Big Is The New Small

Well another year has passed us by, out with the old and in with the new.  Not gonna lie 2011 was one of the quickest years ever. I can’t believe another year of life and year of blogging has come and gone.

I have been blogging at BigIsTheNewSmall.com for nearly 5 years now.  As a blog approaches the 5 year mark, you have to pay even more attention to relevance, focus, change, growth and direction.

I am looking forward to doing some new things on my blog and with other writing projects in 2012.  I’d like to gather some input and feedback about my blog from the most important people, the readers.  The information in my 2011 blog reader survey allows me to assess the demographics of my readers, as well as get input and feedback so I can continue to provide relevant content while continuing to dream BIG and think BIGGER.

The survey is very quick and is designed to take less than 3 minutes.  Your input is very valuable, extremely helpful and seriously welcomed.  I am also going to randomly choose one survey participant that shares a comment below and give them a $25 Starbucks gift-card.  All you have to do is leave comment and say something like “I took the survey, now give me my coffee.”  Your survey is anonymous; however leaving a comment is the only way I can select a random winner.  If you are not interested in the gift-card, simply complete the survey.  Please click here to take the survey.  

The Coffee Winner has already been selected; however you can still take 3 minutes to take the survey.

Please & Thank You!

BTW- I used Fluid Surveys for my blog survey.  Fluid has more features than many of the other sites and it even has some great options for their FREE version.  Check them out here.

Twitter continues to grow and be a major source of news and connection for millions of people.  I remember in they early days when everyone thought it was no more than a fad.  Twitter has definitely moved past the fad stage and you can’t turn on your radio or television without someone sharing their twitter handle.  The same is true for all print materials and other forms of advertisements.

Twitter has many great uses and one of them is the fact that it can be used to make a difference.  Earlier this year I shared an extremely popular post entitled: 50 Ways Twitter Has Positively Impacted The World. The post consists of thoughts from 50 different people in the Twittersphere and their thoughts on how Twitter Has Positive Impacted The World.  Check it out here:

Today, I’m sharing 10 Ways Sharing On Twitter Can Make A Difference.

• 1.  Share A Quote:  There is something about quotes that seem to have a profound impact on people and the way they think.  Take a quote that’s somewhere in the 120 character range and the impact is elevated to an even higher level, and it’s definitely more memorable.  The great thing about quotes is the fact that people love to retweet them and share them.  Quotes have multiplication power, due to the fact that every quote speaks to each individual differently.  Here is a recent leadership quote that I shared that will speak differently to everyone who reads it: “Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.” – Vince Lombardi
• 2. Share Scripture: It’s always great to get nuggets of the living, breathing word of God in the world of Twitter.  It’s also nice to learn and connect with what other individuals, leaders, pastors and organizations are reading.  Not only can I share Bible verses that I’m reading, I can read countless other Bible verses in my timeline throughout the day.  In case you didn’t know, Twitter Is In The Bible.
• 3. Share The Good Stuff: By the good stuff, I’m referring to deals, favorites, coupons, promotions, groupons, retweet-this-win-this, things that can benefit others…  You know what I’m talking about, The Good Stuff.
• 4. Share Pictures: We’ve all heard the modern use of the old phrase “A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words.” That phrase stems from an article by Fred R. Barnard in Printers’ Ink, promoting the use of images that appeared on the sides of streetcars.  The December 1921 issue had an ad entitled, “One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words.”  When it comes to sharing pics on twitter there are many photo sharing services popping up and twitter’s version of this old phrase is more like: “A picture is worth 1,000 thoughts, 1,000 views, 1,000 retweets…”  The bottom line is all of the family pics., random moments, food pics, life moments, children pics., timeless moments etc. all can impact our day in a positive way.  A picture is worth more than 140 characters.
• 5. Share Your Thoughts:  This really gets back to the Twitter basics.  The original Twitter question that twitter asked for your status update was, What are you doing?  It has now evolved to a more appropriate question, What’s happening?   Somewhere in between those two questions is the question of, What are you thinking? Humans have thousands of thoughts per day and those thoughts can have and impact on our friends in the Twittersphere.  Those thoughts can make you laugh, cry, shout, scream and even make you think.  For instance, comedian Michael Jr. @MichaelJrComedy tweeted this over the weekend: It’s cold at this soccer game! I know a grown man shouldn’t say this n public, but… I wish I had a snuggie.  That made me laugh and smile.  Yesterday, my family and I were in the car listening to an old gospel song “I’m Just A Nobody” by the Williams brothers.   The entire family was singing the lyrics, laughing, worshiping, ad-libbing and having a good ol’ time.  The chorus got stuck in my head, so I shared it on Twitter. Here is the chorus,  “I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody who can save anybody!”  That thought was retweeted over 100 times and counting.  It’s guaranteed that the truth of those lyrics made a difference in someone’s life.
• 6. Share Words Of Encouragement: Public words of encouragement and/or retweets with a nice message at the end can go a long way.  I say encourage and encourage often.  Encourage others and challenge those that follow you to encourage others.  Encouragement is the fuel that propels you down the road of success.
• 7. Share Great Information: Whether it’s the latest trend, newest technology release, a great book, an inspiring Seth Godin article, a Mashable find, the latest fashion trends, questions about a product, a great place to dine in a particular city or the recent release of the College Football BCS results, Twitter is definitely one of the best places to gather and share information.
• 8. Share A Cause: On a daily basis I’m either reading or sharing information about a great cause or charity. Twitter makes it simple for us to be helpful to those who are trying to reach a fundraising goal, get information out about a great cause or share information about a movement.  The students at Penn State used Twitter as a tool to promote their “Blue Out” event at this weekends football game against Nebraska.  The stadium was filled with blue in honor of and in order to bring awareness to the epidemic that is the abuse of children.
• 9. Share Breaking News: Twitter is a great source to share breaking news…  You can almost guarantee that Twitter will be the 1st or at the latest 2nd place for breaking news.  The death of Michael Jackson was trending on Twitter before the major news outlets could even catch up.  The ultimate breaking news from twitter was from the Abbottabad man who unknowingly tweeted the raid and killing of Osama Bin Laden.  His initial tweet was this: “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).” 
• 10. Share Your Lives: I am a huge believer in genuine face to face relationships; however I have embraced the tremendous value of Twitter and Social Media relationships.  Social Media relationships are making the world smaller and smaller.  This Big ol’ World is getting Smaller and Smaller, One Tweet, Comment and One Post at a time.  It’s always important to remember the Social Part of the word Social Media.  Social is defined as — The inclination to seek out or enjoy the company of others; sociable.  Twitter is a great place to share your life and connect with the lives of others.

Great video of Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy interviewing Seth Godin.  Seth shares some brilliant thoughts on writing, leadership and what success isn’t.

My favorite thought in this interview is, “Having to say intelligent things about what you notice in the world makes you smarter.”  What is your favorite thought from this video?

I have been reading blogs and writing this blog for quite some time now, around 5 years to be exact. I have seen lots of trends in the world of blogging during those 5 years.  One of the more copious trends is individuals who set out in a furious sprint to be an avid blogger, only to find their blog desire come to a screeching halt.  As a matter of fact probably 50% of the bloggers that are featured on my blogroll probably have not updated in well over a month and many have forgotten about their blog altogether.

10 Reasons Many Blogger Start… Only Few Finish!

• 1. Don’t have the right motivation to start a blog: Often times bloggers want to be the next Seth Godin or have so many people read their blog it crashes servers.  That’s definitely a motivation; however a great place to start from as it relates to motivation is simply this – write because you have something to share and you want to share it… period.  Ask: What’s my motivation?
• 2. Don’t realize the commitment: The commitment that it takes to whip out consistent content is often times overlooked.  Just as sure as the next calendar day is coming, so is the commitment to write another blogpost.  Having the commitment to produce consistent content is key.  A blog is like a newspaper and if you expect it to be delivered daily and all of the sudden it’s not… you will start reading another newspaper.  Same things is true for a blog.  Ask: Am I committed to this?
• 3. Don’t take the time to develop a strategy: Strategy is very important, how, when, why etc.  Abraham Lincoln says is this way, “If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend 6 hours sharpening my ax.” Ask: Do I have a blogging strategy for success.
• 4. No one is reading:  It takes the right motivation, commitment, consistency, strategy, good content & patience before people will start reading.  There are some overnight success blog stories, but most success is a result of bloggers grinding it out.  Ask: Am I willing to write even if no one is reading?
• 5. Nothing To Write About: Bloggers will quickly lose motivation as they lose creativity and inspiration.  What once started as a great place to share creativity, turns into an “Oh no, I don’t have anything to write about.”  This is where a strategy for the what and how to write will be helpful.  It’s important that bloggers find sources for inspiration and push threw the periods of creative blocks.  Even if you don’t have anything to write, write something, it’s the consistent act of writing that’s helpful.  Ask: Am I going to be intentional to seek out places for consistent inspiration & motivation?
• 6. Not willing to learn: Every blogger has their own style and rhythm; however it’s important from bloggers to learn from other bloggers.  Bloggers could address every concern in this post if they would simply learn from others who are a few steps ahead of them.  Do you have a photography blog, make it a consistent point to read some of the best photography blogs in the world.  Need some inspiration or want to learn from one of the best bloggers there is, read Seth Godin’s blog.  Simply put, bloggers give up because they are not learning from the bloggers that finish strong.  Ask: Am I willing to learn from other bloggers?
• 7. Lack Of Discipline: Discipline is defined as activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill.  Most bloggers simply lack the discipline to make it work over a period of time.  Ask: Am I gonna put in the work over time to create discipline?
• 8. Lack Of Comments: Often times bloggers confuse comments with the degree of engagement.  There is sometimes a positive correlation between readers and comments; however over the years I have come to realize that some of my more popular posts didn’t necessarily always have the most comments, as a matter of fact on average you get about 1 comment per 100 readers.  Some bloggers have created communities that can drastically skew that number either way.I believe the Twitter Effect On Blogging has impacted comments overall.  Bloggers must be willing to write even though no one is commenting and try the 10 Techniques To Get More comments On Your Blog. Ask: Will I still write even though no one is commenting?
• 9. Don’t Want To Invest The Time: Blogging is a serious time commitment and most people do not want to invest the time necessary for the blog to be successful.  Michael Hyatt outlines a very detailed post on How To Write A BlogPost In 70 Minutes Or Less. That may seem like  a lot of time, if you want to be good, you will have to invest some time.  Ask:  Am I willing to invest the necessary time needed for my blog to be successful?
• 10. The Time Has Come: I believe that there is a time for everything, including a time to start and a time to finish.  Sometimes bloggers need to be intellectual honest and admit that their blog season has run it’s course.  It’s okay to just move on. Ask: Has my blog season come to an end?

Don’t simply start the race… Finish!

Why do you think Many Bloggers Start,  Only Few Finish?  Share your thoughts and experiences of bloggers not finishing the race.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the International Christian Retail Show In Atlanta.  It’s the largest Christian retail event in the world. For me, it was a power packed day of radio, magazine & tv interviews, topped off with a book signing.  I met some great people and this post is a short clip of a live radio interview that I did with @bobcrittenden for his radio show on Faith Broadcasting called ”The Meeting House.”  Bob asked the question, “Why BigIsTheNewSmall.com & how did it get started?”

Thanks for reading, watching and being part of my online community.

Last year I shared a post entitled Twitterblogology. This post provided some tips to help leverage Twitter for your blog.  Twitter has had a huge impact on blogging and this post will outline some of those effects.

The Twitter Effect On Blogging:

Less Comments- The overall number of comments on blogs cab be reduced due to the Twitter Effect. Many blog readers are driven to blogposts via tweets, therefore creating an extra click, which mentally can be perceived as what would have been a click to the comment section.  Blog readers will make a comment on a post through their retweet, instead of inside the comment section i.e. (Check out this post… great read, must read, I totally agree with this blogpost, great twitter tips, reading The Twitter Effect On Blogging etc.)

More Exposure- Any blog can receive maximum exposure if the blogger produces consistently good content.  Each post is just a retweet away from a high profile Twitterer getting a hold to it and sharing it with their followers.  The ability to push blog content into the twittersphere is a total game changer.  I had one Twitter Tip post retweeted by actress @ alyssa_milano, @mayhemstudios, @guykawasaki  and@ twitter_tips that resulted in over 600+ readers on my blog at one time.  Ability to push blogposts, results in the ability to get exposed, in a good way.

More Comments- This is a distant cousin to the previous point of Less Comments.  Due to more exposure and more interaction the Twitter Effect On Blogging can create a more robust blogging community, over time or some times instantly resulting in more comments.  This isn’t a contradiction of Less Comments, it’s simply a reality of the Twitter Effect.

Less Use Of RSS Readers & Blog Aggregators- The fact that many bloggers share their latest blogposts via twitter has minimized the need to hit-up the RSS reader.  Since it’s somewhat difficult to keep up with the flow of all tweets; blog readers will still check out their RSS feed, just not as often. Twitter lists ad go

More Unique Readers: Retweets create instant exposure to unique “tribes” as Seth Godin refers to them.  In other words the multiplication factor of retweets creates opportunities to be exposed to a very unique and diverse group of readers that would otherwise never have visited John Q Blog.

I could go on and on about the More and Less Effects that Twitter has had on blogging.  The bottom line is that The Twitter Effect On Blogging has been More Positive and Less Negative.  Keep blogging, write consistently good content, share your posts with the twittersphere and The Twitter Effect On Blogging will take care of itself.

Share your thoughts and experiences as it relates to “The Twitter Effect On Blogging.”

Do you ever click through the links on your blogroll from time to time and realize that some of the links have changed or no longer exist.  I have decided to start my blogroll over and re-populate it with those of you that have BigIsTheNewSmall.com in your blogroll or in some kind of linkroll on your blog.

So here is the deal.  If you have linked BigIsTheNewSmall.com fill out your blog information by commenting below and I will add you to my new blogroll, once I delete the existing one.  Thanks for reading and thanks for linking.

Leave a comment below with the name of your blog and the full site address, so that I can just copy and paste.

Example:

BigIsTheNewSmall.com or Scott Williams (however you would prefer to be listed)

http://www.bigisthenewsmall.com

I ran across this video that might be of interest to you, if you are someone that finds yourself being distracted by things like Twitter, Facebook, Messages, Emails, Games and other digital distractions. Freedom blocks you from being online for a specified period of time and Rescue Time monitors your online time and helps you evaluate how much time you may be wasting and in what areas.

Share your thoughts on these applications.  Is it necessary to use apps to manage your digital distractions?

If you have been around BigIsTheNewSmall.com for some time, you know that the inspiration for the name came from Seth Godin’s Small Is The New Big.  In my opinion and the opinion of many other Godinites, Seth is a genius.  I read his blog daily, I’ve read every one of his books and appreciate the way he thinks.

I have been “hanging” with Seth Godin via his blogs and books for about five years now.  I have not personally hung out with Seth, although we have exchanged e-mails over the years.  That’s the beauty of blogs and social media, you can “learn and hang” with some of the brightest minds on the planet via their blogs, twitter and facebook updates.

One of many things I have learned from Seth Godin is: “If you can say it in less words… do it.”  In the words of Bill O’Reilly “Keep It Pithy.”  BigIsTheNewSmall

In 2011, one of my many goals that have been inspired from hanging with Seth Godin is to write shorter, simpler, wittier and more thought provoking posts, in as few words as possible.  I am not Seth Godin and You Are Not Seth Godin…  I even wrote a post about it here.

What have you learned from Seth Godin or other Authors/Bloggers?

What do you think about shorter posts?

Over the years I have done several versions of Promote Your blog aka BIG Pimpin‘. The concept is simple, you get the opportunity to do some BIG Time Blog or Website Promotion.

Remember the rules: We only promote positive and wholesome stuff, so promote your blog, business, website, music site, book site, friend’s site, pastor’s site… (you get the picture).  This handy dandy linking software will add the links to this post for others to easily check them out.  The bonus is that nice people can connect with nice people while promoting their business, product or site all free of charge.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3

• 1. Fill out your info. in this format-  Let me repeat that, Fill out your info. in this format.
• Your Name: Scott Williams – BigIsTheNewSmall  Your URL: http://bigisthenewsmall.com
• 2. Leave a comment in the comment section and tell us about yourself or what you’re Promoting.
• 3. Share Go Promote Your Blog w/ others via Twitter & Facebook use hashtag #GoPYB (Go Promote Your Blog)

We’ll roll this through the weekend, so be sure to check back and find some new peeps to connect with.  Go PROMOTE YOUR BLOG! #GoPYB

I’ll Go First!