I know this is probably a bias perspective and not accurate but this is how I feel during this time. I’m busier than ever as we have a big deadline, I’m working from home so I have zero gap between work and home and I don’t have my usual processing time during the commute. But it seems like everyone else has tones of time so they are putting out even more than usual. I’m sure this isn’t completely accurate but if you feel like me, you’re not alone.
Me: “a couple of quick questions [insert a long list of questions]”
Pro tip: make sure you never end up in a “prisoner’s dilemma” situation with any of your friends who are stockpiling.
Locked in
Hillarious landing page 👉 “Yet another collaboration tool: Claims to be all-in-one, is mediocre at everything."
So my office has now introduced a manditory work from home policy till the end of the month. Didn’t really expect this to happen.
Sometimes doing keyword research leads to some very sad discoveries in common questions. And sometimes it leads to really interesting and funny discoveries (I just found something that depressed me, but as I typed, I realised that I don’t often take note of the positives).
Answer the question.
I got to take part in some interviews today. I asked what aspect of their work they enjoyed the most and which they liked the least. For the first part, the candidate basically answers everything. I asked about what they liked the least and they answered a different question. I asked my question again and the candidate again avoided answering. I wonder if the candidate thought I was asking a “what’s your greatest weakness” type question when I really wasn’t. Avoiding my question, especially after I asked again, annoyed me.
Just discovered a site which appears to update the published date for all its content (or they published A LOT on Feb 13). Presumably this is for the SEO benefit, still if you haven’t updated the content, that’s pretty sleazy.
Wow, I didn’t expect Biden to do well at all (which shows how little I know about US Politics… or proably politics…even though that was my degree.) Quick thoughts
- I wonder how well he actually did. Need to see some stats
- Oh dear God, the conspiracy theories are going to be terrible.
- I suspect this means Trump is in an even better position than I feared. If Bernie had run away with the nomination, it would have shown broad support. In contast, Biden had his dip and only really seems to have recovered recently (what if he dips again?).
- Maybe I’m completely wrong about that last point, maybe Biden is more resiliant than I thought?
- I honestly can’t believe Elizabeth Warren has done so badly.
- How is Tulsi Gabbard still in this thing.
No, your "brilliant guest post" isn't right for me
I get a couple of emails a week with content people want me to share on a site I’m connected to. I think there has been two times when the content was actually relevant to the site and didn’t sound terrible. And yet, every time I get sent an approach email, it says differently.
There’s a good chance that if you are sending emails asking to guest post on someone’s site and you get no response, you are making the same mistakes.
Some simple advice
- If you want to people to accept your invitations, then suggest relevant content.
- look for content submission details. Some sites WANT more content and have an easily discovered page where you can submit content.
- On the other hand, some sites DON’T want your content and won’t accept it even if it’s great. (e.g. This site is my own personal site, I will never accept a guest post on it. Start your own.)
- Don’t use a stock approach email. They are easy to spot and I will ignore your message. (but you may get inspired)
- If you don’t read a site, then be honest! Don’t fake “being a long time reader”. I’m more likely to read the “hey I’m looking for guest positing opportunities on {topic} and I came across your site. I was wondering if…” If you read my site, prove it subtley not just saying you read a post.
- Even if you do everything right, I may have just deleted every email in my inbox because I got fed up. You can try emailing me again but there’s a good chance I’m ignoring you or have blocked you as you came across as spammy.
By the way, this was going to be a tweetstorm but I remembered the words of a friend and decided that a blog post would be better.
(WIP idea) Two kinds of leadership
- Mentor - helps the mentee become less dependent and grow.
- “Guru” - makes the follower more dependent, losing them costs revenue.
📸 Feb photoblogging day 30: Vision
Finished reading Ego Is the Enemy: Ryan Holiday 📚
📸 Feb photoblogging day 29: leap (First or maybe second time using an old photo)
I thought I had unlocked the “bring child in from a car seat without waking her or him” achievement but my daughter woke up for a moment. I’ll get the badge next time.
📸 Feb photoblogging day 28: below
today was the second time I’ve used a placeholder name at work (this time John Smith) and people thought it was real and almost published it.
I just made the classic mistake of answering the question I wanted/though was being asked. Luckily I immediately realised and tried to answer the actual question but I’ll try and be more patient when others do that to me.