Posts in ‘BLOGTASTIC!’

Social media distress – 3 ways to destress

by Deepika Bajaj, Apr 5, 2010

Technology has made it possible to be connected at all times and it’s getting easier everyday. Falling into this trap can cause stress. Deepika suggests some ways to help you overcome the social media stress. more…

Leadership Cancers #4: Adrenaline and testosterone

by Gary Monti, Apr 6, 2010

If you don’t plan, you have to react. In some environments, reaction is the modus operandi and it becomes the culture. Ability to react quickly is a virtue, but if that is the way of life, it causes serious problems. The solution is to plan. If you plan properly, your project will have greater flexibility at a lower cost. Of course there will be detractors and their common refrain is it is a luxury to be able to plan. They are wrong. more…

Support for Success

by Guy Ralfe, Apr 7, 2010

With a family to support, leaving a secure job in corporate America to pursue the dream of entrepreneurship in the worst economic conditions in recent memory takes guts. Guy has done it! He says he could not have done it without the help of others – Business Partners, Industry Knowledge Partners and of course support from family and friends. Moral of the story is don’t try to be the lone ranger. Getting all the support you need is crucial for your success. more…

Don’t hold back. Do ask.

by Himanshu Jhamb, Apr 8, 2010

When people get what they want, it is not magic or miracle. They ask. Unless you let your intent be known, you will not get what ever it is you are looking for. From the outside, it may look like some people are lucky. Not true. Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation. more…

Author’s Journey #16: Attracting the right literary agent

by Roger Parker, Apr 9, 2010

One of the most important steps in your journey to a published book is to attract the attention of the right literary agent. The old “shotgun approach” which is very inefficient and will not get the desired results. Branding is the new way that will make the agents seek you. Read this article to find out examples of the “new way”. more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, BLOGTASTIC!, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, deepika bajaj, Entrepreneurship, gary monti, Guy Ralfe, himanshu jhamb, Leadership, Rajesh Setty, Roger paker, www.activegarage.com

Social Media ROCKSTARS!

by Deepika Bajaj, Feb 1, 2010

Social media ROCKSTARS are no different from traditional ROCKSTARS. They possess the same characteristics – Talent par excellence, Performance and Energy. They continuously produce new material, perform brilliantly that crowds love them and energize their audience. People like Kevin Rose, Matt Inman and bloggers like Chris Brogan or Marshall Kirkpatrick are the genuine social media rockstars! more…

BLOGTASTIC!: Make more friends in the blogosphere fast!

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 1, 2010

Face to face conversations are valuable for networking, but this strategy has some constraints. Online conversations on the blogosphere gives you the ability to start and engage in multiple conversations with people far and wide, asynchronously. Rajesh leveraged this for his “Quought for the Day” project. Leverage your blog to communicate, collaborate and utilize your blog as a catalyst to enhance your relationships. more…

Change Management #2 – Morphing Organizations: The Executive Samurai and Complexity Theory

by Gary Monti, Feb 2, 2010

To take your organization through change, you need to be a “samurai” who is an expert at even-tempered decision-making. You need to be a martial artist in the sense that you need to adapt your methods to circumstances while maintaining core principles. Then, like Zen practitioners, be imperturbable. Now, you can take a tip from complexity theory on how to best organize: let the people do it themselves. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: What you don’t know might hurt you

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 2, 2010

If you are in the blogosphere, you need to keep abreast of the happenings in this arena. This is not any different from other domain like hardware, software, etc. Considerations for your blog should include SEO, RSS feed, mobile accessibility, etc. There are numerous resources like Squidoo: Blogging Starter Checklist that provide you the information – you just need to look for it. more…

Lessons From Our Past

by Guy Ralfe, Feb 3, 2010

A wise man learns from others’ experience, while a fool does not learn even from his own. In the latter case, history repeats itself. Guy narrates his travails with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Over the past five years, rates have increased and service has degraded in some areas. All indicators point to a repeat of what happened in 1897. It would be interesting to see when MBTA wakes up to reality. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: The right tools

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 3, 2010

We all need need the right tools to excel in our professions and blogging is no exception. Some areas where you need to consider using good tools are infrastructure, tracking, subscriptions and optimization. If you don’t consider yourself a geek who is fascinated by tools, get professional help. more…

Information: The Most Precious Thing Your Company Has

by Robert Driscoll, Feb 4, 2010

Cloud computing is one of the most hyped technology currently. Computing is usually compared with electricity as a utility, but that is not a valid comparison. Electricity is a dumb commodity and who cares if it is stolen. But data on the on the other hand is immensely valuable. When moving your organization towards cloud computing, move slowly and start with applications and data that are not the lifeline of your business. Move at the pace of your comfort and not at the pace the providers recommend. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: Blogging stats can be addictive

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 4, 2010

Though it can be addictive to keep watching the traffic stats to your blog grow, that metric is not where the value is. You need to dig deeper and understand where your visitors come from, what posts they are reading, where they click through, etc. These analytics will help you understand your readers better and enable you to position your blog for greater success. more…

Author’s Journey #7 – Who can help you write your book?

by Roger Parker, Feb 5, 2010

When writing non-fiction books, understand that you don’t have to write every single word in your book! You can get help from a variety of sources. Consider co-authors, ghost writers, assistants and crowdsourcing. They provide key benefits of providing a different perspective and efficiency. Before you make the choice, identify your goals, choose the right option and structure the relationship appropriately. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: More help than you will ever need

by Rajesh Setty, Feb 5, 2010

We all need help with everything we do. Same holds true for blogging. Your blogging success depends upon what you are willing to invest in getting help. Your investment could be time to learn it all by yourself, or you could spend money to get good help. Irrespective, don’t forget the opportunity cost of your time or money. The old adage “when the student is ready, the teacher arrives” fits brilliantly with the blogosphere. Are you ready to leverage your blog and open new doors? more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, blogging, BLOGTASTIC!, Business Strategy, Communication, deepika bajaj, Guy Ralfe, Leadership, Magesh Tarala, management, Rajesh Setty, Robert Driscoll, www.activegarage.com

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: Blogging stats can be addictive.

BLOGTASTIC!: More help than you will ever need

When you are starting out, you will need help with your blog. In fact, you will need help throughout your entire journey. The more you know, the more you will realize that you don’t know very much.

The good part is there is always help available. And you can find many different sources. For starters, the works of several smart people are only a click away. Not only can you read what others have written, you may also be able to reach out to those same people for more help. If you make a reasonable request in a way that will mean something to the other person, then chances are that your request will be answered.

You’ll find plenty of help out there. However, your success will be directly related to your initiative and your willingness to invest in that help.

Your investment can simply be any of the following:

Time–to read and learn from the wonderful (and free) information available on the Internet;

Money–some information may come with a financial cost and some information may be available in the form of books or e-books; and

Opportunity cost–When you invest your time and money in your blog, there may be other equally important opportunities that won’t get the attention of your resources.

The old adage “when the student is ready, the teacher arrives” fits brilliantly with the blogosphere.

Are you ready to leverage your blog and open new doors?

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Blogging Tip: On or off the blog, there is a lot of help out there.

Sometimes this help is free, and sometimes it is not. But rarely does this help cost more than what it is worth. In the blogging world, like many things in life, you can try to figure it out on your own–provided you have the time to do so. The earlier you get access to the help, the greater your leverage.

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Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: blogging, blogging help, BLOGTASTIC!, Rajesh Setty, student, teacher

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: The right tools

BLOGTASTIC!: Blogging stats can be addictive.

Blogging can be addictive. Checking blogging stats can be addictive too.

Imagine you’re fascinated with a video game. It might be the newest game, or it might be a classic like Pac Man. At first, it is hard to clear the first level. You invest time mastering the game’s controls and the techniques you need. Eventually, you gain mastery and move forward. You might be rewarded with a cut-scene that reveals more of the story. This process continues until you face the final challenge and win the whole game.

Pac Man, released in 1980, offers 256 levels of fruit gobbling and ghost chases. It took nearly twenty years before anyone achieved what the gaming community agrees is the maximum possible score of 3,333,360 points. This required six hours of perfect game-play without losing a single life on the first 255 boards.

There’s a famous glitch in Pac Man. On level 256, the entire right-hand side of the screen displays garbled graphics with invisible walls and pathways. If you could somehow clear level 256, the game would loop back to level 1 (with greater challenges). Yet, the glitch makes it impossible to clear this final level. There is no way to win the original Pac Man arcade game.

Blogging offers no clearly defined final level. You can blog for years. You can be fascinated by the growth (or non-growth) of the traffic on your blog. Some people might say that they aren’t concerned about numbers, but almost everyone is concerned about results.

Analyzing your blog traffic will help you understand your readers and allow you to move more quickly towards the results you want to achieve. There reasons to be fascinated about blog traffic. Here are just a few of the details you can learn:

• Where do the visitors come from?
• What posts they are reading?
• Where they click through?
• Which posts get linked most?
• Which posts get the most comments?
• Which search terms do people use to find your blog?

Many people experience surprise when they see their blog’s statistics. There is no way to predict the answers to the above questions. You can be pleasantly surprised or disappointed. Nothing is certain. The only way to find out is to keep watching the traffic.

A smart blogger keeps an eye on their blog’s analytics and then learns from the lessons their readers provide them. For example, if you blog on three topics and learn that one topic receives the most links and comments, then your readers are telling you “give us more of this first topic and less of the others.”

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Blogging Tip: Get organized to measure what matters

Playing ball without keeping score can be boring. Whether it’s your blog or your life, you have to measure what matters most. Only then do you get the feedback to make the necessary changes

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Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: addiction, blogging, blogging stats, BLOGTASTIC!, Rajesh Setty, stats

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: What you don’t know might hurt you

BLOGTASTIC!: The right tools

Every professional requires good tools to excel in his or her craft. Blogging is no different. Blogging is a craft. If you are serious about blogging, then use the tools that professionals use for blogging.

Here are some areas where you should consider good tools:

1. Infrastructure:

1.1 Where is your blog hosted? Do they make a backup of the blog?
1.2 What software do you use to blog?
1.3 Do they automatically upgrade the software? Or do you have the resources to keep it up to date?

2. Tracking:

2.1 What analytics software do you use?
2.2. Does it provide real-time analytics?

3. Subscriptions:

3.1 Do you make it easy for users to subscribe to your blog?
3.2 Do you provide subscriptions by email?

4. Optimize:

3.1 What plug-ins should you consider making it easy for your readers?
3.2 Is your blog optimized for search engines?

For an updated list of tools to look at, please visit

Squidoo: Blogging Starter Checklist

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Blogging Tip: Get Professional Help on Tools when Necessary

Unless you are a geek who is fascinated by tools, it may not be worth your time to get to learn every single tool that you need to take your blog to the next level. Get professional help where necessary.

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Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: blogging, BLOGTASTIC!, infrastructure, optimization, Rajesh Setty, subscription, tools, tracking

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: Make more friends in the blogosphere fast!

BLOGTASTIC!: What you don’t know might hurt you

If you are in the blogosphere, then you have to know what is happening. It can be as simple as knowing and using all the technologies needed to take your blog to the next level.

In most cases, the information will be considered common knowledge in the blogopshere. Nobody will tell you about all these things.

Here are some questions to ponder:

• Do you know if your blog is optimized for search engines?
• Have you provided the right options (such as e-mail and RSS) for your users to subscribe to your blog?
• Have you ensured that your blog is accessible via mobile devices?
• Have you incorporated features to prevent spam in your comments?

The good part is that there are no secrets in this business. You can easily seek out the knowledge you need. Just because you do not know something does not mean it’s invaluable. Here’s a short list of things that may be interesting to you.

Squidoo: Blogging Starter Checklist

The above list is short and incomplete. Dig into the blogosphere, and never let a lack of basic knowledge hurt you.

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Blogging Tip: Invest time on being up to date on the blogosphere

The blogosphere changes at a rapid rate. As a blogger, you could focus so much on your blog that you actually ignore what is happening in the blogosphere. Just like you will need to stay current with latest hardware and software, you need to stay in tune with what blogging trends.

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Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: BLOGTASTIC!, knowledge, measurement, Rajesh Setty, tools

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: Increase your capacity to do more good

BLOGTASTIC!: Make more friends in the blogosphere fast!

More than money, ROI will come from blogging relationships. You can quickly create new relationships and deepen existing relationships through your blog.

You can meet new people through face-to-face events, but you can also meet new people through the blogosphere. Both are great ways to meet new people.

Let’s first look at traditional networking events. Suppose you attend a three-hour event, and you have quality conversations with a dozen people. On average, that’s a maximum of fifteen minutes per person. However, you’ll probably have a number of short conversations. So, you might spend ten minutes with twelve people. That’s just a little longer interaction than speed-dating.

During each of these short conversations, you will spend some time speaking and some time listening. You and your new contact will make quick assessments whether to have further conversations with you. Some of these people will become your friends. Networking events certainly work, and face-to-face meetings really can start or cement a relationship.

Now, consider what happens in the blogging world. You immediately expand your ability start conversations with people far and wide. In fact, you can engage in multiple conversations with people across the world—in Glasgow, Mumbai, New York, Krakow, and Rio de Janeiro.

Blogs allow you to carry on conversations with people asynchronously. People can comment on your blog while you’re asleep. When you blog, you leverage your time. With each post, you continue a conversation with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of readers. More importantly, you’re constantly inviting new readers to join your conversation.

Blogging allows you to enter a continuous, global networking event. You’ll expand your ability to meet new people and create surprisingly deep connections. Your blog readers will discover your ideas, attitudes, and insights without even meeting you in person. By reading other blogs, you’ll learn about other bloggers.

Many of my readers have never met me in person, yet they regularly read and comment in my blog. How deep can these relationships become? I have fortunate to have met a set of really great people. Many of my fellow bloggers and I have become close friends through our blogs. When one of us asks for help, the other honors the request with care.

A quick example is the “Quought for the Day” project that I launched in late 2007.

This is the email that I sent out to several of my blogger friends

==================
Dear <>,

First of all, happy holidays to you and your family.

I know you are busy so I will be quick. I maintain a blog called Life Beyond Code where I get a thousands of pageviews a month. I have always believed that it is not always the answers but sometimes asking one good question is what is required to make a difference in a person’s life or business or both. So as we approach the new year, I am posting a series of questions that people should consider asking themselves in 2007 to get more out of their life or business or both. I am reaching out to several influencers like yourself to get those questions.
So, what is the ONE important question a person should ask himself or herself in 2007?

Can I please request you to send me your question so that I can share it with my readers and link back to your blog or website?

I am hoping to run this series day after christmas holidays. Please send your question at your earliest convenience.

Thanks and Best Wishes,
Raj
====================

Many of my blogger friends responded immediately, and some also offered to introduce me to their friends. The project was a huge success in many ways. Readers of my blog were delighted to see so many wonderful questions. My relationship with my blogger friends went up a notch, and last but not the least, every one benefited from the increased traffic.

So, communicate, collaborate, and be nice to people in the blogosphere.

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Blogging Tip: Your blog can act as a catalyst to enhance your relationships

Your blog will help you build the right relationships. Your blog readers self-select themselves when they start following your blog.

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Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: blogosphere, BLOGTASTIC!, friends, Rajesh Setty

Quality #14: Process Improvement and the 3E’s

by Tanmay Vora, Jan 25, 2009

When process improvement initiatives fail, it is typically due to the lack of one or more of the three E’s – Lack of Empowerment, Lack of Education / Training or Lack of Empathy. Upper management needs to show they are serious about process by allocating the right resources. Implementation staff need to understand what they need to do and why. Lastly, there should be realization across the board that one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Focus on the three E’s and your journey will become easier and fun. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: You have to give back!

by Rajesh Setty, Jan 25, 2009

In life or on your blog, there is more joy in giving than getting. Your blog expands your capacity to give. Invest some of your time expanding the capacity of fellow bloggers who need your help. You’ll quickly find that the effort will produce its own rewards. You will quickly realize that the incremental costs will be quite low for you to provide high-value to someone or some cause. more…

Change Management #1 – Leadership: Navigating with an Executive Map and Compass

by Gary Monti, Jan 26, 2010

Welcome! to the first post in the Change Management Series. This blog is a simple user’s guide to a change management map, compass, and navigation method. We will look at their make-up and how they work. Later blogs will go deeper into how they work.

In this post Gary talks about the three essential components required to lead your company through change – The Map, the Compass and the Navigation Method. In an ever changing environment (the map), you need to be able to adhere to your values (the compass) and adapt your (navigation) methods to reach the goal. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: Say more than “me too.”

by Rajesh Setty, Jan 26, 2009

You may come across blogs with great content and you may link to them. But if you don’t have anything original to say, your links won’t help much. It’s like giving somebody free movie tickets to a bad movie! Understand that the “me too” comments and links only add to the noise and don’t add value to the conversation. more…

Performance comes from Performing People

by Guy Ralfe, Jan 27, 2009

An organization’s goals and an individual’s aspiration will both be successful only if they intersect with each other. Guy illustrates this point in this blog through his recent experience on an airport ramp waiting to get into a plane undergoing tests to make sure the aircraft is clear to fly. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: All about comments

by Rajesh Setty, Jan 27, 2009

How do you create online conversations? Well, in the blogosphere, you do it via comments. Leaving comments on other blogs is a powerful mechanism to build traffic to your blog, build your credibility and in the process build valuable relationships. But before you start commenting, be sure to learn the basic commenting etiquette. more…

When Securing Your Data and Network, Just Look Inside

by Robert Driscoll, Jan 28, 2009

When securing data and network, the most obvious threats to guard against are the external intrusions. Studies have shown time and again that a great number of attacks originate from internal sources. You can safeguard against these risks by constantly reviewing your security policies, following a stringent hiring process and having more than one administrator for critical systems. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: The ultimate leverage engine

by Rajesh Setty, Jan 28, 2009

Whatever you do offline, you can leverage your online presence to your benefit. For example, you can use your blog to generate business or get speaking engagements. What you get out of it depends entirely upon you. You can read a good book and get nothing out of it. Or you can be moved to change the rest of your life. Same thing holds true for your blog. more…

Author’s Journey #6 – What’s the best size for your book?

by Roger Parker, Jan 29, 2009

Common thinking triggered by the word “book” is the long and never ending text books in school and college. Not true anymore. With the dawn of twitter and blogs, smaller books from 140 to 160 pages are popular. It takes less time to create, the cost to publish is lower and also the books are more focused. The trend is not to “tell all” but tell just what’s needed. more…

BLOGTASTIC!: Increase your capacity to do more good

by Rajesh Setty, Jan 29, 2009

You can use your blog for good causes too. In this post Rajesh talks about David Armano’s experience in raising money for a woman who recently separated from an abusive husband – through his blog. This illustrates that your blog can change who you are, your blog can change who your readers are and best of all, your blog can change the world! more…

Magesh is an accomplished software professional focused on building enterprise value through creative use of technology. Magesh enjoys working with people and is passionate about bringing out the best in everybody to achieve results that are larger than the sum of individual accomplishments.

Tagged as: active garage, BLOGTASTIC!, business, business planning, Business Strategy, execution, Guy Ralfe, himanshu jhamb, Magesh Tarala, Rajesh Setty, Robert Driscoll, Strategy, tanmay vora, Twitter, www.activegarage.com

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: The ultimate leverage engine

BLOGTASTIC!: Increase your capacity to do more good

Imagine you are running a newspaper. Would you be willing to donate some space in the newspaper to a charitable cause once in a while? You probably would. Well, your blog is a media asset—whatever your circulation. A simple way to do good is to reserve some real estate on your blog to a charitable cause. Here is a story that touched my heart and demonstrates this point beautifully

David Armano serves as SVP of Edelman Digital. When he is not busy with his work, he blogs at Logic+Emotion. On Jan 6, 2009, David posted a message on his blog and titled “Please help us help Daniela’s family”)

Here are a few snippets from the post. You can read the entire post at
Logic+Emotion: Please help us help Daniella’s family

…Daniela is divorcing her spouse after years of abuse. In recent years her mortgage went unpaid and she’s lost her house.

Here’s what we are asking. Right now, Belinda and I are opening our home, but it’s tight as we have no basement. We’ve committed to giving as much as we can spare, diverting funds from other places. I’m asking if you could think about doing the same. Or at the very least, helping get the word out about this. We are looking to raise 5k for Daniela and her family. Enough so that she doesn’t have to worry about a deposit or rent for a while.

I know this is the worst possible time to ask for anything. But would you consider the following:

1. Giving whatever you can (“Chip in” uses Pay Pal and it’s very easy to donate and it’s secure)
2. Spread the word. Please, please blog this, tweet this, re-tweet this.
3. Help find a donor (maybe a generous company or individual)

I don’t have anything to offer back. Not an ego list or top donators directory. I can only hope that this thing we call “community” puts its money or heart where its mouth is…

Respectfully, David and family

I heard about this when my friend Liz Strauss re-tweeted a message for help. After doing my part, donating for the cause, I watched the story spread like a wildfire on the blogs and twitter.

As David himself would say in his subsequent blog post

Last night, all of us including Daniela sat in awe as my Tweetdeck went off all night long. Within hours, we saw her name rise to the number one spot of trending topics beating out CES and Apple’s product announcement. Translation? A LOT of you were talking about this and I was at a loss for words for how to explain this phenomenon to Daniela.

Long story short. David was wanting to raise $5K to help Daniela and in less than two days, they had raised $15,910.60 (318% more than the target)

It was a story that brought tears in my eyes. Hats off to David for leveraging his blog and his influence via other channels (most notably Twitter) to engage in a project like this. He set an example of how a blog could be used to increase our capacity to do good.

Here are a few more ways to do something good and meaningful:

• Provide a voice to people who are trying to spread a good message or important social issue;
• Dedicate part of the proceeds from your blog to your favorite charity;
• Invite people with great messages to write guest posts; or
• Announce your own affiliations to charitable causes—some of your fans may decide to support it too.

If you can only remember only three things about blogging, here they are:

1. Your blog can change who you are;
2. Your blog can change who your readers are; and
3. Your blog can change the world!

Don’t forget the importance of the third point. Make your blog impactful beyond just you and your readership.

Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: blogging, BLOGTASTIC!, daniella, david armano, doing good, Rajesh Setty

This is part of the the book BLOGTASTIC! Growing and Making a Difference Through Blogging. You can read the table of contents and follow the book on this page:

See the table of contents for the book here: BLOGTASTIC project

Previous article: All about comments

BLOGTASTIC!: The ultimate leverage engine

You can use your blog as an outlet for your thoughts and ideas or you can make it something more.

Here are a few examples of what you can do:

• If you are an aspiring author, you can plan, design, and author a book using the blog (blook = blog + book). This very book originally took its shape as a series of articles on my blog–Life Beyond Code.

• If you want to start small, you can first start by publishing an e-book based on a series of your blog posts.

• You can plan your blog to be a portal to your life—linking to other places on the web where you have a presence.

• You can conduct a blog carnival and invite participation from bloggers around the world for articles on a particular topic.

• You can generate leads to your other businesses and/or use it as a platform to get speaking engagements.

Whatever you are getting out of your blog today, you can get more with some planned effort online (doing things on your blog and other outlets and linking them) and planned effort offline (doing something about your identity).

Think about new ideas yourself or brainstorm with people who are knowledgeable in the area for more ideas. But ultimately, please take action on one or more of those ideas.

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Blogging Tip: What you get out of something depends on you

On one hand, you could read a good book and get nothing out of it. On the other hand, you can be touched and moved and change the rest of your life. The same book can produce different results. Your blog is the same. You can be an “also ran” blogger, or you can use your blog to greatly enhance your power and influence. It is completely up to you.

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Rajesh Setty is an entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Silicon Valley. He maintains another blog called Life Beyond Code and tweets as @UpbeatNow

Tagged as: blogging rewards, BLOGTASTIC!, leverage, Rajesh Setty