s extremely important to put them in the right order.”

lifehack.org points out that “Emailing an expert — or anyone you don’t know personally — to ask for assistance or input requires some finesse, and done well it’s far from the easy way out. . . . unless you give them a compelling reason to be interested in you and your project, they have nothing to gain by helping you.”

The Lonely Marketer advises “If you’re a marketing manager wanting to jump into social media, but your superiors are hesitant to give budget for the effort, you really need to think out how to position the medium.”

Related ala carte selections include

Life Coaches Blog relates that “I’ve found great things to come out of taking time off to do nothing and be nothing. My mind clears, anxiety lifts and new ideas come.”

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

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss