Sunday, February 03, 2013

Sunday Sayings: About Luck

Last week at Alt Summit secret sauces and magic formulas were revealed. Speakers paused for effect, audience members raised their pens and scribbled away. Curious why some content creators are successful and others aren't? Hint: It's not luck.
 
Playing with Letters
 
"I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn't been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn't have been 'lucky.'" Oprah
 
For Meg Keene of A Practical Wedding, the secret sauce is this: working and working and working. The best part? Everyone can do that.
 
For Chris Gardner of Man Made DIY, there is a magic formula: publish consistent content. How do you do that? With an editorial calendar. Consistent content shows new readers that they will get more of the content they came to your site for in the first place.
 
The other benefit of an editorial calendar? According to Helen Jane of Federated Media and HelenJane.com, you're more likely to be creative, to have a strong voice, with one. Because without an editorial calendar, whether you realize it or not, you are influenced by the last ten blogs you read and you're reacting to their voices.
 
The key takeaway? It's this week's saying for the wall of Gates' nursery: You have to be prepared for luck.
 
What are your thoughts on luck?
 
As mentioned on Friday, tomorrow I'll share the revised editorial calendar for this blog along with a short reader's survey. I'd love your feedback to help shape where this blog goes next. As an added incentive for people to complete the survey -- if willing to share their names -- is the chance to win a San Francisco Goodie Bag. Stay tuned for details and disclaimers tomorrow.
 
Ciao Bella!
Eden!
 
Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life. Sunday Sayings is a weekly series, published every Sunday.