gdp's Comments

Michael Hyatt Blog : Five Ways to Comply with the New FTC Guidelines for Bloggers

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:26:29 +0000

Thanks. I was thinking in terms of usability. The further distance from end of blog and comments section, I would think would decrease the likelihood of user adding comments.

Michael Hyatt Blog : Five Ways to Comply with the New FTC Guidelines for Bloggers

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:59:27 +0000

Why not simplify the blogging region and add a general disclaimer at the very bottom of the page - not the blog post but the actual page?

Michael Hyatt Blog : Using Email Templates to Say “No” with Grace

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 14:36:29 +0000

Using the same concept, template's could be used for other regular responses as well. For example, I sometimes get emails to my business email for tech support that should go to a tech support address. A simple templating takes care of such responses. If you get an off-email once, respond with an appropriate reply. If you start getting that type of email on a regular basis, turn your answer into a template. I see that your template responses can be lengthy as well as polite. The more details, the less likely to receive follow-up emails. My recent post Do You Sing When You Are Behind The Mixer?

Michael Hyatt Blog : Why You Should Sign Up for a Half Marathon

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 13:43:22 +0000

Thanks for the marathon reminder. Now I've got something new to do this year! Before I lagged in the cardio department at the end of last year, I was down to a 12 minute mile. I have always been more of a sprinter than a long-distance runner. This is a good year to push myself for a mini marathon. Push myself - and release a lot of stress! My recent post The Five Audio Mistakes I Made in 2009

Michael Hyatt Blog : How to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 14:37:20 +0000

Take the resolutions and print them out. Put them in the front of your dayplanner. That's where I also keep my 90 day plans. This way, I see then every day. Also, break them down into timeframes "Read through the entire Bible by December 31, 2010." Do you know how much time you have to read per day or per week? You could be looking at October and only be half way through. Consider breaking down by book or by pages. This way, you know if you are still on target to reach your goal. My recent post The Five Audio Mistakes I Made in 2009

Michael Hyatt Blog : Seven Questions to Ask About Last Year

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:12:33 +0000

My major life lesson... volunteering too much equals overcommitment which effects relationship with my family.

Stuff Christians Like - Jon Acuff : Romanticizing the manger where Jesus was born.

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:39:30 +0000

I've been to Costa Rica. I remember those shower heads. There is a fine line between "do I want to kill myself" and "I haven't had a hot shower in days." I showered - I lived on the edge. Never got fried but heard of those that did get a jolt. One day I found a scorpion under my pillow. Talk about a sign it was time to leave!

Michael Hyatt Blog : Behind the Scenes of My Redesigned Blog

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:13:59 +0000

Ah, advertising.. :) What if you used a single static photo of yourself? Your insensedebate profile pic would be a good one. And don't make it huge. Make it half the column with the "about me" details being to the left or right? Just ideas.

Michael Hyatt Blog : Behind the Scenes of My Redesigned Blog

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:59:53 +0000

John, excellent points on the ipod and droid. "Back in the day" is was all about browser compatibility. Now designers have to consider hardware compatibility.

Michael Hyatt Blog : Behind the Scenes of My Redesigned Blog

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:38:40 +0000

Great design. You did evolve it and not revolutionize it. I was hoping that would be your goal. 1. I expected the first feature article to be the most recent blog post. I know the blog posts are just south of the featured item block. That's a hard balance I go between myself. One minute I like it, the next minute, not so much. 2. Your twitter feed it below your advertisements. My thought is that community / connection should always come before advertisements. I'd put it below the popular posts block. 3. The quote on "Abba Joseph" that is "on mystery" strikes me as weird. Quotes are fun to add to a site (inspirational, educational) but that one seems out of place. 4. I miss your photo at the top. The blog has your name. But it's not until i scroll down the page (below the fold) that I see anything about you. 5. The search option should either be near the top (below the twitter/feed icons) or at the bottom. Anything in between makes it hard to find. Pro's: 1. I like the white border all around - gives a clean look. 2. I like two-columns. 3. Blog post ideas have always had a nice structure (blog/link love/related posts/comments) and I'm glad you've kept that. A bit of a warning perhaps...the featured posts at the top...how often will those change? Is it automated? In short, you could have the same 10 featured articles for three months and that can indicate to visitors your content has become stale.

Michael Hyatt Blog : Why I Have Decided to Take My Blog Down

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:54:10 +0000

Would love to see a 2010 post on why you re-designed your blog.

Michael Hyatt Blog : What I Learned from My 48-Hour Twitter Fast

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:36:50 +0000

I check my FB account about once a month. I figure it like this: FB = re-connection that rarely benefits anyone. Twitter = connection with new people on a similar topic (for me, pro audio work) where we all benefit from interactions as we learn from each other.

Michael Hyatt Blog : What I Learned from My 48-Hour Twitter Fast

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:34:20 +0000

I'm stuck fasting during the day as my current location has recently blocked twitter.com Would you believe I'm in a top secret underground bunker? I didn't think so. What I've found is it's allowed me to focus on my blogging - both the content and the design. I have modified my comment number location so it's like the little balloon and started asking questions at the end of my posts. My comments have increased. Had I been twittering, I wouldn't have taken the time to do those things. Therefore, the benefits from twitter-fasting are more than learning about twitter when I don't post. I will echo your comment on your the drop in followers.

Michael Hyatt Blog : Why Vision Matters

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:59:13 +0000

Vision is crucial. Toyota has a 200 year plan. Long term vision drives what we do each day. If my vision is "what can I do this week," then I don't have much of a vision at all.

Michael Hyatt Blog : The End of Book Publishing As We Know It

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:01:50 +0000

"Publishers will need to envision multimedia content from the beginning." in the case of non-fiction, I agree 100%. And this is where I see the ebook readers never taking any type of market dominance in the fiction realm. An ebook reader allows users the ability to highlight, bookmark, and in general bring up reference material (sounds like the internet). But fiction is quite different. I have underlined passages in a fiction book but I have no reason to carry that around as reference material. I think the ebook readers will succeed when they can provide the functionality that people want for easily referencing material.

Michael Hyatt Blog : 12 Gift Ideas for Aspiring Speakers

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 15:06:17 +0000

Thinking back on the Saturday Night LIve skit with Chris Farley where he is a motivational speaker - living in a van. He's talking with a family and trying to get the kids to straighten up. it's really funny. I'm NOT knocking speakers - just reminded me of the skit.

Michael Hyatt Blog : How Outsourcing Can Free You Up to Do What You Do Best

Tue, 8 Dec 2009 14:01:53 +0000

"Hiring The Best For Half The Cost. When someone outsources to an organization, most of the time they get the expertise they need at a price they can afford." I work in a field where outsourcing occurs. I must say, outsourcing doesn't mean getting the best at half the price. In my field, it's "Hiring Someone For Half The Cost." This article would have been better if it was focused on the benefits of outsourcing bookkeeping. Also, I think it was a bit off in the area of , "You Can Fire with Little Internal Consequences." That's not a good statement to make. For example, I'll say that after bookkeeping internally for several years, I decide to outsource. After several months, I determine the company isn't performing to promised expectations. I can fire them (based on contractual rights) but then I have to bring everything back internally even if I then outsource to a different company because there is the whole transition phase. That bullet point should have read "You Can Fire Without Fear of Emotional Impact On the Company You have Fired."

Michael Hyatt Blog : Five Features I Want in My Next eBook Reader

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 13:55:37 +0000

[back after a bout with food poisoning] The more I think about what it would take for me to buy a digital reader, the more I realize that a digital reader can never give me a few things I love... 1. the ability to look over my bookshelf for a reference book which I can loan to a friend in need. 2. leaf through a used copy of a P.G. Wodehouse early printing and wonder whose fingers first touched the pages. 3. the ability to read hand-written notes in the margins of the pages by those that came before. 4. the feeling of anxiety as I can't wait to turn the page of a great mystery. 5. the ability to find an old book deep in a closet, dust it off, and read it with the same enthusiasm as the first time. This morning, as I was walking the streets of downtown Indianapolis on my way to work, I was reading "De-railed." A time or two, I flipped back a page or a chapter to re-read something. There is just something about the feeling of a book in my hand that an electronic device could never replace. WAIT, there is one think a book reader could have - a space for a coffee warmer.

Michael Hyatt Blog : Five Rules for Better Presentations

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:31:22 +0000

Thanks to your twitter post mentioning this old article. In my best high school cheerleader voice..."like, OMG, that Seth Godin guy is so right on with his powerpoint book thingy. I read that once and like ever since, my ppt files have been just kickin it during my mondo presentations." wow, I think I've had too much coffee today. I explain powerpoint like this - use charts and graphs if necessary...but it's better to show a slide with a photo of a starving child than the numbers in each country. Slides give you the ability to get the emotional appeal. You could show a chart with numbers, but get that photo in as well.

Michael Hyatt Blog : Why Agents May Be Opposed to Self-Publishing

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:03:31 +0000

A blogger once gave this advice; "before you write a blog post, ask yourself if someone else would benefit from reading it." Having read that, whenever I start to write, I ask myself if a reader of my web site would find any interest in the topic. If the answer is no, I don't write what I had planned. I'm reminded of that when I think of self-publishing versus not. If I don't care what people think of my drivel, I would be apt to use self-publishing as either the only way to get my book out or as a backup plan in case a publishing company didn't deem the book worthy of publishing. In short, if I didn't care what others thought, I'd be more likely to do whatever I could to get my book published - just to say I've published a book. Most likely, the book would get a limited printing and disappear from existence in a short period of time. Now let me contrast that with an author who has written excellent material (educational, entertaining, etc.) They could go either way - self-publish to share with as many people (friends) as quickly as possible or push it in front of a publisher because they believe it's something that "the masses" would enjoy - heck, even a sub-set of the masses. In either case, the point is the quality of the product is more important than the distribution of the product to the masses. In some cases, the "quick self publishing and word of mouth" could turn into a "big contract with a publisher" because the reader-base has taken off through word-of-mouth. I feel I've glossed over a lot and perhaps have not done your blog post justice with my limited thoughts. Maybe my point is just this - a book isn't worth publishing by anyone (self or other) if the book doesn't benefit at least one other person. So let's put the focus on the authors and demand they evaluate why they think their book is worth reading.