Are You Humble? – One Day You Will Be
The world we live in is filled with many that feel nothing is impossible, they are smarter than everyone else, and find it much easier to pull people down rather than build them up. As difficult as that is to admit as a people, it is also sadly true, some of us treat others poorly in order to make ourselves look better and feel good. We couldn’t be more worng. You are probably wondering why I’m writing about this.
If you have ever lost a close family member to any kind of illness or sudden death, you know where I’m headed. My next door neighbor is about to lose her younger sister to Cancer, the Cancer is literally eating her sister alive every living minute. It is terminal, there are no pallitive beds available so she is in general ward. I find myself reliving the loss of my Father 11 years ago, my Dad still felt he was going to out work the Cancer, and that because he was smart he would beat it. I told my Father, this thing called Cancer will humble you like you have never been before, it will strip you of every decency you’ve known. Cancer plays no favorites and reduces you (us) to our lowest possible form.
You may think you’re ten feet tall and bullet proof today, but one day, you will be brought to your knees begging for help, longing for the pain & embarrassment to be taken from you. I have learned that being smug, treating people like something stuck on your shoe, having status and money is the beginning of the fall to humility. It will happen, if not tomorrow, on your death bed.
I urge you to love more, give more grace and help those you come into contact with, they will be the legacy you are so desperately trying to build and leave behind. Stop chasing the wrong things and invest your time wisely. You can do this by removing self from the equation, serve all those around you, humility will take you farther than any other form of self-sufficent thinking could ever do for you. Be humble, the world will know you made a meaningful impact on those around you. Be an encourager, lift people up, build one another up and above all, love your neighbor as you love yourself. Ask yourself with all honesty, Are You Humble? If not, I promise you, one day you will be.
Many Blessings,
Owen
I.T. Strategic Planning – The Blog
There are many things I.T. Strategic Planning can cover, blogging isn’t really one of them, unless your an IT Sweat Shop and it’s your portal to the world. Blogs however, tend to be birthed out of Marketing & PR Departments, they are a means to an end when it comes to getting the message out or building community.
From a Strategic Planning perspective, the Blog is a tool, yes it’s a technology platform but not a strategic one, this is not an item the company may live or die on. In my case, I’m a Consultant, a self-employed one at that, one of my tools of choice is this Blog. In this case, not only would it be in my Business Plan, it would also be in my I.T. Strategic Plan. Why? I would have to plan to implement and deliver the platform in order for my business to to do business here.
How would I arrive at such a decision? Well, I am not a large organization with resources, I am a sole Proprietor, I can reach my target market faster and in a more efficient and cost effect way. Hence, I need the Blog! I also need to have a Hosting Company to hold my blog so I am able to deliver my content, not only to my target market but to the world. I started my own webhosting company, it was a place to put my friends & clients, I also wanted learn how the backend works. So the arguement of Tactic & Strategy comes to the forefront yet once again.
This decision was easy for me, almost no money is required, I know how to build the site, and I know how to run the Content Management System. I knew which CMS I was going to use (WordPress Self-Hosted) & which theme, I use Headway Themes.(affiliate link) A no Brainer right?
Today almost every person is or will have a Blog at some point, almost every business will have a Blog, if they don’t, they won’t really have a voice out here and most likely will be out of business. So, the Blog is strategic in some cases, and in today’s digital world, it is imperative.
Having said that, the Blog is also not strategic. Why? There is no way a Blog can circumvent the server and it’s server platform, that has to come first before the Blog. The server, or the hardware required to deliver your information is strategic in that it’s a fixed cost and yet disposable at the same time. In my IT Strategy I would be saying, I need a server, on that server I need to run Windows Server or Linux or whatever server software happens to be the best suited to deliver my content. On that server, there will be web server software, it will be home to the Blog, it will be the space to which I upload and store my content.
As you can see the Blog really can come later, it may be the driving force to having a server but I think not, you will need a place to store files first before you need a Blog. We could go back & forth on this for some time, but the fact is, the Blog is becoming a staple in your business strategy and it is thought of long before the server ever is. So in that sense it’s part of your I.T. Strategic Plan.
What do you think?
How Has Blogging Changed Your Life?
I’ve been thinking about this over the past few days, I often wonder how the digital world improves our quality of life and why we (I) will spend hours and hours here on my Blog. I love being here, I love sharing, and more importantly I love helping others who struggle with something I find easy to do.
I think we all have something to say, we all have that axe to grind or that helpful tip, and better yet, that word of encouragement to someone who is struggling with whatever. So whats the big deal anyway? Why sit and write Blog Post after Blog Post?
For me it has given me hope, I’ve made more new friends and built strong relationships here, I feel utilized and valued in a way I would probably never be through other means, like working for an ungrateful. I can reach more people here, it gives me an opportunity to share, to help, to make a difference with all the technology knowledge in my head. Technology is what I know, how to use it in business, how to figureout what technology we should use, and how we can make a couple bux from it. That includes Blogging. I love trying to make business human through technology, I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but thats the challenge for me. I know we all need to be validated on some level, anyone who says they don’t, you’re either a narcisist or you have a superiority complex. And I can tell you nobody likes those kind of people to hang out and party with.
Any Who, it’s been on my mind, I’m sure Chris Brogan and Gary Vaynerchuk can show you a thing or two about making the most from Blogging.
So, how has blogging changed your life?
HELP! I Need Your Input Please
The past few months have been interesting to say the least, and in closing out 2009 I have been getting a variety of requests on my Blog, including speaking & consulting opportunities. When I started blogging I was hot and bothered about Nanotechnology, why people weren’t talking about it and how it may or may not impact our lives. That turned out to be a dead horse.
I then shifted energy to my other passion, I.T. Strategic Planning, that has developed some interest from a business perspective.
Lately, the biggest area of interest is Social Media, monetizing a blog, and how to get traffic to it. Go figure.
Anyway, My question for you is, is learning the ropes about blogging and or monetizing your blog important to you, do you want to know how and where I’m having success with it? Late 2009 and so far this year has proven profitable teaching and sharing on these items. Please do not take this as bragging, I’m merely sharing and want to know if you want to learn how I have done it. Or, is there something else you would like to see covered?
Thanks for your time, please let me know so I can discern where to invest my time serving you.
Please send me an e-mail with your input and or request: owen@owengreaves.com
Many Blessings,
Owen Greaves
http://blog.owengreaves.com
Blog Traffic = Dollars
Now that you have read the 3 Core Traffic Drivers, let me share with you how blog traffic = dollars here on Owen Greaves Consulting.
Those of you who know me, know I’m a big time promoter of other peoples products and services, even must get to know people. I’m not your traditional Internet Marketing Junkie, but I do like to make money, I suspect you do to. A few weeks ago I decided to get my feet wet, yes I purchased some products and services, which means I’m eating my own dog food. I believe in the products and services here on my blog, they have helped me, and they actually made me money in a short period of time! I hope they can help you too.
I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you I spent many, many hours reading, listening and learning about how to make money with a Blog. The truth is, I have done so for two years, studying, and still I did not participate. Why? There was one thing I needed to do before I took the plunge, that was build some traffic.
I’m a stubborn lot and I don’t buy-in to alot of what I see on the Internet, the reason is, I believe I can figure out what those are doing without me spending money. I know, I hear ya chuckling. I will say this, I have figured out the process on my own, it’s not better, it’s just different. Some of you have purchased good products and services, I’m not bashing them, good for you and I hope they are working for you.
I’m merely here to give you hope and share how I was able to generate a few dollars through the little amount of traffic I have been able to attract. No I’m not financially independant, and no I didn’t make 10’s of thousands of dollars here (yet). This story may not impress you but it did me, what impressed me wasn’t the money, it was seeing the process work. The key of course was the traffic, how I got the traffic is now no big secret, it was however the largest investment of time.
The processes that worked for me are the 3 Core Traffic Drivers, Traffic = Dollars, pure and simple. The key is to have something the traffic wants, visitors come to places they find useful, that provide value and help them solve specific challenges.
Before I get into this, you need to know, everything I share, I use, and I believe in. If you don’t use or belive in the product or service you decide to promote on your Blog, DON’T. Eat your own dog food and only then will you be able to convince anyone else to try your recommendations.
– I started monetizing by trying a couple things, one of them is called Ad.ly, Ad.ly is an in-stream advertising platform that matches top-tier Twitter publishers with top-tier brands. I don’t pretend to be top-tier, but I looked into it anyway. This has done nothing to date, but that may be more about me than their system.
– One of the other products / services I looked into is selling products from Amazon, the commisions are actually very, very low so I’m not all hopped up on the program from that stand point. What I like about Amazon is, the huge variety of products available to you, no matter what your Blog or site is about. I promote books from Amazon, Chris Brogans Book TRUST AGENTS, and Gary Vaynerchuks CRUSH IT! are just a few.
– I sell a couple of books on my blog as well, one of them is called Beyond Blogging, this book sells, why, probably because of the 15 Top Bloggers in the book. They share their story, provide direction and enspire you at the same time, I highly recommend you get this book and then go through the worksheet that comes with it.
Another incredible book is called, 31 days to Build a Better Blog By Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, this book is a step-by-step book, also you should know that for the next few days (until 19 January 2010) Darren is offering 3 extra exclusive New Year Bonuses to all buyers of this downloadable workbook. It’s not the same as Beyond Blogging because it’s a How To book in more detail, this book covers daily tasks in considerable detail. These two books are the largest revenue generator on my blog as of this writing.
– One of the other things I looked at was Google Adsense and Chitika, I chose the later, no real good reason other than it was different and not Google. I have nothing against Google, I wanted to try something different. I use their Chitika Mini-mall on my site, it works in conjunction with Google search. I suggest you go to their site to get a much better description of how they work, rather than me trying to explain it.
– And finally my secret weapon, I have used for years now free stuff, but then I bought a theme for my Blog, which I swore I would never do by the way. This purchase is the best move I have ever made for Blogging, I highly suggest you look at what it does and can do for you. I will say this, my traffic has tripled by merely installing the theme, why, SEO is improved dramatically without any configuration by me. Once I learned the Visual Editor and played with the configuration, traffic got even better. The theme in question is NOT Thesis, it’s Headway. Headway Themes has put something together that flat out gets me fired up, I can modify my site on the fly, and the support is Top Draw. I love this product so much, I decided to join their Affiliate Program and promote / sell the theme here on Owen Greaves Consulting. If you want more information, just click here.
So there ya have it, that’s what I’ve been doing so far, I may drop or add depending on what vistors want / need, that’s business on the Internet. All these things also driver traffic to this blog, the 3 Core Traffic Drivers are the backbone, but these products / services are also driving traffic. As you can see it’s not simple thing, nor is it easy, it’s time consuming and strategic. So remember, nothing happens without Traffic, so build it as quickly as you can, then start monetizing, Blog Traffic = Dollars.