1. It is difficult to come up with a daily post. Some days I have hundreds of thoughts rushing at me, whereas other days, there either isn’t enough time, or there isn’t enough inspiration – sad. Now that I think of it… trying to make every day inspirational is a worthy goal so if posting motivates that – I am cool with doing more posting.
2. I am seriously considering splitting up this blog between personal and marketing/professional. My traffic for professional posts seems to be different and I would have more creative freedom with my personal posts this way.
3. A colleague was commenting on how public my life is since I started my blog… But it isn’t… I leave lots of names out, both professionally and privately. I also don’t talk much about whoever I am dating (which isn’t hard right now because it’s no one ). So – in general my own thoughts are public, but everyone elses thoughts are private.
4. Friends and family are creating new posts for me all the time… as if I wield a certain power to write blog posts when they don’t. But… I always say that they can all have blogs too if they want to too. That is the whole point. 
5. Blogging is both better and worse than what I thought it would be. It is better for a whole host of reasons. It is worse because occasionally it feels like a job, or akin to eating grapefruits and celery when I want chocolate mousse cake.
6. It is overwhelming and sometimes intimidating to see how many great and interesting writers and thinkers there are out there.
7. Comments and e-mails enrich my posts and my thinking.
8. Sometimes I am a bit hesitant to post something because the logic is not worked out. But, often, if I have time to put the work in, this is a sign that a really good post is about to be written. 
9. It is easier to write in thematic bursts and work out the details in the comments.
10. When I am passionate about something, it doesn’t matter if it is morning or night… it doesn’t matter if I am in a good or bad mood or what I did or didn’t eat for breakfast. When I am really interested and passionate about something, the writing comes easily .
11. People I haven’t talked to in years have come out of the woodwork through the blog – which I never thought would happen. 
12. When I think too strategically about my posts… as in, how to write what no one else is writing, or how to make things hang together more thematically… it ruins it. The critical analysis blocks ideas. No wonder everyone hates Marketers LOL.
13. Being a female blogger does attract male attention – but not in a bad way.
14. It’s more fun when there are more readers.
15. I want to keep this up for a year or so. I am at a huge crossroads right now and am on the verge of some very critical life decisions. I want to make room for this part of my life, along with all of the others.   

Going to the home page is reflecting the behaviour of the marketers or other people in your organization who may have it bookmarked it or type in the URL directly. To them, it is as if having a banner or promotion on the home page is the same as having a big sign at the front of the store, where all of the customers enter. However, on the web, users can enter from a wide variety of back and side doors – through Google or Live searches, campaign pages or RSS links from other sites for example. So, as you prioritize your development, you should consider how the users are flowing through the site.

How to Put your Homepage into Perspective

Look at your web analytics reports (Omniture, Webtrends, Google Analytics etc) and see where the homepage ranks. You can also check your entry pages. As I said before, right now on the content-site I work on, the homepage is in 5th place behind campaign pages and some articles that rank well on the search engines. This means that more emphasis will be placed on linking from those pages, without being a distraction. On the online job board where I used to work, the home page ranked far behind the search screen and the results screen, so the best cross-promotion opportunities were there.

That being said, if your top page is a campaign page, you may not want to link off of it since it will likely hurt conversions. One good way to cross-promote is to put a dramatic splash about another campaign on the thank-you page. Of course, after you are done with the analysis and the implementation, wash, rinse, repeat – it is time to analyse again! See what the referring pages are to your desired destination pages to see if your promotion was successful.

I was at an especially large disadvantage since I went business school, and I had any conceptions about how work-life "should be". Now I know that the lessons I learned in management and organizational behavior classes were theory and best practices, not a primer about what the workplace is actually like. Here are a few tips that I wish someone gave me before entering the workforce:

1. Don’t be surprised if men are overly-enthralled – Even average looking women who are not used to it can get much more sexual attention than they ever received before. Why? Youth is still considered by most men to be more attractive – whether you agree with it or not, it is a fact. You can use this to your advantage. For example you can get a business male mentor who will spend a lot of time with you and give you advice because he simply likes spending time with you. Of course if he does hit on you, never, ever give in to the advances. Also don’t forget that looks are temporary and a new batch of younger women than you will soon come along. You want to use your looks to build your skills for the future instead of relying exclusively on them.

2. Use your looks to your advantage, but don’t rely on them - Even though you can use your looks to your advantage, don’t rely on them exclusively. I will never forget being pitched for ad space by these two women working for an industry trade journal. My boss made it clear that I was the decision-maker but he and another male executive sat in to listen in to the pitch. The two pretty sales reps looked like they were from an 80s music video, with miniskirts and fluffed hair, rather than being professionally dressed. They did not address me directly or offer me any good ideas for my product release, but were instead pandering to and flirting with the men.

This was a mistake. We wanted exposure we were an easy sell since their circulation was good within our tight-knit industry. But I didn’t go for them because I didn’t think they would listen to me and be a good partner with me. So – I instead invested more into a soft-spoken man who had all kinds of great ideas about how to launch my products and who shared ideas with me. If women only rely our sexuality, we keep the men in the decision-maker’s seat since our sexual appeals don’t work on other women.

3. Don’t become an "expert" in the photocopier – This also goes for applications like PowerPoint, Excel and Word or even for washing all of the coffee mugs in the sink. As a women in business, people still try to put me into an administrator role. When I started as a Marketing Analyst, I remember the group that managed the reception desk asking me to share in the duties (the men were not asked) and I politely declined. Even in my first Marketing Manager role, the couriers would come to my office with packages, assuming I was there to sign them in, rather than the man in the office beside me, or the men in the cubicles all around my office.

I have heard of other companies where mass-e-mails were sent to the women-only (and not the men) to take over the receptionist’s duties while she went on breaks. Although it is good to have team spirit, it is better to contribute in other ways such as by being exceptional in your own role, being part of a community relations or fundraising committee, helping colleagues through business problems or having a special skill. You want to become an expert, or a trusted advisor in these roles, rather than being an expert at the administrator role.

4. Don’t be hurt by words – Although you may see some things in your new work place clash with your values, the worst thing that you can do for yourself is to be hurt by words. Examples are sexist comments, or making fun of homosexuals. I have seen women who get offended by something and respond with just an angry stare or worse simply turning away. This reaction is traditional and passive.

In business you want to be strong and capable – not weak. You want to show that you in the game and not afraid to stand up for what you believe in. So – instead of being hurt, be strong back to the person saying it with a sarcastic comment "what, are we suddenly back in the 50s?" or just be straightforward about it "actually my sister is gay". If we are hurt by words instead of standing up for what we believe in, we are not moving forward our cause.