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Finding our Feet

July 16, 2007 by Liz

Head to Toes

It starts before we even think in words. We’re babies in a cradle.

We find our hands and wonder. . . what the heck might these things be? Somehow we see the two hands and soon we learn how to make them move. It’s a little later when we realize they’re attached to us, though.

The party that is our life begins. Our hands symbolize interaction. We wave “hello.” We touch a face, wipe a tear, hand a flower . . . We use our hands to make our ideas into something more than thoughts. Our hands make them real.

In school we learn ways to use our hands.

Ah, but our feet. From the first our feet are further from our head. We have to reach to touch them. We put them in shoes. In some ways, we take them for granted until they’re hurt. They’re in charge of transportation.

We’ve found our feet when we claim our place to stand.

We find our hands in our infancy. It can take a lifetime to find our feet.

My son left for real life today.

Can’t: Wendy Piersall, Ann Michael, Inside Out

July 15, 2007 by Liz

The Story of a War

Sometimes I think of problem solving as strategizing a war. Maybe it’s because I read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Maybe it’s because my big, big brothers could win in any confrontation.

Usually I start out thinking I’ve lost. Then I rally, go on a quest, and conquer the enemy. Hey, it takes some thought to beat opponents who are bigger than you are.

Wendy, I Can’t

Thursday night my friend, Wendy Piersall. and I talked about the future over a glass of wine. I was explaining a place where I was finding myself . . . um, er . . . stuck. She said exactly what I needed to hear.

I artfully dodged her advice using the phrase, “I can’t, because . . . ” Hey, when you’re talented, you’re also talented at things like that.

Wendy: Blog what you do.

ME: It’s right-brain intuitive. I can’t.

Wendy: You? Liz Strauss? You can’t? You can blog anything.

ME: Don’t say that I’m arguing for my limitations.

Wendy: You knew I’d say that. You are doing it, you know.

The conversation stayed with me. It’s Sunday, and here I am telling you.

Ann, Help Me Test

Back to the story . . . She wasn’t buying my argument. Either I had to come up with a better argument or beat down that can’t. My brothers had taught me I never win arguments.

I was in the taxi headed home that night when I started to see the plan. I put the words together in a few hours. This is a quest. I called in Ann Michael last night and today to test my thinking on final tweaks before I went live with this post.

The Announcement

I am pleased to announce a new series. It will show you how to build a solid business strategy based on who you are. The series will offer down-to-earth methods and questions that bring business into focus. It’s time someone showed how to build a market view on concrete not sand. I’ll share models you can use to test decisions.

Tomorrow, the new series begins.

I call it

because it begins with your strengths, your ideas, your passion and builds on the customers who love what you do.

I’m jazzed. This is what makes my heart sing. This is what I’m good at. This is what the Perfect Virtual Manager does.

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

The Idea Dude Is Connecting Dots . . . Connecting Us

July 15, 2007 by Liz

a writer I admire, the.idea.dude, Vernon Lun — Successful Blog’s newest arrival.

Behind the curtain at The Good Blogs, you’ll find, Vernon — and his partner Tony — reading every ~~good~~ outstanding blog that makes it into their amazing directory. The blogs that Vernon selects are a reflection of his values — quality, heart, intelligence, and spirit. I know. I’ve been talking with him since before SOBCon07.

Vern has natural insight and wisdom. Gosh he gets my brain going — check this post about his personal blog’s first birthday for proof.

Did you see that list of what he says he’s learned?

Vernon is not one to let the world know of his talents. But I am.

Did you know that . . .

Aaron Brazell, Director of Technology at b5 media said, . . . Vernon Lun . . . actually created the tool that allowed us to clone the design with unique colors and logos across all the [blogs.]
Vernon’s got a Ph.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. In his thesis he formulated a framework for distributed real-time intelligence.
Vernon’s words are sticky. See how Vern’s idea stuck with Haydn Shaughnessy. I hope the debate over collective wisdom is not over because every time somebody else puzzles over it we stand a chance of writing what Vernon Lun recently referred to as a digital sociology. Few writers can do that.

Vernon’s elegant thoughts and generous heart make such things happen. They also have me jazzed to announce Vernun is writing for Successful-Blog beginning today!!!

Vernon’s column, Connecting Dots, is exciting and something uniquely Vernon. Vern’s a master at perceiving relationships that take us from one thought to another. So Vern’s going to take us with him as he travels the living web on that silver thread that connects us all.

The Idea Dude is connecting dots for our reading pleasure.

Like peanut butter and chocolate, it’s time we got together.

On a rare occasion, the reality is better than the vision.

For the sake of continuity, I’m publishing Vern’s first column right below this one . . . It’s called Connecting Dots.

Connecting Dots

July 15, 2007 by Guest Author

Connecting dots with The Idea Dude

Being asked to be a guest blogger for Liz Strauss is akin to being asked to be the opening act for The Rolling Stones. There’s an expectation to be “knock your socks off” great. Of course, this is all in my head, because Liz, in her sublime way, would say, “be yourself.”

It is inevitable that Liz and I would cross paths one day, we were both on similar quests… “to celebrate good blogs.” So this spot in particular is devoted to connecting the dots. Dots being blogs from Liz’s list and mine at TheGoodBlogs. Perhaps the best way to describe this is to show you. . . .

All blogs don’t start off as conversations, they start because something tugs at you enough to want to share. Blogs have made the Internet personal and it is the personal nature that brings me back to visit your blog again and again. Take Liz’s post about the word can’t for example, she made it personal because at the end, she says It seems to make me smaller. When you read that, you know something happened that day that may have seemed impossible but she found a way to overcome that sense of helplessness. It got me thinking of how impossibility would make me feel small too.

Being personal is infectious.

I headed over to Sean and he asked the question Can it be that all our choices are dominated by fear? So is can’t a reflection of reality or a reflection of our fear? Hmmm… Food for thought. Sean made his fear personal. He said, So I want to tell you a story. About me. Having followed his blog, I can tell you his entries that resonate the most with me are the ones that grab him in his gut so much he needs to share, the ones that stop him dead in his tracks and makes him think. It makes me think too.

My good friend, Ben, talks about whether bloggers always follow their own advice. His fear or concern? His blog may cease to be a mirror of him. He tells us, he doesn’t want to speak for the sake of speaking, to walk the walk and don’t just talk the talk. My interpretation is that it is really a reminder to himself to keep his terrific blog real and not post merely to feed the Google juice. Ben says his blog is a reminder to him of what he should be doing. In doing so, he becomes our mentor of what we should be doing too. Ben is being personal.

And sometimes being personal and sharing doesn’t have to have a lesson. Amy shared her Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad Day. It would be hard for any parent not to empathize with her. Wikipedia calls empathy a kind of emotional resonance… that’s deep. I concur. Judging from the comments to that post, Amy’s sharing resonated. I’m sure a few moms who read that felt a little better on Friday to know they weren’t alone.

Although none of the bloggers contrived to participate in a conversation, they succeeded in creating one in my head. Many of the bloggers above may or may not know each other…yet. But they were unknowingly bound together by their ideas, thoughts and emotions. They provided the dots. Liz gave me the crayon to connect them. The way I connected them was personal. It made me feel richer and some kind of wonderful.

Have an awesome week!

Vern, The Idea Dude
Connecting dots at TheGoodBlogs

An Exciting Day at Successful Blog

July 15, 2007 by Liz

As We Used to Say in High School

Back in high school, when the mood was high, and we knew we were about to embark on something great, we would break into a carnie’s pitch that went like this . . .

It walks.
It talks.
It crawls on its belly like a lizard.
. . .
$10,000 if it isn’t alive!

That’s how I’m feeling today.

A New Feature, A Writer I So Admire

In a few moments, I’m going to introduce a new weekly column, featuring a writer and a human being I so admire. The concept is one that connects the dots that we are, the thoughts that we have, the ideas and the dreams. We’re both so excited about this — It’s a way to bring more of us together. Read with a whole new mind. See the living web come more alive!

The BIG IDEA Begins! Changing the World!

In a few short hours, I’m introducing a new series. It’s a breakthrough for me. It’s changed me and my business. It can change you and yours. This is the tiny start of the BIG IDEA — how I plan to change the world with a capital C.

Yes, I did say that out loud.

So say it with me. . . . “It walks. It talks. . . .”

I’m getting serious. How can that not be fun?!!!

Yeah, I’m a little scared too.

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

Thanks to Week 90 SOBs

July 14, 2007 by Liz

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.

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

I thank every one 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 directly to me. This award comes with a full “Liz said so” guarantee. It is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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. Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss