Sunday 29 March 2015

Motivational Words #1 stickers

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to customize or personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram on it - why not have a look-see right now?


tagged with: motivational words,, motivation,, positive thinking,, positive attitude,, encouragement,, positive outlook,, hrbstslr,, word art,, stickers,, peel off

Motivational Words series Be positive! Here's a great design using motivational word art that could subtly and subconsciously help you improve your outlook and attitude. Each time you look at these influencing words, you should get a little reminder and a small positive boost!
more items featuring these motivational words
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»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this

Editing for People Who Love to Write… Too Much

Blogging with purpose

original post »

If you’re anything like me, you love words. You love prose, you love language, you love how a perfectly-constructed sentence can say so much more than just letters put in order.

If you’re unlike me, however, you love to use lots of words, and write mountains of prose.

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I know it’s hard not to get carried away, telling everyone everything you’ve ever wanted to say about a subject. Especially online, when blogs are creative outlets, and there are no restraints or word counts. But having been on the reading end of waffly posts (particularly when I haven’t got too much time to spare), I’ve realised the old adage “less is more” really does ring true.

Does that mean you can’t write long-form posts because they bore readers? No! It means write them well.  Make each of those 2000+ words count.

But how do you self-edit when you feel as though every word is important? I’m so glad you asked! Let’s find out:

Tips for Self-Editing

Follow Stephen King’s Number-One Tip

I wrote about his method of editing here, but it’s basically getting some space between you and your work. Stephen King puts his work (literally) in a drawer, and comes back a couple of months later to edit and tweak. You can come back sooner than that, but fresh eyes and a clear head make a world of difference when it comes to editing. Still unconvinced? You won’t be after you read the post!

You really can’t edit while you write, go straight from writing to editing, or edit the same day. Give it some time.

Can you say it in fewer words?

Twitter is great training for this (thanks to its 140-character limit), as was being a journalist – cutting unnecessary words makes for cleaner copy, there’s just no way around it. I’ll bet there are plenty of sentences you can streamline to pack a powerful punch in less letters.

Read it Aloud

You’ll be surprised how much your writing can sound perfectly fine in your head, but be totally disjointed when you read it aloud. You’ll notice those times when your sentences run on, where you might need a comma, or where you’ve repeated a word too often.

Print it Out

Reading on a screen, no matter how many times you’ve done it or how comfortable you are with it, is still so different to reading words in print. Your accuracy in identifying errors is far greater when you have a hard copy to refer to, especially when it comes to finding visually similar mistakes. If you’re working on something that has to have the highest degree of accuracy, print it out, grab a pencil or a highlighter, and get to work.

Look for the Most Obvious

In your first read-over, search for the glaring errors – the typos, the spelling errors, that one time where you got your their/there mixed up, the visual formatting (how did that sentence get down there?), and any time you’ve written in passive voice. Pay special attention to apostrophes – most of the time they don’t need to be there. If it’s a possession or a contraction, fine, but keep them out of where they don’t belong.

Further Reading: Five Quick Grammar Tips to Improve Your Writing (Plus Free Downloadable Cheat Sheet)

Turn it Around

You’ll be surprised how much clearer a sentence can be if you flip it. Especially if you have that gut feeling that it’s too long or there’s something not quite right about it. Passive sentences can really disrupt your flow.

“In one day, a month’s worth of blog posts were written by me.”

Sounds so much better (and uses less words and has more of an effect on the reader) if it’s written:

“I wrote a month’s worth of blog posts in one day.”

There now, you’ve turned a passive sentence into a punchy, active one, losing extraneous words in the process. Well done!

Done is Better than Perfect

You could spend days tweaking your posts. You add, you take away, you add back, you switch around, you make eight versions of the headline in case one works better. Sometimes you end up going around in circles because you’re so into it now you can’t see straight, and your perspective is all off.

You just have to put your foot down and publish!

As a journalist, we had a ready-made cutoff – it didn’t matter how much you had fiddled with your story, at some point it had to go to the printer, like it or not. Set yourself a cutoff, and remember – blogging gives you the gift of updating your post after publication if you really feel it needs it.

If you’ve followed Point One, I can almost guarantee you’ll find something!

Try it… You’ll Like it

If you’re unsure about a paragraph (or even a sentence), open a new document. Cut and paste all those “maybe” paragraphs into the document, and read your original post in its shortened form. Still think it could do with those words? Add them back in, no harm done. (Are you SURE, though?!)

Fact Check

It’s all very well and good to write something to convince people of your message, but you need stats to back it up. Ensure that all the numbers, anecdotes, and information you’ve included can be verified. Make sure there’s links to further information to help the reader understand your post, and to see the proof for themselves.

One top tip I learned is that if you’ve got questions, your reader will too. Wherever have made a bold claim, link to where you got your information. If you think that someone reading your post would benefit from your primary sources, then include them.

Harden Up

I know your work is precious. You’ve put a lot of effort into it. Your blog post is the culmination of hours of research, years of learning, numerous mistakes. You have a lot to say, and you think all of it is necessary.

It’s probably not.

There might be a place where you’ve repeated yourself. You might be able to make your point just as validly, but in fewer words. Some anecdotes, while funny, just won’t fit. Harden up and get rid of the bits that just aren’t working. There’s nothing stopping you from using that information in a future post, but your job here is to look at your work with a critical eye and make it the best it can be. How would you edit this if it was someone else’s work? What bits would you cut out in order to make your story better? Do that. You won’t regret it.

Do you love to write too much? We've got some solid tips for self-editing to help cut the waffle and write clean / problogger.net

 

So tell me – do you find editing hard? Or are you constantly looking over everything you read with your editor hat on? (that can be just as bad – it’s harder to get lost in a story when you’re always getting tripped up by writing errors). What’s your best tip for self-editing?

Stacey is the Managing Editor of ProBlogger.net: a writer, blogger, and full-time word nerd balancing it all with being a stay-at-home mum. She writes about all this and more at Veggie Mama. Chat with her on Twitter @veggie_mama or be entertained on Facebook.

Helpful Links

9 Crucial Tips for Self-Editing Your Blog Posts

How to Use Google in the Most Unusual Way to Make Your Self-Editing Faster and Better

How You Can Make Your Writing Twice as Fast by Making it 3 Times More Time Consuming. Wait, What?

Hemingway App highlights common errors, long sentences, and grammatical issues that need attention. It also helpfully colour-codes the changes to be made. If you write a lot, you might find this useful.

Grammarly has pretty hardcore algorithms to not only find spelling mistakes, but contextual spelling errors too.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

Editing for People Who Love to Write… Too Much

Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

Editing for People Who Love to Write… Too Much
 #bloggingtips 

A New Series of Water-Activated Illustrations and Games on Seattle Sidewalks Only Appear When It Rains

Fun and Random

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Famous for its notoriously rainy weather, Seattle is the perfect home for this new series of water-activated interactive artworks, illustrations, and hidden messages that only appear when wet. Titled Rainworks, the invisible pieces by Seattle-based artist Peregrine Church started popping up last year. Each installation is made from an environmentally safe, water-repellant coating that lasts anywhere from 4 months to a year. You can see more here. (via Vandalog, Metafilter)

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/rIDe6AOKxNY/

Sponsor // PurePhoto Installs Photographic World of Wonder at LA Boutique Hotel

Fun and Random

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Fine art photography gallery PurePhoto and Farmer’s Daughter Hotel owner Ellen Picataggio—an avid art collector—recently collaborated on a custom photography installation by conceptual artist Matthew Carden.

LA’s best kept secret, this charming 60-room boutique hotel in Hollywood boasts world-class comfort food, a relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere, and best of all an art gallery spanning the property featuring work by local artists.

Carden painstakingly creates exotic worlds of miniature figures that live amongst food-based landscapes. The photographs line Farmer’s Daughter’s hallways, and are also included in Picataggio’s art box project, which features over 40 local artists; one per room.

Carden’s full body of work can be seen on PurePhoto, which represents over 300 additional photographers. PurePhoto’s clients include top interior designers and collectors, and the gallery specializes in printing large-scale works and custom installations. The PurePhoto collection offers open and limited edition photographs, which range from $200 – $15,000.

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/vZxcOarurow/

Saturday 28 March 2015

Motivational Words #2 badge / button

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to customize or personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram on it - why not have a look-see right now?


tagged with: badges, motivational words, motivation, positive thinking, positive attitude, encouragement, positive outlook, word art, values, hrbstslr

Motivational Words series Give some positivity! Here's a great design using motivational word-art. Each time you look at them, you should get a subtle positive boost!!

more items featuring these motivational words
more items in the Motivational Words series

Image code: mowds2

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this

Thursday 26 March 2015

Cute ponies for the bedroom and school

Bay Cartoon Horse Gallery Wrap CanvasHorse head cartoon MacBook sleevesHorse head cartoon messenger bags

Cute ponies for the bedroom and school

If you know a boy or girl who loves ponies then here's a collection that should give you some gift ideas.
Any boy or girl will love them - some for bedroom and some for school. Which of these would be best?

Click the image for more details and to buy. You'll also see more designs from the artist there.

3 Secret Weapons I Used to Launch My Fulltime Blogging Career

Blogging with purpose

original post »

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This is a guest post by Jeff Goins of Goins, Writer.

“I’d like to be a writer,” I told my friend one day when he asked what my dream was. “But that’ll never happen.” And I quickly went back to moping around, waiting for my big break.

At the time, I was working for a nonprofit as a marketing director, secretly wondering what it might be like to write for a living. Little did I know how close I was to my goal.

My was staring me right in the face the whole time. I was just blind to it.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer,” Harriet Tubman once said. “Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

That’s absolutely true. Your dream lives inside you, not somewhere out there. And instead of waiting for someone to come along and give you permission, you need to realize that you have everything you need to do this right now.

So let’s look at what you already have at your disposal and how I launched my own full-time blogging career using these same tools.

Secret Weapon #1: Listen to Your Ache

Have you ever felt jealous of someone else’s success? Of course you have. You’re human, aren’t you. But don’t feel bad. Envy isn’t always a bad thing, if you know how to use it.

Being jealous of what someone else has or has done is a sign of somethign you don’t have. You’re not living the life you dreamed of, not making the money you want, or simply not getting the credit you think you deserve.

Left unchecked, those feelings of missing out can get nasty really quickly. But when properly channeled, they can be a means to you discovering what you’re meant to do.

Here’s what I mean.

What bothers you that you see in the world? What problems in your industry or social ills do you see that you think should be fixed? When you see someone publishing their words or getting paid to pursue a passion, does it stir something in you? Does it make you a little angry, even a tad frustrated?

Good. Listen to that.

All dreams begin with frustration. But they don’t end there. It takes a person of action to do something with that feeling. Because really, frustration is just a surface emotion. It’s just pent-up passion with nowhere to go.

So pay attention to what makes your heart ache. When you’re feeling frustrated, remember it’s a sign of what you’re missing out on. It means you need to get to work.

Secret Weapon #2: Take the Long Road

Once on a webinar, I heard Darren Rowse say his first year of professional blogging had only made him something like $30,000. When I heard that, it sounded like a dream come true.

His intentions were to set our expectations low. He explained how hard he worked, staying up late and getting up early, how difficult it was. Not everyone can make six figures in the first month was his point. He was trying to keep us grounded. But it gave me hope.

I didn’t want fluff. I wanted someone to tell me exactly what I needed to do to pursue my dream. And for some reason, telling me it was going to be difficult and not very rewarding made it real. It made it attainable.

Sometimes, you have to hear someone else describe the life you long to live before you can begin to visualize it yourself.

Darren’s words spoke to the frustration I felt. They made me realize I was going to have to work hard if I wanted to live my dream and that patience was going to be an important factor in my success.

When I started my blog, I was determined to not worry about stats for the first two years. I would just write. The audience would come as my craft grew. If that took years, so be it. Six months later, I had more traffic than I ever could have imagined—hundreds at first, and then thousands of daily readers.

It would be a long while before I’d start making money, but still, seeing it was possible changed everything. Right around that time, my wife and I decided to start a family and began counting down the days until our son would be born.

At that same time, I started to hatch a plan for how I could make money with my blog.

Secret Weapon #3: Don’t Neglect the Past

When you decide to go full-time with your blog, you may be tempted to make the biggest mistake most dreamers make. You may think that dreaming is about looking forward.

It’s not. Dreaming is about looking backward and remembering what it is you have always loved to do. “Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it,” Parker Palmer wrote, “I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”

So before I could even figure out what I wanted to sell, I was going to have to figure out what value I had, what strengths I possessed that could benefit someone. And the answer to that was buried deep in my past.

“Jeff,” my friend said to me that day I announced my dream was to write, “you are a writer. You just need to write.”

He was right. I had been writing. All these years. In various capacities. But somehow, it just didn’t feel like enough. I didn’t feel like enough. But when I heard those words, I knew they were true.

Maybe, I thought, before we can do something, we have to become someone. Activity follows identity. It was a simple principle but one I’ve come to embrace in all areas of life.

What that meant for me was looking honestly at my life and identifying what strengths I had to offer. I had spent the past seven years as a marketing director and before that as the leader of a music group.

I couldn’t remember a time in my adult life in which I hadn’t been working with creative people. That was a bigger clue than I first realized. Maybe, I thought, I could do that online.

So I gradually turned my new blog, which had been more of a leadership blog, into a writing-focused resource. First, I tested out posts on writing to see if they appealed, and I was amazed at how much people connected with the content.

What Derek Sivers says is true: “What’s obvious to you is amazing to others.” The secret to discovering the value that you offer the world is hidden in the strength you’re probably taking for granted.

The Finish Line

A year after starting my blog, I launched my first eBook on writing and made $1500 from it.

A few months later, I launched an bundle product and made $16,000 in the first six weeks.

Several months after that, I launched my first online course, Tribe Writers, and made $25,000 from it.

By the end of that year, I had made over $150,000 blogging.

I couldn’t believe it. This was my dream, and it had come true in ways that completely astounded me.

But the truth is the process took two years from start to finish, plus another seven years of preparation. It required all those things Harriet Tubman mentioned: passion, patience, and strength.

If you’re going to come face to face with your dream, you’re going to need them, too. You’ll have to:

  1. Turn your frustration into passion.
  2. Be willing to take the long road, understanding that good things come in time.
  3. Embrace your past, using whatever strengths you’ve accumulated along the way and putting them to use.

Yes, it will take time and it won’t be easy. But the good news is you don’t have to sit around feeling frustrated or like you missed out. Everything you’ve done up to this point has prepared you for what you’re about to do.

Now, it’s up to you to get started.


Jeff Goins is a full-time blogger at Goins, Writer, where he shares tips on writing, creativity, and making a difference. His latest book, The Art of Work, is all about discovering your calling.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

3 Secret Weapons I Used to Launch My Fulltime Blogging Career

Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

3 Secret Weapons I Used to Launch My Fulltime Blogging Career
 #bloggingtips 

New in the Colossal Shop: The 1,000 Color Puzzle & Yoga Joes

Fun and Random

puzzle-colors

yoga-joes

Just a quick note that two of our favorite toys ever featured here on Colossal are now available in the Colossal Shop! Clemens Habicht’s amazing 1,000 Colors Puzzle just arrived from Australia, and Dan Abramson’s hilarious Yoga Joes have been successfully produced after a successful Kickstarter boost. We have tons of other quirky new things too numerous to mention, see more here.

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/k96bIEsowGc/

An Aerial Tour of ‘Hang Son Soong,’ the Largest Cave on Earth

Fun and Random

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In this new 6-minute film, cave, adventure, and travel photographer Ryan Deboodt takes us on a breathtaking aerial tour of the world’s largest cave, Hang Son Doong, located in central Vietnam. Deboodt brought a drone and an array of cameras to help capture the cave system, the largest chamber of which is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long, 200 meters (660 ft) high and 150 meters (490 ft) wide. Despite its enormity, the cave was only discovered in 1991 by a local man, and it wasn’t even studied by scientists until about five years ago. One of the most disorienting thing about watching Deboodt’s film was my brain not comprehending the scale of what I was looking at. It’s only once you notice the ant-like people walking through some of the shots that you realize just how massive this place is. You can see more of Deboodt’s cave photography on Instagram. (via PetaPixel)

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/k_tU12Dhlsk/

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Eye Of Horus good luck charm birthday card

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to customize or personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram on it - why not have a look-see right now?


tagged with: eye of horus,, all seeing,, ward off,, protecting eye,, protection,, ancient egypt,, good luck charm,, birthday cards,, hrbstslr wedjat,, egyptian amulet

Egyptian series To bring good luck and protect the bearer from ill - the Eye Of Horus talisman. When you have one of these with you, watch your luck improve!
more Egyptian items
more items with this image

image code: wedjat

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this

Monday 23 March 2015

Phoenix Rising in Gold t-shirt

A gorgeous best-selling design. Click to customize or personalize. How would it look with your name or monogram on it - why not have a look-see right now?


tagged with: ashes,, fantasy creatures,, mythical creatures,, fantasy birds,, hrbstslr phnx,, golden phoenix,, phoenix rising,, mythical birds,, stylized phoenix,, phoenix legend

A gorgeous gold-coloured graphic of a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Beautifully contoured to give a 3d effect, the phoenix seems to be lifting off the t-shirt!
more Phoenix items
more fantasy items

image code: phnx

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this

An Ornate Truck Spot-Welded from Thousands of Reflective Steel Disks by Valay Shende

Fun and Random

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Transit is a 2010 sculpture by Mumbai-based artist Valay Shende depicting a life-size work truck that carries figures of 22 people. Created over a period of 18 months, the piece was constructed from thousands of reflective stainless steel disks that have been individually spot welded together. Shende conceived of Transit as commentary on a dramatic rash of farmer sucides in India over the last decade. The truck’s rearview mirrors display video footage of roadways in London, Mumbai and Dubai, as if the vehicle is moving from the perspective of the driver’s seat but in reality it remains stationary. Transit is currently on view at the Mumbai City Museum, and you can read more about it on Indian Express. Images courtesy Sakshi Gallery. (via Jeremy Mayer)

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/h6YHH7SYwwk/

7 Commonsense Tips to Improve Your Next Expert Roundup

Blogging with purpose

original post »

expert roundupThis is a guest contribution from Neil.

Are you wondering why your expert roundups are not living up to your expectations? Why you are never getting the level of response some other people are getting?

After all, the idea behind creating an expert roundup sounds foolproof on paper.

  1. Get eminent experts to answer a question for you.
  2. Gather the responses and publish the ultimate answer to that question.
  3. Get your experts to share the content and then leverage their audience to get a viral post.

There is no way you can fail!

But the reality is a bit different.

My first expert roundup (January, 2015), featured the likes of top guys like Rand Fishkin, Neil Patel and Yaro Starak. In terms of quality, it was great. But it got me only around two hundred shares and a few backlinks.

Disappointed by my failure, I felt that “expert roundups” are overhyped. I looked around to get some expert roundup tips.

After a while, I realized that there was no flaw core idea of an expert roundup. The problem was in the execution of it. Actually, I was so excited about the roundup, that I overlooked certain things, which are just common sense.

Today on Problogger, I would like to share these commonsense tips so that you can organize a better expert roundup.

Do keyword research to focus on the right terms

You may create the grandest expert roundup (in terms of quality). You may even generate tons of backlinks. But unless it is properly targeted, it will never fulfill its potential.

By proper targeting, I mean that you should target the right terms or keywords for search engines. After all, the backlinks and shares that will get showered upon your roundup must help it to generate organic traffic.

If you have not chosen the right keywords, then what is the point? Your backlinks may help you rank #1 for your keyword, but if people do not search for that term, it is of no use.

In my last expert roundup, I made this mistake. The overall topic was good. It was about “blogging mistakes made by top bloggers”. I was quite sure that new bloggers would be very interested in learning about it.

But I did not consider the fact whether users would be using the same term in the search engines.

As it turned out, the main keyword “blogging mistakes” did not have an appreciable search volume. Even if I had been able to rank for the keyword, the benefit would have been minimal.

Ultimately, I got around this by naming my blog pos “19 expert blogging tips to avoid blogging mistakes”.

But this is not the right way to do it.

The approach should be very simple. Try to find the hole in the available information. Once you have found something that is asked a lot, but not answered well, you have struck gold.

Now you need to grab the topic and do a little keyword research to get the right term to use in your question. There are only two factors that you need to consider:

  • The keyword should have at least moderate search volume.
  • The keyword should not be too competitive.

In case you have already committed the error of choosing a low search volume topic, you have to improvise. Re-frame your question so that it includes good keywords.

To get the best out of your keywords, make sure that you use the keywords in the title of your post (obvious thing). A huge chunk of your backlinks will have the title of your post as the anchor text. Including your keyword in the title will go a long way in helping you to rank for that keyword.

Increase your reach by approaching more people

An expert roundup always results in a quality piece of content. But for the person conducting the roundup, there is much more to it than just the content. As the host blogger, you are banking on the expert’s reach to spread the word about your roundup. You are dependent on the expert’s popularity to have an influence on your roundup.

The idea behind an expert roundup is to leverage influence of the experts. Your aim is to ride the influence of your experts to gain as widespread popularity as possible. So it is pretty commonsense-the more experts you have, the better it is for you.

More experts mean more followers. More experts mean that your content will get shared to a wider audience.

So the message is very clear. Get in as many experts as possible.

And it is beneficial to the experts too. If your expert roundup does really well and ranks high in the search engines, each one of the experts will also be on the receiving end of a highly relevant and quality back link.

POINT TO NOTE: get in as many “experts” as possible. Here, “experts” is the crucial term. I’m not asking you to include just anybody in your expert roundup to fill up the numbers. There no point in doing that. In fact, doing that will dilute the experience of your expert roundup.

Finding experts is simple:

  1. Do a Google search with your niche’s keywords.
  2. Find experts on existing roundups by searching: “keyword” + expert roundup.
  3. Find highly followed people on social networks.

Get people to respond by gradually building trust

So now it is clear that you need to get as many experts as possible to participate in your expert roundup. But obviously, it is easier said than done.

Experts are busy people. They get tons of e-mails and expert roundup invites. They cannot respond to all of them. To get answers, you have to do the obvious things:

  1. Approach them with a short and concise e-mail.
  2. Pose a question that is interesting to them.
  3. Pose a question that is relatively easy to answer and so on.

But the easiest way to get someone to respond to you is to build trust with that person.

Imagine for yourself. If you are in a rush, you may skip over an e-mail from an unknown person. But if you know that person, you will be compelled to at least have a look at the e-mail. You will try to respond to the person it possible.

Same thing happens with the experts (and for any human being). It is human psychology. One can easily say no to an unknown person but rejecting a familiar person is harder. Our subconscious always tries to maintain and honor preexisting relationships.

Your task: build familiarity with the expert before approaching with the invite.

Simple ways to build familiarity:

  1. Follow the expert on social networks.
  2. Comment and discuss on the expert’s blog.
  3. Send a “thank you” email for a helpful blog post.

Use a deadline to get more responses

Not using a deadline was a big mistake for my last roundup post. I thought that the experts, being busy people, may not appreciate the idea of being given a deadline.

But I was wrong! It is always better to specify a deadline for submission of expert entries.

There are two reasons:

Firstly, deadlines promote actions.

An expert may read your email but if you have not mentioned a deadline, he or she may postpone the reply. And in that process, the busy expert may forget about your e-mail altogether.

On the other hand, if you do specify a deadline, the expert may reply immediately or at least mark the email to be replied before the deadline.

After all, itís a good deal for the expert. The expert is getting a highly relevant back link in exchange of a simple answer to a question. That is why, using the deadline works. The deadline serves to remind that the chance to get an easy back link may be gone soon. Thus it promotes a prompt reply.

Second benefit of using a deadline is that it will demonstrate your professionalism and seriousness about the expert roundup. Without it, some people may think that you are not sure about how and when you’re going to post the expert roundup. That may lead to loss of interest in your expert roundup.

Moral of the story: Use a deadline. 7 to 10 days is good in my opinion.

Have higher expectations from the experts

If your expectations are low, you’re most likely to be getting the same. This is one blunder I committed while conducting my first expert roundup.

I was not sure whether the experts would have time to look into my question and answer it. So, I tried to make it easier for them by saying that even a single line opinion would be fine.

MISTAKE!

I was doing an expert roundup and it deserved expert comments.

I understand that it is not reasonable to expect the experts to write long explanations. But a single line opinion conveys hardly any value.

Suppose I ask someone about his/her biggest mistake as newbie blogger and the person responds “not doing this or that”. It is a technically correct answer but it hardly adds much value. A little explanation is expected at least.

So settle for a middle ground. Writing 50 to 100 words does not take too long and is quite reasonable to ask for.

So nowadays I write:

A short 50-100 word opinion would be fine although you can elaborate your experience if you like.

Here, I am using the word “short” to make it seem easy to the experts but at the same time I am also specifying them the minimum length I expect.

Coming back to my story: I failed to specify this minimum limit in my first roundup post. As a result, few experts did provide single line opinions. But obviously, the mistake was mine. It was me who said that “even a single line opinion would be fine”. And this is one big problem in asking your expert on Twitter. That is why I always prefer e-mail.

That said, I’m very grateful that most of the experts did leave longer and valuable comments on my expert roundup. And this also tells you that the experts are also okay with writing a few words.

Don’t be shy to ask for a “proper and meaningful” expert opinion on your roundup.

Use author bio to allow users to connect with experts

When you’re conducting an expert roundup, it is essential that your readers connect with the experts. Not everyone will know all the experts. You must give them a reason why they should listen to the expert.

For example, I know Darren and the great work he has done with Problogger. But a new blogger may or may not know (although it is unlikely). Without knowing about Darren’s expertise in blogging, a new blogger may not pay heed to his advice. That is why it is essential to do a short introduction of your expert.

Writing a short author bio is a nice way to do it. Just a couple of sentences are fine. Tell who the author is and a little about his/her achievements and specialization. This will give enough reasons to your readers to listen to a particular expert. And this will also allow everyone to appreciate and value the comments made by the experts.

Here is a sample:

Darren Rowse is one of the first bloggers to blog about how to make money blogging. He is the man behind the hugely popular blog Problogger and popular books like “Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income”. He is regarded as one of the foremost authorities on blogging.

Promote more or more to get the most out of your roundup

Last but not least, put serious effort in promoting your expert roundup.

Creating a highly informative and useful expert roundup is only half the battle. If you stop there, it is no good. After all, you have invested so much time and effort in producing an amazing piece of content. Why stop when it is the time to reap the rewards?

Promote your expert roundup like crazy.

  1. Start with your expert panel. Show them your gratitude for taking out time to participate in your expert roundup. E-mail all your experts letting them know that the post is up. Thank them and ask them to share the content. Not everyone will share it but some of them will.
  2. If your experts do not reply back, remind them after a couple of days. Talk to them on Twitter and let them know.
  3. Promote your post on Twitter, Google plus and Facebook.
  4. Use hashtags to make it easier for people to find your post.
  5. Mention your experts on twitter and google plus. Here is a template that you can use:

    Tip no #: “Insert tip here” -By @expertname <Insert link to post>

  6. Share multiple times on your social networks: the day of posting, the day after posting, one week after posting.
  7. Share your post on social bookmarking sites. Encourage your readers to share your post on social bookmarking sites. Reach out to friends and acquaintances and ask them to share your post.
  8. And obviously, do not forget the e-mail list. You can write a couple of e-mails to build up anticipation for to the roundup post. This will ensure a better response from your email list subscribers.

These are just some ideas. Be creative and find out more ways to promote your post.

Are you ready for your next expert roundup?

So, I have shared my tips for creating a better expert roundup. These expert roundup tips work great. Now, it’s your turn – apply these tips and let us know how your next expert roundup goes. And if you have your own secret tip, feel free to share with us in the comments section.

Neil test drives new blogging tips and strategies on his blog and then lets you know what works. He shares his blogging experience on Blogician and you can read his first expert roundup at blogging tips for new bloggers.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger
Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

7 Commonsense Tips to Improve Your Next Expert Roundup

Build a Better Blog in 31 Days

7 Commonsense Tips to Improve Your Next Expert Roundup
 #bloggingtips 

Asphyxia: A Striking Fusion of Dance and Motion Capture Technology

Fun and Random

asphyxia-3

asphyxia-2

asphyxia-1

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Asphyxia is an experimental film project by Maria Takeuchi and Frederico Phillips that explores human movement through motion capture technology. The team used two inexpensive Xbox One Kinect sensors to capture the movements of dancer Shiho Tanaka and then rendered the data inside a near photo-realistic environment. From their description of the project:

The project is an effort to explore new ways to use and/or combine technologies and different fields in an experiment without many of the common commercial limitations. The performance is centered in an eloquent choreography that stresses the desire to be expressive without bounds.

Motion data was captured using inexpensive sensors and that data paved the way through an extensive number of steps. Once all the scanned point cloud data was combined, that was then used as the base for the creative development on the piece. A series of iterative studies on styles followed and several techniques and dynamic simulations were then applied using a number 3D tools for various results.

You can see a making of video here. If you liked this you might also enjoy Walking City, Choros, or these 2013 idents for CCTV. (via Prosthetic Knowledge)

 
#funandrandom 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/BIi9yWJANTM/

Friday 20 March 2015

ZazMySite Launch - It's Official, lots of excitement!

!!ZazMySite is Officially Launched!!

What is ZazMySite?

  • ZazMySite creates for you web pages or blog posts with product grids
  • It uses a page template and some options you supply, each time you run it
  • The options cover what products to pull from Zazzle for display in your product grid

What will it do for me?

  • You'll have blog posts and web sites to be proud of
  • ..with bells and whistles normally needing a dedicated web designer! For example:
    • your referral id in all product etc links, tracking codes too
    • each product has its own share buttons for Pinterest, Twitter and others
    • cutting-edge mobile / tablet-ready html is generated (as verified by Google)
  • ..and all at the push of a button. Seriously, see later for 1-click-then-preview!

Testimonials

See what people have to say about ZazMySite.

Tell me again what it does?

ZazMySite is a dedicated tool for Zazzle storekeepers and affiliates...
  • It use templates and a database of your options/values to generate blog posts and, for websites, batches of related pages for each desired niche.
  • The product grids it generates are SEO-rich, built to maximize your chances of referral sales and are mobile and tablet friendly.
  • Save your database and reuse whenever - or base more pages on it with a bit of editing!
 I'm happy to answer any questions you still might have in the comments section.

Use on Websites and Blogs

  • If you use a full page template you'll have everything you need for an entire website or website section. Click the image to see my actual Minnie Mouse and Disney web site section.
http://www.kdl.to/departments/disney/disney%20minnie%20mouse%20accessories.html
full-page website section generated by ZazMySite - no manual editing at all :)

  • Partial templates let you create blog posts and content for the "main" section in themed sites like on WordPress.
    Tested on these popular platforms, more to follow:

http://razamazazzle.blogspot.com/2015/03/post-created-with-zazzlemysite.html http://razamazazzle.blogspot.com/2015/03/post-created-with-zazzlemysite.html http://razamazazzle.blogspot.com/2015/03/post-created-with-zazzlemysite.html


Mobile and Tablet-ready

    • The generated product grid uses flexbox technology to re-flow the layout to suit the size of screen / browser width being used. Check the WordPress example above.
    • Note that the 'container' you put it in has to allow its own width to change, so it can "squeeze" the product grid. 
    • Here are actual emulations of what the product grid looks like on iPhone and iPad:


    3 modes gently ease you into using it

    •  Simple mode 
    • In-betweeners
      • brings up a few more features and options
      • help for what's new
      • watch the video
    • Advanced
      • full-blown, do-everything
      • first time you can do multiple page generation
      • help for the new features 
      • watch the video

    And the list of benefits goes on...
    Do you need more convincing that it's right for you? Then read on... :)

    SEO Boosted

    • Static product grids mean search engine spiders can see the images, titles, descriptions etc.
      Other tools like Zazzle Store Builder use live rss feeds and the spiders are blind to them.
    • Generated product grids validate on Google as using correctly marked-up structured product data (which is what makes the pins "rich" on Pinterest) - even tastier to those spiders!

    Easy to create complete web sites sections in one go

    • Navigation links are generated between pages, put them where you want with the #navigationlist template tag
    • Easy to refresh / regenerate pages - the spiders love new, fresh content!
    • Easy to base the next website section on a previous section with the save/load options feature 

    Sample templates provided

    • There's a growing list of templates to get you started
      • each one also has a set of example options you can copy and paste
      • makes it even easier to get you going!

    http://www.kdl.to/zazzlemysite/templates.html
    screenshot showing templates page


    Licenses available

    • trial version - no registration, just use it
      • The only limitation with the free trial version is your product grids are limited to 5 items.
      • Still great for blogs, though!
      • Also good for trying out overall site design
      • Try it here
    • MonthlyPlus
      • You get access for up two months with this option
        • The rest of this month (when you buy)
        • All of next month (the month after you buy)
    • Perpetual
      • You get ongoing access, all the time

    Ok, so where can I get it?


    What about discount codes?

    Funny you should ask that... to celebrate the launch, you've got some MASSIVE savings to make... but you better be quick!

    MonthlyPlus License
    Normal Price $9.95
    save $5 with discount code: funtimelaunch
    valid until March 31st 2015 Midnight EST

    Perpetual License
    Normal Price $64.95
    save $30 with discount code:
    launchmetothemoon
    valid until
    March 31st 2015 Midnight EST



    If you need more convincing

    This dedicated tool for Zazzlers has been designed by me, a fellow Zazzler (Pro Designer), based on:
    • years of experience as a Zazzle storekeeper
    • years of developing tools to help you promote your store
    • and even more years learning the "technical" side (such as HTML, Javascript and SEO)
    • I'm not an expert, but I measure up quite well ;)

    Much more importantly to you, as my other customers will vouch for, the level of support and care you get when you come into the fold as one of my customers, is a delight - as a search on the Zazzle forums will show.

    I hope you've been intrigued and excited by what ZazMySite can do for you. If and when you give the trial a spin, I'd love to hear your initial impressions in the comments!

    Finally, I'd like to thank the following beta-testers who have helped make sure it's as positive, easy and powerful as can be and works on as wide a range of platforms as it does. In no particular order:
    • +Diane Clancy  "It is super easy to create as many pages or posts as I like and they all can have a similar layout"
    • +Sue Chastain "I was spending 20-40 minutes each time I wanted to create a page of products for coupon sales. With ZMS it takes me more like 10-15 minutes"
    • +Jenice McQuarrie "I love that I can copy html code in and not rely on the Z feed to keep my sites up."
    • +Susans Zoo Crew 
    • William H - TulsaTees
    • Auntie Shoe "This took a lot of work and it shows in the performance"
    • +Nathalie Jean-Bart 
    Thank-you one and all @}-

    ~~Mark (HightonRidley)
    PS Over the next few hours and days, I'll be posting details of competitions and prize draws on the Zazzle Tools Forum topic announcing the launch. Apologies to those without access but I have to coordinate via a single location and that has to be the place.



    Only for the brave or curious ;) If you want to see how it all works for multi-page generation, have a look at this sketch (click to enlarge)


    Still here? Wow, you're tenacious. Here, watch the quick start guide for beginners vid:


    Now go buy the perpetual version - you're obviously the type that would really benefit from it! ;)