Successful Blog

10 Life Lessons for Reinventing Yourself

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Annie Galvin Teich is a wise woman, whom I’ve known for over a decade. She’s be a friend, a business colleague, and an advisor. In the past two years, she has changed paths and joined us on the Internet. I’ve asked her to share some of what she’s learned in that extraordinary transition.

10 Life Lessons for Reinventing Yourself
by Annie Galvin Teich

Two years ago I was suddenly faced with an opportunity to change the course of my life and career. I’ve launched two businesses and three websites with varying degrees of success. These are some of the things that I’ve learned:

  • People don’t do business with companies. They do business with people they like. You can and will be surprised by how much support you’ll find in your personal circle – business colleagues, industry acquaintances and, of course, friends and family.
  • It’s all about connections. Your definition of success will morph and change as you meet and learn from others. The opportunities that appear along the way are usually a function of who you know.
  • We are stronger than we think we are. When you have passion, conviction and determination, you can bounce back off the mat. Sometimes all it takes is a hot bath, a cup of tea or a nap and you’re ready to go another round.
  • People are kinder than we think they are. Don’t make assumptions about people. Sometimes they are just waiting to be asked to help. Be nice.
  • You don’t have to imagine your future in detail to create it. Many of us stop ourselves from taking a gamble because we don’t have what we think we need to be successful. It really is okay to move forward without these things as long as you understand that the destination can change.
  • Getting up every day to work hard at moving forward creates its own momentum. It is impossible to work 10-12 hours a day for 6 months or 2 years without getting somewhere. You may end up somewhere you didn’t plan, but that is usually okay.
  • Friends keep you honest. They know you; they love you; they support you; they pick you up when you’re discouraged; and they keep your ego in check.
  • If you think you understand how much work is involved, triple it. Click your heels together three times and repeat after me!
  • Backing up to go forward is often a wise thing. Sometimes you find that you’ve gone off on a tangent that, as compelling as it was, is not taking you in the right direction. Part of this new learning is realizing that you are not always going to make the right decisions. As the GPS navigators say, “recalculate.”
  • Being able to laugh in general and at yourself in particular is good medicine. This new landscape you’re creating is exhilarating and scary. But you have to keep it in cosmic perspective. Laughter is good for you. Don’t take yourself or your learning moments so seriously that you can’t have a good chuckle. Life is too short.

It has been a remarkable journey.

You’ll find Annie at The Teich Group, New Publishing, and Crazy 4 Kids Books.

Thanks, Annie! You still inspire me with what you take from life!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Writing, Words, and People We Have Known

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I've been thinking . . .

about writing, words, and people.

When I write I am alone. No one can help. Every word needs to find its way from inside me. Yet. . . .

Every word comes touched, moved, expanded by the people I have met, interacted with, and loved. Those who have been in my life are inside, around, and through everything I write. They are present even in those bits I think are only about me.

I see every person I have ever known. All I’ve learned is in every word.

I cannot write today’s thoughts without revealing yesterday’s history.

The meanings of our words reflect the people we have known.

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5 Simple Rules for Getting Great Guest Posts for Your Blog

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An Email

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A call came. Actually it was an email, it asked whether I might have time to help a blogger who needed a guest post on his blog. The request was honest and cordial.

I got that email. I had time, and I agreed.

I’m always intrigued by the opportunity to write for a new audience about new ideas. Mashing my ideas with a new venue is fun. It brings back the risk and the thrill of blogging. Guest posting always seems to inspire a blog post I wish I wrote for here — which is a good thing. Please check out the blog post I wrote.

Are you wondering why I wrote that post for him and not for you?

5 Simple Rules for Getting Great Guest Posts for Your Blog

So you might be wondering would the same technique work for you? Well, it might. If you want increase your chances of getting me or another blogger to guest post on your blog, follow these simple rules.

  • Ask with a smile. It’s an honor to be asked. It’s not nice to be ordered. Give a blogger a chance to be generous. People like to be generous.
  • Be yourself. Don’t pretend. Make the request in your own voice as you might invite someone to an event you’re planning. If you’re asking a blogger who doesn’t know you, explain why you’re asking. A honest statement of your thoughts is impressive. Don’t sell the idea or exaggerate your esteem. Bloggers can tell if you actually read their blog or just say you do.
  • Offer some ideas. You know your audience better than anyone who is guesting ever will. You know the best place where your guest might make the best contribution.
  • Allow time. Bloggers are busy people. If you offer enough to time do a good job, any blogger is more likely to say “yes,” to you offer.

    • Be gracious. If for some reason, the blogger can’t say “yes,” be pleased that he or she took the time to consider your request seriously. Your response to a “no,” could the first step in a great relationship. It lets the blogger know that you can see things from his or her point view.

As I write this, I’m about to ask a select group if they will consider a guest post on my blog in the near future. You can bet that those are exactly the things I’m going to do.

Have I left some key points of this list? Feel free to add them.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Holiday Bloggers' Block — What to Get to Let Ideas Come to You!!

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Get Out of Your Head!

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When people speak of writer’s block, often what they mean is that they don’t know what to write about. Without that goal, they can’t get started. It happens to bloggers too.

Whether we’re writing a single blog post or setting out to start a new blog, we have to know what we’re planning to communicate and the direction we want that communication to go.

In other words, we need something to say.

Get some help . . . by letting the ideas come to you.

  • Get out of your head and away from your computer. Ideas form and grow in our subconscious — quit thinking. The harder we try to access ideas the less likely we are to get through.
  • Get moving. Physical movement — walking, taking a shower, unpacking boxes, cleaning the refrigerator — gets our thinking mildly distracted by tasks we know how to do. That releases our subconscious — the proverbial back burner — to use the information we already have to think something new.
  • Get some input. Call a friend. Read a book. Go to a movie. Immerse yourself in something rich with thoughts, story, and color. Leave the quest for ideas back with your computer.
  • Get some perspective. Go back to read your archives, even if your blog is only one month old. You’ll see how you’ve grown and while you’re reading, you’ll remember what sort of ideas draw you in.
  • Get some sleep. Take a 20-minute power nap. Don’t sleep longer. It’s not an escape. It’s a task. Before you close your eyes, ask yourself to have a passel of ideas when you awake.

Ideas tend to hide when we try to hunt them. Those we find seem shallow and less than appealing. Ideas and people have that one huge thing in common. They’re easier to work with when they come to you.

Get it? Good.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Related
Don’t Hunt IDEAS — Be an Idea Magnet
Got the Idea. Now What Do I Do with It?
Finding Ideas Outside the Box
Eye-Deas 1: Have You Started Seeing Things?

In Case You Missed It: Writing 06-13-07

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Take a Peek

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Vovo over at Business Traffic Ideas threw this idea to me. He caught it from Patrick Schaber at The Lonely Marketer who spotted the idea originated by Matt McGee over at Small Business SEM.

The thought is that so new subscribers in recent months might like to know about posts from times gone by. So with that in mind here are a few worth a peek — all about writing.

  1. Are You a Writer? 7 Traits that Writers Have in Common

  2. 10 Reasons to Write and Publish Every Day

  3. Love at First Write: 5 +1 Steps to Your Authentic Writing Voice

  4. The Problem with Writing . . . 25 Things to Know BEFORE You Write for a Living

  5. The 9 Rights of Every Writer — Peer Pressure Is for Jr. High School

  6. Content or Copy: Ignore the Difference at Your Own Risk

  7. 10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments

  8. Writing–Ugh! 10 Reasons to Get Jazzed about Writing

  9. Why Dave Barry and Liz Don’t Get Writer’s Block

  10. Turning Reluctant Readers into Loyal Fans

  11. Bookcraft 2.0: 12 Cold Truths about Publishing and The 2 Proofs Every Publisher Wants

  12. 9 + 1 Things Every Reader Wants from a Writer

This one is on writing. Another will follow soon.

Hope you find it helpful.

Let me know if you think a favorite is missing from the list. Thanks!

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

A Walk in the Zen Moonlight

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The Moon and the Lake in My Mind

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In a week of too many things to do, it’s easy to get lost. It’s even easier not to want to be found. I see lots of folks feeling like that. Not me, no never, never me. Wouldn’t cross my mind. Wouldn’t happen like that.

I don’t get pulled. I don’t get stretched. I can handle the rush. I can handle the push. What else is strength of purpose about? It’s tied up in my need to show up, to find out, to be alive.

Does living mean we need to be strong, noble, and inspired every minute? Sometimes I do my work and think What do I do next? What do I expect of myself?

Then when I’m lucky, I hear music playing in my head. It’s an original melody. I know its movements by now. It’s a full orchestra — brilliant and breathtaking. It also means I’ll soon be going on a Zen walk.

I mentally grab my jacket. I put my wallet and keys in my jeans. It’s a quick good-bye. “Hey, I’m going outside. . . . Yeah, I know it’s raining. That’s okay, I’ve been wet before.”

I’ve no destination beyond the elevator going down. Soon enough, I’m out the glass front doors.

I walk south three city blocks. Three people jog by me on the sidewalk. Two more stroll. An old lady in a walker chair sits in the doorway of a stately building waiting for a ride, maybe her son, to pick her up. There’s a 30-something guy with a shaved head walking his big black dog with the caramel eyes. Lots of cars pass on Lakeshore Drive.

A neighborhood is where I live. I cross under the drive and come out by the lake. All civilization is left behind. Vast space, water and sky refresh my eyes. What a relief.

Sometimes I only need to change what I see.

I lay down my stress and look up at the sky.

The Zen moon in my mind enhances the symphony playing there.

Some folks say they can tell when I write at night. I bet they can.

People get more emotional when the sun has moved on.

I don’t have research to prove that it’s a fact of life.

I don’t need proof.

I have the Zen moon shining in the night sky.

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