Stress the benefits of your business with a blog
Maintaining a blog can be stressful — even when it’s called stressedout.org. But Sandpoint-area resident Owen Marcus is still glad he started the site last summer to share stress-reduction tips and market his rolfing practice.
For the uninitiated, rolfers manipulate people’s soft tissues to release tension, reduce stress and bring bodies into proper alignment. (Hence the name of Marcus’ other site, Align.org.)
After stressedout.org helped bring in two new clients from Spokane recently, Marcus started breathing easier about the effort he’s put into the site since August.
“My friends and clients sort of pushed me to do it,” he said last week. “I resisted it like I often do with new things and finding the time was a challenge, but I have enjoyed it.”
As for blog-related stress, “I get a little anxious sometimes,” Marcus admitted—especially when real-life issues keep him from updating his virtual world. “I want to do a long post every couple of weeks at least,” he said.
At 53, Marcus radiated a relaxed vibe as he discussed building both a business and a straw bale house. “I’m surrounded by woods and there’s not one house between the back door and Canada,” he said.
The blog entries indicate he’s getting comfortable with the Internet as well, despite the dyslexia that slows his writing process. Recent posts offer tips on reducing stress to lose weight (“rediscover your play” instead of forcing your body “to do things it does not want to do”) and strengthen the immune system during cold and flu season (“An ongoing little irritant frequently develops into a stressor … making me more susceptible to a cold.”).
Marcus’ writing reflects his philosophy of focusing on the root causes of stress. “People often come to me because they’re in crisis,” he said. “I address their acute problems, but I always try to work with people in the context of the chronic situation, the pattern that keeps repeating itself.”
Speaking of acute problems, does Marcus have any advice for those of us already dealing with tax-time stress? “They can send me the money instead,” he said with a chuckle. “That might help my stress.”
Barring that, he added, “One of the simplest things to work with is our breathing, because the first thing we do when we get stressed is hold our breath. If we remember to breathe, we can start releasing stress in the moment rather than storing it in our bodies and needing me or someone else to help get it out.”
If you’re an Eastern Washington or North Idaho business owner employing a blog as a marketing tool, here’s a stress-free way to spread the word: E-mail me at the address below and I’ll give you a shout-out on the Blogspotter blog.
Drilling down
North Idaho’s premiere blogger happens to work for The Spokesman-Review. Dave Oliveria has created such a hot online hangout in Huckleberries Online (it regularly tops 6,000 daily page views, breaks local news and draws dozens of comments to popular posts) that the paper recently freed him to spend most of his work hours tending to it.
Huckleberries regulars — including local bloggers, frequent commenters and blurkers (that’s short for “blog lurkers”) — will gather in Coeur d’Alene Feb. 17 for HBO Blogfest 2007. The event runs from 2-4 p.m. at Capone’s, 751 N. 4th St. The paper’s popping for pizza and soda; entertainment will come in the form of HBO denizens discovering if their online compatriots look anything like they write.
It’s the social event of the season for Huckleberries fans. See what the fuss is about at spokesmanreview.com/blogs/hbo. Oliveria’s a prolific poster, so you’re bound to find something fun, enlightening or infuriating — sometimes all in the same post.