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There is an insightful post at Business and Blogging that I’d like to share with you:

Friday Fun: Business Blogging Epiphany

One that particularly stands out is the shift that occurred when I realized that perhaps even more important than knowing the right answers, is knowing the right questions to ask.

This holds true in business blogging as well. Many professionals who start a blog feel pressured to exhibit their expertise and provide well-reasoned answers to all of their readers needs.

While it is important to provide some answers, it is also important to remember that the best blogs build a sense of community and engagement.

They enable the blogger to learn about his or her readers as much as for the readers to learn about the blogger.

What questions could you ask your readers that will get them engaged in your blog?

What thought provoking topic can you raise?

What opinions can you solicit?

What knowledge could you gain that would help you build a better business and a better blog?

So for you dear readers, what are your questions for me?

• What if I told you that I was thinking of changing things up a little around here?
• What if I stopped posting on the non-productivity and workflow topics that I am interested in and put those articles somewhere else?
• What would you most like to see here? (something that you would share with your friends and colleagues)

Please let me know in the Comments, and together we will make it happen!

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6e7scv. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Drew and Gavin have completed the gargantuan task of pulling together all of the submissions for the sequel to The Age of Conversation. I am very excited to be part of this project, and I believe that it will be a great success.

The following is a link-rich list of all of the 237 contributors, please do take the time to visit their sites and leave a thoughtful comment.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

I am looking forward to working on something with each of the authors on this list in the future.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/67f99s. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Book Review: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto| The Foundation for Economic Education: The Freeman, Ideas on Liberty

The publishers of Dumbing Us Down call Gatto’s ideas about education “not easily pigeon-holed,” which is an accurate observation. Who else would stand up and tell us that schooling as we know it is not education, but a “twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned” ?

According to Gatto’s observations, the seven lessons taught in public schools from Harlem to Hollywood Hills, are these:

1. Confusion (The natural order of real life is violated by heaping disconnected facts on students.)

2. Class position (Children are locked together into categories where the lesson is that “everyone has a proper place in the pyramid.”)

3. Indifference (Inflexible school regimens deprive children of complete experiences.)

4. Emotional dependency (Kids are taught to surrender their individuality to a “predestined chain of command.”)

5. Intellectual dependency (One of the biggest lessons schools teach is conformity rather than curiosity.)

6. Provisional self-esteem (“The lesson of report cards, grades, and tests, is that children should not trust themselves or theft parents, but should instead rely on the evaluation of certified officials.”)

7. One can’t hide (Schooling and homework assignments deny children privacy and free time in which to learn from parents, from exploration, or from community.)

Read it and weep.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/57u8ny. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

“As a savvy business owner, you know you can’t do everything yourself. Whether you are capable or not, you understand that your time is most intelligently focused on activities that grow your business and generate revenue. These days, outsourcing your administrative work to a Virtual Assistant makes it very easy to get just the amount of support you need without having to hire in-house staff. But how do you choose a highly skilled, truly qualified Virtual Assistant?

This 10-step guide gives you some practical points to consider and questions to ask as you go about the selection process.”

“For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.” Eleanor Roosevelt

[Editor’s Note: This post has been updated and corrected for originality]

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6g6jcf. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen