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Joshua Denney

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Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)
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  • #182075
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    Did you embrace the nihilistic views due to some sort of unrest in your life? Did they help you get through a period of time that was difficult? Perhaps your nihilistic views have lost their purpose and no longer serve you?

    If you really wanted to learn the material in school, why didn’t you make more of an effort to do so? Is it because you didn’t want to learn it as much as you thought you did, or was it some other barrier you encountered that prevented you from doing so? It’s easy to look at it all as a failure, but I’m betting you learned or will learn from the experience overall, if you look for the lessons.

    It’s hard to process and figure out why we do certain things in life that don’t really benefit us, but one thing we can do as logical beings is change our habits and ‘outthink’ our tendencies.

    There are likely ‘gateway’ habits that lead to other bad habits that help waste time or get you nowhere. When you realize you have triggered a habit, try to figure out a better action that you can consistently do in place of the bad habit’s action to change your fate. If you can shift just a few of these key habits that lead to other negative habits, you can change a lot in a short amount of time, at least enough to feel like you’re making a difference in your life. Simple things like turning off notifications on your phone, not checking email 24/7, and doing something out of your comfort zone can make an immediate impact.

    I feel like I’ve wasted a ton of time in my own life, but I no longer destroy myself for doing so. I have learned that the past does not define who I can be today, embracing the present moment is important, and that small positive changes over time can add up.

    I don’t write on the forums too much, so please forgive me if I’ve assumed too much and overstepped. Your post resonated with me!

    #54654
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    I do web strategy and design. Made this site, in fact!

    I met Lori (Tiny Buddha founder) and many other future friends and clients via Twitter. No hard sells, just helping, being friendly/myself. Networking has proven itself to be an incredible tool!

    #52161
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    @lostandlovinit I don’t have much to add, since there have been plenty of great things mentioned already, and you seem to know what you need to do. I did want to mention the film Smashed, which may help you see a different side to your situation. Yes, it’s “just” a movie, but I found it to be quite realistic in its portrayal of addiction and alcoholism, and co-dependency.

    #42895
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    Hi @balajistirupur, here are some ideas:

    – include your site URL/brand name along with ‘technology speaks…’ so people can have an easier time of remembering
    – consolidate your top navigation bars, so you have no duplicates. You seem to be heading in the right direction, with the content types differentiated up top, and the content topics below that. It’s probably a good way to go about it.
    – use consistent capitalization (whether it’s upper/lower/sentence/title case, just be more consistent) in your categories/titles
    – be more descriptive with your categories (for instance, ‘Facts’ is vague and probably not going to attract attention when you have something specific like ‘Chrome’ or ‘Apple iOS’)
    – be careful with your spelling (Chrome has a spelling feature that helps a lot)
    – remove your regular search bar/field, and rename your Google CSE (or vice versa, the main thing is to keep only one, and to have it labeled ‘Search’)

    And that concludes my 2 cents. Keep at it!

    #42893
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    You’re welcome! I hope they help @liviedizzle

    #42892
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    There is definitely a grey area with this tactic. Promoting others will often get you traffic, but you can do that while you also provide useful information. Far too many focus on the former, and not enough of the latter. A good (bad) example of the latter is the ‘Top Whatever-Number Whatever-Type People to Follow on Twitter People’ post you’ll see on many sites, including many major online publications.

    You (@amityuk) said it best here: “There has to be integrity with it, but if I get some reciprocal traffic then that’s great.”

    PS – This is fairly in-depth, but I came across something related to this conversation today: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/influencers-who-want-your-content/

    #37187
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    I think many people underestimate (and to an extent, misunderstand) the value of clarity in content and design where it relates to website growth. Here are some random ideas on both, that I try to practice and encourage:

    CONTENT

    Use simpler and fewer words to describe your ideas.

    Visually break up your posts with strong subheadings and paragraphs that don’t allow your readers to get lost.

    Edit yourself, or get someone to do it for you. Be consistent in how you write and strive to get better.

    Good titles make a huge difference. Test different variations when you share your titles. Each source of traffic will respond differently to the words.

    DESIGN

    Forget that you made your site and visit it while trying to emulate a few different potential paths that readers could take. Some examples:

    1) A user lands on your homepage via Google search. Do the keywords or phrases you rank for relate to the content/solution you’re offering on your site?

    2) A user lands on a blog post via Google search. It’s more likely that the post relates to the specific keyword or phrase. Is your site laid out in a way that allows for easy consumption of the content, while having convenient ways for you to encourage another visit (email list signups, social subscription, etc)?

    3) A user lands on your site from a referral from a friend, or from your social media profile. Does the site reinforce your value? Is it designed to support your personal and business goals to connect with people?

    When a person visits your site, they need to instantly recognize (consciously or unconsciously) what it’s about. Many people have too much ‘stuff’ (text and images and widgets and other things) and so someone unfamiliar will have trouble categorizing and keeping your site in their mind for the future.

    It should be easy to identify you/your site by the feeling(s) you’ve created with the color, layout, wording and graphic design of your site, as well as the obvious use of a symbolic logo and/or tagline.

    Data is useful and will help guide your decisions. Everything should have a reason for existing, in your design. There are many ways to measure whether your reasons are sound, or not. Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics (and many more) will give you valuable insight on where people actually come from, what they read, what they read it on, and so on. Measure, analyze, adjust, repeat.

    #33779
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    Don’t be ashamed, it’s just Facebook!

    As with anything, you need to give people a good reason to subscribe to your page. Right now, you have pretty much nothing to offer on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pet-Chronicle/348777618567499).

    Think about what you do on the Pet Chronicle site and bring some of that over to Facebook. If you can pick a few good, funny photos and get people to share them (from your FB page), it will give you an opportunity to be seen by new people that are interested in pets and related things.

    I would add more content before I tried to push for any ‘likers’, but you can also target people via Facebook ads. You can be very specific to what pages and things they like, where they live, and maybe even if they have a pet or not (maybe it’s available data now, haha).

    Quality > Quantity.

    #33775
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    Hmm, open in new window AND the embeds aren’t working for some…odd. Added to the list!

    #31923
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    I think it really depends on your content and how you get and curate your list(s). They just really want to make sure people are opt-in, I think. I don’t have a ton of affiliate experience with them, but I know if you ask them direct questions they’re happy to give you a straight answer.

    As for Madmimi, I like the simplicity. It doesn’t have a ton of complicated stuff for setting up or making the design, yet it has a lot of add-ons you can switch on and off on a whim. Madmimi has also shown a great deal of support in my limited experience with them, so they’re a really easy recommend for users who don’t want a lot of extras.

    #31189
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    Why are you considering a switch? I prefer Madmimi and Mailchimp, depending on the complexity required.

    #30355
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    I’ve used some apps that do stuff like that. I’ve had decent results in the past with them.

    I can honestly say that one of my best sleeps ever was after a long night of web design work a few years back. A 5-HTP and some beta/alpha/whitenoise waves or whatever the heck they’re called streaming through headphones. A seriously amazing sleep!

    #30353
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    For quick sharing, I would recommend something like http://imgur.com/

    I’m not 100% on whether we will have image upload or not. Need to do it in a way that is manageable and easy-to-use, if we do it. 🙂

    #30352
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    This is a while back, before online resumes were common and blogs were still diaries. I once submitted a Top 10 Reasons Why You Need to Hire Me ‘cover letter’ for a social/web/marketing position.

    It was over-the-top and relevant to the job, so I got an interview. The job ended up not being my cup of tea, but I was happy to see my boldness pay off.

     

    #30348
    Joshua Denney
    Keymaster

    I’ve  always ended things with brutal honesty before I had something else lined up. Not the best way to go about it, but it just didn’t feel right otherwise.

    I soon came to realize I really just wanted to work for myself!

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)