3 Time Bomb Tips for Business Blogging
You Must Know

There are three things you can do right now that will yield benefits right away, but these tips are really time bombs. What do I mean by that? Keep reading, and all will be explained.

These tips are time bombs because they don’t reach a critical mass and “blow up” for you (in a good way) until after a period of time. You will benefit from them now, for sure, but the benefits of these tips build up over time to a tipping point. They seem innocent, but their effect over time is devastatingly effective in what they will do for you. Here they are:

Tip 1: Review Your Bookmarks and Act on It

I know, doesn’t sound like much of a tip, does it? If you’re anything like me, you probably bookmark many interesting things as you surf the web. You have good intentions of following up on those saved bookmarks (whether you use your browser’s bookmarking feature, or Del.icio.us, like I do, doesn’t matter). There is some great stuff in there that you meant to investigate because it would be a good idea to try out a new plugin or web service that you know would keep you ahead of the game.

But… time passes and the bookmarks are just sitting there, doing nothing.

How to Make Bookmarking Really Work for You

• Use a task management tool to set up a bi-weekly reminder to review your bookmarks.
• Go over the bookmarks you saved over the past couple weeks and investigate them. Look for web pages you saved because they are something you can blog about, or web services that you want to try out for your own benefit, like a new personal home page service.
• Spend 30 minutes or more doing this. You will find new tools you will benefit from, or you will find great blog fodder. Either way, 30 minutes every two weeks is something anyone can fit into their schedule.

Time Bomb Benefit
Over time, your knowledge and effective use of tools will build on itself and transport you to the top of your field. All the other bloggers and business owners in your niche will be far behind you in keeping updated on emerging trends and new knowledge. You will have that elusive competitive edge everyone is always after.

Tip 2: Keep Notes and Review Them

Keeping notes is one activity that makes the difference between someone who really knows what they’re doing, and someone who is struggling to stay on top of work. The act of taking just a few seconds at a time to capture information for later use will provide you with amazing returns. And while many people take notes, the secret to making this activity really work for you is to regularly review your notes and then take action.

How to Take Notes like a Pro and Review Them

• Get something–or several somethings–in which to take notes. The obvious choice would be a paper notebook, but there are several alternatives, both analog and digital. I use index cards, which I can grab and jot down notes onto. I store them in a card filing box. There are web-based tools you can use, such as Google Notebook, or software-based tools, such as Microsoft OneNote (which is the best tool of its kind I have ever seen).
• Some note-taking tools are specialized, such as Highrise, which is an online customer relationship management tool (perfect for small business). Highrise lets you take notes about every interaction you have with a client, and I highly recommend it.
• As you read online, listen to audio, watch video, or conduct client calls, take notes. Not only is there nothing wrong with asking a client for a brief pause so you can jot down a note, but it even makes a better impression on her because it shows you are really paying attention. As you consume online or offline media, take notes as things occur to you. Yes, it will take longer to get through material when you do this, but it will dramatically increase your retention and understanding of the material… which is why you’re consuming it in the first place.
• Remember how I said to review your bookmarks every other week above? Well, guess what you’re going to do on the weeks you’re not reviewing your bookmarks? That’s, right: review your notes. Every other week, opposite of your bookmarks review, review your notes. Go back over them and look for things you can take action that will yield immediate benefits, like writing a blog post or getting a better handle on a milestone in a client project.

Time Bomb Benefit of Taking and Reviewing Notes
You benefit from this the very first time you review your notes and take action on them, but you grow and take your game to the next level as a blogger and a business person over time. You will advance in your understanding, experience, and skill in all interrelated areas of running your business and using your blog to market it to the world.

You will be amazed at how the simple act of taking notes, reviewing them, and then acting on them will change your life. At some point in the future, a bomb will go off in your mind when you realize just how much you have reaped from this. The important thing to remember about this is that just taking notes is not enough. People already do that. But they might as well not do it, for all they get out of it, because they miss the crucial next steps: reviewing notes and then acting on them.

Tip 3: Keep a Journal and Periodically Review It

Your own personal growth and development is paramount to your ultimate success as a business person and a blogger. You need a way to plan, think, process, invent, and work things out with yourself. You need to have a dialogue with yourself.

One of the most proven ways to do this is to keep a journal. Almost every successful person in history has done this: DaVinci, Edison, Einstein, and many others have kept regular journals. If you want to keep your journal separate from your notes, that’s up to you. It makes sense to some folks to do it all in one notebook or software program. I like to keep mine separated, because the tools for long-form writing aren’t good for taking free-form notes, and vice versa.

As with the other two tips, the key to this one is not just doing it, but reviewing it. Yes, the very act of writing in a journal regularly will give you insights into your life and your work that will be valuable. There is no question about that. But, the real power comes from going back over what you wrote over the last month and comparing now to then. Did you meet your goals? Did that opportunity present itself like you thought it would, and did you act on it? Review your journal entries once per month.

How to Write in a Journal and Get Results

• Don’t check your email and social media messages first thing in the morning. Instead, use this valuable creative time to write just for yourself.
• You don’t have to write about your business. Write about whatever surfaces in your thoughts, no matter what it is. Do not censor yourself or edit what you write.
• Write as much as you normally would for an average (for you) blog post.
• Add onto that or write a new entry that is more deliberate, and write about where you are in your plans.
• Write about problems you are having and possible solutions to them (work or other, doesn’t matter).
• Write about dreams and goals you have, and what you want your life to be like.
• Write about how you’re going to reach those dreams and have that life.
• Review your journal entries once a month. Look over the past month, see how you did, how you grew, and write a new entry that summarizes the previous month, plus discuss where you’re going next month.

Time Bomb Benefits of Journaling
Like the others, this tip just sneaks up on you until, one day, when you’re reviewing the past month’s notes, you will realize what an indispensable tool journaling has become for you. That realization is the “time bomb.”

Um, Sure, I Do This Regularly

I made up a nice schedule you can follow. Me? Personally, I don’t work that way. But I’m being honest and telling you that’s one part of my own advice I don’t take. And if you’re not someone who operates on a rigid schedule, either, you shouldn’t feel bad. I review my bookmarks, notes, and journal semi-quasi-regularly and I don’t sweat it. I still get the benefits.

Any of you do these activities? How have they improved your writing and your life?