First Word

Do you want to build readership for your blog? Are you a non-writer but you want to hire a writer? Are you thinking, "I could pay to have it done a couple of times a week..." Most clients don't want to pay a writer to blog more than a couple of times a week. Understandable given the expense. Blog writers are paid per hour. The obvious value in blogging isn't easily put into a results measurement either. The number one question is almost always, "How do I know if it's working?" So let's walk through some of these points. How often should you really blog to be build effective readership ? This answer may not be the one you want to hear: every day. You have the minimum which I say is 2-3 times a week. Then you have the favorable maximum, which is daily (sometimes including weekends). Two to three times a week builds audience but it becomes more sporadic than consistent. You'll see in the statistics spikes in readership that coincide with articles ...

I recently hit a lag in projects and work. I believe that when faced with business decline you don't spend any time focused on the "deficit" but on the "reboot". Business works that way -- it ebbs and flows. You have flush times and then you have dry times. The overall goal is to get it evened out, but it never seems to work quite that smoothly. When I worked in corporate one of the ideas I was taught is "outflow gets inflow" -- and I have found that to be true. If you're not marketing (outflow) and reaching out toward new projects you're not going to attract what you need to grow your business. Tip 1: change your business strategies . Reinvent or think outside of the proverbial box and be open to stretch into new areas. We tend to fall into routines or ways we attract business. That channel is likely to dry up over time, and that is natural. If a channel dries up then you have to look to new revenue streams and that may require some crea...

I've been in business now seven years, and I'm the CEO of 3L Publishing ! Wow! Seven whole years! I've had some great years where the dump truck loaded with money pulled up and dumped away. I've had some lean years. And I've had some "so-what" years. The lessons I've learned have been tremendous. Want to know what they are? Sure you do! You're an avid reader of my blog, so naturally you're sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting with baited eagerness. Never ever focus on the NOT . What does that mean? It's really simple. If you spend all of your energy and thoughts focused on what you DON'T have, you'll have more of that. A great example is money. If you don't have enough money, don't spend all your time saying how you don't have enough money. Instead put ALL of your attention on earning enough money -- and this means marketing and selling. The old saying, "We are what we think most about" is so true. Live ...

What does it say about me that I drink coffee out of a Hello Kitty mug on a Mickey Mouse coaster? I have no idea, but I thought it was amusing when I thought about it. No, I swear there is coffee in the mug and not hot coco LOL. Now I'm not opposed to hot coco, mind you, but it's too sweet and not my thing. I say bring on the mocha instead, but can I just complain for one moment ... what's with $3.50 for a Tall Mocha at Starbuck's. Wow! What a racket the Starbuck's corporation has created. Imagine your coffee costs almost as much as your lunch! Now this begs the question of market positioning ... yes, I had a point in here somewhere that related to business. Who do you want to be in the market? Do you want to be Mercedes or Ford, because at the end of the day, how you position your company is how you're perceived in the marketplace. Believe it or not, it is a choice and it's all done through your marketing and branding campaign. In my 3L Publishing world,...