Tag Archives: Fortune Cookie

Blogging

You Will Soon be Crossing the Great Waters

You Will Soon be Crossing the Great Waters

Today I opened my fortune cookie to find not one but two fortunes. It is always fun to get a little more than you expect. One was a new fortune and the other one was one I had gotten before. Who knows, if these demos go well this week then maybe fortune #2 will come true. But, since I got #2 before you can go read that post and I’ll talk about fortune #1.

You Will Soon be Crossing the Great Waters

Crossing the great waters? Hmm, I wonder if I’ll be winning another trip. I know that I’ve been getting phone calls from a cruise line saying that I won a cruise. Actually I haven’t been getting the calls, Allison has when I’ve been busy. I don’t recall entering a contest for a cruise where I would have put my home number. I did enter the twitter contests for @CruiseSource and @CruiseDeals. However that was a contest where you had to call in. So I figure that this cruise contest that keeps calling is a scam. So I don’t think a cruise is on the horizon.

What Does this Fortune Mean for Bloggers?

If I was to interpret this fortune for successful blogging then I would say that “Crossing the great waters” means that I’ll soon be bridging the gap between good blogging and great blogging. How will I do this?

How to take a Journey to Excellence

As a blogger your journey to excellence 9i.e. crossing the great waters) requires certain tools: Consistency, Voice, Value and Vision.

Consistency: I blog daily, some people say you don’t need to, I say you do. Even if you don’t publish posts daily you need to write every single day to maintain your momentum.

Voice: Find your own voice. There is nothing that makes me more uninterested in a blogger than when they simply regurgitate blog posts of other bloggers. No one wants to reread a good post by a good blogger re-posted and re-written by a less skilled one. Find your own voice and you will find an audience.

Value: Give your audience something worth reading. Do you provide content worth talking about? Do you engage your audience? I respond to every comment on this blog, Well except for the very occasional cranks, and that I think is what makes people come back each day. That and occasionally I take a decent photo.

Vision: Do you have a vision for your blog? Are you working hard to make one complete vision or are your posts scattered, unfocused and uninspired. Stay focused to your vision for your blog.

Blogging

Strong and Bitter Words Indicate a Weak Cause

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Strong and Bitter Words Indicate a Weak Cause

Strong and Bitter Words Indicate a Weak Cause

Have you ever just fired off a rant on your blog that you later regretted posting? When I first started blogging I was traveling often and I would get really annoyed at other passengers and the whole travel industry in general. I would go off all half-cocked and write long diatribes about what I disliked. While they were entertaining to some of my friends, who often joked about when I’d be in a watchtower, they were half-cocked and fully ridiculous.

Today’s fortune is pretty appropriate because of what is going on with me today. I was the organizer of an event that was open to the entire company, over 2000 people. It went very well. After the presentation I sent out an evaluation form to all of the attendees. So far I’ve gotten back about 35 of them, mostly good stuff and great feedback. I’ve noticed that when people actually put their real name the feedback is most often constructive, mind you I did not say glowing or positive. However, when someone leaves feedback and remains anonymous their words are often strong and bitter.

What does this Mean for Bloggers?

As a blogger, even though you spend a lot of time “social networking” and having “conversations” the Internet is largely an anonymous place. Occasionally you are going to get someone who comes along and leaves an awful comment on a blog post. It may attack you, it may attack something you love or it may just be really ill informed. In those instances you have to just be like a duck and let it roll off your back. Sometimes the first response it to fire back and attack that person in a subsequent post. Resist the urge.

Being Like a Duck is Not Easy

It is not easy to let things roll off your back. I’m not denying that. I’ve certainly had my fair share of fly off the handle moments. Maybe an angry tweet or facebook status update. The thing is there is always someone out there listening. It is so easy when someone doesn’t like what you have to say to instantly cut all ties with you. Sure someone could stop listening to what you have to say for any number of reasons however if you constantly spout off bitterness in your words then don’t go and wonder why you no longer have an audience.