What Do You Do With Negative Comments?
The other day as I was looking for a repair shop I came across a Yelp listing with some rather negative comments about the service people in a particular shop. It’s the sort of thing a business owner dreads to see. But it’s inevitable that sooner or later if you grow a big enough audience someone is going to say something less than positive. It may even be downright mean. Then what? It can hurt. It can make you angry. It can seem personal. After all, this is something you’ve been working hard for and something you care...
read moreWriting After Vacation: Make it Happen
Vacations are great until they’re over and you have to get back to the routine. Sometimes it’s so hard you may wonder if it’s worth taken the break in the first place. Sadly it happens even when you love your job. Research indicates that we return from vacations happier, healthier and more energized. But in my experience that fades pretty quickly after walking through the door into a foyer of suitcases needing to be unpacked containing piles of clothes that need to be washed. And then the next morning instead of a having a leisurely...
read moreDo Writing Rules Matter Anymore?
I have a friend who like many of us has more to do than can actually get done in a day as he grows his business. And yet, he spends some that precious time correcting the emails of one of his employees. They read too much like texts, he explained. He said he felt a need to make them sound more professional. But he also wondered whether it mattered. It’s a good question. Does it matter how well we write? Shouldn’t the quality of our product or service (unless of course your product is writing) be enough? It takes time to write and...
read moreCan Cheap Flattery Motivate You to Blog?
Whenever I need a quick ego boost, all I have to do is trawl through the spam folder of my blog comments. Usually, the spam filter efficiently rescues me from these insincere, trash comments by shifting them off to a separate folder before I can see them. Everyone once in awhile, I check to make sure a real comment didn’t get lost in the bunch. Most are clearly garbage, some are unquestionably blatant adds and others are just nonsensical. Scattered among them, however, are a few that I would love to be real, like this one: I don¡¯t...
read moreWrite Slow to Write Fast
I wanted to write a post about writing fast while still writing well. And I will. But that’s not exactly what happened for me this week. I wrote fast and what I wrote was okay but not great. So here’s my first insight on the Holy Grail of writing fast while writing well – it’s not always possible. If you’re frustrated that you can’t do both at the same time, take heart, you’re not alone. Rest assured that you can get faster and better. One of the ways to do that, however, is by giving in to writing slowly and well. This applies whether...
read morePublish a Book with the Help of a Few Thousand New Friends
It used to be that anyone serious about publishing a book would turn to a publisher to handle the logistics of turning the manuscript into a real book with a pretty front cover and slick back cover copy. These days, however, authors increasingly are taking those final steps on their own. That, however, means taking on the up front costs in getting the book to market such as editing, proofreading and cover design just to name a few. That can be a multi-thousand dollar hurdle that turns into a wall for some potentially great authors. Unless,...
read moreHave You Got Your Backup On?
As I write this, my computer sits stuck on a photo of a beautifully sculpted marble foot. It is a lovely picture from the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. But as lovely as it is, it’s not what I need to see right now. I need to see my email and my word docs and this blog post. So instead of sitting in my cozy office, I am down the hall using someone else’s computer. This computer does not have my Word files. It doesn’t have my passwords saved. And the programs are not in the places where I put them. But at least I can get some...
read moreHave You Got Your Backup On?
As I write this, my computer sits stuck on a photo of a beautifully sculpted marble foot. It is a lovely picture from the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. But as lovely as it is, it’s not what I need to see right now. I need to see my email and my word docs and this blog post. So instead of sitting in my cozy office, I am down the hall using someone else’s computer. This computer does not have my Word files. It doesn’t have my passwords saved. And the programs are not in the places where I put them. But at least I can get some...
read morePublish a Book with the Help of a Few Thousand New Friends
It used to be that anyone serious about publishing a book would turn to a publisher to handle the logistics of turning the manuscript into a real book with a pretty front cover and slick back cover copy. These days, however, authors increasingly are taking those final steps on their own. That, however, means taking on the up front costs in getting the book to market such as editing, proofreading and cover design just to name a few. That can be a multi-thousand dollar hurdle that turns into a wall for some potentially great authors. Unless,...
read moreHow Will You Find Readers for Your Book?
It may seem that a great book should sell itself. If it’s interesting and engaging, then everyone should want to read it. But the reality is that people can’t read a book if they don’t know it exists. It’s your job to make sure they know that it does, and that it’s worth their time. One efficient way to do this is to let people get to know you through a blog. This is a way for you to connect with readers and show how you write and make them want to read more. But one of the biggest mistakes an author can make is waiting until after the...
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