Welcome to the Productivity Blog

I think the best way to kick off the #BloggingBreakthrough series is to tell you a little story.

So the very first word I learnt the meaning of in the blogging world was nearly three years ago. What was it?

SEO.

I remember thinking, what the hell is SEO and how the hell do I use it? 

Now, I could talk to you about it for hours.

Three years ago, I hardly had any idea of what anything meant when it came to building an online presence. I didn't see myself as a brand, I didn't know how the hell to use Twitter and I definitely didn't know what a flat-lay was.

Since then, my blog has started my career, and it's now providing me with guest speaking and workshop opportunities. While I'm super-amazingly grateful for those experiences, I realise that not everyone wants to go through their blogging journey trying to figure out what every single thing means and how they can use this to build their presence online. Unless, you know, you want to do it the hard way....

BUT WHO DOES, RIGHT?

 

Enter #BloggingBreakthrough - a brand new series taking you through all the letters of the alphabet to tell you not only what the most important words in the blogging world are, but exactly why you need to know them and how you can use them to build the online presence you want.

I already went through what you can expect in this series in a post last Friday, but just to recap:

• There’ll be a post going live every Friday morning on a different letter of the alphabet, all relating to terms in the blogging industry that we need to know.

• Every Friday afternoon, I’ll be doing a Periscope to expand on the particular topic of the day and reveal extra tips that won’t be included in the blog post

• And if you sign up to join the #BloggingBreakthrough community, you’ll get access to a special freebie and even more tips every Monday.

Sounds pretty cool, right? So are you ready?

HELL YES.

Let's get started with week one and the letter A which is for....AUDIENCE.

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So November! I'm glad we've still got Halloween to look forward to on Saturday, and we're going out for drinks for Tom's birthday too so it's gonna' be fun. So far, November is looking MEGA busy. With trips down South, people coming to visit and lots of events on at work, I have a feeling it's going to fly by. And also, is anyone else loving how autumn is feeling at the moment? The colours stun me every single day and I honestly love these months more than any other. There's a magical feeling about them leading into the festive season. But that could also be because it's payday tomorrow, too! ;)

Setting goals at the start of the month is a great way to align my work with the things in life that matter to me the most. Plus, sharing them with you motivates me even more to complete them, and I love reading about the goals you set for yourself too. Today, we're diving into how I got on in October as well as the goals I'll be working towards during November.

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"There isn't a shortage of ideas. There is a shortage of execution"
- Seth Godin

Have you ever been sat there doing your thing, like writing a blog post, designing or making something, and an idea just hits you - BAM. You stop and think, wow this is an amazing idea, I've got to tell someone about it! 

Then you start to write it down or talk your friend through it. And as you're explaining it you start to think...

"Is this actually a good idea, or am I just completely, utterly losing my mind and this is the stupidest thing in the whole world?

It seems as soon as we come up with a good idea we instantly talk ourselves out of it.

Because really, the idea isn't the problem, is it?

You are.

That sounds really harsh when you're reading it, friend, I'm sorry. What I mean is that the real issue isn't about the idea - it's about actually doing it.

And that usually comes down to fear.

So today, I wanted to encourage you and show you how you can have complete faith in your ideas and DO something about them.

I've also made a FREE motivational desktop wallpaper for you to download.

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With all the content circulating around the web on a daily basis, something all bloggers aim to do is try something different. As creatives, even though amazing relationships can be formed online, we still have to struggle with beating the competition, pushing ourselves creatively, staying fresh and ultimately, standing out. And to do that, we need to do something called thinking outside the box.

If you struggle with this from time to time and find it difficult to understand how to actually think outside the box, I totally feel you. It's a lot of pressure that's really part of our job description. We've got to stay up to date and we've got to stay ahead. It's hard.

The best thing to always do is be yourself and stay true to what you believe in.

Unfortunately, sometimes this isn't enough.

You can be doing things consistently for a long time, and all of sudden, you'll feel like something doesn't click. So what do you do? When you get bored or unhappy with a certain process, how do you change it? It's not as easy as you think to press reset and start again. Our minds don't work that way all the time, which can be frustrating.

In my career and for the ABOH brand, I always have to try and think outside the box - even more so over the last three or four months. I know this is something a lot of you struggle with. So today, I wanted to share with you what I think works when you need to think outside the box.

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If you were to think about one of the hardest parts of blogging, especially when you’re a beginner, it’s not just getting people to read your content – it’s getting them to comment on it.

You might have heard people say lately that comments are “dying”.

I completely disagree.

Blog commenting is still a huge measure of how much your readers engage on your blog. So, friend, if it seems like no-one is commenting on any of your posts or you simply want to grow the community you’ve already got, then this post is definitely for you.

The Obvious – You’re Not Asking Them a Question

What’s the number one thing you should include in every single blog post? A question. When you finish a piece of content, try asking a question to provoke your readers to comment.

I don’t just mean a simple one like, “What did you do this weekend?” or, an open-ended one that only requires a yes or no answer. Ask a question that makes people think. The point here is that you want to make your post engaging enough and your question detailed enough that people have to leave a comment. 

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When you ask for help or read articles on interview advice, you’ll be told lots of things:

• Know your CV inside out
• Prepare and practice your answers
• Stay calm
• Keep eye contact
• Ask questions

These are all awesome and will help you to have a killer interview.

But isn’t there something that will make you stand out more? Isn’t there something you can do to beat the competition and put you in the lead?

If you had to narrow all the tips down to the most important one, what would it be?

Enter the point of this blog post - the only interview tip you’ll ever need

This will help you get the job. Fact. Just read on to find out the answer.

Oh, and there’s a bonus checklist that you can get for free with extra tips!

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After reading some comments on one of my latest blog posts, it got me thinking about the meaning of success. As a blogger, you might think everyone has it all figured out. You might think they know what they want, how to get there and exactly what success means to them.

But I think you’d be surprised just how many of us find our end goal of success a little blurry.

Our reasons for being a blogger and doing what we do vary from person to person. Ultimately, it goes back to your “why”, which is unique for everyone. It’s the same with the meaning of success – it’s got a different meaning for everyone. 

If you look at endless blog posts across the web, there are some generic things that could define success:

• A six figure business
• Tens of thousands of page views
• A book deal
• Your own product range
• You blog full time

These “big bloggers” are now what we’ve become accustomed to. Because we see so many of these “here’s how I made a six figure business” posts, we believe that this is the norm – that this is success.

CAN YOU EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE THE PRESSURE THAT PUTS ON YOU?

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"Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself" 
- Coco Chanel

Some people believe you are born with gifts and talent. If you can play the piano, it's said you're born with it. If you're really intelligent, it's said you're born with it. If you're creative, it's said you're born with it.

I don't believe that's case.

Creativity doesn't come naturally to everyone, even if they know it's the industry they want to work in. It certainly doesn't come naturally to me. It takes effort, dedication and hard work to succeed in something you may not be natural at.

Practice makes perfect - and the more you practice something, the better you get at it. It's like a natural progression. Nobody discovers their creativity or skill immediately. It doesn't just happen. You're not born knowing you're going to be a brilliant writer, photographer, designer, or teacher - you learn this along the way. You don't realise you have a gift for helping people, teaching people, or creating until you're actually doing it. You discover this through practicing, experiment and expanding your confidence. 

As you do this, you grow, Your creativity grows and your confidence grows.

It's exactly the same for your online presence.

A lack of confidence comes with a lack of belief.

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Hey. You. Yes you! We need to talk. See, I'm guessing that you use social media and know how beneficial it can be for promoting yourself. This works out well, because I happen to think social media is great for getting yourself out there. But one thing that I know many people do is throw everything on all the platforms without looking to see if it's actually working. Does this sound like you? Good I hear you. And you're not alone.

If you really want to use social media in the best way possible, then you need to start measuring what you're doing and the impact it's having. Whenever you do a task or have to deliver a presentation, the one thing someone wants to know is what the impact will be.

Just because you're getting more followers doesn't mean that what you're doing is working.

So if you want to get more in tune with your social media efforts, the tips in this beginners guide are full of things you can start doing today to track your success. Now I get that you're seeing a hell of a lot of advice posts at the moment.

But has this topic been covered by a blogger to a blogger and social media beginners?

No.

So are you ready, friend? We might be here for a while - but it'll be so worth it.

#1 | Look at how people are getting to your site

If you're a blogger or small business owner, I'm going to bet that you share links to your posts or shop every day on social media. That's great - but do you know if this is really effective for you? Is this getting you results?

Now we're going to have to get just a teensy bit technical here but go with me.

If you've not got Google Analytics installed for your website that's OK - but you won't be able to do this step. I'd say go and get it installed right now. This post tells you how to do it.

Otherwise, when you're on your Google Analytics dashboard, you want to head to acquisition >> all traffic >> channels.

At the top, you'll see a graph, but the table underneath is what you need to focus on.

The first column of the table tells you how people are getting to your site in order of popularity, out of organic search, referrals, social and direct traffic.

If you want to know what these actually mean, have a quick read of this post.

If you're focusing the most on sending people to your site through social media, you want this to be your top source of traffic. It needs to be at the top of the table.

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One worry of almost every 20-something out there is the big M word – money. 

Once you get that full-time job and you’re finally an “adult” (or so you want to believe!) there seems to be everything to start saving for. A house, holidays, a new laptop – and not to mention the things that can crop up like a smashed phone screen or your car’s MOT. A bad month can turn into a very bad one indeed.

As someone who worries about money a hell of lot, I know how difficult it can be. You want to carry on enjoying yourself, but my oh my, when did a night out for food and cocktails cost so much? 

But today, I’ve put together a little list of things and quotes you should remember if you’re worried about money.

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One question I hear a lot from people is: “What should I do if I have too many different directions to choose from for my career path?”

I definitely struggled with this when I was starting out in my career. And I know a few other people who have as well. So today, I wanted to address this question for those of you that have a fuzzy mind and don’t know which direction to take for your career.

I feel as if I’m experienced enough to answer this question, because I come from a background of different career paths, loads of published articles – and if I put all my professional experience on my CV it would spill way over the usual two sides of A4.

What I’ve come to realise from understanding what it is someone wants to do for their career, is that it usually plays out in one of two ways:

• It could be the case that actually, you’re only passionate about your ideas in theory.

It’s like that underlying idea you’ve got for something, but you don’t realise it until it hits you between the eyes. It builds and builds, and you can use these images to picture this huge idea even before you’ve said anything or written something down on paper. But if you start to seriously think and plan out your idea, you’d soon realise it’s not the right one.

•  You come up with so many different scenarios that are a great fit for you, and that you know you’d be good at.

But you spend so much time building them up in your mind instead of acting on them, that by the time you start to go for one idea, you’ve got another direction to try out. Or “something else” has gotten in the way.

This is no way for you to have the career of your dreams, my friend.

If you’re struggling with this huge, multi-directional fork in the road or have “too-many-ideas” syndrome, get reading the rest of this post for my take on it. 

Oh, and there's also a nifty little workbook you can download to help you through this. 

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Whenever we accomplish something, no matter how big or small, it always seems like straight away, we go onto chasing the next thing. Like what we've done isn't good enough and we're not good enough. You could be exactly where you're supposed to be in your life right now and doing brilliantly - but you don't seem to think it's as good as how others are doing.

It's not always good, but it's natural for us to compare ourselves to other people. And sometimes, after a heavy social media stalk or a hefty, deep read of a blog, this can break you down and make you feel inadequate.

It makes you feel as though you're not doing as well as you think you are.

When actually, I bet you're doing more than OK.

You think just because they're working with bigger brands than you, or just because they're making more money than you, or simply just because their blog is bigger than yours, that you are somehow less than they are. You're made to feel as if you're not doing OK when you are. But you see it and you want it.

How the mind works.

I know I'm very lucky. I live with my parents, I'm saving up for a house with the man I love, I've got a wonderful family, a brilliant job and this blog.

But I've been through tears, tantrums and horrible situations that I wouldn't wish upon anyone, to get to where I am. And I know that'll be exactly the same for most of you - that you've worked mega hard to get to where you are right now.

Sometimes, when I think really deeply about it, I ask myself, how did I actually get here, to this place in my life? Because I know that I'm lucky.

But occasionally, a voice inside your heads asks, is this it? Is this enough for you to feel like you're doing OK?

Or do you need more?

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Blogging, texting, SnapChat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest – what do they all have in common?

They are all forms of communication.

So for one second, let’s imagine that you’re trying to run your online presence and you don’t communicate with your audience.

What would be the point?

Whether you’ve been blogging for five years or five months, we’re all aware of how competitive our industry is today. It’s never been more important to make ourselves unique and stand out from the crowd.

One of the best ways to do this is to communicate with your blog readers.

Communication is a key value of ABOH. Through this you can turn one-time visitors into everyday visitors. You can turn people who just visit your profile into followers. You can turn people who mention your brand once, into people who mention your brand all the time.

So today, I wanted to talk to you about why communication is so important online and give you some ideas for communicating with your audience in the best way possible.

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Bloggers - we're in a league of our own aren't we? But one thing we all know is how much the blogosphere has changed over the years. 

I think it's more awesome to be a blogger today than ever before. So to celebrate my two years of blogging (and your own blogging journey so far), here's why it's pretty amazing to be a blogger right now.

Your Blog Is Great for Your CV & Linkedin Profile

Yep, your site will shine like a star when you next go for a job interview. How many different careers do you think blogging relates to?

The answer is a lot.

Running your blog alongside your day job is very admirable. It doesn’t matter if you only post once a week or once a month – if you can show consistency and interaction, you’re onto a winner.

I’ve been asked about my blog in every job interview I’ve had and it’s played a huge part in getting me to where I am today. Getting a job is very competitive. Set yourself apart with a blog and give yourself something completely unique to talk about.

There Are so Many Different Ways to Blog

Years ago, blogging just used to be through the form of words. We were quite limited with what we could produce.

Now, the possibilities are endless.

 

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80% of Americans are unhappy in their jobs. That’s a huge figure. Now I’m not sure what that number would be for us Brits – but I bet it would be something similar.

Yet I can understand why the number is so high.

Being unsure about your career path is totally normal, especially when you’re fresh out of college or university. To truly know what you want to do, you’ve got to experience it.

I’ve come across two main scenarios that have led people to being unhappy in their careers.

• You set your sights on a career, get your qualifications and get your first job – only to realise that it isn’t actually what you want to be doing. You’re stuck.
• Or, you feel so much pressure to get a job as soon as you graduate that you rush it and fall into the wrong one. You’re stuck.

I worked in magazines, agencies and e-commerce, before I finally settled on marketing in education.

So how can you know what you want to do if you haven’t tried anything?

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