Lisa Gates from Design Your Writing Life made a great discovery about a new writing contest. Shelly Kneupper of This Eclectic Life is running it. The name of the contest blows me away. It is This Blog Blows My Dress Up. Hurry to enter because the deadline is June 15.
If you like wit and humor and good story telling then you need to go here.
Write it down,
Carma
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Seven (Not So) Random Facts
Harmony, from Writer In The Making, tagged me to share 7 random things about me so you, the reader, can get to know me a little better. This is my first meme to participate in as well. Here it goes:
1. I am a licensed Plumbing Contractor.
2. I hate coffee.
3. I was a singer in my previous life.
4. I was a member of the teamster union for two years.
5. I won a 5K race when I was 56 years old.
6. I was on the baton twirling team in high school.
7. Give me a box of chocolate with nuts and I am happy.
Here are the rules to play this meme.
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to then report this on their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. They then need to tag 5-7 others and list their names on their blog.
I don't know if I know enough bloggers to tag because I know some people do not like to do memes, so if I tag you and you don't want to play, that is OK. I would like the following bloggers to tell us a little about them selves.
Lisa Gates from Design Your Writing Life.
Anne Wayman from The Golden Pencil
Carolyn Manning from Thoughts and Philosophies
Suzanne Lieurance from The Working Writers Coach
Lori Widmer from Words on A Page
Thanks,
Carma
1. I am a licensed Plumbing Contractor.
2. I hate coffee.
3. I was a singer in my previous life.
4. I was a member of the teamster union for two years.
5. I won a 5K race when I was 56 years old.
6. I was on the baton twirling team in high school.
7. Give me a box of chocolate with nuts and I am happy.
Here are the rules to play this meme.
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to then report this on their own blog with their 7 things as well as these rules. They then need to tag 5-7 others and list their names on their blog.
I don't know if I know enough bloggers to tag because I know some people do not like to do memes, so if I tag you and you don't want to play, that is OK. I would like the following bloggers to tell us a little about them selves.
Lisa Gates from Design Your Writing Life.
Anne Wayman from The Golden Pencil
Carolyn Manning from Thoughts and Philosophies
Suzanne Lieurance from The Working Writers Coach
Lori Widmer from Words on A Page
Thanks,
Carma
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Inspiration is Everywhere
"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." (Jack London)
This is a quote I ran across while looking for inspiration to write this evening. Inspiration is all around us. A word, a song, or a picture can propel us forward to greatness.
When is your best time or where is your best place to be receptive to inspiration?
For me music is my main source of inspiration and next to that is reading. I can't count the number of times I have been driving with the stereo belting out my favorites and a thought or idea will pop right into my head.
Where are you when brilliant ideas pop in your head? I carry a small personal recorder with me in my purse. Now if you are in the shower that may be a little difficult but if you have pen and paper on your vanity, you could dry off your writing hand and write down your idea or run dripping wet to the computer and type it in.
Are you feeling stuck? Going to the park is a great way to meditate and prepare your mind to receive great thoughts. On weekends, I like to take bike rides very early in the mornings so that I can "hear" the quite and "see" the Forrest with out the trees.
Write it down,
Carma
Follow The Money
I was reading Anne Wayman’s newsletter today about Freelance writers regarding the fear of money and success. She points out some thought provoking solutions between the relationship of self esteem and fear of making money:
"I don't know how it happens, but for many of us, money - our ability to earn it, our right to have it, our very thinking about the whole subject - gets hooked with our self-esteem or self-worth. For the freelance writer, this lack of true self esteem often results in:
not recognizing and accepting our talents as writers
not charging enough for our work
not following through with invoicing and other money management necessities
not following through with potential clients
Any of these symptoms, and many more, result in under earning, also known in some circles as self-debting."
I don’t know about you but this topic has my name on it. My husband and I run a plumbing repair business and when money gets tight as it often will, my blood pressure rises, I have anxiety attacks, and I am not easy to live with. In addition, my creativity gets sucked into a black hole.
Another reason for not earning enough money is that we do not charge enough for our services. Do you wage price wars with your competitors and associates?
Do you call them pretending to be a prospective client and ask their rates?
I have known many people who do this. My husband and I provide excellent service and we do not need to apologize for our rates just because we are $10 more than Joe Blow. Don’t judge your talents and services by others.
When you begin to compare yourself to other people in your profession, you are doing a huge disservice to your career and business as a freelance writer.
I have two questions for you and me:
1. Do you fear making money or do you fear being successful?
Yes I fear making money because it would mean I am successful and I am not sure I can handle the scrutiny.
2. Can you manage money once you have it?
This is another major cause of fear. Maybe I don’t manage money well because I don’t want to be successful.
What do YOU say?
Write it down,
Carma
"I don't know how it happens, but for many of us, money - our ability to earn it, our right to have it, our very thinking about the whole subject - gets hooked with our self-esteem or self-worth. For the freelance writer, this lack of true self esteem often results in:
not recognizing and accepting our talents as writers
not charging enough for our work
not following through with invoicing and other money management necessities
not following through with potential clients
Any of these symptoms, and many more, result in under earning, also known in some circles as self-debting."
I don’t know about you but this topic has my name on it. My husband and I run a plumbing repair business and when money gets tight as it often will, my blood pressure rises, I have anxiety attacks, and I am not easy to live with. In addition, my creativity gets sucked into a black hole.
Another reason for not earning enough money is that we do not charge enough for our services. Do you wage price wars with your competitors and associates?
Do you call them pretending to be a prospective client and ask their rates?
I have known many people who do this. My husband and I provide excellent service and we do not need to apologize for our rates just because we are $10 more than Joe Blow. Don’t judge your talents and services by others.
When you begin to compare yourself to other people in your profession, you are doing a huge disservice to your career and business as a freelance writer.
I have two questions for you and me:
1. Do you fear making money or do you fear being successful?
Yes I fear making money because it would mean I am successful and I am not sure I can handle the scrutiny.
2. Can you manage money once you have it?
This is another major cause of fear. Maybe I don’t manage money well because I don’t want to be successful.
What do YOU say?
Write it down,
Carma
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Put A Smile On Your Face
There are a variety of senseless and mindless psychological tests floating around out there but this one from Barbara Demarco-Barrett of Pen On Fire is quite different.
It is titled "Spot the Fake Smile". There are 20 questions and it takes about 10 minutes. My score was a dismal 8 out of 20. I guess I am just too trusting.
Click here to take it.
Report back and let me know what your score is.
Write it down,
Carma
It is titled "Spot the Fake Smile". There are 20 questions and it takes about 10 minutes. My score was a dismal 8 out of 20. I guess I am just too trusting.
Click here to take it.
Report back and let me know what your score is.
Write it down,
Carma
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The Impatience of Success
"Instead of thinking about where you are, think about where you want to be. It takes twenty years of hard work to become an overnight success." Diana Rankin
Thomma Lyn responded to Writer In the Making’s meme tag and posted a “recycled post” on Failure that fits so perfectly with this quotation. Click here to check it out.
Wikipedia says that failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desired objective. What is the criteria for failure? Is it a company failure or product failure? It could be a hyped event like the 1986 live TV special, where Geraldo Rivera had the public anticipating that Al Capone's vault was full of money, but all that was found was an empty moonshine bottle.
Failure is part of life. You have to string a bunch of them together in order to achieve the best possible result. You are only a failure if you stop thinking and creating. Your family won’t think you are a failure. Who is more important than that?
Write it down,
Carma
Thomma Lyn responded to Writer In the Making’s meme tag and posted a “recycled post” on Failure that fits so perfectly with this quotation. Click here to check it out.
Wikipedia says that failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desired objective. What is the criteria for failure? Is it a company failure or product failure? It could be a hyped event like the 1986 live TV special, where Geraldo Rivera had the public anticipating that Al Capone's vault was full of money, but all that was found was an empty moonshine bottle.
Failure is part of life. You have to string a bunch of them together in order to achieve the best possible result. You are only a failure if you stop thinking and creating. Your family won’t think you are a failure. Who is more important than that?
Write it down,
Carma
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Are You a Writer or a Salesman?
Rumor has it that some writers fear selling face to face. True or False? I am a writer who hates selling face to face. My first distasteful experience with sales happened when I was ten years old. I was required to go door to door selling flower seeds as a fund raiser for my 4-H club.
Fear of selling is not a good thing for writers, since we need to sell our ideas and projects to publishers. Is it the fear of rejection or just an aversion to meeting people face to face? For me it is more about insecurity of myself. I find it much easier to “sell” myself on paper.
In Doug D’ana’s monthly newsletter he states that in order for writers to develop their own unique selling style they should take a sales course and not just read a sales book. A sales course will help you get down to the basics of selling face to face. You will learn how to see and feel clients’ emotions and how to react to them and you will gain an overwhelming advantage over writers who take only writing classes.
Doug characterizes his success in one way when he says “Truth is, if there's a reason why I've had such great success in copywriting, it is because I'm not a writer--I'm a salesman who types for a living.”
Of course “selling” is just another form of marketing. Suzanne Lieurance of The Working Writer’s Coach suggests that if we want to keep our freelance writing career going we need to develop a weekly marketing plan. There are two important items in any plan. One is Promotional Activities. We must constantly promote (sell) ourselves and our writing in order to be a working writer. Keep your web site or blog updated, write press releases and so on. The next one is Networking with other writers and community organizations. Join your local chamber of commerce and go to business luncheons.
Also, think of yourself as a “big” business. Even though you are the chief cook and bottle washer, you have a global business on the world wide web. Don’t sell yourself short in this area.
Everyone has a selling style waiting to be developed. Develop your own personal unique selling style and you can be a “thank-you-for-the-money-in-my-pocket” writer.
Write it down,
Carma
Fear of selling is not a good thing for writers, since we need to sell our ideas and projects to publishers. Is it the fear of rejection or just an aversion to meeting people face to face? For me it is more about insecurity of myself. I find it much easier to “sell” myself on paper.
In Doug D’ana’s monthly newsletter he states that in order for writers to develop their own unique selling style they should take a sales course and not just read a sales book. A sales course will help you get down to the basics of selling face to face. You will learn how to see and feel clients’ emotions and how to react to them and you will gain an overwhelming advantage over writers who take only writing classes.
Doug characterizes his success in one way when he says “Truth is, if there's a reason why I've had such great success in copywriting, it is because I'm not a writer--I'm a salesman who types for a living.”
Of course “selling” is just another form of marketing. Suzanne Lieurance of The Working Writer’s Coach suggests that if we want to keep our freelance writing career going we need to develop a weekly marketing plan. There are two important items in any plan. One is Promotional Activities. We must constantly promote (sell) ourselves and our writing in order to be a working writer. Keep your web site or blog updated, write press releases and so on. The next one is Networking with other writers and community organizations. Join your local chamber of commerce and go to business luncheons.
Also, think of yourself as a “big” business. Even though you are the chief cook and bottle washer, you have a global business on the world wide web. Don’t sell yourself short in this area.
Everyone has a selling style waiting to be developed. Develop your own personal unique selling style and you can be a “thank-you-for-the-money-in-my-pocket” writer.
Write it down,
Carma
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