For the last year, I’ve been wearing geeky shirts that advertise my services. They’re great conversation starters with potential clients, interview subjects, and fellow editors, publishers, and now bloggers. For BlogWorldExpo, I wore this one on the Sunday. Thanks to Tara Anderson of Lijit.com (a cool search gadget that I’m investigating) for this photo of myself and my partner in nerdiness, Geoff Clay.

The next time a client tells me they’re not sure that blogging, social media marketing, and new media will work for their company, I want them to watch this video.

Bruce is not ashamed to stand in a booth at BlogWorldExpo and beg people to blog about him and his company. It apparently worked, because his booth was swarmed by people. In fact, I’m extremely proud to say that just as I was putting away my own video equipment form this interview, the anchorman from the local newscast in Las Vegas dropped in the booth to beg for a short interview. (Gee, did I get in before you guys? Awww, that’s too bad.)

What I was late on was finding out about the concrete company’s product, because it might have save me about 10k on the construction of my new house. Oh well: next time.

 

 Cart-Away Supply at Blog World Expo 08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Well, it’s a day of combined impressions. Firstly, this show is not nearly as big as I had anticipated. But secondly, it’s more meaningful for me than I had ever imagined.

Frankly, I can’t understand why a topic with an obvious application to almost every business on the planet can only book 62 booths into a trade show. However, the conference schedule and speaker roundup is 29 pages of the show schedule booklet. The sessions were what seemed to be more valuable to most of the attendees, including myself.

Of the three sessions that I attended today, the most valuable was the “Making Money with with Podcasts” session, which was a panel discussion with three hosts including JB Glossinger of MorningCoach.com.

Glossinger has much in common with my own finance guru, Mr. H, who is constantly telling me to “…just get it done now – stop thinking so hard.” Glossinger truthfully introduced himself as “different” after hearing the other two panelists speak about their own success by explaining that he’s “…not a marketing expert…”, nor does he want to “…make you think I know everything about business…” But, he’s got a very clear understanding of two key areas of online business: speed and guts.

In the early days of his business, Glossinger knew that he wasn’t doing everything right, but he knew that podcasting was a great vehicle, and that he needed to just keep doing it to gain an audience. He knew that he had to be consistent in his offerings, and he knew that he had to keep his promise to delivery a 15-minute daily morning podcast. When he started, nobody knew who he was, but he had the guts to keep going. Now, he’s a well-known speaker and trainer in not only the field of personal coaching, but also in the field of online business. He’s a bit confrontational, and I just loved that.

What’s equally interesting about Glossinger is that his income model is not based on what seems to feed most podcasters, which is banner ads, ClickBank, and (low-)paying content creation. Instead, Glossinger uses his free podcasts to build his profile, build his traffic and subscriber base, sell items off his site, increase his bookings for speaking, and fill his classes with people who already understand what they are there to learn. Yup, I’m on my way there.

More updates tomorrow, Sunday evening, plus some video that I shot today and will add to tomorrow.

Teaching children to be writers teaches children to be readers. My clever 2-year-old hopped up the other day into her little recycled school desk, grabbed my desk calculator, and slammed it down on the desktop like a notebook computer. A moment later I heard her little fingers tickling the keys. When I asked her what she was doing, she smartly told me that she was “writing stories”.

Children can write stories as soon as they can hear them. There is a publishing program for children based in Virgina called “Book in a Day”, which was founded (and still run) by Kwame Alexander, who serves as the President.

As per the BookInADay.com site, “…Alexander has worked as a literacy trainer, creative writing teacher, poet-in-the-schools, and writer-in-residence. As an author, he has written eleven books, including Do The Write Thing: Seven Steps to Publishing Success. As a publishing professional, he has published more than 100 authors. Though Book-in-a-Day is a relatively new program, it is an extension of more than fifteen years of his literacy, literary, and publishing work. ‘Our goal is to tap into students’ emotional intelligences, connect with them in a powerful way. By publishing student work, we can open those doors,’ says Alexander.”

The BookInADay model can be used in any school or group for children, thanks to the documentation developed by the program. “In Book-in-a-Day, students learn how to write a wellcrafted poem, or piece of prose, and how to publish their own work for public consumption. This writing and publishing program is built on the belief that students become avid readers and writers when they assume complete responsibility for becoming authors. When students see the fruit of their labor and the response from readers, a permanent reading/writing connection is made that will transform the way they view and appreciate language and literature.”

As soon as my Dolly is able, I plan to use a POD like Lulu to help her publish her own book. In fact, I think she already understands the concept, because when a new book comes into my office, she always asks, “Mine?”

Thanks to the very kind staff at the Southwest Medical Urgent Care Dept in Las Vegas Nevada, who had a certain anxiety-ridden blogger walk in this afternoon with the end of her thumb in a sandwich bag. Despite my humiliating panic attack, they kindly offered me several delightful injections while I bled all over their exam table.

No, the end of my thumb could not be re-attached. But I was reassured by the knowledge that an artificial nail would disguise it, if I feel the need in future. All I know is, I left with a very effective prescription.

Thanks very much to Dr. Brian Wittenberg and the very skilled nurse who cleaned me up and offered me a shot in my rear, which I declined. (But again, thanks.) I regret that I was too out of it to catch your name, but just know that good karma is coming your way.

Now all I need to worry about it how I’m going to hit the space bar for a few weeks…

For a number of years, I’ve had a long internal debate about what makes a good working schedule for a writer, and a book I’m currently reading has an interesting comment on the topic. Robert’s Rules of Writing, by the witty Robert Masello, is making quite an impression on me, and not just about writing schedules. Masello is the author of a number of books, three of which (including this one) are about writing itself. He’s a hardworking professional author, and he knows what it takes to actually make a living in this crazy racket.

For fiction authors, writing schedules are a very big deal, because when you write about something that comes out of your own brain, you tend to spend far to much time alone with just you and your brain. Sitting in dark rooms sipping coffee until 4 am is not a healthy lifestyle, at least, not for extended periods. (By the way, Masello agrees with me on that.)

I’ve heard a variety of testaments from writers about their routines. Some write strictly from time X to time Y, then walk the dog, go to the library, the park, the coffee joint, etc., and then return to their desks, write another Z number of words, etc. Personally, this level of rigidity has never worked for me. I often rely on random inspiration for creative writing, and my non-fiction work also relies on inspiration, although it’s often much less random. I just can’t sit down at 8am each morning and produce good stuff.

Masello’s comment about routines is typical of the rest of the book: he’s clear, concise, and delightfully opinionated. He states, “The hard part of writing isn’t scribbling words on a page. The hard part is scribbling words that mean something, that make sense, that build a narrative or lay out an argument, that construct a scene or articulate a position. It’s not about how many pages you can cover with ink in a day. In some cases, a good day’s work might be a couple of paragraphs. But if those two paragraphs are right, then they’re a lot more valuable than ten or twenty pages of idle burbling.”

He closes that page the way he closes each chapter or “rule”, with a clear statement in bold type, as per, “Writing takes deliberation and thought, craft and commitment.” Sounds like Masello’s no more in favour of writing schedules than I am.

I’m going to be out of my regular office from Tuesday, September 9th, through about November 10th, 2008. All of my regular phone numbers, email addresses, and instant message contact info will still work, but you may find that you will be asked to leave voice mail more often than reaching me in person.

Where am I going, you ask? I’ll be in Langley, BC until September 14th, and then on a working sabbatical in Las Vegas Nevada (not a vacation – I swear), with some side trips to visit family in SoCal. Don’t worry – all my regular clients will still be hearing from me regularly as per our appointments previously scheduled.

The most exciting part of this trip is that I’m going to have an opportunity to break out of some stale routines, refresh my own writing, and inject some energy into ongoing projects. All of this involves stuff that will benefit all my current and future clients and projects. I’m especially looking forward to attending BlogWorldExpo 2008 in Las Vegas, from September 19th to 21st. I promise to make some video podcasts from the show, so watch this space for interesting stuff!

I usually try to avoid making personal posts on my blog, because I believe strongly that it is all about business, and value for your time as readers. But I also believe strongly in the mission of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. They assist those suffering from MS, as my late aunt Eileen Behrendt did.

Eileen, my mother’s baby sister, passed away quietly on Friday August 29th. I was named for her (Eileen is my middle name) and she was a wonderful Godmother to me all my life. Even as sick as she was, she was the kind of lady who always had her highlights touched up regularly, and her nails were always perfect. She wasn’t doing this for herself: it was her way of making sure that she showed outer strength, to encourage the rest of us.

A page has been setup for Elieen at the National MS Society website. Click here to go there, and for any of you that knew her, please feel free to make a comment. There is also a link where you can donate to the society for research.

Thanks to any clients that have been so patient with me in the last week – I’m behind on a number of things while I offer support to my family. I’m very grateful for your sensitive support.

Here are three books that every author, fiction or non, should have in their library. And, at least one of them may not be what you expect.

If a grammar reference could have sex appeal, this would be the book. The Elements of Style is the definitive reference for writers of any type. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I carry this around in my purse. Makes for great reading during your lunch, in the ladies, in a taxi, etc. I don’t care how nerdy this makes me sound. At least I’ll know that I’m using proper sentence structure as I defend that accusation. The 50th Anniversary Edition is now on the way, and the illustrated version has become a cultural icon. You can even download it as an audio book. I’m not sure I could sleep at night if I didn’t know where my copy was.

This next one will seem a bit strange to some, because I’m primarily a non-fiction writer, and I’m about to recommend a book about screenwriting. But Robert McKee’s STORY is based on making content appealing, easily understood, have good flow, timing, and yes, also about using the dreaded plot diagram. All of these still apply, whether you are writing for business, a cookbook, or an instruction manual. Plus, it’s just a great read. This book is also the source of the beautiful quote, “…the story arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration, as it seeks to order chaos and gain insight into life.” Good reading no matter what.

The third book is my 12th-grade English text book, Adventures in English Literature, which I sinfully stole from the shelves of my Catholic school on the last day of class. I loved that class, and I loved my instructor, Mrs. Hargreaves. Her genuine love of literature, English and otherwise, was contagious (at least to myself) and I knew I’d use that book over and over again. In the end, I was billed for my missing book, so between that and a few minutes in the confession booth, my debt to society has been paid. It was worth the cost of an over-priced textbook, because it’s amazing how often I use it to look up a poet, their life story, and a summary of their work in 300 words or less. It’s still faster than Google. Authors all the way from Chaucer to modern poets still living are profiled, along with introductory material about each era and the current events that shaped the work of each writer. It’s an extremely useful cultural reference, along with a handy way to confirm the accuracy of quotes and source material. It’s amazing how many current works reference stuff in this volume.

OK, there’s one more, and it’s a recent addition. Teach Yourself Copywriting, by the modest J. Jonathan Gabay, who doesn’t even have his name on the cover, is a tight little volume about writing words that sell stuff. You’ve all heard me say it a million times, “every organization is a sales organization”, and this book is a great summary of how to craft words that tell people about your organization. Clear, to the point, and with extremely useful illustrations and diagrams, this book just doesn’t waste time. Gabay starts from the right place, the mind of the buyer, and ends in the very same spot. A great reminder of what motivates people, how to get them to understand things quickly, and how using fewer well-chosen words is always more powerful than many words used casually. Very enjoyable to read cover to cover.

Enjoy your back to school reading!