Words For Hire

All the Cool Kids are Doing It

It starts in the hallowed halls of higher learning, a group emerges as the trendsetters and others follow their lead. If the cool kids are wearing it, saying it, or using it then surely it must be cool. Even those who seem detached from the groupie phenom (the rebels) are often reinforcing it with their brand of anti-cool.

We grow up and the cool kids trade move from the locker room to the boardroom.

In business if all the cool kids are tweeting, using Facebook, selling information products (fill in the blank) then we jump on board too. The problem with this approach is a failure to analyze if the strategy really works for you.

One of my pet peeves in marketing is a hype around tactics and tools and little focus on strategy. The tactics and tools may be perfectly legitimate but how and why they are used should be as distinct as the business itself.

I receive requests all the time from business owners that are focused on a tool – ebooks, social media, video marketing, etc. – but often the business is simply hopping on a trend without having a clear idea how the tool will drive their business forward.

If you want to lead in business know and own your distinction and then leverage it with the cool kids who are your customers. Trends are fine but creating your own path and having others carry that message, is the ultimate in cool.

Who are the “cool kids” in your industry? What can you learn from them while making your own mark?

If you are interested in discovering if Twitter is another cool kid trend or a tool that you can use in your own business, join me and Trish Lambert for a free Twiter course on Wednesday, July 8th. Go here to learn more.

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How Well Do You Run the Turn?

: Image via Wikipedia

I watched as the runners lined up in the blocks. Down on all fours pushing one leg back, rising again, shaking legs and arms to keep the body warm. Eyes flitted toward the finish line as they replayed their race strategy in their mind. Down again, hands out front, one leg back waiting for the starting gun.

The gun went off and the runners took off like hungry tigers let out of a cage. The air was charged with the electricity of competition as their cleats tapped a steady smooth beat on the hot red clay. Some got off to a fast start, others measured the pace patiently waiting to overtake their competition. As they approached the turn, I knew that this is where the race would be won or lost. Anyone could start fast or kick at the end, but in this race, the one who navigated the turn while maintaining speed and balance would win the race.

With a strong wind at her back, her jaw muscles relaxed as she leaned at the perfect angle navigating the turn with the speed of a sprinter and grace of a ballerina. Her gaze remained steady as she glided to an easy victory.

We often compare life to a marathon but in fact it is a series of short races. Each day, we see the finish line, and know the distance it will take to reach it. We plan our race strategy and choose a pace that we can sustain. We all have the capability to get off to a fast start or kick it at the end to reach the finish line. We can dig deep for that short burst down a straight path, but the race is often determined by how well you run the turn.

Lean too hard and you’ll throw off your balance. Slow down to take the turn and you lose momentum. Look to the right or left to judge your competitors and you lose it all. Taking the turn requires a combination of focus, strength, speed and agility.

How well are you running the turn?

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Novel Beginnings

Last November, I wrote my very first novel during National Novel Writing Month. I chronicled my adventures on the blog and did a happy dance on Thanksgiving Eve in the wee hours when I finished.

I dutifully walked away as experts advised and let it sit for the month of December. In January, I thought about it but was busy implementing the 2009 Master Plan (cue ominous music).

Spring came and I finally took my USB drive to the printer and printed out my first draft. I giggled all the way home as I looked over at the box of printed papers that represented my first “first draft.”

Later that day I opened the box with nervous anticipation – Would it be so awful that I would cry? Was the whole thing a big dream? – I started to read and smiled as I found myself enjoying “my novel.” Yes, there were holes and inconsistencies, and things to be fixed but overall I did not want to burn it.

Each day I opened my box and made notes on the pages, periodically checking books and sites on editing to answer questions. I was working at my book and it felt good.

I got through my first rough edit and now it was time to type. I closed the box with every intention of continuing my work…the box taunted me in the open so I moved it to a shelf. I moved it to dust but there it sat until this week.

Tired of my inaction, I pulled my dust free box off the shelf and moved it to my office where it sits with “First Draft” written proudly on the top (as if I would forget what’s in there) screaming at me to open it. Okay, not screaming but whispering very loudly.

: Image by bredgur via Flickr

In spite of our best intentions, we can get off track. For awhile I felt like a failure for not making progress on my goal. Today, I choose a new beginning. I may have missed my own self-imposed deadline but I learned new things and endured challenges which can only help me to view my book with a fresh perspective.

Today is a new day. Today is the day that I write again. I am not finished but I am getting started.

Any words of wisdom to share? Are you dusting off any goals of your own? Shall we encourage one another to the finish line?

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Why You May Not Be Smarter than a 5th Grader

I stood up from the pile of work on my desk to stretch. I was hot, my hair was sticking up and I was tired and cranky. I looked out the window and sighed. It was a beautiful summer day. The branches lifted ever so gently, the cloudless sky was clear and blue and the sun seemed to beckon me with its rays.

As I took in the moment and simply breathed in, two little girls came into view. Both wearing brightly colored shorts and tops chatting happily. They part ambled, part skipped as they made their way closer to my window. I watched them with a smile remembering the summers of my youth.

The little girls sat down across from my window where there’s just a bit of curb at the end of a grassy hill that leads to a pond. They sat facing each other in intense conversation (which at age 10 could be about anything from Hannah Montana to world peace). I cocked my head as I watched the ease they exhibited. One of the little girls held up her cell phone and snapped a photo as they continued to chat away (now that’s one thing I didn’t own as a kid!).

Children buy, sell and negotiate every day of their life. They do it naturally, without sophisticated strategies and tools. They sell their ideas to other kids (which is how you find yourself playing boogey man instead of dress up); they negotiate with teachers and parents. Children do it without questioning the ROI or metrics, it is as natural to them as having a conversation.

Those two little girls reminded me of our “new era” in marketing. We talk about engagement, transparency and conversational marketing but are we really doing it? Have we simply took our fancy corporate branding and toned it down with everyday language or are we really talking to people?

While I am very much in business to make money, I want to do business with other human beings. I want my marketing to talk to and not at people.

If you really want to reach people, then talk to them. Lose the industry jargon and corporate speak and talk to them as though it were just you and them sitting on a stoop on a hot summer day. If you want your messaging to convey authenticity then be real. What would you say one on one in a non-sales situation when asked about your business? Compare that message to what’s on your website and in your printed collateral – how does it match up?

We have fallen into this trap that people will only take you seriously if you use the “right” language. So, we start there and we strip our messages of all humanity and warmth. People are smarter than that, give them a little credit. Talk to them, really talk to them and you may be surprised at how they respond.

Do you find that you describe your business or even job differently in social settings? Are you more natural in social settings? What makes you not use that approach all the time?

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No Time For Fishing

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” –Lao Tzu

This ancient proverb is often trotted out as proof that the best help we can provide to our fellow man is to equip him or her for self-help. The problem is we’d much rather utter the hollow platitude than to actually spend time living it. We want to hold others accountable for their actions but leave little room for compassion. We blame the poor for their poverty (unless they live in a foreign country), the jobless for their unemployment and the uneducated for their failure to take advantage of their opportunity.

Our answer to real human suffering is to tell everyone to suck it up and “attract” a better life. Teaching a man to fish implies a willingness to get your hands dirty and interact with another human being, really interact. You may have to foot the bill for the pole and bait and give up time to walk them through step by step. It may take more than one lesson and it may require you to adjust your teaching style to fit their needs. You may even have to give him a meal first so that he has strength to learn.

It makes me wonder if we say it but truly mean, “Dude, fix your own problems.” Equipping a man to live for a lifetime is noble and compassionate. Empty platitudes on the other hand, in my book, are not only lame but downright mean in the face of true suffering.

What do you think? Are we content uttering nice sounding phrases or are we really willing to take time to help someone in need?

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Personal Uses for Social Media

In my work with clients I spend a great deal of time assessing, developing and executing social media strategies for business. Yet, there is a very real personal benefit to social media and each platform offers something different.

In recent weeks, I had been largely absent from the social media scene. There were no new posts, or tweets, no links shared on Facebook or FriendFeed. It can be difficult coming back after an absence as Joanna Young recently detailed but social media was a huge help.

After my absence, I felt a little shaky, much like regaining your land legs after a period at sea. Facebook proved to be a nice launch point to regain my balance. The smaller, more intimate nature of Facebook proved less demanding. I could give a thumbs up and never say a word. I could have discussions about ice cream or ants and others happily jumped in with comments.

I viewed photos and read status updates which helped me to regain that sense of connection. I had felt so alone for so long, but somehow less so as I enjoyed what was going on in the lives of my Facebook friends.

My business only accounts on various networks including Twitter gave me an opportunity to stay plugged in and share without having to explain my absence in other places. This helped me remain productive and relevant even in my silence.

Skype allowed me to have one on one conversations for business and personal. It was much easier to focus what energy I had on one person at a time, and each conversation left me feeling upbeat and useful.

Connecting with others is essential to our physical and emotional health. Sometimes it is not possible to connect in person and social media can fill or supplement that vital need.

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Saved by Hope

“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,

Therefore, we are saved by hope.

Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;

Therefore, we are saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.

Therefore, we are saved by love.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;

Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

Reinhold NiebuhrI recently went through a pretty rough time physically, spiritually and emotionally. I stumbled across

I recently went through a pretty challenging time physically, spiritually and emotionally. In the darkest of moments, I found that even a little bit of encouragement from a song, a scripture or even a quote turned the light on long enough to give me strength to keep fighting my way back to good health. I stumbled across the quote below and wanted to share it. I hope it uplifts you as it did me.

“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,

Therefore, we are saved by hope.

Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;

Therefore, we are saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.

Therefore, we are saved by love.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;

Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

~Reinhold Niebuhr

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What’s in a Name?

Since ancient times, many cultures have attached such significance to a name that it was believed to be integrally tied to the very soul and destiny of the human being. A name was a public declaration of not only what to call you but who you were.

Our names are not a label but our identity. During the ugly period of slavery, slaves were given names that indicated their job and their ownership. Future generations of African Americans attempted to reclaim their past and identity by giving their children names that were native to the motherland.

I was recently struck by the importance of names while reading I Chronicles. In the midst of a long genealogy, the bible tells of a man named Jabez. The name Jabez means sorrow but this man of sorrow prayed and received God’s blessing. I pondered my own name, and identity. Am I living up to my name? As I dream and plan will I live up to my name or surpass it?

Does your name fit your purpose? In biblical times, God often changed the names of followers to signify a new life and new destiny. No matter what we are called, we can choose our identity. Whatever you are called, wear it proudly and allow your legacy to determine how future generations will see your name.

As you move forward this month with your hopes and goals, what will you be called?

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Hitting Our Stride In June

Written by Karen D. Swim

I had to check two calendars because I did not believe it was true but it is June! Hard to believe but we are halfway through the year 2009.

It’s the time of year when we relax and reset. I spent the weekend taking time off and thinking about the things I want to accomplish this month. It was a perfect time to get a boost of inspiration from Alex Fayle’s Someday My Ship Will Come In e-book and widen my lens to believe for bigger things.

I also made time to just sit and watch the ducks frolic, the birds sing and blades of grass grow.

This month will be a mix of business and pleasure. Together we’ll explore tips and tools to help you reach your business and personal goals. We’ll make time for summer reading, and take some time to work on our writing goals. June is the perfect month to explore new writing markets, submit our work, create that info product, polish that website and edit that long neglected novel.

What are your goals this month? How can this community support you? Feel free to share in the comments or send me a private email.

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Hot Sweet Cup of Possibility

: Image by Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton via Flickr

Written by Karen D. Swim

Possibilities, shades of maybe, bouncing prisms of what if. Nerve endings tingling as you wonder, could this be the one? Blank page breathlessly waiting for ideas to caress. Fragments gently spill to fill the space, heart beats faster, mind and fingers rhythmically strumming the chords, pieces moving, transforming blank to creation.

Alas, work is done, satiated, deep breaths, luxurious stretch, languishing in the moment. Next step, are we ready?

Query, viewing, sharing. Anticipation, hope, not breathing, waiting for yes, eyes closed, kaleidoscope of maybes, cautious optimism interrupted by blissful expectation.

Accepted, chosen, hope realized, heart leaps, elation, fruits of labor, then back again to the blank canvas. Pens up, fingers attentive, ready? New day, fueled by what can be.

It’s Friday people, time to play.

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