Google reminds me that we’ve covered the intersection of Zen and business a few times at Copyblogger … which doesn’t surprise me a bit.
At the heart of Zen is the concept (which is not a concept) of nonduality. In the words of Shunryu Suzuki:
“To speak of waves apart from water or water apart from waves is a delusion. Water and waves are one.”
I’m sure Brian Clark had been rereading his Suzuki Roshi when he advised us on Monday to “forget SEO” — because the wisest practice of SEO is to get out of dualistic thinking about SEO. It’s not separate or distinct from your daily business — it’s a facet of what you already do.
On Tuesday, we saw the return of the shaved head and serene countenance of Gardner Roshi Brian Gardner — our esteemed partner over on the StudioPress side of the house, who let us know what he’s been up to for the past, oh, half-year or so. Brian has recently started answering questions live on Thursdays (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time) at the StudioPress Facebook page — swing by and say hello later today, if you like!
And on Wednesday, Stefanie briskly reminded us that, nonduality or no, there are such things as content mistakes. She pointed out five ways to fix common ones. (Zen is, as it happens, quite practical.)
On The Writer Files, Kelton Reid wrapped up his interview with Oliver Burkeman, the author of the very Zen title, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. And on Unemployable, Brian Clark and Robert Bruce sifted through nine pieces of success advice to see if they actually ring true. Great conversations.
May your weekend be filled with limitless blessings … and see you next week. 🙂
Chief Content Officer, Rainmaker Digital
Catch up on this week’s content
![imagine a world without search engines ... it's easy if you try]()
What if You Could Simply Eliminate SEO from Your Life?
by Brian Clark
![where in the world has Brian Gardner been?]()
Introducing the New StudioPress Blog
by Brian Gardner
![Show your site visitors that you’re a match for them -- faster]()
5 Content Optimization Mistakes You’ll Wish You Fixed Sooner
by Stefanie Flaxman
Does Email Marketing Still Work?
by Sean Jackson & Jessica Frick
A New Ultra-Easy Resource for Creating Excellent WordPress Sites
by Sonia Simone
9 Daily Habits for Business Success
by Brian Clark
How the Author of ‘The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking’ Oliver Burkeman Writes: Part Two
by Kelton Reid
The ‘Create Anything’ Framework
by Jerod Morris & Jon Nastor
Reader Comments (13)
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking is well worth reading. I finished it yesterday. At some point I’ll read it again. It’s that good.
I’m not sure how I hadn’t read it yet, but I just picked it up. It sounds great …
I love that book. Wrote about it a couple years ago in Further.
Sometimes we have to find our Zen before we can truly accomplish anything great. Not sure what Zen means exactly, maybe I will have to look it up.
Funny u mention Zen. I was just thinking that to write a good blog post, you have to be present. You can’t be thinking about “finishing” it, or the quality will suffer. It should be like a nice stroll through the woods. (journey, not destination) I actually try to take 10 deep breaths before, and sometimes during a post, because i have the tendency to get ahead of myself and want to finish… 🙂
Interesting! Being present does make us do a much better job of nearly everything. 🙂
“The place to improve the (content marketing) world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.â€?
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Gold star for bringing a Pirsig quote in. 🙂 Thanks Dana!
Loved your post and love the book. Thanks for posting, It is so true that you cannot get ahead of yourself in wanting to finish a post. Deep breaths are a must
Great Article Sonia,
Much enjoyed & learnt many things while reading.
Great article Sonia! Looking forward to seeing some more of your articles.
Instead of forgetting SEO, I think that it is important to approach SEO in a different light and to see that it is not exclusively about ranking. Nowadays, SEO also depends on how your customers and niche colleagues view your brand.
I juuuust grabbed my copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance from my parents’ house last week for a re-read! Great minds?
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