The last few days I’ve been dedicating to learning, gleaning from Melissa Ingold’s and Carrie Wilkerson’s webinar on videos for your blog (it was EXCELLENT!), Michael Hyatt’s post on Why I Stopped Reading Your Blog (it went right through me!), Candace Cameron Bure’s book, Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness (challenging me about my relationship with food and fitness), and reading a variety of blogs such as Alisa’s post, 21 Lessons I’ve Learned From Blogging. (These are all great resources I highly recommend!)
It’s foolish to be an island unto ourselves. We need other people in our lives for relationships, and so we won’t become stale and stagnant. We can learn a lot from other people.
But today we’re swimming in information online, especially for your business. It can feel overwhelming at times.
To tag or not to tag your posts? (I found out today, quite disappointed, that tags can actually work against you – Google can penalize you for duplicate content. Rule of thumb: use tags judiciously.)
To allow people to comment on blogs or to restrict comments? (Apparently, checking “Anyone can register” for users on comments can leave your site vulnerable.)
To make sure your ebooks are formatted properly for the Kindle, which Amazon said is its best-selling item and Oprah said was her favorite electronic gadget (And I just learned how to do ebooks! Another new learning curve now!)
To tweet several times a day, daily, or 3x week? (What if you still don’t really get Twitter?)
And don’t forget the overflow in your email inbox – all those sites you are subscribed to, in order to learn more about having an online business! Marketing, promotion, social media, plugins for your website, etc. (I’ve been unsubscribing from a lot of lists this year, choosing only the ones that send emails I actually read!)
I’m so thankful for all the wonderful resources online. In fact, I couldn’t do what I do without them. God has brought many successful, intelligent, creative, loving people and their wealth of knowledge across my path in the last two years to help me and teach me.
But there are times when we need to just pull back to hear God’s still, small voice. He will direct our paths. He will show us the way.
God will give us the words we need to speak and to write. Words that are worthy. Words that bless and encourage and inspire others. That help them in practical ways with their real, daily lives.
Sometimes we just need to get away from all the noise online and ask God what HE wants us to do and to pursue. And to let the rest go, even though other “successful” people are pursuing it. Kudos to them for these things helping them. But it may not be for you and me. Because what they’re doing may not even be right for you and your work.
You need to hear the reassuring beat of your own drum, your own music – not others’ drums.
Ultimately, blessings and success come God. Listen to Him and you can’t go wrong. 🙂
“He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” ~ 2 Chronicles 26:5, NIV
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