Oct

14

Healthier habits overcome blog overwhelm

Health / Marketing, Blogging

After all of the social media webinars, summits, ebooks and white papers I’ve experienced, you’d think I’d have no problem getting my own blog off the ground. I know better.  I know it takes time. I’ve helped others do it. I do yoga. I should be able to breathe through this blogging thing and gracefully accept that it will unfold as it should.

But, I couldn’t get past trying to figure out what success will look like.  What ebooks will I write, what online course will I teach, what products will I sell, what is my call to action, who is my ideal reader, how can I help them?

Consumed in self-doubt, a challenge and two guides appeared: ProBlogger, Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to a Better Blog Challenge led by Lisbeth Tanz and Michelle Shaeffer

What do the wise prescribe as a cure for chaos? Go back to basics. Time-tested practices will cultivate habits that help us emerge healthier, stronger and wiser.  Darren’s guide is basically a master list of all the things every blogger should at least try. It’s not a list of must-do’s, it’s more a collection of suggestions.  The intention is not to do what he does, it’s for you to see what works for you.

I had bought the book months ago, but that wasn’t enough for me. I needed the guides and the group.  I saw bloggers of all levels struggling with something – technical aspects, coming up with ideas for articles, consistency, clarity, commenting on other blogs… everyone had a different issue.

Lis and Michelle established a safe, supportive comraderie by actively participating themselves. They visited our blogs, left helpful comments and encouraged us to do the same.  Everyone received a different lesson.  This happened to be the one that stuck with me:

Getting into the routine of reaching out to other bloggers made it less about me and more about encouraging them.

Again, I knew this…it’s the essence of social media for goodness sake.  But I hadn’t been practicing it consistently. It’s now a habit. One I’ll keep because I thoroughly enjoyed encouraging other bloggers.  I still have an overwhelming list of things I want to do with my blog, but I now have some healthier habits and a much stronger mindset.

Rather than focusing on a specific outcome, I’m going to focus on balance. I’ll spend as much time reaching out as I do writing and I’ll encourage businesses to do the same.

I’m looking forward to watching it unfold.  How do you balance the two?

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Oct

12

Studying, practicing and trying to escape blogging

Marketing, Blogging / Mindset

They say you attract what you think about most.  Clearly, I’ve had blogging on the brain. Take a look at all the Moments spent on blogging in the last 10 days alone:

  • I completed the 31 Days Blog Challenge with Lisbeth Tanz and Michelle Shaeffer. It could have been called “31 Days to a Better Business Plan,”  because that’s what I finished with. More on this here.
  • I had such a good experience with the Challenge, I took Lisbeth’s  Article Marketing Success Weekend.  My goal was to have 5 articles ready to post on ezine.com by the end of the weekend.  That did not happen… yet it was incredibly productive.  More on this here.
  • I participated in the #LetsBlogOff challenge where we blogged about, “Are blogs as important as bloggers think they are?” Consensus was YES… Read the posts here.
  • When I need blogging inspiration, I’m going to read @Urbanverse ‘s post and watch the Seth Godin and Tom Peters video… Take 2 min, read & watch here.

 

 

 

via Cindy FrewenWuellner @Urbanverse

  • I signed up for Blog Camp. Designer, Tobi Fairley is famous for her Design Camps. Watching her business blossom from blogging, she’s bombarded with requests to share her blogging secrets.  I’m curious, so I’m flying from Arizona to Arkansas to spend December 10th with Tobi. I want to see how she teaches it, what she’s learned, how she juggles a thriving design firm and blogging.  More on that in December.

 

 

 

via Tobi Fairley

 

 

 

Rhodia's Hermes orange & soft feel lured me away from Moleskine...

  • I encouraged a friend writing a book to start a blog.
  • I encouraged a friend with a blog to write a book (and use her blog in the process.)
  • I bought a book from one of my favorite bloggers, “Super Natural Cooking” by Heidi Swanson of 101Cookbooks. If I could, I’d have you over for the Itsy, Bitsy Chocolate Chip  cookies and we’d talk about our blogs.

 

 

 

via 101Cookbooks

  • I took a break from blogging with my first knitting class. The teacher started with “the architecture of knitting,” dropped “purls” of wisdom like, “take it one stitch at a time,” and “it’s just sticks and strings, have a glass of wine, don’t worry about it.” I love her.  My homework was, “Read the knitting blog, Ravelry.” I guess I’m not meant to escape blogging.
  • I hopped on my bike and went for a ride.  I found a trail that takes me to the library and the coffee shop where I typically spend time blogging.

 

 

 

 

my bike at the coffee shop

Now I’m excited about blogging again. I can put all of this learning into action, help people build better blogs and take advantage of the efforts designers made to create a more bike-able, better place to live.

How many Moments do you spend thinking about blogging?

 

 

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Oct

05

Are blogs important? Only if you’re in to glamour…

Marketing, Blogging

Or don’t have time for a business degree

Are blogs important?When I was writing a blog for architects, I asked them what skills they would tell young architects are most important today. While they mentioned sketching… they didn’t say anything about green building. They felt communication skills were essential and if they could do it over again, they’d get a business degree in addition to an architecture degree. Like doctors, the act of running a business is secondary to the dream of having your own practice. Besides, the finance and marketing can be outsourced, right?

One architect said he would tell them to pay attention to finances. He was too trusting when it came to asking for payment from big developers. When they were running short, unable to pay for the first phase of the project, he’d still start the second phase to move the project along. Then, when the market went south, he was stuck with the bill.

What does this have to do with blogs? Just as the financial market was crashing, a new web technology was emerging that enabled business owners to take marketing into their own hands.

While the practice of blogging can’t increase your financial savvy, it can do wonders for your marketing and communication skills.

Blogs provide a platform to creatively express to your clients, who you are, what you believe in, how you approach projects – basically, your key points of differentiation, the foundation of your marketing plan.

In my marketing business, I use designer-type blogs as examples of businesses expressing themselves in a non-salesy way. They seem to get that blogs are about balance – balancing personal style while staying on marketing message, balancing blog posts with reaching out to readers, other bloggers and other industries.

I think the design process itself has given designers the basis for being great bloggers and communicators. Design is a two-way conversation. It involves listening, clarifying needs, articulating creative desires – and sensing when it’s time to change direction because the client (or reader) is no longer interested in your message.

What if you can’t write like Bob Borson or aren’t as funny as Jody Brown?

That’s okay, because as clever as they are, what they do won’t work for you. What you do have in common with them is experience. You know your customer, their problems, and how you solve them. Blogs encourage finding your own voice and provide a platform to practice it until it’s natural and conversational (which can come in handy online or in front of a client.)

When done right, blogs are also creating all kinds of possibility. Just as the market crashed and new web technology emerged, consumers began craving real conversation. People who jumped on the blog bandwagon (in an authentic, genuine way) are now enjoying trips to New York Fashion Week, speaking engagements, book deals and magazine articles.

October’s Town & Country magazine has a story about interior designers transforming a tradition-bound industry,

“as they blog, tweet, and ratchet up their web sites into Zeitgeisty marketing tools, they’re transforming their names and faces into salable brands.”

Glamorous trips and book deals aside, blogs are important because Google says they’re important.

Having a blog makes it easier for your business to be found online. Search engines now consider off-page factors, such as the number of inbound links your site receives, when determining ranking. Reaching out through social media tools, bringing readers into your blog, increases your chance for receiving links back to your site. Recommendations like this tell the search engines your site has quality content.

Even if you don’t care about search engine rankings or never cultivate a following, a blog is a great place to send potential clients to get a feel for who you are and the experience you’ll provide. Chances are, they probably already Googled you after they found you in the yellow pages.

Hopefully your communication skills are charming enough in person to win their business and they haven’t already connected online with someone like Bob or Jody.  ;)

Read more on this topic from designers and bloggers participating in the #LetsBlogOff challenge.  And, join us for the next round. Check here for details.

 

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