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Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 8/6/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:51:26 +0000

Why Entrepreneurs Need Community- Glen Stansberry shares some killer wisdom on the importance of community. This is a fantastic example of how community is pivotal to the success of an entrepreneur.

Why Are You Scared To Be Outspoken? – The question isn’t why we’re so outspoken and willing to expose ourselves, it’s why you aren’t? When you have a chance to tell customers your story and shape their experiences, why would you ever run from that? Exposing your brand via social media is only scary when you’re trying to hide your flaws. Fix them and then tell the world about it.

Who Cares About Bing? – The days of ignoring Bing are just about over. There are some major changes rolling out now. Here’s what you need to know and what you need to do about it.

How to Open Your Heart in the Mist of Confrontation – Imagine what the world would look like if each one of us made the choice not to react in the face of conflict or confrontation, but instead to take in the experience, stay open-hearted and grow as a result. The choice is yours – react or breathe. React or relax. React or love. Choose well.

5 Free Ways to Never Miss a Twitter @Reply – These services will let you know via e-mail each time you are on the receiving end of a @mention, or get a @reply. Have a read through these picks to see which one might suit your needs.

Kickass Clients and Kicking Ass- This post shares with you what makes clients “great clients”. Stop taking every ounce of business that comes to your door. You know the type of client you want (and frankly, your clients know they type of vendors they want as well).

Be sure the check out HeatherVilla StumbleUpon for a full list of my favorites.

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 6/4/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:24:01 +0000

You Can Learn A Lot From Your Customers – Do you sell a product or services to your customers? Have you ever made the time to reach out to them individually by way of a phone-survey, or email survey, or heck even an old fashioned snail mailed survey? Michael Fleischner reminds us of the importance of doing so. He also provides some tips on how to (creatively) get your customers interested in taking a survey or learning about survey’s in which they can be rewarded for taking!

What the Lost Series Finale Taught Me About Personal Branding – Flash sideways is apparently a concept introduced through Lost. It is somewhat confusing but take a look at what David Trahan thinks of it. And don’t forget to look at the tips he includes!

How to Create Guest Post Guidelines for Your Blog- This is a really great and highly informative blog that discusses the hows and whys of writing a guest blog. Sometimes bloggers forget about the simpler ways of going about marketing themselves. Why not get your name out there – everywhere – and use other people’s influence and audience to your advantage.

Why BP Should Embrace the Fake BP Twitter Account – We all know about it; it’s the talk of every media outlet imaginable! This environmental disaster involving BP also made it onto twitter via a fake account @BPGlobalPR Outspoken Media came up with a compelling and well thought out list of reasons for BP to embrace the falsies out there!

Beware: Baby Lambs Cause Computer Viruses – The internet is an amazing thing and I can hardly remember life before www. This is a really great blog from one of my favorite bloggers. She wrote how she received an email from a friend of her who described how she got a virus from a website about baby lambs. Seriously – baby lambs! Take a look at this article and make sure you read the comments.

Rubber boots and sales copy – Poor Aaron. Working in his living room because his office is full of water. Poor guy! Take a look at what he had to face and then the awesome advice he gives about writing amazing sales copy at the end. Great advice from his temporary office on Hoos Island!

A Beginner’s Guide to Trail Running – Literally, this is a blog that gives you instruction, guidance, and tips an what is required to begin making a habit of Trail Running. I will admit, I am not an avid Trail Blazer but it is something that I have thought about doing. This is the most thorough articles I have found on the topic!

Check out HeatherVilla StumbleUpon to see more of my favorites.

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 4/2/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:45:16 +0000

What To Do When Your Client is Boring – “No one is goals-oriented. Everyone is chocolate-and-sex-oriented. Make a note.” I figured that would get your attention. Once you click over there, try not to focus too much on the woman covered in chocolate. Taylor has some great suggestions on how to draw good useful information from your client when all they provide is plain and vanilla answers.

Why Pushing Through Is Not Always The Way To Get Ahead – Sometimes, knowing when to quit something is the smart move to make. On occasion we do need to walk away from something and revisit it with a fresh pair of eyes at a later date.

Top 10 Funny Dog Videos on YouTube – Funny videos of dogs – what else can I say? The sleep walking dog is my fav!! Dogs and video cameras; you can never go wrong with that combo!

Google Isn’t God – Have you ever been told that when you blog you should only focus on those in the same forum, type, or genre as our own blog? That by doing so it would create more chances for people to share your information, creating exposure for you and your site? While those things are true, only focusing on blogs of your own niche can get old fast. Barbara shares how reading posts outside you niche is fun and a great way to meet other bloggers.

“No” Your Way to Increased Productivity – Do you find yourself saying yes to things out of guilt? Are you buying things you really can’t afford? Do you take on tasks that interfere with your ability to spend time with your family? These are all things that bring us down, and can be avoided by saying “NO” to. Kudos to Marelisa for talking about this subject and reinforcing that it is ok to say NO.

How To Use The Turning Of The Seasons To Support Your Development – Great idea! It’s kind of like spring cleaning of the mind and soul. Christine talks about what she plans to do this weekend that is influenced by spring. Described in her article as “self-coaching”, Christine shares the process of writing down some thinking questions. This is a quick read with a very helpful and easy self improvement task takeaway.

Check out more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Have a great Easter weekend!

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 3/5/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:10:15 +0000

Reinventing Yourself Through Mindfulness – A very thought provoking post with some incredible case studies. How much better quality of work can be done when we are mindful? The mind is a powerful tool.

Car Dancing for the Greater Good – Come on! You know you wanna! Check out the video.

How to Donate or Recycle Old Office Equipment – Don’t know where or how to recycle your old office equipment? Kelly provides many great ideas and links.

Diagnosing Technical SEO Issues – This is just one of the great posts that Lisa has on her blog outlining the session at the (Search Marketing Expo). Every post makes you feel like you are there.

Slow Motion Dog Treat Commercial Beguiles Internet [Randomly Viral] – Couldn’t resist sharing this one. I love dogs and this is a cool commercial.

Catch more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy reading!

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 2/26/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:49:32 +0000

A Lesson from Curious George for Bloggers – Of course I HAD to read this one. I was just as curious as Curious George to see what lesson Darren had to share with us. And as usual, it’s very insightful. Use the same techniques this beloved children’s book author does to keep your readers coming back.

How to Handle Criticism Like a Millionaire – I’ve yet to meet someone who likes and enjoys criticism. However, we all have to deal with it. J.D. outlines the differences between justified and unjustified criticism and how best handle both.

Why You Should Travel Back Through Time – A must read. James is such a great writer you can’t help but feeling like you’re flipping through a ‘blog’ album (like a photo album) as ‘he’ goes through ‘his’ blog archives.

What Parents Must Know about Kids and Social Media – If you have kids or are responsible for kids, you need to read this. Our kids are so tech savvy today, that we, as parents, need to be aware of what they are doing on the internet and help them to interact safely and responsibly.

50 Photos to Inspire Life as a Digital Nomad – Some really beautiful photos that capture what it means to be location independent.

One Sentence – True Stories Told in One Sentence – It’s amazing what all can be conveyed in one sentence. A really great site and you can submit your own one sentence stories as well.

I read so much great stuff this week that it was difficult to decide what to list here. If you enjoyed these, then please check out more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy reading!

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 2/19/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:45:50 +0000

Why You Should Embrace Public Criticism – There is something to be gained by good constructive criticism. My favorite line, “People who are happy all the time are liars. And possible serial killers.” Go read more so you’ll get the context.

Tweeting Dog Collar Posts Your Dog’s Movements to Twitter – I love my dogs, but really??

WordPress SEO – The Only Guide You Need – This is a great tool for everyone who has a WordPress Blog. I thought I knew all the SEO tricks, but after reading this, I found a few new things to implement.

The ROI of giving a damn – Social Media is such a big part of businesses today. I think we all need a reminder of why we use it and what we expect to gain from it. Some companies are looking for a quick return, but social media is about building relationships. If you focus on building the relationship the revenue will take care of itself. I love this blog for reminding us of the purpose.

Who Pushes You to Achieve More? – The drill sergeant analogy in this is spot on. How much more productive would you be if someone was pushing you to your limits everyday?

The 7 Blog Posts You Write But Shouldn’t Publish – This one really hit home with me. At the moment I can’t think of a blog that I posted and later regretted doing so, however I know there are a ton that have ‘almost’ been published. This post has some great guidelines to consider before hitting that ‘publish’ button.

Calculate the Cost of Wasteful Meetings With MEETorDIE – I have not checked out this application yet seeing how I just read this one today. However, I think it’s a wonderful idea and love the whimsical logo and site design.

I decided to go with a new format for my weekend reading blog. Hope you enjoy. Let me know your thoughts and don’t hesitate to criticize.

Of course more of my favorites are list on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Have a great weekend and happy reading!

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Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 1/01/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:15:17 +0000

A Year in Review

Coming Back From the Holidays: How to Get Back to Work

12 Days of Virtual Assistance

DEBATE: The Epic Battle Between Short and Long Posts

Social media needs fewer rockstars, and more rockstar ideas

What You Need to Know about Business in 2010

Five Can’t-Miss Mobile Marketing Trends For 2010

10 New Year’s Resolutions for Small Business

Bonding By Being Tied

There are so many good ideas and suggestions to start off on the right foot for success in this new year that began today. I have only listed a few here, but you can read more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Happy New Year!

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 12/25/09

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:20:42 +0000

Christmas Edition. I debated about posting my favorites today, what with it being Christmas Day and all. But then I figured after everyone was stuffed with food and took naps, you might be looking for some good reading material. So here are my favorites. Enjoy!

Should We Be Worried About  Fast Food Content?

5 Misuses of Social Media That Could Kill Your Freelance Business

Aaron’s answers: Ineffective, unreadable content

The most commonly blogged phrase… and how to avoid it

On Dying, Mothers, and  Fighting for Your Ideas – A very inspirational post.

The End Of Education

21 Fun Distractions for Freelancers

Merry Christmas and Happy Reading!