Successful Blog

Change the World: See the Innocence

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Looking and Seeing

Change the World!

When I get stressed or pulled like a wire, my expectations for others creep higher. I don’t see things the way they are, I sometimes get stuck in my head and lose track of the people around me. I sometimes forget that people don’t do things to make my life harder.

I’m learning to pay attention to when I get off like that. It usually starts with need to walk faster, faster, faster.

The minute I start to think I should run is the minute I need to walk slower. That’s the time to breathe and reconnect my heart to my head.

When I start to hide behind the work on my desk . . . when I start to climb too far into my head, I listen to music. I listen again when I start to think the world is on my shoulders. I use music to remind me that I’m not what the center. I’m not where everyone should be looking. I listen to music to remind me that sometimes I don’t see everything.

You must choose compassion over right
and the best place to start is with yourself tonight.
see the innocence in of a crying friend.
see the innocence to your guilty end
see the innocence now — the child in all of us. . . .

Understand the ones you help the most
What they don’t know now accept them for who they are.
see the innocence of someone else
see the innocence to improve yourself
see the innocence now it’s not that hard to see. . . .

If I had and you had one last call to make
Who would and what would you say . . .?
Why’d you take so long?
See the innocence. It’s not that hard to see. . . .

— Tommy Henriksen, See the Innocence.

Sometimes I don’t listen to the music, I just think about the words.

We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Change the World!.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.

SOB Business Cafe 03-16-07

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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

Life Beyond Code takes a logical approach to ROI on our tools.

Changemaker: Change Your Life has some relief.

Genuine Curiosity challenges us to look at leadership.

Fishcreek House has advice for the weekend. Is it literal or a metaphor? It works both ways.

The KISS Business too offers an analysis and would like our opinion.

Problogger has a star-studded line up of folks to help out while Darren is in the USA.

Related ala carte selections include

QAQNA has something to celebrate!

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
Register for SOBCon now, the presentations are content-rich and interactive.

About Heroes and Believing

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I've been thinking . . .

Late last night I read what Ellen wrote. She was talking about Seth’s piece on thrill seekers and fear avoiders. I read Seth’s post too. I woke this morning thinking about what I read.

Both of them avoided the word risk in the traditional sense. Seth said, “So why not call them risk seekers and risk avoiders? Well, it used to be true. Seeking thrills was risky. But no longer. Now, of course, safe is risky.”

Ellen said, “Thrill seekers move on, learn and live so that new opportunities soon wash over both thrills and fears in colors that open curtains of another Oscar possibility.”

They’re both right, but I still feel the risk — the Steve Farber OS!M of doing something when not doing something would be easier.

I guess, I’ll always be something of a thrill-seeking, risk taker. I won’t risk my life — no bungee jumping for me. The risks that I take are for the world that I believe in. I invest in every chance I can find to prove it’s okay to believe.

Sometimes those angels who are everywhere stand up and invest even before me.

I know some folks who are risking what they don’t really have to make something happen, They are investing in doing a usual thing in a remarkable way, solely becasue it’s time someone did. It’s not share the risk, share the benefit, because those who benefit won’t ever know — actually feel — the risk.

Somewhere along my life, I picked up a message that believing in heroes was naive at best. White knights and folks who do things without thought of gain or glory are often portrayed as fictional creatures. People who cared for my well-being told me that often enough. For them, I tried to believe, but how could I after the dad I had? My only recourse was to decide I’d rather be a fool than live in a world where heroes couldn’t be.

I chose right.

I’m taking that risk alongside those folks I talked about. And every day I watch them and think they are my heroes.

Heroes are ordinary people who have extraordinary values.

And they really do exist. They’re the ones who quietly do remarkable things so that we can believe.

Liz's Signature

Bloggers Choose Quality Over Quantity Every Time

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About a week ago I posed a question over on my own blog Quantity vs Quality – Which is Better?

I was curious. Given a choice, which one would bloggers prefer?

In order to be able to attach a number value to the answer I put up a little poll. Now it certainly isn’t a scientific survey. But it does give us a little insight into how bloggers think (at least the ones who read my blog, anyway).

The discussion in the comments section of the post was lively. Some folks wanted more than two choices. “Both” seemed to be a popular demand as several folks really like to see “more and better”.

But I purposely forced a choice to be made to see which way folks would go if they had to decide between one or the other.

The results were overwhelming. Unanimous, in fact. [Read more…]

Above the Fold: SmartWealthyRich.com

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Couldn’t Resist SmartWealthyRich

ABOVE THE FOLD

I met Jonathan Phillips when he left a message with me at MyBlogLog. I took a side trip to his blog, before I replied. When I got there I saw something I couldn’t resist — the title of his blog.

Smart, Wealthy, Rich [dot] com

But that engaging title was in tiny typography . . .

So I invited Jonathan Phillips to get tweaked Above the Fold. Here’s how the Above the Fold Tweak Process works

  1. I make a “before” screenshot.
  2. We talk through some changes for readability.
  3. The blogger makes the changes.
  4. We talk while the tweaks are in process.
  5. I take an “after” screenshot and share the results in a post.

Tweaking Smart, Wealthy, Rich

The blog: SmartWealthyRich.com
– How to create wealth, keep it, and make it grow!
URL: : http://www.smartwealthyrich.com
Blogger:: Jonathan-C. Philllips

Before

This is SmartWealthyRich.com before we started. Click to enlarge.

Smart Wealthy Rich

Three Tweaks that We Agreed Upon

In this series, we’ll concentrate only three important tweaks for each blog that is featured. On Jonathan’s blog, those three tweaks were these.

  1. His feed button was overpowering.
  2. The title is too small.
  3. The main body text block is too wide. A reader needs transportation to return to the next line.

Jonathan and I discussed how in a blink test, the feed button wins. We decided that it would be a much stronger presentation if the title got that first attention. Folks would remember where they were and where they wanted to return.

When choosing text the type size needs to match the line length. If they don’t match, the eye has trouble doing the “return sweep” to the next line correctly. Jonathan’s line was too long for the size of the type in the body text. We shortened the main body copy block and increased the type size.

We made other changes. Can you see them?

For the results, turn the page now. [Read more…]

Great Find: Short Movement

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It’s an Online Video Festival!

This week, Minic Rivera announced the launch of Short Movement. Short Movement is a thematic-based video festival. Wander over and take a look at what our friend Minic has been up to.

Great Find: Short Movement

Permalink: http://www.shortmovement.com
Target Audience: Video bloggers

Content: Short Movement, brought to us by editor and blogger, Minic Rivera, is a monthly online video festival based on themes. Each month a new theme opens for submission of festival entries.

Entries must be no longer than 1O minutes and they are be up for rating from website visitors. The highest rated video at the end of each month is awarded the theme prize.

Short Movement also provides online videos recommendations under a section called Staff Picks.

The theme “Who Am I?” Kicks off the festival for March. For more details, visit Short Movement by clicking the logo.

short movement

“We would like to start a movement of people who love sharing short videos and at the same time provide incentive through the festival,” Rivera said.

Thanks, Minic!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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