Remember when we had the discussion on needing to sell ourselves and our blogs in order to get discovered and read? Well, when I landed on this week’s “Blog of the Week”, I felt I found a blog that could teach us just that.

This author has not only studied how to influence others, but he has also worked for a “well established coaching and training company”. It was there he discovered his passion.

A passion to help others communicate more successfully.

I love what he says in his “About” page.

The most important thing I learned about communication is: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU, IT’S ABOUT THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU.

Isn’t that the truth. We can talk and/or write until we’re blue in the face, but if we don’t consider our audience, all may be for naught.

As I was digging through his archives I found gem titled A Million Ways to Make a Million Dollars in which he teaches us several techniques to become more persuasive. In part, he says,

Since becoming successful begins with you, it is important to convince yourself on your ideas. Have you ever ‘pitched’ an idea to someone even though you only partially believed it? What about the opposite, pitching an idea and standing as sturdy as a surfboard behind it? Obviously when you stand behind something with passion and power, you are more likely to get your point across. So now the question is how do we do this? How do we persuade ourselves to be confident, to be irresistible, and to be unstoppable?

What really stood out for me was the part about being passionate about what we’re “selling”. Whether we’re selling others on us, our blogs or on a product, if we don’t believe in it, we certainly can’t expect others to.

In 32 Questions: 20 Empowering & 12, Not so Much, he reminds us,

…Your mind is created to function and tic a certain way. When you ask your mind a question, it will ALWAYS look for an answer. So by asking yourself negative questions, you’ll get negative answers. What I’m about to share with you CAN be something that will dramatically change your life forever. …Imagine if you asked yourself questions like, “How can I get stronger?” “How do I get smarter?” “What should I do to make money now?” Do you want to know the answers to those questions?…

He then goes on to share questions we can ask ourselves. Which ones we choose and how we answer is up to us.

The suspense is over.

Drum roll please.

The blog I’m showcasing today is authored by AJ Kumar and is titled, Persuasive.net

Please join me in welcoming AJ to the Blogging Without A Blog community.

Welcome AJ.

Thank you for leaving your profile in the Blog Registry as that is how I found you.

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P.S. You can also follow AJ on Twitter.

It’s Wednesday, and as you all know, it’s time to showcase another blog(er).

When I landed on this one, I was actually surprised as the theme was so simple. It has no bells, no whistles, no fancy header or special fonts. In fact, it sports the WordPress default blue and white theme. The only adornment is the author’s photo.

The value comes from, you guessed it, the words.

With the way she writes, I feel we’re sitting in the same room, enjoying a cup of tea, and just chatting about life. Her posts are casual, but yet complete. Fairly short, but yet thought provoking.

To begin the introduction, in her Welcome post (and on her “About” page) she writes,

This blog is devoted to the idea that adulthood is not a destination. Growing up, I always thought adulthood was the final frontier – a place you arrived and suddenly everything made sense: you knew what you wanted to do with your life, you knew what advice to give your kids, you knew which shoes looked right with that jacket. Turns out, it doesn’t work that way. Sure, you make progress and have those “aha” moments every so often, but growing up is all very incremental and you never really arrive anywhere.

Isn’t that the truth? As youngsters we so looked forward to becoming an adult, but once we got “there”, we began saying, “Now what?”.

She shares a story of a discussion she had with her brother in her You Really Shouldn’t Dye Your Hair post, saying (in part)

…It’s a slippery slope, this beautifying thing. And I don’t think it’s all about vanity. The older I get, the more I find myself not just wanting to alter my look but to really play with it. There’s something exhilarating about changing the way you present yourself to the world. It’s sort of like having a secret with yourself that other people aren’t in on (FACT: most people think I’m a natural blonde. I LOVE that!) It’s a safe way to have some fun without really altering who you are.

I hear what she’s saying with this one. As we age, many of us want to find ways to look better, but prefer not to go under the knife.

Her humor shines through in her Tips For Adulthood – 5 Household Items You Can’t Do Without post. One of the items she lists is,

3. Vertical Chicken Roaster – Here’s [includes a link] the one we own. For reasons that elude me (gravity??) chicken cooks better – i.e., is more juicy and succulent – when you cook it vertically. And who doesn’t like succulent chicken? (I’ve always thought it would be great to come up with a list of food descriptors that really turn people on and off. I’m a sucker for anything that’s “pan seared,” but loathe the term “drizzled.”

Food descriptions can influence me, too. If the author of a recipe makes it sound good, I’m more apt to try it. “Decadent” always wins with me.

When I found a link to this blog in the “Blog Registry”, I was intrigued and clicked through. I’m glad I did.

Without further ado, this week the spotlight shines on Delia of Real Delia

Please join me in welcoming Delia to the Blogging Without A Blog community.

Welcome Delia.

It’s a joy to have you here.

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With blog posts that read like a text book, this is a “go to” blog you won’t want to scan. This blog author writes not only from his experience, but from what he has learned through research.

Although his blog is not brand new, nor one everyone can identify with, it’s a blog worth showcasing as the information is not only accurate, but helpful.

This is a blog about anxiety disorders and all aspects of it.

In his post titled, Surviving the Recession, Part 2: Anxiety, Harmful Behavior, and Paralysis, he shares,

Falling prey to catastrophizing is like striking out in your mind before you even get to the plate. Both of these types of catastrophizing limit your ability to respond to the challenges and opportunities of your current economic situation. They can affect your entire outlook in life, and create a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure, disappointment and underachievement.

Isn’t that the truth? If we’re not careful, our attitude and self talk can easily affect the outcome.

With anxiety, comes stress. Stress is something we all know about and this author debunks the myths of stress in his post Seven Myths About Stress That You Really Need to Know About

From the post,

Myth 1: Stress is the same for everybody

Every person is different, not only in their genetic and biological makeup, but in the environment of their upbringing and their personalities. Every one of us has a different stress threshold and learned ways of handling stress. Stress does not affect everybody the same way, nor can it. What is a stressful situation for one may not be stressful for another. Each of us responds to stress in a different way.

Often we think we know how others are feeling based on our own circumstances, but as this author shows, that may not always be the case.

To share why he blogs, on his About page, he tells his story and then says (in part)

My experience with Anxiety Disorder began about six years ago, after decades of struggling with bipolar disorder. I had always been fearless and outgoing, but suddenly I was so overwhelmed that I could no longer leave the house, speak on the phone, or bear the presence of more than one other person, even family members. The onset was like the proverbial ton of bricks: It was like nothing I had ever experienced! My Story goes into my experience with mental illness in more detail.

This blog provides the information that I wish I had had when I was ambushed by Anxiety Disorders, as I was struggling to hold my life together, as I was learning to regain functionality. I have worked hard over the past six years to fight back against this malady, and have had many successes, though I’m not entirely out of the woods yet.

Some may feel this is a subject that doesn’t apply to them, however, if we look around, anxiety may be affecting someone we know. By subscribing to this blog and learning more about anxiety and it’s affect on our lives, we’ll become more empathic to those who struggle with this problem.

Without further ado, I would like to introduce Mike Nichols of Anxiety, Panic & Health – “Living With Health, Wellness and Wholeness”.

Please join me in re-welcoming Mike to the Blogging Without A Blog community.

Welcome Mike.

It’s a pleasure to have you here.

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