When I asked, “How Can I Help You?”, I got over 250 responses.

There were a number of things folks wanted help with, and after reading through each and every email and responding to as many of them as I could, I came up with a couple key takeaways.

• You want to learn how to turn your passion into a career. I hear you, and I’m working on a new project to help you do just that. If you’re interested in receiving updates on this project (we’ll call it “Passion to Profit” for now), go here and sign up.

• You want to learn how to blog, and how to turn that blog into a business. If this resonates with you, sign up for updates on that project here. Also, see this article that will give you the first steps to setting up your first blog.

• You think I should write an article on all the ways to say YES. (After all, I wrote 50 Ways to Say No, and then expanded that to 99 Ways to Say No.) Stay tuned for this article. 

• You want a cookie. If that’s you, here are some of my favorites. Mint are the best. But orange are good too.

• You’re looking for love. (Yes, no less than three of you mentioned this in your emails.) I’ve been to more than one match.com wedding, so start there.

Did I miss something? Let me know.

 

You’re a writer, say. You put words on paper and put those papers into the hands of people who read them. Or maybe you put words on screens and let Twitter do your billing: I PUT A WORD HERE. COME READ IT.

Whatever your method (paper, pen, computer), or your strategy for garnering readership (bullhorns, Twitter), you surely require one simple thing, day in and day out.

That thing?

Ideas.

All people — not just writers, but innovators, business people and mind benders require ideas to fuel their fire. Turns out, we have lots of them. Every single day. But the challenge, our challenge, is capturing those ideas.

When you have an idea in the shower, do you write it down? No. When you have an idea while tossing and turning at night, do you write that down? Not likely. When you have an idea while in a subway, do you type it into your iphone? Sometimes.

The problem, it seems, is not the finding of ideas, but the documenting of them.

So get a notebook. A tiny one. Not your regular hefty journal. Not your iphone. A real notebook you can touch and look at and think: THIS IS FOR MY GREAT-BAD-UGLY IDEAS. ALL OF THEM.

I like this little thin one from Moleskine.

Carry it around. Use it just for ideas.

Do it.

Do you have one? Does it work for you?

{Want a PDF version of these instructions? Go here.}

Last week, I asked you how I could be of help.

Of the hundreds of responses I received, many of you said you were itching to learn how to start a successful blog.

Starting a blog is one of the very best things that ever happened to me, and I love to share with folks why blogging is a great way to connect with others, build your platform, and change the world.

Seven years ago, I hit publish on my first post. I was holed up in a hostel in Madrid, having just run my first marathon, and on my first stop of a year-long trip around the world. Hitting publish on that post was one of the smartest things I ever did.

Wherever you are in your career (or in the world), a blog can help you reach your goals of learning, connecting, change-making and profit-building. I want you to get started. And I’m going to tell you how to do so. 

In this post, I’ll show you the exact steps to set up your own self-hosted WordPress blog.

It should take 9 minutes, tops. (8, maybe). At the end, you’ll have your very own blog, which you can shriek loudly about.

In a good way.

(Oh, and if you like what you hear here, and want ongoing tips on turning your blog into a business, signup here.)

So, back to starting your blog.

We’ll be doing it all with BlueHost, the host that most bloggers these days recommend due to its prices, excellent service, and serious ease of set up.

Going with a hosting company like BlueHost means that you’ll be “self-hosting” your website using your own .com address. Although this costs some money (< $50 a year), I firmly believe this is a better route than going with free options like Blogger.com. For a full explanation of why I believe paid hosting is the way to go, see this post.

So let’s review what you need to get going: 

• A host. As mentioned above, I believe self-hosting on your own URL is the way to go. Most well-respected bloggers recommend BlueHost. It’s known for great customer service, ease of set-up, and cost (for about $6 a month you can create and unlimited number of websites).

• A domain name. Got a name for your blog? Great. Now turn that into a domain name. (Domain names look like www.ClaireDiazOrtiz.com, www.MeatIsYummy.org, or www.MuffinsRock.net). BlueHost will ask you what yours is when you’re setting up the blog.

• A credit card (or Paypal). This is where you get to throw your cash money on the table. Note that there are free ways to blog, but for most people I don’t generally recommend them, as I explained above. Here’s an explanation of why you (usually) shouldn’t be using free blogging services.

So go ahead, get going. Watch the video (also below) or read the directions and sign up for BlueHost and then get your first post up!

Here’s the video below (linked here) walking you through exactly how to set up your new blog.

How to Set Up a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog (Video) 

Don’t like videos?

Written Directions w/ Screenshots

Go to BlueHost. Click on Sign Up Now.

It will ask you for a domain name. For now, let’s assume you do not already have a domain name and need to buy one now. What do you want to call your site? Muffins4eva.com? DuckDynastyRecipes.com? Think of something good.

A few more tips?

• Don’t use dashes. Go for peoplelovelongcats.com, not people-love-long-cats.com.
• Don’t use weird punctuation. Avoid iloveu2much.com. Go for iloveyoutoomuch.com.
• Get a .com if you can. If you can’t, don’t worry about it.

Enter it in the box “I Need a Domain Name” and see if it’s available.

If it’s available, it’ll tell you “Congratulations!” Now it’s time to fill out your basic personal information and credit card information (or paypal). Fill that in.

You’re once again a winner. “Congratulations!” You set it up. Now it needs you to set up a password. Do that.

Once you set up the password it wants you to log into the account. Do that.

Now you’re in your account. Click on “Websites”, the blue icon in the middle of the screen.

Once you click there, you’ll see a screen that will say “WordPress” on the left hand side with a big logo. Click on “WordPress” — that’s what we’re going to use to blog on.

Click WordPress, and it’ll ask you to install WordPress. Deselect a few extra plugins it will select for you. If you get an error message that says “Oops! That directory exists!” don’t worry. This is just meant for people who are installing WordPress on a site that is already live. Just click the box saying you know this would override any existing files. You may need to deselect those plugins again.

And then, success!

Click on the link it gives you for your new blog and put in your password.

Now look at the left hand side of the screen and click “Add New” under “Posts”.

Write your first post, and hit “Publish!”

Yay!

Your first post is up!

Now what?!

What to Do After the First Post

To make your blog a bit nicer, here are a few key things you’ll want to think about doing in the first few days or weeks of blogging that can help get off on the right foot:

• Choose a Theme. Under “Appearance” in your WordPress you can click “Themes” to see some free themes available. One good free one that many folks use is called Platform. Here are a bunch more free WordPress themes. I use a great paid theme called Genesis which I highly recommend.

• Download some good plugins. Some of my favorites include Askimet (to prevent Spam), Google Analytics (to see stats about your blog), and Contact Form 7 (to have an easy way for folks to contact you).

• For more general information on WordPress and getting your site looking awesome, try WP101.com, a great site with tons of good videos.

So remember, it all starts with BlueHost.

Want to download a PDF version of these steps? Go here.

 

Do you have a new blog? (Or an old one?) Let me know!

This week I continued another month of eating a modified Paleo diet. I saw Flight, with Denzel Washington, and remembered why I hate watching addicts in movies (although I did like the movie). I read a few more books, but was more proud to read an entire Vanity Fair, cover to cover.

The picture? Years back, a family photo from the place with the fainting goats (yes, really!) in Calistoga, California. Where there really are fainting goats. (image by Jose Diaz Ortiz)

Here are some other things I saw, read and coveted.

• I asked How I Can Help You? It was a good question, apparently, because I received over 250 emails. I tried to respond to as many as I could. I’ll keep trying.
• This nifty website told me how many hours of time I’ve spent on Twitter in my life. Answer? 36.1.
• I liked this post over at Lifehacker about how to escape the cult of the busy.
• I pushed myself to think of even more ways to say No, and came up with 99 for my LinkedIn blog. See 99 Ways to Say No, and tell me if you can think of more.
• On Babble, I wrote about 6 Signs You’re a Workaholic.

Did I miss any good reads this week? Leave a comment below and I’ll go find ‘em!

You’re on my blog, ClaireDiazOrtiz.com, where I write things. Good things, bad things, things in the middle between bad and good.

Today, I’m writing to ask you a kinda weird thing.

Here goes.

What do you need?

Yup.

Is there a way that I can help you?

I’m not being weird. I’m genuinely curious.

Many things might come to mind when I ask that question. Here are few ideas:

• You want to learn to start a blog and turn that blog into a business. 
• You need advice on how to find your passion in life and turn it into a career.
• You want to know how to use social media to rock the world.
• You need a cookie. A big one. With milk.
• You want me to start emailing you my blog posts. Go here. Or you want me to stop. (Hit unsubscribe at the bottom of any note I send and it’ll do the trick.)

Whatever it is, I’d like to know. If there is something I can do, shoot me a note (claire@clairediazortiz.com). Leave a comment. I’ll read every one, and I’ll respond to as many as I can.

Have a great week,

Claire

Laura Vanderkam has done it again.

Vanderkam, author of books like 168 Hours: You Have More Time than You Think, has become a feature in my email inbox ever since I read ones of her books for the first time and started emailing her incessantly. (I tend to do that. I’m sure she’s thrilled. Ha.)

What I love about Vanderkam’s writing is that it’s smart, practical, and immediately applicable. It makes me think, and pushes me to change my life for the better. Furthermore, I’m not without my share of pure admiration. Every time I read something she writes I think: Why can’t I write that like?! (And then I email her saying that. See above.)

Her latest ebook, What the Most Successful People Do at Work, came out this week, and she gave me a copy earlier this month to check out. It’s the third in her “What the Most Successful People Do” series, this time focusing on what successful people do at work to work better, smarter, and more effectively.

Vanderkam says this ebook is her favorite in the series, and for good reason. The ebook is packed with great insights, and here are a few key ones to get you tempted to pick it up:

• You can make your hours count more by investing them, rather than spending them. They key is making sure you know the difference between investing and spending. 
• You can only work so many hours, therefore astonishing productivity requires making the hours you have count more. 
• There are seven daily disciplines that effective people employ to make their hours count more. See a great preview of those seven disciplines here. 

Check out the book here (it’s just $3). It’s well worth it;)

While you’re at it, take a look at the other two books in the series: What the Most Successful People Do on Weekends, and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.

You can also get a free chapter of her book All the Money In The World by subscribing to her monthly newsletter here.

Have you read any of Vanderkam’s work before? If so (or if not), what do YOU do to work better when you’re at work?

This week, I had another amazing time at Catalyst, a great leadership conference that takes place a few times a year in various cities. While in Orange County for the event, I got to spend a lovely evening at the headquarters of Sevenly, an incredibly innovative company started by Dale Partridge, a guy with an amazing story.

Sevenly, called the fastest growing social good startup in the USA, is awesome company known for its hip gear and its incredible generosity. Seven dollars of every product go towards the chosen non-profit cause of the week, and Sevenly has already given away $2 million to non-profits through their work. Sevenly also happens to have one of the coolest offices ever. Dales works out of this office (below). No, there’s no desk. Because he’s that cool.

Sevenly also invites in interesting folks to come talk to employees and their friends, and on the night I was there they brought in Jeff Shinabarger, pastor and author of More or Less, a book I read and loved. In the book, Jeff talks about his journey to become a more generous person, realize what he really needed in life, and learn to thrive on less.

Despite the fact that I read and absorbed his entire book months ago, I was still newly struck during his talk by one particular question he asked everyone in the audience to ponder. And ponder I did.

That question?

Where do you have excess?

As Jeff said, this may be in an area you may not initially think about. We often think of negative things in “excess”, but that’s not how it works. Excess is anything beyond what we don’t need.

As Jeff said, “Anything more than enough is excess, and anything less than enough is suffering.” It’s true. Eat too much? Excess. Eat too little? Starve.

So the question begs itself: Where do you have excess?

Do you earn more than your family needs to live each year? Consider giving some away. Earn just enough, but think that maybe you could save $20 a month and give to someone else who needs it more? Try that.

And, importantly, please think beyond monetary riches when you think about what you have too much of, as that can be the first place our mind goes when we think of the word. Are you out of a job? You have time. Think of ways you can give it. Do you have more clothes/books/shoes than you need? Give.

You get the idea.

So, to you. Where do you have excess?

This week, I breathed the California air. (And had a lovely, inspiring time at Catalyst West.) I finished some books, including My Life in France, which I loved. Chronicling the Julia Child early years, it made me obsessed with her, and I now want to get every book I can find about Julia Child’s life. Fun fact: She spent 10 years writing her first book, and was nearly 50 when it first came out. The picture? Me, at a museum in Sao Paolo. Old, but good. I still wear those shoes.

“I have a terrible need of — shall I say the word — religion. Then I go out and paint the stars.” (Vincent van Gogh)

Here are some other things I saw, read and coveted.

• Why I Don’t Want to “Crash at Your Place” While Traveling is a great piece by @chrisbrogan giving every good reason I’ve ever come up with for why anonymous hotels work better for business travelers. I agree. Times ten million.
• This piece - Do shortcuts exist to becoming an expert? - was a good wrap-up of what some digital influencers think about the (long) road to expert-hood.
• I need to buy a fitbit. Stat. Do you own one? Do you recommend it?
• I loved reading about how to beat the anxiety of *online* reading. The anxiety being the need to read more, more, more, more more.

Did I miss any good reads this week? Leave a comment below and I’ll go find ‘em!

Are you a leader? Want to be?

Listen up.

Some of you may be familiar with Catalyst. A massive, massive(ly) successful leadership conference that happens a handful of times every year. It’s been going on for 14 years, and it’s a movement.

A big one.

I’ve been lucky to speak a few times at some of the Catalyst Labs (and I’m currently doing so at Catalyst West), and attending Catalyst is always a priority for me. Even though it’s my year of REST, Catalyst takes top-billing. 

Today is the day where that conference becomes a book.

My bud Brad Lomenick authored The Catalyst Leader, and it’s here.

It’s a game-changing leadership book, based on his 20 years of leadership experience, as well as the last 10 years experience as the president and lead visionary of Catalyst. In it Brad identifies and captures what he calls the 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker — all ways to help you lead well. And lead now.

If you are familiar with Catalyst at all, you’ll know that leadership development is at the core of their organization, and this book is a leadership manifesto based on stories, Brad’s personal leadership, and interaction with the amazing thought leaders who have been part of Catalyst over the years. 

Reality is that all of us want to be a great leader, but many times we’re not sure how to build in the essentials in a way that will deliver the most impact in our own leadership, and in the teams and organizations we lead. This book can help.

As I said in my endorsement about the book. The Catalyst Leader is…

“The definitive guide to sparking change within your organization — and your life.” 

Want more incentive?

If you purchase this week, from April 14-19, scan and send your receipt to catalystleaderbook@gmail.com and you’ll receive over $300 of leadership resources for FREE,

Sweet.

Do it.

Now.

This week, I flew on some planes. I ate a lot of chicken. I read a wonderful book, Give me the World, about Leila Hadley, a New York socialite-cum-travel writer who wrote a book about her year in the world with the six-year old son during the 1950s. One of the best travelogues I’ve read in a long, long time. Too bad her life ended in lots of controversy. The picture? A pretty volcano in Ecuador, where we were a few months back.

A quote I read this week: ”The struggle itself toward the eternal present is enough to fill a man’s heart.”

Here are some other things I saw, read, and coveted:

• Do you have a NOT to-do list? Michael Hyatt tells you why you should. (I came up with one.)
• Have you ever heard of “suspending” your coffee for someone less fortunate? It’s a movement, apparently. One I’d never heard of. 
• Here are 50 digital media resources you may have missed. Helpful to any small business owner, blogger, or person at work in the world. 
• I reminded you of 3 essential questions to help you solve any problem.