Final thought: Frederic Patenaude, the raw foodist who also teaches people how to do eBooks, often writes that people don’t need a big site! It’s all about what you present and how you do it! I don’t agree with Frederic on some things (his endless, long-winded sales pitches, which are rampant on the net, drive me out of my mind), but I always learn from him.

[although I write a lot, when I find or am sent a pitch to buy something, I want to know the price. I don't want to scroll, and scroll, and scroll, to find out it's out of my price range. I don't care if it promises the moon and has the best endorsements, I want to know the cost. Whether it's how to succeed on the net, lose weight, find a mate or whatever, these endlessly long pitches which keep the price at the end really turns me off.

And the supposed "value" of these, that it's really worth more, but for now, if you act right away, it's "only" this price. So although I hate that, I still check some sites now and then or click on links in some emails because there's some good info I can glean -- when I have the time and patience. It obviously works because people are buying, just not moi (or people with my mindset)! I always list the prices of my photos nice and big, at the top. I hate the evasiveness of having to contact someone or burying it beneath tons of endorsements and crap.]

You’d never think a raw foodist, who endlessly promotes his products, would be a great teacher on eBooks and raw [Not raw, but ALL] sites, but he’s amongst the best, if you can read between the lines. Never know where you’re going to find nuggets to help you and others along the path of life.

Namaste!

Everyone who knows me knows I talk a lot, and online, write a lot! But that’s because I’m frustrated I haven’t made the time in my life to create my own blog/sites. I’m actually migrating to Joomla! hopefully within a few days. I’ve been saying that for months, but I keep getting closer. My photo work has been keeping me busy, and I’m passionately involved in raw foods and yoga. Been spending time reading and gathering info to build the backend as well as tons of quality links and content for my healing arts site.

I’m creating this site to share info with those who are struggling as I am, and to connect some of the wonderful people I’ve met through their books or online. Some I’ve written to, some I only know through their work.

And that’s part of playing it forward: to acknowledge those who have a lot to give and in my opinion, deserve and need the spotlight. They deserve my time and attention because they are healers, good writers, with great enthusiasm, have put a lot of thought, time, heart and soul into what they are doing.

I always personalize it, so it’s not just one of these endorsement cos I’m an affiliate. I hate that! I want to know why you are writing about something. How has it affected your life or others? I write about something, whether or not there’s a business arrangement. I hate it when some only writes about something if there’s money in it, or they don’t make it transparent if it’s an affiliate arrangement or not. (that goes to an earlier posting about transparency and online businesses).

I think treat others as you want to be treated is a simple thought that says it well. Give to the world what you have been given. When you follow your heart, you will find others sharing the same path.

And as one very well-known man in the raw foods world has written, he’s not the best writer. English isn’t his first language (he’s French Canadian). But he writes from so much knowledge and so passionately, that he has gone from barely surviving to a very wealthy man in a few years. But that’s because he has given so much valuable information away, as a means to bring us in, and then he charges for some of it.

You see that on many sites and from some of the people on this blog. Why do companies give away discount coupons, but to bring in new people for sales? From their point of view, that’s playing it forward too.

Or sites like boingboing.net, who gather all kind of eclectic info from the arts to politics. Because they have such a large readership, they can charge a lot from their advertisers. I really love their blog because I never know what I’ll find, but something every day is intriguing, puzzling, inspiring, and life-affecting. It’s obvious they are only posting and writing about info that moves them, but being so personal, they attract a lot of like-minded folks.

But the people behind boingboing.net have been into computers from the very beginning, early Wired writers and cutting edge on so much for much of their lives. So it’s important to realize where people start, to help understand where they are now and if we can follow a similar path or what we can learn from them.

I know you all know that. But it’s worth repeating. This idea of play it forward is not new, and I guess it’s always great to have a saying that sums up a philosophy. It’s really important that YOU grow from your work. As someone wrote, if they can’t get help, they figure it out and blog that. That’s as valuable info as you are going to get! That’s the basis of civilization, to some degree.

Ok, I am so late sending out some photos and invoicing, and the sooner I do that, the sooner I can finally start my new blog/site.

And although I am migrating to Joomla! and plan and recreating/upgrading my punk photo site to it as well, knowing WordPress’s backend really prepared me for Joomla! And all the SEO, SEM, SEF and SMO and everything that’s so freely shared amongst WordPress bloggers (and book writers) is as vital info as ever. I have a lot of info to share, and I plan on having some good-sized sites, so it’s a good fit to work within a more robust CMS structure.

Final thought: Frederic Patenaude, the raw foodist who also teaches people how to do eBooks, often writes that people don’t need a big site! It’s all about what you present and how you do it! I don’t agree with Frederic on some things (his endless, long-winded sales pitches, which are rampant on the net, drive me out of my mind), but I always learn from him.

You’d never think a raw foodist, who endlessly promotes his products, would be a great teacher on eBooks and raw sites, but he’s amongst the best, if you can read between the lines. Never know where you’re going to find nuggets to help you and others along the path of life.

Namaste!