Happy Sunday morning to you all. I hope you are all doing well. I know I am. I am now getting ready to head back home to the United States after my 7 month tour of Europe. It has been a blast but I am ready for some time back home. I have some big plans for things coming up I want to really get into. Let’s jump right in with some picks.
Sunday Social Media Selections
Social Media is an important part of marketing a blog. There can be no doubt about that. There is always something to learn in these categories to make your blog better. Kim brings up a topic that I have seen on quite a few sites and I think is a VERY important and easy fix. Having a Twitter share button that does not provide a @ link back to the user. She gives reasons why this is so important as well as clear and easy directions to fix it from just about any platform.
Next up Evelyn gives us an article about the importance of Stumbleupon and ways to make it work for you.
Finally Barbara gives us some great icons you could choose to use instead of the normal (boring) social media icons. If you want to Laugh you ass off and see some kick-ass icons, this is a must see.
Interesting Reading Facts
My father sent me this clip just the other day. I had seen it a while back, but it really says a lot about the way people read:
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe
To go along with that clip there is an article by Corbett that discusses a similar concept: the importance of making your posts more scannable.
Of course all of this simplification brings to mind one of the funniest movies ever: Idiocracy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSROlfR7WTo
Personal Development
The Teacher and Student. The relationship has been around since a long time. In fact it was even around a long LONG time ago in a Galaxy far far away. Where Luke found both Obi Wan and then Yoda to be his teacher. Karen gives us some great lessons on whether YOU are ready to learn or teach.
Lessons don’t always come from the “good” guys. Sometimes you can learn just as much, or even more by seeing the failures of the bad guys. Check out what the Vizier has to say about the mistakes of Dracula.
Failure is a tough thing to overcome. Many people are scare of failure without real reason. Jimi gives us a look at the fear of failure.
Blogging
Murray starts off our topic on blogging with one of his, “in your face” articles on the Myths of Blogging.
Next up we have Adam. Adam goes into an article about core audience and brand. A lot of this post has to do with guest posting and is a response to part of Murrays blog above.
If you have read this blog for any length of time it is likely you will have seen me go on and on about the importance and power of building a list. I really can’t say enough about it. I think it is that important. Thu gives us an article about quality content. But quality content with the goal of list building.
Finally, Mike give us some downloads. No opt in even required. They are a collection of templates that every blog owner should use… or have something similar of their own. Definitely worth a look. If you keep your research on napkins and loose pieces of paper, you had better be downloading too.
Some Popular Blogs Speak
Maybe you have noticed I tend not to link out to the really popular blogs too often in my selections. Generally I think they get enough attention and chances are many people have read the articles anyhow. This week I have to make two exceptions for two really good posts from two pretty well known bloggers that were awesome.
First up is the Salty Droid (Bleep Bloop). One thing I detest with a true passion is the sleazy scammer guru type. I am a pretty mellow guy, but I would like to boil these guys in oil. The Salty Droid sends out some birthday wishes to one of these jerks.
The next one is really different. Chris Guillebeau is one of my favorite writers. He runs a great blog. Chris breaks down what he would do if he were to start over today. It really makes a good template for what you should do starting out.
Well that is it soon enough I will be on a plane headed back to the beautiful Garden State. I hope you all have a great Sunday.
Take Action. Get Results.
I read Corbett’s article about writing scannable posts, great stuff!
Thanks for sharing the list of powerful resources list. Digesting them now.
Have a safe flight and oh yeah, bring your ear muffs. Kinda chilly out there:)
Ryan
Yeah! Corbett’s article is really a great one!
Hi Steve:
Great Sunday selection again. Thanks for sharing. I will have to read al the blogs latest posts, as I like reading and reading already rated great material is even better.
List building from blog is very hard, as bloggers all of them are one networking group, and when you make them subscriber….I do not know …I have to have a reason to put those together which I am not finding.. in my logic.
FranA
I think i know what you mean. Other bloggers are only sort of your target for your list. I think most of the bloggers here are pretty experience and likely know more than 80% of what I say. There are a lot of people that do not comment though that have a lot less experience and may find you lacking any knowledge. This are the ones I think of a lot. Hopefully there are a ton of good tidbits for more experienced bloggers too. but they are a harder sell for list building.
Hey Steve, thanks for the roundup but more importantly – hope your trip back is safe and sound – hoping you’ll be pulling a lot of that experience into new posts over the next few weeks or so – I think a few of us fellow bloggers are beginning to look more deeply at the idea of location independence and who else to learn it from than good ol’ Steve 😀
Thanks I appreciate the thoughts for my safety. Transatlantic flights are always a little worrisome. Not very many places to have an emergency landing is something goes wrong.
I definitely have some ideas for articles that should be good for you. Hopefully out well before the new year and your trip.
Hey Scott,
Has it really been 7 months of travelling already? Wow, times sure goes by when you’re having fun, eh? I can’t wait to see what you have in store when you have more time on your hands. I’m sure that it will be awesome.
Thanks for the mention and I’m glad that you enjoyed reading my latest article. I love these Sunday Selections (they’re getting big!) because you have provided such a wide-variety of articles that are sure to please everyone 🙂
Thanks,
Karen
Thanks Karen, time really did fly by. I am definitely ready to be back. At one point I was thinking of 8 months…coming back in early Dec, but decided as great as it was…too much was too much. I look forward to being more productive and more importantly waking up in the same place every day for a bit.
I am Glad you like the sunday selections Karen. I have been trying to mix it up and keep it a little fresh each week. Not just link to the same revolving 20 blogs. (though i certainly do have favorites)
Hi Steve,
thanks for the mention in this craftily assembled article. Has a great flow to it. 🙂
That video is hilarious, btw.
So you’re heading for home after a 7 month journey. I’m sure you can hardly wait to get there. Be safe in the remainder of your travels and we’ll be looking out for some of those great life’s lessons you had to have experienced.
Thanks again and we’ll catch up soon.
Oh, forgot to mention. I have missed quite a few of these nice articles so I have some reading and catching up to do. These roundups are a great way to share and build relationships.
Hi Steve,
It’s always great to read your Sunday Selections.
I love your sections on Social Media and Blogging because these topics are important to me and I could always use tips on how to make my website better.
I always learn a lot from the topics you pick. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Steve,
I knew about the word scanning reading technique for some time, I was surprised to be able to read gibberish like words the first time I’ve seen it.
The video was way cool, we need a natural predator or something so we can evolve :)), twitter vampire birdie anyone ?
Oh, and I am now reading some of the posts you recommended from the last week! Great stuff.
LOL, yea I was really surprised how easy it was to read that complete gibberish too. You should check out that whole movie when you get a chance. It is really funny and way under appreciated, IMO thanks for the comments
Great roundup, Steve. I try to read a lot of stuff, but one person can only get so far on the web, you know? Thanks for filling in the gaps for me!
Thanks for mentioning my site! Apparently lots of comments have been eaten by Akismet in my blog, so I’m now patiently going through them (hence my delay). My apologies!