Better Late Than Never

That may be true in life...sometimes...but not in business. I think it's okay in blogging.

As you can see, I've taken a couple of months off of actively blogging here. I'm planning on taking off a couple of more months and wanted to let you all know what's going on.

I am a bit of a news "hound" to say the least, but you may have noticed that my blog is more focused on giving practical advice that's more "evergreen". I write less about the business news of the day and more about what you may be going through in your business right now. My idea is to create a body of knowledge for the small business owner that can be used, ongoing.

The one thing I continually see is that a person's ability to realize their goals is connected very much to their personality, their ability to be flexible and to handle the ongoing stress of going it on their own. In the past year, in particular, I've met a lot of wonderful folks who are doing just that. Meanwhile, my own practice has become more and more fluid and flexible as well. I've been focusing more and more on design: web, advertising, knitwear and a bit less on mentoring. I don't see that part of my work ending anytime soon as I really love it and it seems to find it's way to me again and again.

With these changes comes a bit of a brain shift. I suppose I'm in less of a mindset to write practical blog posts for the small biz owner right now. So, I'm giving myself a couple more months off on the blog and will return at the end of the Summer for more of what I do best here. Meanwhile, I hope you'll pass this blog on to folks who are small business owners so that perhaps they can find some use from my words.

Always, please feel free to contact me directly with your inquires into my mentoring practice.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I have a copy of this magazine here, Wearables published by ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute). This particular publication focuses on sellers and buyers of "wearables" that are customizable with advertising or corporate logos.

A couple of months ago I was contacted for an interview about the value of blogging for business. The interview went well and eventually I was notified that it had gone to press. The fella who interviewed my found me through my business blog. Interesting.

As you can see, if you click on the above image and view it full size you can read the full interview. You might also notice that there is no mention of my blog address, nor anyone else who was interviewed.

I went to the online version of the magazine and found a feature called "Business Toolkit". If you click on the web subject, up pops a window with an image of the print page using a application called "Flash Paper", which in not unlike a PDF. There you can read this same article, still with no live links.

So, a publication that is trying to educate their readers about the value of blogging for business is not actually using that technology or any other ability to "link" to resources outside it's actual print magazine. I was shocked!

I did not want to appear ungrateful but I had initially taken the time for this interview because I believed it would drive traffic to my blog. I interview people all the time and this is the exchange: You answer some questions to me and I'll put you out there! Yes, folks can find me easily if they google my name. In this case though, I wonder how you can talk about a technologies' worth and then not actually use it. Hmmm.

I contacted the editor via email and asked what has happened with this. The response I got was:

"Melissa,
You're right, it wouldn't have done much harm to include the links for the blogs. Just chalk it up to a simple oversight between writer and editor. Thanks for your help
C.J. Mittica"

Alrighty then!

What tells me is that there is a fear of technology in some business sectors and a sense of "self-protection" as well. A thought that perhaps if you like to someone else, you can giving them a change to leave your site. There are ways around that like a second browser window opening with the link so that you can easily go back if you wish. It's not rocket science but this example was simply astounding to me.

Blogging for business makes sense. If you actually read the above article, you'll get my take on it. (!)