NamaFrickin'STE!
Hello My Lovelies,
Before you say or think anything…I know!
I know it’s Thursday. And I know this series is called SuperPost Sunday and not SuperPost Thursday. I could have let this past week slide and just waited another 3 days, but I was intent on publishing this asap regardless of the day.
What I did this time round was combine my recommendations from the past 2 weeks (and some from this week) – the one’s where I left you without a SuperPost :(. I’m hoping that you’ve forgiven me (or forgotten) by now. But know that as of next week – we’re back to the regular scheduled SuperPosts – on SUNDAYS!
Other than that…how have you all been?
I for one, certainly missed being here while I was on vacation. But of course – I’m not complaining – I had a darn good time which is probably why it went so fast! Grrr…
Oh, and thanks to Aunt Gini, you now all know where I was lol.
During my little escapade, I had 4 of my good friends step in for me and take the reigns here while I was away. Marcus Sheridan, Gini Dietrich, John Falchetto and Stuart Mills did a hell of a job with their guest articles and I’m utterly grateful to them for providing you, my amazing community, with fresh and insightful content to chew on.
I hope you enjoyed their presence here as much as I did. And while we’re on that subject…I plan on inviting people to write here more often :D. Notice the key word being…INVITING! But keep your panties on, there’ll be more about that soon.
Prozac’s and Namaste’s
I’ve been playing a little a lot of catch up since I’ve been back; both here in the blogosphere and my life offline. Needless to say it’s been a bit hectic but nothing I can’t handle I suppose.
I will tell you this though: working with plumbers, electricians, carpenters and general construction workers is not as exciting as you might have imagined it to be. I’m not saying anything negative about those professions in particular – quite the contrary – thank goodness they exist and a big phat WOOT for what they do! But just in case you thought the time spent organizing and coordinating them with each other might be pleasant – allow me to burst your bubble now and say – RUN! Well…if not that, then pop a Prozac and repeat the word Namaste to yourself while you think of your happy place all day long – or at least until the job is done!
Note to self: Two more weeks Ingrid! Only two more weeks! You can do it! Namsteeeee…
Oh, and just to be clear – I was kidding about the Prozac lol ;)!
I’m not a physician and Copywriters and MarCom professionals aren’t really qualified to prescribe drugs of any kind. That would be my little disclaimer lol. But I wasn’t joking about the Namaste’s! I’m most definitely prescribing those ;)!
The Numbers that Don’t Matter…
I realize that during the last 5 or so weeks where I was less active online (whether in publishing new articles, commenting on other blog posts that I liked, writing guest posts, twalking, engaging on Facebook and so forth) this blog took quite the hit when it comes to Queen Alexa.
It was only very recently that nittyGriddy had a ranking of 67K. But now it’s back up to 106K. Even my silly Klout score has dropped to a 57. But I couldn’t give a baboon’s butt about that one!
Am I worried, stressed or depressed?
F#@% Hell NO!
Sure, it’s a little annoying and maybe even disappointing – but then again, numbers were made to fluctuate. And in all honesty, besides being pretty to look at, I don’t pay much attention to them. And as for rankings go…well, they don’t mean much to me either when it comes to blogging. Your blog can be ranked at a million plus for all I care. I don’t just people by their numbers!
If I like you, what you have to share and how you share it – then that’s all that matters! Much like many of you, I’m waaaay more interested in quality content and community involvement. And luckily for me, I have both! Or at least I’d like to think so.
On that note – I’m gonna’ ask you to please bear with me a couple more weeks as I slowly go back to my normal online activities. I’ve already switched on the power button to the blogging mode side of my brain, and the little gerbil is doing a little stretching before she’s up and running again ;)!
Alright, I’ve said enough for one day.
Time for the Goodies…
“Without further ado and blah blah,” here are this week’s rockin’ SuperPosts on all things Social Media, Blogging Tips, SEO, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building, Online Money Making Tools and more…
HAPPY READING!
Social Media
As great as Twitter is, there are many people who use and abuse it to the point of absurdity. Wikipedia defines a “troll” as “someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community…
We hear that “data is the new oil” and maybe so, but just like crude oil, data needs to be refined to maximise its value. It needs to be processed into actionable insight. Online and mobile activities generate vast amounts…
First off, I want to preface this post with the fact that social media shouldn’t be done only with the goal of making direct conversions. Social media is about building new relationships, generating word of mouth…
I know that the parallel between God and Google is starting to be a cliche, but somehow since the beta launch of Google+ this came top of mind again for me. As Google just added yet another divine quality to its already…
One of the greatest challenges companies face in adjusting to the impact of social media, is knowing where to start? Many corporate leaders and employees have the right intentions, but it can be overwhelming when…
You may be thinking I am going to write about some huge blog scandal that embarrassed a CEO, relieved somebody of their U.S. Senate seat, or made somebody in Hollywood look like a complete loser in some way…
StumbleUpon is a great place to go when you are sitting and doing nothing. Just a click on the ‘Stumble’ button and you get to discover some great stuff. Everything from interesting articles to useful apps and funny videos…
When you come right down to it, Social Media is just about people. All of the talking we do about strategy, how to engage, how to interact – it’s just all people stuff. Because of this, most advice that you get for the offline world…
Blogging Tips
Nearly every day I receive some variation of this question – “How do I drive more traffic to my blog?” I would go as far to say that there seems to be an obsession with traffic among bloggers. In my opinion, this is the wrong…
So you’re bored with blogging. You have other things to do – like eat, sleep, go out, work. You know – boring “real life” stuff. Besides, thinking about it, blogging is for computer nerds and failed writers. Not to worry…
There are 25 things you can do in less than 3 hours to improve your blog today and there are 33 more you can do in a week to make it even better. If you did your homework, this is the time when you put some of those tasks…
Everyone likes a good tips list, and it’s been awhile since I’ve developed one. They can be so annoyingly mundane; however, this topic ought to resonate with many a peer blogger. I’m seeing too many peeps having crises…
‘Hey Bloggers, you’re really not that important. Seriously.’—Those were the words of very popular social media blogger/consultant Jason Falls as he begun his seminar at Blog World New York a few months ago…
Traffic… subscribers… and money. That’s what you really want, but it’s not happening. Stop and take a good, long look at your blog. It’s a mess, right? The topic is wrong, the design is unimpressive, and your posts…
What does a blogger do? If I had a penny for every time I heard this, I’d be living in Maui and doing yoga on the beach and basking in the glory of Mother Nature’s sea turtles, humpback whales and spinner…
Have you ever wished your writing had more flavor? More pizzazz? We’ve all seen the kind of writing that commands a reader’s attention. It has kick and punch, style and personality. It draws us in and doesn’t…
I’ve gotten this question quite a bit in the past few months.“Hector, I’ve been blogging for a while now, but I can’t seem to get any sales for any of the products I’ve promoted.. what can I do?” That’s a great question…
“Wow, Danny, you’re like the Freddy Krueger of blogging – wherever I turn, you’re there!” I’ve received several comments like that in the last few months. The consensus seems to be that I’m everywhere. No matter which blog…
It’s a LONG post – But if you ever wanted to run a multi author blog, then you need to read every word! I was getting ready to fly from Houston to San Francisco, when I got a Twitter DM from my buddy John asking…
There is an old adage that goes “two ears and one mouth, use them in proportion” and that is the phrase that should be foremost in your mind when building community around your blog or business. I always thought that community…
SEO
Are you learning SEO, already know how to find good keywords BUT want to learn how to use keywords to write Search Engine Optimized (SEO) articles in order to get lots of free traffic? In this post, you’ll discover exactly…
Well, we all know about traditional SEO, right? Now in this age of social media, we need to consider how we go about optimizing our social feeds; especially Facebook. Maybe you didn’t know this yet, but there is such…
MishMash
When I first started my Podcast, there were a few people that I knew I had to interview. Ashley Ambirge from TheMiddleFingerProject.org was one of them. She has one of the most brutally honest, up front…
I’ve been watching a lot of old movies this week. It’s one of the easier things to do with a broken wrist. And it keeps me out of Bob’s way. Because he actually does have some projects and deadlines. Me? My job for now…
There are two things that I’ve noticed in researching popular individuals and their businesses. They all have something people want and those people trust them. Not only that, but those people are faithful fans of their brand…
I can’t sing for toffee. Or for anything else. I’m tone deaf and scare wolves away with my high pitched notes. Even the shower turns itself off when I start belting out ‘When September Comes’ by Green Day. So, I don’t bother…
Greatness Around the Blogosphere and My Top June (S)Talker
I have tons of excuses – some good, some less – but I’ll spare you the blah blah and simply tell you that I have no intention of making this a habit and my blogging life should be back to normal mode very soon.
I also realize that I haven’t gotten around to replying to all the incredible comments on my last post, Bring IT! How Do You Deal with Negative Comments and Criticism on Your Blog? Needless to say that I have read each and will be replying to all of them shortly. In the meantime, if you haven’t had the chance to share your thoughts on that piece and join the valuable discussion, make sure to head over there and see what others had to say in terms of how they treat tactless trolls and others on their blogs.
Greatness Around the Blogosphere
Every once in a while, great people do great things. And in this vast blogosphere of ours, greatness is something you come across quite often if you know where to look.
Stuart Mills and Value
My friend Stu (Stuart Mills) from Unlock the Door ran an incredible series over the last few weeks on the topic of value. He asked 67 people to answer the simple yet thought-provoking question – how do you provide value? Needless to say that provide value… is exactly what each of them did!
If you ask me, Stu could have easily published this 12 post series of his as an eBook – which I still think he should and I’m sure you’ll agree with me once you’ve read through some of the inspiring answers by friends and fellow bloggers such as Glen Allsopp from ViperChill, Davin a Brewer from 3Hats Communications, JK Allen from the Hustler’s Notebook, Paul Wolfe from One Spoon at a Time, Yaro Starak from Entrepreneur’s Journey, Danny Iny from Firepole Marketing, Yours Truly and numerous others who I’m sure you’ve heard of or read on a regular basis.
Nicely done Stu, and thanks again for featuring me there among some of the great!
Margie Clayman’s New Blog Library
Another blogger who’s also offering a ton of value is Margie Clayman with her new Blog Library.
Margie’s done something fantastic here in that she’s not only promoting others but continuously curating blog posts by category and author so that you can read them at any time and get different perspectives on each available topic. Basically – she’s taking the best of the best and making them available for you. What this also means is that you no longer have to go to 100 different blogs to see what people are saying about a specific subject.
For example, there’s already 18 articles that address the new and much talked about Google Plus, 10 on parenting and family, 20 on self improvement and so on… All you have to do is skim through the abstracts and click on the one that interests you to be taken to the actual site.
Margie’s Blogopedia-style site is just so practical and serves as a great reference for research and smart reading. Kudos to her for starting that up!
Gini and Shonali Raise the Bar Once Again!
These two fabulous ladies don’t need an introduction.
If you don’t know Gini Dietrich (aka Aunt Gini) from Spin Sucks and Shonali Burke from Waxing Unlyrical, then you don’t know PR, Social Media and community building! Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but seriously, these women who I’m honored to call good friends (Gini being my VBFF) are the prime example of how to be successful both in the blogosphere and real life – or offline as I prefer to say, seeing that blogging is very much REAL LIFE to me!
About a week or so ago, the very sharp Arik Hanson from Communications Conversations kindly asked if I would write a small recommendation for Gini and her blog Spin Sucks who had just won the PR Reader’s Choice Blog Award as Blog of the Year. Somehow, I managed to keep my reco under 100 words lol! A bit phat WOOT to Aunt Gini and a small one to me for being somewhat succinct ;).
Shonali’s blog took home the Most Thought-Provoking blog award – one that’s well deserved indeed! Please make sure to head over to Arik’s winner announcement post and congratulate these two fab gals on a job well done.
John Falchetto – My Top Commenter for June
John Falchetto - Husband, Father, Friend, Blogger and Expat Life Coach
But before you head for the goodies, I’d like for you to congratulate my top friendly stalker for June – John Falchetto – author of the very smart and popular blog, Expat Life Coach.
During the month of June, John left a total of 34 comments on this blog :D.
As you can see, he was closely followed by May’s winner, Bill Dorman and Aunt Gini who took home the bronze. I tell ya, I’m just lovin’ this monthly race for the gold! What’s even better is that so far, it’s a been a different person who wins every month so it gives me the chance to feature someone new here every time.
John is just about one of the friendliest and most supportive people you can meet. I’m honored to call him a friend and I learn something new every time he publishes a post.
He fully understands the power of community and building meaning relationships online. But what’s even better, is that when he connects with you – he does so because he’s genuinely interested in you and what you have to say. His rich cultural background, intelligent mind and life coaching skills will undoubtedly captivate you and make you want to get to know him better. And you definitely should if you don’t already! He’s an awesome storyteller who’s not afraid to speak his mind, and he always finds a way to relate his numerous entrepreneurial experiences to social media – all while generously promoting other bloggers within each post.
Needless to say that I could toot Falchetto’s horn for another 2 pages but I wouldn’t want you to start throwing virtual eggs at me. So, I’ll stop here and simply tell you to head over to his site and read as many of his posts as you can. Oh, and while you’re there, make sure to congratulate him as well as the team at Bonsai Interactive (meaning Lisa Kalandjian from Scene Steeler Graphics, Danny Brown and Troy Claus) for his newly designed and kick-ass looking blog. The headline alone should give you a decent idea of the type of international person to expect.
To get you started, here are 3 of his most recent posts:
[image credit: Mr. Awesome via Cafe Press]