Purple Wren

The Big Dream Gathering is Tonight!

It's here! The Big Dream Gathering is tonight from 6:30 - 10 p.m.

Polk County Convention Center

501 Grand Avenue, Des Moines

SOBCon08: Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett uses mindmaps - one of my favorite tools - for expanding on topics for blog posts. In addition to his computer, he carries around a notebook (Moleskin) to jot down ideas.

He recommends using an editorial calendar for organizing content. Quality definitely wins over quantity.  Find the best time to post to reach your audience.

He has several posts in draft that he calls "panic posts" for those occasions when life happens and you just can't get a post published.

Batch your tasks. Determine how many hours you can spend a week and divide it between writing blog posts, promotional tasks for your site and reading posts.

Great info! Thanks Chris.

Related posts: Mind Mapping with Tony Buzan

Brian Clark at SOBCon08

We're just winding down the session with Brian Clark. One of the things I heard that made an impact for me was "Trying to give people what they don’t want is the best way to fail."

Good point.

SOBCon in Chicago

We're in Chicago at SOBCon '08. Had a great cruise last night and enjoyed great conversation and a mix of rain and clear skies and great lights.

Attendees 

• Cliff Atkinson
• Shashi Bellamkonda
• JJ Betts
• Chris Brown
• Chris Brogan
• Harry Brooks
• Anita Bruzzese
• Dave Bullock
• Mark Carter
• Brian Clark
• Tom Clifford
• Clay Collins
• Valerie Combs
• Chris Cree
• Lisa Cree
• Thomas Croghan
• Donna Cutting
• David Dalka
• Kevin Dixie
• Tim Draayer
• Monica Duncan
• Easton Ellsworth
• Kevin Ferrasci O'Malley
• Jonathan Fields
• Sarah Filipiak
• Mary-Lynn Foster
• Annie Galvin Teich
• Brian Gardner
• Chris Garrett
• Jon Gatrell
• Phil Gerbyshak
• Jared Goralnick
• Karen Hanrahan
• Joseph Hauckes
• Vicky Hennegan
• Scot Herrick
• John Hong
• Stephen Hopson
• Robert Hruzek
• Timothy Johnson
• Sara
• Pete Jones
• Todd Jordan
• Bob Kakoliris
  
• Christine Kane
• Adam Kayce
• Kristen King
• Scott Kolbe
• Jen Knoedl
• Stephen Koernig
• Bryan Kress
• George Krueger
• Amy L
• Tammy Lenski
• James G. Lindberg
• Eli Litscher
• Rick Mahn
• Sim Margolis
• Michael Martine
• Becky McCray
• Maria Meadows
• Cory Miller
• Ann Michael
• Dawud Miracle
• Debra Moorhead
• Matthew Murphy
• Paul O'Flaherty
• Tim Padar
• Jesse Petersen
• Melissa Pierce
• Wendy Piersall
• Sandra Ponce de Leon
• J. Erik Potter
• Karen Putz
• Susan R Quandt
• Levy Rivers
• Barbara Rozgonyi
• Jeff Sable
• Sheila Scarborough
• Mary Schmidt
• Derek Semmler
• Maria Sharon
• David Sherbow
• Steve Sherlock
• Brad Shorr
• Louise Silberman
• Sonia Simone-Rossney
• Julien Smith
• Stephen Smith
• Michael Snell
• Derrick Sorles
• Terry Starbucker
• Liz Strauss
• Jon Swanson
• Ruth M Sylte
• Windsor Tanner
• Michelle Vandepas
• Lorelle VanFossen
• Colleen Wainwright
• Denise Wakeman
• James D. Walton
• Randy Windsor
• Joanna Young
• Sandy Renshaw

Wordless Wednesday: Rain...

We've been having a LOT of rain lately. The other day I was trying to put a positive spin on it, and noticed that the birds are happy. They are busy searching for worms. It's a good reminder to look for the good in everything.

Did you know that the state bird of Iowa is the goldfinch?

Photo on flickr by It's Greg

Wordless Wednesday: Talk, talk, talk

Do you ever feel hear like you're talking at people and nobody is listening? How about having a conversation instead?

Photo on flickr by taminsea

Launching The Age of Conversation

The Age of Conversation has finally made it to the retail world. It's available on Amazon.

Go buy a copy today and help boost the book ranking.

More importantly, change a child's life.

All proceeds from book sales benefit Variety, the Children's Charity. Taken directly from Drew McLellan's blog, "Because we wanted the money to represent the international make up of our authors, we earmarked the money for one of Variety's programs, Lifeline. Lifeline's sole mission is providing medical assistance to children with treatable and survivable heart conditions in countries where the appropriate medical facilities, expertise or resources do not exist."

You'll find my chapter on page 82.

Wordless Wednesday: I told you...

This photo caught my eye. What's the message you're trying to get across?

I told you we should have turned RIGHT back there, originally uploaded by makeupanid.

Wordless Wednesday: Robins

Spring can't be far off when we start seeing robins. What is the first sign of spring that you look for?

More Robins, originally uploaded by kevinbolton56.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Pot Holes

Do you keep hitting the same potholes? Take time to evaluate what needs to change in your business to reach your goals in 2008.

Pot Hole, originally uploaded by dieselbug2007.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is contagious. When is the last time you saw someone with this much enthusiasm for their product or service?

Do You Need MinuteFix?

Sometimes you just need a little computer help - especially if you're a solopreneur or a small business. The big guys have tech support on staff or hire a service company by the hour. But you just need ten minutes...

Now there's a solution. Have you heard about the new community-based tech support company called MinuteFix? They provide live support to people on a per minute basis. And they guarantee that if the question or problem is not resolved the session is free. It's available 24-7.

Not quite sure? Head on over to MinuteFix and check them out. There's no cost until March 15.