The Bloggers Desktop

SEO and Odd Searches

I like to take a few minutes at the end of the month and see exactly what is leading people to my site.  It is a bit of confirmation that my Search Engine Optimization is working (more on that later), but it also gives me a little chuckle.

Just for what it is worth, my best search term so far in june was “Bloggers”  That’s sort of a surprise, but a welcome one I suppose.  No doubt the domain name plays a role in that.

Just a side note, this is why you use some sort of keyword in your domain name instead of “ABC-Company.com” or some similar name.  

Success, Business tools, and Online Business were present as intended.

But most fun, is that someone actually came to my site by googling “santa.”  Now, on Christmas eve 2007 I did indeed write about Santa.  This was a little experiment more than anything to play around with Google Trends and the Search Engines.

But It still drives traffic in.  My only real question is why is someone looking for santa in June?

Never send out a partial feed

You know, it is easy to tell which bloggers out there actually read other people’s feeds.  I am not going to point any fingers, but I am convinced that if you knew what it was like to get a sentence and a half from a post in your feed, you would never do that to your subscribers.

Let’s be honest about this.  It is time somebody said this loudly and clearly.  Stop being selfish and hording your feeds and let me see the whole thing!

Which of these looks more like something you would enjoy reading? 

(notice if you can, the “…” at the end.  I’m not bothering, would you?)

Note: I obscured the text in the image above so as to not bring undo embarrassment upon the blogger who I personally admire.

Or our second snap shot:

This second shot is from the feed of ClickNewz.com by Lynn Terry, an excellent business woman and someone I am happy to call friend.  But more importantly, she clearly knows the importance of feeding out good content!

So why the shortened feed?

I know the logic behind it, hell its extremely logical.  You want them to come to your web page, so you give them a little taste with the hope that they will click through for more.  The problem is, you are really only going to upset people and make them remove you from their feed reader.  If you really think about it, this is actually more logical.  There are some good reasons to send out a full feed.

Reason 1 - People read their feeds in their free time.

I like to go to my google reader in my free time (what little of it there is) and browse through my feeds.  From there I can keep up with what I care most about, and when it is especially well written or engages me, THEN I will click through to comment or see the discussion.

I don’t have the time to click through just because your first two sentences were compelling, and if I do, you had better engage me!

Reason 2 - The web is mobile.

Let’s face it, most people these days take their blackberry or their iphone out with them.  If they find a few minutes waiting for lunch, then they can browse their feeds.  If you use a mobile data service, you know what it is like to constantly be tripping across pages.  But in most good readers, you can read the content all in one place without waiting on pages to load.

Please know, If I see you on my PDA, and your feed is cut off, I will not be visiting that link - EVER!

Reason 3 - it is just courteous. 

I have written before on the importance of being considerate of others.  These days, we all know if your feed is cut off it’s because you want traffic to your site.  If all I am to you is a statistic for your traffic counter, then I really don’t want to read your blog.

I am a visitor, treat me with generosity and hospitality, give me your best service.  And If you do, I will tip generously.

A word of compassion

For those of you new to blogging - First, understanding RSS might be helpful for you.  Second, subscribe to your feed so you can see what it looks like in a reader.  I understand that many blogging platforms default to a truncated feed.  This is easy to change.  It is in “settings” in Blogger, and “options” in WordPress.  If you use another one, go find it.  It is important to be familiar with some of these things you can do from your respective blog dashboard.

And for those of you who are shortening your feed for the sake of traffic.  I know why this is tempting, but please understand that it is essential that you serve up good content generously.  If you do this, I can assure you that you will see a higher payout in the long run.

Scheduling your online Education Time

It might be pointless to say this, but when you are working online there is always something new to learn.  A new Social Networking site, or some new thing you can do with html, maybe aweber raised their prices and you need to learn a new contact management system.

Whatever the situation, you are always learning when you are working online. (or at least you should be)

This education can suck a ton of time away from your productivity.  It is essential that everyone schedules this time.  From the brand new internet marketer to the verteran, we all need to learn new tools and new methods, but we cannot let this take away from the time we are actually doing the stuff we already know how to do.

If you can post a blog, post it!  Then submit it to the social networking sites you are familiar with.  When that is done, take a bit of time and learn to use plurk, and see if that is a helpful medium for you.

Whatever you do, don’t let learning a new tool suck your time away from doing what you can do right now!  Personally I build “education” into my week.  Whatever I realize I need to understand better I mark for that time slot.  If that week I feel like I haven’t learned anything new, then I research one of my niches a bit and spend some time checking out competitors sites.

Always Learn!  But don’t let it rob you from doing what you can already do right now!

Vocation or Occupation Why do we work?

It is interesting to consider a culture’s language sometimes.  The word “Occupation” is related to “occupy.”  This is what we do to keep ourselves busy.  Our occupation is what keeps us from losing our minds.  This is no way to waste your life.  Whatever you do with your days make sure it is not dwindling them away at an “occupation.”

If you need work so you can pay the bills and you have to do something you don’t enjoy, that’s understandable.  We have all been there.  By instead of an occupation call it an “income source.“  And then spend your time discovering a “vocation.”

You see, vocation means work.  It is something we were all made for.  There is work which we all find fulfilling and productive.  For some that might be sitting in a basement office pulling on a counting machine.  I am not being sarcastic.  Seriously, some people on this earth will find that work rewarding and productive.  The rest of us will want to shoot ourselves by lunchtime.

But for some this is a vocation.  This is a calling which will fulfill their lives and give it meaning.

What is your vocation?  

I hear people all the time who tell me they are going into business for themselves so they can stop working.  I am sorry to say that this is utter nonsense!  You go into business so you can find your vocation.  Anyone going into business to stop working will never be successful.  You must be out to find the one thing which will fulfill you and give you purpose.

Our culture’s loss of hope is often due to so many people eeking out an existense at a job they hate so they can pay their bills.  We must find what makes us happy and go after that vocation with all we have in us.  Then we will be able to pay our bills (and some), as well as be content and fulfilled in what we do with our days.

So my challenge to you today is to never say “occupation” again.  If you love your job, congratulations!  You have discovered your vocation.  If you have yet to find what fulfills you, continue at your income source until you find your true vocation!

Time Management Tips for running an Online Business

If you run your own business online, statistically you spend most of your time working from home.  Working from home is great.  It’s nice to pop out of the office for a few minutes here and there, give the kids a kiss, see what’s on the news, have a snack and think about those poor schlubs at initech (or one of the millions of similar office farms) staring at the cubicle wall and praying for death.  It is nice, no, it is WONDERFUL to not be one of those poor worker bees.

But this freedom comes with a huge price.  The price is discipline.  There are just certain things that have to be done.  You have orders that must be processed, you have email that has to be read, filed and dealt with, you have blogs to write, comments to moderate, and a million other things that must be done right this minute.  At the same time, everyone of them can be put off until tommorrow.

This is a deadly combination.  You must force yourself to stick to a certain schedule when you will work regularly.  Plus you need to figure out a way to be productive during those hours.

When setting a schedule and being productive there are two great enemies.

Enemy #1 - Procrastination

Like I said, working from home is nice because you can choose when to work.  There are times we all want to go to the zoo, watch TV, or just lay in a hammock and let the world go by.  When you are you’re own boss that is one of the benefits.  But you must determine exactly how many hours you need to work, and then schedule them.

Let your family know that today, these hours are work hours and they need to be respected.  Then you need to take the lead in adhering to that.  If you interrupt your own work schedule to do something relaxing or entertaining, you will be teaching them that your work hours are something that doesn’t need to be taken seriously.

Another way to get around the procrastination monster is to remove distractions.  I am writing this post from a coffee shop where I like to go to work from time to time.  There is nothing here to distract me except for the occasional interruption from a friend or an acquaintance for a brief chat, and that is something I actually plan for when I decide to spend some time here.

Enemy # 2 the tyranny of the urgent

The phrase above is completely plagairized from somewhere.  I don’t know the original source so I am not able to cite it, but it has been repeated so much that it is probably in the public domain almost at the level of a cliche’.

What it means is that when you are working from home, everything is urgent, and must be done right this minute.  Those emails you need to check, those RSS feeds you have to get to, those orders you need to batch.  All of it is essential.  Darren Rowse wrote a post on this exact topic the other day so I will refer you to that, but let me summarize quickly.

He suggested “Batch Processing”  where you focus your energy on one thing at a time.  When you are writing, turn off your email notifier.  In fact only check email a few times a day and deal with all of it at once.  Set aside time for particular tasks and don’t interrupt editing content so you can send someone an email.

Personally I keep a notepad beside my computer so that when I am working and I think of something I need to do, I jot it down really quick as a note to do later.  Then I spend a few minutes each day dealing with the items on that note pad.

So, Just to sum up.

Schedule your work time and keep it work time.  Remove distractions that might keep you from work.  And then work in a way that prevents your work from distracting you from your work.  (read that last sentence again slower)

Batch Process it!  Now when you have the time set aside, go read Darren’s post on that very topic.

Are there other things that you would see as enemies to your schedule?  I would love to know your thoughts, as well as any ways you have dealt with them.

If you enjoyed reading this article you might like to subscribe and continue to receive updates on a regular basis.  If you are not sure what that means, you will find this article about RSS helpful.  

Firefox 3 and some great Add Ons

So I have been playing around with Firefox for the last hour or so.  For those of you who are not watching feeds ravenously like I am, you might not know that Mozilla unleashed its newest form of perfection on the internet yesterday.

This new browser makes firefox 2 look like an old rusty version of IE 17.9 - Yes, I hope you caught that jab (Exploder is only up to version 7).

Anyway, all MS bashing aside, I am loving Firefox 3.  It is fast and smooth.  It is visually Stunning, and it promises to make social networking a breeze!

If you ever look at anything on the internet, you really should install Firefox, and then uninstall Internet explorer just for wasting hard drive space.  ( Whoops! I promised not to bash).

So what you need to do right now is download Firefox 3.

After you are done with that I might humbly recommend my two favorite Add Ons.

Del.icio.us - a nice new add on that is even prettier in Firefox, and if you don’t use delicious, you should start.

and also

Gmail Manager- an excellent on board add on that sits on the bottom right of firefox and lets you know when you have mail.

I would love to hear some other add ons that you enjoy!  Please leave them in the comments.

So Take off and enjoy the ride!

Overcoming Obstacles when Starting a Blog

When I am counseling a business owner about expanding their influence, I always recommend a blog. In the web 2.0 world of social media and authenticity, your customers want to see a person on the other side of the cyber connection.

I think almost anyone active in today’s marketing environment will recognize the value of this platform. Often there are obstacles to engaging in this medium that many of those new to the game of social media have a difficult time overcoming.

We will tackle a few of those here.

1. But I am not a writer.

I talk with people all the time who tell me they are not writers. They know a lot about their field, but they don’t write well. When they do begin to blog it looks more like a page of classified ads than a blog.

So how do we deal with that? First of all, stop telling yourself that! If you are not a writer, you are right - You STINK at it. But if you have “never been a writer before,” then you can learn.

Second, some people really were not created to write. There is no denying that. If that’s the case, then you still have options.

a. You could pay someone to write your blog. Make sure this person is teachable and knowledgeable about your business. Make sure they have a passion about your market. To be completely honest with you I don’t know how someone with no passion can ever write quality content at the level necessary to write a compelling blog.

b. Learn. This is my favorite. I am a firm believer that anything can be learned. Good writing comes two ways. First by reading, and then by writing. The more you read the better you will write, and the more you write, the more you will improve.

On this note let me say this. When you are writing, you should write like you are talking to someone you care about. English class is over, and it doesn’t matter anymore. Now it’s time for real life. Be authentic, be real, and be yourself! If you are writing about something dear to you, this will come across!

So in summary, if you are not a writer, you need to either hire one or become one. My recommendation? Become one!

2. A blog is NOT an advertisement for your business.

This is a HUGE obstacle because honestly, yes it is, but then again no it isn’t. People unschooled in social media will quickly learn that advertising is a waste of time, money and energy. You must think of your blog not as an advertisement for your business but as an advertisement for yourself. Your readers don’t care what XYZ corporation does. They want to know you.

A great example of this is the blog of Bob Parsons. Frankly, by my standards Bob is a pervert, but as the founder of Godaddy he writes his blog so his customers can know HIM! And he is producing content that his readers enjoy reading. While learning about Bob, they are also learning about his products. They value the blog, not because it is all about Bob, nor because it is all about godaddy, but because there is a name and a face on this corporation.

So when you are writing your blog, don’t try to be some stone faced bluechip executive. Be who you are. Be passionate about what you care about. If you care about your business, terrific! Let your readers know that, but let them know you as well.

3. Provide Quality Content, Not Garbage.

While your readers really do want to to know you, they are far more interested in themselves. If you ramble on and on about yourself and your business, you will lose traffic fast. You need to carefully craft content that is helpful to your target audience.

Let me illustrate, I was talking with someone the other day who had posted a paragraph on a download site they were recommending. This was nothing short of an advertisement. I told them this could be considered spam and I explained that a much better blog post would review various download sites with the pros and cons of each.

This sort of post would provide helpful information to someone looking for the best site to download music and movies from. People would be likely to subscribe and come back later if this is the sort of content you produce. But if you are simply suggesting a product, people are going to hit the back button faster than you can say “lost opportunity.”

There are more, so please dont hesitate to let me know if there are stumbling blocks in your way or some you have seen others struggle with with. I would love to hear your thoughts on these and more!

Read Books - Save the World

I don’t spend a lot of time here on this topic, but I am a HUGE believer in making the world a better place. I have said it a couple of times. One of my Secrets to Success was change the world, but for the most part I choose not to rant on that.

But when I see a new start up that has a mission of making the world better I cannot help but to promote it a little bit.

The Mission of BetterWorld is to fund literacy through book sales! What a novel idea! I think I might be turning to these guys to order my books from now on! They seem to have a great catalog of just about anything you could want, and isn’t it nice to know that your purchase is going to be used to fund literacy?

I just happened to run across this little startup, but I plan on spending more time there as my fall semester kicks off in August. I will let you know how that goes. For now, go check out BetterWorld!

While You are pondering that, You might enjoy this video by Radiohead:

Setting and Acheiving Goals for Success

I have been really thinking a bit lately about friends of mine who desire “success.” In this video I address some of my concerns and how goals can be achieved.

In this Next Video I offer a simple systematic approach to setting and reaching goals. I am introducing you to a tool which might cost 79 cents and could change the way you live your life!

Is it worth 2 minutes to watch this simple tip for changing your habits?

Do you Skype?

Friends, Business people, Internet Entrepreneurs -

Do you Skype? Skype is an excellent way for you to keep in touch with friends and family, take care of business over a long distance, and keep it all at a minimal cost.

I know some of you don’t like to make long distance calls because it costs too much. If you are running a business from home you should not do it without skype. All you really need is a High Speed connection!

You can call other Skype users for free! And for a very small charge you can call phones all over the world! When you download it, feel free to add me to your contact list! I am jaredmlee on skype. I will look forward to seeing you there!

What are you waiting for? Get it today!