Thinks I find along the way
Learn how to be a Google Reader rockstar! Join a free hangout at 15:00 CDST [GMT-6] today. Just add me to one of your circles and I’ll add you back and invite you…
I can talk about any aspect of this Google Reader mindmap you’re interested in!
Just in time for this ‘milestone’ post, Chris Brogan provided this handy list that I’ll use as a preamble to what it is that I already wanted to share with you…
If you would like to get further into blogging, here is a brief primer:
- Get a blog. (Easy: tumblr.com, wordpress.com, blogger.com. Better: host your own -affiliate link.)
- Pick an area of focus, but one that has broad sides. (Mine: helping people do digital business in a human way.)
- Start writing.
- Start by planning to publish 1 post a week.
- Get daring and try for 2 posts a week (eventually).
- Make the posts more than 100 words and less than 1000 words most days.
- Spell-check.
- Delete the sentences that don’t matter.
- Realize that posts that are helpful to others get shared more than posts that are merely interesting.
- Never write a “sorry I haven’t written” post. Ever.
- Posts that just comment on other people’s posts and sum things up aren’t all that interesting.
- Do NOT get hung up on the tech. Get hung up on passion.
- The best way to write better is to read more. Second best: write more (often).
- Don’t try to copy other people’s style. Try to copy their proliferation.
- My best (most popular) posts were the ones I spent the least time writing.
- My least popular posts were the ones that took me more than a half hour to write.
- Pictures are a great place to start a post idea.
- Inspiration is a verb and a muscle.
- Lazy is, too.
- You’re doing it wrong. So is everyone.
- There’s not a single rule on this list that isn’t breakable. Break all the rules you want and enjoy yourself.
There. Write. Stop what you’re doing. Don’t comment. Don’t even share this post. Go write. On whatever came to mind. Delete it, if you hate it. But write. Now.
Source: A Primer for Blogging
Far be it from me to take issue with the great Chris Brogan, but regarding #1 I’ll say choose WordPress.com if you’re just getting started. Tumblr and Blogger are nice, but if you’re looking for traffic, nothing is better for Search Engine Optimization [SEO] than WordPress.com. You can always graduate to the self-hosted version of WordPress later if you want…
Regarding #2, sooner or later, you’ll have to face up to the fact that if you want to get good at it, your blog will have a brand. What is a brand?
“A brand is a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” Branding began as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. A modern example of a brand is Coca Cola which belongs to the Coca-Cola Company.” Source: Brand – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Simply put, if you’re going to find faithful readers, you’ll have to curate or create information on a narrow scope of topics so that people will know what to expect from you – what they come to expect of you is your brand. A blog gives you a share of voice on the internet which gives you a share of mind which may ultimately give you a share of market if you pursue it. You might even become a thought leader like Chris Brogan if you work your blog well enough! Thought leader? To me that’s a recognized expert that can be found in Google search. To become one you only need to do two things well; deepen your expertise [continuously learn – stay on top of your craft] and document your expertise [blog and engage in social media].
Regarding #11, I think curation is an important part of thought leadership and I think Chris ‘sums up’ more than he realizes! In this age of information proliferation, you have the ability to become a source that people trust through your blog by consistently curating and creating information that is useful to them. Also, I’m following rule #21 by breaking rule #11 and quoting Chris himself twice in this post! Here’s another great post he did this weekend about having a plan and working it;
“It’s a gorgeous and sunny day as I write this. I would like to be outside, maybe grilling up some steaks and drinking a beer or 12. But I’m working because that’s the plan. I have a short window of time to get a bunch of things done before I hit the road again, and because part of my business is to create media, that means writing and creating information that might be useful to you. Work the plan. That’s the message of the day. Work the Plan My media plan says I should be writing one of six types of posts:
- How to
- Vision/Perspective
- Promotion
- Interview
- Do it Better
- Review
In this case, I’ll call this post a “how-to.” It’s not the best I’ve ever written, especially because it’s so self-referential, but it proves the point. If your goal is to reach into the heads of the people you hope to reach, you’d best have a plan. If your goal is to make money, and this digital strategy is part of the plan, then what are you doing to stick to it?” Source: Work the Plan.
Only you can decide if my summary of Chris’ posts is ‘not all that interesting’…
btw, yesterday, I passed the 3,000 post milestone on my personal blog and I’m fast approaching 5,000 on my business blog but these are just the posts that have been published! Counting other blogs that I’ve done since I started 7 years ago I conservatively estimate I’ve created over 20,000 posts. I’m no Chris Brogan, but I have developed an efficient ‘lather rinse repeat’ cycle of blogging using Google Reader and WordPress. This screencast above shares some of my best blogging secrets with you – I promise you’ll learn at least one time-saving tactic if you watch the whole think [‘typo’ intentional]…
Thanks for the tip of the hat to http://e1evation.com!
Have you ever consciously noticed or ‘felt’ a very positive impression about someone after having met them? It’s almost as though they emit an aura of energy that you can sense not only when they are physically present, but also even when you simply are thinking about them.
For me, thinking, acting and being positive has become a way of life. I constantly search for the ‘good’ in every person, experience and thing. I have become a much more resilient, content, peaceful and happy individual as a direct result of approaching life with a positive mental attitude. This includes reacting to everyday occurrences (good or not so good), meeting others, responding to things I encounter (reading a book, listening to a song, watching a movie, observing nature).
The concept of Free Will plays a major part in this approach, i.e., acknowledging that each of us has and makes a…
View original post 231 more words
Just in time for this ‘milestone’ post, Chris Brogan provided this handy list that I’ll use as a preamble to what it is that I already wanted to share with you…
If you would like to get further into blogging, here is a brief primer:
- Get a blog. (Easy: tumblr.com, wordpress.com, blogger.com. Better: host your own -affiliate link.)
- Pick an area of focus, but one that has broad sides. (Mine: helping people do digital business in a human way.)
- Start writing.
- Start by planning to publish 1 post a week.
- Get daring and try for 2 posts a week (eventually).
- Make the posts more than 100 words and less than 1000 words most days.
- Spell-check.
- Delete the sentences that don’t matter.
- Realize that posts that are helpful to others get shared more than posts that are merely interesting.
- Never write a “sorry I haven’t written” post. Ever.
- Posts that just comment on other people’s posts and sum things up aren’t all that interesting.
- Do NOT get hung up on the tech. Get hung up on passion.
- The best way to write better is to read more. Second best: write more (often).
- Don’t try to copy other people’s style. Try to copy their proliferation.
- My best (most popular) posts were the ones I spent the least time writing.
- My least popular posts were the ones that took me more than a half hour to write.
- Pictures are a great place to start a post idea.
- Inspiration is a verb and a muscle.
- Lazy is, too.
- You’re doing it wrong. So is everyone.
- There’s not a single rule on this list that isn’t breakable. Break all the rules you want and enjoy yourself.
There. Write. Stop what you’re doing. Don’t comment. Don’t even share this post. Go write. On whatever came to mind. Delete it, if you hate it. But write. Now.
Source: A Primer for Blogging
Far be it from me to take issue with the great Chris Brogan, but regarding #1 I’ll say choose WordPress.com if you’re just getting started. Tumblr and Blogger are nice, but if you’re looking for traffic, nothing is better for Search Engine Optimization [SEO] than WordPress.com. You can always graduate to the self-hosted version of WordPress later if you want…
Regarding #2, sooner or later, you’ll have to face up to the fact that if you want to get good at it, your blog will have a brand. What is a brand?
“A brand is a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” Branding began as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. A modern example of a brand is Coca Cola which belongs to the Coca-Cola Company.” Source: Brand – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Simply put, if you’re going to find faithful readers, you’ll have to curate or create information on a narrow scope of topics so that people will know what to expect from you – what they come to expect of you is your brand. A blog gives you a share of voice on the internet which gives you a share of mind which may ultimately give you a share of market if you pursue it. You might even become a thought leader like Chris Brogan if you work your blog well enough! Thought leader? To me that’s a recognized expert that can be found in Google search. To become one you only need to do two things well; deepen your expertise [continuously learn – stay on top of your craft] and document your expertise [blog and engage in social media].
Regarding #11, I think curation is an important part of thought leadership and I think Chris ‘sums up’ more than he realizes! In this age of information proliferation, you have the ability to become a source that people trust through your blog by consistently curating and creating information that is useful to them. Also, I’m following rule #21 by breaking rule #11 and quoting Chris himself twice in this post! Here’s another great post he did this weekend about having a plan and working it;
“It’s a gorgeous and sunny day as I write this. I would like to be outside, maybe grilling up some steaks and drinking a beer or 12. But I’m working because that’s the plan. I have a short window of time to get a bunch of things done before I hit the road again, and because part of my business is to create media, that means writing and creating information that might be useful to you. Work the plan. That’s the message of the day. Work the PlanMy media plan says I should be writing one of six types of posts:
- How to
- Vision/Perspective
- Promotion
- Interview
- Do it Better
- Review
In this case, I’ll call this post a “how-to.” It’s not the best I’ve ever written, especially because it’s so self-referential, but it proves the point. If your goal is to reach into the heads of the people you hope to reach, you’d best have a plan. If your goal is to make money, and this digital strategy is part of the plan, then what are you doing to stick to it?” Source: Work the Plan.
Only you can decide if my post is ‘not all that interesting’ because I ‘summed up’ Chris’ post — obviously I think it’s beneficial or else I wouldn’t do it…
btw, yesterday I passed the 3,000 post milestone on my personal blog and I’m fast approaching 5,000 on my business blog but these are just the posts that have been published! Counting other blogs that I’ve done since I started 7 years ago I conservatively estimate I’ve created over 20,000 posts. I’m no Chris Brogan, but I have developed an efficient ‘lather rinse repeat’ cycle of blogging using Google Reader and WordPress. This screencast shares some of my best blogging secrets with you – I promised you’ll learn at least one time-saving tactic if you watch the whole think…
I’ll be doing a Google hangout today at 15:00 CDST [GMT -6] on the topic of ‘How to be an Inbox Hero with Gmail’. I’ll be sharing the 7 killer features that make Gmail the only email tool for me. In addition, I’ll be talking a little Getting Things Done [GTD] principles for how to handle email. How to join? The first 9 people to email me at toddlohenry@gmail.com will be added to my Gmail circle and can participate live. Anyone else can watch it here via the miracle of Google Hangouts on Air…
The playlist is a collection of my ‘Greatest Gmail Hits’ to hold you over…
Nicholas Bate writes…
“1: Send Less E-Mail. Get less e-mail.
2: Tidy Up. Gain clarity.
3: Fewer People. Faster, focused and easier.
4: Use A Wall Planner Not Your Phone To Plan. The future, not just today.
5: You KNOW the problem: (1) Wake Up (2) Look Up (3) Get Real
6: Stand Up. Gain determination.
7: You Don’t Need To Be Nice. Polite, loyal and on time definitely. But this ain’t kindergarten.
8: Put the work in at the start. For an easy life later on.
9: Take A Break. It activates higher brain where the best work is always done.
10: Start at the end. Start with the result you want and work backwards.
11: Work Hard To Maintain The Relationship. Productive business needs trusting relationships.
12: Make Small, Big. And Big, Small. Get perspective/get a plan.
13: Know Your Rhythm. Follow your rhythm rather than just the Siren’s call of pure urgency.
14: Re-claim your unique advantage. Stop & Think.
The detail here.
Bonus 1: Professionalism 101
Bonus 2: How To Be Brilliant
Bonus 3: How To Be Brilliant at Business” via ParadoxicalProductivity, Director’s Cut: The First 14.
Tim Allen is one of my favorite comedians and I love the show ‘Home Improvement’…
For three years, I’ve been wanting to do a weekly live broadcast and now — thanks to Google+ Hangouts on Air — today’s the day! Watch this…
You can connect with me in Google+ at toddlohenry@gmail.com to participate live at 15:00 CDST [GMT-6] [only people in my circles can attend] or you can watch the stream here:
…are one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen and believe me, I’ve seen a lot of cool things. Here’s my take…
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Good stuff I found over the weekend…
http://storify.com/e1evation/just-in-case-you-missed-this-for-5-29-2012.js”>%5B<a href="
Good stuff I found over the weekend…
http://storify.com/e1evation/just-in-case-you-missed-this-for-5-29-2012″ target=”_blank”>View the story “Just in case you missed this for 5/29/2012” on Storify]
Storified by Todd Lohenry · Tue, May 29 2012 11:08:03
Alltop Organic RSS via How to be happy: Perspective is Everything by Rory Sutherland. Click to watch a great TED talk…
I just concluded my ‘lunch and learn’ series on information and content management at The Docking Station in Green Bay, WI today. The first two classes were shot via video camera and unfortunately you can’t see the screen but you can hear the narrative. The last class was captured using a Google+ hangout and I’ll be using that from now on. Questions? Feedback?
This is [almost] everything I think I know about the topic with a couple of bonus videos thrown in at the beginning…
…featuring a tool called Gist and you can see it here over the internet!
Here’s a brief outline of my intro:
This event is hosted by my friend Dana VanDen Heuvel at The Docking Station in Green Bay, however, thanks to the new functionality in Google+ of being able to broadcast a hangout over the air in YouTube, I’ll be broadcasting and recording the event in this post at Noon CDT. You can either watch it here or join more directly by connecting with toddlohenry@gmail.com in Google+…
Here is the Google+ Hangout video from the event:
A daily roundup of interesting stuff that didn’t quite make it as a blog post on its own.
This is a tad oxymoronic for my liking…
Posted from WordPress for Android
The Happiness Project via Just Because Something is Fun For Someone Else Doesn’t Mean It’s Fun For You..
Here’s a test of the new Hangout over air functionality…
Peter Bregman posted this at Psychology Today…
I’ve come to the conclusion that I use email to distract myself. Whenever I feel the least bit uneasy, I check my email. Stuck while writing an article? Bored on a phone call? Standing in an elevator, frustrated in a meeting, anxious about an interaction? Might as well check email. It’s an ever-present, easy-access way to avoid my feelings of discomfort.
What makes it so compelling is that it’s so compelling. I wonder what’s waiting for me in my inbox? It’s scintillating.
It also feels legitimate, even responsible. I’m working. I need to make sure I don’t miss an important message or fail to respond in a timely fashion.
But it’s become a serious problem. When we don’t control our email habit, we are controlled by it. Everyone I know complains about email overload.
Email pours in, with no break to its flow. And like addicts, we check it incessantly, drawing ourselves away from meetings, conversations, personal time, or whatever is right in front of us.
Go to the source if you’d like to read the rest of his thoughts. I’d like to share with you a way that I have found to control my email habit…
Tools without thought or tactics are worthless so I try to remind myself that email is best used as a tool for ‘just in time’ information – information that affects relationships and revenue. All your ‘just in case’ information belongs in a virtual newspaper like Google Reader. Think of how much lighter your email load would be if you didn’t let newsletters and other detritus in? How often have you started down the path to Inbox Zero and then been waylaid by a Victoria’s Secret or Cabella’s catalog in your inbox. There’s a time and a place for that; the time is your ‘personal news aggregation’ time and the place is Google Reader. My advice? Use Gmail for email with a touch of Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero and David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’ and you’ll be an INBOX HERO in no time!
If you’re looking for help in this area, try my online book on ‘personal news aggregation’ or how to create your own personal news agency. You can register free at http://elevation.company/pna. Here are two recent lunch and learns I did on the topic of Gmail and Google Reader as well…
How to be an ‘Inbox Hero’ with Gmail…
How to be a Google Reader Rockstar…
Chrome Web Store – Google Tasks (by Google)
Easily add and manage your tasks from Chrome in one of three ways:
- Simply type “t Your new task” into the Chrome Omnibar to easily add a task from whatever web page you’re on.
- Click the Tasks icon to add a task, see your tasks and task lists and mark a task as completed
- Highlight text on any web page, right click and add that text to a new task.
Tasks are visible everywhere that you can see your Google Tasks – in Gmail, Calendar, iGoogle, Mobile and via the Google Tasks API.
This extension has been released as an example of the Google Tasks API, and can be viewed and contributed to at https://code.google.com/p/google-tasks-chrome-extension
Please note that if you sign into multiple Google accounts you should ensure that the first account you sign into is the account you wish to use when managing Tasks via this extension.
Get some!!!
Retronaut is a fun site that I track in Google Reader. Every once in awhile, I see something that makes me nostalgic like this ad. It makes me think about the passage of time and technology…
I’ll probably be thinking about missing out on the ‘next great thing’ on my deathbed. Sigh… :-/
Go to the source for more: Zenith Chromacolor TV, 1970s | Retronaut.
“Oh life, it’s bigger
It’s bigger than you
And you are not me”
Bright, shiny objects! 
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