Name chosen

After obsessing for the past couple of weeks about the name, my thought process ultimately ended up like this:
- life list isn't really something I am an "expert" on and has been done a lot
- the kind of words that describe what I am most like are words like "savvy" and "clever"
- using variations of those words, I tried to figure out what sounded appealing and also had a domain name available
- Ultimately decided on Remarkably Clever

Domain name purchased and now it's on to blog design.

I will be using Wordpress and have identified a Wordpress framework that I'll be purchasing. The design will be all my own. While designing, I'm looking at a lot of other sites for what seems to work plus reading a lot of usability articles. I hope to have the blog framework setup within the next couple of weeks.

Still defining

I continue to define my wish list at the very least for myself but also possibly for use on a future blog. I have been reading articles about naming (did you ever think about how the name "Apple" is so much better than iMusic? Intrigue and curiosity is part of naming it turns out) and figuring out what you're an expert in. I have spent time wondering if the idea of a wish list is so overdone that I really shouldn't bother to create something with that theme. I love it but it feels cliche at this point after being played out in movies and songs and books.

Part of what I am thinking about from reading articles about being an expert is answering the question "what do people think of you as an expert in?" I think the answer to that is technology, travel and maybe something else. I will continue to think about how a theme and name will work with that in mind.

Finding Flagship Content

The last post left off with me wondering about flagship content. Flagship content is creating a lot of content (ebook, large blog post, etc.) that's the anchor of your blog, can easily give people the idea of what your blog is about and then the content on your blog is an extension of this flagship content.

So I pondered the "Do the Unexpected" theme and couldn't come up with how that translated to flagship content. The brainstorming did lead me down the path of examining my life wish list and then I thought that might actually be a better fit.

So the flagship content could be discussing making a life list (something I've always done informally but now I'm creating a formal version) and setting goals and challenging yourself and then the blog content would be about how to execute the life list items.

So if I take my list from last time, I cross off the items that might not work under this theme.
- Make your own greeting cards like a professional designer
- Plan a trip with a tour guide (or with a tour guide's advice)
- Going from non-runner to running a half-marathon in months
- Be visited by the Vacation Fairy while on family vacations
- Do good work for charities while on vacation
- Stock up on groceries instead of buying a week's worth
- Spotlight other people's ideas (Kam's home photo studio)
- Defining happiness differently than others
- Take a mental health day
- Using your own vanity domain
- Take a gap year
- Using customized tinyurls for easy reference
- Converting home movies to DVD (with DVD menu and case label!)
- Discuss well-known people who do the unexpected
- Plan a GPS Scavenger Hunt
- Photo booth at home

Of course anything could be on the life list but these are just my guesses at things that might not be. However, it does open up some new thoughts that I could add to the list.

- Plan a Magical trip to Walt Disney World (I could write an ebook just on this!)
- Get an SLR camera and learn how to use it (Kam would have to make a guest appearance on this one)
- Learn how to make sushi rolls at home
- Make a cookbook containing just my own recipes
- Stay somewhere designed by Frank Lloyd-Wright
- Attend an Oprah show taping

etc., etc., etc. I could write possibilities on this for days.

This feels right. I reserve the right to change my mind. :)

Now I'm pondering what to call this. I've done a lot of research on life lists, bucket lists, etc., and it feels like those terms have been used a lot. None of the sites handles it very well though and I think there could be an opportunity there, especially since the Google traffic for these types of topics has stayed pretty steady.

Live like you are dying (song my Tim McGraw), the movie "The Bucket List," "The Last Lecture" was given by Randy Pausch, etc., these are all cultural references to this same idea.

Thesaurus.com has become my BFF lately for words like goal, list, execute, purpose, focus, concentrate,

Terminate your life list
We're all on borrowed time
My mission: accomplished
Live your life on purpose
Life with purpose
Life Concentrate

Nope, none of those will work for me. Next task: come up with something that DOES work. Stay tuned.

Getting started

#1) Create a Compelling Story and Build Flagship Content

This is the first step in the guide and one I've been working through. What is my story? What makes me different? What kind of content would I produce?

Some ideas I've brainstormed about my compelling story:
- single mom (at the time) who finished college despite the odds
- first person to get a Bachelor's degree in my family
- asthmatic who ran a half-marathon
- someone who gives up luxuries in order to afford to travel
- narcissistic tendencies that make me think all things can be done better
- like to add new touches to make something surprising

Hmmm....a theme seems to be surfacing around the idea of doing unexpected things.

Do the Unexpected

Until I made this list out, I hadn't imagined this would be my theme maybe it's just right for me.

I checked the domain name dotheunexpected.com on godaddy.com and to my surprise, it was available. Since it's just $10, I went ahead and bought it in the event this theme works for me.

How will I know if it works for me?

I started jotting down topics that could fall under this theme. I would have to be able to produce content at least twice a week that would fit under this idea and be compelling enough for people to want to read and come back for more.

Some ideas that I jotted down:
- Make your own greeting cards like a professional designer
- Plan a trip with a tour guide (or with a tour guide's advice)
- Going from non-runner to running a half-marathon in months
- Be visited by the Vacation Fairy while on family vacations
- Do good work for charities while on vacation
- Stock up on groceries instead of buying a week's worth
- Spotlight other people's ideas (Kam's home photo studio)
- Defining happiness differently than others
- Take a mental health day
- Using your own vanity domain
- Take a gap year
- Using customized tinyurls for easy reference
- Converting home movies to DVD (with DVD menu and case label!)
- Discuss well-known people who do the unexpected
- Plan a GPS Scavenger Hunt
- Photo booth at home
- Create a lifelist....and have it made a real list that you can hang on the wall.

Still toying with the theme and moving on to the next part of this step which is to create flagship content. The items listed above could be possible content items but flagship content is more like a large piece of work that you've created which anchors a site. Will consider that and see what I come up with.

Because I've always wanted to

I am unsure of any of it but I'm willing to try.

Somebody asked me recently what my dream job was. I replied that my current job was pretty close. Then I remembered that I'd always wanted to create a blog for a purpose and build it up and create meaningful content on the topic.

However, creating a blog is something thousands and thousands of people want to do. Wired magazine once declared that "nine blogs are created every minute and 2.3 content updates are posted every second."

Knowing the odds going in, I've set out to read about how successful people have done it and see if I can do it too. I found my textbook for this adventure and it's called "279 Days to Overnight Success." It was written by Chris Guillebeau of chrisguillebeau.com and is full of helpful information that I am going to use as my guide.

I have no idea what my blog will be about. I have no idea who my audience would be. I am unsure of any of it but I'm willing to try.