Five on Friday, Issue #3

Since I’ve begun this feature on my blog, it’s forced me to cover more ground in the blogosphere. I think this is a good thing. I read blogs throughout the week on a limited basis. Any posts that I particularly enjoy are saved in a text file for later. But when Friday rolls around, I end up “checking in” at my favorite blogs, especially if I haven’t had time during the week to visit.

And Friday is the day I have to make the decision: Which posts will be included? Which will be omitted? Which will be passed on for consideration in the following week?

You see, I made the decision to limit each issue to featuring five posts only because more than that would be overwhelming. And more than that would diminish the value of my recommendations. What good is a so-called recommendation if there are so many posts you couldn’t possibly read them all?

With that in mind, here are my five favorite posts based on my reading this week.

Read Books – by James Brausch (this post has been erased from James’s site)

I appreciated this post because I have a deep love for books. I read about 30-40 books a year. My reading is all over the map. Where some people get locked into one particular genre (like Fantasy or Romance or War History), I like to dip into all kinds of genres. Anything contrarian especially appeals to me. I believe books can give you a deeper understanding of people and the world around you than bite-sized media that tend to oversimplify and generalize. Take James’s advice: read books. (I’ll have more to say about this in a future post.)

Write Press Releases that Sizzle – by Ed Rivis

I’ve written a handful of press releases for both me and my clients. I’ve seen some spectacular results, and some wide variances between press releases. In this post, Ed sums up an experiment and shares the results of that experiment. He then directs you to a series of posts Terry Dean published this week about how to create winning press releases. My advice on this topic based on my experience: focus your energy on creating a great hook, and make keyword optimization secondary to your hook.

There IS a Word for Your Idea – by Barbara Ann Kipfer

In this post, Barbara makes an announcement. Dictionary.com now offers a new feature it’s calling the “reverse dictionary.” Have you ever had an idea, but couldn’t think of the exact word that described that idea? Well, now you can use the reverse dictionary to find that elusive word. If you write anything at all (blog posts, sales copy, etc.), then I suspect you’ll really appreciate this new resource.

Get More Links with This Often Overlooked Page – by Fred Black

The strategy Fred shares in this post is simple. You may even think it is too simple. But I think it is quite valid, and is probably as overlooked as he says it is. I’ve recently been thinking about this very topic, and had planned to write a blog post about it. Then I saw Fred’s post, so I decided to share it with you. I plan to create this “overlooked page” in the near future.

How a Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away – by Bryan Eisenberg

How do pictures of faces affect conversions? In this post (from October 2007), Bryan examines the results of a few studies involving pictures of pretty faces. I thought this was particularly fascinating because it shows how something as simple as a picture can improve or suppress your response rates. Definitely worth reading if you have an online business or you write sales copy for yourself or clients. (Kudos to Brian Terry for bringing this article to my attention.)

That’s it for this week. I hope you enjoy the articles I’ve featured. If you have feedback or suggestions, please leave a comment below.