Life is full of upheaval and change. Once you get set in a comfortable routine, things go and change on you. Here at the Steve Scott Site we are in for some shocking, amazing and perhaps even death defying changes.
Up shall be down. Black shall be White and Night shall be Day.
Ummm…
Okay, perhaps I overstated things. There are changes, but they are not dramatic, I am sorry to say. I have not invented cold fusion; or the cure for cancer. These changes are quite basic. In case you missed it, I am no longer posting daily. Posts shall be 3-4 times a week. One of the changes is that Sunday shall now be Saturday.
But Steve you say, “Saturday is Wapner… 10 minutes to Wapner.” It is Okay, Rainman, we can make this change work.
So on this balmy Saturday, I offer you the first ever…
Steve Scott’s Saturday Selections.
I can see it, you are awed, so let’s get to it…
Words are Weapons
Words are important things. They are like tiny little jewels. No two people are likely to state the same concept in exactly the same way. One interesting thing about reading is to see how different people can construct the same ideas. Guess what, I have an example, and the example itself has to do with the use of words. Cool huh?
When people look at a blog post or article the first thing that has to get their interest is the title. It is well known that titles are important to a computer. Titles can mean good SEO results or bad SEO results. Even more important they matter to the “human computer”. A title either piques your interest or it makes you say, “dull” and move on. Alex discusses this in an article on how to make headlines that sell. James discusses the same topic of how to write headlines. They both have distinct approaches. They are both quite funny while making their point. They both offer some real examples of the differences between “good” titles and the ones that are banged out by all those monkeys trying to create Shakespeare. Two different approaches, lots of different words and two great articles.
String enough words together and they become comments, like this one: “Steve, your semi-lucid ramblings have actually decreased my knowledge and caused me to trepan my head with a Mikita drill like they did in “Scanners”. I now have a hole in my head out of which my brains are now leaking. For the love of all that is good in the world, seal your blog in a canister and drop it into the deepest depths of the Mariana’s trench so that it is never again viewed by human eyes”
By now most of you know that active commenting is a great way to drive traffic to your blog. Hopefully with slightly more positive comments than the one above. Mark shows us some rules you can use to make your blog commenting a little bit more effective in increasing traffic.
Personally one of my favorite things for words is the long from. Books. Whether eBooks, Fiction, Non-fiction or whatnot, I love reading books. I find great enjoyment in doing this as well as learning things that hopefully keep me slightly ahead of the “power curve”. One of the things I like to promote is creating a lot of free ebooks as lead magnets. This quality free content not only helps people, but can help to make a name for you. (If you haven’t already, check out my free, Income Trilogy eBook)
Some people have an issue finding things to write about for their “eBook” or free report. They cannot think of an idea to “wrap it around” Fortunately Tristan rides in on his fancy white Destrier to save the day. –Okay….horse. The topic of “words” has manifested my sesquipedalian loquaciousness– Tristan gives us 31 Awesome eBook ideas. I never again want to hear, “I can’t think of what to write” as an excuse to not get started on a lead magnet or eBook.
While on the topic of eBooks and books, you may wonder at what interesting eBooks and books are out there to read. Fortunately Jami gives a list of 10 Books for Bloggers. You could possibly even read these all on an Amazon Kindle. If you do not have an Kindle (or a competitor eReader) and you read any significant amount of books, you should check out this article by Brankica about the Amazon Kindle.
As much as I love words, there is something very true about the statement, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Pictures do have the power to create a powerful reaction in people that almost no amount of writing can equal. Therefore pictures can be a powerful addition to your post. Adam shows us how to find pictures, size them and the general importance of using pictures on your blog post.
Blogging to the Nth Degree
What does blogging to the Nth Degree mean? I don’t quite know, but doesn’t it sound cool? In my mind it has something to do with taking things to the next level. Blogging in a way that is above and beyond the normal level. Thomas shows us a method of dominating your niche that could be viewed as such an extraordinary method of blogging.
Making money is something that most people want to know how to do with blogging. One of the first things people should know is that it is not easy. Making any real money blogging is only possible after a long hard road. It is never quick and never easy. Vijayraj gives some good lessons on how to make money blogging. One of the things I really like about this post is that he certainly makes no claim that it is easy or quick.
When it comes to making money blogging, affiliate marketing or just about any online method. I certainly know what I think the most effective method is. If you have been a reader of SSS for any significant amount of time, you probably know where I am going with this since I beat this drum repeatedly. Let’s see if you can say it first. One… Two…. Three…. List building. Yup, since the topic of making money has been broached, I must –it is in my contract- bring up list-building. I will not blather on further about it, but if you wish to see me blather about the single most important topic for earning you an online income, check out my interview with Devin.
Don’t believe me about list building, check out what Pat has to say on the subject, as well as his views on how to build a list.
The final note of the week is about posting frequency. Murray makes some good points about the way reasons that NOT posting daily may do more for your blog than daily posting. Having gone from daily posts to 3-4 times a week I am not sure how I feel. In the long run I am sure I agree. For the shorter term, I do think there is something to be said for a “newer” blog posting frequently to create a backlog of content. It often comes down to what you are able to handle and still post with quality.
For a final final note on blogging, I may-or-may not have a post this week for my Blogging Traffic Series. I am going to pause this series either this coming week (the 15th post) or the with the last one (the 14th). This will give all of you a chance to catch up on the series and work out some of the ways to implement what I have been teaching. I will come back to this series, It is just going on hiatus as I have some other things to fill that, “timeslot” for a few weeks.
For my United States readers I hope you all have a great Washington’s Birthday/Presidents Day. As for my international readers, the best I could come up with for the coming week is to wish you all a good, International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day. Enjoy your IDBAD!
Take Action. Get Results.
Hi Steve,
Selfishly, I am really enjoying these lists each Saturday. Lately I have been working way too much on my day job and have not had the time to really watch what is happening. Apparently, there is a ton.
Also, I really like how you wrapped all of these together in a way that is useful outside of just listing useful posts elsewhere – well done.
I have read a few of these, and thankfully have already read the one on blog commenting. 😉 But, there are two that really stand out as relevant to what I am doing today, so I am going to go read those now.
One last thing – do you think it is ok if American’s enjoy IDBAD too? Not trying to be greedy here, its just that I know a dog who loves a good biscuit.
Have a good day!
Thanks Mark,
Glad you like the post. I do try to do a little more than just “list” posts.
It is prefectly acceptable for people of all nationalities to like IDBAD. After all as you say a good buscuit is a hard find. (or is that, “a hard biscuit is a good find?”)
Steve:
I love that I can find new sources of information from you. I have read most of the posts above, but found some I had not heard of yet. I believe, that is why you are a rockstar! 🙂 Don;t fight it…just roll with it, er…rock n roll wit it!
Cheers,
Lisa
Thanks Lisa! I certainly will rock and roll with it!
Hey Steve, thanks for including my post here.
You know any time I come to your blog I stay too long 🙂 I keep finding some of your old posts I haven’t read and then I try to catch up, so I become aware of the time about 3 hrs later, lol.
Haha,
Glad you enjoyed a few of the older posts. Hopefully you keep finding some good ones, without taking up TOO much of your time.
The best part about receiving this list on a Saturday? I have all of Sunday to read through these posts!
There were a lot of great posts this week that you managed to wrap into this selection. I really have to recommend Brankica’s post about the Kindle, and Murray’s post was real good, too. Tristan’s list of ideas is already bookmarked for something to refer back to.
Nothing to celebrate on Sunday for us Canadians, but we get treated to the Heritage Classic hockey game in Calgary (outdoors) and we had Hockey Day in Canada last weekend.
Yeah, that is kinda my thinking. I wanted to set a posting schedule where there was always a day following a post to give people a chance to catch up.(except Wed. which will be jumped if I have a guest post or something to say thurs)
As for no holiday, isn’t Canada the 51st state (LOL….Just kidding)
Hi Steve
Glad youare doing a Saturday post as usually there isn’t much going on here then as far as blog posts being published. On saying that I published this Saturday (Brankica kept asking when I was next publishing as it was awhile lol) but will be going back to mid-week in a couple of weeks time.
I loved Murray’s post. Learn heaps over at his site every time I visit and he gets the star treatment on my blog this week. Even inspired my blog headline. After reading Alex’ and James’ posts thought it better be top notch 😉
Have read most of the posts you have recommended but a couple to visit so thanks for making it an interesting read Steve. And I like how you are giving us time to digest all the information you keep so generously sharing with us. Daily can be almost information overload for me, so no excuses to not put it all into practice.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia,
Hopefully the Saturday post will be a better time, rather than rushing it out before my (big) post which is monday. It gives people a little more time to actually check out the links… and like you said I think there is a little bit less going on for the weekends blogwise anyhow.
Hi Steve,
So it’s going to be Saturday Selections then! Along with the changes that are happening at your blog here, looks like there are going to be a number of changes that we as readers will need to make to our own mindset too!
Hope you had a great IDBAD too! 🙂
Cheers,
Mark
Mark,
I have a few other small tweaks in mind but hopefully the major changes are pretty much over. You can still read on Sunday if you want, since I will not have a post on Sunday anymore, so no changes needed. Is a great the way that works out. 🙂
But I still have to remember to call it Saturday Selections and not Sunday Selections. I don’t want to seem to be not paying attention, you see? 😉
Another great Selection!
I recently finished reading Income Trilogy – great book without any Fluffs (O: I sure did learn a lot from it and the segment about Helium is very informative.
Did read Murray’s, Alex’s and Tristan’s post. All 3 of them are a great read. Fixing to check out other links after this comment.
Really appreciate you including my guest post.
Thank you Steve!
Sure thing Adam! Glad to have your post and I am glad you enjoyed the “income Trilogy” book too. Thanks for the comment and have a great day!
You know how I stand on roundup posts (love em/hate em) haha but now it’s perfect Steve (gah, after having the chat … you know name name name…); because I’ve been so busy now that keeping up with my RSS is just too much so I think I’m going to start treating the sunday selection as my only source of what to catch up on from now on.
Do work Mon – Sat.
Catch up with the the web word on Sunday’s 😀
Annnyway, gonna take a look through everything when I got time but figure I’d leave something something.
Who’s ready to kick some ass this coming week?!
hah!
I knew I could turn you to the “dark side” on roundups! 🙂
I am certianly ready to get out there and kick some ass now….It is now MOnday and I am ready to bring it (it has already been broughten’)
Steve, thanks again for your time during the interview!
You’ve definitely given me renewed focus on list building, and you’ve even caused me to change up my strategy a bit! All good things, for sure.
I’ll definitely be looking forward to your future posts, regardless of frequency.
Thanks Devin, I was glad to do the interview. Thank you for having me and taking the time to do a great interview!
I think the best part of this post was the comment that someone left for you on another post. That’s pure gold right there. And if they are creative enough to write something quite hilarious like that then they can find somewhere else to go and troll.
Another great roundup for the weekend pointing me to ever more goodies I can read.
haha, I thought that was funny too. Since I wrote it. LOL I never said it was an example of a comment “I got” just an example of a “comment.” My attempt at sef-effacing humor I guess.
I think I would link a spam like that if I had found it, though, if someone took the time to be clever, it deserves to get published
Thanks for the mention, Steve!
You know, I like how your weekly wrap-up posts flow. They’ve got a story to them; it’s more than just a list. Very cool, man.
There are definitely a few that I missed here, so I’m off to read ’em. Thanks!
Steve this is off topic, but could you please give me (again) the link for ‘Think and Grow Rich’. I’ve lost the orginal message you sent, and I’ve finally decided to put an opt-in form on my blog.
Thanks a lot Steve.
John
Starting to get my act together in Leamington Spa, England
HMMMM quite a qaundry. I did not have that link saved. The 1937 version is public domain (but not on gutenberg) The link I had before was a “specific” use this version free link. I don’t have that now. Any ‘added’ material could be copyrighted. So you shouldn’t just grab, “any” copy. I found a website on google that has a copy, and makes a point in a legal disclaimer that it IS the original version. http://think-and-grow-rich-ebook.com/ check it out and download it, but make sure they did not ADD anything that would make it copy-writable by them first before you put it up. Chances are you could put it up as is with no worries. But it is not worth the hassle if it IS an issue.
Thanks for replying so quickly Steve. I found that website you mentioned, but they send it zipped up, so I’m now searching how to unzip it for free. I shall search through Google.
You’ve done enough work for me now Steve, I shall leave you alone and try and solve this myself. Thanks again for the suggestion. I found Think and Grow Rich on my bookshelves, and shall read it now.
John
Leamington Spa