Long time no blog eh? Actually, I have been blogging, just not here. I have in fact got a new blog, an entirely new site actually, and I'm really enjoying blogging there - primarily because I don''t have to limit myself to writing about business blogging over there. I'm free to write about all sorts of thing which fascinate and interest me - I feel free to be me. The authentic me. Check it out, but be warned, the real me may be a very different 'me' from the 'me' you think you thunk I was. :) It's at www.ClaireRaikes.com

I now find myself with 2 blogs to update - not at all part of the plan so let me explain how it's going to work... I am going to continue blogging here, on bloggng and social media for business but all of those posts will also appear on my main blog over there. So... if you follow this blog purely for the blogging and social media content, then sit tight and do nothing. If however, you come here because you get a good vibe off me, we like the same things, you like my style etc, then I suggest you subscribe to the other one where you'll have much variety!  

So first post I'm re-appropriating from www.claireraikes.com is this one which I wrote earlier today. It's about a site called GratitudeLog.com. If you've not yet discovered it, it's a bit like Twitter, but instead of asking 'what are you doing?' it

asks, 'what are you grateful for today?' Answering this question daily is the quickest way to raise your vibrations and attract more of what you want into your life. I used to keep a little book by my bedside in which I'd write the same thing before I went to sleep, but somehow, I stopped doing it. This site has now replaced that habit for me. I don't do it every day, but they kindly send me an email if I haven't done it for a couple of days. Of course, you could just say what you're grateful for in Twitter, and in fact, Gratitude Log now allows you to post your updates straight to your Twitter feed. I don't do that - I'll explain why in a moment, but first, I want to share this Gratitude Log (Follow me!) button with you which I've just thrown together...

It's nothing fancy, but should look lovely on your blog or website and will attract new friends who also practice an 'attitude of gratitude'. To nab it for your own use, simply 'right click' on the image and select 'save image as' or 'save object as' (this will depend on your browser) and then save it to your computer. It's 240 pixels wide, so should work fine in most Wordpress themes.

But it's too big for most Typepad side column layouts, so here's a smaller version if that's you:

Not sure what to do next to display it and link to your Gratitude Log page?

Then using the search box feature, search for 'inserting image links in typelists' or 'inserting images in typelists". The instructions will have been written with Typepad users in mind, but the code itself is the same for Wordpress too (you just create a new Text Widget, whereas Typepadders create a 'Notes' type Typelist.) If you are still stuck, why not email me to book yourself in for a quick tutorial session. Depending on your tech wizardry skill level, 15 to 30 minutes should be ample time to teach you how. MORE INFO HERE

So my reason for not sending my Gratitude Log updates to Twitter...

I've been doing some serious thinking about BusinessBlogAngel the business and am now very clear about how I want it to develop and its actually not so much a 'growth' goal I have, as a 'values' goal. I'll explain that more in a follow up post shortly - but suffice to say, it's about letting my own personal brand really shine so I attract the clients and businesses I LOVE to work with.

I've been configuring some really very nice blogsites lately too - and motivating and enabling some brilliant people to tie their business blogging and social networking together with minimum effort for max results. I'll be sharing those with you shortly and if the interest is there, I'll be offering 'how to' instructional product/service as part of a tentatively planned membership club so you can do

 the same for yourself. 

Social media-y - I've been doing some lovely twitter backgrounds, have finally buried my hatchet with Facebook (again - that's for another day) and, by popular demand - as they say, I'll be running a 2 hour beginners workshop for Twitter here in Penarth for an invited group of conscious business peeps.

And finally - I've been exploring some of the many changes and developments with Typepad - some of which have been around for some time but which many of us were choosing to ignore - and others which are more recent. Again - I want to share some of this stuff with you too - I know not many of you for example have switched to the new 'comments' system - or maybe you did, but switched back because you had problems - either way - it's really worth doing now, and its not hard when someone shows you how. So that's all coming up in the next few weeks. 

My parents arrive tonight for a long weekend so there's supplies to shop for and some serious hoovering to be done! Although their beautiful master hoovered up just 2 days ago, the fur balls those 2 gorgeous creatures (photo) have left behind would fill a pillow I'm sure. :) Even so, would have them all back right now if it were an option. Roll on August. :)

As I explain in this video, it's nothing to do with paying and trials - it's all to do with the Compose Post view which that guest author sees and she can make the necessary changes herself really easily as shown here:
 

I DO send auto-DMs (using TweetLater), but if you read the comments there and view the results of the poll, you'll see that I'm very much in the minority; it seems most people really dislike it. I left a (rather long) comment to balance things out a bit. Here's an extract:

So - that's my view. But you should be aware that it will really upset some people, so if you are going to use TweetLater to send automated direct messages in Twitter, then spend a little time thinking about what your objective is and word it/them accordingly. I'd better go off and reword mine... [shuffles off]

Quick post to let you know that despite everything looking fine at my end, people are reporting that emails sent to claire@ "businessblogangel.com" are being rejected. I knew this was an issue a few weeks back, but thought it was now fully resolved. I thought wrong!

I am on the case, but in the meantime, if you have emailed me within the last month or so, and not had a response, please can I ask you to resend it to hello@claireraikes.com. A bit of a pain I know, but the only way forward right now.

Thanks for your patience. :o)