Working for Writing

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I took part in the Leadership Ann Arbor program. This was a year-long monthly gathering of a group of 50+ people to learn more about the city we live in and to discover how we can act as leaders in our community. Our class graduated back in June of last year, but many of us have chosen to continue to meet to share the ups and downs of our lives and to find ways to help each other out.

My good friend, Angela De Smet, is one of many cool people whom I met through Leadership. She really took the idea of leadership to heart. She serves as the Treasurer for 826michigan, an organization dedicated to supporting kids in developing their writing skills. As a writer myself, I applaud their efforts. After all, writing is the basis of all wealth.

Right now, 826michigan is working on a couple of fund-raising efforts. The first is an online auction. It's pretty straight-forward. They are asking members of the community to donate items which will be auctioned off. They will be accepting donations through May 20 with the auction closing down on May 28. Their site has more details.

The other event is kind of odd, fun, and intriguing. They are having a Mustache-A-Thon. They are looking for people who are willing to be a mustache farmer from March 24 through April 28. They'll take pictures each week and folks are supposed to donate to support their favorite 'stache. It will be interesting to see how this one goes. If you are interested in joining in the fun, be sure to check out the details over at 826michigan. They even mentioned something about "free beer".

So, what's the oddest thing you've done for charity?

Freelancing Advice

I sent out volume 2, issue 4 of the "Clearing up the Confusion" e-zine today. This one focused on some of the new blogs that I've been following lately. In particular, I've become quite attached to The Freelance Switch. Here's what I wrote in the e-zine:

For those of us who are off running our own businesses, this is a great resource. It has "how to" articles, advice, links to a podcast, and even its own comic strip, "Freelance Freedom". This blog and its associated website are clearinghouses of great information. I think I've found at least one useful take-away idea every time I've visited. I also love their podcasts for those times when I'm not able to sit down in front of the computer. I can get in a little education while I'm shoveling the driveway.

If you'd like to read about more of the blogs that I recommend, check out the latest issue of the e-zine. You can read other issues in the archive, or you might even consider getting a subscription.

So, what blogs are you following lately?

Why Do You Blog?

So, I spent some time with my good friend Len Niehoff on Monday helping him set up his first blog, "Falling Off The Horse". His goal was to use it as a distribution mechanism for sermons that he had given at his church. Just to be clear, he is a lawyer, not a priest, but if you read the introduction to his blog, I'm sure you will agree that the members of his church could do worse than to give him their fullest attention.

This led me to musing today about the nature of blogs and why we write in them. What motivates me to write here every day? What am I trying to say? Seth Godin conveys his insights and riffs about modern marketing. My buddy, Scott Ginsberg (who celebrates his birthday today -- Happy Birthday, Scott!) writes about approachability in all of its forms. My dear friend, Larc Bogdan, connects by telling stories of teaching and raising her little girl. Her husband, Al, writes about writing and creativity. My mom, Debby Peters, writes about networking.

I think what it all goes back to is our never-ending attempt to make connections and be heard, whether we have a specific topic or not -- our voice in the wilderness seeking companionship and those of like minds to share our campfire.

So, if you write a blog (or if you were to write a blog) about what do you (or would you) write?

Talkin' Trackbacks, Part 4: One More Tool

I mentioned yesterday that I had a better tool to do outgoing trackbacks. It will only work, though, for people who are using Blogger and are using Firefox (and why would you be using any other browser??).

The tool is a script written by Stephen Weber of Singpolyma. It uses the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox. OK, I'm sure I saw some eyes glazing over out there, so if you would like to try this excellent tool, just do the following:

1. First check to make sure that you are running Firefox. If you are running Internet Explorer, you can't use this tool. See yesterday's post about Haloscan
   
2. Install Greasemonkey. Go to the Firefox add-on site, and click on the "Install Now" link. If it pops up any dialogs, just click "OK" or "Yes" or "Allow" or whatever you need to to make things continue running. At the end of this step you may need to restart Firefox. After you do, come back here for the remainder of the step. Remember this is the Jan 28, 2008 posting in the "Clearing up the Confusion" blog. I'll wait while you do this.
3. OK, still waiting.
4. Huh, he must have gone off to get a sandwich or something. Oh, well, for those of you who returned, now you just need to install the script.
5. Go to Stephen's blog. Be patient. his blog seems to be a bit slow to load.
6. Click on the "Install the new script" link. Again, click on the "OK"/"Yes"/"Allow" buttons.
7. I don't think you have to restart Firefox again, but feel free to do so if it makes you feel better.

Now whenever you go to post a new entry on your blog, you will see a new entry field right under the title of the post. When you want to do a trackback, you just paste the trackback URL into that spot. When you publish the entry, the trackback engine will do its thing without any further intervention from you.

Oh, the first time you try a trackback with this tool, it will ask you for your del.icio.us ID. If you have one, feel free to enter it. It will give you a one-click link to post your new entry on the social bookmarking site, del.icio.us. Or hit "cancel" and it should stop pestering you about it.

Well, I hope these last few posts have gotten you excited about the possibilities for using trackbacks with your blog. If you do decide to give it a try, let me know what you think and whether it was worth the trouble.

So, have you tried out any of the other add-ons for Firefox?

Talkin' Trackbacks, Part 3: The Tools

So, if you read through parts one and two of this series, you might be getting pretty excited about exploring the world of trackbacks. If you are blogging using WordPress or MovableType, then you are in luck as the trackback facility is already available to you. You might have to go into your blog settings to enable it, but otherwise, you're golden.

But what about the rest of us? Many of us are using Blogger, one of the most popular blogging systems available and it doesn't support trackbacks natively (it has a feature called "backlinks" which is similar, but as I've mentioned before, I haven't noticed too many other people using it and it is only available to other Blogger users). Still, if you look at the bottom of this post, you'll see that I do have a trackback link. How is that possible?

In a word: Haloscan

Haloscan is a service which manages comments and trackbacks for blogs which don't have those features natively. The basic service is free (though it does include advertising), but for only $12, you can get their premium service which is ad-free.

Sign-up is easy. The form doesn't even really request that much information from you. The installation process can be a little daunting if you aren't comfortable editing HTML, but if you follow the instructions for your blogging platform you shouldn't have too much trouble. If all else fails, your friendly neighborhood web developer should have no problem getting things set up for you. In fact, for those of us using Blogger, they have an automatic installation took (just be sure to back up your settings before you try anything like this).

Haloscan give you support for both incoming and outgoing trackbacks. I use it for only the former. The latter is a bit too clunky for me. In order to send the "ping", you have to locate all of the information required (the title, permalink, excerpt, etc) and then fill in a form on the Haloscan site. I much prefer that all of this information be collected for me automatically.

I have a few other minor complaints about Haloscan. First, it is a bit slow. I did a test trackback on one of my older posts and it took almost an hour before it appeared on my site. Update: This seems to be a lot faster now. Perhaps my first test was during a bad time.

Second, the trackback listings aren't incorporated directly into the site. If you click on the trackback link below, it pops up a separate window with the listings (a window over which you have no real control regarding its look and feel). Finally, Haloscan doesn't seem to have any sort of moderation for trackbacks (though it does for comments). This means that anyone can automatically create a link to their site from yours. Of course, you can just delete anything which you don't want included, but if you are someone who likes to have control from the beginning, this might be a show-stopper.

Despite these problems, if this is the only way you have to send and receive a trackback ping, it's a long sight better than nothing. And until Blogger decides to support the trackback protocols natively (chances are somewhere between slim and none), your other choice is nothing.

Tomorrow I'll do a quick piece on a better tool for some of us.

So, are their any blogs you read on a regular basis which support trackback? Which ones?

Talkin' Trackbacks, Part 2: How

OK, so after reading the first post in this series, you might be mildly interested in this whole trackback thing -- especially if you are a blogger who would like to increase his readership. I can hear you thinking, though, "How does this all work? If it's too difficult, I'm not going to do it."

Fair enough. I'll tell you, though, that if you have the wherewithal to actually post in your blog on a regular basis, then doing a trackback should be a breeze.

Warning: Technical Content

Now, some of this is going to be dependent on which blogging software you use, but, in general this is how the procedure works. By the way, if you'd like to see a good example of a "tackback-able" blog, check out Seth Godin's. His was the first one to which I sent a trackback ping (which resulted in the first day that my readership exceeded twenty readers for the day).

So, here are the steps:

1. Read a blog post on a blog where you have an interest, whether it be "new marketing" or "knitting sweaters for weasels".
2. Discover that you have something important to say on the subject. This is actually a pretty important step. Remember that the response you are crafting will be a post on your own blog (What? You don't have a blog? What are you waiting for?). Also, many authors moderate their trackbacks, so if they don't think what you are saying is worthy of a reverse link, they don't have to include you.
3. Find the "trackback URL" for the original post. Usually, when you click on a trackback link for a post, there will be a short message that looks something like: Trackback URL for this entry: http://haloscan.com/tb/kaymbre/375279646963837696 -- remember where this is.
4. Write your post -- Of course, using your normal amazing powers of prose.
5. Paste in the trackback URL. This is the one area where you might have to do a little research, but there should be an entry field for this information. You are in especially good shape if you use one of the blogging packages which supports trackbacks natively, such as MovableType or WordPress (What? You use Blogger, like I do? Tune in tomorrow for how we can take part in the fun!).
6. Publish your post. Yep, click on the "submit" or "Publish" or "Make it so" button -- whichever gets things going for your blog.
7. Let the trackback facility do its thing. What happens next is your blogging software sends out a "ping" to the blogging software for the original post -- sort of a computerized "hello". It sends along some other information, like who you are, the title of your post, the URL for your post, and a short excerpt of your literary masterpiece. The system on the other end takes that information and either puts it on the trackback page or queues it up for approval by the original blogger.

And that's pretty much how it works. Essentially, it's just a couple of extra steps for you (copy trackback URL, paste trackback URL) and you've got a great new way to carry on a conversation and make more people aware of your blog.

What's that I hear? You're all excited about using trackbacks, but your blogging software doesn't support them? Tune in tomorrow (and the next day, probably) to find out what else you can do.

So, what do you think, would you be willing to try trackbacks?

Talkin' Trackbacks, Part 1: What and Why

One of the exciting aspects of blogging is the ability to interact with your readers. There's something about the rich interplay of ideas and opinions which really fuels the creative process -- even when they tell you that you're being stupid. Also, let's face it, someone commenting on your post means that they probably read it, and we all like to know that we're communicating with somebody.

Most readers interact with the blogger through the comment feature. They click on the "comment" link, enter their well-thought-out response and go on their merry way. This is great as far as it goes, but, if you look to the bottom of this post, right next to the "comments" link, there's a link to a better way.

It's called a trackback.

What?

I've written about this before, but the trackback facility is a wonderful way, as my hero Scott Ginsberg would say, for bloggers to share "link love". The basic idea is similar to making comments, but instead of the reader leaving her message with me, she would write her commentary as a post in her own blog. Then the trackback facility would create a link between the two posts. Instant "link love!"

OK, Why?

Why would I, as a blogger, allow someone to link to my blog posts like this? Isn't the trackbacker basically trying to steal my readers?

Well, no, not really.

In fact, in order to make the "conversation" make sense, the trackbacker almost has to create a link back to my post. So, while she might increase her readership through gaining exposure to my readership, the reverse is also true, so I might get a slight bump in mine.

Amazing. We both win!

You can even make the argument that people are going to be more thoughtful and thought-provoking in their own blogs than they would in the regular comments section on a post. In fact, some bloggers, like Seth Godin, don't even allow comments on their blogs. They only have trackbacks.

Depending on the level of experience you've had with blogging in general, and the facility of trackbacking in particular, you might be intrigued, confused, or simply bored. I'm not sure I can do much with the latter, but we'll be taking a closer look at the details of trackbacks over the next couple of days in hopes of satisfying the former.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at how this whole trackback thing works.

So, what's your experience been with the trackback facility?

The Subtle Dangers of Jargon

Today in sales training we were talking about jargon and how it is a Bad Thing to use it. The primary problem, of course, is that you aren't guaranteed that the person with whom you are speaking will know what you are talking about. This makes them feel not OK. When you make someone feel not OK they tend to want to get away from you as soon as possible -- which makes it very difficult to determine if they are interested and qualified to buy from you.

Working with my partner in class, we were bringing up various terms in our businesses which might cause consternation in a listener. We realized that there was another danger. Not only could we hit upon a term which the listener didn't know, worse would be a term that the listener thought he knew. One example of this was the phrase "Web 2.0". Even amongst different people in the tech business, you can find different meanings for this term.

In group discussion later, I brought up the term and talked about our findings. Then one of the other students pointed out a completely different issue. For the most part, people in the world of the Web recognize Web 2.0 as the next generation of the Web, with emphasis on the social aspects of making connections using the Web.

This person commented that he always thought that Web 2.0 meant that a site was really old and not yet perfected. Curious, I asked him why he would think that. He told me that "2.0" is a pretty low number. Internet Explorer is on Version 7 after all, so that must make Web 2.0 pretty old.

Huh, I guess I never thought of it that way.

How have people either in or out of your field misinterpreted common jargon phrases that you commonly use?

Unexpected Free Stuff

Maybe it's a holdover from my starving graduate student days at U of M, but I still love free stuff. I especially love free stuff when I don't expect it.

Yesterday, when I got home from one of several networking events for the day, I found a package, addressed to me, sitting on the counter. Now, with the baby coming, most packages that come to the house are addressed to my lovely wife, Elizabeth, so this was a doubly pleasant surprise.

Yes, I know I'm supposed to be mature by now, but sometimes I'm just not. So, nyaah!

I opened it up and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a nice, large mug and a packet of coffee courtesy of EzineArticles.

Very cool!

Will I be recommending that people write articles for EA? Well, I would have done that anyway, but now I've got a cool story to add to the recommendation.

Which reminds me: It's about time I sent in a new article or two.

So, what was the last cool free gift that you received?

Write Anything

One of my heroes, Scott Ginsberg, has a lot to say about writing. In his view, "writing is the basis of all wealth". I can see his argument, but to some folks, the idea of writing just seems impossible.

In talking with people about their web presence, I often recommend that they start a blog and write in it regularly or even write an article or two for a newsletter or e-zine. To which they laugh and protest, "but what would I write about?"

I think if they stopped for a moment or two, they could come up with a year's worth of articles without too much of a stretch.

Write about:

• ... your job or business. You could probably come up with fifteen things about your business which would surprise and inform and audience. I don't care if you think your business is patently obvious to everyone, there are aspects of it which are complete mysteries to those outside.
• ... doing your job or running your business. What are some of the challenges you faced today? Change the names to protect the guilty, but you might inspire others with your solutions to the common problems we all face.
• ... your passions. What hobbies or pastimes have your attention? What books do you read? What movies do you see? What were the difficulties with the last quilt you made?
• ... your travels. If you are out on the road a lot, what recommendations would you have for the rest of us? What's the best Indian restaurant in Toronto? Which tour would you recommend to see whales in Hawaii?
• ... the random thoughts you have throughout the day. Some of the best bloggers write about the signs they see and how they think it reflects on aspects of customer service. And it's interesting!

There are a variety of reasons to write, but for me, at the end of the day, it becomes a record of my thoughts and actions, my fears and beliefs. It's the living record of my life.

And if it isn't written down, it never happened.

So, what was the last thing you wrote?

15 Minutes

I haven't been writing much recently. I think part of the problem is that I can't seem to write a short entry. I end up writing paragraph upon paragraph and searching for just the write graphic. Before I know it, I've invested an hour or two into writing a single post.

So, I think this has to change. I'm going to try to write a few posts in only 15 minutes. I'm hoping that they will be short, to the point, and will encourage me to tighten up my writing.

For tonight, I'm just going to include a video of my most recent Black Belt exam. This one was a tonfa form (think of a police night stick).



In the martial arts, as with most human pursuits, a practitioner has a variety of specializations upon which he can focus. To be truly memorable, though, he must choose one upon which he will lavish his attention. Many years ago, I started my training in martial art weapons (Kobudo). As a result of that focus, I'm now the primary weapons instructor at the school I attend.

Similarly, I've had to focus my business. I could have tried to become an "everything for everyone" web development business, but I've found that I am happier and more memorable as a back end web programmer.

So, how do you specialize?

On Articles and Weapons

Today I taught my first martial arts weapons class. Our Karate school recently implemented a program where black belts are to declare a "major". Once a month they attend a class focusing on that subject. I'm in charge of the weapons classes.

I also recently uploaded a new article to EzineArticles.com. My goal is to upload at least one new article a week. This one was about using creativity to renew your enthusiasm for networking. According to the response message I got, my new Platinum status should mean that the article will be reviewed and available to the public within two business days.

So, what to the two situations have to do with each other?

Really, it comes down to the benefits of sharing. In both cases the immediate goal is to help others by conveying information and/or ideas. The indirect benefit, though, is that my own skills improve as a result of the sharing. In the case of teaching about martial arts weapons, my students ask questions which I wouldn't have considered previously. With writing the article, the very act of putting my ideas down on paper made me think them through and examine them a little more closely to make sure that they held water.

So, the next time you go out to share with others, just remember that you'll be getting an awful lot in return.

So, what was the best return you've ever received on a "teaching investment"?

Writing News and Taking a Break

Just a couple of quick announcements:

1. I just got an email in my inbox today, letting me know that I had been upgraded to "Platinum" status on EzineArticles.com. The way this works is that you have to submit ten articles as a "Basic" member and have them approved. At that point you can request to become a Platinum member. The benefits are that you can submit an unlimited number of articles and you will supposedly get priority approval on any new articles. As a Basic member you are limited to only ten articles and the response time on approval for me, at least was between six and eight days.

I'll let you know if the approval time is any faster for me now.

2. I'm on vacation this weekend. Lisa and I are up in Toronto to see Cirque du Soleil -- something we do every other year or so. As such, my posts might be a bit sporadic until I get back.

Until then, have a great weekend. I know I will!

So, where did you go on your last vacation?

Helium Follow-Up

OK, after my initial foray into the world of Helium -- an online repository for writers and publishers of articles -- I must say that I am intrigued. I'm still not entirely happy with the site, given its somewhat limited editing capabilities. Perhaps that will be addressed in the future.

What I do like is the community rating system.

When I submitted my article the other night, it was to a topic which had nine other articles already under it's rubric. At the time, I was rated 6 out of 10. Apparently it gave me the benefit of the doubt that I was in the middle of the pack as far as writing quality. The site then presents pairs of articles to those who volunteer to rate them. Each person is asked to read both articles and indicate which they think is better. Obviously, the one which is deemed to be superior rises in rank, while the lesser article drops lower.

The system presents articles from random titles, so an author can't go in and easily game the system to push their own article higher.

When I checked back today, my article had risen to 2 of 10 (not bad!). Out of curiosity, I checked out some of the articles to see to what kind of quality I was being compared. The article at #1, was quite well written. It was short and succinct and its author used a list structure which made everything quite clear and readable. I certainly didn't mind coming in second to that.

Then I looked at the lower end of the range. For every good quality that #1 possessed, #10 seemed to decide to do the opposite. It was long, unfocused and rambling. The author chose to use poor grammar and "creative" spelling. Where the first was authoritative, the last was amateurish. In checking with the other pieces, each seemed to be positioned about where I would expect them if I were to try to arrange them myself.

I guess the upshot for me is that Helium is not only yet another article submission site, but it also acts as a fairly impartial judge of ones writing style in the marketplace of ideas.

So, have you checked out any article submission sites?

Writing for Fun

I've written a few posts here about writing. Blog posts, ezines, articles for newsletters and for EzineArticles.com -- all venues which I've sought out to practice this craft.

Today I was finishing up my ninth article for EzineArticles (one more and I'll have to wait until they upgrade my account). As I was writing I suddenly realized something -- something that as an indifferent student of the non-sciences horrified me to the core.

I love to write.

I know, I know. It was hard for me to come to grips with the whole thing myself, but there it is. I guess my only choices are to enter some sort of twelve step program or to keep on doing it.

OK, there doesn't seem to be a chapter of writers anonymous in this area so I guess I'll just keep on writing. After all, as my hero, Scott Ginsberg always says, "Writing is the basis of all wealth."

So, how did you get bitten by the writing bug?

Writing a Name for Yourself

I finally got around to submitting some articles on EzineArticles.com.

For those who are unfamiliar with the service, it provides a repository where authors can upload articles which can then be used by anyone to provide content to ezines, print publications, and even websites. While the authors don't get paid for their work, they do get to claim two benefits from the association. First, by being published by others, they become known as experts. Second, part of the publishing agreement includes printing the author bio, which, in addition to the basic author description, can also include links back to the author's website.

The process is pretty straightforward. First, of course, I had to register for an account. This is the same process I've had to go through on dozens of other sites. There is no charge to join as an author, so this didn't slow me down much at all.

Once I had registered, I went to submit my first article. I've written numerous articles in the past, both for my ezine and for other publications. They needed to be retooled for a general audience, but that wasn't too difficult. I filled out the appropriate fields, and with a click it was off to the EzineArticles editorial staff.

Should you decide to investigate the possibilities, here are some things to consider that will make your adventure a little easier than mine:

1. Read the editorial FAQ. This will speed up the submission process tremendously, It's well-written and clear, so you have no excuse not to obey their rules.
2. Before you start submitting, first fill out your profile, including uploading a photo, if you so desire.
3. Write up your author bio. If you already have one ready before you start your first article, the submission process goes a lot faster.
4. Check out the list of categories and subcategories so that you have a good idea where your article belongs. Be sure to read their requirements regarding where things should be categorized. You may disagree with them, but irritating the editorial staff (who will be the ones giving the final yea or nay) probably isn't your best course of action.
5. Read over the article three or more times and do the preview with the spell-checker on. If you have to, read it out loud to make sure the words are saying what you think they are. No one will want to read your masterpiece if it is full of typos and grammatical mistakes.
6. Find a good keyword generator. One of the fields you must fill out for submission is a list of keywords to help people find your articles.
   

As of this writing, I've now submitted six articles, mostly about networking. So far two of them have been approved (it takes about a week or so for each article). Right now I'm a "Basic" member. After you've had ten articles approved, they consider you for Platinum status. From what I understand, that means that your articles pass muster and they give you a higher priority when it comes to approving your pieces.

I just checked and the two articles which have been approved have been viewed 4 or 5 times each. I'll let you know if anyone actually decides to publish my work.

So, do you have articles on EzinArticles.com or one of its competitors?

Facebook and the Newest Ezine Issue

By the time you read this I will have sent out my most recent ezine issue. That's number 12 for those who are counting. This time I wrote a bit about my first experiences with Facebook and how I intend to use it for our Leadership Ann Arbor Roundtable group.

If you are interested in reading any of the issues, or would like to subscribe to the ezine, you can do so on the Cyber Data Solutions website.

Writing Some More

According to Tom Stanley in "Networking with Millionaires", talkers are hawkers, but writers are experts. I don't know about that, but I seem to be doing a lot of writing lately. Of course, I post in my blog five or six days a week. I also write articles for the CNP of Ohio monthly newsletter, for my own e-zine, and I just finished writing an article for the Chamber's Business to Business section in the Ann Arbor Review.

You know what? Thus far it hasn't gotten any easier. There's something about being confronted by that blank page that really freezes me in my tracks. I keep hoping that with continued practice, the ideas will flow faster and more clearly.

Maybe.

I'll let you know if it happens.

So, what writing have you done recently?

Defeating the Demons of Doubt

I'm working on an article for the April 2007 B2B section of the Ann Arbor Business Review,
so I've been spending some time in research. I'm thinking of writing the article about tools to help small businesses publish ezines with a particular focus on the benefits of services such as ezinearticles.com. As my research continued, though, I discovered more and more about which I could write, more and more about which I knew nothing, more and more articles which already said what I wanted to say. And then they had me.

The Demons of Doubt smelled my fear.

What if I'm not good enough? What if I can't think of anything new? What if my writing stinks? What if I fail?

Once you've started down this path, grave danger will haunt your every step. Before you know it you will begin to question every decision you've made. Left unchecked, you find yourself curled into a little ball and gibbering quietly -- unwilling to take any chances or risks at all.

So, how do you send these foul spirits back to the abyss from which they sprang? I've come up with a few ideas:

1. Reflect on my successes. Have I done one or two things that were difficult in my life? Sure! Heck, just thinking back to training for my first Black Belt is enough to make my muscles ache. If I can do that, I can do just about anything.
2. Practice. A year ago, I would never have been able to handle this article. Since that time, though, I've written over 100 blog posts and probably ten or so newsletter articles. I know that I've grown as an author and my "voice" has developed with this practice.
3. Trust in others. This opportunity didn't just arrive on a silver platter. I had to earn it by submitting a sample article. My writing style has already passed muster.
4. Trust in myself. Maybe this information is out there for anyone to read, but my words and my take on things are not. I have my own value to add, even, if nothing else, it is only in the presentation of the information in a clear and understandable way.
5. Know your customers. If you know more than your customers about what you do, then you are an expert. You don't have to know more than your competition. You just have to be the first to share what you know with your customers.

Hey, where'd the Demons go? Must be they got tired of me not listening to them and took their ball and bat and went home.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I use the same tricks when I begin to doubt myself about my business, too!

So, how do you keep the Demons of Doubt at bay?

Recording Your Life, Redux

Last month I posted an entry about writing in a journal. I had just started a new journal, this one purchased on a trip to Italy with my wife. It's a nice journal. The pages open wide, the paper is smooth, and it has that feeling of elegance that almost inspires me to be truly profound. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little on that last one.

Since that time, I've had a few new insights into the nature of journaling and the reasons that one might keep a journal and thought I would share a few with you.

I asked you, at the end of that post to comment and let me know how you keep your journal, whether it be fountain pen and parchment or crayon and construction paper. Now, since there are only a few of you reading my blog right now, I wasn't too surprised when I didn't get any response. Don't worry, you didn't hurt my feelings. ;-) Anyway, shortly afterward, I was having a networking lunch with Aimee VonBoken, the artist and web designer who is in charge of Vee Bee Studios. She showed me her diary. Each page had one or more watercolor pictures on it with very little text. Despite the lack of text, though, each page told the story of the ideas and events that she wished to convey.

For many of us, these online venues are journals, too. Now, maybe we don't put our deepest, darkest secrets here (though I'm sure there are a few out there), but we often do capture the errant thoughts, concepts, and themes which inform our lives. Chuck Rozanski, the president of Mile-High Comics sends out a newsletter twice a week which include not only the most recent deep discount comics specials, but also snippets of his day-to-day life. I've never met the man, but I feel like he and his family are dear friends. I look forward to hearing about the seasons of planting and harvest on their organic farm and his search for Native American pottery to add to his collection. I've heard that some criticize him for including this personal information, wanting only their comics news. A vast majority of us, however, love that personal touch which, in this sometimes cold and impersonal world of technology, makes us want to read every word of these letters from a friend whom we may never have met.

So why do you journal? Is it to record your ideas and feelings? Do you write about the goals you have for your life -- your dreams and desires? Do you use your journal to work through problems or difficult times in your life? Or is your journal a way to make contact with others?

Could it be a little of all of these? Let me know what you think.