Olympic Story Telling
It should hardly have mattered to me when Grenada’s Kirani James broke ahead of the crowd flying toward the finish line of the Olympic Men’s 400 meter race. But there I was out of my chair yelling at the television as if my cheers could give him an extra push. Not that he needed it. He easily broke the tape on his own impressive power with a time just tenths of a second off a world record. I’d never heard of Kirani James before this week, he’s not from my country and I don’t have a particular affinity for men’s racing let alone the 400. So...
read moreTime for Twitter
Question: There is a lot of talk about Twitter and how important it can be for a small business. Does it really matter? Answer: It depends. It can be a great place to both get and give info. It’s a matter of how you use it. The other day I was out on a boat with friends on a hunt for tall ships that were supposedly coming to anchor near Niantic, Connecticut. There were plenty of boats around but none of the tall ship variety. There was however, an extremely large military ship surrounded by a small armada of Coast Guard boats making...
read moreTrue Confessions
Even though I write for a living and even though I do it nearly every day, I don’t always love it. In fact, sometimes, I really don’t like it at all. This is especially true if I’m writing a “high stakes” piece. I would consider this to be anything that someone else is going to read – which is just about everything I write! I want it to be brilliant. I want you to read it and be blown away. I want you to send it on to everyone you’ve ever met. And, I fear you will either stop reading after the first...
read moreSometimes editing is hard to do
I know that many people find it hard to put words on the page. Getting going can be tough. Figuring out what to say and how to say it – like climbing Mount Everest sometimes. But that’s a walk through the park compared to editing. You want to know what’s really, really hard? Dauntingly near impossible? When you have 700 well-crafted, beautifully placed, perfectly composed words and space for just 500 of them. That’s agony – you have to actually trim out 200 of those hard earned darlings? The first pass probably...
read moreSticks and Stones
On occasion, I’ll come across someone who is concerned to blog or to publish articles because he or she is concerned about the reaction. I’ll guess there are many more people out there who feel that way, but I don’t meet them because they never even attempt to tackle the fear. I promise you, having someone say something bad about what you’ve written isn’t the worse thing that can happen. If you want further evidence, read this great post by copy writer Amy Harrison, who has had to endure a few...
read moreNorth by North Shore
Welcome to anyone stopping by after attending the invigorating North by North Shore conference this morning. I enjoyed meeting many great business people and hearing about their goals for blogging and social media. Even before the first blog challenge is over, I’m gearing up for another. Same deal – blog once a week for three months. This one picks up just after the first one lets off at the end of June. Can you do it? Do you have the stamina? You won’t know until you try, so dive right in. What’s your biggest hurdle?...
read moreDeadline
There is a real quick way to sharpen your thinking and get a story out of you head pronto – it involves an editor yelling at you from across the room that you have 15 minutes to hit the send key or he’ll find someone else who can. The adrenalin levels soar and the words flow and you focus on saying what you have to say because you have no choice. Some of your best writing emerges. The challenge of blogs and blogging on your own or for your business is that there is seldom a true deadline. You know you want to get it done and you know...
read moreUpcoming conference will set you up for online success
Looking to get started with social media marketing? Ready to kick your on line campaign in to high gear? Join me next week at North by North Shore, a conference designed to give you all the tools you need. Who Should Attend? If you are charged with growing a business through sales, marketing, business development, or client relations, this event series is your key local event. Experts will lead sessions on digital and content marketing, social media, CRM, etc. Best of all, you get to drive the agenda using Google Moderator. The...
read moreAll a Twit about Twitter – post for Twitter neophytes
I pledge to you that I will never Tweet about what I had for breakfast or that I’m stuck in the longest line in the Target and the guy in front actually managed to pick up the only two lawn chairs without a price tag forcing the need for a ridiculously long price check. Why would you care anyway? In fact, why would you care about anything on Twitter? Honestly, there are a lot of things written that you probably don’t care about. But don’t write it off just yet. If used well, Twitter can be a great communication tool. If...
read moreIf you can walk, you can write
I have a secret to share with you. Good writing is hard – really hard. I’ve heard from many people who think they’re not good writers. They think this because they find it difficult to write, or because they read what they’ve written and they don’t like it. Neither of these are an indication that a person is a bad writer. In fact, they are two very good signs of the opposite. Good writing is hard – hard like running is to someone who hasn’t done it in 20 years; hard like running up a hill is to someone who’s only been running on flat ground;...
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