Missing posts…. Planner fail!
After all the blog posts I wrote in the first two weeks of November, I suddenly realized last Friday that I missed out on my regular post for Thoughts for Thursday. I haven’t missed a post since I started in June and even though I had it in my calendar, I just overlooked it completely.
I suppose this is what happens when your day gets busy and you decide not to look at your planner. I’ve been using some sort of planner or diary ever since I was 18. That was 20 years ago (I just gave away my age didn’t I… haha )! This happens every now and then. I will write things down in my planner, and I won’t look at it. I suppose the act of writing it down makes it stick in my brain and then I end up just working from memory.
The truth is, your planner is just like any other tool and its effectiveness depends on how well you use it.
I can’t write lengthy posts
I came across an article the other day about growing your blog traffic. The key takeaway was to write posts of substantial length, not just for SEO but also to differentiate yourself from other writers. They ideal length, they said, would be between 1000 and 3000 words. I gasped. I don’t think I’ve ever written a post of 3000 words. I don’t even know if would be able to.
My posts are mostly between 300 to 500 words. On occasion, I’ve gotten carried away and written posts of 600 to 700 words. I managed to write one post that was 1300 words long and I ended up dividing them into two-part posts. I hear that’s not a good thing to do but I didn’t know that at the time.
I write shorter posts because I feel that people these days are always on the run and have a shorter attention span when reading blogs. Writing a really long post will probably exhaust the reader and most readers will probably just stop half-way or scroll through.
I may be wrong, but I’ve always felt writing a post that is 1000 words or less is just enough to capture a reader’s attention. Somehow, research suggests otherwise.
Ghosting prospects??
Ghosting has become a popular term. It’s applied to any sort of situation where people just don’t bother to respond anymore.
I recently came across a situation where I reached out to professional firm to see if I could engage them to conduct a study for me. I had an email exchange with the mid-level employee and then nothing. I tried calling her mobile and even sent a follow up email. Still nothing.
I’m surprised that in today’s competitive world someone would not be interested in new business. After all, we’re all trying to make a sale!
A few days later, I reached out a Partner in the firm and in three days, I have an engagement proposal. The lady is still on the team doing the work but, she hasn’t once acknowledged or apologized for her previous behavior.
Sometimes, people baffle me. I really don’t understand how they get to where they are when they don’t have the slightest sense of professionalism. I guess the world is full of all kinds of people and we have to just learn to take things in stride.
Looking through a frosty window... 