What Can You Learn About Life (& Business) From Two Tiny Yoginis?

You know those rare periods — in your household, your work, your life — where things somehow hum along smoothly, defying all your expectations? We occasionally experience this kind of harmony at our house… very occasionally. Take a look:

"Double Down Dog"

Last week, my mother-in-law sent my girls a really cute set of kid yoga cards (Barefoot Books’ Yoga Pretzels), where the poses (many of them for partners) are illustrated and give some basic information. While I tippety-tapped on the computer, the little buggers ripped right into them and got down to business.

They were like little circus performers — the big one would read the card, and issue instructions to the small one. The small one would speedily and happily comply, doing exactly as she was told. Then they’d break the pose and scurry back to find another one to try, over and over. I’ve never seen them so focused on something together — and I was shocked at their capacity to study, understand and replicate each pose. (I think plenty of adults would have trouble with this!)

No, I don’t think they’re on their way to yoga fame, or to full-time ashram living. But as I look back on that afternoon, I recognize that I could learn a few things from my tiny yoginis:

• When good leaders know how to motivate those they lead, they can accomplish great things. The big one knew that to get her little sister’s cooperation, it had to be fun. She used her best big-sister voice, coaxing and coaching her along, and gave her her full attention. And when they triumphed, they celebrated together — dancing, hugging, giggling.
• Embracing your place in the world — rather than railing against it — creates harmony. The little one knew full well she couldn’t be the leader in this game. In fact, she’s pretty used to accepting the big one’s authority on nearly everything. Their sister hierarchy will surely change as they get older and develop their own interests, but for a few moments there, everything was clicking.
• Learning can happen in the unlikeliest of places. Whether it’s kids learning about the world by stretching on a yoga mat, or mommies learning, stretching and growing in cyberspace — it pays to stay open and ready.

You never know where your newly acquired knowledge might take you.

Celebrating together.

Post-holiday card regrets

I know there’s no law stating you must send out a holiday card every year. But knowing how fun it is to see how everyone else’s kids are growing, I usually succumb to this holiday pressure.

Tilt your head to view our holiday cards. I've wasted an hour of my life trying to rotate this pic, and have given up!

But this year was different:

• I was slammed with a (very welcome) freelance project.
• My car’s engine light — having been on for nearly a week — finally prompted me to bring it in for some holiday cheer: we now qualify for a brand-new transmission! We struggled all week with the dilemma — do you dump $2,000 into a car worth $3,000?
• For some reason, I felt it was critical to make gifts of chocolate bark with pumpkin seeds, sour dried cherries and roasted pistachios for babysitters, teachers, family and friends.
• Oh yeah, and a triple batch of Swedish pepparkakor with piped icing for my daughter’s Around the World dessert bash at school. (And I’m not even the Swedish one! I’m an American mutt: half English-Irish-Welsh-Scottish-Dutch-German, half Italian-Polish.)
• I had to pack for a cross-country holiday road trip with my family. Emergency kit? Check. Enough food & water to sustain us if we slid into a snowdrift and weren’t dug out for a week? Check. Entertainment options for all? Check. Christmas gifts, including those secret and magical ones from Santa, to remain hidden at all costs? Check. Plenty of darling outfits for my two young girls, who normally prefer the Mismatched & Weather-Inappropriate Collection by Homeless Harry? Check.
• We’ve just lived through a year without a commission check. While we’re very grateful to be gainfully employed while so many people are being laid off and losing all their savings (not to mention their homes), it’s been a bit of an adjustment. So if I’m going to go out of my way to save $1 on laundry detergent, you know I’m going to think twice about spending $200 on holiday cards, postage, etc.

So, I made up my mind not to do the paper cards this year, opting for an e-version instead. And I felt great about it. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I was also making an eco-responsible choice. Such a good, green, tree-hugger I am! (Never mind that it was the bulleted list above that drove my decision. Details!)

The Swenson 2008 E-Card.

But, now home from our long trip, this morning over coffee I had the pleasure of going through our mail from last week. Have you ever read ALL of your Christmas/holiday cards ALL at one time, without stopping? It felt like a trip down memory lane. As I tore open envelopes, saving those with return addresses I thought I might be missing, I held each card and letter — some bright and shiny, others hip and sophisticated, some quite funny — and I thought of each person who had taken the time and effort to send these beautiful greetings to us. One came from a friend who has been battling lymphoma all year, and its good news of remission brought me to tears.

That’s about when the gratitude hit me.

As “The Wonder Pets” blare in the family room for my happy, mismatched girls with bellies full of Honey Nut Cheerios, I am grateful for my family and friends. I am grateful for our beautiful home. I am grateful for my sweet, hard-working husband and best friend of nearly 16 years.

I’m grateful, and I’m looking forward to the new year and all it brings. For at the end of 2009, I get to read what the year has brought to those I love.

And this time, I think I’ll stimulate the economy and send a real, recycled paper card from the Swensons, too.

“Tooting” About the New DIA Toy Store.

I say “toot,” but maybe it’s more of a honk — anyway, it hardly matters at Kazoo & Co., the incredible new toy store at Denver International Airport (Concourse B, upper mezzanine level). The place is a feast for the eyes (hello, parents with a long layover and bored kids), and a great place to pick up that “little something” you promised your offspring. High quality, creative toys… definitely worth checking out.

Kazoo & Co. at Denver International Airport, Concourse B/Mezzanine Level

Why am I bothering to write about this new place to spend your money? Well, Kazoo & Co. happens to be owned by one of my favorite people (and entrepreneurs) in the world, Amanda Waters. After many years of success in the cheerleading uniform business (I believe she was VP of sales), Mandy took a step back and re-evaluated.

It wasn’t long before an entrepreneur was born. Her first venture at DIA, Four Seasons Jewelry & Gifts (located just a few doors down from Kazoo & Co. in Concourse B), began as a concept designed to “celebrate the beauty of nature and allow travelers to take some of that beauty home with them.” I love her space — it’s well-designed and actually relaxing (thanks to the stone wall/water feature), and they take great care of their customers.

Anyway, I had to toot. (My six-year-old would giggle at that one.) Best of luck to you, Mandy! Your hard work and dedication to making your vision a reality are an inspiration to me.  –LCS

My Twitter addiction… the social-media learning just never ends.

So have you been on Twitter? I’ve been “on” it for quite awhile now, but just recently have begun to really get hooked. For a long time in my social media catch-up journey, it was all about Facebook for me. And now, my friends, I’m afraid it’s Twitter.

I’ll admit it: at first I didn’t really get it. What could I say of relative importance in 140 characters or less? And even more perplexing, who on God’s green earth would want to read it? It seemed weird to me, so I walked away from “micro-blogging” for awhile.

But after getting set up and engaged on Twittermoms — an offshoot community of “moms who tweet” that I really enjoy — I came back. There had to be more to this than first met my eye. I started searching for people to follow, and did a little research.

What I’ve Learned About Twitter

I soon realized that what you tweet about doesn’t necessarily have to be “important” or ground-breaking. Scores of Twitterers are out there tweeting about what they just ate, how a hangover feels, walking their dogs, parenting, triathlon training, you name it. And their followers are merrily replying to those tweets, having a great time.

But there are scores of others who are really workin’ it, trying to tweet their way to business success: “Check out my new post!” and “Look at our awesome products!” and “Visit our website!” (Yes, I’m one of the guilty ones, out there promoting my writing.) And that’s NOT a bad thing, by the way.

But listen: I’m only following 76 people so far — and they all seem like fabulous folks. But I have to say that I am sort of inundated by the volume of information I’m seeing on a daily basis. How do you suppose a business can hope to stand out from the crowd?

Turns out, there is an art to Twitter. “No, REALLY?” you might say, sarcastically, rolling your eyes. (If you know me, you realize that even though I’m late to the social media party — I was busy having babies, living under a rock for a bit there — I am making up for lost time as I on-ramp back to life as a freelance copywriter. Have you seen my latest On-Ramp article on WorkingMomLifeline.com? I am shameless.)

At ANY rate (sheesh), I’ve compiled Six Twitter Tips for Business that you can either a.) read and consider, or b.) skip over in favor of a bathroom break. I’m OK with either. Here we go:

1. Blogging and other forms of social media are all about sharing with and helping each other. (You know, being “social.”) So make sure you only tweet about yourself (or your products & services) about 50% of the time if you can help it. (I learned this one from a great, free teleseminar put on by Zable Fisher Public Relations.) Along those same lines, participate in the process — check out others’ links, and let them know what you think about them. It’s a reciprocal thing.
2. When you’re not talking about your business, you can “re-tweet” others’ ideas or posts — to build your community and share ideas that are not purely self-promotional, and, according to a great NYT article by Sarah Milstein, to show respect for people in your field. You see this all the time in tweets that start with “Re-tweeting @someone’s name” or “RT @name.” (Thanks to social media expert Amy Pearre Dunn for pointing me to the article!)
3. One of the Twitter experts on the Zable Fisher call, Julie Roads, emphasizes that you should “be authentic.” This is how you can stand out from other commercial Twitterers — develop and use your own real voice, not your sales-y one. Make the product/service message almost secondary — a “soft sell.” (When you’re winning new followers at a rate of 50 per day like Julie, you’re doing something right.)
4. Another of Ms. Milstein’s tips: “Engage customers. Run contests, solicit feedback and thank customers for supportive messages.” Makes sense: we all love a chance to win a freebie, we really love to be asked for advice, and we reallyreallyreally love to feel like we’re not a number. “What, you noticed me and my little direct message?” Win friends and influence people!
5. Chris Brogan, perhaps the original Social Media Maven, posted 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business back in August. I loved #18: “Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.” Hear, hear!
6. And Mr. Brogan’s #48: “Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them.” And even respond to them — many companies are successfully using Twitter as a customer service tool, like Comcast and Dell.

That’s about all this beginning blogger can manage for today. As I read back over this post, I realize it’s like one Giant Re-Tweet. So as long as I’m tweeting, I should probably take my own (re-tweeted) advice and pay homage to our human connections via social media. How about a Halloween picture of my kids?

Hope that’ll do for now. Looking forward to your comments… take care.  –LCS

Ms. Steinem in our midst, and it’s a MAN getting us all verklempt?

Actually, yes. And he was just darling. I’ll get to him in a minute.

But first let me say that last Thursday night, I was lucky enough to hear Gloria Steinem speak in a small community center in Littleton, Colorado (I guess it’s one advantage to living in a battleground state). I won’t pretend to know her work very well (I’m more of a thirtysomething feminist wannabe than the real deal). But I do know a legend and a hero when I meet one.

(I got to shake her hand! Shakily. I was a little starstruck.)

But no need — what an even, calming presence. Under a low-key (but chic) exterior, Ms. Steinem exuded warmth to every human in the room. All the way to the back. In fact, those in the back kept creeping forward, listening carefully to her every word.

In a way, it was a shame that a show of hands revealed a roomful of early voters — and Obama supporters, at that. (Yay! Woo-hoo!) After all, as Ms. Steinem noted, “This is the first election in my lifetime in which people aren’t just choosing to vote. They’re fighting to vote.” Chills down every spine, without a doubt.

But she took it in stride, and instead framed the evening a different way: by giving us all the task of telling a handful of others who hadn’t voted about what we’d learned that night, whatever it was. (Yes, I should have written this days ago; it’s my civic duty, even if no one reads it but my mom! Love you, Mimi…)

As a sometimes-rabid (and always opinionated) consumer of political news, I admired her grace and seemingly sincere acceptance of all worldviews — but without compromising on what she believes we deserve in our leaders. Like the ability to govern for the greater good, rather than promoting one’s own narrow agenda.

She said something like (and forgive me for very possibly mangling her quote, since I couldn’t scribble fast enough on the two teeny-tiny name tags I was using for paper): “I have no problem with Sarah Palin being a born-again evangelical. I don’t care if someone is pagan. What I care about is whether those beliefs are reflected in their policy and their actions in office.”

Hallelujah! Can I get an ‘amen’? (Just kidding. But I sure did love the way she said that.)

In fact, I loved a lot of things I heard last Thursday. And I’m more convinced than ever that Senator Barack Obama will be a great leader for our times. But while I don’t fool myself into thinking I can really make a “difference” with one blog post, I know I can at least convey a little of the inspiration I felt as I listened.

I mean, here is a 74-year-old woman — an American feminist icon — who has dedicated her life to us, in a way. Here is someone who questioned the status quo, and who dared to speak out publicly. Again and again. I can’t imagine the courage that requires. And now — in this historic election — standing up and pitching in, taking responsibility for clarifying issues that matter to voters, women and men, outside of the political machine. Encouraging people to talk to one another, even if we don’t agree.

Really amazing stuff. And on top of that for me, a great evening spent with an old friend whose political engagement inspires me. We even got to drink wine!

At any rate, I know it’s time to pay off my title and talk about the cute gentleman I mentioned at the top of this post. He was maybe in his 60s, and had been eagerly waiting his turn to speak. As hundreds of female eyes finally turned his way, he stood in his white t-shirt, sweater tossed aside in the heat of our non-air-conditioned space.

All he wanted to say — and you could see he’d been waiting a lifetime to say it — was that Ms. Steinem’s book, “Revolution from Within,” had affected him deeply. He said, “I’ve been wanting to look into your eyes and tell you — that book touched my soul.”

And as he touched his chest for emphasis, obviously choked up, I think we all got a little verklempt. It was an emotional response perfectly appropriate for the occasion… and for the significance of what we’ll be doing this Tuesday in electing a new president.

I just hope that the next time I get that feeling, it’s out of pure jubilation at an Obama victory.

Training Inspiration + Little Brown Mile Markers: Lost and Found

As can sometimes happen, I found myself in a bit of a funk last weekend. After a long week of intense focus on networking, writing and learning new things professionally, I think my brain just shut off in exasperation. On top of that, I’m dealing with a tough situation personally, and all of a sudden the world just didn’t look very rosy anymore. (This is rare for me, an eternal optimist.)

So what to do? Call a sister, of course. (It’s like the Phone a Friend lifeline, only the result is usually an uplifting feeling… no million-dollar jackpots. I’ll take the uplifting any day.)

Sister S. told me I needed to get outside and take a run. Even though it was a gorgeous, sunny fall day, every fiber of my being said, “No! We want to wallow in our misery.” Plus, since the triathlon racing season ended, I have been — hmm, how to say it? — LAZY. But, since it was naptime for the tiny one and my husband was watching my oldest, I dragged myself outside. And not just out my door for an easy 5K neighborhood lap… I somehow persuaded myself to run in nearby Waterton Canyon, a gorgeous place featuring steep, rocky cliffs, a deep, sparkling river, seasonal color and, on that day, a good-sized herd of bighorn sheep on the path.

Photo courtesy singletracks.com

I knew I was in for some pain on this run. After all, it’s all slightly uphill on your way in — just enough to wear you out more quickly than running on flats. I figured I’d run about two miles in, then turn around (I never claimed to be a distance runner) for some lovely downhill running. Only once I got started and pushed past the initial “ugh, am I really doing this?” — I actually started to enjoy myself and pushed on.

With a bright blue sky and cool breeze, I noticed that it was my favorite time of day, when the late-afternoon sun reminds me of honey. Thick and golden. I liked how the steep rock faces framed each new vista as I made my way around a bend. I shared the path with families out for a Sunday hike, mountain bikers pedaling up to the single-track trailhead, and folks carrying fly-fishing gear. Lots of smiling faces… and I truly did my best to smile back through the grimace that’s usually pasted on my face while running. (Have I mentioned it’s the feeling AFTER running that keeps me going?)

Don’t let me fool you. I only noticed all that crunchy natural goodness in between times when I was watching desperately for the next brown mile-marker post. I remember seeing one at Mile One, another at 1.5, and another at Mile Two. Where in blazes was 2.5? I checked my watch, calculating my pace. I’d either missed the last brown post, or someone was playing a dirty, rotten trick on me, a suffering-lapsed-triathlete-who-likes-to-think-she’s-tougher-than-she-is. So now I guess I was striving for the Mile Three marker.

I made a deal with myself: run to the next brown post, then turn around for a blessedly downhill walk back. Surely I could handle that. I focused on my form — leaning forward from the ankles (not the waist), arms bent, swinging forward and back (not side to side), head level, with gaze pointed slightly down. I checked my watch again… okay, thinking about running form took up a staggering thirty seconds. Now what?

Okay, I think, let’s try some intervals. I allowed myself to walk for 30 seconds, then ran hard for a minute or so. Did that, oh, maybe three times. WHERE IS THAT BROWN POST? Wait — is that it, under the tree ahead? Jog steadily, getting closer… no, that’s actually the tree trunk I’m seeing. Am I that wiped, that I could forget how the skinny vertical shape under a canopy of leaves is usually a trunk? Pathetic.

Of course, I finally reached the fabled brown post. I have never been so happy to see a little brown post, I don’t think, ever before in my lifetime. I turned gratefully around and realized I was completely alone on the path. Walking felt like heaven. I took off my ball cap, scrabbled my fingers through my sweaty hair and let the breeze begin to cool me down.

And that’s when I felt it.

“It” being the feeling that I can only describe as “All is Right in the World.” I’m burstingly happy, I see beauty around me, and I feel grateful to be a tiny creature in the world. I appreciate all my relationships, I see goodness in difficult people, and walking feels so good. Can a breeze actually make you feel beautiful? The one I felt that day did. Something about a headwind that makes you squint, even makes your eyes water, as your own two feet propel you down the canyon and your heart rate begins to slow… there’s no other way to explain it. I felt beautiful. (While knowing full well that my puffing physical reality then was oh-so-much-further from it than usual.)

I walked the three miles back to the parking lot and managed to hold onto that feeling for quite awhile. I meditated as I walked, keeping my mind open and free. I’ll admit I was chilly and stiffening up toward the end, but, as any athlete knows, it was a “good sore.” I looked forward to my long, hot shower and some yoga.

Well, that’s it — no keywords, no SEO. Just a little story of how a sister, a run and some brown posts in a spectacular canyon brought me up from a low place… and set me gently upright on the path to find my way again. I’m a lucky girl.

Dogs, Blogs & Tricks… part 3 in a series of 88 million how-to blog posts.

Well, maybe not 88 million. What I mean is that, although this is Part 3 of the how-I’m-learning-to-blog series I started writing… it’s become clear to me that Part 3 will lead to Part 4, and so on. (Duh.) In other words, I won’t ever really finish my story of how I’ve learned to blog… because the story keeps unfolding a day at a time, and — amazingly — the storyline just keeps getting better and better!

When I left off, I was extolling the virtues of my first blogging mentor, Julie Roads, of Blogging Roads and Writing Roads. One of the best tips she gave me wasn’t a tip at all — it was more of a giant boost in big-picture understanding.

Web 2.0, the Groundswell & Why a Blogger Should Care About What They Mean. Julie was the first person I’d ever heard use the phrase “Web 2.0.” Although she admitted that it can mean slightly different things to different people, my new understanding is that it refers to all the new social networking technologies and their effect on how people (and companies) use the Internet. Think of the earliest days of the internet as Web 1.0 — when we (adults who can remember things from more than 10 years ago) first became aware of it. You could look up some (but not all) companies, view their websites (back then they were like “brochures under glass,” not very interactive, and e-commerce was not a given), send emails to your friends. Woohoo! Gosh, it felt like at any moment, we might expect to see flying cars! (God, I sound old.)

Now, though — with sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter (& Twittermoms!), LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Digg, del.icio.us, YouTube — the web is a place where real communities are formed, people find and help each other, and you can literally buy (or learn) anything you want. Thus, Web 2.0.

The folks at Foresster Research who wrote Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (a book Julie insisted that I read… the girl is persuasive) take a broader view of what’s happening — they say it’s not just the technologies that are changing, but an actual shift in behavior online. Their definition of what the groundswell is:

“A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.”

They point to evidence of this shift, going back way before MySpace — “On eBay you buy from other people instad of a store. Craigslist lets you find a job or a babysitter without searching through newspaper want ads. Linux is an operating system created by engineers working together, rather than depending on a big company like Microsoft. Rotten Tomatoes lets you make moviegoing decisions based on reviews from other regular people. BitTorrent helps people get music from each other without going to a music store, just as Napster did in 2000.”

Wow. This perspective really blew me away, especially as a mom who’s taken some time off to focus on raising my kids. Now that I’m ready to get back in the game as a copywriter, the world is welcoming me back with unbelievable new information, new technologies, and entirely new rules of the game. What worked for me only a few years ago as a marketer is now almost obsolete. At first I thought, “Holy crap. I have so much to learn… how will I ever catch up?”

And on second thought, off I go. I’m diving in headfirst, getting my hands dirty, and putting myself out there to learn all I can. And really, what’s the alternative? I think that anyone who ignores these new technologies risks becoming a dinosaur at an early age — and to me, nothing would be sadder. How are you going to keep up with your kids? Do YOU want to feel irrelevant at age 50, when all signs are pointing to us having to work longer, far past the age of 65? I, for one, do not envision a future for myself in which all the good, stimulating work goes to younger, savvier people, and I end up a cashier somewhere just to make ends meet when I retire. I’m better than that, and I’m smarter than that. (No offense to happy & fulfilled cashiers, of course. I respect everyone’s personal work choices. Being a cashier just isn’t my choice.)

So, it’s one thing to randomly blog or tweet about what you ate for dinner. I guess that’s better than sticking your head in the sand and ignoring the world. But it’s another thing entirely to really and truly PARTICIPATE. (Another one of Julie Roads’ mantras, and a really good one.) How about, rather than forwarding those stupid good-luck chain emails to everyone you know, spend your time checking out the new social networking tools available to us? Comment on blog posts you like, Digg your favorite article, bookmark your new favorite sites on del.icio.us, review a product, contribute what you know to Wikipedia, get on Facebook.

Just become a part of what’s happening. It could be the best insurance you never bought.

New for working moms: WorkingMomLifeline.com!

Now, I know that I owe you Part 3 of my beginners’ blogging journey, complete with how-to tips and resources… and I promise to get to that later in the week.

Today, though, I am excited to share a bit of news — I have been invited to contribute a column to a fabulous new web resource for working moms: www.WorkingMomLifeline.com. The brainchild of Debbe Taylor and Allison Nazarian, WML promises to be the most interesting, fun and totally addictive daily online destination for working moms seeking real talk and a huge laugh. With a smart and irreverent attitude, WML will, at the same time, bring you tons of great ideas, advice and resources for working moms. Check it out, and tell all your working mommy friends!

Are You An On-Ramper? My future column will be under the Get Your Genius menu, and it’ll be focused on women who have taken a hiatus from (paid) work to have kids, and are now trying to find the “on-ramp” back to the (paid) working world. I’m currently looking for successful On-Rampers to interview — so drop me a line if you’re interested in sharing what you’ve learned. Pay it forward, and help other moms who need advice… if nothing else, it’s really good karma!

Old Dogs, New Blog Tricks… and Patience. (Part 2)

In my pro bono work for my friend, the jewelry designer (Wendy Seebohar of CnK Designs… check out her gorgeous, Sundance-inspired style), I have spent time on several mommy blogs who featured her work. I soon learned of the “mompreneur” trend – moms who are entrepreneurs – which was unheard of (or maybe just not labeled as such) a few years ago, but now is huge. Entrepreneur.com even has a Mompreneur Center, and a dedicated columnist, Lisa Druxman, who writes about the issues specific to being a mompreneur.

cnk-designs.com

One of Lisa’s articles from fall 2007, “Real Moms Do Blog,” points out that (at the time) “every day more than 1.6 million blogs get updated and 175,000 new ones get started.” By now, I’m confident those numbers are even more staggering. She listed several blogs supporting mompreneurs and women, including BlogHer.com – which is where I pick up on Part 2 of my personal timeline of the helpful people, sites, resources and how-to blogging tips I’ve come across:

BlogHer.com & My First Link (and How I Did it Wrong!) I was clicking around on BlogHer.com, looking for posts on time management for the work-at-home-mom set, and found a really interesting post by Paula Gregorowicz: “Freelancers: Avoid Being Consumed By Work.” In it, Paula paraphrased (and linked to) several other people, including Julie Roads, of Blogging Roads. I liked Julie’s take on the work/life balance myth so much that I subsequently linked to it in a post for my friend’s blog – but I linked to Paula’s post, not Julie’s. I’ve since learned a bit more about linking etiquette… and sure enough, I did it wrong. While I’m not sorry that I linked to Paula’s great article (I really appreciate her thoughts and perspective), I should have recognized that since Paula was paraphrasing Julie’s original thoughts, Julie deserved a link, too. Does that make sense? Now I know better, and I’ve done what I can to correct my mistake by posting an update. We live and learn!

Blogging Roads. The really cool thing about my giant faux pas is that I was exposed to a fantastic blogger and copywriter – that would be the (aforementioned) Julie Roads. I dove into her blog, enjoying her posts and her authentic, intelligent and very funny voice. The more I clicked, the more I admired what she was doing. Because she was sharing so much of herself, her thoughts and her blogging expertise, I started feeling a connection to this person I’d never met. It’s like I could suddenly see myself, a tiny speck much further down the road, doing something similar to what she was doing. So, of course, I emailed her.

I started out by sincerely complimenting her blog, which should be a no-brainer when you contact a fellow blogger for help. (It wasn’t hard, since by this time I was already a raving fan.) And then, basically, I groveled for her help. Yep. I put all of myself into this email. Really labored over it. I really, really wanted a human answer to my plea (please don’t send me to the FAQ again), so I found myself explaining that I was a mommy trying to get back into the writing biz after having kids, that (at the time) I hadn’t a clue about what “delicious,” “Digg” or “Twitter” meant, etc. I guess I was trying to present myself as a real human being needing help, and not some stalker psycho.

And, amazingly, she wrote back. Within hours, in fact. I was stunned all over again at the pure wonder of blogs, and at the goodness of people who are willing to help. From there, long story long, I made my first real blogging friend. Julie Roads is not only an immensely talented writer, but also a first-rate mentor with a truly generous spirit.

As you can imagine, my learning curve started flattening out pretty quickly once Julie pointed me in the right direction. Next post, I’ll share some nuggets from Julie… and there are many.

Do you have any to share? I’m all ears…  –LCS

Old Dogs, New Blog Tricks… and Patience. (Part 1)

In my quest to become a blogger-for-hire, I am finding that it actually takes a lot of work. (Gasp.) Yes, really! Now, because I am not a complete idiot and because I have been around the block more than once, I did realize that this would take time and concentrated effort. It’s just that the more I read and learn, well… the more I find I have to read and learn. It’s astonishing to discover the body of knowledge out there, especially when you haven’t been plugged in from the very beginning of it all. (Note that I do have a good excuse for my temporary leave of absence from contemporary society… it involved bringing two humans into the world, feeding them, clothing them, and attempting to imbue in them a sense of responsibility for themselves and the world. Big job. I’ll let you know when I’m done with that.)

Photo courtesy www.edmontonvet.com

At any rate, along the way I have run across some excellent how-to blogging resources. And since blogging is about sharing with and helping others, I thought I’d put them out there for anyone else who, like me, is looking to get started in the blogosphere and might be unsure of where to start. Likewise, if you have any how-to blog tips to pass along, please feel free to let ‘er rip! I’m forever learning, and I’m all ears.

The following people and resources represent a sort of timeline for my journey into blogging, so far. I have only “met” one of them, on Skype, for one hour. (Julie Roads, an amazing copywriter who’s turned into my mentor. More in a later post on Julie!) But the incredible thing is that I feel like I know them through their RSS feeds, newsletters and blog posts. (Lightbulb appears above my head. Bing!) In fact, I’ve learned a lifetime of Good Things from them all:

Zable-Fisher Public Relations. I found Zable-Fisher when I was Googling around one day, looking for free, DIY public relations resources I could use to brush up on my PR skills. (I was starting some pro bono work for a friend’s online jewelry business.) Located in Boca Raton, of all places, ZFPR turns out to be a legitimate, experienced and credentialed PR firm that focuses on small business. Owner Margie Zable Fisher is one heck of a promoter, utilizing all available technology and tactics — blogs, email newsletters, SEO-optimized website, free e-books, DIY PR Kit, you name it. In fact, by signing up to get her email newsletter (which is always chock-full of current PR opportunities and other nuggets), I not only received a free sample press kit — but I also learned of (and signed up for) a teleseminar they hosted, in which an SEO expert taught us how to create a WordPress blog, step-by-step. It was a total investment of around $35, and I can now say it was the very first thing that lit a spark… and soon ignited my newly found professional blogging obsession.

Nate Whitehill.com. Nate was the SEO expert interviewed in the ZFPR teleseminar I just mentioned, and is the owner/founder of Unique Blog Designs, LLC. I had some follow-up questions for him, so I checked out his blog and read a few (really excellent) how-to blog articles as I searched for a way to contact him. I eventually emailed to ask whether a stand-alone WordPress blog or one that’s installed on a website would be better for your SEO… and when he actually replied to me (recommending that the blog be installed onto the website) I felt like I’d just heard from Bono, or Oprah, or Bill Gates (maybe Steve Jobs since I work on a Mac)! I know it’s silly, but it was actually kind of a thrill to realize that even successful bloggers are real people who may even talk back to you when you initiate a conversation. This, I have come to understand, is the true beauty of Web 2.0. True interaction = real relationships, which can equal real opportunities to learn, share, understand… and much, much more. I have since signed up for Nate’s RSS feeds, friended him on Facebook and am following him on Twitter. (More on these Web 2.0 social networking sites & tools in a minute.)

Allison Nazarian.com. I first heard the term “blog ghostwriter” during the Zable-Fisher teleseminar on WordPress blogs, when Margie and Nate mentioned that Allison was a really great one. My ears perked up and I knew, instantly, that this concept would lead me in a new and all-consuming direction. Allison is the founder of Get It In Writing, Inc., and has been filling my inbox with countless tips for pumping up my copywriting for business. She’s awesome!

Next post, I’ll continue my timeline of helpful people, sites and how-to blogging resources. Hope to hear from you soon… —LCS