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Quit Pitchin’ Teleseminar April 22, 2009
I’ve seen so much use lately of the Compelling Storytelling(sm) model lately that I thought I’d share how you can do it in your communications! Check out my Quit Pitchin’ teleseminar tomorrow or next Tuesday. E-mail me to reserve your spot.
Compelling Storytelling(SM) Takes Center Stage April 8, 2009
We Tell Stories won an award at SXSW. When I got my new Citi card in the mail, it was accompanied by a plug, “What’s your story? We’ll help you write it.” Have you noticed a greater prevalence of storytelling in the business arena this year? Dr. Katharine Hansen’s A Storied Career blog examines storytelling in all its forms. Dr. Hansen invited me to share more about Compelling Storytelling(SM); I enjoyed her questions (thanks, Dr. Hansen!). How do you use storytelling for your business?
Gafoodle! Make a Mistake and Learn Fast March 27, 2009
One day in my grade school orchestra, we’d been drilling different bowing techniques to control tonality. Tremolo, a sound that makes me picture my heart perched on a ledge, anticipating the return of a loved one. Legato, long, smooth bow strokes. Spicatto, bouncing of the bow off the strings. It takes control to make the bow produce these tonalities, while playing in time, while modifying dynamics, or volume.
The conductor-teacher noticed some timid students squeaking quietly on their strings. She stopped the drill, took up her violin, and tore across the strings in song — strong, controlled, beautiful. “If you’re going to make a mistake, I want you to make it LOUD!”
My big business mistake last year was a real bomb! But I fixed it. I learned from it. I’m a big believer in the fall seven times get up eight approach to life, to sports, to business. Can you lose the fear of mistakes and gain the ability to move your business in the right direction? What mistakes have you learned from?
CWIP Freelancers’ Panel March 19, 2009
Thanks for coming last night! Post your questions, comments, and resources here. I’ll compile any information that gets e-mailed to me and post it here early next week as well.
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3/26/09 Update
Panelists Christine Cupaiuolo and Kay Daly did an awesome job packing in a ton of advice during our light-speed, 30-minute moderated discussion, followed by a Q&A with the audience. Christine generously recorded our panel, “Innovative Marketing: Building on Your Success,” for all to hear. Act quickly; the link expires in less than two weeks. Meantime, I’ll work on getting it uploaded to my site for long-term listening pleasure.
Some resources I promised to look up and post include the following.
E-mail marketing and survey tools
- www.ConstantContact.com
- www.myemma.com
- www.MailChimp.com
- www.surveymonkey.com
Volunteer organizations
- iamepic.org
- www.createathon.org
- www.volunteermatch.org
- www.idealist.org
- www.chicagocares.org
- www.onebrick.org/eventdetails.asp?EventID=5850
Free press release distribution tool
- www.free-press-release.com
Finally, here’s a question that came in over the transom: “How can you avoid pricing yourself out of a project?”
You can’t! Let’s be honest. There’s no way to know exactly what you’re up against in a bid. I would make a few suggestions.
+ Don’t worry so much about pricing. Worry about what you are delivering above and beyond your competitors and make that happen. Consistently. Emphasize this in your bid.
+ Ask your colleagues how they price. For example, the Independent Writers of Chicago is currently surveying rates of its members.
+ Ask the potential client what s/he is looking to pay before you bid.
Try these and let me know if they helped. Feel free to post other ideas you encounter and more questions, too!
Word Choice, Nanobots, and Business Mission March 18, 2009
You’re probably reading this post’s title wondering how the heck I’ll make a connection between nanobots and word choice. Actually, when was the last time you picked a word for something you were writing, not realizing it had another connotation? From George Orwell’s Newspeak to 21st-century corporatespeak, buzzwords lose meaning because they are not specific enough.
Not to be confused with the nanobots of the imagination that can do molecular-level surgery, a nanobot also describes people who work somewhere other than a cubicle or office. Read more about the use of nanobots and contribute to the research study. Visit the researcher’s university page for nanobot study contact information.
I participated in the study; if you’re a virtual worker of some sort, you may qualify. Interviews are great times to reflect on and articulate your business and mission!
Upcoming Events and Interviews March 18, 2009
3/18/09 Moderating Chicago Women in Publishing’s marketing panel for advanced freelancers
3/27/09 My big business mistake revealed in interview for Examiner.com’s Chicago Business Skills Examiner
4/09 Thoughts on storytelling for Q&A at A Storied Career
Recession-Proof Your Business March 4, 2009
Can you rebrand your company, repackage your services, or adapt your operations (think online marketing and virtual distribution) to recession-proof your business? Consider these powerhouse business success stories as you brainstorm, and post your thoughts!
The Worst Networking Advice at the Worst Possible Time February 16, 2009
Lord knows we all need support and advice on how to boost business and our careers right now. CNN.com and CareerBuilder.com, your “Does your resume need new acronymns?” article starts on such a strong note.
“Especially in today’s business climate, anything that differentiates you from the crowd and emphasizes your commitment to your profession is career critical,” says Kent Johnson, partner for Davinci Search, a Minneapolis-based recruiting firm.
Differentiation = good. But then you go on to say:
“As hiring managers pore over the multitude of résumés for an opening, their eyes will naturally pick up those with the all important initials that trail their name.”
The point of confusion for me as a reader was the teaser link from your home page read:
Now, as I’ve posted previously, what makes us stand out from the crowd, what differentiates us is, well, how we are different. And I’ll talk about this more in my upcoming Compelling Storytelling(SM) teleseminar. But it’s important to note that what you say to stand out should change based on the person you’re talking to! Yes, Googlebots, resume scanners, and HR professionals love acronymns. But anyone else, as you note in the intro:
Have you ever seen “CMP,” “CQM,” or “PMP” behind someone’s name and not had a clue what it meant — or if it meant anything at all?
may not recognize those acronyms. Please, how many people really know what a project manager does even if they recognize the PMP designation? So, though I think the article is useful, I think the teaser and hook are not quite as tightly tied to the title of the piece as they could be.
Bear in mind that as we network — particularly for the jobs and opportunities that are hidden, not posted — we need to converse with people in their language, not our own.
Does the writing on most websites s*ck? January 19, 2009
37 signals thinks so. Readers agreed: this concise post got quite a range of comments.
What do you think could improve writing on the Web? For example, is it possible to write keyword-rich copy and sound authentic?
On a more recent post, 37 signals discusses user interface design, or in normal language, how the look of a website makes it either easy or hard to find what you’re looking for. A related subject is information architecture, or how the subject matter of your website gets organized and labeled. Interestingly enough, someone asked me last week if his website should use unique words in the navigation menu instead of standard words like “home” or “about.” Would this be a good way to demonstrate his company’s different approach? Not missing a beat, I said, “No!” Please, don’t make your visitor think twice about where to click.
In a world of chasing that high Google ranking, where do you think user interface design and information architecture fit in?
