Archive for the ‘thoughts’ Category:
New Social Search Site Scour Says Search Socially
I know that the onomatopoeia might be a bit annoying, but I am Excited!
I got an email today from my friend Tina letting me know that this new search engine allows users to comment on results, interact with other commenters, search from yahoo, MSN, and Google in the same place. These are things that have been happening for awhile - so you might think, “well, sure, but its all been done.”
NOT SO! Scour has achieved the best of all worlds. Excellent Social interaction, positive marketing, and best of all - YOU GET PAID TO USE IT!!!
That’s right you guys, this is the real deal! SCOUR! Scour the web and get paid for it!!!
NOTE for Firefox Users: Since there is not a search add on yet for the search form on the right, just do the following and search directly from your url bar with scour.
- Type about:config in Firefox location bar and press Enter
- Type keyword in Filter textbox and you will see only the preference keyword.URL.
- Double-click on keyword.URL and change the value to:
http://scour.com/search/web/
Each of these searches will earn you points going toward your visa gift cards!
Dude, why are you here? Go to scour!
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?
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!
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:
Persistence and Putting videos online
You know what, I have a history degree. I am getting a masters in Divinity. Don’t ask me why it’s called that because frankly I am the furtherest thing from divine you can imagine. Anyway, my point is simple. While I have learned a lot about tech stuff, its something I have had to work for.
Why do I tell you this? To explain what follows.
I decided to post a video to my blog today. I wanted to make two points.
1. Content is important
and
2. a variety of content is important.
Interestingly, I also hoped to save a bit of time and not write a full on post.
Well, I had some technical issues getting it done. But I am going to get it right. The video you are about to watch is not the video I set out to make. Maybe another time. This video is about what I learned from my day. Hopefully it is encouraging far beyond some silly video content thing. The lesson I learned translates into many applications. Enjoy.
Some Great blogs to watch
It is rare for a blogger to simply say “you know what, these other bloggers have great content!”
That is what I am saying with this post. There are a few blogs I want to recommend to you if you are trying to build your own business.
The first is problogger. Darren Rowse is a fantastic blogger and has really revolutionized the industry. There are far too many copycats out there, but that isn’t his fault. He has a neat story. He started a blog as a hobbyist photographer and discovered the mass appeal of blogs at a time when the mass appeal was just starting to take off! He has even written a book, which I can’t wait to get my hands on. Make sure you check out Problogger the Book.
The Second Blog I want to recommend is think simple now. This blog absolutely took off almost overnight and it’s no wonder why! The content is fantastic. The author, Tina Su, just recently returned from an extended vacation overseas. I am glad she is back because I was missing her helpful tips which make my life better every time I implement one. My favorite post of hers helped me to overcome my problem of remembering people’s names. The main tip that helped me? Stop telling myself that I am bad at names! Wow! Thanks Tina!
Third, I would truly be amiss not to mention here is Lynn Terry’s Clicknewz. Lynn is a fantastic affiliate marketer, a helpful web consultant, and from all accounts is running her home as a single mom all at the same time! How does she manage? Anyway, Lynn is a favorite of mine for her honesty and her integrity. I never fail to miss a post! Thanks Lynn!
So just to recap, I will point you to these blogs one more time.
Problogger for helpful blogging tips.
Think Simple Now for cleaning out your life.
and Clicknewz for excellent internet marketing ideas.
ENJOY!
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Stop It and Persevere in your Business Plan
Update: If you want some tips on perseverance and developing a winning attitude, I hope you will find some of the articles on “Secrets to Success” helpful.
I work with a lot of people who come up with excellent plans to target a specific niche. With a bit of direction they are able to develop a network, a marketing strategy, and a website. Then they do a fantastic job of stopping all together.
Thanks to some bad sales practices I know people who assume that working online means clicking a couple links a day and then watching Oprah. Thankfully, this won’t work.
People need to persevere! Someone once said you need to “plan your work and work your plan.” The second half is often the place where people fail.
What is your strategy and what are you doing about it? Are you developing a blog? Great! how often do you post? You better be posting at least every other day.
Are you building a network? when was the last time you logged onto the social networking sites? These are non negotiable things if you plan to succeed.
Perseverance is the single largest contributing factor to success in any business. If you are not doing it, don’t expect to achieve success.
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A Disclaimer for my Readers regarding Google Adsense
Google Adsense are ads which I run to help support this site and contribute to our expenses. When you click these ads, you will be learning about the products and services offered. Some of these advertisers I can wholeheartedly support. Some I may not. They are all chosen by Google.
In case you are not familiar with Google adsense (and I realize some of my readers may not be) watch this blog for a post in the near future about them in detail.
Just today, I noticed that some of these ads are political. I am not a political person. My political beliefs are that the whole world is screwed up and none of the people who really desire to serve as president (or any other office) will be able to fix it, I neither support nor endorse any of the candidates in this or any election, but by all means click their ads.
You can call me a complacent wad of garbage if you choose. Just don’t call me a republican or a democrat and we can still be friends.
Paid for by the committee to keep Jared neutral in politics.
The Bloggers Life Work Balance
One of the blogs I follow is Problogger. Even I aspire to be this guy! He never fails to post useful content and helpful information. I learned alot from his most recent post, Blogging as a Job. He talked about the career path of a blogger, society’s acceptance of this odd new form of self employment, and the future of the industry.
It’s definitely enlightening and worth a look.
It brought me to a question I propose here. What has it been like for your personal relationships as you have begun the move to self employment on the internet?
