Archive for August, 2006
Although I work with several clients who have blogs, this is my first serious (read: business) blog. Sort of like having kids… you can be around them and think you know what it’s all about, but until you actually have kids, you really don’t have a clue.
Anyway, a question that’s often asked is "how long does it take to get picked up by the search engines?" And until now, I would preface my answer with… "my clients…" or "research shows…"
But now I know! Two days. Yep, two days is how long it took before someone I didn’t know stumbled across my blog while she was "seeing what’s out there." And she wrote to tell me about it. Not only did she comment on one of my posts, she indicated she’s interested in finding out more about my services. How cool is that?!
(I love hearing from you! Please post a comment or click the Email Me link under my picture.)
The History Channel is airing a series on How to Make a Name For Yourself. Tonight’s show featured Richard Branson, someone I’ve been fascinated with for some time.
However, interspersed in the Richard Branson story were interview sound bites from other entrepreneurs - namely Bobbi Brown, of cosmetics fame.
She has a list of 10 "Rules" that she lives by and encourages her employees to live by as well.
First on the list is Be Nice.
Common sense, yes? But how many times in the business world do we run into people who are not nice? On a day-to-day basis, there are clients, colleagues and co-workers who are not always nice.
We all have bad days from time to time, but on the whole, do you strive to be nice? And more telling, how do you respond when someone else isn’t nice to you?
I had long dreamed of being able to ‘work at home’ and be available to my kids. It involved a lot of trial and error, had numerous fits and starts, but now I’m among the 7 million self-employed people (US) who work at home.
And I love it.
I attended a teleconference yesterday by Rich Schefren and at one point, his young daughter came into the room and interrupted the call for just a moment. He spoke with her, asked for a kiss and she went merrily on her way. The interaction might have lasted 20 seconds.
And in my mind, that’s what it’s all about.
I work at home - the dog barks, FedEx makes deliveries, the kids and their friends are in and out, I cook and do laundry. I live The Internet Life.
After thinking, ruminating, debating and desperately trying to talk myself out of it, here I am.
I like to start new ventures with some sort of plan - even if only half-baked! If you’re thinking of taking the blogging plunge, certainly you’ll want to get noticed by the search engines - so you’ll get noticed by others.
Here’s what I’m going to do…
1. Obviously, I set up a blog
2. Set up accounts with Sitemeter and Feedblitz
3. Add RSS chicklets
4. Ping the blog engines when I post
5. Set up an opt-in (this might come later, when I have something to offer)
6. And make posts!
It’s tough looking at a blank screen and trying to figure out what to say - so I’ve been making notes on possible topics for several days now.
How do you decide what to talk about?
