Danny Brown's Blog, page 31
October 22, 2014
Is ‘Mental’ Health a Misnomer? Why We Need to Destigmatize Depression
This is a guest post by Robert Clarke, and is a personal recollection and call-to-action on how we need to change the conversation around depression.
Two young men.
The first young man is 19, a constant joker who enjoys nothing else than making people laugh and bringing joy to those around him. He is big into robotics and the challenge of solving problems. He also helps his close friends solve their problems by being their go-to guy when they need a shoulder to cry on, or simply someone to li...
October 20, 2014
What We Want Versus What We Need
Oftentimes in life, we have these little moments of real time to ourselves, where there’s nothing but silence to keep us company.
In today’s always on, ever connected world, these moments in time become ever rarer, and we have to grab them while they’re here.
In these moments, we see many things in a different light. One direction we were on is revealed to be flawed, while journeys yet to take become more important.
There’s no real rhyme, nor reason, as to why certain thoughts take centre sta...
October 15, 2014
Redefining Ordinary or Why It’s Okay to Dream Small
Sometimes, in business, we wait for the extraordinary to appear before we make a move.
We wait for that one killer application or solution that will take us from Brand X to Brand Everyone Wants a Piece Of. We close doors on ordinary ideas because only extraordinary will sell.
But what defines ordinary?
Cancer research takes ordinary science and medicine and is trying to offer extraordinary life-changing results.
While we have digital tools to write our missives, it’s still the ordinary pen th...
October 10, 2014
Video: Why Flare Social Sharing is Much More Than Just a Sharing App
For many content creators, regardless if they’re bloggers, media companies, agencies or full-on publishers, ease in sharing your content is key in helping you attract a wider audience.
With a host of different options for this, especially when it comes to WordPress (the self-hosted version), it can be difficult to choose which one offers the best choices and features.
Personally, I’ve tried multiple solutions, from free options to premium options like MashShare and Ultimate Social Deux. Howev...
October 9, 2014
You Are Not a Man. You Are a Child Rapist.
Even if you’re not a parent, the following paragraph must surely make you stop in your tracks and feel disgust.
An eight year old child bride died in Yemen on her wedding night after suffering internal injuries due to sexual trauma. Human rights organizations are calling for the arrest of her husband who was five times her age.
How words like “eight year old child bride” can exist in the same sentence is mind-blowing. How these words can be followed by that same child dying due to “internal i...
October 7, 2014
Why Weakness In Ourselves Isn’t a Bad Thing
None of us like to admit we’re weak. None of us like to present the potential of fear to our opponents, always waiting in the wings for us to slip up.
And yet… Our opponents are just as fearful. Just as cautious. Just as secretive and unwilling to admit to weaknesses too. Sometimes they hide it better; sometimes not.
But why fear weakness? Is it really weakness anyway? Look at it from another angle – our admitted weakness allows us to set up strong pillars around us that provide the strength...
October 3, 2014
Why You Need to Be the Bane of the Status Quo
We fall into comfort zones easily. We see something that works, or appears to be working, and we settle for that.
It’s understandable. After all, experimentation isn’t always fun. It can be hard work. It can backfire – results are never guaranteed.
Compare that to the safe and the tried, where we know something has been proven to be successful (relatively or otherwise), and you can see why comfort zones are easier to be part of.
The thing is, though, comfort zones make us lazy. They confine u...
October 1, 2014
The Three Core Tenets Every Successful Blogger Needs to Have
As bloggers, we all have different goals. Some may be to monetize your blog; some may be to get a book deal; some may be to become recognized as an expert in your field; others may be to share company news and updates.
Some may even just be to have a personal outlet where you can let your creativity go and see what works, and what doesn’t.
But no matter the goals you have for your blog, to succeed in them takes more than just setting up a blog and watching the success come rolling in.
While t...
September 26, 2014
Video: How Atomic Reach 2.0 Can Help You Create Perfect Content Every Time
Back in October of last year, I took a look at new Toronto-based startup Atomic Reach, and their approach to content marketing.
What interested me about the company was how they were looking to help content creators produce the kind of content that attracted not only traffic and social shares, but the right audience for the content creator’s goal.
While I was impressed enough 12 months ago, the solution still lacked certain features – more in-depth analytics and insights, for example, and the...
September 24, 2014
The Problem With Making Grandiose Statements
There’s a popular method of content creation, centred around making grandiose statements.
These statements, and the blog posts around them, can range from the usual war cries of being more human in business, to posts on transparency and authenticity on the web, to how an “industry” – for want of a better term – like social media needs its proponents to apologize for all their wrong-doing.
While the messaging of these types of posts may mean well, they only truly mean well if they come with no...
