Thank the good lord, I’m very good at taking book orders recommendations.

I might be a little annoying about it too. I ask a million questions, like: Do any animals get hurt? (I literally can’t take it) and Is it scary? and How fast, exactly, do you think I’ll be able to read it? (Because the world has to stop until I finish). I like to get the full review before I invest my time and I like to know what I’m getting myself into it. I demand full ‘word of mouth’ service.

As a result, I end up with superb books. Books that smart people told me I had to read. Or else.

Even though I like girls with tattoos…

And so it was with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. First of all, I never would have picked this book up on my own. Even though I like girls with tattoos, I’m not into dragons. And it’s a murder mystery type of book, not my usual genre. But, my parents – who have a superb reading record (I did get that gene) – gave it to me for Christmas. And I saw their eyes light up when I ripped the wrapping paper away. And I knew that even though this book promised some unpleasant subject matter, and even though it started out with a lot of hooha about banking and business (yawn) – this book was going to be a keeper.

Turns out, it’s a trilogy: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest. Adding to the intrigue is that the author, Stieg Larsson, died of a heart attack right after he handed in his manuscripts. He has no idea that he’s sold millions of books, that this book is becoming a raving hit and that three movies have been made based on the trilogy. A writer’s life is just full of ironical detours, eh?

Is fiction ever really fiction?

There’s also more intrigue in that his life oddly mirrors much of his protagonist’s life. You know how I love when art imitates life and when fiction isn’t really all that fictional. And, for the geeky among us, this is the first book I’ve read where modern technology (laptops, email, the internet, hackers) are seamlessly interwoven into the story without seeming artificial.

My latest GIG…

And then the planets collided and I was hired to do the social media marketing campaign for the first movie. The author, the books and the movie are all Swedish, and they’ve reached cult status overseas, both the books and the movie have won prestigious awards over there. My campaign over here is going to be very bloggy. I’m staging a mystery for readers to solve across the blogosphere...so stay tuned. You could win premier tickets, meet-ups with the actual girl with the dragon tattoo, shirts, books…the whole bit.

I think books are best found through word of mouth…and now I’ve been charged with the task of putting this book into as many wordy mouths as humanly possible. How cool is that?

And, between you and me, the book is that good. So, read it. Or else. And then, tell everyone you know about it. Or else. And then, go see the movie. Or else. And then, tell everyone you know to see it. You know, or else.

We figured we’d never sleep again. We thought they’d never do it. That they wouldn’t sleep in their own beds ever. That their first night at college, their new roommates would wake up at 3 in the morning to find Jack and Sophie in bed with them.

But we decided to try to make it happen anyway. We were finally ready to turn this sleeping thing around.

Here’s what went down

Night 1 they were up several times, crying. Night 2, they were up a few times and the crying was short lived. Night 3, last night, they slept from 7pm to 6am. Without waking up, without crying, without doing anything but sleeping for 11 hours. For the first time in their precious lives.

Our friend, Patrie, had told us, ‘When it’s your truth, it will be theirs as well.” In other words, when we were really ready and when we felt that in every cell of our bodies, the kids would make the change easily.

Looking beyond the words

She was right. These people that don’t know as much as us, a.k.a. our children, look to us not only for our words, but for the meaning and the feeling behind them. Do you believe this is a good thing? They ask with their eyes, ‘Because if you do, then we will too.’

Isn’t it the same for our readers? Whether they’re reading our blogs, our books, our copywritten ads, websites or white papers. Words are great, but the meaning and the belief behind them – the intent – is what moves mountains, gets people to buy, to hire you, to change their lives. It’s why people like Chris Brogan succeed and spammers fail. It’s why Obama is our President and McCain isn’t. When you write (and live) for real – feeling your truth in every cell in your body – you are an influencer, a maker of change.

True writing (and living), then, can make the difference for your business, your relationship, your life. It can get the book published, the project off the ground and the children to sleep. I’m here to tell you that I’ve witnessed it first hand.

This morning, when the reality of our little miracle set in, I swear I looked out and saw pigs fly right by my window. And they were smiling.

Image credit: olaerik

Because today, I have a post that lives on a different blog. It’s a little, teeny, tiny blog with oh, I don’t know, over 100,000 subscribers and god only knows how many daily hits. (I like to fantasize that it’s a million).

But before I send you off, I have to share an important trick of the trade that I’ve learned via this particular guest posting experience. How many times have you read a guest post on one of your favorite blogs, loved it and clicked through to the author’s site only to land on their home page or blog where you poke around directionless before either 1) subscribing because you liked the guest post so much or 2) leaving because it’s all just kind of blah or 3) finding this blogger’s blog so enthralling that you read everything they’ve ever written?

When Sonia Simone, Copybloggers’ Senior Editor, emailed me to arrange my guest post, she recommended that I create a landing page for Copyblogger traffic. Brilliant. Really, this is such a fantastic idea. I immediately created a page that my guest post bio would link back to on my site instead of just sending them to my blog url. The page tells new visitors:

• Who I am
• What I do
• Where to find the things I want them to find on my site (ebook, teleclass info, blog, services, etc.)
• Special projects

You could also include:

• Links for people to buy your products
• Favorite blog posts
• Contact information
• And on and on

I’ve seen people use landing pages for Google Ads, their Twitter (or other social media sites), conference bios, etc. It’s your landing page, you are directing the flow of traffic exactly how you want to, total control.

Guest posting is a very good thing. It’s critical for bloggers interested in growing their readership. But, ceating a landing page for new readers so they know where to go and what to do and how to get the most out of you? As I said, brilliant.

And now, without any further ado, I’d love for you to click on over to Copyblogger to read my post. And you can find my landing page here.

Thanks y’all.

Image credit: waywuwei

Here are my elements for a successful, sensational, first-class proposal:

• Context. Set the stage, give stats, set up the problem(s) that you are going to solve. What’s the state of the union in the world of underwater basket weaving? Give your view.
• Why. Why does the problem need to be solved? Why is your solution the right one? Why is the reader missing out if they don’t solve it?
• Offerings. What are YOU going to do, how are YOU going to solve this problem for them. Tell them exactly and clearly what you will do for them.
• Prices. Get to the good stuff or get off the stage. You can tell me all about the world’s best toaster, but if it costs $1000, I’m outta here – so simply tell me the price so I can decide if I’m in or if I’m going to just eat cold bread.
• Who are you? Give the background about yourself and/or your company, show that you’ve got the goods. And don’t write your life story – only include information that is pertinent to this proposal. They only care that you’re good, have credentials and aren’t crazy. They don’t care that you once won a pie eating contest (unless you’re pitching Hostess).
• Who do other people think you are? This is the place for testimonials and/or stats and results from your previous work to date. Humans are pack animals, so if we see that other people think you’re stupendifying, we’ll assume that it’s true.
• Case study. Walk the reader through a real life example of what it’s like to work with you. Let them live life with you for a few bullet points.
• Portfolio. Show us what you’ve accomplished and show it proudly. Links, screen shots, you name it.
• Length. We all struggle with the Goldilocks syndrome here – looking to get it just right. Here’s the thing: it needs to be full and complete, you’ve got some ground to cover. So can you do that in a way that doesn’t look like you’re writing the great American novel? Big fonts, headlines, sub-headlines, pictures, different layouts and bullet points all help here. Make it easy for the potential client to get in, get the info they need and get out. Don’t make them feel like they have to read every word – because they won’t and they’ll be annoyed by the assumption that they should.
• Proofread. I couldn’t not say this. I know you will – for typos and content clarity. Tricks: 1) read it out loud as our minds like to make misspelled words look right, and 2) give it to a different and fresher pair of eyes to read through as well.
• Make it purty. If you’re still using a PC, you’re kind of screwed here. I kid, I kid. But seriously, creating a presentation in Keynote (via Apple’s iWork program) is the equivalent of giving a 3 year old one of those painting books where you rub a wet paint brush over the paper and the Mona Lisa appears. In other words, a good design/presentation program even makes someone artistically challenged, like me, look brilliant. Find a computer program that formats and designs beautifully, OR hire a designer to do this part for you. It’s worth it. (and I know a few, so just ask me). And, if you aren’t a writer, hire a writer to write the proposal for you (I know a few of those as well). Because remember: people really do judge you by your looks. It’s a shallow, shallow world out there.

…but hopefully that means someone will pluck your proposal out of the ankle deep waters.

Have some additional proposal tips, favorite design platforms? Please, by all means, add them in the comments below…

Image credit: Derek Purdy

You’ll notice that this goes against what most people will tell you to do. As a matter of fact, it goes against what I tell you to do in my eBook (How to Become a Successful Copywriter). But that’s because I subscribe to the ‘if it’s not broke, don’t f*ck with it’ school of thought. And for me, it wasn’t broke. Wasn’t. Past tense.

Raise your hand if this fun little recession we’re having has taken you down a notch (or is just bumming you out severely or is even just reducing the number of massages you can get each week). My hands are raised, too. I actually just heard that the average business took a 40-50% hit in 2009. Which made me feel good for a nanosecond because that statistic shouted, ‘It’s not you! It’s the Cheney, Rove, Bush trifecta’s!’ at me.

But still and of course, after I reviewed my year-end numbers, I ate some ice cream (best stuff ever), moped for a few minutes and then sat down to figure out how I was going to fix this situation. Which is when it hit me. While I can write about anything and while I enjoy the variety, I think it’s time to hitch to a niche.

I’ve got it all picked out, came upon it by working with a client within it…will tell you about it soon. But, here are some things to think about if you’re going to go the niched route.

• Find people within the niche that you can talk to – get an insider’s view about what’s needed
• Then, figure out how you can give them what they need and want
• Pick something that you like and where your interest will be held
• Research and see who else is working within this niche and how they’re doing it
• Then figure out how to do it better
• Tell everyone you know what you’re doing because many of them will say, ‘Hey! I know someone who would be perfect for you to talk to!’ And we all know that a direct introduction and personal connection is KEY.
• Create a proposal, something pretty that: 1) answers questions, 2) provides total information, 3) makes people want you 4) is the perfect response to, ‘Can you send me something to look at?’ (post on how to create a fab proposal is HERE)
• Even if you niche, don’t ditch the broader scope completely…no need to shut doors, burn bridges, close windows (anyone besides me want me to stop rhyming?)

Loving the plaque in the picture up above as it is beyond apropos. It tells us that ‘…this was a meeting place for pioneers that tied their horses to the hitching rail while conducting business…’ and that they were, ‘…hardy and foresighted pioneers…’

Huh, just like you and me.

Image credit: stuttermonkey

What? You don’t know about Geek Girl Camp? Or the Geek Girls? Where do I begin!

1. The fabulous, brilliant, selfless, kind and energetic fireball otherwise known as Leslie Fishlock, had an IDEA.
2. She was on a mission to make sure that every woman/girl/chiquita had the opportunity to learn about tech (computers, social media, apps, programs, you name it) in a safe, non-threatening, supportive way.
3. Boom. She assembled a world-class, top-notch team (cough, cough – yes, if I do say so myself) of Geek Girls to teach, share and spread the good word.
4. Two Geek Girl Camps (GGC) exploded on the scene last spring (on Cape Cod and in Boston) offering full day seminars with loads of workshops on every technology topic imaginable at an insanely affordable price ($140) – oh, and there was a party with a signature alcoholic beverage to boot.
5. I was honored to teach 10 workshops at GGC over 2 days about blogging (how to, abc’s, finding voice, using blogs to grow your business) and social media.
6. Geek Girl for Hire was created – sending out single or multi-womaned troops to companies and organizations everywhere teaching geek and tech.
7. Operation Laptop Donation for Women was put into full effect – taking discarded laptops, cleaning them up and giving them to women (going back to school or work) in need.

The first Geek Girl Camp for 2010 has been announced, and I can’t wait to lead my blogging workshops and be a part of this phenomenalness again! I hope to see you there. Tell everyone you know. Here’s the deal (and make sure you grab the discount code at the bottom, you only have until Jan. 1st!!!):

She’s still tiny – hasn’t quite cracked 28lbs at 4 years old, but she’s quite mighty. A magnificent brain, big brown eyes and a brewing wit are likely to take her far.

And then this morning, she wanted something. She asked nicely enough the first time and the second. (Jack, her little brother, had the desired object and wasn’t really listening). And then she got pissed.

She’s 4…so you’d assume that she’d whine or scream or cry or even haul off and hit him – but she didn’t. Instead, she came out with this voice – this strapping, deep, throaty bellow. She never lost her poise, nor her cool. Her little self didn’t even show exertion from the effort – it just surged out of her. “GIVE ME THE HORSE.”

Seriously, there wasn’t even an exclamation point at the end. But the effect was immense. And he handed her the horse without ceremony.

I’m guessing you’re hit with the same flood of articles/posts I see every day that are trying to prescribe the magic bullet for writing marketing copy. Long-form sales letters, the ‘it’ title, the 5 most persuasive words…it goes on and on. And I’m sitting here wondering if we can’t learn something from this 4 year old peanut.

Dig deep, way down. Don’t act bigger than you are. Don’t shake your structure. Don’t cry, whine or beg. Connect with your power source…and then, let it out – in all of its brilliance. Ask for what you want. And mean it. My girl does.

Image credit: That for which I’m most thankful…

Anyway, back to the plane. I had the middle seat in between my brothers who had already flown several times and were taking their jobs as my guides, as usual, very seriously. In the 70’s and 80’s, one of these highlights was…drumroll, please…the barf bag.

Let’s think about the marketing ramifications of this nasty little receptacle, shall we?

• What if you walked into a grocery store and they had a big closet with huge, full-body parkas next to a neon sign that said, ‘You are about to freeze your frickin’ ass off, so put this on!’
• What if when you went to the car dealership, they had an exhibit featuring photos of the top accidents of the last month and a booth for life insurance and information about brain damage and paraplegia.
• What if the entrance to the beach was flanked with burn salve, skin cancer survivors and the drowning unit of your local hospital.

Well, the minute you sat down in your seat on an airplane back in the day, you stared at a barf bag. You weren’t left to your own devices here. They left little room for doubt. The message was clear: You are going to puke. This is going to be a bumpy ride. We were reminded of all the things we didn’t want to think of the minute we got on the plane: nausea, vomit, turbulence, bad weather, bad planes, explosions, screaming babies, twisted metal on the ground. That ridiculously small paper bag, tattooed with the airline’s logo, put a bad taste in our mouths.

Some people might have interpreted it as courteous, I thought it was terrible advertising. (Well, I do now, I wasn’t that kid).

Eventually, the industry wisened up because the last time I sat down there were happy magazines and ads for wifi in the little mesh pocket in front of my seat. The airlines want us thinking about buying things, materialism, being rich and exploring the world. Much better thoughts for a much better flight – and great incentive for planning your next trip.

Take note: (and maybe this was just my experience, but) When the barf bags were there, people actually used them – I remember a few incidents clearly. But now? When was the last time you saw someone hurling in their seat on a flight?

As the seller, producer, promoter, writer you actually have substantial power to direct someone’s experience of your product, service, space. Don’t send them down the black, gooey rabbit hole decorated with signs that say ‘Welcome! Be prepared to barf!’ That’s just not how the road to paradise should be paved.

Image credit: Oskay

Chris’ phone rings and he answers. A pipe fitter or roofer or something of that nature is on the other end, chewing his dinner loudly into the phone.

In between chomps, slurps and smacks, he tells Chris, “Someone told me I should call you.” Chew, swallow. “That you might be able to help me.” Burp, gulp. “Do you think I should have you help me or should I invest in some of those door hangers (I would call this door knob spam – see picture to the left)?”

“Door hangers,” said Chris. “Go with the door hangers.”

There’s an obvious lesson here about saying no. That even as freelancers or starving artists, and even in these dismal economic times, it’s important to just say no to the guy chewing in your ear, the guy that doesn’t get it. And by ‘it’ I mean: you, what you do, the value of your work and what he should be doing with his marketing money.

But, this story reeks of something else. Because when you sit around and wait for the phone to ring (not implying that Chris was doing that – this is an extrapolation, people), you’re likely to get some real crap. Or at the very least, you’ll get something passing as ‘okay’ but not what you really want. (Of course, a beautiful goose might also randomly waddle over, squat and lay a golden egg on your doorstep – but that’s another post).

I think Brogan’s story is a bit of a call to action. Who do you want to work with? What do you want to write? What do you want to do? Go get it. Make it happen. And make it happen the way you want it to. Seek, search, pull ‘em in.

Chris had a choice, and he took it. And those door hangers? I always throw them in the trash.

Image credit: CogDogBlog

Check out the latest interview on The Daily Norm: Alexa DiCarlo, Sex Educator, Sex Worker & Sex Worker Rights Activist

As I sit stranded on a chair, the couch, in my office, I’ve been paying close attention to this. Within a span of a minute, I’ll have twenty ideas – things I could do – but then I can’t, I’m just stuck siting there. Or worse, I’m telling my family to do them…which they’re getting very sick of. They include: cleaning the bathrooms, culling through the fridge for old leftovers, cutting the dog’s nails, alphabetizing our bookshelves…you know, things like that.

At first I saw all of this as negative. I got fairly bummed out and I even cried. I tried to come to terms with the fact that there are some things that I just can not do.

Then I remembered that that was bullshit. I refuse to take no for an answer in most places in my life, so why was this different. And I come up with solutions to circumvent my handicap, like scooching on my butt to get to the ice cream, calling one of my neighbors to carry my lunch out to my office, enlisting the help of my children and dogs to bring me my crutches, practicing thumb-twiddling patience and dealing with a life full of nothing non-attachment and, yes, barking orders.

It’s not so different, you know, from what I do here at my computer all day. As I talk to clients and hear what they need, I determine what I can do for them and what I can’t. The ‘can’ts’ got solved by finding people in my sphere that ‘can.’ No problem is really insurmountable and the really good ones force your creativity. I find more strength when I embrace the fact that I’m never completely whole by myself – life and work are fuller when I invite others in.

And just like I’m always learning new writing and marketing skills and developing my craft – one day, I’m bound to walk again.

Image credit: hurley gurley