Causality and correlation. Ah, the scientist's friend. Mixed up so many times, the cause of so many arguments, the rock on which we stub our intellectual toes. What is this concept and why should bloggers care? Causality is the relationship between cause and effect. That is, for a given effect, you could find the cause. Correlation is the degree to which two events are related. That is, two things exist together but one does not necessarily cause the other. All too often people mix up … [Read more...]

Lately I have been finding inspiration in some unusual places. One thought that has stuck in my head was inspired by Stephen Hopson and his Gratitude ThemeGratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.We all like to … [Read more...]

Whenever I achieve something in my life, two things often occur. One, the first, is I have to silence that small voice in my head that says "If I managed it then it can't have been all that hard". The second is I seem to attract people who say to me "I could have done that if only I _____" or "You see it's easy for you, because ______". It seems if I am not going to pull down my achievements I will attract someone into my life to do it for me. I feel sad when people diminish what I have … [Read more...]

Front page Diggs, Stumble traffic, and so on is not just a blogger obsession any longer but big business. If you are selling product online then you need search rankings, and to get those rankings you need links. Right now, everyone is getting into link bait. Conventional wisdom is to build up a power account to submit your stories, but is that really the answer? The idea of course is that your story will gain more attention and therefore traction. This part I do not question, being … [Read more...]

A couple of events have made me think about how people perceive failure lately. I don't want to draw your attention to the individuals but the basic sentiment I am seeing a lot is that people in the public spotlight shouldn't do something unless they are sure of success. I'm worried about that. Personally I think everyone should be given the chance to try, fail and yes, maybe make a mess. We learn by doing. Sometimes we learn the hard way, but we still learn. Many times our biggest … [Read more...]

There are so many sources of conflicting advice it is difficult to know who to listen to. Each new piece of advice can be as convincing as the one that came before it. What should you do? How do you choose who to listen to? Do you take the word of the most influential, the most popular, the most convincing, the loudest, the most confident, or maybe what they perceive to be the safest. As a person who dishes out daily doses of advice I am as guilty as anyone out there who … [Read more...]

With any project the idea is to get from where you are now to where you want to be. We all understand that, but sometimes we don't act like this is the case. How many times have you looked at your situation and wished that it could be instantly different? Or looked at a competitor and wanted what they have? Sometimes we will see someone seemingly have an overnight success and wonder how they managed it. One Step at a Time The thing is no matter if there seem to be immediate results for … [Read more...]

I was at Starbucks yesterday waiting for my caramel macchiato when I overheard a conversation that went something like this: "So I just put my handbrake on and sat there. There was no way I was moving, school or no school." "What did they do then?" "They had to drive around me. One mounted the curb right at the school gates. There could have been an accident" "Drivers around here are so rude aren't they?" Now, I don't know these ladies, nor did I get the full story, but I had an idea what … [Read more...]

I have mentioned editorial calendars a couple of times here but I have always been thinking of something electronic. As it turns out there is a company who has developed a physical planner almost designed for the job! What you need in an editorial calendar is days laid out calendar style with space to write brief notes. What this planner from AGlobalWorld adds to the mix is international holidays. Intended for travelers, these holiday details let you know when there is a national … [Read more...]

Since leaving the world of marketing agencies to work from home, my meetings have gone from mostly physical to mostly virtual. The vast majority of my clients over the last few years have been overseas. Whereas before I would hop on the train and go see clients, now I spend most of my time conversing using email and Skype. While email allows a great deal of work flexibility, especially when it comes to scheduling, in many cases people like to deal with a human being directly rather than stare … [Read more...]