Read my lips!  The sun and warmth of central Florida does wonders for one’s soul.  I recommend a mid-January retreat for everyone.  Even when the cell phone and laptop are in tow - it’s great to get away even when business is part of the strategy.

We’re down to the 3rd commandment of Don Zak’s 10 Blogging commandments, and I’m not sure I’ve risen to his standard for this one.  He says we need to make everything easy to read and access.  We’re instructed to keep our visual aesthetics simple and put “flagship” content at the forefront.  There are, of course, the typical marketing strategies one would expect: inform your blog readers on the home page and direct them to what you consider your most significant blog posts; point out your top 10 comments posts in a prominent place so first-time visitors can quickly access material that others have found interesting and valuable.  If you notice on our blog, there are incoming links from other websites that are linked to ours through RSS feeds.  Subscribe to the top blog ranking sites, such as Technorati and place their widget on your blog.

So much for the technical ’stuff’ of the Zak series.  What’s most important is that our blog conversations meet the needs of our readers.  If it doesn’t no matter of aesthetics, readability or access makes any difference.  It’s important to know what our readers want to know - want to learn.  Just like political campaigns, blog owners and writers have to connect with their readers at the ‘gut’ level.  It’s less about what we say and more how we say it!

We’ve talked about sharing some of our personal history when blogging.  It’s equally important to be candid and transparent as well.  That may sound strange if your blogging to promote a product or services; but the truth is that we do business and form relationships with others we trust.  And trust grows as we get to know each other at a deeper and more personal level.

Well today is our first full day in the city beautiful, and I look forward to reconnecting with team members in this area.  Also looking forward to meeting with a group of women interested in launching an early Affiliated Women in the MarketPlace network in this area and that’s exciting.  Keep our efforts here in your prayers.

Tomorrow and Saturday, I’ll summarize the rest of the 10 blogging commandments as the remaining ones are less “sexy” (hard to write creatively about) and next week we’ll move to new matters related to moving through the new year with renewed vigor.

Until then, stay tuned and stay connected.  Have an awesome day with much love and many blessings.

  Linda