What’s on your to-do list?
Not a day goes by when I don’t think to myself, “I’ll have to do that at some point.” Little things that aren’t exactly vital, but can be important nonetheless, such as:
- Making the most of Facebook’s networking
- Figuring out if I’m making any beginner SEO mistakes with WordPress
- Submitting my best blog posts to article submission sites, and discovering if it’s actually worth the time
- Keeping up with the latest social sites, such as Sphinn
- Learning the video podcast basics
Many times, unless it’s urgent, my thoughts will remain just that, thoughts, so I figured we could pool our resources and help eachother.
What’s on your to-do list?
There’s bound to be a similar list of tasks that you’ve been wanting to accomplish, but more pressing projects have taken a priority. The aim of the comments on this post, is for you to list just one, or more, of those things you want to know / learn about, but simply don’t have the time.
Anything relating to blogs, design, marketing, websites etc. If you want to do it, but don’t know how, let’s help eachother.
Wendy Piersall gave me the idea for this pooling of resources, and it’d be great if you want to participate.
Go ahead and type a task in the comments. Let’s help eachother.
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22 appreciated comments to “What’s on your to-do list?”
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Perpetually at the top of my mental to-do list is ‘Figure out new ways to motivate myself’. It’s a shame really, as I’m rarely motivated to get started on it!
Hi David,
This topic rings so true because first and foremost, I need to research about my blog topic and then actually sit down to write the post. Thinking about extraneous stuff is so distracting but addictive.
My list would be:
1. Learn about design so I can stand out from the crowd.
2. Learn about php so I can make edits and create my own Wordpress template.
3. By extension, I’d like to learn about MySQL so I can have useful database features on my site.
4. I would like to learn about the latest social networking trends so I can get in at the beginning.
I think a lot of bloggers are bogged down with just writing and rightly so, to keep their content going. However, sometimes it’s nice to be revitalized with the blog technology itself.
My to-do list has been growing quite a bit lately, as I’m getting a little swamped. It’s not that I couldn’t do the things on it, it’s just that I’ve gotten far too distracted with the little free time I do have! xD
But to help you out a little, a quick scan pointed out 2 basic SEO mistakes.
In your head section, you should have a meta description tag. It’s not so much about helping your ranking, but it is often used by search engines as the little paragraph that appears under your site name in the results pages. Definitely worth having. The code is like this:
The other mistake is that your site’s header is an image. Even with alt and title attributes, it’s not an ideal way of giving your site’s name, but without them, it’s definitely a problem! Basically the search engines don’t know the site title.
The easiest way of solving that would be to add a plain old David Airey – Graphic and Logo Designer to your template (Above the code for the image), and then use CSS to hide it (h1#title {display:none;}). It’s not perfect but it’s something.
Sorry for the 2nd comment, but the 2 code things disappeared (I didn’t use code tags. Woops!)
The meta code is:
And the “plain old” code was:
David Airey - Graphic and Logo Design* Making the most of LinkedIn
* Figuring out if Facebook is worth my time
* Finding the perfect CRM / project / to-do online system (available offline on my Mac, too … yeah, I want the world, I know)
Great idea, David!
You can always download the SEO book for Wordpress Blogs from my site and get over the SEO mistakes. But if you want my honest opinion, SEO doesn’t really matter in your case. Your communication skills are far more important than any SEO “tricks.” You have a strong community and the best approach is to make it even stronger.
About submitting your best posts to article submission sites, I suggest you add them together and publish a free ebook here, on your site, to benefit your readers – then write a press release announcing this event. This is better than duplicating your content on sites that will bring you no real exposure, but just scrappers copying your ideas.
I also suggest that you write a short ebook about logo design and illustrate it with your work. What better way to showcase your portfolio than sharing knowledge?
You could write new articles for article submission sites. :)
Now let’s see what is on my to do list:
- finish the Web 2.0 SEO Boook – which is not going to be free, but I will give out a few free copies and you are on the list
- inviting you to help out by creating a Logo for a good cause (please send me an email if you are interested)
- making the most of LinkedIn too (as Tammy) – this is a professional network and it brings me the kind of connections I am truly interested in.
Bit of a ‘catch-22′ situation you’ve got there, hehe. I’ll add ‘motivation’ to the list for the upcoming blog post.
Mariam,
Thanks for those ‘to-dos’. Again, I’ll make a note of them for to see how we can help you out.
Michael,
Very kind of you to take a look ‘behind the scenes’, and thanks for the tips, which I’ll see what I can do about. Obviously it’s not ideal having no description after my site name, in search results. At present all I have is the first text that appears, such as ‘hire me’ ‘view my portfolio’ etc. Much appreciated.
Tammy,
Thanks for that. Fingers crossed you’ll get some great advice. Also, great question on Facebook – is it actually worth spending a lot of time on it? One I’d like to know the answer to aswell.
Mig,
Superb idea, and one I’ve been thinking about for a while now! (Offering a free ebook for my readers.) You’re absolutely right about concentrating on everyone here, in the community. All my readers are fantastic at offering their help / time, and I should focus more on what I can give back rather than aiming to attract more ‘first-timers’.
Thanks for the ‘to-do’ list, and I’ll add those to the future list which will be published soon. I’ll send you an email too.
Another one: how to prioritize all of these worthwhile tasks.
1. World domination
2. World domination
3. Log out of facebook, and get started on world domination, ;-p
4. Really though, trim the different projects I want to work on,and prioritizing the trimmed list
5. Research openid
6. Learn facebook’s API, especially user management and authentication
7. Play more guitar
Drew,
If you could leave me a little corner once you’re dominating, that’d be great.
I’ll add those ‘to-dos’, cheers!
My to-do is a mile long, but I like it that way. Each item gives me another opportunity to learn something new. Just a few things on my list…
1. Test out a PPC campaign to see if it is worth the effort for a niche site
2. Finally create an effective landing page
3. Learn a new design technique
4. Create my own WordPress theme
What I want to do
1. Public speaking
2. Podcasting (video/audio)
3. Write e-books and books (no clue on publishing companies)
What I know:
1. Marketing: The correct way to do it.
2. Video Editing (I have made some funny movies in my lifetime)
3. Making people laugh (I have a certificate and a medal)
The one thing I’ve been wanting to do or learn is, how to use a 3D program like 3D Studio Max or Maya. Having knowledge in a program like this is just another tool for me to use in making great design. I’ll probably end up not using it as much as Photoshop or Illustrator, but I can still think of a number of instances where a 3D program would come in handy for me. So yeah, that’s on top of my to-do list.
I forgot to add…
… catching up and reading all my RSS updates in Google Reader. After a few days of neglect that stuff really builds up haha.
Thanks for those additions. Sounds like you’ve a similar length list as me. Landing pages and design techniques are things I’d like to learn more about too.
Brett,
A certificate for making people laugh? Hey, that’s impressive! Tell us a joke would you? ;) Thank you also for your to-do list ideas.
PG,
I know what you mean about your feeds getting the better of you! I’m sure someone has some tips to help stay on top of things. Nice addition. Also, I’ve added your 3D program to the list. Cheers mate.
Hi David,
Here’s a really good article about optimizing your blog you might want to take a look at:
10 Ways To Optimize Your Blog
http://archive.webpronews.com/2007/0830.html
My to do list?
1) Update my own site (what’s that saying about a shoemaker’s children are always barefoot? A web designer’s site always needs updates?)
2) Do more face-to-face networking with professional groups etc.
3) Get some people to comment on my new blog
I have to say, I’m inspired by you. Your to do list is nice and long, but *not* on it is answering all of the blog comments you get and keeping your blog up to date and interesting.
I also wanted to say how impressed I am that you post your work on this blog for all commenters. You are a brave man. The work is great, but I know when I show my work, it always feels like a little piece of my soul out there for examination.
On the Swiss_Mouse’s list…is a list.
The Swiss_Mouse wants to write down a repeatable list, a “complete guide” if you will, to setting up and getting a blog off the ground ASAP.
Getting Cheddarblog up and going was a chore and he does NOT want the heartache again.
Thanks very much for that link, which I’ll check out shortly. Good of you, also, to list a few things on your ‘to-do’, and for such a nice compliment!
I guess I’ve been so used to receiving feedback on my work, that I don’t mind negative comments, as long as they’re constructive. I’m the first to admit that my work isn’t perfect, and I know I can learn a lot from you, my readers.
Swiss Mouse,
There’s definitely a lot to learn when first starting a blog. In fact, even after a year of updating mine I still have a lot to learn! Let’s see what we can do to help you out. Nice avatar by the way. ;)
i) getting one of my blog posts to get digged.
ii) Learn Ruby
iii) Move my blog to my own domain.
iv) SEO my blog.
I keep meaning to experiment with grid-based CSS layouts, instead of doing things how I “feel” is right at the time.
Martijn van Welie discusses of the benefits on his site, at http://www.welie.com/patterns/showPattern.php?patternID=grid-based-layout
My ToDo list is very long, but here are the 3 items on the top of the list:
- re-design my blog with a custom theme made from scratch
- learn and actually create a custom wordpress plugin
- find some time to see how to get the most out of Facebook (i’m with you on this one)
My non-client list work includes
1. Design a template for the blog
1a) Reinstalled plugin’s
2. Design a template for the main website
3. Implement web base helpdesk system
4. Design pop-up banners for our stands at forth coming business event
Inspirationbit – 10 Steps to becoming Facebook Guru
Jamie