I wonder what I’ll think…

…when they make my blog into a movie.

Because I just got back from seeing Eat, Pray, Love and—besides the panic attacks I’m having over such trivial things as being terrified to love again, what’s going to happen next in my career and how I’ve been flying a lot, but don’t quite think I’m ready to hop a plane all the way to Bali—I’m very busy wondering what Elizabeth Gilbert thinks.

About what they did to her book.

I mean, the movie was good. I catharted (that thumping you hear is my pulse). Julia is very, very good. Javier is salivatory.

But there was so much missing.

Yes, it was a 2.5 hour movie. Yes, they couldn’t possibly fit it all in. No, they couldn’t really make her look fat and then thin (though they did make Brad Pitt age backwards, so…). No, she never sat in the palm of God’s hand.

All of these things and about a hundred more are making me wonder what E.G. really thinks. Not what she said on Oprah. But what she says to Felipe. And to her writer friends. Does each and every speck of criticism make her want to grab the megaphone and holler, “Well, of course you didn’t see my transformation! They left 70% of it out of the movie!”

They really did. They left a massive portion of the meat and the guts of the story where it originally belonged—on the word-ridden floor of Gilbert’s book. Because how do you capture thought processes, that are so voluptuous and intricate, on screen?

I mean, I travel through 100s of miles of convoluted mazes of complexity and land on epiphany every morning. But to the passersby, I simply look like I’m running down the street.

Which is why, when Hollywood (or Diablo Cody, if I were to really have my way), comes to me and begs for my movie rights, I might sell out for millions and just pray that people also do the reading. Or I might demand the best screenwriter and a co-screenwriting gig. Or I might say, “Hmmm… It’s just that, oftentimes, words really do tell the best stories.”

Image credit: rauchdickson (and don’t judge me for putting needlepoint on my blog)

Is your blog a waste of time?

Blogs have been categorized as:

• Pointless
• Ego-capsules
• Not read by anyone
• Overdone
• Underpaid
• Time wasters
• Not real marketing tools
• Should I go on?

That’s great. Go ahead with your bad self and believe that hooey. But it just occurred to me that my two main writing gigs right now (you know, the ones that are feeding and housing and otherwise gainfully supporting my family) are mine because of this blog.

After seeing/hearing one of the co-founders of gig #1, I wrote a post about my experience sitting in the audience and moving about my life in relation to what she’d spoken about that morning. I emailed her and thanked her and shared the link. The rest, as they say, is in the bank and on my resume.

When I began writing for company #2, the boss checked me out online—which led him here. Which led him to the realization that if I wrote for them the way I write on this blog, they would have writing and content creation and creative vision that completely broke out of the industry standard (in a good way).

What I get from these stories is this: people/companies/industries want to do it differently (or the good ones that are worth working for do anyway). They want to stand out. And they’re looking for something real, that resonates.

In both cases, I didn’t follow some weird, get rich quick gizmo. I was just myself. I was writing the way I wanted to write. The way that I love to write. The way that lights me up. I followed my own trail of happy. Hit my own personal sweet spot. And, kapow, it lit some other people up, too.

Remember when people sent wild and crazy resumes—in video, in varying shapes and sizes, in the guise of a gimmick? (That seems like it was the 80′s, maybe early 90′s? Because in the 80′s I was still a kid…so why would I have known that? Anyway, I digress.)

This is like that-ish. Only better. I say: create a space where you can be YOU. And don’t make it a one time deal like the resume. Keep it going, let it move and ricochet and travel with you. Let them see you write, sing, sculpt, build, sell, help, cook, run—whatever it is that you do in just that you-like way. Let yourself out. Fully.

Wonder if you’re wasting your time.

And then rev up your vacuum—first on the ‘blow out’ setting…until you’re ready to start pulling it all in.

Image credit: pittcaleb

Blogging: And why you should really read your own

You know that post I wrote yesterday? The one where I talked about how I’m training for everything? Well, all of your wonderful comments have made it impossible for me to stop thinking about it.

And then two other things happened:

1. I lost my internet connection at my studio yesterday (still don’t have it) and spent hours trying to make it work, getting a new modem, being rude to people and just being generally pissed off. Oh, and working on things that didn’t need the internet. (Yes. I found a couple. They were under some long forgotten rocks.)
2. I had to go to the doctor. In the manner of: ‘I need you to squeeze me in, Doc.’ ‘Okay, come at 10, but we won’t actually see you until 12—and you can’t complain because we’re squeezing you in, you’re in pain and you will wait—and we know it.’

Suffice it to say, I lost some time doing what I was ‘supposed’ to be doing. And I didn’t like it. But then I thought, if I’m training for everything, then these two things—being offline and sitting at the doctor’s office—were either part of the training or what I’m training for…or both.

My first instinct was to be entirely pissed off at everything and everybody. I yelled at the Comcast lady. Okay, that’s a lie. I yelled at three Comcast ladies.

But as I sit here, managing to get all of the work done that I needed to get done after all—maybe even more expeditiously since time seems so precious—I’m thinking about taking some of my own advice.

I mean, just an hour or so after publishing that post, I was in the throes of being taken totally off-track by ‘life’ (as it were) and I forgot about my training, forgot that I was prepared, forgot what ‘everything’ applied to.

And after a couple of your comments came in telling me that what I wrote was ‘exactly what I needed to hear’…I thought, Huh. Maybe I should read that post. Maybe I should, gasp, listen.

What a novel idea.

And so I did. And I realized I was much better prepared for things not going as I wanted them to than I was giving myself credit for, certainly much better than I was behaving.

Which only goes to show you, the power of blogs absolutely extends beyond the writer and to the readers—and I mean way beyond and way to.

And…it was really nice spending time on the other side of the screen with you all.

Image credit: websuccessdiva

Getting to write

I was working with a delightful blogger/copywriter-to-be yesterday in my consulting capacity – and she asked me this:

How do you get yourself to write everyday, how do you get yourself into the habit of regular writing?

1. You’ve got to love it…or at least love the rewards it will get you – if you don’t have a penchant for the writing itself. The endgame is important here.
2. Find your community. You (yes, I’m looking at You) are part of why I can’t wait to write and then publish here everyday. I revel in your comments and your tweets and your emails, in our connections.
3. I never force myself to write. If it’s not working, I move on to another project. Or I walk away from my computer. No one likes to be pushed. I don’t believe in writer’s block – I do believe that there’s a time and a place for everything. Sometimes it’s not your time to write – accept it and move on. It will come back. I promise. But it will take a LOT longer if you don’t just let it go for a bit, if, tragically, you insist that it happens.

And there’s one more answer.

So often when we can’t do X, it’s because we’re only thinking about X. And hence, we forget that we can do A, B, C, D….

I hate speaking in intangibles so, let’s do this: I wrote a post yesterday about making up a portfolio if you don’t have any ‘official’ writing samples. And Dave Doolin commented that it’s the same with programming. And I responded, ‘Isn’t it the same with everything?’.

The thing, the ‘X’ you think you can’t do is: make a writing portfolio, designing a website, baking a cheese cake, running 5 miles. But the how is the same: you do it one piece at a time, you ask others for help, you follow directions, you jump in, you PRACTICE, you realize you should hire someone else to do it.

The Point is this: the WHAT isn’t important. It’s the HOW that matters. And you already know how to do the HOW – you HOW all the time. Sometimes easily, sometimes with a bit more sweat and grit.

So, when it comes to writing…

….there must be other ‘things’ in your life that you do on a regular basis with ease and joy.

• What are they?
• Why do you like them?

Now: apply those answers to writing, blogging, your business.

Here’s how I do it.

4. For the love of Running: It gives me a sense of accomplishment to finish my course. It makes me feel strong. I thrill at saying hello to other runners along my way. I like the rhythm of my foot falls on the road. Writing Translation: I get a sense of accomplishment when I finish a post. I feel strong and smart after I’ve written. I thrill at saying hello to my online community…and I love the rhythm of my finger falls on my keyboard.

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FYI: You may have noticed a new button up there at the top of my sidebar, courtesy of the astoundingly good Amanda Farough. Check it out if you need some personalized juice or jumpin’ for your writing, blogging or other businessly pursuits.

Image credit: The Hamster Factor

Reason #4343 to hire a copywriter: Seeing eye to eye

One of the best things about walking out from behind your computer screen and going to conferences is meeting people that heretofore you only knew as an avatar.

Let me fill you in on something. No one looks like their avatar. Some look worse, some look better (Oh! How my fingers ache to put examples behind those statements!) and they’re all decidedly warmer. But, no one looks like you think they will.

Case in point, Steve Sherlock came to find me at SOBCon. There were big hugs, “I’m so glad to finally meet you”s, and on and on. And then there was my realization that he was roughly 8 feet tall. And that I’m not (I forget this fact a lot – sort of like a chihuahua). He noticed too, saying, “Wow, from your Twitter avatar, I thought you’d be much taller!”

“She’s larger than life,” said my dear friend Andi. God bless ‘er.

This ‘in person’ thing is the only time I don’t like being short – ’cause otherwise, I really like it:

• I curl up in chairs easily.
• My feet have never hung off the end of a bed or stuck out of the covers.
• I can be carried easily in cases of emergency (or passion).
• Falling down hurts less.
• I’m afraid of heights.

But, when I’m talking to a peer and I have to look up at them to converse, a power imbalance ensues. And, unless the tall person gets off on intimidation and lording over others or unless the short person thinks of themself as unworthy and, well, small – I don’t think it’s comfortable for either party.

Personally, I simply won’t stand for it. I want to look into your eyes, not up your nose. So I did this (see below) and it was caught on camera and tweeted by Steve Woodruff.

@Swoodruff: Julie @writingroads strategy for having face time with tall people

(Ignore the face I’m making in this photo, I’ve run through every word I know and I can’t find one that causes that face.)

See, it’s like I told you the other day, I’m not above stepping on things to get what I need.

The Power of the copywriter

Good copywriters solve problems. If your competition or your dream clients are ‘taller’ or ‘shorter’ than you, copywriters and content creators (and social media strategists) should be able to figure out a way to get you to eye level, to position your message and brand in a way that creates a natural conversation, connection and relationship.

Interruption marketing just isn’t cutting it anymore. It’s done from a perspective where the company is decidedly bigger or smaller than their customer, and therefore, has to scream to get their attention. Interruption tactics include:

• TV commercials
• Radio commercials
• Let’s face it: all commercials
• Blinking, obnoxious ‘BUY THIS’ windows that open when you’re just trying to read a post
• Pushing your products on people
• Not listening, just talking/yelling/shouting
• Taking, sucking and bogarting the energy

As opposed to relationship, or relational or human, marketing. Blogging and social media tools can be used quite effectively as a means to this relationship building, by the way.

• Meeting people where they are.
• Listening to what clients and customers need.
• Solving their problems.
• Not pushing your product on them.
• Giving, not taking.
• Being a real person.
• Building a relationship of trust.

All difficult things to do when you’re staring into someone’s belly button.

So, a bird flew into my studio…

Nope, not the beginning of a bad joke – it actually happened. And I wrote about it, of course.

Copyblogger got the post…and I’d love for you to fly on over there and check it out…it’s right up the Writing Roads blog-alley, promise.

Our web connection, my blog setup and your blog writing

Our Web Connection

They don’t call this a web for nuthin’. We’re all connected, sometimes in strange ways, by its invisible strings.

Seriously, the number of times that I write something, then read another post and blink with surprise that my message is right there on someone else’s blog wrapped up in different words – is astounding. The reverse is also true, just look at the comments in my posts – it seems at least once a day someone links me to a brilliant post they wrote that connects right in or exclaims, ‘I was just thinking/writing/talking about this!”

I absolutely love this. To me, it’s like the air around us is ripe with these ideas and we’re all just plucking them off the tree and making them ours. To share this brain and thought process with so many other people is like getting to swim in that pool with the pods in it in Cocoon – I think it actually feeds us and makes us better. Sometimes it even glows.

So, I was not shocked when I woke up this morning and saw Chris Brogan’s post on the necessity of purpose and focus for your blog, when I was sitting here with the guts of a post with a similar vein. My post is about my blog and about yours…

My Blog Setup

Well, really my whole site. Way back when I started my copywriting business, I thought it was all about the website – so I got one. And I loved it. When I quickly discovered the world of blogging, I dove in full force – for my clients – helping them write and leverage this platform for their own businesses. But I didn’t blog for myself.

Eventually, the uber-talented illustrator, Elizabeth Whelan – after hearing me go on and on about what blogging could do for a shared client we had, asked me where my blog was. Uh, er, um, well… She told me she wouldn’t speak to me again until my blog was up and running. THANK YOU, Elizabeth. I pulled a WordPress blog onto the writingroads.com site and my life hasn’t been the same since.

And then, recently, I’ve been finding myself in another one of these ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situations. I’m telling people left and right…

• to just build a blog, not a traditional website
• and add static pages
• for SEO purposes
• for ease of use, content management
• for UI (user interface) or VEO (visitor enhanced optimization)
• to use plugins for expansion and growth
• to maximize sidebar real estate

And the whole time, I’m eyeballing my blog with a sideways glance. The cobbler has no shoes, the therapist’s family is full of nutjobs, and yes, the blogger’s blog is out of whack.

So, finally, with the help of the lovely, Shauna Callaghan, I’ve redone my site – the right way. You might not even notice, because it’s likely you didn’t ever click on those typewriter keys up above that shot you over to the ‘web’site and off the blog. But now when you click on them, they keep you here whilst showcasing my work and services. And www.writingroads.com gets you here now as well (no more need for writingroads.com/blog). Ahhh…c’est fini! (besides the incessant tweaking I’m doing). My wish is that it’s easier now for visitors to know who I am and what I do…

What does your blog/site need? How can you tweak it so to perform better?

Your Blog Writing

The other thing on my mind is your blog. This morning, when I tweeted CB’s post about blog focus and purpose, I added this: “(and if you need help focusing/purposing, call me)” – and several people responded with messages that looked something like, “Please help me!!!” in varying degrees of agony.

So, I thought it was worth putting it out there, but this time here: I help you figure out the blogosphere by helping you answer these questions:

• What is my blog’s purpose?
• What is my blog’s theme?
• How do I define and rein in my scope?
• What do I write about?
• How do I write it?
• How do I focus my content and outreach?
• Should I talk to other bloggers?
• Which ones?
• How do I do that?
• What plugins do I need?
• What is a plugin?
• Do I need to use Twitter and Facebook?
• How do I ______? (fill in the blank)
• …and on and on.

Let me know if you need help…after all, with the way this web connectivity thing is going, you were probably just thinking about all of this anyway…

Image credit: Jeff Smallwood

Writing is a verb.

Having no idea that it was the title of what looks to be a cheesey self-help book, my beloved friend Susan, the shepherd, said this to me the other day: Love is a Verb.

“People can say they have a feeling, they can talk about it until they’re blue in the face (I love you. I miss you. I can’t stop thinking about you.), but it’s not real unless they deliver some action with it,” she said.

It’s true, you know. Think about it.

And then, think about this: writing’s the same. Yes, writing is also a verb.

On a fairly regular basis, I get emails, tweets or comments from people asking how I manage to run my business (ie. write and and concept/run social media strategies for a living) and write this blog every day. The real question is: how can I not?

Writing helps me:

• Clear my head
• Analyze past events
• Plan for what’s next
• Emote
• Energize
• Decompress
• Create
• Laugh
• Connect
• Communicate
• Hone my skills
• Cry
• Share
• Build my business

‘Writing is a VERB’ means that you can’t just talk about it. You also have to do it. Otherwise all of that talk means nothing. Or rather it means that you want to be writer or a ______ (fill in the blank), that you think about being a writer or a _______, but you don’t seem to have the balls to jump in. Or you’re too scared or too busy or too something. (and believe me, I have things like this too)

Does that sound harsh? It’s not really meant to – it’s just meant to remind us all that the means to the ends lie in the action.

This verb concept is a powerful reminder. A reminder not to be passive, but to go forth and DO.

What do you need to verbitize today?

Image credit: Arenamontanus

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Also, if you feel like hearing me wax poetic-ish on Blogging for Business and why writing is sooo important (and a bit on the Dragon Tattoo Campaign), the radio interview I did for Bonnie Marcus’ Head Over Heels show last week is live and ready for listening!

Reason #4510 to hire a copywriter: Sushi Tacos

Seriously. I’m not kidding.

The first time I saw them on the menu, I thought, ewww, no. I thought, I can’t do that, there’s something wrong there.

But the second time? Oh, the second time. That’s the time I just let myself live.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I could live on sushi. The only problem with Japanese food, as far as I can tell, is that they don’t use butter. But to be honest, I’m not really above shmearing some on my next salmon avocado roll.

This past weekend, when I was in New York City, I ate sushi (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – give me a sec, counting on my fingers) six, yes, six times. And, one of those times, I fell in love with a little something called a Sushi Taco at Nobu.

How ‘bout I break it down for you:

• Homemade taco shell, thick (like 5 or 6 wimpy Tostito’s thick), just enough oil to leave a fine sheen on your finger tips, perfect crunch, divine salt crystals scattered about, about 4 inches in diameter (if flattened)
• Filled with little pieces of either salmon (raw), tuna (raw), lobster, crab or seviche…tossed in some kind of asiany-cilantroy-stunning marinade that made you want to sing
• Covered in salsa verde that was purely savory, not tongue burning whatsoever

There was not one thing about this sushi taco that was wrong. I didn’t even miss the guacamole, and that’s saying a lot because I have a pretty intense relationship with the avocado. The melding of the flavors, the textures, the size, the beauty – all right, right, right.

But it should’ve been all wrong. When you think sushi, you think rice, not corn, and certainly not tortilla. When you think taco, you think melted cheese and chili powder saturated beef, not raw fish. (Yes, I know there are fish tacos wondering around in this world, but those are just tacos in fish’s clothing, tacos with fish cooked with mexican spices – like a beef substitute).

But this, this…this masterpiece was still inherently Japanese. It still tasted, looked and felt like Nobu.

They took their basic signature product (sushi) and added a spin (taco/mexican) that pushed the envelope, the reputation, the flavor, the brand to a new place.

That’s what you want your copywriter, marketer, blogger to do for you. Use the tools, use your stuff, but add that something that will take it to a whole new dimension. In a way that only you can do it.

I ate 4 of those dimensions…and I want many, many more.

Yes, I know, I know – I should have taken a picture of the tacos, but A) I’m a horrible photographer and the camera on my new Blackberry curve SUCKS, and B) those tacos were made for eating and eating alone – I was consumed by the edible experience and could not pause to document it. So…Image credit: NicoleLee

They shall from time to time…

Every few months, it seems, the big news outlets write a story about ‘the mommy bloggers’ – and these articles are always bad. They serve as a reminder to these women and the rest of the world that mommy bloggers are silly, worthless and not to be taken seriously.

Case in point, last week’s bitch slap landed in the Fashion & Style section of the New York Times. Heaven forbid you put the bloggers in the Tech section. Because, the article reminds us, these aren’t really bloggers, they’re moms who fool around on their pink computers, talk about diapers, bitch about companies and do sippy cup giveaways. There was even a Tupperware party analogy. If the article had been anymore patronizing and condescending it would have had to have been posted in the classifieds next to the free puppies and SWF’s seeking SWM’s with BHCs.

What’s wrong here?

What’s missing? Why is it that women are moving and shaking things, and seeming to have freedom and independence and gumption in this country…but then crap like this happens over and over and over again?

Bonnie Marcus may be on to something. It might be a problem with leadership. Of the female kind. She has a new eBook out called Advancing Women’s Leadership that features 3 fantastic interviews from her (huge sensation of a) radio show, Head over Heels.

One of the interviewees featured is Marie Wilson, founder and President of The White House Project. (FYI copy buffs, the WHP’s stellar text: “Add women, change culture. Add women, change business. Add women, change politics. ADD WOMEN, CHANGE EVERYTHING“) Wilson notes something profound about our culture:

“We’ve measured the comfort level of the public, and that comfort level is up to 90 percent on most issues. The comfort level of women leading across these sectors is just great.

What hasn’t risen with the comfort level is the number of women who actually lead. What’s good is that you now have a public that trusts women to lead a technology firm, a journalistic organization, to lead in politics. Across these different areas, even in military, sports and religion the three I call guns, games and God, which are the hardest, it doesn’t drop below 70 percent.

So, the trust is there, and so I think it’s the right direction. It’s just that the political country needs to move along with it and know it’s right. Let’s put people in. We need to fill the pipeline. And the pipeline’s there. We need to just push the women in the pipeline.”

Attitudes are changing, but the action isn’t there.

I do know that mommy bloggers are only once slice of ‘women’ – but they’re a very vocal and impactful one – and they represent. So, it’s important to note that in the case of the media campaign that insists on putting mommy bloggers in their place, we have a bigger problem: A woman wrote the article. She’s a mommy blogger. She threw her peers under the bus. Her name is Jennifer Mendelsohn.

Is the problem leadership? Are mommy bloggers lacking leaders that show by example that this is a sisterhood? I’m not sure it’s that cut and dry. As far as I can see, there exist the following factions in the mommy blogger world:

1. The power moms that are untouchable, revered, reviled, envied and ‘above it all’, making their millions and patting the rest of the herd on the head (if you’re lucky enough to be at arm’s length) (ie. Dooce)
2. The upper-mid level moms that put on conferences, support people, interact, come up with ideas that are inclusive and helpful (ie. TypeAMom)
3. The upper-mid level moms that are mean, nasty, selfish and cut from the every mom for herself cloth (ie…..I will not stoop to their level and mention names)
4. The mom minions – thousands at this point of moms doing their thing, hoping one day to be a 2, praying to be a 1. (ie. there are too many to name)

Who’s supposed to lead?

The crowd is, well, crowded. And the competition is fierce. #2 above is the closest we get to leaders, but they’re also struggling to survive and constantly reaching for #1. They do lead, sometimes, but I’m not sure enough. And sadly, I’m not sure the mob would even let one or two people be ‘The Leaders’ because of the fierce jealousy and competition that pervades. Which just underlines and italicizes the basic problem even more.

And what about the rest of us, what about the women bloggers in general, the women business owners, the women every things? Where do we draw the line between independence and reliance? Following and leading? Mentoring and learning? Several strong women and the sisterhood?

I only voraciously read 1/3 of Bonnie’s (free) ebook before this all hit me and I had to come write about it…so I’m headed back into it now to learn more about women and leadership and how I can be part of using it to enact change. (I think I’ll start by sending a copy to Jennifer Mendelsohn).

Check it out…let me know what you think…

Image credit: whyamikeenan

(and yes, I ripped my title straight from the West Wing…)