Posts Tagged ‘Rajesh Setty’

For the 4^th time in my life I am resigning and taking a step into the unknown world of no job. This time I am doing it on a small scale, I am only moving my family across 8 states and not between continents. I don’t know what it is – maybe we just have a strong nomadic gene!

I have been working at Maconomy for a little over 3 ¼ years and am closing the door on the most exciting, hectic, challenging and learning chapter in my career. I would like to say a big Thank You to all at Maconomy who have pushed, supported, helped and laughed with me. If  you think you have the heart and attitude to be a business consultant, there are few finer places to refine your skills than at Maconomy

Before I lose you  – this is not about my career, but rather the reflections about making the decision to move and how vital networks and tribes are to being able to perform such drastic moves. For a long while I have had the ambition to branch out and become an entrepreneur but the opportunity has just never seemed to be there (bad luck?). But suddenly this opportunity has presented itself (luck?) and it makes sense to the point that I am willing to trade one tribe for another and turn the world I know upside down.

I hear people saying “you are lucky” and my response has often been “you make your own luck” and I speculate that there is a close resemblance between luck and the company we keep. There is  a lot of talk around tribes in the social networking space which may be a key to how an opportunity appears as suddenly available. I have had the ambition to start a business venture for the longest while, but what has lacked is another tribe in which I have been able to create an identity in which the opportunity can be exposed. Once this opportunity was exposed and I assessed I could coexist within the new tribe the natural movement is to make the transition. Rajesh Setty posted a great article on why nice people will win – the realization of this opportunity for me is just a positive consequence of making those connections and maintaining an existence to another networked tribe.

We have to have an identity and a presence with which people can make a connection and assessments across our networks. If we do not have this people will not think of us and we will just blend into the crowd and the opportunity will pass us by …and be snatched up by the colorful and loud person nearby! This is why it is so important to ensure we maintain a presence in the social networks we choose, and to leave an impression with those we meet and interact with.

Another similar example was our saleslady, who wished to make contact with a company. After a search on LinkedIn she found out that I was connected to someone who had worked at the company. This person had just sent me a LinkedIn invite after a ½ day meeting we had had some 8 months earlier. I really was not sure he would remember me, but I reached out to him to see if he could make an introduction. Surprisingly, he did remember me and was willing to help make an introduction. That is seizing the opportunity …not Luck!

So go make some noise, post a status update, tweet, call someone – get out there and pick your opportunity – Dance for your tribe!

This article was contributed by Guy Ralfe, co-founder of Active Garage and co-author of the upcoming book "ProjectManagementTweets". You can follow Guy on Twitter at gralfe.

Tagged as: active garage, Branding, business, Communication, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Guy Ralfe, networks, presence, Rajesh Setty, Social Media, social networks, tribe

The best way to achieve writing success is to cultivate the habits shared by successfully branded authors. As Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt wrote in their highly-recommended The Power of Focus, “Your daily habits determine your success.”

In previous Author Journey articles, I’ve described several of the habits that contribute to writing a successful book. These have included:

• ŸTargeting. This involves identifying your most desired readers [1]and writing the book that they want. [2]
• Positioning. By analyzing existing books, [3] you can identify the “book that hasn’t been written yet.”
• Efficiency. Success requires you to selecting the right publishing alternative, [4] the right size & format, [5] plus a topic permits you to leverage previously-written content. [6]

Putting theory into practice

This week, I’d like to describe how the above habits influenced the decisions I made selecting the topic, publisher, and format for my next book, #Book Title Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Article, Book, and Event Titles

Hopefully, this installment will help you apply the habits of targeting, positioning, and efficiency when you commit to writing a book to drive your business and career success.

Targeting

I had two goals in writing #Book Title Tweet:

• Membership incentive. I wanted to create a tangible membership sign-up bonus I could send to new Published & Profitable members.
• Credibility & Visibility. I also wanted to attract the attention of potential coaching clients who might be having a hard time selecting a topic and title for their book. I enjoy online coaching and brainstorming activities, especially when they involve critical decisions at the start of a project.

A printed book provides an excellent premium for Published & Profitable. It can be used for both member acquisition and member retention. (I can have it sent when members sign-up, or I can send it at the end of the third month.)

As a marketing tool, #Book Title Tweet will attract qualified prospects at the starting point of their journey to a published book. It targets a “pain point” that holds back the success of many authors.

Positioning

#Book Title Tweet was also “right” from the positioning point of view. Although every book (hopefully) has a title, there’s not that much available that focuses specifically on choosing effective book titles.

The closest book I could locate was Sam Horn’s POP!: Create the Perfect Pitch, Title, and Tagline for Anything, [7] which is a very fine book that appeared last year. I really enjoyed it, but it’s not specifically aimed a book titles. It’s more of a guide to memorable expressive names that can be applied to book titles, than a book about choosing a book title.

Sam’s book is also a 256-page book, and I wanted something a more accessible in our current time-strapped environment.

So, a book on book titles made sense from the point of a broad market with little specific competition. (There are, of course, books about titles for fiction books, but I wanted to target business-oriented authors of nonfiction books.)

Efficiency

I’m like everyone else. I don’t have enough time. So, like everyone else, I’m searching for manageable projects that won’t become time traps or energy-draining albatrosses.

I was initially skeptical when I first heard about Rajesh Setty’s #Think Tweet: 140 lessons for a bite-sized world. However, when I read it, I realized that this was exactly the right format for my book. Here’s why:

• Most books are longer than they need to be. They’re also longer than time-sensitive readers want their books to be. As I read #Think Tweet, I realized that Twitter has shown us all that it’s possible to communicate a lot in just 140 characters.
• It’s the ideas, the “sparks of recognition,” that count! Books with 140 ideas that can be immediately put to work are more valuable than books that share 10 or 12 ideas in exhausting detail. A concise presentation of options can be more valuable than discussing every detail.

The need for conciseness is not going to go away. It’s a sign of the times. We’re likely to continue to be subjected to greater time demands for years to come.

Note: It’s not that there’s no need for books that offer in-depth analysis and detailed explanation. It’s just that, for this particular project, and for many similar projects, shorter is better!

Existing content

A final reason to write a book in the #Tweet format [8] is that I could leverage my passion as well as my previous research and existing content about the essentials of successful book titles.

To accomplish my goals of creating a tangible membership premium and attracting writers in the early stages of choosing a book title, I could rely on my previously written articles, blogs, newsletters, presentations, and reports. This efficiency would help me get my book into print faster, without taking inappropriate amounts of time from my other projects.

Conclusion

The habits of writing success can be easily stated in terms of targeting, positioning and efficiency, plus, of course, consistent daily progress. After you have committed to writing a book to drive your business and career success, progress writing your book comes quickly when you put the habits of successfully-published authors to work writing your book.

To learn more about the habits of writing success, subscribe to Roger C. Parker’s daily writing tips blog and visit Published & Profitable’s Active Garage Resource Page [9] which offers several writing resources and tips. You can also a downloadable PDF mind map of the Author Journey series

[1] http://www.activegarage.com/authors-journey-2-how-to-target-the-right-readers-for-your-book

[2] http://www.activegarage.com/authors-journey-3-what-should-you-write-about

[3] http://www.activegarage.com/authors-journey-4-how-to-research-your-books-competition

[4] http://www.activegarage.com/authors-journey-5-choosing-the-right-publishing-alternative

[5] http://www.activegarage.com/authors-journey-6-whats-the-best-size-for-your-book

[6] http://www.activegarage.com/authors-journey-8-how-much-of-your-book-have-you-already-written

[7] http://www.amazon.com/POP-Create-Perfect-Tagline-Anything/dp/0399533613/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266248625&sr=8-1

[8] http://www.happyabout.com/thinkaha/

[9] http://www.publishedandprofitable.com/public/564.cfm
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Roger C. Parker helps business professionals write brand-building, thought-leadership books. He’s written over 30 books, offers writing tools at Published&Profitable, and posts writing tips each weekday. His next book is Title Tweet! 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Article, Book, and Event Titles.

Tagged as: active garage, author's journey, business writing, Rajesh Setty, roger parker, thinktweet, Writing for Business

Executives leading change are in a situation much like Moses’ when leading the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land. There is the desire for relief from the constant complaining. The loss of resolve or simply being tired can create a yearning for a quick fix or a simple solution. One of the most common forms of giving in to this temptation is clinging to misconceptions regarding technology and its benefits.

Two of the deadliest misconceptions are the belief technology by itself solves problems and the belief human nature changes with new technology. Sales agents can play upon this by proposing something that has the phrase, “All you have to do is…”

So, before you part with your hard-earned money for the latest-and-greatest system let’s look closer at these sweet, deadly poisons and their remedies.

Misconception: Technology Solves Problems

The assumption with this misconception is the problem and the solution are external to the people and organization. Somehow the problem and solution are separate from individual ownership of risks and responsibilities associated with change. Problems will go away by signing a purchase order or contract. A false sense of confidence develops proportional to the blindness present. The situation is similar to the person speeding down the freeway without a map. They don’t know where they are going but they sure are making great time! Typically, in the end everyone is miserable and unhappy. The client scapegoats the vendor and the vendor says the client provided no direction and needs change orders.

Remedy: Solve the Problem First

Technology doesn’t solve problems, people solve problems. For a successful implementation of technology in a changing environment first focus on the principles discussed in the previous two blogs:

1. Change Management #1: Leadership: Navigating with an executive map and compass
2. Change Management #2: Morphing Organizations: The executive samurai and complexity theory

Work with your teams to know where you want to go, build a map of the business terrain, build a plan, and organize your people to move towards the goals.

This begs the question, “If it’s not the solution just what is technology?” The answer is in the word itself. The root for “technology” is the Greek word “techne,” which means, “to craft, to build, to put form to, to bring into existence.” In other words it’s a means to an end not an end in itself. It is a tool for building the solution.

Briefly, what you want to do is solve the problem first (functional specification) then pick the vehicle for expressing it (technical design specification).

Misconception: Technology Changes Human Nature

This misconception assumes providing an external something will improve people’s attitudes, sense of responsibility, and performance.  Cooperation will spontaneously increase with new technology.

Remedying: Resolve Political Problems First

The reality is most people resist change and want to hold on to their personal agendas. I discovered this in the first few years of operating my business. Networks were at its heart. Some clients were a dream and others were nightmares. These differences influenced my answer to an apparently simple question, “What is a network?” The best answer, the one that made the most sense and was immediately understood was, “A network is a hard-wired political system.” Laughter ensued.

With change the concern for self increases and people become stressed. Stress can lead to unpredictable behavior. Even small, unpredictable behaviors can be quite serious in complex, changing situations. Why? Small behaviors can have a disproportionately large impact on a complex system by pushing it past a tipping point. For example, in November, 2001, at the largest airport in the world, Atlanta Hartsfield, a Georgia college student passed through security then ran back through it and down an escalator to get a camera bag left in a coffee shop. September 11, 2001, was two, short months ago. Security reacted quickly, shutting down the terminal. The domino effect shut down almost all flying in the United States for the rest of the day.

This brings up a second answer to the question, “What is technology?” The answer is, “Technology is an amplifier. Applied properly it can make a good situation better. Misapplied, it can make a bad situation worse.” In the end, the more time spent getting everyone on board with the change management process and associated technology the better.

In the next blog we will look at team building and dealing with the challenges of human nature.

If you benefited from reading this, have any comments, would like more information or are simply as interested in change management as I am send an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or visit www.ctrchg.com.

With over 30 years experience, Gary Monti consults/teaches/mentors/speaks in change management and project management with a focus on compassion and respect in the workplace. The work is grounded in project management, chaos and complexity theories combined with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Tagged as: active garage, Branding, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, leaders, management, possibilities, Rajesh Setty, Strategy, technology, 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