The Four Hour Work Week Project – Allison Reynolds

This week showed me that there are still people out there that do not get how collaborating within their niche is a win-win and not something to be feared.

Currently I am working on creating a  Sphynx cat site network because, I hope you know, I just love the breed . One area I have steered away within the niche is creating a forum. There are a couple of reasons why.

• Forums are a lot of work dealing with people
• There are already a few fairly good forums out there
• I have products to create that I need to spend my precious time on

I mention this because I want to emphasise I am not a competitor with the guy this post is about.

I used to advertise my Sphynx cat book on one of the forums. Paid advertising that I tried for about 4 months as it wasn’t really working and I didn’t have time to screw around with split testing ads. Recently a question came up in that forum, “are there any good Sphynx cat books out there because everything I have found is written for children”. I left a post saying I had written one and if they searched in Barnes and Noble online store under “Sphynx Cats” they would find it. No links, no spam. The owner of the forum, however, chose to delete my post because I had ceased advertising with them.

Can you see how shortsighted that was?

I was a contributor to the forum, as well as a member. Instead of celebrating that one of their members had written a book, they stamp on something that would link them to a book (good for them). They killed a post that told a member to how to get exactly what they wanted (good for me, good for the forum).

They also have pushed a button with me that means I will not mention their site favourably ever again, I will recommend their competitor forums over theirs as well as spend my advertising dollars elsewhere. I am doing a podcast series about people in the Sphynx cat world, do you think I feel like including them at the moment?

It really is a stupid move to not even consider working with someone in the same niche as you, the benefits go way beyond whatever it is you are. I wonder if someone had recommended my book with a  straight link, what the owner would have done.

Yesterday I left you wondering what could possibly go wrong with my blog’s Google Page rank when I hadn’t touched the blog in any way at all in over six months.  I gave a huge clue in the post because the issue isn’t about the drop in Google Page rank at all, though it is a symptom of the problem.

The real pointer was the “only 1 page indexed” statement. How does a blog that has been around in the same format for 6 months at least, end up with only 1 page indexed?

Here’s what happened and it could happen to you too if you have set up you blog the same way I had.

Blog Before

Blog After

So what changed? Well in the sidebar came a link to categories…”But you have a sitemap Allison, why do you also need links to categories?”

Because I didn’t think too hard about what would happen if the sitemap plugin decided to just “die”. No sitemap means nothing for the search engine spiders to follow links from and so they deduce “there’s nothing there”. Simple isn’t it? I broke one of the rules that I screech at in my day job as a manager of network technicians. “Where’s the redundancy?!?!?!” If it is important, like a path for spiders or DNS servers (you hear me India network architects *shakes fist*), make sure there is a backup route should the first option become unusable.

I was running my website stats (using the bestest tool in the world Market Samurai )when I noticed something really odd. This blog’s Google Page Rank had taken a drastic tumble, from 4 to zero. I silently went crazy inside. WTF had happened? Sure I hadn’t been posting as much as I sometimes do but apart from that there had been no change to blog itself.  I had never seen a blog just fall off the ranking like that without something drastic happening..but I had made no changes that would make such a drastic thing happen.

I check backlinks…still around 6000 incoming links and no major drop there at all. Steady as a rock actually.

So I then spotted something that just DID NOT MAKE SENSE.

Google had only 1 page indexed for this blog. I let loose a string of OMGs and WTFs. 1 page!!!…Google was WRONG it had to be WRONG, how could I go from several hundred pages of indexed and backlinked content-  to 1 page?

Before I tell you the answer I really have to point out a very important point. If I wasn’t tracking my stats using the handy dandy awesomest web stats tool in the world – Market Samurai –  I wouldn’t have had a clue anything was wrong.  Soon my site will be falling off the #1 spot for “Allison Reynolds” and I would be tearing my hair out blaming Google for it’s recent change in algorithm and my site would have just…disappeared out of the search results. If you rely on your website for your income then you, or whoever does your blog work MUST use Market Samurai to ensure something like this doesn’t happen you you.

So what was it that caused the problem?

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post to find out. You can take a guess in the comments section if you like (apart from Brent Hodgson who I told the answer to when I figured it out )

I was listening to the latest Harvard Business Review Ideas Podcast on the way to work this morning. This podcast is one that would be dear to the hearts of all those productivity specialists out there because it is an interview with Tony Schwartz, author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs That Energize Great Performance (could that title be any longer?)

Tony talks about his experience with introducing work cycle rituals into corporate work places. Now like most productivity people he talks about how to get the most out of the time working BUT he also focuses on ensuring that what is done during the rest cycles is the most beneficial to the person performing the cycles. When asked directly was there anything that works for everyone in their rest cycle to regenerate energy quickly, he had to say nope.

He did point out what is NOT good in those rest periods. Doing email is one, and anything that is too close to the work that you are performing.

I had a quick think about how I rest during my cycles and I really think I can get more from doing something else. I know that if I get up and put the washing on and then come back to the desk that I feel more energised than if I open my Google reader. the combination of getting up and doing something physical gives me a better boost that slumping back in my chair and “resting”.  How do you rest in your “down” cycles?

This post contains affiliate links and traces of nuts

If you are meant to be working on something then why on earth are you reading this ?

• sit down
• shut up
• start doing

After you have done then you can check in here and tell me what you did. I’d love to celebrate with you.

If you want to employ me, or use my online company to perform work for you then please be aware of the following -

Dear Prospective Employer

Before you find out anywhere else,  there are pictures of me on the internet, pictures of me having fun and being silly. I have also written thousands of words of opinion and uploaded them for everyone to read and comment on. Not only on this blog either, but on Facebook, and horrors upon horrors, that dreadful beast Twitter.

I don’t want you to be afraid of going to look;  be my guest, cop an eyeful.

You might think this is rather daring. You might even think that that picture of me holding a glass of wine while I do something naughty with a naked statue would be grounds to never speak to me on professional terms again (but still think I might be kinda fun to talk to at a party). You can track that one down yourself.  You might even decide never to employ me. You know what? That is fine by me.

You see I don’t want an employer that is too short sighted to see that the world is changing and that humans (your employees) should be seen as people. That this painful period of change will eventually finish up in 5 years when it will be perfectly natural to broadcast your whole life, in glorious Technicolor to the world (well maybe not in Australia where broadband is still horrifically expensive…ooh another OPINION).

This period is similar to Victorian prudery where the word “leg” was never to be uttered, but Queen Victoria herself  liked, and gifted, drawings of naked men. Confusion reigns, and you are caught up in the middle of it. Still you want the best employees and if there is a picture of someone drinking a glass of beer online then that can easily be extrapolated to “they are a drunk who will be hungover every Monday morning” because that HAS to be the only explanation.

How about choosing employees on something radical like “can they do the work” and “will they fit in with our work culture“.  *Gasp*! I know! Who on earth would actually employ on those key points when your recruiting agency is charging you through the nose to find the person who is smart enough to have their Facebook account privacy settings set at titanium lock strength.

Next, people will be setting up fake blogs that have them helping the homeless each weekend, while keeping a real blog under a pseudonym that only the chosen few get to read (there’s a business idea what?!). What a fabulous step forward for mankind that would be, instead of open and accepting, let’s retreat back into deception.

I have been lucky to have worked for a large corporation that encourages diversity of opinion, AND the use of social media as long as I don’t try to represent them publicly (I’ll leave that to the spin PR people). I know that it is possible to be a person, a real person, and still be considered a valued employee.

Hell, the people I work for even let me manage other people! Like decide what they get paid and stuff.

I don’t give two hoots what’s on their Facebook, it’s none of my business. When I do performance reviews I am not looking, or caring, about what happens in their online lives unless I ask them why their work is suffering and they tell me it’s 60 hours of Starcraft II beta (or something).

I still hope we can do business after you know all of this about me. You can be assured I will be looking only at your suitability and “fit” with my business plans, and not how you like to enjoy yourself.

Yours Sincerely

Great teasing email graphic.

Which of the following ads are disapproved by Facebook (that means they were approved and then they changed their mind) and which one is allowed to run?

The page they link to is the same page that is used in the Facebook ad and hence an affiliate link.

Answer will be posted tomorrow

Ad 1

Ad 2

Ad 3

Yeah only a complete geek would do a Facebook Like Button WordPress plugin review… erm OK yes that describes me a bit.  Still if you want more readers {than your current readers) like your stuff – and have a nice big link for their Facebook friends to come find you quickly and easily, then you should be whacking one of these babies on your WordPress blog.

Here’s a little info on my experience putting a button on some of my blogs. Of course results may vary for you due to your templates and hacks so make sure you test if yours don’t look like mine.

Facebook Like

Facebook Like 2.6.0
Installing – easy no issues via the internal WordPress plugin installer
Configuring - Easy for tech savvy person

Likes - iframe based so no hit on the seo of the content page

Dislike – Supposedly only a 40px default height frame size, but broke out to 400 causing large gap at the top of posts

Verdict - uninstall

The Facebook Like Button (Beta)

The Facebook Like Button (Beta)

Installing – Erm yes well…it said it installed and is in the plugin list. But where is the configuration area for it (I evenm checked in the widgets !) And it didn’t magically appear on any posts

Configuration – well none, cos i can’t find it

Like – the adventure of Beta testing

Dislikes – The paranoid thought I had just done something stupid to my blog by attempting to install this one

Verdict - Uninstall

Facebook Like Button for WordPress

Facebook Like Button for WordPress 1.0.2

Installing – Easy via internal wordpress install

Configure – Easy and slightly manually configurable

Likes - it will work out of the box for most people

Dislikes – The broken wrap around look at the top of the post (and the not so subtle Christian advertising on configure page)

Verdict – I use this one on another blog as it was the first one I could get to work

Facebook Like 0.5

Facebook Like 0.5

Install – easy

Configure – none! I nearly uninstalled right then and there but I remembered the notes saying “bottom of post” so I checked and sure enough on the front page there were buttons at the bottom of the page

Likes – well that was easy and on the writer’s blog the button looks great

Dislikes – formatting is all wrong on my blog. Appears only on the front page posts, not in individual post.  No configuration to make top of post

Verdict – uninstalled

WP Facebook Like Plugin

WP Facebook Like Plugin

WP Facebook Like Button 0.3

Install – Easy

Configure – Easy and has the things I NEED. Can alter width and height of box so there is no annoying break out. Can change font , cute!

Likes – Configurability (made up word) and that it works!

Dislikes – not sure what the Locale thing is for and too lazy to look it up Update: Marco (plugin author) dropped by in comments to explain locale is for default language for the button display – cool!

Verdict – Going on all my blogs

The other day I was watching an online video advertisement created by an online marketer and I realised that the Hollywood quality production completely demoralised me. This person (and quite a few others these days) had stripped the personality and quirks from their work to embrace the quest for perfection.

It was demotivating because it was clear that here was something that the average person could not do, not even come close to recreating. While I could appreciate the time and money that had gone into making the videos, whatever was meant to be said, was lost.  The message that I (and maybe me alone) heard was – “you can’t do this, so don’t even try”.

It was the  complete opposite of something I am exploring at the moment.

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic appreciation; taking delight in something that is neither permanent, complete or perfect.

“Wabi is a feeling of loneliness or solitude, reflecting a sense of nonattachment and appreciation for the spontaneous unfolding of circumstances. It is like the quiet that comes from a winter snowfall, where all the sounds are hushed and stillness envelops everything. Sabi is the suchness of ordinary objects, the basic, unmistakable uniqueness of a thing in and of itself.”
From ” The Zen of Creativity”
John Daido Loori

When I think about it, the best way I can explain my enjoyment of something that is not completely removed from the reality of our lives is  ”it is what it is, because it is how we are”. Yeah I know, kind of heavy and probably woo-woo for some. Still I believe it is something we in the West can learn a great deal from and here are a few reasons why…

Perfection is a Demotivator

The Western quest for perfection is futile, there is always something that can be improved. Even if it is the amount of times we can produce a flawless item. The best quality control processes in the world (also Japanese) are unable to consistently and continually mistake-free items (just ask Toyota).

The quest for perfection stops more people from starting than it motivates people to continue.

Perfection is sterile, soulless and cold because it cannot be human.

Perfection delays, slows and depresses. Where many good things could be bought to life, fewer exist because of this need for perfection.

The disciples of perfection will abort creative effort in favour of reproducing the same thing over and over, trying to get it right.

True artists do not seek perfection in their art, it is finished when it says what they want it to say, and no more.

Hypocritical Allison

Why am I so keen to embrace wabi-sabi? Because I am a perfectionist in many ways. I feel physically sick when I look at some of the things I am halfway through producing, because I cannot make them as perfect as I want them. I see how they are and I want them to be something else. They are a reflection of me personally, and I don’t like thinking I cannot be perfect. This Western way of thinking is really doing my head and spirit in and I don’t like it.

Somehow it also fits in with my struggle with my health. I cannot control and perfect my own body and I am seeking to do so via other means. Truly unhealthy in more ways than one.

So here’s to the perfectly imperfect, and here’s to learning to be happy that way.

The irony was that after 20 minutes of looking for the "perfect" picture to illustrate what i felt, I chose something close enough. Thanks to withrow for the picture