With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: The Power of Blogging #SaturdayShareLinkUp

You know that quote from Uncle Ben in Spider-Man, "With great power comes great responsibility"? Well, I found myself quoting it this week with reference to the whole idea of blogging and the role that trust has to play within it. On Tuesday I was invited to speak on a panel at the Judge Institute (Cambridge University's Business School) - not a typical thing for someone in my profession to do as it wasn't a room full of bloggers I was talking to (or with), but something very different.

Somehow I found myself in a room full of about 20 academics, entrepreneurs and influencers - plus the audience - and wondered what on earth I was doing there. I wondered what would have possessed someone to ask ME to be a part of it. (The confidence thing is a whole other blog post which I'll talk about another time.)

To cut a very long story short, we weren't asked to prepare anything beforehand so that our discussions would be spontaneous. So what we ended up discussing was actually very interesting and I was fascinated by so many different points of views from such a wide variety of people.

We all discussed the notion of "disruption" in modern marketing - all the panellists were chosen on account of being disru ptors to the status quo in their fields - and the theme in my panel was trust. I was asked to talk about how trust has shaped (and continues to shape) the way I interact with my readers.

How trust affects what I write It was, at the same time, both an easy and incredibly difficult topic to discuss.

I could probably write a really long post here, but I'm going to try and keep it short because do you know what? It's Friday, and that pretty much means the weekend. I want to start enjoying my weekend as soon as I can, especially after I've been away for three days working. And you probably want to do the same and get out and enjoy your weekend, too.

And THAT'S what I mean about trust. I've just been honest about the fact that I want to get this post finished and start my weekend. With every post I write, I always try to bring that honesty every single time. I like to think that you, my readers, trust what I write. I write a lot of sponsored posts in order to pay the bills and to be able to continue to write the blog, but I don't hide the fact that they're sponsored or that I need to earn a living. I write a blog as a profession and want to be honest about that. But I realise that my popularity is based on how many of you want to come and read what I have to say, or what I'm wearing.

And what message I'm communicating to you.

I therefore don't write the blog post from the point of view of, "THIS is what you should be wearing", or, "THIS is what's on trend this season so go out and buy it now".

Or even worse, "This is what NOT to wear." (Have those TV shows finally died a death? I hope to god they have.)

Why should I tell my readers what to wear? I don't see it as my responsibility to tell others what they should be wearing. I see it as my responsibility to help my readers make their OWN decisions. What I actually wear myself is almost irrelevant - take whatever inspiration you like from my outfit choices, but most of all take inspiration from my tagline of "Encouraging women to be fabulous at any age".

❝ SO MANY PEOPLE PUT THEIR TRUST IN ME. THEY TRUST WHAT I HAVE TO SAY. IT'S BOTH A WONDERFUL FEELING AND A FRIGHTENING ONE AT THE SAME TIME.  ❞ However, I realise that the more popular my blog gets, the more power and influence I have. And it's not something I take lightly.

It's something that has dawned on me over the years seeing as I initially started this blog as a one-year project six years ago.

So I think being asked about the topic of the trust that my readers have in me in a room full of strangers forced me to realise very suddenly that oh BOY, do I have a great responsibility... it's HUGE, in fact. So many people put their trust in me. They trust what I have to say. It's both a wonderful feeling and a frightening one at the same time.

But when I'm asked the question (in direct correspondence on either social media, my blog or most commonly by email): Have you any suggestions about what I could wear?, I always want to ask back: What is it that YOU want to wear?

Many women know what they want to wear, they're simply looking for the permission to wear it.

THAT'S where the responsibility come s in. I see it as my responsibility to help others make those decisions, because I am now in a position of trust.

So when Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker, "With great power comes great responsibility", the man really knew what he was talking about. Blogging is a power all unto itself.

WHAT'S YOUR EXPERIENCE OF TRUST WITH THE BLOGGERS YOU FOLLOW, AND HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF LOSING TRUST IN ANY OF YOUR FAVOURITES? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS OR TWEET ME @NOTLAMB!

So all that's left to say is - I've shared my thoughts/stories/tuppence-worth this week, now it's time to share yours... LET'S GET THIS [LINK UP] PARTY STARTED!

- DON'T MISS A SINGLE POST - ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE BOX BELOW AND YOU'LL BE SENT AN EMAIL EVERY TIME I PUBLISH SOMETHING NEW! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thank you for joining the #SaturdayShareLinkUp! Designed to allow you to share anything you like on ANY topic, it goes live every Friday at 8-9pm UK time and will stay open for a week. You can share blog posts or Instagram posts, old posts or new posts, and link up as many as you like. PLEASE be kind and leave a link somewhere on your post, and share your post using the hashtag #SaturdayShareLinkUp - if you tweet your link with the hashtag and tag me in @notlamb I'll even retweet it to my followers for you :)A hot tip for linking up: Use clear, bright images (crop in close if necessary) and add a relevant, descriptive title (you've got 75 characters to use). These sorts of thumbnails and text always get the most clicks, so don't waste the opportunity to increase traffic and engagement on your best work!

An InLinkz Link-up FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | BLOGLOVIN | YOUTUBE | NEWSLETTER | RSS LIKE THIS POST? YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT TO READ... - What I've Learned From the Failures in My Life  - Why Do Some People Resent the Success of Others?  Linking up to: Brilliant Blog Posts
Source: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: The Power of Blogging #SaturdayShareLinkUp

Ten Years Of #Blogging – Now, What Did You Learn?

10 Life Lessons to Excel in Your 30s Because she started early and invested wisely, she is now in her 50s and financially stable for the first time in her life. Her point: it's always possible. You just have to do it. "Your mind's acceptance of age is 10 to 15 years behind your body's ... read moreCan we inspire patriotism? Being an American is something we need to learn and understand Ten years ago ... my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. I'd never read much past that, but when I did I was stunned: the poem was incredibly beautiful and inspiring. How had I missed it all these years? read moreThink You Deserve a Raise After 3 Months? Think Again It usually takes about 3 months to learn everything that there is to know about your department, company, co-workers and what deliverables you can really deliver. Now on ... can take years to get used to. After all you've just spent over 10 years in ... read more

A cloudy headlight fix recommendation As you know, we bought a used car last year for our kids to learn on/use for commuting to work ... As soon as the headlights dried, they were back to being pretty dull. So, Mr. FG did a little poking around online and found this highly rated headlight ... read moreTop 10 skills children learn from the arts This was written by Lisa Phillips is an author, blog ... you, making all your efforts worthwhile. 10. Accountability – When children practice creating something collaboratively they get used to the idea that their actions affect other people. They learn ... read moreIf This 76-Year-Old Can Do CrossFit, So Can You Did ... Learn what's trending across POPSUGAR. While there are plenty of bogus valid excuses for skipping out on your workout — I'm busy, I'm too tired, I'm too stressed — those will quickly melt away once you meet Constance Tillett. She's a 76-year ... read moreLimited Time Offer for Freelance Writers Seeking a "Non-Traditional" Opportunity And he wants to show you how you can do it too! Now, it may sound a bit too good to be true. But Ben has worked this way for years now and ... a "non-traditional" 10-Minute Workday business — and at a huge discount. (Learn more here.) read more17 ways to become a more interesting person It's a question of knowing how to highlight the traits that make you different from the person next to you. Over on Quora, dozens of people have answered the question, "How do I become a more interesting ... interpretations. Learn things to deepen ... read more4 places to learn to code for free What should you learn ... Why do I believe this? They say the last thing you comprehend when learning a new language is the jokes. Humor always relies on a nuanced understanding of any dialect. After 10 years, I finally get the jokes, and now laugh ... read moreNetflix is Testing Unskippable Trailers When You Launch Netflix For years Netflix has been testing ways to get ... to Netflix for comment and will update this story when we learn more. So, what do you think? What is your opinion on viewing Netflix new 10 second unskippable trailers when you launch the app? read more

Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!

We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.
Source: Ten Years Of #Blogging – Now, What Did You Learn?

Blogging is not for pussies.

Originally posted on April 1, 2015

Don't be a pussy.

Anyone who blogs about a sensitive topic, especially one that focuses on mental health issues (religion and politics would be up there too), is bound to run into haters and detractors at some point. If you blog about a controversial topic, such as narcissism and narcissistic abuse (which is my #1 topic), religion, politics, or the ethical ramifications of breeding pit bulls, by default you make yourself vulnerable to online narcissists, trolls, bullies, and psychopaths. You are going to attract people who do not wish you well. It's a built-in hazard of the trade.

Even if your blog isn't particularly controversial or doesn't focus on a sensitive issue, you are going to have haters and maybe even bullies. OM (Opinionated Man) is a perfect example of this (he insists he has a LOT of haters), and his blog is one of the most popular on WordPress. He doesn't let the haters get him down, and neither should I and neither should you.

I've wasted a lot of time beating myself up for things beyond my control. Over people who do not wish me or my blog well. Way too often I allow other people's negative opinions of me, my blog, or my articles to get me down and even make me want to change my blog's focus or remove posts that I thought might have offended them.

You cannot please everyone. It's not possible. If by some fluke you somehow do please everyone, then you probably have the most boring blog in the universe, one that's all sweetness and light 24/7, and never approaches anything the slightest bit triggering or controversial.

Someone is going to be offended.

Even if you blog about something as benign as cake decorating or flower arranging, you are probably going to offend someone. Maybe someone doesn't like the fact you write recipes using cream cheese icing instead of buttercream, or vice versa. Maybe they are diabetics who take offense to the fact you don't include sugarless cake decorations in your recipes. They might even assume you are prejudiced against people with diabetes. Maybe someone doesn't like the color yellow in your floral arrangements because they have bad associations with that color. Maybe they are angry at you because the flowers are dead and they are are morally opposed to killing plant life for ornamental purposes. They could be offended by your fonts or your layout. Maybe they hate your avatar because your picture reminds them of their rude neighbor who lets their dog bark all night and revs their engine every morning at 5 AM.  You have no control over these things.  My point is that no matter what you b log about, someone is going to take offense.

If you can't stand having bullies and haters, you probably shouldn't be blogging at all. If you blog about a sensitive or controversial issue, as I do, you are going to attract even more of them than you would if you only blogged about cake decorating or flower arranging or baby koalas.

The Green-Eyed Monster.

Some people are also going to be jealous of you. If your blog becomes successful, expect to have haters. That's probably why OM has so many haters. His blog is one of the most popular and well-known on the Internet. I'm not tooting my own horn here, but I've noticed as my blog has grown, I also have acquired more haters and critics. As a self-identified HSP (highly sensitive person), this realization has been hard for me to accept. I need to grow a thicker skin and just write about what I want and not worry about what the haters think.

On Political Correctness.

I don't like political correctness. I don't like feeling like I have to censor my own thoughts and feelings, because openness and honesty has made my blog what it is. If my words offend someone, they just need to deal with it. If they hate me or my blog, sucks for them.  There are other blogs they can read instead. No one is holding a gun to their head telling them they have to read this blog. I even have an Escape button that will take them to the Huffington Post (it's not lost on me that some may be offended by THAT). It's not like I'm the only voice on the Internet that addresses the issues I write the most about. There are hundreds of others.

I'm a natural pessimist. If I enter a room and everyone is friendly and welcoming except for one person who scowls at me, I'm the type who will fret and ruminate about that one grumpy person rather than feel blessed and grateful that everyone else is happy to see me. Focusing on that one negative person keeps me from enjoying the party.

It's the same thing with blogging. I have a lot of supporters and friends in the blogging community. There are lots of people who enjoy my blog posts and visit every day. I shouldn't worry about the few people who are critical of me or my blog, because they don't matter. They are probably not the sort of people I would want to have as friends anyway.

So, if you blog, don't be a wuss. Grow a tougher skin and accept the fact you are going to have haters. You don't have to approve their comments. You don't have to search Google to see what your detractors may be saying about you. You don't have to let their vitriol ruin your day. They don't matter.

Don't censor yourself. Most people will be able to tell if you are trying to hard to be "politically correct," and your blog will become boring and insincere and no one will want to read it.   People aren't stupid and can tell if you're not being honest or are censoring yourself because of your fear of criticism or offending someone.

Blog from your heart and soul. Be courageous. Write about what you want, no matter how controversial. Don't be afraid to stir the pot and stand by your heartfelt opinions, even if they are unpopular ones.

Tell the haters to take a hike. You are going to have them. They don't matter.

Advertisements
Source: Blogging is not for pussies.

Live #Blogging from #School Board Meeting

Live Blogging from School Board Meeting Superintendent to skip his Comments and noted that the construction contract for Magnolia Elementary did not proceed and so they are rebidding in the fall and the school will open in 2019-2020. President Peters is out of the country; Vice-President Harris ... read moreOutgoing Harwood school board offers some pointers At its meeting on ... the new unified board, and on solutions. The high quality of the teachers and the educational experience offered at Harwood Union Middle and High School are cited by many people as a reason that they want to live in our communities. read moreBRIEFLY: La Grande School Board approves budget The La Grande School Board approved the district's proposed 2017-18 budget Wednesday at a special meeting held at the high school ... The BlueMountaineers will provide live music and there will also be a finger-food potluck, door prizes and George ... read more

Olean City School District Board of Education to continue requiring approval for public comments OLEAN — The Olean City School District Board of Education has seemingly settled its ... he disagrees with it but "it's something we'll all have to live with." During the meeting, Hessney delivered a nearly 10-minute statement on the issue. read moreFollow LIVE: Day Four of Paladino Hearing As I did last week, I'll be blogging from inside the hearing room here at the ... Persico then asked Quinn about an Oct. 12, 2016 school board meeting. This was the final meeting before the district reached an agreement with the teachers' union about ... read moreLive updates from the Huntsville school board meeting ... Feeding Program and possible citizen input on the ongoing federal desegregation case were anticipated at tonight's school board meeting. It is not clear how much, if any, discussion can take place on the desegregation issue, however, after the federal ... read moreEducation board will not consider Miller-Driscoll name change The idea of changing the name of Miller-Driscoll School was put to rest at the Board of Education's June 21 meeting. Board member Lory Rothstein ... of residents to making this a great place to live." "Tilford W. Miller served his community well ... read moreEvents Industry Joins the Influencer Trend — Meetings Innovation Report The agency contracted London-based Irina Trofimovskaya, founder of The MICE Blog ... Strategy to Engage Meetings Industry: Lots of destinations work with influencers to drive leisure traffic, but France's national tourism board is among the first ... read moreHarold's Blog: Downtown Dedication, Town Council Meeting and More live music, crafts and games. The annual block party was first held in 2013 and has grown into a highly anticipated community event! Statement from EAB At the June 13 meeting of the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB), the board members crafted and approved ... read moreGUSD board vacancy to be filled by election Gustine – Among the long list of topics to be covered at the Gustine Unified School District board meeting last week was how to fill ... To qualify to run one must be a registered voter and live in the area of the seat vacated. In this case, area 5 ... read more

Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!

We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.
Source: Live #Blogging from #School Board Meeting

Flask-Blogging¶

Flask-Blogging is a Flask extension for adding Markdown based blog support to your site. It provides a flexible mechanism to store the data in the database of your choice. It is meant to work with the authentication provided by packages such as Flask-Login or Flask-Security.

The philosophy behind this extension is to provide a lean app based on Markdown to provide blog support to your existing web application. This is contrary to some other packages such as Flask-Blog that are just blogs. If you already have a web app and you need to have a blog to communicate with your user or to promote your site through content based marketing, then Flask-Blogging would help you quickly get a blog up and running.

Quick Start Example from flask import Flask, render_template_string, redirect from sqlalchemy import create_engine, MetaData from flask_login import UserMixin, LoginManager, login_user, logout_user from flask_blogging import SQLAStorage, BloggingEngine app = Flask(__name__) app.config["SECRET_KEY"] = "secret" # for WTF-forms and login app.config["BLOGGING_URL_PREFIX"] = "/blog" app.config["BLOGGING_DISQUS_SITENAME"] = "test" app.config["BLOGGING_SITEURL"] = "http://localhost:8000" app.config["BLOGGING_SITENAME"] = "My Site" app.config["BLOGGING_KEYWORDS"] = ["blog", "meta", "keywords"] app.config["FILEUPLOAD_IMG_FOLDER"] = "fileupload" app.config["FILEUPLOAD_PREFIX"] = "/fileupload" app.config["FILEUPLOAD_ALLOWED_EXTENSIONS"] = ["png", "jpg", "jpeg", "gif"] # extensions engine = create_engine('sqlite:////tmp/blog.db') meta = MetaData() sql_storage = SQLAStorage(engine, metadata=meta) blog_engine = BloggingEngine(app, sql_storage) login_manager = LoginManager(app) meta.create_all(bind=engine) class User(UserMixin): def __init__(self, user_id): self.id = user_id def get_name(self): return "Paul Dirac" # typically the user's name @login_manager.user_loader @blog_engine.user_loader def load_user(user_id): return User(user_id) index_template = """ <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> </head> <body> {% if current_user.is_authenticated %} <a href="/logout/"> Logout </a> {% else %} <a href="/login/"> Login </a> {% endif %} &nbsp&nbsp<a href="/blog/"> Blog </a> &nbsp&nbsp<a href="/blog/sitemap.xml">Sitemap</a> &nbsp&nbsp<a href="/blog/feeds/all.atom.xml">ATOM</a> &nbsp&nbsp<a href="/fileupload/">FileUpload</a> </body> </html> """ @app.route("/") def index(): return render_template_string(index_template) @app.route("/login/") def login(): user = User("testuser") login_user(user) return redirect("/blog") @app.route("/logout/") def logout(): logout_user() return redirect("/") if __name__ == "__main__": app.run(debug=True, port=8000, use_reloader=True)

The key components required to get the blog hooked is explained below. Please note that as of Flask-Login 0.3.0 the is_authenticated attribute in the UserMixin is a property and not a method. Please use the appropriate option based on your Flask-Login version.

Configuring your Application

The BloggingEngine class is the gateway to configure blogging support to your web app. You should create the BloggingEngine instance like this:

blogging_engine = BloggingEngine() blogging_engine.init_app(app, storage)

You also need to pick the storage for blog. That can be done as:

from sqlalchemy import create_engine, MetaData engine = create_engine("sqlite:////tmp/sqlite.db") meta = MetaData() storage = SQLAStorage(engine, metadata=meta) meta.create_all(bind=engine)

Here we have created the storage, and created all the tables in the metadata. Once you have created the blogging engine, storage, and all the tables in the storage, you can connect with your app using the init_app method as shown below:

blogging_engine.init_app(app, storage)

If you are using Flask-Sqlalchemy, you can do the following:

from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy db = SQLAlchemy(app) storage = SQLAStorage(db=db) db.create_all()

One of the changes in version 0.3.1 is the ability for the user to provide the metadata object. This has the benefit of the table creation being passed to the user. Also, this gives the user the ability to use the common metadata object, and hence helps with the tables showing up in migrations while using Alembic.

As of version 0.5.2, support for the multi database scenario under Flask-SQLAlchemy was added. When we have a multiple database scenario, one can use the bind keyword in SQLAStorage to specify the database to bind to, as shown below:

# config value SQLALCHEMY_BINDS = { 'blog': "sqlite:////tmp/blog.db"), 'security': "sqlite:////tmp/security.db") }

The storage can be initialised as:

db = SQLAlchemy(app) storage = SQLAStorage(db=db, bind="blog") db.create_all()

As of version 0.4.0, Flask-Cache integration is supported. In order to use caching in the blogging engine, you need to pass the Cache instance to the BloggingEngine as:

from flask_cache import Cache from flask_blogging import BloggingEngine blogging_engine = BloggingEngine(app, storage, cache)

Flask-Blogging lets the developer pick the authentication that is suitable, and hence requires her to provide a way to load user information. You will need to provide a BloggingEngine.user_loader callback. This callback is used to load the user from the user_id that is stored for each blog post. Just as in Flask-Login, it should take the unicode user_id of a user, and return the corresponding user object. For example:

@blogging_engine.user_loader def load_user(userid): return User.get(userid)

For the blog to have a readable display name, the User class must implement either the get_name method or the __str__ method.

The BloggingEngine accepts an optional extensions argument. This is a list of Markdown extensions objects to be used during the markdown processing step.

As of version 0.6.0, a plugin interface is available to add new functionality. Custom processes can be added to the posts by subscribing to the post_process_before and post_process_after signals, and adding new functionality to it.

The BloggingEngine also accepts post_processor argument, which can be used to provide a custom post processor object to handle the processing of Markdown text. One way to do this would be to inherit the default PostProcessor object and override process method.

In version 0.4.1 and onwards, the BloggingEngine object can be accessed from your app as follows:

engine = app.extensions["blogging"]

The engine method also exposes a get_posts method to get the recent posts for display of posts in other views.

In earlier versions the same can be done using the key FLASK_BLOGGING_ENGINE instead of blogging. The use of FLASK_BLOGGING_ENGINE key will be deprecated moving forward.

Models from SQLAStorage

SQLAlchemy ORM models for the SQLAStorage can be accessed after configurtion of the SQLAStorage object. Here is a quick example:

storage = SQLAStorage(db=db) from flask_blogging.sqlastorage import Post, Tag # Has to be after SQLAStorage initialization

These ORM models can be extremely convenient to use with Flask-Admin.

Adding Custom Markdown Extensions

One can provide additional MarkDown extensions to the blogging engine. One example usage is adding the codehilite MarkDown extension. Additional extensions should be passed as a list while initializing the BlogggingEngine as shown:

from markdown.extensions.codehilite import CodeHiliteExtension extn1 = CodeHiliteExtension({}) blogging_engine = BloggingEngine(app, storage,extensions=[extn1])

This allows for the MarkDown to be processed using CodeHilite along with the default extensions. Please note that one would also need to include necessary static files in the view, such as for code highlighting to work.

Extending using the plugin framework

The plugin framework is a very powerful way to modify the behavior of the blogging engine. Lets say you want to show the top 10 most popular tag in the post. Lets show how one can do that using the plugins framework. As a first step, we create our plugin:

# plugins/tag_cloud/__init__.py from flask_blogging import signals from flask_blogging.sqlastorage import SQLAStorage import sqlalchemy as sqla from sqlalchemy import func def get_tag_data(sqla_storage): engine = sqla_storage.engine with engine.begin() as conn: tag_posts_table = sqla_storage.tag_posts_table tag_table = sqla_storage.tag_table tag_cloud_stmt = sqla.select([ tag_table.c.text,func.count(tag_posts_table.c.tag_id)]).group_by( tag_posts_table.c.tag_id ).where(tag_table.c.id == tag_posts_table.c.tag_id).limit(10) tag_cloud = conn.execute(tag_cloud_stmt).fetchall() return tag_cloud def get_tag_cloud(app, engine, posts, meta): if isinstance(engine.storage, SQLAStorage): tag_cloud = get_tag_data(engine.storage) meta["tag_cloud"] = tag_cloud else: raise RuntimeError("Plugin only supports SQLAStorage. Given storage" "not supported") return def register(app): signals.index_posts_fetched.connect(get_tag_cloud) return

The register method is what is invoked in order to register the plugin. We have connected this plugin to the index_posts_fetched signal. So when the posts are fetched to show on the index page, this signal will be fired, and this plugin will be invoked. The plugin basically queries the table that stores the tags, and returns the tag text and the number of times it is referenced. The data about the tag cloud we are storing in the meta["tag_cloud"] which corresponds to the metadata variable.

Now in the index.html template, one can reference the meta.tag_cloud to access this data for display. The plugin can be registered by setting the config variable as shown:

app.config["BLOGGING_PLUGINS"] = ["plugins.tag_cloud"] Blog Views

There are various views that are exposed through Flask-Blogging. The URL for the various views are:

url_for('blogging.index') (GET): The index blog posts with the first page of articles. The meta variable passed into the view holds values for the keys is_user_blogger, count and page.

url_for('blogging.page_by_id', post_id=<post_id>) (GET): The blog post corresponding to the post_id is retrieved. The meta variable passed into the view holds values for the keys is_user_blogger, post_id and slug.

url_for('blogging.posts_by_tag', tag=<tag_name>) (GET): The list of blog posts corresponding to tag_name is returned. The meta variable passed into the view holds values for the keys is_user_blogger, tag, count and page.

url_for('blogging.posts_by_author', user_id=<user_id>) (GET): The list of blog posts written by the author user_id is returned. The meta variable passed into the view holds values for the keys is_user_blogger, count, user_id and pages.

url_for('blogging.editor') (GET, POST): The blog editor is shown. This view needs authentication and permissions (if enabled).

url_for('blogging.delete', post_id=<post_id>) (POST): The blog post given by post_id is deleted. This view needs authentication and permissions (if enabled).

url_for('blogging.sitemap') (GET): The sitemap with a link to all the posts is returned.

url_for('blogging.feed') (GET): Returns ATOM feed URL.

The view can be easily customised by the user by overriding with their own templates. The template pages that need to be customized are:

blogging/index.html: The blog index page used to serve index of posts, posts by tag, and posts by author

blogging/editor.html: The blog editor page.

blogging/page.html: The page that shows the given article.

blogging/sitemap.xml: The sitemap for the blog posts.

Source: Flask-Blogging¶

Not #Blogging

Not blogging I am not blogging today. But an update anyhow. Six voice lessons today. Six hours of joy and life and loving music. And then dinner with one of my kids, and a trip to see the Muny Teens work their magic. And catch up with all sorts of people I know at the ... read moreZillow vs. McMansion Hell: Seattle company not backing off fight with blog despite PR fiasco Zillow is dealing with a PR fiasco and a potential legal fight for going after a small, popular blog that makes fun of McMansions. Kate Wagner — who spotlights large, ugly-looking houses on McMansionHell.com — received a cease-and-desist letter from ... read moreNo 10 backtracks on public sector pay and now says 'policy has not changed' - Politics live This is not strong and stable, it is a government that is spinning ... A colleague will be picking up the blog later to cover the vote on the Labour amendment to the Queen's speech. The vote comes at 7pm. It will be the first proper vote of this ... read more

Schmuck: Zach Orr wants to come out of retirement, but NFL should not let him Zachary Orr has announced he wants to come out of retirement. It's not hard to understand why young linebacker Zach Orr wants to resume his football career, and it's certainly not a surprise that he has found some rationale to attempt to come out of ... read more5 Reasons Why You Should not do Blogging You may find it funny that when everyone told you to do blogging, I am sharing the reasons why you should not do blogging. There is no doubt that blogging is the best way to make money online without the knowledge of coding or becoming a geek. Everyone can ... read moreMAX APPLESAUCE AND THE THING WHERE I DO THE WRITING TO SHOW YOU I'M NOT A FAILUR I'm not going to delete anything ... TIME I FUCKED A UNICORN WHICH WAS NEVER PROVEN AND ITS NOT MY FAULT YOUR CAR EXPLODED BUT LOOK AT ALL THE BLOG POSTS THERE'S LIKE 6 OF THEM!!! Yeah, I don't think those are going to work. You didn't even write most ... read moreWeather odds not in our favor for seeing the solar eclipse in Seattle Lo and behold, the star (and planet and moon) are aligning on that date. But that fortunate timing on the calendar might still not be enough for those of us living in and near some of the cloudiest cities in the United States to see it, because the timing ... read moreTroubleshooting Connectivity Problems With VLAN Probe (Pro Tip: It's not always the Wi-Fi) Five years ago, I wrote a blog about about VLAN Probe ... I realized that many of our partners and customers may not fully comprehend the awesomeness of this outstanding troubleshooting tool. Because Wi-Fi is an access technology, if something goes ... read moreMaggie's Story: The Many Reasons Why NOT The following is an extended blog that tells the true story of Maggie Nelson ... We have given her story the subtitle "the many reasons why not" to counter the narrative in the popular television show, 13 Reasons Why, in which a teenage girl commits ... read moreVideo: This is Not a Beautiful Hiking Video Most of the adventurous videos that I share here at The Adventure Blog are all about the amazing journeys that ... way just to get the beautiful shots that make up the film. That is not this video. Here, we join Peter Hochhauser as he sets out on a five ... read more

Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!

We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.
Source: Not #Blogging

How To Turn Visitors Into Customers Through Blogging

According to 82% of marketers, blogging receives a positive ROI.

I remember when I used to blog to promote a product, without actually generating any leads. Because a potential customer will touch a business on average eight times before purchasing, you need to look at ways to start this "touch" journey as soon as possible.

If someone finds a piece of content that you have written on your website, what are you doing to get them into your marketing funnel?

I have a process that I want to share with you. This is something I have been testing, analysing and perfecting over the last 12 months and now that I have generated THOUSANDS of leads from just writing a piece of content, I want YOU to be able to do the same.

Here is my step-by-step process to turn visitors into customers through blogging.

Step One; Structure

Creating a great first impression is crucial. This is more than just creating an engaging headline. There are five key features you should have as a part of your blog page structure.

You will notice that as you scroll down a page on my website, the top bar will follow you. I have designed my website this way because it is important that a first-time reader is always aware of the website they are currently on.

Content Aligned To The Left

If you are reading this piece of content on my website, you will notice that I have structured the blog page to be aligned to the left. After doing my research, I realised that my audience read pages from left to right, and content in general (unless a sub-header) should be aligned to the left.

You will also notice that to the right of the page, I have more content, unrelated to the content in this blog. To turn visitors into customers through blogging, consider having some sort of side-product or subscribe option to the right of your content to encourage your readers to continue their journey with you.

Do you have a search bar on your website? Allowing your visitors to search for content based on their needs is so important. A visitor will not have all the time in the world to try and find a piece of content so make it easy for them and have a search bar in the top right hand side of your website. 83% of users will leave a website if it takes them too many clicks to find what they are looking for.

Let your content readers share what you have written with their audience by offering social sharing icons at the bottom of your blog. This is a great way to drive awareness, and in turn turn visitors into customers through blogging.

Step Two; CTA/Banners

At the end of my blogs, I will always have some sort of call-to-action opt-in where a visitor of mine can sign up to a live webinar I am running, a free guide, or a free template. This has proved extremely effective, and this alone has given me thousands of targeted leads.

To achieve this, I use a tool called OptinMonster. Whilst this tool does cost money, it has been one of my most-used tools throughout 2017 because it allows me to not only create pop-ups, but also add an engaging call-to-action to the end of my blogs (as you can see below).

Recommended for You

Webcast, July 6th: Advanced SEO Site Auditing

There are three different blogging CTA/Banner style features you should consider;

Inline CTA: this is used in between post content

Bottom CTA: scroll to the bottom of this blog to see this in action

Sidebar CTA: look to the right of this blog to see this in action

I use two of the three features I have mentioned above as a way to turn visitors into customers through blogging.

You should also consider how you are going to use pop-ups on your website. Here are three of the different ways I use pop-ups.

Exit Overlay: this will enable a popup to appear if someone is moving their mouse to exit your website.

Time Intent: this will enable a popup to appear based on how long someone has been on your website

Scroll Intent: this will enable a popup to appear based on how much a visitor has scrolled down a page.

Step Three; Load Speed

On average, a web page needs to load within three seconds for a visitor to stay on this website. More than 40% of people will abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds. It is so important that you understand how long it takes for your website to load and if it is more than three seconds, this needs to be looked at.

Take a look at GTmetrix which have a free pagespeed analyser, and it will also give you a breakdown of any issues it sees that may be contributing to a slow page load.

I hope that the above three steps will help you turn visitors into customers through blogging. How would you like to achieve further success through blogging?

Over the last nine years I have written over 1,000 articles, and have acquired more than ONE MILLION visitors reading my blogging content.

In the modern world, every business needs to communicate with their customers through content, and the best way to do this is through blogging.

To understand whether this webinar is for YOU, I have four questions I would like you to ask yourself:

Do you know how to set up a blog?

Are you happy with the blog traffic you are generating?

Are you on the first page of Google for your blog content?

Do you know how to find your target customers online?

If you answered NO to the above questions, this will be one of the best blogging learning opportunities you'll have this year, and it's 100% free and certified!

Click here to access the recording of the webinar!

Author: Warren Knight

Warren Knight is a Social Media Strategist, author of Think #Digital First and one of the UK's leading professional speakers in Technology, Sales and Social Media.As an award-winning coach and entrepreneur, Warren has helped thousands of Startups and SME's grow their business through the strategic use of socially selling… View full profile ›

Source: How To Turn Visitors Into Customers Through Blogging

Top 7 Best #Blogging Platforms

Top 7 Best Blogging Platforms Online blogging and digital marketing have become exponentially more important in an era of social media and networking. Blogging, as an online activity has witnessed a tremendous surge in the past few years and it still holds a bright outlook for the future. read moreAd rates on digital, VOD and OTT platforms increase 60-100% over last year in India Ad rates on the OTT - new-age digital platforms – are clearly over the top these days and have doubled in a year ... Hotstar is being seen by leading advertisers as the best place to build brands and a distinctive proposition of deeply engaged audiences ... read more11 Best Blogging Platforms – Squarespace VS WordPress VS Blogger In fact, if you've been following MonetizePros, you'll know that we strongly advise starting a WordPress blog and have a very detailed tutorial for that on our homepage. In this post, we're going to dig deep and compare the best blogging platforms ... read more

PR Crisis Comms in Action: Top 7 Social Media Fires of 2017 (So Far) Checking Shea Moisture's sentiment score with the Meltwater media intelligence platform ... 7 #SocialMedia Fires of 2017 c/o @mai #Uber #United #Juicero #Adidas #Pepsi (So Far)… https://t.co/sG92HMMEVS RT @MarketingWeekEd: The big debate: Is 2017 the ... read moreThe Best Free Blogging Platforms In this article, you will learn about the top five best free blogging platforms. Free Blog Warning: There is a drawback to using a free blogging platform. You have very limited control of your content and it can be hard to download or export should you ... read moreTop 11 Donation and Reward-Based Crowdfunding Platforms in Asia The platform works on a mentorship system and connects young designers with more established ones to help and advice them on how to make their designs even better. The platform was initiated by OTTO Solutions and seeks to become the best crowdfunding ... read moreThe blog platforms of choice among the top 100 blogs the blog platform that came in second place. An interesting side note is that very few WordPress blogs in the top 100 have updated to WP 2.7 so far. Though WordPress is more popular among the self-hosted blogs than Movable Type, the situation is reversed ... read moreBest Blogging Sites Comparison Guide 2017 In this article I'll be reviewing each of the popular blogging sites available today. Since blogging is much more than writing or posting photos, finding the best platform for your ... Here are some of the top blogging sites that are available and ... read moreTop 10 Best Blog Sites and Blogging Platforms Today we've gathered 10 of the best blogging platforms online to help you choose the one that suits your needs best. WordPress is a free and popular open source blog publishing platform, powered by PHP & MySQL. It isn't as simple to set up and ... read moreList of Best Free Blogging Sites & Platforms You're here because you're looking for the best ... blogs (WordPress.org), while requiring hosting and your own domain name, offer unbeatable advantages that most of the top free blog sites just can't compete with. How to Choose your Blogging ... read more

Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!

We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.
Source: Top 7 Best #Blogging Platforms

Weekend Farmers’ Market Blogging: Week 3

Welcome to week 3 of Weekend Farmers' Market Blogging. This weekly series is all about celebrating local eating from the farmers market to the kitchen.

Is there anyone out there?

The idea for Weekend Farmers' Market Blogging came to me after the generous and positive reaction I received to my post about missing the old days of blogging. The support, camaraderie and friendly debate that sprung up all over was so heartening. It was like a giant chorus of "me too." It was so heartening to learn that so many other bloggers fondly remember the days when we were a smaller, closer, more personal group who did things like Weekend Farmers' Market Blogging on the regular.

So far though, the idea isn't panning out. This is my third WFMB update and the fifth week since I announced it and … crickets. Although I have discovered some great farmers' market related posts to include in roundups, no one is deliberately joining in the fun. Yet? I hope that's a yet.

I am not done yet. Eating locally and supporting local agricultural systems is a passion of mine, so I plan to continue WFMB at least through the summer — whether it's just me or not. But I am hoping others will join in … eventually.

In the meantime, here's a little about what I wrote this week and some cool posts I found from around the web. Enjoy!

Want to know more about Weekend Farmers' Market Blogging? Read the introductory post.

This Week in Weekend Farmers' Market Blogging

I shared a post about how strawberry picking is a family tradition for us — and it includes a number of recipes to use the berries you pick.

More Tasty Farmers' Market Blogging from Around the Web Instagram Post of the Week
Source: Weekend Farmers' Market Blogging: Week 3

GFC 096: How to Make Your First $1,000 #Blogging (22 step action plan)

GFC 096: How to Make Your First $1,000 Blogging (22 step action plan) If I received a dollar each time someone asked this simple question, I would be rich! For some reason, people struggle to believe you can make money on the internet. And even once you get them on board, most can barely envision you making more than $20 ... read moreHow to Create a Relationship Timeline Good luck handing your lover a computer ... Plain old Microsoft Word can make a pretty good timeline and is worth considering by less computer savvy types and the YouTube below takes you through the process step by step: read moreNo. 057 How to Decide What Your Podcast Should Be About This is the first D in Jerod's 3-D philosophy for creating a unique podcast: Decide. How do you decide what your podcast should be about? It's a three-step process, and if you skip any steps, you may be killing your chances of ever truly connecting ... read more

Report: Trump Tells Senators That Trumpcare Is Too 'Mean' very incredibly well-crafted" plan. But that was a long time ago. Today, Trump met with Senate Republicans about the new bill that they are attempting to put together, and he reportedly urged them to make this one less "mean." The Associated Press ... read moreReal-World eCommerce Training You'll Love The Guide is a comprehensive, step-by-step eCommerce training course designed to ... Have you sacrificed to make your business dreams a reality? Maybe you've already taken the first steps toward opening your own store or even have a storefront online! read moremy manager keeps disparaging millennials on Facebook (and I'm a millennial) What's your relationship with your boss like ... t have strong rapport (as long as the relationship isn't outright bad), or that it might not make just as much or an impact on her, but it probably isn't what you want to spend capital on in that ... read more4 Ways Self-Employment Is Less Risky than Getting a Job Friends ask if you've "gotten it out of your system." Even you sometimes wonder whether it wouldn't be safer to take the well-traveled road. I say again, vehemently: no, it would not. 1. Taking control over your own happiness First, by spending 40 ... read moreOTPP's New Infrastructure Approach? That journey had a simple objective: to analyse how infrastructure had changed since Teachers' first started investing ... you have less time to catch up and make up for any correction because of the maturity of our plan." That also means, though ... read moreHow Can We Break The Small Arms Plateau? First, I want to talk about how US small arms procurement has ... engineering of new infantry small arms has been left to private companies, who – while they make considerable effort to produce the best product – fundamentally can only work within ... read moreHow effective is fiscal policy: Guest post from Roger Farmer but not the time or inclination for a regular blog, make it even better. John. You ask for responses from DSGE theorists to the question; how effective is fiscal policy? Let me provide a personal response. In the opening paragraph of your post you assert ... read more

Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!

We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.
Source: GFC 096: How to Make Your First $1,000 #Blogging (22 step action plan)

5 Reasons Why You Should not do Blogging

You may find it funny that when everyone told you to do blogging, I am sharing the reasons why you should not do blogging.

There is no doubt that blogging is the best way to make money online without the knowledge of coding or becoming a geek.

Everyone can do blogging including students, housewives, professionals etc.

Do you know that even celebrities have their own blogs?

Anyway, let`s stick to the topic.

5 Reasons Why You Should not do Blogging : eAskmeOther people are reading:  How to Build Strong Brand Image For Blog in 2017 5 Reasons Why You should not do Blogging I am writing this to answer those who think that they do not need to start a blog or choose to blog as a career and for those also who want to become a blogger. 1) You don`t have time: When you say this that means you are making an excuse.

Satisfaction is a good thing but if you are satisfied with your job that means you will never try any new thing because you do not want to invest your time in work after office hours.

Blogging takes time and if you do not have time for it that means you are out at very first step.

Exception: I have many friends who are running blogs even after working in MNC and making even more that they are earning from the office job.

2) You do not want more money: We all work for money and if you do not need money that means you will never spend even a single minute to work as a blogger.

Either you are in dilemma that you are earning enough or you are enjoying the hard earned money of your father.

Maybe you do not know that the bloggers are making more money between $1,000-1,000,000 ever month?

3) You are lazy: Blogging is for those who have the passion for it. You cannot get success in blogging if you do not have the interest in learning new things, writing and sharing.

There is a lot of work that you have to do in order to become a professional blogger. But a lazy person can`t do that.

If you are lazy that means you will never achieve anything in your life.

4) You want to live and die as a common man, or don't want to be rich: Being rich is not just about money, but it is also about name and fame.

Blogging brings you everything, name, fame, and money.

But if you do not want to change your lifestyle then no one can help you.

The famous saying, "if you are poor by birth, it`s not your fault. But if you die poor then it's only your fault".

5) You do not know how to do blogging: If you have this reason that you do not know how to do blogging, then don't worry I am here to help you.

I am running Learn blogging online courses for those who want to learn online and even for those who want to visit me and learn offline.

Soon I am going to launch an institute where you can come, join the course and learn to blog.I am also proving the course certificate.

So you see, I can help you to build your career as a professional blogger, but only if you want it. So these are the reasons that most of the people give when they talk about blogging. What is your reason? Share via comments.

If you still have any question, feel free to ask via comments.

Source: 5 Reasons Why You Should not do Blogging

How to Start Building Your Online #Blogging Empire Today

How to Start Building Your Online Blogging Empire Today Blogging, which was once nothing more than a hobby, has become one of the best methods of making money online. With time, a proper strategy, and a little luck, you can build a popular blog that covers topics you are passionate about. Having a popular blog ... read moreGFC 096: How to Make Your First $1,000 Blogging (22 step action plan) When I started blogging, one of the most popular themes was called Thesis. While it still exists today ... tools you can use to build your readership and bring traffic to your blog. One of the first steps you should take as you start blogging is setting ... read moreHow to build your online empire? 3/5 We were saying also that there is a platform, which allows you to build all your online empire ... your squeeze page already today! Start building your list now! (Yesterday was already late.) P.S. Use a pop-up window on your blog or squeeze pages to ... read more

How to Use Blogging To Build Social Media Marketing Strategy Social media has become one of the best forms of online marketing. When this is combined with the right kind of content, the results are not just good, but they even target the right audience. In this article, you will get to know, how blog posts can be ... read moreWhy I Wanted To Build A Real Estate Empire Further, online media ... be able to build his own real estate empire. Nobody really told me how much you worry as a parent. It's rather debilitating if you can't get past thinking about all the things that could go wrong with your child, especially ... read moreStart Building Your Video Empire Now Although I'm happy you've taken the time to read this, only 25% of you will read an entire online article ... adds value to your website or platform, and it engages consumers. Here're three tips to start creating a video empire that will grow ... read moreHow to Find Time to Build Your Ecommerce Empire While Working a 9 to 5 While this is the ideal, don't let your ideals prevent you from selling something you truly believe in, are passionate about or think would be a huge success. Check out our guide on how to find a product to sell online and go from there. But the real ... read moreHow to Create an Online Business to Explode Your Online Business Today! wish you knew how to make your ... business empire today! This book also comes with a one page Action plan you can use Immediately to help you start building your dream Business Today! Your about to discover all of these things and more with Online ... read moreHow to Market a Product: 18 Effective Marketing Tips to Skyrocket Sales If you're just starting your online store and need to drive more traffic, influencer blogging is one ... on the fence that today's deal is worth buying. Having freebies under your special offers page can also help build up your email list. read moreHow to Start Building Your Online Business Empire Today You need to keep learning and keep trying – if somebody told you that you need a certain level of experience to start ... month on your blog? Boom. Here's a key tip for you to close this article: if you want to build an online business empire, no ... read more

Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!

We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.
Source: How to Start Building Your Online #Blogging Empire Today

Ink — A WordPress Blogging theme to tell Stories

Download

Ink is a WordPress theme with a minimalist design that lets your narrative take centre stage, so your content can shine. Uncluttered, straight-forward theme options, are inside the default WordPress live customizer, ensuring an experience with a native look and feel, and a great blog right out of the box.

Intuitive Customizer options that actually make sense

Gone is the added complexity of a 'new Options Panel' that provide endless customization options. With Ink, we have taken the design decisions needed for a stunning website right out of the box.

A selected number of options live in the already powerful WordPress Live Theme Customizer where you can customize the appearance of your site and preview the changes on the fly. Totally focussed on user experience without any of the extra bloat or clutter.

Compatible with Restrict Content Pro Plugin

Turn your Ink-based blog into a premium content website and ask for paid (or free) memberships from your users for access to restricted content. Restrict Content pro is a separate plugin that requires an additional purchase, but if look for a membership plugin, look no further. You can find more information about Restrict Content Pro here. Restrict Content Pro is a paid plugin and requires a separate purchase

You can create as many widgetized pages you wish, and create custom layouts using 4 custom section widgets. Through an intuitive drag-and drop UX with a native feel, you will be able to tailor the layout to your needs by filling widget settings and re-ordering the widgets with the Section prefix. These custom widgets are listed below.

Static content: This widget will output the content of any static page, into your page's layout.

Recent Posts: Displays a block with a background image and a selected number of recent posts over it.

Recent Posts (Grid): This widget will also output a selected number of posts but in a grid style.

Contributors widget: A handy widget that will display your contributing blog authors if you have any.

Background settings for your post covers

Always ensure the optimal contrast between the featured image and the post title, using the Background Settings panel and experimenting with opacity and background color, on a per page and post basis.

Six blog layout options

You can choose between 6 Layouts for your default homepage and/or your Blog page. Using the Live customizer you can see the changes on the fly. If your homepage is set to display your latest posts, you can combine the diversity of the layouts with a custom header showing an image or video, and get engaging, content-rich results.

Theme Highlights

Supports custom video and image headers (check the alternative demo)

Responsive Design from Head to Footer

Crisp and clear, minimalistic design approach, with refined typography

Full-width images in post content

Widgetized homepage that let's you re-arrange the homepage using custom widgets

Optimized for Retina / HiDPI displays

Child Theme Ready

Change fonts on the move with Google Web Fonts

Change accent color with a simple color picker

Full Localisation Support ( .po/.mo files included )

StagTools Compatible (free) – Adds shortcodes and custom widgets to your theme. For more info check the plugin page.

Compatible with Stag Custom Sidebars

Dedicated support desk to keep you covered

Extensive documentation

Sass source files and Compass config included.

Frequent theme updates to ensure optimal compatibility with industry technologies.

Change Log

The latest updates and bug fixes for this theme can be seen inside the theme files in a file called "changelog.txt" or you can also view the online changelog.

Get the theme here !

Download

Source: Ink — A WordPress Blogging theme to tell Stories

Navigating Compliance Oversight When #Blogging As A Financial Advisor

Navigating Compliance Oversight When Blogging As A Financial Advisor As digital marketing for financial advisors slowly gains momentum, there is growing interest amongst financial advisors to launch their own blog as a means to showcase their expertise. Yet the challenge, for advisors at both broker-dealers and RIAs, is ... read more1042 Exchange: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place Just how unattractive floating rate notes are, and why they became the default 1042 rollover strategy among financial advisors, is the subject of ... obscure corner of the investment universe? Our navigation around these investment shoals started in ... read moreTriumphant Phil Fiore set to regain $8.4 billion of AUA that UBS stripped away by firing him in November The New York-based wirehouse fired its star financial advisor in late November -- a temporary checkmate ... says he was reassured that the infractions concerned inside-baseball compliance matters that did not affect clients or their money. read more

Compliance Bricks and Mortar for June 16 Below are some of the compliance-related stories that recently caught my attention. SEC identifies adviser ... Can Improve Oversight of Financial Regulatory Institutions by Hadar Jabotinsky and Mathias Siems in the CLS Blue Sky Blog Financial regulatory ... read moreWhy Your Financial Advisor Doesn't Return Your Texts You want a financial advisor who is vigilant about making sure he or she is in compliance with regulations. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has oversight over stockbrokers ... Valley Ski Resort Official Blog. read moreDescargar bingo virtual en espanol systems If will and systems more process the nontax in OMB federal financial ... concerning advisors. the prior regulations the of compliance use electronic and to or before in of support Konzerte kultur casino bern Section Exchange and oversight the ... read moreDigital Advice & Regulation Microblog: What Robo-Advisors Should Expect from Regulators The sizable presence and rising trend towards automated digital advice has led to a disruptive shift in the ways investors and advisors receive and provide financial advice ... specifically the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ... read moreWeekend Think: Fintech rewind, listen, and fast forward They were seeking a compliance professional ... to a market that mainstream banking and financial services were not fully reaching. From 2005 until 2009, a bevy of online consumer lenders, crowdfunding, robo-advisors, bitcoin, and payments processing ... read moreAdvisers are texting, but are they compliant? But opening up a new communication channel for financial advisers isn't easy, especially from a compliance standpoint ... actions against firms that fail to enforce supervisory oversight over e-communications in violation of Finra Rule 3110. read more

Buy AutoTrafficRSS script now for $27 only!

We will send the script to your PayPal email within few hours,Please add FullContentRSS@gmail.com to your email contact.
Source: Navigating Compliance Oversight When #Blogging As A Financial Advisor

Forget Video or Blogging If You Want to Reach Business Leaders

Business leaders are busy people. All those individuals in the "C-Suite" have plenty to do. So you would imagine that in order to provide them with insights to help them improve their aspect of business they would want something "snappy". You'd expect them to prefer a quick blog post, or a short video, rather than having to wade through thousands of words. After all, they are so busy at this level of work – juggling several different projects – you would think they would not have the time to consider lengthy articles.

But if you thought all that, you'd be wrong.

According to a new study from Forbes Insights, the C-Suite executive is more interested in lengthy, written material than anything else.

More than half the executives in the study wanted long articles, reports, books and briefing documents. Those are what you might call "traditional" methods of communication; they existed before the Internet. Meanwhile, blogs, podcasts, webinars, infographics only garner support from around 10% of C-Suite executives.

Just because you can record a video doesn't mean you have to

Once again, this is further research confirming that the world of online video is not important to business decision-makers. Online video is massive. Billions of videos are watched every day. There are around 576,000 hours of video uploaded to the web each day. This would all suggest that video is important. It is. There is no denying that. But you need to dig deeper into what is being watched and who is doing the watching. Almost all online video that is consumed is entertainment or breaking news. Business video? Hardly worth a mention. OK, yes, it does have its place, such as in providing an alternative to instruction manuals and gaining the interest of consumers. There is a clear marketing value in a business video. But as a means of persuading C-Suite executives, they need to change? Forget it.

Why do busy executives want long content?

Given that the C-Suite team is busy, there must be a reason why they want to read long articles, reports and books. As ever, the answer can be found in thinking about psychological factors.

Those working in the C-Suite have to make significant decisions. What these executives decide could make or break a company. As a result, the C-Suite individual wants to make sure they have made the right decisions. That means they are always seeking to minimise the risk of their decision making.

Humans seek to minimise risk all the time. It is an inbuilt instinct that helps you survive. If you didn't constantly analyse risk in the world around you, then you'd eat poisonous food, you would run in front of traffic and you might make foolish decisions.

One of the ways we seek to reduce risk is by getting as much information on something as possible. Information is key to risk reduction and this is why C-Suite executives want long-form content. A short video contains little information, so too does your typical blog post. But a 3,000-word article, or an in-depth report? Those are things that executive can "get their teeth into".

Recommended for You

Webcast, July 6th: Advanced SEO Site Auditing

Go for the "thud factor"

When you get something in the post and it is a flimsy letter, you take little notice of it. But if it is a thick packet, that "thuds" onto your doormat as it lands, you pay more attention. Several studies have shown, for instance, that a 14-page sales letter achieves more take-up than a similar 7-page sales letter.

One of my friends in a pharmaceutical company thought he would try to save money by reducing margins and lowering the font size on his reports. They still looked OK but had almost half the number of pages of previous reports. The total content was the same, in terms of word count, but his colleagues were less impressed. His reports didn't look as substantial as his previous ones and his colleagues felt they were being deprived of information. They wanted a report that "seemed" longer simply because their psychological instinct for as much information as possible was kicking in.

True, these days people are busier and do not want to read too much. But they still want to read a lot. The average length of a best-selling book is still 273 pages. It used to be 467 pages back in 2011. However, we are now buying more books than ever before, so our total consumption of pages has gone up. It all continues to point to that psychological desire for risk reduction by gaining as much information as possible.

How to influence the C-Suite

If you want to reach business leaders, those individuals who have a job title that is an acronym beginning with "C", then you need to present them with as much information as possible. Far from putting them off with the amount of material to "wade through" you will be triggering their information desire, all part of their risk reduction instinct.

This means you need to produce such items as:

Long articles such as in-depth features

White papers

Reports

Analytical documents of trends

Research analysis reports

Each of these is the type of long document that will be preferred by the C-Suite. If you really must record a video, then do a short promotional recording to bring people's attention to your long document.

Focus on long content

It may seem counterintuitive. While everyone else is rushing headlong into video or podcasting, you might think it is daft to go back to something so traditional and old-fashioned as a written report. Yet the research continues to confirm this is what is necessary. Two years ago there was research which suggested that writing was more important than video online. Three years ago, another study demonstrated the need to focus on text.

Now, with this new study from Forbes, it is further evidence that business executives want long articles and lots of text. That's not because they are old-fashioned or out-of-date or not "on trend". Rather, it is their psychological desire for reducing risks that is kicking in.

So what do you need to do now? Get writing…!

Source: Forget Video or Blogging If You Want to Reach Business Leaders