The secret to writing a successful and outstanding blog

Every now and then, a resource comes along that I just know will make a real difference in mediators’ business lives.

Now that I’ve gotten a sneak peak at Liz Strauss’ brand new e-book, The Secret to Writing a Successful and Outstanding Blog, I know it’s going to be one of those very resources.

If you’ve been a Mediator Tech reader for a while, you’re no stranger to Liz’ name. Called “perhaps the most influential relational blogger on the Internet” by EatonWeb, Liz is the creator of a blog that had 50,000 comments by its second anniversary, the mastermind behind SOBCon (my favorite conference ever), the smarts behind the Perfect Virtual Manager, a contributor to my virtual book launch prize drawing, and the subject of a number of prior posts here on Mediator Tech, including How Blogs Can Build Relationships. Phew. She’s one busy woman!

She’s also the person who said to me, [Read more]

Mediator Tech newsletter for june 2008

What do you associate with summer?

I associate laid back time with friends, great reading, cookouts, kayaking, hiking and plenty of other outside play time. I can’t reproduce the latter few for you online, but I can cook up something that combines the first two! Read on to find out what I’m up to.

Here’s what’s on tap in this newsletter, a new monthly feature at Mediator Tech:

• Announcing the “Making Mediation Your Day Job” Summer Book Group
• Book news
• Good reads and resources for ADR business owners
• Digest of Mediator Tech articles from the past month

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Announcing the “Making Mediation Your Day Job” Summer Book Group

One of my favorite things is to sit down with my local book group, shoot the breeze, share great food and wine, and talk about our favorite reads. So it seems only natural to create a special summer book group for my own book, Making Mediation Your Day Job!

Beginning Friday, June 27, 12-12:45 pm Eastern Time, and continuing every two weeks through August, I’ll be hosting a telephone version of a book group. I’ll delve into my book with you chapter by chapter (not necessarily in the order printed), take your questions, brainstorm solutions to your own mediation marketing challenges, and serve as a resource to you. There’s no charge beyond purchasing your own copy of my book.

Come to one of them, come to all of them…your call (pun intended!). To register, just fill in and submit this form:

Name:
Email:
State/Province:

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Book news

I received my very first royalty check in the mail last week. It was tempting to frame it instead of cash it, until I thought of all the hours I put in writing Making Mediation Your Day Job. My dogs, Smudge and Hugo, were happy to go to the bank’s drive-up teller with me and get the dog biscuits they know to expect from the nice bank lady.

I continue to offer my Virtual Book Tour teleseminars for interested ADR associations and groups. If you’re interested, just drop me a line and I’ll share the details for getting it set up with minimal hassle. I’ve got it down to a science by now!

Have you had any new insights or breakthroughts from reading the book? I’d love to hear about them.

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Good reads and resources for ADR business owners

Here’s a quick roundup of some good ideas and useful tips from around the web:

• Geoff Sharp shows us how to store YouTube videos on our hard drives
• Dave Taylor explains how to get faxes for free and a few eFax secrets
• Web Worker Daily helps us find copies of long-lost user manuals via an online clearinghouse
• Diane Levin holds us accountable – and rightfully so – in her discussion of career prospects for mediators (and also mentions Geoff Sharp’s excellent posts on the topic).

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Digest of Mediator Tech articles from the last month

Here’s a digest of the past month’s articles at Mediator Tech:

• Tech support for mediators and other everyday people
• Blog commenting as a mediator networking activity
• How to start a mediation business blog
• 4 reasons online networking is valuable for mediators even if your market is local
• Dear SnarkMonster: please change your email name
• Why your website needs a good 404 page
• Calculate your GQ (google quotient)
• How to make your ADR website a must-read
• Twitter 101 for mediators

Best to you,

Twitter 101 for Mediators

A few weeks ago, after a long run, my aching feet reminded me it’s time to find some new dress shoes that accommodate feet that have been running for 30 years. Trouble is, I live in southern NH, not exactly a shoe mecca.

So I put a question out on Twitter. A couple of tweets later (yes, that’s what they’re called…corny, I know), Tony, the CEO of Zappos, the terrific online shoe store, had invited me to send him my specs for shoes and he’d make sure I got some good brand suggestions from his office. Wow!

Such is the power of Twitter. [Read more]

How to make your ADR website a must-read

What’s the key to making your ADR website a must-read for prospective mediation clients and your target market?

It’s simple. And mediators will get this right away: Make it useful. You make yourself very useful to your clients, so why not to your prospective clients as well?

Business blogging pro Chris Garrett, whom I had the good fortune to meet and learn from at SOBCon ‘08, offers wisdom for just how to do it. Here’s an excerpt from [Read more]

Calculate your GQ (google quotient)

If you don’t show up in Google, you don’t exist.

So say the authors of Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand. They’re right.

And I’d add, “If you don’t show up in Google with results that show your professional credibility, you might as well not exist in the ADR marketplace.”

I’ve talked before about the value of Googling yourself periodically. Career Distinction’s William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson have elevated self-Googling to an entirely new level with their Online Identity Calculator, which promises to determine your GQ or Google Quotient. That’s their term for the breadth and depth of your professional web presence, the kind of snapshot mediation clients will take of you…often before they ever pick up the phone or email you. [Read more]

Why your website needs a good 404 page

You’ve seen them. Those white, mostly blank web pages that say, in large bold lettering, Not Found.

They’re 404 error pages, the pages visitors to your website land on if the URL they tried no longer exists. People can end up on 404 pages when you move a page, rename it, delete it, the link they clicked had a typo or other error, and when they mis-type the URL.

Why you should care

You should care about this because 404 error pages are an opportunity. [Read more]