New Direction

So, after taking the Design*Sponge "Blogging Your Way" course, I've finally found the direction I need for this blog. The course encourages you to ask yourself what interests you're passionate about and then take those passions and craft them into aesthetically pleasing, informative and engaging blog posts.

I am passionate about my business, social media, art, design, cultural events, traveling, music events, outdoor activities, eating anything and everything, artisinal crafts and foods and, of course, the IE. How do I take my passions and the guidelines I learned from my course and translate them to a blog about building an online destination for the IE? Then what started as a small ray of an idea grew into a "whole spread the clouds apart" enlightenment (almost heard angels sing). It just clicked and the ideas just kept flowing after that.

My previous blog posts focused on how I was trying to build my business (social media tips and such) and that direction kept bumping me up against a wall. The wall was the fact that I wasn't confident enough to make recommendations and share how I was doing things. I'm learning as I go and flying by the seat of my pants here. That lack of confidence kept preventing me from blogging...I felt what I had to say wasn't as informative as some of the business blogs out in the blogosphere. But how do I take all my passions and build my online brand? *LIGHTNING*

I currently reside in Los Angeles because of my "9-5" digital brand marketing career. It's a career I've been building for almost ten years, plus it pays my bills and most importantly for the development of my business. So in order to attend cultural events, research and visit my family and friends I need to commute to the IE. I schedule weekend trips (because I can't do anything if it's not in my calendar). I try to catch as many things as possible - car shows, festivals, concerts, local school events, theater productions, art walks, etc. I force some friends to come along and I take field notes, tweet about it, take lots of pictures and observe EVERYTHING. *LIGHTNING TURN INTO CLOUDS ROLLING BACK*

I need to document my adventures in the IE! I like to have a good time and my passions reflect that. The boring, "try to be professional" blog I was shooting for just wasn't a good fit. This way I can write what I know - having a good time - while being reflective of my brand and lending a voice to the site I'm developing. With tips I learned from the Design*Sponge course I finally have something to say and the right way to say it.

Keep your fingers crossed and let's hope this new direction brings even more inspiration!

My promise

Dear Blog,

I promise to do better at maintaining you. I'm currently signing up for a class so I can learn how to better maintain you. I've also enlisted some help - another pair of eyes - that will help us look better, sound better and inform better. Good luck to us. Here we go!

just testing the blogger-droid app from my phone. I downloaded the app months ago but this is the first time I remembered to use it. Enough ~ go test!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

How To: Look for Biz Advisors

Although I'm not a designer or have any design abilities, I'm almost obsessed with design related blogs. They're not only pictures for great eye candy, but there are a lot of insightful articles about crafty people. These crafty people are usually independent designers and entrepreneurs themselves who share and nurture small business communities.

One design blog I've followed over the years is Design*Sponge. They have a category called "biz ladies" which I've been following and this particular article is an example of how you can get useful information and insight from anywhere, even your non-business related hobbies.

This article advises users on how to look for business advisors and what to look for in a business advisor. Check it out and always keep open to inspiration that can come from anywhere.

Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » biz ladies: establishing relationships with advisors

5 Reasons Why Billy Mays is Annoyingly Persuasive

Persuasiveness of Billy Mays

Very interesting article about the persuasiveness of Billy Mays. It pinpoints the five characteristics he exemplified that make him the great salesman that he was. Oxy Clean? Ya, I use it. And I can attest to the quality of the Magic Jack.

I also think these are great qualities to observe for any salesman. Check it out and see if you're not convinced. ;-)