Life on Avenue Z

I need your help, but then again, right now I need everyone’s help

This is another one of those posts that I really hesitate to write because it would be nice to live the myth that publishing my first book equates to instant success. But I’ve always tried to tell the real story here, even when it’s not so pretty. So here goes… Sigh… my business life was [...]

That’s all she wrote: A pictorial history as Avenue Z closes

This weekend I sent off the final file for the final project for the final client of Avenue Z Writing Solutions. Yep. That’s it. I retired from the copywriting biz to write more books and make a living speaking around the country. Or something. I haven’t really convinced myself that being a full-time author and [...]

Judging a face by its cover

I’m at the airport again, and I’m people watching, as I often do. Among the people traveling alone, see tense faces, frustrated faces, sleepy faces and occasionally someone who looks amused. It seems that when people are concentrating on getting somewhere, their contenace reflects their mood. And more interestingly, if they simply sport a blank [...]

A bribe just sounds so… tacky

It’s Saturday afternoon, and I’m sitting here trying to come up with, for lack of a better word, a bribe. I want to create a cool little freebie that I can offer as an incentive for people (umm — like you guys) to do all the wonderful things that help businesses in today’s world stay [...]

Accepting Exposure, aka What Will Seth Godin Say?

Butterflies in the stomach. My publisher is sending out what they call the Mondo Press Kits with advance review copies of my book, cupcake magnets and marketing material to about 60 people today, including THE Seth Godin, who not only has stopped by this blog a couple of times but who also contributed to [...]

And today’s crisis is….

Yesterday was my monthly hair appointment, and my stylist says, “So, how did that Big Thing you were worried about turn out?” My mind started jumping about… What Big Thing was on my mind last month? A speaking gig? The book? A charity event? I couldn’t for the life of me remember what I had [...]

Are your little problems a big waste of time? Join me for Fix-It Day!

I love all my little free tech tools and gadgets, but things break. I have a pro version of Xobni that isn’t hooking up with my account, so it only shows the free version. My Live Mesh file system is blocked by an antivirus program on my laptop, so the files don’t update. And I [...]

The First Book Giveaway!

Now that I’ve held an actual advance copy of the book in my actual hands, it’s time to start sharing! We’re giving away 10 copies of the book on Goodreads, complete with a cupcake magnet and other goodies! Enter to win the chance to be one of the first reviewers: bit.ly/U2Fgoodreadsgive

Has it been crazy busy where you are, too?

Oh boy has it been crazy here on Avenue Z. I’m finishing up a new site (www.askbethz.com), getting ready to release the book (should be out in late May, but you can preorder here ), settling into married life, coaching a running team… Today I’m flying to Houston for my first speaking gig with a [...]

Your elevator can stop on any floor, you know

My friend Sam dropped me a quick note on Facebook this morning: “How did it go?” I read the question via email without logging into Facebook. Immediately I assumed that the “it” she was referring to was my run last night, which, quite frankly, was pretty pathetic. Four miles total, but at least a [...]