If you’re anything like me, I bet you’ve said the following statement dozens of times in your life.

If I knew then what I know now… I’d be a killer chess player in Canada.

Okay, so maybe the last half of your sentence might be a little different, but you get the point. The idea is that you’d have extra knowledge to do more than you would otherwise have done. Today I have a free eBook titled “If I Would Have Known Just One Thing” to share with you on that very topic. Shane Mac asked me to give him a hand, and he’s just too awesome to turn down. Continue Reading »

A few months ago I had the opportunity to participate in a group eBook project run by my good friend Chris Ferdinandi. It was a really great experience and I love sharing the eBook with others. Anyway, I was asked by my buddy Rich from Corn on the Job to participate in another guide with a career focus, and I leaped at the opportunity. I did it not only because Rich asked, but because I also love talking about career concepts. My first writing gig was with a career site, after all!

Click here to get the free eBook.

Contributors Continue Reading »

Yes, you heard me correctly. I know this isn’t going to be for everyone, but if you decide a year down the road that you’d like to start blogging, just come back to this post. I promise I won’t say, “I told you so.”

Anyway, I have been working like a madman to put together a free resource for those people who are on the verge of starting a blog but just can’t seem to make that final push. It seems like such a huge, difficult task. Well, hopefully I can assist with that.

The big push

At HRevolution this year, we had a very large crowd at the blogging session. If I could go back and redo it, I would have broken the groups into different levels of experience. But since my time machine’s in the shop, I am trying to fix things the only way I know how. So if you were one of those people who said, “I might like to start a blog, but I’m not sure of the why/how/what/etc.” then this is a resource for you.

I’ve created several lessons just for those looking for help to create a blog and get it running smoothly. If you’re one of those people and you are interested in what I’ve cooked up, just head over to the lessons and check them out.

Click here to go to the beginner blogger lessons

Also, I have been working to develop a new project for the other bloggers out there. It’s going to be big (and free!). I want everyone to participate, whether you’re the newest of the new or the crustiest of veterans. There will be prizes and fun stuff for everyone, and by the end of the project, your blog will be in better shape than it has ever been before. Plus, if nothing else, you’ll end up with a free eBook that I’m working on. Want to know more?

Click here to learn more about the free blogging project

I hear tell that there’s a free webinar coming up on April 15th! I’ll be listening in. Will you? It’s called A Perfect Match: 10 M’s of Employee Engagement and will be hosted by LinkedHR. I’ve already reserved my seat and hope to blog about the content, but it wouldn’t hurt to experience it for yourself. It also qualifies for one strategic credit from HRCI, and I know it’s tough to get those for this kind of price!

I had the great opportunity to see Laura Huckabee-Jennings and her presentation on employee engagement entitled “Leaders Have Followers” at a NASHRM event earlier this year. That event opened my eyes to the sort of impact employee engagement can have on an organization, and I’m hoping this free webinar will take that even further.

The event site has this to say as a teaser:

Lately, the engagement phenomenon has caught the attention of researchers and practitioners in the HR field – and for good reason. Engagement, a powerful combination of energy, passion, and focus, is connected to more effective leadership, stronger commitment, lower turnover, and increased customer loyalty. This session will introduce participants to this emerging trend.

Click here to register for this free webinar!

When I participated in a collaborative eBook project recently, I really looked forward to seeing the finished result. However, even though it was a relatively short and to the point guide, I had a hard time focusing on all of the different thoughts. With so many great avenues to pursue, I struggled to do well in any of the areas. So I created a short worksheet and used it to draw some useful, actionable, and personalized takeaways from the guide.

Then I realized how powerful that could be for others.

So I took the eBook (thanks to Chris for using a Creative Commons license that allows me to spread the content to anyone I choose) and chopped a few of my favorite pieces out, formatted them into lessons, and created a few resources to help you get everything you can out of this free (but VERY valuable) content. Interested? Here’s what you have to do: Continue Reading »

What the Heck is RSS?

And why should I care?

Good questions. First, here’s why you should care.

Unlike getting website updates or ezines by email, RSS feeds give you absolute, 100% complete control over the situation.

You don’t have to reveal your email address. If you want to stop receiving content, you don’t have to request to be “taken off the list.”

One click, and poof… the subscription is gone. Continue Reading »

This isn’t going to appeal to everyone, but I’m putting it out there just the same. I get questions often from my many blogging friends. They usually center on finding new ideas to write about and keeping the spark of creativity alive. Even though I’m technically an HR newbie, I pride myself in creativity. I wrote a lot of fiction before I started writing the kind of stuff that I do now, and I’ve always been able to cobble together a story from a single thought fragment. So here are some ideas for you to inspire your own creativity. If you’re a blogger, you’ll be using these ideas for that. If you’re not, then they might help you with something else. Trying to solve a problem at work? #6 has helped me with that dozens of times. I’ve also included these as a free PDF for your downloading pleasure! Put it up by your computer and check it when you’re stuck. 20+ Ideas to Inspire Creativity

1. Take an old post and explore it from a different angle.

2. What do you read? Watch? Listen to? Enjoy? Each is a source of inspiration!

3. Open your RSS reader. Find a post you starred/enjoyed. Write a corollary or a counterpoint.

4. Use Google Alerts to show you news on a given topic.

5. Use Google Trends to find something “hot” to write about.

6. Turn off the radio in the car. You’d be surprised what happens when you don’t have music drowning out your “voice.”

7. Make a funny top 10 list.

8. Find a calendar of holidays and pick one to write about.

9. Find a quote that hits you a particular way and expand it into a paragraph or two.

10. Take a well-known phrase and apply it to your blog’s focus to develop a topic.

11. Review an item that you’ve used recently (book, movie, service, etc.)

12. Take two or more blog posts from other bloggers and tie them together with some of your own thoughts.

13. Predict something. It can be funny or serious, but it should stimulate readers.

14. Take an opposing stance to your normal ideas and try to make it convincing.

15. Force yourself to come up with 25 ideas for something. Anything. Twenty four of them might be horrible, but one could be a gem! 50 is better.

16. Write from a different point of view. Maybe try to demonstrate the POV from the VP level, manager level, and entry level.

17. Find someone to talk with about your blog. It can give you ideas, get you motivated, and help you propel yourself to a new level.

18. Find a new place to write. Even if that means lying in the closet floor with a laptop (Hey, whatever works!).

19. Comment on other blogs and use that as the basis for a new post. Similar to #3, but you give the other blogger a little comment love as well.

20. Go back and pick one of your first dozen posts to update.

21. Save your drafts. Even if it’s not looking like a good post, you never know when inspiration will strike and help you turn that puppy around.

22. Have a conversation in person with someone. Let that stimulate your brain. Quote the person in the post (people love that!).

23. Revisit your blog’s purpose and what you want to accomplish. Just refreshing yourself on that should give you some ideas, especially if you can think back to why you started it in the first place.