Now she has trotted along the rainbow bridge to a new home. So glad that I have her photos with me.

Now I’m halfway across the country, in Sedona at a retreat with Susan Castle and Paul Bauer. So I received the news from home by telephone.

The powerful heart essence work that we do in the retreats with Susan and Paul is a perfect sacred container for the grieving that I will be doing for the loss of my boon companion and familiar, the little black dog who was my constant shadow for her nearly 12 years with our family.

I am blessed in so many ways, and I want to express my gratitude for the fact that I was sharing breakfast with my friend Kate McGovern at the moment the phone call came. Perhaps part of me sensed something. Or perhaps it’s just that we are, all of us, vulnerable. Anything can happen at any time.

The trust in those liquid brown eyes…oh my. The faithful devotion. The beloved member of the family who walked on four legs instead of two. She enjoyed a very good life and grew up with a family who found her one late summer day at the Anti-Cruelty Society. She found a home and love, and she gave equally in return.

Rest in Peace dear one. May you dig up peanuts and roll in luxurious grass to your heart’s content. Your pawprints are seared into our hearts.

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My coach and colleague, Molly Gordon,
has invited premium pricing coach
Dave Navarro to discuss why it’s
so hard for artists, writers,
visionaries, healers, and other
Accidental Entrepreneurs to set and get
good prices for your work.
You offer transformation:
Now what’s *that* worth?!

It’s a touchy subject that goes right
to the heart of issues about money,
value, and self-worth. Without the
right price, you can’t have the
security you need to make your greatest
contribution to the world. Yet getting
to that price and naming it confidently
can be a real problem. That’s why
I’m so looking forward to this Thursday’s
free conversation.

[Ready for answers about your pricing?
Go straight to the sign up page
by clicking: http://bit.ly/9LqIXT ]

I’m so excited about Molly’s
upcoming interview with Dave Navarro
on how to set and get premium prices
for your work. Dave is on the faculty
of this year’s Self Employment Telesummit.

In this no-cost preview of his feature
presentation, Dave will share:

*= The inspiration for his work around pricing.
*= The biggest challenges self-employed
people face around pricing, especially
after they’ve been working for themselves
for a few years.
*= The three avoidable pricing mistakes
that can cost you big-time.
*= What you need to know to be comfortable
(and successful) raising your prices.
*= The secret that makes your
price the *right* price.

WHAT: Premium Pricing Secrets Preview

WHEN: Thursday, August 19, 9:00am Pacific/Noon Eastern

HOW: Teleconference

SIGN UP: http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

If you already know Molly’s work, you
know she is deeply committed to ending
the epidemic of under-earning among
Accidental Entrepreneurs. And she’s
hand-picked Dave Navarro to hone in
on this topic to help you get over
The Hump from just getting by to
shining profitability.

To sign up for the call, head on
over to http://bit.ly/9LqIXT.
There’s no cost and there’s so
much you’ll gain.

Come, spend an hour with Molly
and Dave and shift your thinking
about pricing.

Warmly,

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

P.S.: This no-cost, content-rich call
is a preview for the 2010 Self Employment
Telesummit. I’m proud to recommend this
event and the telesummit as an affiliate.
I hope you’ll take a minute to learn more
about how the telesummit can help you get
over The Hump when you sign up for the
pricing secrets call at:
http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

P.P.S.: Can’t make the call?
Sign up anyway and Molly will
send you the link to the
recording.

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

P.P.P.S. Pricing secrets shared!
Don’t miss this.
http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

Hope to “see” you on the call!

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

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But I challenge you to take it up a notch. Realize that what you leave behind starts with your decisions right now, in the present moment. How about living your legacy?  With every word you write and speak, every choice you make, you can connect the decisions to the heart and soul of your deepest commitment and connection to the whole. Make the present moment your moment to, as Gandhi reminded us, “BE the change you wish to see in the world.”

As someone leading a business, you can make a conscious decision right now to make all your choices for the highest good of all concerned. You can even take it the next step to make your decisions that will benefit “all the children of all the species,” (a phrase I’ve embraced from architect and polymath William McDonogh) and for the greater good of Mother Earth herself.

Unfortunately too often what I see in business is a disconnect between what you want to leave behind and the in-your-face necessities of business. How many cut corners does it take for disaster to follow  — especially when the focus is purely on bottom line results?

You are sowing the seeds — right here and right now — of what you leave behind at some future date.  Every decision in the present moment has consequences through time. Is your business living the legacy that you intend? If it is, are you documenting the positive moves?

Maybe this month’s reminder to consider your legacy is a perfect opportunity to look at your personal purpose, why you are here on this planet at this tumultuous time.
*Is your deeply personal, greater soul purpose informing your business actions?
*Are you aligning your business and personal purpose so that you are making the difference in the world that you came here to make?
*Is your business fully reflecting the highest purpose of you, as the leader of your business?

Live your legacy every day in your business by making decisions based on your most heart-felt values!

Related Posts:

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• How Can Write Synergies Copywriting Best Support YOU?

If writing is not your main gig, then writing can eat up a lot of your time — especially if you tend to have perfectionist tendencies or try to edit as you go along.

Perhaps even worse than doing no outreach communications at all is creating poor, unclear, or hard-to-decipher written messages. If you are trying to make a point, but your readers (clients, customers, employees, vendors) don’t “get it,” then your time has been doubly wasted.

Poor writing can also reflect badly on your product, your service, your brand, and (if you’re a solo-preneur) on you!  Clear writing affirms your professionalism.  On the other hand, murky, clichéd, repetitious, jargon-y or error-filled writing does not.

It may be the digital age, but what fills those bits and bytes are — you guessed it — words! From 140 character Tweets to white papers, web sites, blogs, newsletters, press releases, catalogs, and the more than a million books published in 2009 — count it all up and that’s a lot of words.

Among that avalanche of words, how do you create a message that stands out? And how, out of all the possible written messages, can you serve and nurture your customer relationships? How about turning prospective clients into paying clients?

Did you know that an ongoing communication program, what some call a stay-in-touch program, can be your key to bringing in all the business you can handle?

There are many, many ways to use writing to grow your business, sharpen your brand’s visibility, generate fresh results, and open a two-way dialogue — starting with your own clear action-oriented messages — with your perfect clients.

Over the next few posts, we’ll look at some of the possibilities.

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Do your writing and business communications lack impact and pizazz? If your written messages are not getting attention, if your words are not moving your customers, clients, or employees to take the actions you are spurring them on to, if your results are suffering, then maybe it’s time for a messaging makeover.

Words are powerful. The right written words, even if just a 140 character tweet, can nurture existing relationships with clients, introduce your business values to prospectors (people looking for the types of products or services you offer),  and move people to take action to get to know you a little better.

While you might not get every one of those benefits from a single blog post or Twitter tweet, your communications are an ongoing affair that, like your relationships with your customers, require regular cultivation for long-term business success and results. In fact, cultivating your messages and nurturing your client relationships are two sides of the same coin. They are inextricably related.

Clear, focused, and articulate written communications are the foundation stones on which powerful businesses grow. You, as chief messaging officer, whether owner, CEO, or marketing leader, know the difference that the right words can make. But…
*Do you have the time?
*Do you have a trusted writing partner?
* … Someone who can download all your insights and polish them up to best serve your business, provide solutions to your customers, and expand your own inner development all at the same time?

There’s a greatness in the gifts you and your business are here to share and the service you provide to your perfect audience or tribe. The right words can build bridges between your vision that you are striving to achieve and the people you are here to serve.

If you’d like to consider a messaging makeover with a proven bridge-builder, then contact me directly at jasbjm (at) earthlink (dot) net to open a dialogue.

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

Related Posts:

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• Seeing with New Eyes
• Write Synergies: What It Means — Blog Challenge Post 25
• On Independence — Just Noticing
• Missive from Shangri-La

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.”
–Marcel Proust

What makes you “see with new eyes?”  In late June, I returned home from a week-long retreat just a short couple of hours’ drive from home.The retreat, in a beautiful, sacred space, was filled with radiant and divine people. It was a magical time out of time.

(And did you know that yesterday, July 25, was Day Out of Time Day, courtesy of the 13 moons, Mayan calendar?)

So from this June 2010 time out of time retreat, with people I’d never met, and yet who became like long-lost family to me, I hesitantly returned to my ordinary reality. But I returned with new eyes that saw the blessings in my life for what they were: true gifts of support in every way.

Somehow when I returned to our cozy house and expansive, lush garden, I saw what had been there all along in a totally fresh, and yes, radiant, way. Where we’ve lived, rooted, for more than two decades, shines with a renewed vigor and magic, visible through my newly polished eyes. I said, while on the retreat, that I lived in a Shangri La, although in the middle of urban Chicago. When I came home, that is indeed what I experienced.

In seeing with new eyes, I strive for maintaining consciousness, for appreciating the blessings, for stepping into each day as a gift. It is easy to appreciate. What is harder, at least for me, is to take the mindful action steps necessary to expand my presence within this holy, sacred space of my life.

Several weeks after my return from the retreat, we (husby, teenage son, et moi) ventured to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a preserved segment of Mother Earth tucked in between heavy smokestack industries on both sides. Lake Michigan was still cold, but the day was hot enough that the chill felt refreshing. I spied hawk flying over the beach twice, bent on some mission. The smell of pine tickled my nose as we walked along hot sands to the dune succession trail boardwalk through the preserved wild lands inland from the beach.

Counting my years along the shores of Lake Michigan, I realize it has held my heart for more than three decades, as I bask still in her flowing and liquid magic, a grateful acolyte to these central waters of Mother Earth.

I’d love to hear how you are seeing with new eyes. Take a look into your own life, your own backyard or treasure closet. What do you see when you look with new eyes? Where can you gain renewed energies from looking anew at what is familiar?

My friend and mentor Susan Castle is leading another magnificent, eye-opening retreat, this time within the sacred space of Sedona, Arizona. I’ll be there. I’d love to have you along! Retreat spaces are very limited. To learn about Susan and this opportunity for learning to “see with new eyes,” I invite you to step into her circle. Click here to learn more.

I wish you Abundant Blessings that are available when you are willing to see with new eyes.

Warmest regards to you,
from Bobbye Middendorf,
the Write Synergies Guru

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• On Independence — Just Noticing
• Missive from Shangri-La
• 50 Million Cultural Creatives Can Change the World

My friends/ colleagues/ mentors Judith & Jim
(Judith Sherven, PhD and Jim Sniechowski, PhD)
spent years struggling to understand what a real business is
and what all is involved to build one on solid ground…

They realized that it MUST start with a clear Internal
Understanding of what it is you are doing –
first and foremost for your
own sake — and also for your customers.

Most people struggle with this issue big time, but
never talk about it. I know I have.
Most people just hide their desperation
and misery  –  but Judith & Jim are doing something
completely different.

They’ve realized that clear understanding needs
to start with a clear Internal Marketing Platform!

That’s why I am inviting you to attend their FREE
Virtual Workshop this Thursday –

Register by clicking here

So You Can Get Clear About YOUR Internal Marketing Platform

There always seemed to be something missing with all
the well-meaning marketing and promo advice.
It’s this internal focus that needs to come FIRST is what
I’ve realized is key.  My coaches and mentors are sharing –
for the first time in a live no-cost workshop  — a true
self-discovery experience (It’s much much more than
Judith & Jim just teaching or training, as great as that is!)

It’s really all about  YOU . . .

*** How to discover, in yourself, what you need
in order to build and stand firmly on your own
successful Internal Soft Sell Marketing Platform ***

http://budurl.com/JJInternalPlatfm

They’re calling it

“Discovering Your Internal Marketing Platform”
It’s The Foundation of Your External Marketing Success

It’s FREE  –  So give yourself this gift — and
get registered now:

http://budurl.com/JJInternalPlatfm

It’s Thursday, July 8th, at 5:30 pm Pacific/8:30 pm ET

Judith & Jim will start by clarifying what a Marketing
Platform IS,  what it is NOT, and why it’s SO important to you –

And then you’ll experience a Marketing Workshop that’s
truly different from what you’ve ever experienced before.

Because Judith & Jim will guide you, taking you deep
inside yourself to help you discover and integrate
the important values and other qualities that will
serve as the basis for your out-in-the-world
marketing platform.

Remember, if your marketing platform does not begin
within, you can only stumble and fall, losing faith
and energy as you continually jump around trying to
make things work.

So make sure you are registered for this
FREE, life-changing event -

http://budurl.com/JJInternalPlatfm

AND you can certainly invite your friends and colleagues
to get registered too! That way you can share your
discoveries and support each other in moving forward
into greater success through your Internal marketing platforms!

“See” you on the call. I’m certainly going to be there.
As I like to say, “the inner journey IS the journey.”
Hope you will join me and my mentors in Soft Sell Marketing.

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Eleven years ago, right about this time of the summer, I too had reason to celebrate a personal independence when I stepped out of the corporate publishing world to create my own venture.  My journey over these 11 years has had ups and downs, but right now I am creating something new to lift the ceiling, so that greater possibilities open up like flowers before me and inside me and for all who choose to play in my circle. I’m raising my set point on good new stuff for myself and for the Write Synergies Circle that I am creating.

I completed 25 of the blog posts during the 30 day blog challenge convened by Jeanette Cates. Not bad considering I was unplugged at a retreat for 8 of those days. I received the “Mini 7″ award, which is completing 7 daily posts. I liked to joke that several of us completed multiple “mini 7s.” It was great fun shared with a cool circle of people. I truly appreciate everyone’s energies as we journeyed together. I look forward to the mutual support from this special circle of people as we move forward.

In Lake Geneva, as I reported here earlier, I fell into a circle of heart-full new friends. In Hawaiian, it’s called an “O’Hana,” or family. And that’s just how it felt. Energized from this gathering, and using it as a springboard, my process and creations are being magnified at an amazing rate.

Over the past year, I have been shapeshifting the copywriting I do. It’s not going away, but it is morphing as all living things do.  For those who can benefit from coaching, even if they don’t need the copywriting, I am adding Full Presence Coaching as a sacred listening space to support people on their creative and business journeys.   I realize that some people can benefit from entering into a sacred space as part of these Full Presence mirror conversations — a perfect way to metabolize the learnings that they are going through. Send me an email if you want to discuss the coaching option.

I continue to work deeply with Susan Castle, Paul Bauer, Jan Stringer, Alan Hickman, as well as my coaches Judith Sherven and Jim Sniechowski. It’s interesting to observe how the mentors most important in my life right now are committed couples. Just noticing, that’s all.

AND YET:  “Just Noticing” is absolutely crucial. Think about this. Act on this. Aim, for a week, to build “just noticing,” into your everyday life.  As I write this at the kitchen table in my personal Shangri-La, the crows visit. Crow has become one of my totems since I began noticing crow’s presence in my daily life at crucial moments over the past year. Crow, like the yin and yang bracelet I wear, symbolizes the unity of the polarities.

“Just noticing.”

See what you notice, then report back. What are you able to notice when you pay attention to what is around you? What about when you pay attention to the story behind the story? I look forward to your shared insights and stories.

Here’s to independence and noticing!
Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

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• Seeing with New Eyes
• Do You Know Your Internal Marketing Platform?
• Write Synergies, Sacred Synergies

Express your gifts’ value to others authentically, align your marketing messages with who you really are, and you will be creating the connections that resonate with your perfect readers (audience/clients/customers). That authentic connection is what your perfect people are seeking.

Think about it: What if they can only hear it from you? Now is the time to hone and refine your message and your voice to make the connections that your audience needs to hear–as only you can do it — from YOUR heart.

Authentic artful and heart-full communications that resonate with your perfect clients, customers, readers, and listeners are like the “magic wand” that can magnetically attract your perfect audience.

The art of marketing communication (copywriting, strategy, relationship-building) success hinges on you excavating and honing your authentic voice with a message that is aligned with who you are, expresses the heart of your project, and then can connect with your perfect audience.

It starts with a simple realization: All things being equal, people generally choose to do business with people they know, like, and trust.  In fact, they are often most attracted to people most like themselves.  What this means is that the more clearly you express YOU, the heart and soul of your venture or project, then the more likely you’ll connect with your perfect people.

If you are a visionary conscious creator, writer, soul-preneur, author, speaker, artist, or healer, then getting clear on who you are and what makes you tick can be the single greatest and most profound piece of marketing you can do to ensure your success and the long-term success of your project.

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Your book is your legacy. Are you ready? Ready to live your legacy? To own the greatness of your vision, message, or project? To express your gifts? To connect with your tribe, so that the people who need to hear your message can hear you?

The following Book Marketing Menu outlines for you an array of ways to add power, presence, and platform to your vision, book or project.

The following menu of marketing possibilities outlines the key elements for you to consider for promoting your book or other “info product.”  It’s an atlas of ideas and ideal if:
*You have a book coming out from a traditional publisher and want to understand the elements of the process.
*You want to create a marketing platform for your book that’s still in the works.
*You are determined to get the word out, even if it means doing it yourself.
*You want to use “Information Marketing” as the basis for building your community for your venture or idea, a non-publishing business.

Traditional publishers take certain actions to market your books. This is in addition to their strength of distribution into sales channels. The marketing activities listed here serve to support and enhance “sell-through,” that is, moving your books from store shelves into the hands of your ideal readers. Historically traditional publishers’ activities included the following.
(However, if you choose to become your own publisher or self-publish, then be aware that these responsibilities in the first category are now yours!)

Part One:  Congratulations! You Have a Publisher!
What might your publisher do to market your book to support its sell-through?
*Write trade catalog copy
*Create sales kits tip sheets—for sales reps/distributors
*Distribute to wholesalers, book chains, independent bookstores, libraries, & online outlets
*Include your book info on their web site
*Gather testimonials
*Create and mail (or email) direct response catalogs/mailers to targeted professionals
*Include your book in ads in book and library trade media
*Include your book in ads in professional journals/media
*Do direct response to niche consumers (most often done electronically)
*Send advance page proofs to review sources
*Write flap/jacket/cover copy
*Create and send new book press release/e-release to targeted media
*Develop a feature press release/e-release
*Support author tour, radio interviews, and other book/author publicity
*Get your book info correct, complete, and online  via book databases (BIP, Ingram, Amazon, etc
*Initiate special sales to associations/companies/specialty stores
*Go after subsidiary rights/international sales/translations
*Submit titles to relevant competitions, e.g., IBPA, ForeWord, IPPY, Nautilus, National Book Awards

Even with the best of intentions, publishers are working on many books and have limited time and resources. No one knows and loves your book and subject matter more than you do. Sometimes you’ll have to step into the breach and make things happen. The more you can solicit buy-in from your publisher, keep the team informed of your plans –and results– and get their support (to ensure distribution in a local area, for example), the happier everyone will be. Like it or not, you need each other.

Part Two: Must-Dos Whether You Have a Publisher or Not…
As Author, what is your role? What might you need to do to market your book?
*Any of the above that your publisher is not planning for your book (or is not doing in-depth)
*Go deeper into your contacts database, do more follow up than your publisher will provide
*Author speaking tour: seminars/talks/workshops at bookstores (chains, indies, relevant specialty/gift stores or other outlets–spas, hardware stores, etc.  — as relevant to your audience)
*Author seminars/talks/workshops at libraries
*Author talks /telephone conferences with book clubs/reading groups/niche interest groups
*Your own BRAND — author and/or book
*Your own book web site promoting your book, your expertise, your calendar of events, your media hits, other products available, a press room with news release, author and book images, free chapters downloadable
*Your own social media campaigns (FaceBook, Twitter, Linked-In, Biznik; Digg, Squidoo)
*Media/publicity results lists on your web site (where you’ve appeared)
*Author activities/speaking engagements/ where you’ll be listed on your web site
*Weblog (blog)—ongoing communications to your people (your Tribe); comment on related blogs
*Author tour – going to where your people are (your niche market)—either live or virtually
*Hire your own outside publicist for targeted activities (radio tour, specific cities, virtual tour)
*Reconnect with the individuals/organizations you were in touch with as you created the book—special sales opportunities? Getting access to their audiences? Joint ventures? List sharing?
*Create a sign-up box on your website to capture email addresses; then stay in touch via your electronic newsletter
*Online article distribution—“tastes” of the book or vision, with a resource box that drives people to your web site or the publishers (ideally where they can either sign up for your email list OR buy the book immediately)
*Free teleclasses – similar to author talks, but all done from home—Partner with like-minded marketers with a list to broaden your reach
*Author speaking engagements/seminars/consulting to associations, companies, business groups
*Ramp up social media presence to attract people to your web site to learn more
*Add value. Add value.  Add value.
*Create items of varying price points—(May be tricky if you have a traditional publisher, and didn’t retain rights for spin-offs)
*Create apps–iPad, iPhone, etc.

There are numerous steps under any of these categories. You’ll want to prioritize what you do best, what partners and support you need, and what you will actually do based on your own strengths, capabilities and needs. Then, take action. Just do it.

Good luck with your marketing and promotion!

Are you ready to live your legacy?
To add power, presence and platform to your message, to own your greatness (and your project’s greatness), to express your gifts, vision, and message clearly, so that you will make a resonant connection with your perfect tribe of readers, you may be looking for some support. If so, be in touch. We’ll have a conversation to see if there is a mutual resonance and a good fit.

Related Posts:

• Writing Your Inner Journey–Blog Challenge Post 14
• Heart and the Art of Marketing
• If you hate marketing
• Sometimes it’s a gem of truth
• Claim It with Love