Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

  I'll be joining my friend Teresa Funke for another round of the 5 Creative Ways to Start and Use a Blog class at Blue Moose Art Gallery in Fort Collins. If you've been thinking about starting a blog or reenergizing one you've already started, this class will be filled with practical information and a bunch of inspiration for your next steps. Space is limited and will fill up fast, so make your reservation now at this link:  https://bluemooseartgallery.com/collections/classes/products/5-creative-ways-to-start-use-a-blog-wed-10-18-23-6p See you there!

What if 96 percent of people looking for a service like yours were ignored by the top-performing competitors in your industry? By now, the easiest to find customers in your industry are finding the companies who can afford the most expensive ads, keywords, and the top of page one on Google. But imagine if you found a closet full of bankers' boxes with people who wanted your service but couldn't access it as easily as the customers your competitors have the resources to reach. Wouldn't it be worth it to find ways to serve them? That's what Scott Schang did. He used blogging as a way to teach people who had been refused mortgages on their first try how to succeed on their second. The sales in his division tripled. Now Scott teaches other mortgage vendors how to reach their customers through content marketing using blogs, videos, and other channels. He's taken his most successful content and packaged it so that other people in his industry can share in the success he...

I'm creating a course on starting a blog. No, I'm not twenty years too late. Blogs are enjoying a comeback and long form writing is gaining traction in places like Substack, Medium, and some of the old standby collections like Elephant Journal and Huffington Post.  I'm creating the course because I believe blogging is the best way to form and nurture client relationships at a very low cost. While some businesses are trying their hand at TikTok and doing very well there, I'm still a proponent of having a well-written blog as a cornerstone asset for your business website. Blogging also offers unlimited flexibility in possible formats and content combinations. I love that I can have text, images, videos, and audios all in the same place so that people can experience what I offer in the ways they like most. I also like the creative challenges of making multi-media experiences available on my website, We don't ever have to run out of new ways to deliver valuable and memo...

I heard Seth Godin talk about how he was able to maintain his one blog post a day routing. He described a very simple system. He keeps a folder on his computer of very short articles on every idea that occurs to him and he never runs out of things to publish. I have another friend who writes one blog post a week and while his posts tend to be longer than Seth Godin's, the system he's developed is pretty similar. He keeps a list of topic ideas and a simple folder system to keep track of his writing and any corresponding items so that when it's time to publish, he's ready to go. I'm working on this week's interview podcast episode and am going through the editing. I remember my early days in podcasting when I would dread the editing process because it was so tedious and took so long, but over time I've come to enjoy it. It also doesn't take nearly as long because I've done it enough to evolve a good system for the task. In this Coffee Break, I've g...

(Video and audio below article) Teresa Funke embodies the modern artist/entrepreneur. She is the owner of Teresa Funke & Company and Victory House Press and the award-winning author of seven novels for adults and children based on true stories from WWII. She is also a nationwide speaker offering keynotes and presentations, and a popular consultant. Teresa has 27 years of experience as an entrepreneur and community catalyst. Her innovative programs and boundary-pushing talks challenge her audiences to change their view of how life and business should be led. Visit her speaker page to learn more about her one-of-kind Bursts of Brilliance™ talks or her motivational keynotes. In this episode of The Reset Podcast we talk about Teresa’s early career decision to self publish, and how she’s navigated her success in that field. We also look at the ways technology has changed the game for writers and publishers. Finally, we cover her most recent transition from writing historical sto...