Looking at blogs that I admire, they all have frequent posting in common.

Some post daily, but very few will go more than a week without new content.

Many are on a regular schedule where new content is posted on a certain day each week.

Comparing this to other mediums, I can see the importance.

Think about some other sources of information…

• Newspapers.  Daily, weekly, whatever
• Radio.  News at the top and bottom of the hour
• Magazine.  Weekly, mostly on Wednesdays
• TV.  Tonight at 6 and 11

People can rely on these sources because they are reliable and predictable.  The periodical nature instills a sort of confidence that keeps people coming back.

A successful blog appears to be no different.

Have you heard the analogy relating ”marbles” to “weekends with our children?”

Over the course of 18 years of childhood, we have around 900 weekends to spend with our children.  Imagine each one being a marble.  As each week passes we remove one marble.

At birth, we have a glorious jar filled to the lip with 900+ marbles.  Lots of time to do all the things we hope to do.

My youngest is now 11.  His jar has only 350 marbles remaining.  That seems like alot, but it is not.  Nearly 2/3 gone.  Factor in the fact that I survive on every other Saturday and it’s frighteningly few.  I really don’t want to do the math for the two older ones.

Over the years I have wasted far too many of those marbles.  Maybe I was traveling.  Maybe working extra.    Maybe I needed some “me time” and was hanging with my friends.  Maybe I was just too tired.  Those marbles were just lost.

I have put much more effort into my marbles lately.  I spend more time planning.  I carefully gauge the reaction to the things we do, so as to maximize future opportunities.

Before I know it, my jars will be empty and I hope to have memories to fill them with.  I also hope my kids remember more than a few of the weekends fondly.

I’m beginning to share ways we maximize our weekends at my site weekendwithdad.com.  I welcome you to visit when you can.

We all have several things that we have an ongoing interest in hearing about.  Maybe it’s a Topic (like autism research), a Person (Victor Paul) or a Company (CitiGroup.)  For a daily dose of information, Google has a great tool that sends me a daily update of new web content, blog content and news items for my topic.

Google Alerts!

To receive a daily email update on any topic of your choice simply…

1) Visit www.google.com/alerts

2) Enter a search term like you would in Google.  Make it as general or specific as you wish.  A very specific topic might only occasionally have new information daily.

3) Choose the type of results you want to receive (News, Blogs, Web, Video, Groups or Comprehensive)

4) Choose how frequently you want to receive updates (as it happens, daily, weekly)

5) Choose an email address to have it sent to (as long as you’re not signed in to Google, you can choose an address from any email provider.

Google will send you a confirmation email and then the updates start as soon as something new pops up.

I keep track of my favorite topics, my customers, my competitors and many other things.  Last time I checked I had 26 alerts set.

Hope it works as well to satisfy your news/info fix as it has for mine.

I continue to follow the advise of my coach, John Thornhill, to further develop this site and eventually others.  Today he provided step by step instructions to…

1) changing the theme (I think it looks much better)

2) adding Google Adsense

3) signing up for Aweber’s list management which should allow me to put a newsletter signup on the page in the next day or two.

I have to say that I am very pleased with the first couple weeks of coaching John has provided.  His step by step instructions have dragged me further than I would have imagined.  Very impressed with this content and style.  I’ll share more as we go.

Victor Paul

I’m bumbling through getting my site set up as John Thornhill has suggested.  While simple, there is a bit to it if your mind is going a mile a minute.  Really it’s just…

1. Choose, buy and redirect a domain
2. Tune up / turn on a site host (basics, email, forwarding, etc.)
3. Find coherent thoughts to present.

To stay coherent might present me the greatest challenge.

Been thinking about what areas to concentrate on for my new website weekendwithdad.com.

I’m trying to provide information for non-custodial dads like me.  I know what my main issues have been over the year and suspect others have the same.

1. Doing.  Fun, dad-type stuff to do with your kids
2. Eating.  Treat ‘em without taking them out for every meal
3. Talking.  Ways to stay involved and show you’re interested

I’ve looked at any number of things to sell either online or in the real world.  Nothing I’ve seen can touch the advantages of sharing INFORMATION.

1) FREE.  Once gathered and compiled, it is FREE.  No further cost.  All profit.  I LOVE the sound of that.

2) EASY.  It’s a snap to distribute.  At worst a CD or Book has to be produced.  Can be as simple as an email, website or download.

3) CONTROL.  I control the content.  I control the format.  I can tinker, improve or revamp at will.

For someone who finds information gathering and distilling a snap, it makes all the sense in the world to turn that into an income stream.

1. Prices.  I remember it all seeming so CLEAR in college economics class.  Demand moves one way; Price goes the other.  Availability does one thing; Something happens.  The details don’t matter, but it all made SENSE.  20 years of watching prices move erratically for no reason leads me to conclude, I’ll never get it.
2. Ex-spouses.  I manage to get along with mine, but it requires a lot of effort.  More effort than I remember putting into being married.  Maybe that was the problem…?
3. Experts.  How can anyone be so sure of anything.  Didn’t their parents tell teach the dangers of saying ALWAYS or NEVER.  Today’s expert is pretty much guaranteed to be tomorrow’s moron.  Don’t believe it?  Find the 10 most regarded experts of 2000 and you’ll see 9 of today’s goats.  Alan Greenspan?

Hi there.

Are people who have more questions than answers entitled to blog?

I’m one of those people.  Always been curious about things.  Not random things.  Usually things that directly affect my life and those around me.

Looking at my recent Google Searches, my interests seem to fall into a few categories:

My work (Logistics and Distribution Management)

Family Issues (Kids, Divorce, Autism)

Technology (Gadgets, Trends, Solutions)

I am one with Google.  Have a question?  I have an uncanny ability to extract a quick (usually correct) answer.  I’ve discovered lots of STUFF over the years.  I’ve learned alot.  And it’s helped me immensely.

I thought a while ago how cool it would be if all that knowledge about my areas of interest were available to others without having to “re-Google” it all.

Can’t really do that, of course, because I’ve used or applied what I learned and promptly filed it away in the FORGET region of my brain.

I’ve also read about people “monetizing” what they know.  I stumbled upon John Thornhill a PowerSeller on Ebay.  He MAKES A LIVING sharing his knowledge in the form of E-Books and on websites like PlanetSMS.  I followed what he’s done the last couple years and have decided to take a stab at following in his footsteps.

I wonder, of course, if what I know is really worth sharing.  After all, look at this highly informative post.

And how does one go about it?  I know enough to know that I don’t know this stuff.  I don’t want to reinvent or the wheel, so I joined John’s coaching program and am letting him guide me.  We’ll see where this journey leads.

Victor