A 40 year-old unsolved murder mystery. Strange cryptic codes in a bible. Sweden, sandwiches, and many, many cigarettes. The badass-est female protagonist since . . . forever. And an author who has, posthumously, caused quite a ruckus in the book world and in the minds of conspiracy theorists everywhere.
Yes, I’m talking about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. If you haven’t heard of it, the rest of us are inviting you to come out from under your rock. Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) is topping bestseller lists as we speak and the theatrical release of Dragon Tattoo hits the U.S. next week.
I had the good fortune of screening an advanced copy and, of course, my mind went blog, blog, blog. Because that’s what blog obsessed people like us do. So here are the blogging lessons I learned from this tattooed ‘girl’ . . .
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There’s a wonderful European-style market and bakery in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas. They serve everything from made-to-order salads and sandwiches to chef-prepared, ready-to-eat meals.
But what I love most about the place is the sign on the door when you leave. It’s classic.
The sign doesn’t read “Please Come Again” or “Thank You for Your Business” or some other typical exit sign platitude.
It says . . .
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Bloggers have a distinct disadvantage.
When someone hires an expert in — oh, let’s say marketing — that expert can dispense the same information she did for the last client.
And the client before that one. And the one before that.
Not bloggers. Blogging is about breaking down everything you know into bite-sized chunks so that people can learn it all over a period of time. If they look back through the archives, they can often see the entire breadth of your knowledge.
Then one day, your well runs dry.
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Guest posting is the “in” thing. It’s the newest craze. All the kids are doing it!
You’ve heard it time and time again — guest posting is the best way of promoting your work. So why haven’t you become part of the hip crowd yet?
I know why. You’re scared of rejection. You’re not sure if you have the chops.
I can understand these feelings, but don’t get yourself down just yet.
I’m going to show you a surefire, bulletproof, unshakable, watertight, virtually guaranteed (insert as many hyperboles as you see fit) method of putting together a guest post . . . and it getting accepted.
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When I first had the insane brilliant idea to start a business and get out of the alleged safety of the corporate world, I started by reading everything I could find.
I wish I could remember where the thread started for me. It might have been Dan Kennedy, it might have been Michael Port, it could very well have been the Personal MBA.
Each good resource led to three more. At some point, I found Copyblogger and Problogger and Seth Godin.
Hundreds of books and thousands of dollars in information products later, I’ve given myself an education. Was it expensive? Sure was.
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There are two kinds of people on the Internet: the greedy and the generous.
The greedy want you to pay for everything. Every link is an affiliate link. Every recommendation has a profit motive. The really good content is locked away until you fork over some money.
The generous want to give you everything free.
It never occurs to them that their time or expertise has value. They’re kind, selfless, giving, and (too often) dirt poor.
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