Can’t: Wendy Piersall, Ann Michael, Inside Out

July 15, 2007 by Liz 30 Comments

The Story of a War

Sometimes I think of problem solving as strategizing a war. Maybe it’s because I read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Maybe it’s because my big, big brothers could win in any confrontation.

Usually I start out thinking I’ve lost. Then I rally, go on a quest, and conquer the enemy. Hey, it takes some thought to beat opponents who are bigger than you are.

Wendy, I Can’t

Thursday night my friend, Wendy Piersall. and I talked about the future over a glass of wine. I was explaining a place where I was finding myself . . . um, er . . . stuck. She said exactly what I needed to hear.

I artfully dodged her advice using the phrase, “I can’t, because . . . ” Hey, when you’re talented, you’re also talented at things like that.

Wendy: Blog what you do.

ME: It’s right-brain intuitive. I can’t.

Wendy: You? Liz Strauss? You can’t? You can blog anything.

ME: Don’t say that I’m arguing for my limitations.

Wendy: You knew I’d say that. You are doing it, you know.

The conversation stayed with me. It’s Sunday, and here I am telling you.

Ann, Help Me Test

Back to the story . . . She wasn’t buying my argument. Either I had to come up with a better argument or beat down that can’t. My brothers had taught me I never win arguments.

I was in the taxi headed home that night when I started to see the plan. I put the words together in a few hours. This is a quest. I called in Ann Michael last night and today to test my thinking on final tweaks before I went live with this post.

The Announcement

I am pleased to announce a new series. It will show you how to build a solid business strategy based on who you are. The series will offer down-to-earth methods and questions that bring business into focus. It’s time someone showed how to build a market view on concrete not sand. I’ll share models you can use to test decisions.

Tomorrow, the new series begins.

I call it

because it begins with your strengths, your ideas, your passion and builds on the customers who love what you do.

I’m jazzed. This is what makes my heart sing. This is what I’m good at. This is what the Perfect Virtual Manager does.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

How to Write an Outstanding Blog Post

April 28, 2007 by Liz 17 Comments

It Takes ALL of You

What does it take to write an outstanding blog post, one that I look back on months later and still think it’s the best I could write? months after I’ve gone on to write about other things?

Choose to write about your passion whenever you can, but when you cannot, be passionate about what you write.

I write the most outstanding blog posts when I bring all of me to the keyboard to write. All of me is the one who’s been writing for years and the one who still remembers what it’s like to be a kid. All of me means head and heart together in every word. It means taking time to make sure that I’m there. Here’s a way you might do that.

Before you even begin, STOP.

Reflect on what you want to say. Know in your mind what your message is. Try it on for size. Imagine what you want readers to know, want them to see, want them to feel in their bones.
Give those feelings spectacular words such as breathtaking, exhilarating, compelling, stunning, amazed, intrigued, or entranced. Imagine being a kid discovering this information for the first time. Try to capture the way it would feel.

Those two steps will connect your heart to your head. When you stop to breathe before you write, all of you will be there when you click that first key.

Capture the whole message before you edit what you say. Trust your mind and your heart to give you the right ideas first. Worry about the sentences and the words later. The ideas are what you want to share. Make the ideas big. Make them real. Tell your story by showing your readers what you want them to see.

Use your own voice. Make the words sound like you think. When you read the words through, read aloud and listen to how the words sound. Do they sound like you do? Do they have rhythm and music?

When the ideas are right and the voice is yours, then look at the sentences. Are they long and short? Do they sparkle and shine? Do they say what you mean? Do they feel right? You probably won’t need to do much.

If your heart is with you, don’t be surprised if you find yourself feeling passionate, even emotional, about what you write. To this day, I still cry when I read some of the best blog posts I’ve ever written.

How do you write an outstanding blog post?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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To My Friend, Wendy, the Inspired Entrepreneur

April 20, 2007 by Liz Leave a Comment

Yesterday at her blog, my friend, Wendy Piersall, wrote what she called The Biggest Blog Post of My Life. It started with these words.

Let me start at the beginning. Not at the beginning of this blog. Not even at the beginning of this decade. IÃ¢â¬â¢ll start at the beginning of my career. Why? Because this is a journey that has been tragic and difficult, exhilarating and amazing. I want to start at the beginning, because I want you to see yourself in this post. I want you to come with me, because I want you to write a post like this yourself someday, too. (Oh, God, IÃ¢â¬â¢m crying already.)

It’s a fabulous story about an amazing and intelligent woman, who is beautiful inside and out, who knows how to live her life with every bit of the person she is.

It’s a kick and an honor to know her. Won’t you go read her good news and join me in celebrating with her? Click the title below to read her story.

Congratulations Wendy, The Inspired Entrepreneur, Coming May 1

Wendy is speaking at at SOBCon 07.

Look Who’s Been Interviewed . . . Over at Joe’s

April 7, 2007 by Liz Leave a Comment

Meet the Real Wendy Piersall

Joe Hauckes had a chance to sit with the original, entrepreneurial Mom, Wendy Piersall, from eMoms at Home. They had a great conversation.

Wendy Piersall Photo and link to interview

Click Wendy’s picture to find your way there.

Thanks, Wendy and Joe!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Mini-Session 8: Blogging Beyond the Blogosphere

March 12, 2007 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

Guest Speaker: Wendy Piersall

We build our traffic and subscriber base primarily from other bloggers Ã¢â¬â but in doing so, are we unwittingly excluding non-bloggers from our sites?

We started our blogs to reach others with the value we can add to their lives. But we may not reach our goal if we stay too focused on each other in the world of blogs.

What can we do to ensure the welcome mat is out for all of our site visitors, not just our blogging pals? And how can we add value beyond the Blogosphere?

Thank you, Wendy!
__________________
Wendy blogs for eMoms and eDads on the life of work-at-home parent. You can find Wendy at eMoms at Home. –ME “Liz” Strauss
______________________

Let’s open the Q&A . . .

I’ll go first. Wendy, what can a blogger do to attrack non-blogging readers?

During the Virtual Conference today, you can take $100 off registration to SOBCon 07.

13.4 Glenda Watson Hyatt, the person I met

March 1, 2007 by Liz Leave a Comment

See What Is Right

Through this week, Glenda and I had a conversation, really, not an interview. She was open, authentic, and transparent in sharing the stories of her life and her publishing achievements. If were in my old job, I would have tried to find a way to talk Glenda into coming to work for me as work-at-home writer.

Glenda and I had a conversational interview — one question at time. I sent her a conversational email that ended with a question. She added to the conversation when she retuned the answer to the question. When the answer email arrived, I responded to the conversation and sent an additional question.

One exception to the one question at a time rule occurred.

Thinking Glenda might want to know I was going to ask this final question, I sent it early along with another, stating it would the the last of the questions.

I should have known that Glenda wouldn’t need time with this — that she would have the answer.

Here’s that question and here’s Glenda’s reply.

I’m sure that, as a woman with a significant disability, you find folks often focus on the wrong things when they meet you. . . . But then, I feel that sort of thing happens to me too. . . . If you could tell the whole world something once, have them believe you and understand, what would you tell them?

Despite my speech impairment, I am not deaf. I can hear just fine. And I am not cognitively impaired. I am an intelligent woman and I understand you, as long as you are speaking English.

Despite my cerebral palsy and my jerky movements, I have the same needs, wants, dreams and desires as anyone, as any woman. I do not consider myself courageous or brave for simply living my life and following my dreams. After all, what else am I suppose to do with my life? Other peopleÃ¢â¬â¢s misperceptions and assumptions are what limit me, not my so-called disability.

Look beyond what is wrong with me and see what is right. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks Liz for conversing with me in this way. IÃ¢â¬â¢m curious to see how it turns out.

You just explained the reasons I’m so glad to have met you. Thank you so much. I’m honored to call my friend..

–ME “Liz” Strauss