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I have a 6-month old. His name is Phoenix. He is changing so fast that I can’t keep up with the new adjustments. Sometimes I find myself holding him with one hand and typing with the other. He wants to crawl, so he’s now crawling and getting into cords, and lately he’s been pulling himself up onto and over things.
Today he wasn’t happy unless he was on the ground, but he was crawling over the barricades I’d created out of pillows, so I had to keep picking him up. He wasn’t happy in his jumper, and I can’t work holding him, so we packed up and went to Gramma’s house across town.
Thank God for Gramma. Read more
Watch Maile Ohye from Google teach Search engine optimization in 10 minutes.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El3IZFGERbM?rel=0]
Marie Forleo said “If it’s not on your calendar, it doesn’t exist”, and as much as I want to make fun of her for her cheesy factor, I just can’t because that bit really helped me clean out my brain and take on more in my busy life.
Here are the top 3 ways to schedule effectively.
1. The right tools
A Master List
Yes, another cheesy term. Quit making fun of me , this shit works. You should have one master to-do that you write everything on. Not 400 post-its, and not one new calendar per month (because you accidentally messed up on one page and it ruined the whole calendar) ONE LIST. It’s hard and it will kill you at first, but believe me- do my system and you’ll be forever grateful.
A Calendar
So you have one list that you can then transfer to your calendar (and mini lists if you can’t handle it). For my master list ( and every single other thing I write down) I use evernote. For scheduling I use google calendar because it syncs with all my devices and has color-coded categories that you can show or hide. Try and use one calendar. That’s the whole point. STICK WITH ONE CALENDAR. I’m not yelling, I’m emphasizing.
2. Consistency
Stick with it for a little while. Let yourself get into the groove of it. Get familiar with the app or calendar or list you’re using and get into a groove. You’ll know when you’re in the groove , and if the system isn’t working it’s okay, but when you switch apps or calendars make sure you transfer everything to the new system so it’s seamless.
A big part of this is having a grasp on the new system. If it’s overwhelming or annoying you won’t do it, so find something that works best for you . While you’re finding the perfect fit, don’t forget that your list is still there waiting for you. There is still stuff on your calendar that is happening whether you have it written down or not.
3. Follow Through
Okay, so you have your system that you love. Your shiny new app, your organized calendar ( and ps: how perfect is an old tattered calendar with a thousand notes and scribbles and papers in it? It feels worn-in and useful) So you should know your schedule without even looking at your calendar , or at least have a pretty good idea of what’s happening. The reason I love Google Calendars is because you can filter by category and see only what’s pertinent to whatever it is you’re working on. For example when I’m working on catching up on my shows, I can just click the pink box and it will show me what shows are coming up that week. (The most important thing; after all, is The Real Housewives)
And that’s it! Do it. There’s only one way to succeed and that is to find something that works, and DO IT. If you don’t actually do it, it’s useless.
Humans are like gardens, we need to be pruned and refreshed. Every now and then I like to rejuvenate my life and remind myself of my core values. Here are my 3 phases to a life-facelift.
Phase 1 : Push Out Suffering:
Make room for new opportunities. Purge your emotional, mental , and physical self of old, useless, or negative energy.
Emotional cleansing involves releasing negative thoughts or feelings that wreak havoc on your emotional well-being. Tools to clean out your heart could include burning ceremonies, therapy, and visualization exercises. Read more
If you’re in a funk, the chances are that you probably can’t quit your job or walk off like you really want to. The good news is YOU CAN GET THROUGH IT, but you have to follow my 5 step plan on handling burnout.
This could have been called “what to do with your product or services page”, but basically I want to show you awesome ways in which you can layout and design the page which tells your viewer what they get from you. The goal of the services page is to inform your viewer what it is that you can do for them whether or not you include prices on your website. Ultimately, the goal of the whole website is to get the viewer’s money, so it’s important to do a lot of planning and background thinking about how the most effective way to set up your services page is. Read more
This could have been called “what to do with your product or services page”, but basically I want to show you awesome ways in which you can layout and design the page which tells your viewer what they get from you.
The goal of the services page is to inform your viewer what it is that you can do for them whether or not you include prices on your website.
Ultimately, the goal of the whole website is to get the viewer’s money, so it’s important to do a lot of planning and background thinking about how the most effective way to set up your services page is. Read more
I am on chapter 3 of Neil Patel’s free Content Marketing Guide — Get it here. The site is a little bit salesy with a ton of calls to action, but if content marketing is your gig (and it should be because it’s free Search Engine Optimization) then this guide is for you. It touches on all kinds of marketing , from keyword analysis to competitive research & it’s designed really cute.
Tell me if you get it and if you like it.
[x_button shape=”square” size=”regular” float=”none” href=”http://quicksprout.uberflip.com/i/132540-the-advanced-content-marketing-guide” title=”Neil Patel’s Advanced Guide to Content Marketing” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Get the guide[/x_button]
Here’s what he says in the article with the free guide:
You already know that content marketing is the new SEO, but how do you do it? There are a lot of guides on the Internet that talk about it, but no one breaks it down from A to Z.
That is why I decided to write The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing along with the help from our Crazy Egg blog editor, Kathryn Aragon.
Here’s what is covered in this 40,000-word guide:
- Introduction – a break down of what you are going to learn.
- Chapter 1: Build a Strong Foundation – why not make those important content marketing decisions now so you can lay a strong foundation? In this chapter, you’ll get to know your objectives, your target audience and your content strategy. You’ll also learn the technology and work flow that will help you meet your objectives.
- Chapter 2: Generate Clickable Ideas – having a content marketing plan isn’t enough. You need to be able to generate enough content ideas to keep you going for months, if not years. This chapter will teach you how to generate ideas for any industry.
- Chapter 3: How to Plan Your Content For Maximum Productivity – there are a lot of time-consuming aspects of content marketing. If you can’t figure out how to make the most of your time, you’ll find yourself drowning in content creation. This chapter will teach you how to be productive.
- Chapter 4: Learn to Write Content Like a Pro – I’ve blogged in the past about how I write my content, but now I’ve created a whole chapter on how you can become an excellent writer like Seth Godin.
- Chapter 5: 12 Content Writing Secrets of The Professionals – in this chapter you’ll learn what separates the pros from the beginners. If you want to be a great content marketer, you have to follow the secrets of the pros.
- Chapter 6: Templates for Quick and Easy Content Creation – people have written content on all sorts of topics in different styles. There’s no point in recreating the wheel, which is why I help you templatize everything.
- Chapter 7: Overcoming Common Content Marketing Roadblocks – sooner or later you’re going to get stuck. Whether it’s on the creation side, the promotion side or within any other phase of content marketing, this chapter will teach you how to overcome the roadblocks you’ll run into sooner or later.
- Chapter 8: The Other Side of Content Creation: Optimize for Search – Google and Bing can drive a lot of traffic. If you want your content to do well, you need to write it for humans and rank it on search engines.
- Chapter 9: Promoting Your Content to Increase Traffic, Engagement, and Sales – if you can’t generate revenue from your content marketing efforts, you won’t be doing it for too long. This chapter will teach you how to get an ROI from your marketing.
- Chapter 10: Driving Business Objectives With Content: 5 Simple Strategies for Monetizing Your Content – in this chapter, you’ll learn five methods for monetizing your content without advertising. Not all of them will work for every business, but all of them are valuable strategies that are being used successfully by other content marketers.
Click here to read The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing.
Conclusion
My hope is that you like The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing. As time goes on, I’ll try to keep the guide updated with the latest and greatest tactics. If you see anything that needs to be fixed, feel free to leave a comment below.
P.S. Don’t forget to tweet about The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing.
P.P.S. You would be doing me a HUGE FAVOR by reading The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing, sharing it via Twitter and Facebook, and by leaving me a comment to let me know what you think.
