Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

"Desperate Housewives" - Lessons no one ever learns

Jane Genova — 2009-11-08T22:13:51-05:00

Tonight on "Desperate Housewives" everyone could be learning lessons but won't be. That's not how the world works, at least not on Wisteria Lane.

Julie and her former lover could be getting it that complicated entanglements have an almost infinite half life. But both will probably be in romantic messes again, perhaps even with each other.

Bree should be learning that men are not her cup of tea, given how Orson just won't go, no matter what she says or how badly she treats him. She also could be learning not to judge a book by its cover but no matter what she will look down on earthy women like Angie.

Susan could be learning that sins of the past are rarely forgiven by those transgressed against. In high school she saddled someone with the moniker Moose and sort of stole her boyfriend. Tonight that someone was a detective who put her in jail for shooting Katherine and not reporting it. Susan will keep going through the lives of people oblivious of the pain she's causing.

Gabby will never change. She will continue doing what she wants to do and not bothering to do what the situation requires. Seems she has the whatever to get her way, with the world and with Carlos.

Lynette will allow her excess sense of responsibility to trump common sense. She intruded on the Julie affair and set loose a police investigation of Julie's former lover. Who knows where this will lead. Among other things it could lead to another blow-out with Susan since she told Julie she wouldn't tell her mother her suspicion that the lover could be the Wisteria strangler.

One wonders what lesson Angie will learn or not learn on Wisteria. Can she, like the other housewives, escape what life could teach?

Not exactly Liar's Poker

Jane Genova — 2009-11-08T20:58:00-05:00

Some contend that it was Michael Lewis's book "Liar's Poker" which helped bring down Solomon's Brothers. Well, nothing exactly like that can happen to bring down Bear Stears since it's already gone. But tidbits about the old place still make for juicy gossip, especially since two of its former leaders Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tanin are being tried in court.

NEW YORK Magazine reports that the financial firm's former head of corporate strategy Steven Begleither lost $22 million in one hand of poker. But he did come in sixth overall, out of more than 6000 players, in the World Series of Poker and walked away with $1.59 million in prize money.

No Is Always Yes to Sales Animals

Jane Genova — 2009-11-08T13:41:18-05:00

There are sales animals. They intuitively know how to close. Then there are salespersons. They follow someone else's rule book about how to try to sell. Sales animals tend to sell more and more on their preferred terms and conditions.

What sales animals hold sacred is that no is yes. That's why they don't become Willy Lomans. Instead of being discouraged, they reverse-engineer the process leading up to the no to uncover feedback. That's a gold mine of personal research on how that particular salesperson sells. It might not be integrated into the company how-to sell guide. But the idiosyncratic discoveries free them up from counterproductive strategies and tactics and clear the playing field for more productive ones.

For example, the deconstructed no might alert sales animals that they are:

Barking up the wrong tree in terms of prospects. This is not the market they will succeed in.

The price point was too high or too low.

The incentives were not motivating or were perceived as bribes extended in desperation.

The move toward the close was too rapid or too slow.

The process went on even though it should have been clear there would be no close.

Obviously, sales animals don't receive the no unless they are out there pitching. That's why it's imperative to grab for experience, whether that be simply sending applications in for job openings or submitting proposals for accounts. Getting in to try and to possibly fail is an essential of the game. That's not a new sales truth.

My immigrant aunts running a food store in Jersey City, New Jersey taught me that. Neighbors laughed at them for being too aggressive/too passive/introducing too many new items/removing too many items. When the area went downhill, my aunts could afford to buy homes at the Jersey Shore. The rest of the neighborhood was stuck. That included my parents.

Burn Bridges: Become Player in New Economy

Jane Genova — 2009-11-08T13:25:03-05:00

Players, as opposed to employees and nowhere business owners, take on no protective coloring. They put themselves out there in a bold, clearly defined manner. This was how it went even before the new economy. Those I am what I am aka Popeyes included Steve Jobs, Marlon Brando, Ronald Reagan, Tom Wolfe, Eleanor Roosevelt and Lenny Bruce.

The new economy is binary: You buy in/You don't. Since the new economy is so different from the old seemingly linear one, we either are buy-ins or we're not. If we are buy-ins then we have to signal that clearly, ranging from how we present ourselves for jobs and new business to how to do the work. There's no middle ground.

I found that out in the last few weeks. A lot of business has been coming through my little shop. Dollar signs danced in my head. I defaulted back to some old-economy tone, language, and techniques. That wasn't what clients wanted. That wasn't why they came to me. They wanted the tone, language and techniques of social media even when it was a print assignment.

I learned: Burn those bridges back to that world in which we were once successful. Trying to hold on impedes our current success. Scary? Of course. But I found out it's damn the former success tactics, full speed ahead in business as a conversation. Incidentally, here is my ebook on that Download SavingSoulsJaneGenova. It's had more than a million downloads. I had forgotten what everyone else was learning.

In Humor We Trust: The Only Influencers

Jane Genova — 2009-11-08T01:09:28-05:00

If it's said, written, put on audio/video and isn't by a humorist, we don't trust it.

The only influencers in these jaded times are those who have down cold satire, irony, sarcasm, and sardonic soundbites. They are our Funny Greek Chorus. Think David Letterman et al. on late night, Jon Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, The Boys at Abovethelaw.com [their site], attorney Bill Marler [his blog], Hamilton Nolan on Gawker, and the growing number of outsiders or those who proclaim to be non-establishment.

On the other hand there are the highly earnest, the uplifters, the windy [humor's core competence is brevity and timing], the very concerned, the too polished, and those who try too hard to seem to have a sense of humor. We don't trust them. Why should we? They can't or pretend they can't see life slant. And right now nothing is linear. Maybe it never was. Think Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and Dante's "Divine Comedy."

Perhaps public relations agencies, advertising firms, and human resources departments can learn to put a bit of an ironic stance on communications. For example, years ago when I applied to Mickey D for a writing job, the folks said no with a bunch of free coupons for their products. Totally disarming. I trusted they regretted being unable to bring me aboard.

My next book is on this subject. Please send any insights to Mgenova981@aol.com.

One for Dr. Freud: Did Cornell John of The Steamy Emails Want To Be Caught?

Jane Genova — 2009-11-07T19:04:28-05:00

By now, those with an interest in prurient things all know that at Cornell, John the tech consultant pressed the "cc" button. As a result that particular steamy email and an electronic trail of others to his mistress went out campus-wide. Thanks to blogs like Gawker, this story broke yesterday in the media.

Both John and Lisa are married to others. Those others are probably not having a good weekend. Their employers and supervisors are probably not having a good weekend either. After all, such use of the university email system seems both inappropriate and a waste of the employees's time.

By now it has likely dawned on the Dr. Freuds among us that John is indeed a tech consultant. He is no ham-handed newbie with technology. Therefore, we have two questions to ask: One, why was he sharing his erotic desires and fantasies on the university's email system. And, secondly, how did he "accidentally" press the cc button.

Those who believe in the existence of the subconscious would speculate that John was uncomfortable in his present situation. He might have wanted to end it but didn't have the know-how or courage to do so. Therefore, in a desperate act akin to the young girl in crisis becoming pregnant, John pressed cc. He may not only be out of the relationship but also out of a marriage and a consulting assignment.

Publishing a Best-Selling Book: Such an old-fashioned fantasy

Jane Genova — 2009-11-07T18:06:33-05:00

Be a ghostwriter like myself or scan help-wanted on Craigslist and you realize that the old-fashioned fantasy of publishing a best-seller is still embedded in the national consciousness, at least outside southern California. There, the fantasy is the screenplay which will become the film to blow records at box-offices and leave critics fawning.

So concrete is the fantasy of the book that captures America that the real authors-to-be really believe they will be able to obtain assistance from seasoned ghostwriters by offering a percentage of the profits instead of upfront compensation. They are clueless how few books ever even sell more than 1000 to 7000 copies and how much fewer do that today. There's more. They are also clueless about the power of promoting a book and especially about being cunning in doing so. They're not thinking promotion. Perhaps what they assume is that like Honda their book will be one that sells itself.

What puzzles me is this mass delusion exists in a digital age. The odds would be better for getting a message out there, recognition, and getting rich if they configured a compelling YouTube series. Remember Lonely Girl? They could test-run that themselves. If there is interest, they can hire a production crew to make the series for less than the cost of contracting with an experienced ghostwriter like myself.

The Eleanor Rigby & Father McKenzie of CareerVille

Jane Genova — 2009-11-07T12:32:51-05:00

Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie - clueless, ineffective, and isolated. They're the current jobless or soon-to-be jobless lawyers, journalists, advertising executives, corporate middle managers and more. And from the looks of them, they're going to stay as stuck as Rigby and McKenzie. The interesting question is: Why?

Here's the puzzle. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that in October 2009, 5800 jobs were lost in the legal sector. Talk to anyone in the legal loop who's not trapped in magical thinking and that person will confirm that current and future reality that the profession and business of law are in a paradigm shift that is lessening demand for manpower. Meanwhile applications to law schools are up. At Iowa Law School they're up 62%.

Spend an hour with Mediabistro.com and you find the same stuckness among journalists. The career advice at THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, which is losing plenty of money, is similarly frozen in the past.

So, why is the supposed best and brightest becoming the forever-lost generation? Look around us. Most writers - Tom Wolfe - most businesspeople - Rupert Murdoch - most talk show hosts - Oprah can't or won't change. Those dependent on their revenues, from managers to subordinates to families won't allow that. It involves too much risk. That's exactly why going away, like Christ's three years in the desert, is an archetype.

How to get unstuck, given this pull force to stay with the status quo? Maybe the solution is to observe those who manage to throw off roles and others's expectations. Think Hillary Clinton, Edie Falco, Leonard Cohen, and Mickey Mouse [which Disney is reinventing in Epic Mouse as a cunning creature.] Reverse-engineer how they migrated from who they were to who they could be. Experiment with the process of rewiring our inner technology.

Seton Hill, Greensburg, PA 1966-67: A Tale of Two Roommates

Jane Genova — 2009-11-07T11:41:52-05:00

"You were there to get a degree. I was there, needy and looking for everything, anything."

After a three-hour conversation last night with college roommate from senior year at Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a mystery got solved.

She - let's call her Rose - went through that then woman's Roman Catholic College, went on to a job, marriage, immigrating to the left coast, opening and, after many years, losing a business with her husband, surviving comfortably the Great Recession, and migrating back to western Pennsylvania - smoothly, w/o a nervous breakdown or more, and sans drama.

I did nothing smoothly, had a whooper of a breakdown in 1970 and 2003, and created or attracted plenty of drama.

The difference, we figured out, is that she wasn't looking for anything, ever. Instead she saw what was there, took advantage of opportunity, and pushed back on mean people. Me? I assumed institutions filled with folks in their own transitions, grabbing at their own goals, and more often stuck could guide me, love me, make me love myself. Didn't find that, of course.

"But how could it have been different, less a disaster, less painful to you at another college."

That's what call-her-Rose asked. The answer was so obvious. The players would have been a more interesting set at, say Rutgers in my home state of New Jersey or Harvard Law, where I got in the mid 1980s. To me - and remember I am writer who sucks in others's experiences - the show would have been worth it.

And that's exactly what has happened, post-2003 meltdown. I struggled to need less from the world and find more through my observations and skills as a writer. I tumbled into the world of hyper successful on the Gold Coast of Connecticut and Manhattan. The result has been my first novel "The Fat Guy From Greenwich," to be published early winter. Here are the first two chapters Download FGFGchapters1,2. These characters were worth the agita.

I choose my poison better today. That's made the pain a writer's gold mine.

Cornells' John & Lisa - Makes Reality TV Seem Stiff

Jane Genova — 2009-11-06T17:29:38-05:00

Cornell employees John and Lisa, both married to someone else, got snagged. Their steamy spanking affair was blown into a million juicy pieces when John pressed the cc button. The whole campus got to enjoy an electronic trail of rich fantasy. Bet the reality doesn't measure up, though.