Spreading ideas, a free book thanks to Seth Godin

Seth Godin, super marketing guru, created “Unleashing The Ideavirus,” the number-one downloaded book in history. Rather than marketing at the consumer, Godin's approach seeks to maximize the spread of information from customer to customer.

You can buy it from Amazon.com for $14 or you can download it for free and read it right now.

Next step in social media? Video.

Michael Todd says video is the key to relationship building. I'm not there yet, but this is the direction that we are going...

After creativity, we need to put feet on the dream

When you walk into my office, you’ll find shelves of toys, balls, sponges, stuffed animals and art materials – plus a basket of colorful scarves and lengths of cloth – and other fun stuff.

These are the tools that help me work my magic when I am coaching clients. The props, matched with specific imagination activities, nudge the right brain to announce its creativity. We find ourselves imagining exciting new possibilities to stimulate people’s businesses and enhance joy in their lives.

But:

Creativity in itself does not make changes. We still need the left brain, the part of the brain that is orderly and logical, to put dream into action. Or, as my friend Carolyn likes to say, “Put feet on the dream.”

How are you putting feet on your dream?

What can yoga teach us about the social web? Gwen Bell has ideas.

Gwen Bell, a yoga instructor and social media expert, has a great blog article titled What Can Yoga Teach Us About the Social Web? I love her creativity, and I'm following her on Twitter.

Opportunity to advertise to health-seeking people

For those health professionals living and working in Southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, this just in:

The Guide To Health, Wellness & Creative Living in Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois is now taking ads for 2010, giving you the exclusive opportunity to communicate to thousands of health-seeking people with your services, products and ideas in a cost-effective, professional and attractive resource guide and magazine.

I started this annual directory in 2002, and Jamie Jacobs took over last year, continuing to build this resource and adding Web options. She's done a fabulous job to expand the publication, making it even more delicious and indispensable.

There’s a big incentive for savings: a discount for those who reserve, submit and pay for their ads by Sept. 30, 2009. See last year’s issue here.

What makes a really good blog

Before I was a psychotherapist and coach, I was a journalist. I've been blogging for a couple of years and researching lots of options, of which there are many on the Internet.

There's Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Live Journal, the last of which has a book-making option, and others, including the mini-blog known as Twitter. Through the years, I've been collecting "best practices" on blogs plus lots of articles. Here's a recent post from Small Business Trends about the plug-ins available at Word Press.

Now, I have a tendency to build empires, as many of you do, and I've been learning to slow down. So, let's start with the absolute basics:

• Easy to read with dark type on white background.
• Easy to navigate, with links easy to see and click.
• 250 words or less.
• Short paragraphs.
• Regularly updated.

Here's more from another writer, who's obviously spent lots of time thinking and looking at blogs. The Web Worker Daily has several good points too.

Other than my own blogs, my current favorite easy-reading blog is Good Vibe Blog, published by Jeanette Maw, who calls herself the Good Vibe Coach.

That's 183 words.

Welcome to my newest blog!

This blog has been a long time coming. I have an e-mail coaching newsletter -- sign up at my Web site! -- but I like the idea of an interactive site with people sharing their ideas, insights and questions. Join us!