Are you one of those business owners who’s not tracking your business activity, tracking your marketing or recording how you spend your time each day working on your business?

If you are – you’re certainly not alone. Very few small business owners are measuring their business activity these days – especially on the internet. And even fewer – way fewer – have an established system for tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of each of the most important parts of their business.

This is a HUGE MISTAKE!

I don’t mean the sort of mistake where keeping your business opened is threatened – though it could come to that. I mean that you’re missing an absolutely fundamental part of running a successful business. Just ask anyone who is successful. They’re going to tell you that they key to their success is:

…doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

It doesn’t really matter your field or your niche. If you’re an engineering firm who makes $10 million per year, you need to track what’s happening in your business. If you’re a life coach making $40,000, you need to track what’s happening in your business. And if you’re just getting started, you want to track what’s going on in your business.

Why? Because what you don’t measure – doesn’t exist.

Strong statement, I know. But just consider it for a moment: Can something that’s not being measured really, truly exist?

Now before we start playing a game of semantics about what measuring means – let’s consider a couple of definitions:

To measure means to ascertain the size, amount or degree of something by using a marked standard or by comparison with a known object.

AND

To measure means to take an exact quantity or fixed amount of something.

So you don’t have to use a ruler to measure something. Your eyes measure everything you look at all the time. You don’t need a ruler to know the difference between a long board and a short one. The same is true when you look at a number of something. It’s usually pretty easy to gauge the difference in number between a line of ants on the ground and the number in and around an ant hill. So you’re taking measure of things all the time – that’s how our minds catalog our experiences. Hence, everything you see and experience in your life is because you’ve measured it in some way.

This is why I can feel comfortable in saying, “what you don’t measure – doesn’t exist.”

So let’s move from looking at the world around us to looking specifically at your business. Do you know how many people view your website? Do you know where they come from, what pages of your site they’re reading most and what pages of your site they’re leaving most from? If you have a website – you should. Just those four things alone can tell you a great deal about the effectiveness of your website in marketing your business.

Now, if you’re not measuring and looking at those statistics, are they happening any way. Sure, there are. But do you know anything about it? No, you don’t. This is why I say they don’t exist. The events are happening – xx number of people are reading your website each week – but because you’re not tracking that information and then using it to evaluate your marketing, the visitors really don’t exist to your business. Without knowing whether you have 10, 100 or 10,000 visitors this week, you can’t really know what they did on your website. And if you can’t really know what they did on your website, then you can’t use any of the information their visits left you about how well your website is doing. And if you can’t use that information, then the visitors really don’t exist. They don’t exist because you don’t know anything about them that you can use in your business.

The same is true whether you have a website or not. Following website statistics isn’t the point here. Rather, the point is to have a system setup to evaluate your business at different times, in different manners to find out how well you’re doing – and – to do more of what’s working and less of what’s not.

That’s why every business should begin with clear business objectives or goals in mind. And those goals or objectives should be prioritized in importance so that you’re always leading with the most important objectives. Once you know your objectives you want to create a method for measuring and evaluating the efforts you’re putting out to meet each of them. This way, you can know the most important thing to know in marketing:

…what’s working and what’s not.

So are you measure your business efforts? If so, what are you doing, how often to you review your marketing? And have you found it necessary to stop doing an activity because it wasn’t helping you reach  your business goals?

Let’s talk about it.

Oh yeah…I’ll be speaking live on this topic further during The Self Employment Telesummit beginning on September 10th. I’m joined by some amazing presenters such as Molly Gordon, Pam Slim, Mark Silver, Sean D’Souza, Sonia Simone, Nancy Marmolejo and a host of others. Seats are filling up so register today.

note: image from ppdigital on Flickr, some rights reserved)

Can Twitter really help your business?

This is something I get asked all the time by clients, prospective clients and just about anyone else I meet and chat with. Heck, my mom called me a few weeks ago just to ask me, “what is Twitter?” So if it’s reaching my mom, who is somewhat computer savvy, it’s probably something we all want to figure out how to interact with.

But the question still remains – can Twitter help your business?

The answer…well, yes…and…no.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking…how could it be both?

Simple! Twitter is nothing more than a channel you dial in to whenever you want to connect. You can use that channel in any number of ways. For instance, if you don’t have a business or if you’re not trying to market your business on Twitter, then you just get to follow and engage in conversations. From those conversations you’ll meet interesting, like-minded people and possibly develop new friendships.

The same can be true if you have a business you’re trying to promote using Twitter. You can also get into engaging conversations, meet interesting people and develop new friendships. And, that’s all Twitter can be.

But if you want to use Twitter to increase your reach, or find prospective clients, you need to go about using it in that way. Which means you want to have a plan.

Now, when I say plan, I don’t necessarily mean some highly structured, graphed out approach to leveraging Twitter to meet your business objectives. Rather, I mean that you’re clear about the possibilities and opportunities that you find yourself in as you use Twitter. It’s difficult to take advantage of opportunities – even see them – if you’re not looking for them.

And that doesn’t mean that every tweet you ever write, respond to or retweet on Twitter should be about gaining business. As a matter of fact, that’s often the wrong tact. People smell it when you’re not forthright about your intentions. And they definitely smell a marketing ploy. Just be a real person who has a business interacting with real people knowing that some of them will likely want what your business offers.

So here’s some tips on how to see the opportunities when using Twitter:

• Be clear on your Twitter objectives. If they’re personal, great, keep it that way. If they’re professional, then make sure you know what you want from using Twitter
• Do it. In other words, do the things that will meet your business objectives. And if you don’t know how – get some help from someone you trust.
• Reach out. Twitter can be a great place to reach people you normally wouldn’t, or couldn’t. So be the one who reaches out to others. Just be sure to keep the conversation honest and be upfront if you have business motives.
• Follow the people who follow you. It’s more difficult to do as you get more and more followers. But, especially in the beginning, people will often connect with your immediately if you follow them back.
• Be aware. Always look for business opportunities. I not saying always be marketing. Just be aware that even the most benign conversation could open into a business possibility. Be looking for them – just don’t force them.
• Remember, it’s about people. Twitter is about conversation and building relationships. Even if you’re using Twitter to promote your business, be sure you’re clear that it’s about the people on the other end of your tweets.
• Do your research. When you get into a good conversation with someone, find out about them. Learn about their business, visit their website, signup for their feed. Learn what you can so you can deepen your relationship.
• Find partners. Twitter can be a great place to find people to partner with in your business or on new projects. Again, simply look for the opportunities.
• Be aware. I know I said this already, but it needs repeating. Be awake to the possibilities around you. Listen closely in conversations about what people want. And when you find something that you can help with – help them.
• Lastly, and MOST IMPORTANT, be real. Even if you’re promoting a business on Twitter, remember that you’re a person interacting with other people. Be true to yourself and transparent with everyone else.

Twitter provides some amazing opportunities. I’ve met hundreds of interesting people on Twitter myself. Some are just interesting conversations. Some become more regular relationships. Some have become friends. And others are interested in how I can help them in their business. And I try to meet each of them where they are.

Getting clear on how to use Twitter can be the difference between wasted time and a growing business. It’s important, then, to know what you’re doing with Twitter and then do it. This is one of the reasons I’ve created my teleclass, Learn How to Use Twitter to Get More Clients. I’ll be sharing a number of the things I do to successfully use Twitter to promote my business without being an annoying marketer who’s only out to make a buck. Read more about the teleclass and register by clicking here.

And let me ask…How are you using Twitter? Do you promote your business? And if so, are your efforts giving you returns?

Or are you lost and uncertain how to use Twitter to find more clients?

Let’s talk about it.

(note: image from wiselywoven on Flickr, some rights reserved)

But I’d say one question is asked more than any other – “how do I get (more) traffic to my website?”

So last fall I began mindmapping all the ways I could come up with to get more website traffic. My first goal was to reach 100 ways to get more visitors. I quickly, however, crossed that boundary into 147 ways. Then I stopped listing them and taught a couple of teleclasses from my list.

Some time in January, I picked the list back up and started adding to it. Soon, I was past 200 ways to get more traffic. And I settled on more than 220 different ways to get more website traffic. I’m sure the list will continue to grow, and I’ll definitely continue updating the materials I have.

So now I had this list of all these ways to get more website traffic – the next thought, “what should I do with it?”

Of course, being a blogger I know a list like this would make incredible link bait. I even began a post on the topic. But the more I thought about posting it, the more I felt that just giving it away for free would dilute it’s value. I thought about how many lists you can find in the blogosphere and how often those lists get hot for a couple of days, then dropped.

My business is about helping business owners find hidden profits in their business and exploit them. So I didn’t want something of such value that could help so many people, go to waste.

So I’ve decided to, once again, offer my traffic driving booklet as a teleclass – 220 Ways to Get More Traffic to Your Website.

What’s great about this format is that I can provide a booklet listing all my website traffic generating ideas AND make myself available to answer questions about how to use them. So that’s what we’re going to do.

Next Wednesday, July 1 I’ll lead a 60 minute teleclass for you that covers (some of) the materials in my booklet, 220 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website. Half the call I’ll speak on some of my most successful tips in the booklet and briefly on topics like qualifying traffic and tracking traffic sources. Then, the second half of the call is yours to ask me any questions you like about any of the methods I list in the booklet.

UPDATE: I have 60 8 copies of the entire course materials, including the 53-page booklet, my series of mindmaps and the 60-minute audio recording available right now for purchase. Click here to buy now for only $69.

Let me be clear here, the 220 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website booklet is not just a list. I’ve included some tips in the beginning and have tips and commentary on every single traffic generation technique I cover. And you get to keep the booklet.

What’s more, I’ve also decided to include the mindmaps that helped me initially create, organize and structure the more than 50 pages that make up the booklet. So you’ll get the booklet and the mindmaps together.

Also, I’ll be recording the call and forwarding the a link to the recording so you can download it. So if you can’t make the live teleclass order right now and you’ll receive the booklet, the mindmaps and the full 60-minute audio.

One last thing – since I want to give ample time for you to ask your questions about driving traffic to your site, I’m limiting the number of copies for sale to 60 8. After 60, I’ll won’t have any more for sale.

Here’s what’s included:

• My 53 page booklet 220 Ways to Get More Traffic to Your Website & Increase Your Business, with tips and commentary for each method.
• A Series of Mindmaps summarizing each of the traffic driving methods – use as a resource when deciding which methods to use. I used these mindmaps in developing the course materials.
• A 60-minute LIVE teleclass with me, talking about how to find the right traffic for your business.
• Time for you to get your specific questions answered. There will be ample time to take your specific questions. And since conversation often leads to the most interesting teaching, the more questions, the merrier.
• I’ll record the teleclass and send you a link to download it in full.
• Click here to ORDER NOW!

There was so much in the booklet that when I got it before the class, I was overwhelmed. But your calm voice and simple explanations took me from overwhelm to excitement. Can’t wait to launch my website.
- Gillian McDowell: Vancouver, BC

What’s inside?

This isn’t just some random list I’ve come up with that I’m tossing at you. Rather, I painstakingly put together the booklet and the mindmaps over a number of months to give you the most complete resource I know of. Then, I divided the booklet into 13 different categories for building your traffic. Here’s those categories:

• 7 ways to drive website traffic using General Office ideas
• 8 ways to drive website traffic by getting Published Offline
• 22 ways to drive website traffic through Direct Marketing Offline
• 16 ways to drive website traffic through Networking Offline
• 12 ways to drive website traffic through Email Marketing
• 59 ways to drive website traffic through Marketing Online
• 7 ways to drive website traffic through Backlinking
• 28 waysto drive website traffic through Blogging
• 14 ways to drive website traffic through Social Bookmarking
• 22 ways to drive website traffic through Social Media
• 11 ways to drive website traffic through Online Paid Advertising
• 13 ways to drive website traffic through Offline Paid Advertising
• 21 more ways to drive website, my Final Brain Dump

There it is. You can see the breakdown of how many ideas come from which sort of categories. And there’s something there for everyone – offline marketers, social marketers, paid advertising, even email. And if you add up all the ways, there’s actually 240. I just got tired of changing the name of the program.

Here’s the details:

• Teleclass will be Wednesday, July 1 at 1pm eastern / 10am pacific U.S. time I’m making this available for a limited time
  
• There are ONLY 60 8 COPIES of this course available
• The cost is $97 SPECIAL SUMMER PRICE $69!
  
• Click here to ORDER NOW!

Dawud, why haven’t you been teaching more often. I love your way of explaining complex ideas with simple language. The course and your enthusiasm helped me believe I could actually get more people to see my website. Thank you.
Karen Loveland: Seattle, WA

I’ve had more 300 people take this course. All have told me that they would have paid more knowing what they know now. And many are now using my suggestions to actually get more clients.

So if that’s the case, why would I lower the cost to $69? Just like the hundreds of others who have these materials, I know that you’ll get a huge benefit from taking this course. My clients constantly ask me for information about driving traffic to their website. So I’m simply making it easier for more people to get access to this all-important information. After all, no website traffic, no business.

Now, let’s get you registered before you lose your slot.

Now there’s two things left to do:

1. First, order your copy right now.
2. Second, tell 5 people who need to get more traffic to their websites. Send them an email, make a phone call, text message them, Tweet about it on Twitter, Write a blog post – however you can reach the people you want to help.

(note: image from lynac on Flickr, some rights reserved)

You’d probably agree with me that it’s certainly not wise to hurt your customers or potential customers. That seems pretty clear, doesn’t it?

But what about the people you work with or who work for you? Is it okay – is it appropriate – to hurt, abuse or cause your staff, peers or partners to suffer simply because they work with you?

Hopefully we all know the answer to this question as well. That’s why I’m a bit perplexed this morning from an email I got yesterday. The email as interesting in that I was being blamed for giving someone’s former boss ‘carte blanche’ to be abusive. The writer of the email referred to my post Why Being Unreasonable Can Lead To Success.

In the article I propose that to build a successful business you need to be willing to drop conformity and strike out on your own path with your business. I compare running a business to my many backpacking trips where I’d hike on trail until I got a feel for where I was. Then, I’d get off trail and explore sights unseen by most. Here’s an excerpt:

…Be willing to cut your own path. At the very least, explore off trail. Don’t just be a follower who adapts his or her self to the conditions that already exist. Rather find your independence, become your own leader and make the conditions that surround you work for you and your business.

What I’m saying is own your business. What that means is be the person who makes the decisions. Use the knowledge you gather from any source – coaches, books, seminars, teleclasses, trainings, etc. Learning it. Then use it to cut your own path in business rather than just following along with what you’re taught.

So nowhere in the article am I referring to being abusive, unkind or impolite with anyone. If you’re not kind to the people you work with and for (clients & customers included) then you’re making a terrible mistake. Successful businesses are built on the foundation of sound, caring, mutually beneficial relationships. Relationships that are nurtured for the benefit of both people. From what I’ve witnessed again and again not nurturing relationships is business suicide.

Whenever I’m in a relationship with anyone, regardless of their position, I’m trying to remember that what comes out of them is from them. For the most part, the circumstances that cause any sort of reaction are irrelevant. What IS relevant is how we respond to the circumstances. Whenever someone does something we don’t like, we have a choice. The choice is to respond to them with cruelty or with kindness. And the is true in every situation in our business … and our lives.

So have you had these sort of experiences where a boss, a partner or a colleague is unkind or abusive? Or have you had clients like this? What have you done about it?

More over, what importance do you put on nurturing relationships in  your business? How is that importance viewed by others?

Let’s talk about it.

(note: image from Bhernandez on Flickr,  some rights reserved)

Think about it…you put up a few pages of text on a website and you have the potential for a business. People can view your site, read your copy and decide if they want to work with you. And blogs make it even more magical. You can easily write more content and your visitors can engage you and create conversation – increasing the possibilities that they might work with you.

Yet while the internet is magical, for many it provides false hope. So many business owners and service providers believe that simply having a website or blog alone will generate more clients. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Launching a blog or website – on its own – may not change your business at all.

This might seem odd to say, but it’s true. For your website to successfully promote your business, generate leads and help you get more clients, you need people to find it. You need people to use, to read the content and to engage you through it. Ultimately, you need people to visit your website that you have designed your services to help.

But before you roll your eyes with the usual, ‘of course,’ consider something – consider how! How will people find your website? More importantly, how will the ‘right’ people – the people you’re in business to serve – find your website? 

The simple answer is to reach beyond your website. What I mean is don’t rest on just having a website or publishing to a blog. Use them. Use them by thinking of website not as a destination that everyone should visit. Instead think of your website (and blog) as a hub for your business.

As a hub, you website should be thought of as a central part of your business marketing strategy. And just like the hub of a wheel needs spokes to work effectively, you need spokes off your business hub to make your website work effectively. The spokes? Your efforts. Your spokes are the things that you’re doing on the internet that lead back to your hub.

In other words, for your website hub, to be successful in promoting your business, you have to reach out beyond the hub with spokes out into the internet. And this can happen in any number of ways. You can utilize social media like Twitter or Facebook, publish articles to article banks like EzineArticles or interact with people in forums. Really, there are hundreds of ways to reach out beyond your website. I’m even doing a teleclass on the subject - 220 Ways to Reach Out With Your Website to Get More Traffic & Build Your Business.

What’s important, however, isn’t so much how you reach out beyond your website. What’s important is that you actually do it. In other words, for your website to produce more clients, you need to be doing things that engage people on the internet and bring them back to your hub. That’s what the spokes do – they lead back to the hub.

So what are the spokes to your business hub website? What are you doing each day to actively lead people back to your website?

Just as interesting, how are you using your website or blog as the hub for your business?

Let’s talk about it!

note: image from ***Karen on Flickr,  some rights reserved)

THIS OFFER HAS ENDED!

You may have heard that we’re expecting our fourth child sometime in the next couple of weeks. My wife, the kids and I are extremely excited and are looking forward to meeting this new little Miracle (sorry, couldn’t resist).

At the same time, I’ve been looking for an interesting and fun thing to do with another birth in my life – one of a website nature. And I think I’ve done it:

Until noon, eastern, on Sunday, August 30th, I’m going to sell my business-ready, template-based websites for the absolutely insane low price of $350. No typo, I mean three hundred and fifty dollars. Sounds pretty good, huh?

And there’s no strings attached, no gimmicks or bait-and-switch. Just business-ready, WordPress-driven websites (and/or blogs). Include a little training and whole heap of bonuses from people like Chris Garrett, Michael Martine, Easton Ellsworth, Pamela Weir, Stephen Smith and a number of others. They’re each offering products throughout the event.

The Grand Prize

Aside from getting a fully-functioning website for $350, you have the opportunity to win a massive Business Quick-Start Package. Every person that buys a $350, business-ready, WordPress-based website between now and noon on Sunday, you’ll be entered into a drawing. One winner will get:

• A membership to Chris Garrett’s Blogger Authority course ($397 value)
• Easton Ellsworth will prepare a Master SEO Keyword List for your business website and give you some pointers in how to use it to generate SEO results. ($497 value)
• Pamela Weir will help you with your copy writing and editing and write and submit press releases to announce your new website. ($400 value)
• Michael Martine’s WordPress SEO Secrets book which walks you step-by-step on how to get the absolute most SEO benefit from WordPress. And, it’s not theory. It’s very much a how-to book. ($47 value)
• Two, one-hour Business Advisory Phone Sessions with me where we’ll discuss the best possible strategies for promoting your business through your new website. ($500 value)

This is an amazing opportunity to get the website you need at a price that you can definitely afford. Oh, and did I mention the best part: If you’re not exactly ready for a new website you can buy now and use it later. We’ll get you all set up – hosting, WordPress, you design, and plugins – and put a ‘coming soon’ page on top of your website until you’re ready to use it.

To find out more, you need to visit The Website Habitat – my new site. There you can see the designs, find out what’s included and make your purchase. But hurry, time is running out.

note: image from Darwin Bell on Flickr, some rights reserved)

Just a couple of days ago I asked the question are you the whole or just part of the whole? That lead to a very interesting conversation around whether we look at ourselves as whole beings or beings made up of parts. I’ll let you read and add to the conversation, if you like.

So when I was considering Darren Rowse’s lastest Writing Project, I wanted to write something that tied into that conversation. Yeah, sure, I could write the standard, top 5 blogging tips list. But that’s boring, really.

Instead, what I’ve done is gathered 5 of favorite quotations and relate them to blogging. Each of these five inspire me in different ways. And while there are thousands of quotes I’ve read (and collected), these are the most interesting ones I could think of.

1. The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence but by oft falling. -Lucretius
   Conversational blogging is not a sprint to happy high lands of massive traffic, huge link backs and Alexa rankings. It’s a marathon of touching one person at a time with something that’s meaningful to their lives.
2. It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it. -Albert Einstein
   At the very least, a conversational blogger gives as much (s)he receives. And if (s)he can give more, it’s all the better.
3. Grant that we may not so much seek to be understood as to understand. -St. Francis of Assisi
   The conversational blogger doesn’t see his/her self as the expert that everyone should be learning from. Rather, they see themselves as students more than teachers – always being open to learning from what others have to share.
4. Once harm has been done, even a fool understands it. -Homer
   The conversational blogger is careful with his/her words because (s)he does not wish harm to anyone. They may have strong opinions, but they never make it personal or hurtful to others.
5. Talent develops itself in solitude; character in the stream of life. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
   Conversational bloggers are in a constant cycle of learning, growing, changing and integrating. Their work is when the keyboard is silent. And, the fruits of their work are shown in how they interact with others.

Okay, I can’t stop. So how about two three more…

1. To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day. -Lao Tzu
   As conversational bloggers, we can learn to fill our selves every day with more knowledge about how to blog, how to drive traffic, how to get more links. What get, then is that – knowledge. But wisdom, and great conversation, comes from stripping it all down to just the conversation. Share, give, link and the rest takes care of itself.
2. To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself. -Soren Kierkegaard
   The conversational blogger stretches his/her self with their blog. Since they don’t have to be the expert, there’s room for them to slip into risks without unknown outcomes. This can become exciting and engaging conversation, without which we’re not authentic.
3. What do I think about when I strike out? I think about hitting home runs. -Babe Ruth
   One of my favorite all-time quotes. With your blog, swing for the fences. Just know that sometimes you’ll miss. So don’t let striking out get you down. Think about the sweet feeling when you connect and the ball goes sailing over the wall.

So, there it is…five eight inspirational quotes that tie directly into better conversational blogging.

Be sure to check out some of the posts that are showing up daily at Problogger. You can view the entire lists for Days 1, 2, 3, & 4 as Darren posts them. I’ve found some great topics from Day 2:

• 5 Back-to-Basics Strategies For Renewing Your Energy by Ririan
• Top 5 Top Blog Posts in SEO by Michael Jensen
• Top 5 Steps to Redirect Traffic from Your Old Site to a New One by Friedbeef
• Top 5 Tools Every Blogger Should Use by Scott
• If Only I Could Read Just 5 Blogs! by Jonathan-C. Phillips
• Top 5 Ways To Stop Being a Perfectionist by Krista
• Top 5 Easy Ways to Create Information Products by Gobala Krishnan
• Top 5 Things Moms Should Keep in the Family Minivan by Neena
• Blogging Networks: Top 5 Pros and Cons by Singhania
• My Top Five Motivational Quotes by Dave Das (hey, like me)
• Top 5 Free Ways to “Start” Generating Traffic to Your Blog by Ankesh Kothari
• Top 5 Tips for Beating Blogger’s Block by Joanna Young
• The top 5 reasons RSS is so great by Allan
• The Top 5 Strangest Things I’ve Learned While Blogging by Robert Hruzek
• 5 best places to go while visiting Acadia National Park by Norman Sargent (filed for later)
• Do You Know These 5 Easy Ways of Making Online Friends? by kayliz
• Building A Blog Community by Shelly Kneupper Tucker
• Top 5 Ways To Identify a Bad Listener by Derick
• 5 things I wish all bloggers did by Zieak

And please visit some of my friends who I know have participated:

• Self Improvement Strategy: Top 5 Reasons to put a STOP to Top 5 Lists! by Aaron Potts
• My Top 5 Successful Bloggers Who Made a Difference by Liz Strauss
• Top 5 Reasons GPS Tracking Makes sense by Dave Starr
• 5 Mistakes Made by Beginning Programmers by Brandon Wood
• Top 5 WordPress Plugins That Help Increase Comments by JohnTP
• The Top 5 Free Search Engine Optimization Tools by Wendy Piersall

What are your favorite inspirational quotes – whether they relate to blogging or not?

“May I help you?”

… is almost a useless thing to say.

If you want to end a conversation with a teenager, just ask, “How was school today?”

If you want to end a conversation with a customer, just ask if you can help. Instead, ask, “can I get you a hot drink?” or “what’s the worst thing about your insurance company?” or “one slice or two?”

I couldn’t agree more. You see, your clients/customers/patrons don’t often know what they need. They only know something isn’t working – which is why they’re searching for you in the first place.

If you ask them what they need, they’ll likely give you answer. But that answer will be pointed directly into the problem their facing. It’s highly unlikely it will lead them to a solution. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need you.

It’s much more effective to first listen to their story a bit and then ask specific and pointed questions that will help you identify further their need. The best questions can even get them thinking about the solution as though they thought of it themselves.

I find this the most effective method, when it works. Why? It puts the client back in power over their business. And ultimately as a coach or consultant that’s what you want.

How do you engage your clients/customers that unveil the solution?�

Wendy Piersall tagged me with this question a few days back: What Does It Take To Write A Great Blog Post? Kim Dushinski tagged her as part of Mohit Singhania’s Be Original Project.

My first thought…I have no idea. But I know, that’s a cop out.

The very next thing I think is that I can consider a post to be great, but you, the reader (and commenter), ultimately get to decide whether you feel the post is great or not. It’s sort of like me calling myself an expert in something and we already know how I feel about that.

I was curious what others had to say, so I poked around a bit and found that scrap booking is HUGE in the blogosphere. Who knew? And there were some helpful posts from scrap bookers. I’m amazed, however, at how developed this community is in the blogosphere.

Of course, I also found folks I was more familiar with with some very helpful ideas. For instance, Ben Yoskovitz suggests writing in bite-sized chunks, Terry Starbucker asserts his uniqueness in a genuine way, Mike Schaffner focuses his passion and explains it to the world, Leo at ZenHabits puts himself in every post, and Mike Sansone gives tips on making your blog sound like you.

My favorite piece of advice has to come from Dave Olson – live, feel, think, write and edit. It’s simple. It’s sweet. It’s beautiful.

Of course I had to take a look at what Liz Strauss had to say on the subject. Sure, I consider her a friend. Yet she write some of the most interesting and most conversational posts I know of. Liz suggests before you begin, STOP.

Choose to write about your passion whenever you can, but when you cannot, be passionate about what you write.

• Reflect on what you want to say. Know in your mind what your message is. Try it on for size. Imagine what you want readers to know, want them to see, want them to feel in their bones.
• Give those feelings spectacular words such as breathtaking, exhilarating, compelling, stunning, amazed, intrigued, or entranced. Imagine being a kid discovering this information for the first time. Try to capture the way it would feel.

Okay, enough stalling. The title of my post is How ‘I’ Write Great Blog Posts, so I should probably explain my way.

For me, it’s pretty simple. I write about what’s fresh on my mind and in my heart. I’ve found that what I’m living, loving and learning has the most passion for me. It’s the most honest, the most exciting and the freshest.

Sometimes it’s directly business / blog / conversation related. Sometimes it’s more about personal growth, spirituality. Sometimes it’s something I’ve learned or have a new thought about. Other times I have something to teach. And still there are times when I just need to take a stand on a topic.

Sure I peek at my reader and various search topics. And I always keep an eye on hot blogging topics. But I always bring it back to what’s fresh in my life, what I’m currently in love with and what I’m learning.

The other key for me is that I don’t separate Dawud the Blogger from Dawud the Man, the Father, the Husband, the Business Owner, the Coach & Consultant, the Healer, and the Spiritual Being. I am all of those when I blog. In other words, I bring my whole self into my blogging; from all perspectives and from every experience.

To summarize, here’s a few questions you can consider when you’re sitting down to write you posts:

• What is fresh in my mind, my heart and my soul today?
• What from my life will my readers enjoy and gain benefit from?
• What am I currently in love with?
• What have I recently learned or am learning?

The last question, which can be more of an overall blogging goals-type question:

• How can I bring more of my entire self forward in my blogging?

So now you know my secrets. Well, truth be known they’re not really secrets because I’m here doing it every day. I love the conversation and I love the relationships. That’s why for me writing a great post is about bringing my whole self forward and being true with where I am.
Of course I have to share some techniques with you like how to be original, how to create original content, using GMail’s autofilters, adding cool images, and listening to your inner voice. Not to forget the 101 ways to create original blog posts.

So how do you do it? How do you write great posts?

I have a number of processes that help me keep a stable and productive workflow. Yet I’m always looking for better and more efficient ways to run my business.

So is Ben Yoskovitz. But he wants to help all of us with our productivity. That’s why he’s instigated (sorry Ben, couldn’t resist) the Ultimate Guide to Productivity Group Writing Project Meme.

Ben kicked it off by tagging Alister Cameron, Adam Kayce, Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki, Andrew Wee, David Armano, Tony Clark, Mike Sansone and Chris Cree. As of tonight, Adam and Andrew have responded with some solid tips. I’d love to hear from everyone else Ben’s tagged.

You’re probably wondering how did I get here then? Well, Adam tagged me along with Dave Schoof, Char, Chris Garrett, and Karin H. H. Each should have some great feedback.

So are you ready to hear one of the ways I stay highly productive?

Focus. No, not you – if you’re reading you’re focused enough. My productivity tip is focus. For every 60 minutes of the workday, I stay micro focused for 50 minutes. Then I get out of my chair, away from my computer and out of my office for 8 minutes (give or take). The remaining two minutes I settle back down in my chair, look over my next todos and look at what I can accomplish in the next 50 minutes. Then I’m off to the races again.

During my 50 minutes of focus, I do nothing except what is on my todo list. If I’m writing code, I code for 50 minutes. If I’m returning phone calls, I do that for 50 minutes. If I’m writing a blog post, I do that for only 50 minutes. I keep a timer running in the background with an alarm so I don’t have to watch the clock.

This sounds similar to what Ben suggested about working in bursts. I take a bit different approach then being single tasked for a length of time. For me it’s all about how much I can get done in 50 minutes. Like Ben, I stay focused to one task at a time. But if I complete that task in under 50 minutes, I move on to the next task that needs to be done. Sometimes I can get dozens of tasks done in 50 minutes. Sometimes, like with coding and styling a website, I may work an entire day at 50 minute intervals. They key, for me, is in working uninterrupted for 50 minutes.

Also, during the 50 minutes I don’t answer the phone, I shut down my email client and turn off my feed reader. I minimize all programs that don’t directly relate to my task at hand. Not answering the phone and shutting down my mail client are TWO MAJOR KEYS to making this work.

So when do I answer email or return phone calls? Well, that happens in its own 50 minute block. As does scheduling coaching and consulting sessions with clients. I just don’t do these things during a 50 minute block where they’re not included.

One other trick to this…you have to walk away for the 8 minutes. Regardless of how little or much you’ve gotten done, stop at 50 minutes. Walk away. And then come back. That short break every hour has helped me stay even more focused during my 50 minute blocks. And, I find that I’m more refreshed at the end of the day.

So that’s it. This process has probably increased my productivity two fold, minimum. Probably more.

To summarize…

1. Begin with a clear task list for the day based on all the projects you have going on (I’ll let someone else tackle creating task lists)
2. Work through your task list in 50 minute intervals. Remain highly focused on the one task you’re working on.
3. If you complete your task in less time, move on to the next one. If not, stop at 50 minutes anyhow and pick up where you left off in the next interval.
4. At the end of 50 minutes – stop what you’re working on. Get away from your work, leave your computer/office for 8 minutes. Get some water, do something completely unrelated to work. Breathe…
5. After 8 minutes (or so) return to your office and spend the remaining two minutes preparing for the next 50 minute interval.
6. Repeat.

So now it’s time for me to tag some folks I’d love to hear from. I’m tagging Dave Taylor, Liz Strauss, David Airey, Ted Demopolous, Andy Beard, Mike Sansone (again), Edward Mills, Drew McLellan, Valeria Maltoni, Sarah Lewis, Doug Karr, Easton Ellsworth, Aaron Potts, and David Armano.

I’d love to hear feedback on anyone else who’s using or trying this method of working. It’s worked great for me.

I’d also love to hear your ideas for improving on it or adding to it with other productivity tips. So please, share your thoughts, ideas and tips.

And remember to visit Ben, Wendy Piersall, Kathie Thomas, Harrison Loke, Ploop, Engtech, Lorraine Pirihi, Janet Barclay – who have already shared their gems for productivity.

I’ve poked throught the first issue, which features our good friend Robert Scoble talking about podcasting (nice article, by the way). There’s also excerpts from a pretty nice discussion between Chris Pirillo, Technorati’s David Sifry and Tim Bourquin, founder of the Podcast and New Media Expo on the social media’s influence on our modern lives.

I found a bunch of other good articles as well from people like Leo Laporte, Rob Walch and Shel Israel, among others. I enjoyed the magazine very much.

But I really enjoyed the technology.

The eletronic version of Blogger & Podcaster uses Olive Software’s Active Magazine technology. The experience is amazing. When you first view Blogger & Podcaster your brought to the front cover, just as you were holding the magazine in your hand. Active Magazine simulates turning pages – so you get to experiences pages turning as though you’re holding the ‘real thing.’

But Blogger & Podcaster goes further than your print magazine can, yet. Some ads in the magazine include audio – and I found one video. Can you imagine being able to promote your business, service, book, product with not only your traditional print ad, but with interactive video as well? Really amazing.

The simulated page turning along with the audio/video features and live links to websites really made Blogger & Podcaster a fun and enjoyable experience for me. And, the articles were pretty good.

The electronic subscription is free (at least for now). The print version is $79 in the U.S. ($99 outside the U.S.). The print subscriptions seems a bit steep, especially when you consider the first issue was only 48 pages. Though publisher Larry Genkin said on BloggingPro,

I made the decision to charge for the print subscription to allow as many people as possible to have access to the magazine. If we would have given the print edition away for free like many trade publishers do, we would have had to cap circulation at around 10,000 before our printing and mailing costs would force us to have to charge advertising rates that would be to steep for what the industry can afford at this time. By offering the digital and podcast editions for free we can literally allow millions to have access to the content without having to significantly raise our advertising rates. Hope you understand.

Dave Taylor seems to think Blogger & Podcaster is doomed to certain failure. What do you think? Is it something you would read regularly?

Well, I never did go to medical school. The awakening to alternative medicine when I was a freshmen at Purdue made sure of that. By the end of my second year I left college to pursue studies in alternative healing.

The next ten years or so was an amazing adventure. I studied various forms of healing, supporting myself as a website designer along the way. I eventually opened a healing practice and saw clients regularly. Sometimes the results clients got were nothing short of miraculous. Other times, the healing caused them turmoil – as though they didn’t want to accept change in their lives. Either way, within a few years, I was burned out.

One thing my healing work and my studies gave me was the sense of constantly looking inside myself for the meaning in things. It gave me the tools of self-reflection; tools I could use to look back at my life and see that I’d always wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. I know I didn’t want a private healing practice any longer. What I did know was I wanted my work to have meaning – to me and to my clients.

So back into website development I went. But this time with a whole new approach. Now, rather than just building ‘pretty’ websites, I would focus on helping my clients build their businesses. Furthermore, I sought out projects where people were wanting to make a difference in the world; whose work is to make meaning in people’s lives.

Very quickly I discovered that my footprint was much larger helping people who wanted to do good in the world. When I had a healing practice, I worked with one client at a time. Helping them might ripple out into the greater good of the planet. But now I work with web-based business clients who want to do good work for others. Helping others get their good message out means I’m reaching far more people in doing good work.

Today, I continue to build websites and blogs. I focus on helping my clients understand how to use the internet to reach their business goals, while meeting the needs of their audience.

And, I continue to evolve how I contribute to the world. Blogging has me interested in the conversation. The conversation between people and between businesses and their prospective clients. We’ll see where that leads me. I can tell you that wherever I end up, it will be to make a difference in the world.

So, how are you contributing to…the world? the blogosphere? your clients? other’s lives? I’d love to hear.

We all want more traffic, right?

Well, I’ve been watching my friend Garry Conn participate in Dosh Dosh’s Ultimate Technorati Favorites Exchange. Gary has seen huge traffic increases. As have a number of other bloggers.

The Technorati Favorites Exchange is pretty straight forward. Here’s the steps:

1. Add me to your Technorati Favorites
2. Come Back to to this Post and Leave a Comment that you have added me. Use your own Technorati Favorites link in the comment so I know where to go. (i.e. http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://
   www.yourdomain.com)
3. I will go through my comments and then add you to my Technorati Favorites list as well.

Pretty simple, huh?

If you’d like to continue with Dosh Dosh’s link train for even greater benefits, read and follow the guidelines below. You’ll copy the following text into a blog post.

***Start Copying Here:***

Here are the rules:

1) Write a short introduction paragraph about what how you found the list and include a link to the blog that referred you to the list.

2) COPY the Rules and ENTIRE List below and post it to your blog. To avoid duplicate content and increase the amount of keywords your site can accessible for, go ahead and change the titles of the blog. Just don’t change the links of the blog.

3) Take “My New Faves” and move them into the “The Original Faves” list.

4) Add 3 Blogs that you’ve just added to your Technorati Favorites to the “My New Faves” section. Remember to also add the “Fave Me” link next to your new blogs (i.e. http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=
http://www.yourfavesdomain.com)

5) Add Everyone on this list to your Technorati Favorites List by clicking on “Fave the Site.” Those who want good kharma will fave you back. If not, you will for sure get the benefits of faves from the bloggers who continue this list after you.

My New Faves

• Essential Keystrokes – Fave the Site
• Mom Gadget – Fave the Site
• Engaging the Disquiet – Fave the Site
• Monk at Work – Fave the Site
• Converstations – Fave the Site
• The Kiss Business Too – Fave the Site

The Original Faves

• Dawud Miracle – Fave the Site
• GarryConn.com – Fave the Site
• Kumiko’s Cash Quest – Fave the Site
• Dotmyspot – Fave the Site
• Successful Online Money Making! – Fave the Site
• Affiliate Programs – Fave the Site
• Net Business Blog – Fave the Site
• Career Ramblings – Fave the Site
• Ramblings from the Marginalized – Fave the Site
• Everyday Weekender – Fave the Site
• Bobs [ReformatThis] – Fave the Site
• Armen’s Blog – Fave the Site
• Gary Lee – Fave the Site
• Dosh Dosh – Fave the Site
• Nate Whitehill – Fave the Site
• Ms. Danielle – Fave the Site
• Jeff Kee – Fave the Site
• Scribble on the Wall – Fave the Site
• Jimi Morrisons Head – Fave the Site
• Jon Lee – Fave the Site
• Samanathon – Fave the Site
• Eat Drink & Be Merry - Fave the Site
• The Man of Silver – Fave the Site
• Hannes Johnson – Fave the Site
• My Dandelion Patch – Fave the Site
• Nathan Drach – Fave the Site
• SiteLogic – Fave the Site
• Julies Journal – Fave the Site
• Tea & Slippers – Fave the Site
• The Thinking Blog – Fave the Site
• Pencil Thin – Fave the Site
• Stephen Fung – Fave the Site
• Ed Lau – Fave the Site
• QMusings – Fave the Site
• Gauravonomics – Fave the Site
• Who is Madhur – Fave the Site
• Teknobites – Fave the Site
• Break Silence – Fave the Site

***End Copying Here***

Remember, if you’d like me to complete the link with you, leave me a comment letting me know you’ve added me to your Technorati Favorites. Be sure to include a link in the comment to your own Technorati Favorites so I know where to go. (i.e. http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=
http://www.yourdomain.com)

UPDATE: I AM NO LONGER PARTICIPATING IN THIS MEME

Thanks.

But when I look at each, individual event – each day or moment – I’ve failed far more than I’ve succeeded. I mean, just something simple like not wanting to worry – I’ve failed at that a number of times today alone.

So what is failure? In general, failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective. Basically, failure means having things not turn out the way you want them too.

Is that a bad thing? I think not. As a matter of fact, I think it’s quite necessary.

John Berger once said, “At times failure is very necessary for the artist. It reminds him that failure is not the ultimate disaster. And this reminder liberates him from the mean fussing of perfectionism.”

Perfection is often what gets in the way of success. When we look only to perfection, we often lock in on a specific result being the ‘perfect’ one. Yet that means we’re not looking beyond what we already know. Hence, we can’t learn or grow, either in our business or our personal lives.

Phil Gerbyshak had a great quote on his blog yesterday, from Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” So change is the key to survival, to growth, to success. But there is no change if we don’t fail.

So let’s all fail more. Then perhaps we can find the success that Winston Churchill once described as, “…going from failure to failure without losing enthusiam.

Do you strive to much for one result? Why? Or have you been liberated by failure? How? I’d like to know so I can learn and grow.

As Wendy says:

…what better way to throw a birthday bash than to create an opportunity for all of you to make more money, get more traffic, and have more fun with your online business?!

I couldn’t agree more.

She’s got lots of prizes she’ll be giving away all throughout the month of April. Look at what week 1 winners received.

In Wendy’s own words, “Every single prize will help you grow your blog or business.”

PRIZES INCLUDE:

- 5 copies of Joe Vitale’s book on Mastermind Group success Meet & Grow Rich

- A FREE copy of the #1 Ranked SEOBook donated by Aaron Wall

- A FREE Premium subscription EarnersForum donated by Lee Dodd

- A FREE ticket to SOBCon in May donated by Liz Strauss (I’m speaking there)

- A $500 Coupon off of an Elite Retreat ticket (Orlando in May, anyone?)

- The *Grand Prize* is a FREE phone consultation with Jeremy “ShoeMoney” Shoemaker and myself to talk specifically about how to grow your blog or business

- Special ‘SURPRISE’ prizes along the way – I have more up my sleeve!

Updated goodies from super-cool people ::

• A FREE copy of Awaken the Giant Within generously donated by the wonderful Kris Jones from PepperJam Marketing and Search. Thanks Kris! (this book seriously influences my success on a daily basis!!)
• A FREE year of SoloSEO do-it-yourself keyword optimization and management services. Thanks Michael! ($348 value and kicking myself in the butt because I’m not eligible to win this one, ack!!)
• A FREE copy of Eric Giguere’s eBook, Uncommon AdSense: Tips, Techniques and Strategies for Maximizing Your AdSense Earnings,

Did you see the grand prize? a FREE phone consultation with Jeremy “ShoeMoney” Shoemaker and Wendy to talk specifically about how to grow your blog or business. That chance alone is worth the effort to join in.

So what are you waiting for? Enter the contest right now.

But why? Why do we think that we need to tell our readers to click here?

I guess we believe that click here will make it clear to our readers that this is a link and that behind the click here link is something they want to read. But does it? Really?

Consider this:

To find out more about my web development services, click here.

versus

Find out more about my web development services.

Which link has more clarity about where the link will take you? In the second example, is there any question that when you click web development services you’re going to end up reading about web development services?

But click here – where does that lead? How can I be certain that if I click click here I’m going to end up reading about web development services? I guess I can assume that click here relates to the text just before it. But obviously I can’t be as certain about where click here will take me as I can with the second example. This is bad for your readers and worse for your business.

Perhaps seeing one example doesn’t make it clear enough. But consider seeing click here 2-3 times on every page of content on a website. This isn’t rare. So after a while, what does click here mean to your reader? Heck, what does click here mean on this post?

The better approach is to use contextual link text to clearly tell your readers where they’re going to end up when they click your links.

So is this only about your readers? Of course not. Everyone wants better search engine rankings, right? Well consider that Google gives a little more weight to linked text than to nonlinked text. That means you have an opportunity with your text links to be use keywords (there’s my free SEO tip of the week).

Taking that a step further, when I searched Google for click here this morning, I got back 1.04 billion (with a ‘b’) search results. Every one of those instances are likely sites using click here links.

One other consideration for not using click here is accessibility. Accessibility looks at how the web can be easier to use for people who are impaired in some way. Click here in a braille or aural web browser means very little to the site reader.
The bottom line is you want to link with words that best describe the content you’re linking too.

By the way, to illustrate the point further, every ‘click here‘ link on this post goes to a different location. So feel free to click here.

I’d love to hear what you think.

Guy’s perspective the core of a successful businesses is to make meaning. He says, “…those companies that are fundamentally founded to change the world, to make the world a better place, to make meaning are the companies that make a difference. They are the companies to succeed. My naive and romantic belief is that if you make meaning you will probably make money. But if you set out to make money you probably won’t make meaning and you won’t make money.”

I happen to agree with Guy on this point. It’s something my good friend Adam Kayce and I were just talking about this morning.

Take a look at this short (two and a half minutes) video of Guy talking about the three ways to make meaning with your business.

He cites the three ways as to make meaning as:

1. Increase the quality of life
2. Right a wrong
3. Prevent the end of something good

I’ve been thinking about this all morning in relation to where my business is now AND where my business is heading. Now I’m looking at my business from the stand point of all three points.

How about you? Does you business make meaning? How? Could it do more?

It’s clear for me that I’m interested in making a difference. But her question got me thinking…How do I actually make a difference through my business? Boy, that seems like a big question.

But if I begin with Kristie’s definitions, I think I can take the breadth of this question and get it into a post without writing a novel. Here’s Kristie’s definitions:

• Making a living is about doing something for the money
• Making a life is about creating a business that supports the lifestyle you want to live
• Making a difference is about giving your best to others in service and getting back tenfold

Well, I’m certainly not in business just to make money. I also think that her second bullet point about making a life is really the same as the first. I mean, after all, we work to make money to have the lifestyle we want. Otherwise, we’d have no motivation to strive for more.

Author David Maister writes that making a difference means sometimes struggling “to do what’s meaningful and not just what’s pragmatic.”

Ah, yes, do what’s meaningful. Or, another way to put it – do what is full of meaning.

So, what’s full of meaning for you?

Amanda Harris from The Blog World posted an interview we did a short time ago. Mainly she asked me questions about problogging. Yet, I don’t consider myself a problogger so I got to answer the questions in a more unique way.

And I got to share some of the ways I look at the blogosphere – which was great to be able to do in that setting. For instance…

What tips for promotion do you have? One really, find your passion and write about it. Whether your a problogger, business blogger, or blogging about your favorite hobby. People respond to passion. So find it! Get clear where it is and tap it each time you write about it. And watch, when you really find it your traffic, relationships, and comments will go up.

The dearest question she asked was…

At the end of the day when you look at what you’ve created what do you think? Personally I am amazed. I’m completely floored at the success of my blog. It’s beyond what I thought. I’m completely blown away by the relationships I’ve already made with some pretty influential bloggers. I did not expect the business opportunities that I’ve found either. But overall, I’m humbled by the fact that everyday people read my blog and they take time to comment. That really moves me. Which motivates me to be an even better blogger and writer.

So please, take a read.

I had a lot of fun and would love to do more interviews. So if for some reason you’d love to interview me, give me a holler. I quite comfortable with topics ranging from web-based business to marketing to anything blog-related. I also can speak on spirituality, personal growth, human consciousness, overcoming personal obstacles and similar topics.

Where have you been interviewed? Or who have your interviewed recently? Links welcome.

All the work I’ve ever done has been about caring for people and people’s needs. When I was a waiter, I took care of people’s dining experience. When I was buyer at a large outdoor clothing store, I brought in the products my customers most wanted. As a spiritual teacher and healer, I cared about the unveiling of my client’s authentic self. And even as a web designer and web-based business developer, my cares have been about helping my clients understand how to use the web to build their business.

It hasn’t matter. At every turn of my life my work has been about helping people. And that’s certainly extended deep into my personal life as well.

So why hide any more…I care about people. Really, I care about you. I care about your life, your well-being, your family and your business. I care enough to help you overcome your ‘problems’ and help you create success in all parts of your life. I can’t help it, it’s just who I am.

Even though I’m identified as a web developer and business coach, I do so much more. The only problem is I’m not talking about it with you until you become my client. That’s where I’m evolving. In the coming weeks, I’m going to rewrite my entire website services content to say more about what it is I actually do, how I do it and what you can gain from working with me.

It’s time to be open about what I offer my clients. It’s time I fully express who I am, what I do and how I can really help you develop your business.

So are you fully expressed in your business? How? And if not, what do you need to do to fully express yourself in your business?