Because I love what I do so much, and I consider my work as play, I have been accused more than once of being a workaholic. The worse part of it, though, is that I like the title. However, I am always trying to establish the right balance for my life. For instance, I have no problem taking vacations and also forcing myself to take Sundays off (I consider them a “me” day).

So, please look at this list below. If at least three of these statements sound like you, congratulations! You’re officially a workaholic.

• You have a hard time taking at least a day off a week
• You work more than 60 hours a week
• You have not taken a vacation in over a year
• You bring work at home and you think it is justified.
• You spend less and less time with family and friends, and you also feel justified, because it is work.
• You are constantly late for social events because of work.

What tips do you have to help improve the balance of your life?

I am often asked if I have made any mistakes along the way and my answer is that I have made enough to write a book called Preston Bailey Bloopers.

Looking back recently through my archive of work, I have found many I’d like to share with you in hopes that you do not make the same design mistakes. However, as I’ve heard, if you make enough errors you might just eventually become an expert.

So, here are a few of my bloopers:

My idea for chair covers circa 1988.

I thought I was being so clever by taking all the additional tablecloths and wrapping them around each chair to create my own version of chair covers.
Blooper: They became undone during the party and folks started tripping over them. Oops! Also, is it just me or does this look a little bit like a wake?

Circa 2002

In this Harry Potter themed event, I used invisible wire to hang all LED candles from the ceiling.
Blooper: There were a few candles that fell around the guest’s heads. (Thank God for my great client who thought it was funny.)

Circa 1992

This was my first attempt at draping fabric in tent walls. Also my first attempt at decorating with trees.
Bloopers:

• Back wall poorly draped with exposed air conditioning vents.
• Have you ever seen sadder trees?
• I was soooo proud of my hand painted ceiling.

Okay, we are being very candid with each other–do you have the guts to tell me a few of your design or service bloopers? And hey, always keep in mind my old mantra, “The best way to improve is by learning from our mistakes.”

Last week we talked about the importance of comments and I loved hearing from the folks who read this blog all the time but rarely comment. It was great to see all your blogs and get a peek into what you do everyday. Thanks for sharing.

This week, I want to address Google Analytics. For those of you who don’t know what Google Analytics is, it’s a free tool created by Google to provide information about your website traffic, including the number of pageviews you get, the keywords that people searched to land on your site, and the number of people who visit your site. Now, keep in mind, I’m still new regarding this so I’m not going to get too technical. I just want to share some of the amazing capabilities/information you can get from this tool, and how it can help you plan your blog content.

Before we start, I must ask: Do you have Google Analytics tracking installed on your blog? I have to admit that I didn’t start tracking mine until last year and I wish I had done it when I first started my blog. If you don’t have Google Analytics tracking your site or blog, get it started today. (It’s fairly simple to integrate, but if you’re not technically savvy, reach out to a friend or colleague who has some experience. There are also many articles to help you get started online. If you Google, “Getting started with Google Analytics,” you’ll find a lot of information. I especially thought this tutorial was helpful.)

I also want to ask: how do you plan your blog posts now? Do you just write whatever comes to mind? This is not a bad strategy (it’s actually how I wrote my blog for the longest time), but it’s definitely one that can be refined and made better (just like everything else we learn through experience.)

Once you have your Analytics tracking in place, I’d recommend waiting for at least a month’s worth of data before you do the following steps. While you’re waiting, I suggest playing around with Analytics to explore the different types of information it gives you. It may be confusing/daunting at first, but if you force yourself to use it, you’ll become familiar with it in no time.

So, the first question I’ve always had about my blog is–what is my most popular content? I want to understand which blog posts are resonating with you and which ones are falling flat. This is important to me for two reasons:

1. I want to write about things I think will be interesting/engaging to you. If I’m writing things that only interest me and don’t spur on a conversation, I could just stick to writing in my journal.
2. This helps me understand what to write in the future. If the topic of “hot colors” or “flowers in season” is what gets everyone excited, I’ll probably continue on that track. If the topic of “summer reading” is boring to you, I probably won’t re-visit that topic.

I must warn you, though. This is not an exact science. Editorial planning is a mixture of analyzing your traffic numbers, and the intuition you have for what could possibly resonate with your audience. Just because something is not popular immediately, doesn’t mean that it’s not a valuable piece of information, and vice versa–just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it’s exactly quality. (I always joke that if I wanted to just post things that were guaranteed to be popular, that I’d start posting naked pictures…of myself.)

Here is how to find your top content:

• In your Google Analytics dashboard, you’ll see a section that says “Content Overview.”
• If you click “view report” you’ll see a more detailed look into that section, including a pageviews graph.
• If you click “view report” again (under the area titled “Top Content) you can see an expanded view of all the top content on your site. I like to focus on the top 10 to make my life easier.
• Keep in mind that you can view this report in any date range you want. At the top right, you’ll see a date range with a drop down menu. If you click that drop down menu, you can pick any beginning and end date you want. As I mentioned, I recommend looking at your numbers in a monthly fashion because it gives you a good overview. If you focus too much on the daily details, you may get bogged down with minutiae.

So now, here’s where the mixture of art and science comes in. I click each link within my top 10 (there’s a little icon that looks like a box with an arrow next to the left of the blue underlined link) and quickly review the post and its comments. From there, I approximate the reasons why I think this post landed in the top 10. (After several months of doing this practice, you’ll start noticing trends about what resonates with your audience.)

For example, whenever I talk about business practices and how to make money, it generally lands in my top 10. That’s not too surprising, right The key here is to figure out other ways to explore the same subject, but not just continually repeat yourself. Can I re-visit the topic of money making in a new way? Is there a different aspect of money making that I didn’t address or need to re-address to provide further detail?

By the time I’ve reviewed my entire top 10, I have a list of new ideas for blog posts. One of the most helpful aspects of this exercise is re-reading the comments associated with each top 10 post. You folks leave a lot of great feedback that always provokes further discussion, or you have questions I find myself wanting to answer.

This isn’t the ONLY way to plan new editorial content, but it is a good way to use the information you have to help you make informed decisions. I generally mix this list and information with a few other factors to help me determine what to write about. The factors can be as varied as how I’m feeling that day to what is going on in the news or other blogs.

For those of you very familiar with Google Analytics, I know this was just a basic overview for you, but I hope it helped. I’d love to hear about any tricks or tips you have for Google Analytics, or the process you use if it’s different from mine. Please share them with me in the comments below. Or, if you have any questions about Google Analytics and the editorial planning process, let me know.

Over a week ago I posted a blog asking: what is the first question you would ask me if we had a one on one meeting together? We received a huge response on Facebook and Twitter so I decided we should answer 10 of those questions (five today, and five next week). Here are the first five…

1. Thomas Green asked: What happened to your hair? (Thomas, I love that you had the nerve to ask!) When I was in my late twenties I began to lose my hair, and way before Magic Johnson, I decided to shave my head. Though at the time I looked like a freak (maybe I still do?), eventually it came into fashion.




2. Lisa Bailey Cedillo asked: What has been your most challenging wedding and and what did you learn from it? It was a beautiful wedding I did a few years ago, and this client and her father (you know who you are) lied about money and I was conned out of $50,000. Lesson learned: always get paid in full before every event.




3. Cherelle Goodman-Miles asked: Can you show me how to be successful like you? Cherelle, of course, all you have to do is shave your head! (Just kidding.) My one and only secret to success is always using your mistakes as your teacher. This will encourage you to keep moving forward and take good and not so good risks to grow to success.






A real inspiration board from one of our latest jobs.



4. Sarani Gaines asked if I have any creative ideas for someone to get accounts who is just starting out but does not have a portfolio yet. Sarani: getting accounts is always about selling a concept or an idea. Luckily for us, digital cameras exist, so even if you do not have a portfolio, you could create a “Sarani” inspiration board by collecting images and ideas you’d like to present to a new client. Remember that your only goal is to show them you are an artist and can understand their vision.




5. Kelly Maria Ramsey asked: What was it that inspired/motivated you to take the first step in the career you are in? Kelly Maria: Just one word HUNGER. I needed a job. I started as a florist to later discover that I really loved what I was doing.

I’d love to continue answering all your questions, so please ask away. Or, let me know what you think about any of the questions/answers we discussed above. Read answers to five more questions from Facebook next week.

Letting go of bad habits can be very uncomfortable. I have a side of me that procrastinates when dealing with any form of conflict. At times, I even employed the magical thinking that if I wait long enough, the problem will simply…go away. I catch myself constantly dealing with the bad habit of avoidance, especially as I get older. The worse habit I can think of is indulging fear–letting it paralyze you from creating any sort of change.

For our To Do list this week, I’d like us to work on fixing three of our bad habits, while also acknowledging and nurturing three of our good ones.

Three of my bad habits:

• Avoidance
• Short attention span (I need to work on paying attention. I always find myself thinking ahead instead of being in the moment.)
• Getting bored easily (This is part of being an addict–wanting constant stimulation. I also need to work on enjoying the down moments.)

Three of my good habits:

• Writing my blog every morning (I enjoy this because I feel like we get to share our good and not so good stuff with each other without any judgments.)
• I LOVE making money, but growing my business and being true to my brand and myself was (and is) always more important.
• Not drinking or taking drugs (20 years of sobriety. Now, I am just a workout addict.)

The only thing I can say about habits is that they are comforting. You grow to like them, and they grow to like you. The work that involves breaking a bad habit or starting a good one is very simple: action. However, you first need to describe what that habit is. Please share with me, (business or personal) a few of your good habits and a few of your bad habits.