The 5 Most Important Numbers for Building Your Online Platform

by Maria

 

online platform metrics

As strange as it sounds, one of the things I love most about my job is analyzing stats. I love looking at the interplay of dozens of different analytics to determine the reach and level of audience engagement of a potential client. And when I sign an author/blogger/entrepreneur who I think is incredibly talented, I love to spend our first few months tweaking and optimizing their platform so that it can grow in the ways that will give them…to be totally wonky…the best ROI.

So what to prioritize? Here are the numbers I zero in on when I’m assessing a potential client’s platform:

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How to Stop Procrastinating (& a Free Brené Brown Art Print!)

by Maria

Brene Brown quote on writing

One of the toughest things for writers (and really anyone working on anything) is learning how to outsmart procrastination. Our minds are so resistant to being used, and they’re just as wily at coming up with ways to distract us. A quick look at Twitter? Well, sure! Just a peek at Facebook to make sure I didn’t miss out on something super important? Definitely necessary. Another break to search blogs for inspiration? Why not?

We all know the end result of this: we put off the project, and the longer we put it off, the harder and more intimidating it seems. Whether we’re writing a blog post, a book chapter, or a business plan,  it will probably require using more than 5% of our brain. But social media and other passive activities requires so much less energy from our brains–biologically, we’re hardwired to prefer these “easy” activities, like watching TV, because they use less of our energy than “difficult” activities, like writing and brainstorming.

But isn’t there a secret way to trick our brains into preferring these difficult activities?

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Read, Eat, Drink–Weekend Roundup

by Maria

Read:

dennett

My favorite article this week is a throwback post that recently resurfaced from Brain Pickings: How to Criticize with Kindness: Philosopher Daniel Dennett on the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently.

Dennett asks the question: “Just how charitable are you supposed to be when criticizing the views of an opponent?”

This is an incredibly important topic–if we never learn to criticize or dissent effectively, so little can ever be accomplished. It’s an essential skill to learn as editors and agents, because so much of our work hinges on providing feedback to authors. And anyone who’s ever tried to edit someone else’s writing knows what a touchy thing it can be–writing is an extremely personal thing, and being told that your writing should be changed can sometimes feel like a personal attack. That’s why it’s the responsibility of critics/editors/agents/everyone to deliver feedback in a way that will make your subject receptive, rather than defensive.

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5 Cookbooks to Make Healthy Eating Easier in 2015

by Maria

cookbooks to help with healthy eating

If you like food, (i.e. you are any sort of human), you’ve probably encountered one of the most gut-wrenching struggles of mankind. It is this: food has calories. Calories make you fat. This is not good.

I do wish a scenario had worked out where we could eat unlimited qualities of highly caloric food and feel more energetic and healthy than ever. Part of me is still holding out hope that this scientific breakthrough is on its way. It’s the same part of me that is convinced my life purpose is to eat twelve brownies a day.

BUT, until that golden day, you can bet your butt that I will be trying to get as much flavor out of healthy food as possible. And the best way to do this? To the cookbook shelf!

Here are the 5 cookbooks I’ll be pulling from my kitchen shelf this year to make my “get healthier STAT” resolution happen:

For your post-holiday detox:

Clean Slate

Clean Slate: A Cookbook and Guide to Reset Your Health, Detox Your Body, and Feel Your Best by the Editors of Martha Stewart Living

How gorgeous is that cover? My sister bought this book over the holidays, and we both completely fell in love with the spare but elegant design. It also has options for a 3-Day Cleanse or a 21-Day Cleanse, and the recipes look delicious. If you need to watch what you eat, why not do it in style?

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