Archive for the ‘launch’ Category

It Went Well

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

Yesterday was my film debut (ha!) over in Venice. Looking back, I still can’t believe that I wasn’t crazy nervous. It was very casual, and very relaxed. To be honest, I was more worried over what to wear (nice black tee with a mandarin collar and a deep v - with a cami - and some simple jewelry). I was comfortable and I’m sure won’t clash with whatever goes up on the green screen (he threatened that it would be zoo animals).

For the most part, I just talked about what blogging is and how businesses can use blogging to help get their name out there. Basically, the same spiel I’ve been doing now for a couple of months. But way shorter and with less questions ;-) In fact, it went well enough that they even made the comment that it was “too smooth” and assumed that we must’ve forgotten something important - even though we answered every question that was asked. And as one would expect, afterwards I keep thinking of the many things that I forgot to mention or should have said differently. *sigh*

I should see a copy some time in mid-June. The DVDs are going to be handed out at the next meeting on June 7th (but I’ll be out of town) and at all the national meetings from this point forward. They won’t be hosted online, but they’ll be interviewing me again later for my own profile which will be hosted online. Either way, pretty cool.

Today, I interview Emira and Lauren the authors of The Boss of You. I’m just shy of halfway through the book and I have to say, I’m really enjoying it. It’s full of some great information, especially things to consider and plan before you hang up your shingle and call yourself a business. Which of course, many of us don’t even begin to consider until after we call ourselves a business. So my goal today is to write up some questions for them and finish as much of the book as I can. I’ll be recording a conference call via Skype, which is a first for me, so it should be fun.

Thank you everyone for your support through all of this forward movement. I’m so busy, but I’m actually loving it. Of course, it means I’m falling behind on reading my blogs, but I’m doing what I can. I’m usually reading along, just not commenting. And let’s not even mention my (seeming) lack of commenting here please. Just know that I feel the love and fully intend to reply to comments. Really.

PS - No Wordless Wednesday this week. No time to take any new photos. Through truth be told, I haven’t even moved my camera from the desktop in nearly two weeks. Yikes!

Moving Right Along

Monday, May 12th, 2008

I can’t believe how well things are starting to fall into place.  I honestly do see now that many times, it really is as simple as just asking.  It’s even better when the Universe works with you ;-)

I’ve got my headshot.  The hubs and I went out to the local park yesterday and took a few pictures.  My friend’s narrowed it down to two photos out of the bunch.  Today I cropped them down and asked my friends to pick which one to use.  So mark that task with a check!

My girl friend and I hit the mall for a whirlwind shopping trip for tomorrow’s video taping.  I came home with one pink and four black shirts.  I really feel most comfortable in the pink one, but I keep thinking that black would be the better option.  So I still need to try those on today for a final decision (I need to be in Venice tomorrow by noon).  Of course, the husband won’t really be much help since to him it will just be one pink and four, identical black shirts.  Men!  Times like this, I crazy miss my former roommate - then again, with a roommate, I might not have needed to buy something new thanks to the law of borrowing.

This morning, I chatted with a cookbook author hoping to convince her to become the food and entertainment expert on my site.  As she puts it, she’s definitely “intrigued” and that’s a good start.  I think after BlogHer, I’m going to focus on redesigning the site.  I’m ready for it to take on more of a magazine like look.

Wednesday I’m interview the two gals behind the book, The Boss of You.  My review (and giveaway) copy just got here about an hour ago.  I can’t wait to start reading it.  Believe it or not, this is a book that I’ve anxiously been awaiting publication of (and then forgot about until I saw the gals’ blog tour).  Once I was reminded of the book, I wasted NO time in contacting the publicist.  I’m that excited.

This will also be my first interview that I’ll be conducting via Skype.  So I have to work today on setting up my account and downloading the appropriate recording software.  I’ve used Skype for skype-to-skype calls before, but never as an actual phone line.  It should be interesting.  Of course, I’ll also need to decide if I want to transcribe the interview or edit it for an audio/podcast thingie.  Mind you, I still have Liza’s audio that I need to edit (ASAP dammit, that interview was nearly 6 months ago!!)

So now, I think it’s time for me to step away from the computer a bit and get busy.  I’ve got a lot to get done over the next couple of days (including getting my new website up and writing some giveaway materials…yikes!)

Happy Monday y’all!

Looking For Advice From Those More Experienced

Saturday, May 10th, 2008

The other day, I was asked to speak on my area of expertise for a DVD that will be handed out at upcoming networking and training events.  I’m not so much worried about what I have to say (though I am hoping I can do so without a plethora of “ums” and sound confident - you’d think that years of being a DJ and teacher I could at least talk clearly and professionally, right?).  Right now, I’m more concerned with what to wear on Tuesday.

It’s going to be conducted in front of a green screen - so blues, greens and aquas are out.  I think I’ve heard once that you shouldn’t wear prints.  But other than that, I’m at a loss.   Should I go more “professional” or will I do fine with a classic look of jeans and a tee?  Or maybe a nice blouse or cardigan set? Should I wear black and call it a day (we all know that I have tons of black) or should a wear a color that I know flatters?  Pants or skirt or just screw it and go with a dress?

HELP!!! I’m really a bit out of my element here. Anyone with more experience with this have any ideas???

Then I had some great news again yesterday.  I was invited to take part in an online radio talk show.  This is kind of cool.  I need a decent, professional-like photo for this.  The hubs can easily take and edit the photo, but I don’t really know, again, what I should be wearing or where we should take it.  I need to do this today since they want it up on their site prior to the June 9th show.  FWIW, we have Griffith Park nearby, so an outdoor shot is easily doable, but it’s hazy and overcast and we don’t have any lighting tools.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I Wasn’t Expecting That: Take II

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Holy Cow!  I was just contacted by one of the networking groups I joined.  First they asked me if I could be their expert at the next meeting, but I have my friend’s wedding that same weekend.  Well, he just responded back to me now inviting me to be their expert on a DVD they’ll be distributing at their local events.

How amazing is that?!?!?  Definitely not something I would have ever expected.  Now I wonder, can I be eloquent under pressure????

Not What I Was Expecting

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

But wow!  I just had my first, full-fledged phone call with a public relations gal.  She was pitching me her clients (and one of her best friends) and wow, they’re some fun and interesting women.  Now I have to sit down and figure out just how to reach out to them and utilize their expertise for my site.  We’re talking a cook and multiple cookbook author, skin care line creators, kid clothing and bath products, you name it.

I’m also reaching out to a batch of authors that I’ve recently become aware of.  Hopefully I’ll get some cool interviews out of it.  I have to say, without blogging, I don’t believe I’d have learned about so many new products and new authors.  Totally awesome!

I’m really excited.  It could even be giveaways galore! This is an amazing opportunity I’ve got. Now I need to create a plan on how best to present it to my membership.  Whew! It’s amazing what can happen when you focus and well, just ask.

And speaking of good authors with some great advice…have you heard about Wear Clean Underwear?  It’s a book on estate and family planning - half story, half guidebook.  Perfect for moms and dads to use to ensure that they’re doing all they can to care for their kids should something happen to them.  It’s not the easiest topic to talk about, death, but it’s still something that needs to be done.  So check out her book - if you buy now, I believe she still has some amazing gifts ($1000s worth) available with proof of purchase.

Friends

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

I’ve been thinking about friendships a lot over the past few days.  I’ve decided that honestly, I’ve got the best group of friends that a gal could ask for.  That includes my old friends, my new friends, my online friends and my biz related friends.  Each and every one of them are just wonderful.

In the past six or so months, I’ve really had some awesome support from my friends.  When I went through that crazy stalking shit, they were right by my side.  When I started my own biz, they were there to support me.  And now that my friends are going through some things of their own (separation pending divorce, new business jitters, being up for an entreprenurial award) you better believe that I’m right there for them!

I think my favorite part of friendship is when we can get together (or over the phone or blog or email or whatever) and just share ideas.  To just talk about what’s going great or might not be working in our lives or our business, and share those out-of-the-box ideas…awesome. Nothing can pump this gal up more than chatting with her friends.

A week or so ago I reached out to a newish, biz-related friend (a fellow LWLer).  I had a question about being an expert (Millie) at our upcoming LIVE event.  When she replied to my email, she not only addressed my particular question, but she also said that I should give her a call because she had some ideas about my business.  She had unsolicited ideas to help me make my business a success…Come on, how great is that?!?

I think it’s a great thing when we can all stop thinking about others as our competition and just show support when we can.   There’s more than plenty to go around.  I like to tell folks all the time that if they like me, they’ll like my friends.  Expanding on that, if you like the way I do business and help you, then you’ll also like how my friends do business and help those they know.

There are so many little things in life to be grateful for.  At the top of my list…my friends!

WooHoo!!! Gotta Love Twitter!

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Thanks to Twitter, I’ve made some new business friends.  In particular, I really enjoy reading and learning more about Guy Kawasaki.  If you haven’t yet heard, Guy and his friends have started up an awesome blog aggregation site called Alltop.com.  Within the site itself, various blogs are divided up between different categories.  The categories are then even further divided up.

Well, take a bold step (and doing something totally out of character for myself), I shot Guy a DM (direct message) on Twitter and asked if it would be possible to get my site listed in the Women’s section of Alltop.  I just received confirmation that he’s accepted and it’s done!

I’m so excited by what this will mean for my site.  I mean so many more people that until now have never heard of my site will now be reading it!  And as one would expect, there’s a trickle of fear involved as well.  Hello…I need to have some good content on there if I expect folks to keep sticking around.  But I’ll just throw that out into the Universe - good content, good writers, good commenters & good giveaways - and know that it will be provided for me.

Heck, I don’t doubt that this all came from my recent cleaning and organizing trend.  Not to mention the focused intent I’ve had going on lately.  I’m so grateful that things are moving forward like this.  I just love knowing that you get what you ask for.  As Michael Gerber said a while back in a teleconference I was listening to…if not me, than who else?  So why not me, right?

Why Do We Wear Belts? And Other Random Thoughts

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

I bought one for the first time last week.  My girlfriend kept giving me a hard time for my (brand new) jeans being too big and my always pulling them up.  So I figured what the hell, I’ll buy a belt.  Um…why?  I mean I love that my jeans now stay up and joy of joy, they don’t drag on the floor any more.  But what’s the point if my belt keeps riding above the loops of the jeans and sticks to me?  I’ve already loosened it as much as I can.  Any looser and well, no need for the belt.  I just don’t really get it, but oh well.

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Onto the next topic…crazies on the road!  No really, each time I went out today, some crazy driver did something stupid or totally inconsiderate.

At the farmer’s market, all these big SUVs that barely missed scrapting the ceiling of the parking garages would crawl like a snail through the garage, taking forever.  The would inch over the speed bumps, hanging out their windows hoping they won’t scrape the ceiling.  Maybe they shouldn’t park in parking garages then.  And when I finally did manage to find a parking space, I have to pass it by since some SUV took up all of their space and some of the space next to them to park their monstrosity so it’s not like I could park after all.

At the grocery store, same weirdness.  First, some kid on a bike, talking on a cell phone total whizzes by completely disregarding the 4-way stops that the we all have to stop for.  So you go to make your turn, at your turn, only to have this kid, not paying attention, yammering away on the phone, blow by so you have to slam on your breaks.

Then when it’s finally time to park, I pull into the lane, empty spaces on both sides.  The gal in front of me turns WIDE making me think that she’s going to park her itty bitty car on the right side, so I wait to park on the left side.  She starts waving for me to go around…hello, spots on both sides here, I’ve got on a blinker, either way, I wouldn’t be going around.  I motion that I’m taking the spot on the left so I can’t go around, she pulls up, then proceeds to back into the space on the left.  What?!?  Two spots, wide open on the other side, and yet she still feels the need to swing all the way, nearly into the spot only to back into a space on the left.  Whatever.  I was parked and out of my car before she even managed to finish parking.

On the way home, some chick decides not to take the turn on the yellow and sit through the red.  That’s fine, no need to risk a ticket or whatever.  But she doesn’t even pull up to the line.  She’s half a car length away.  I toot my horn and motion for her to move up so that I can make the right on red (totally legal).  Nothing.  I wait a minute and toot again.  Again, nothing.  One more toot, the passenger in the backseat turns to look at me, I motion to move up, I’m already half into the turn lane so it’s not like they don’t know what’s going on.  Again, nothing.  I give up.  Right before the light changes, she finally pulls up to the line and I pass to make my turn.  The woman is glaring at me.  What?!?

So yeah, seems like there just might be some crazy, inconsiderate people on the road today. Don’t even get me started on our wacky neighbors and how little they understand the basics of street parking.

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And today’s much happier and final topic…I found workshop space!  I kept telling myself that since things with LWL took off so quickly and without my thought behind the process (it’s all about timing), that I was going to spend the month of May figuring how to get more business.  In particular, how to find the right space to teach workshops.  Well, I seem to have lucked out yesterday and found a whole slew of affordable (and local) spaces.  Can’t wait!  Things are really beginning to take off and I’m loving that feeling.

Must Blog. No Energy.

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

I had a blogging presentation with a group of Beverly Hills mom-prenueurs (and you know how I hate that term!). Overall, things went quite well. I also noticed that having a pricing chart made things much easier since the ladies where able to see what the different packages entail when it comes to beginner blogging. Nice.

Then I started feeling the twitches of a migraine trying to work it’s way through. I crashed for an hour thinking it might help, but I still feel it niggling about. Hopefully some food will help.

Remember a while back I briefly mentioned some varmints in our ceiling or floor in the (what would be the) dining room? Well, that’s actually what woke me from my nap. Turns out now they’re scratching away at the wall in our bedroom. I guess I need to let the landlords know.

Okay, off now to find food. Return one of the shirts I bought for the hubster. Find an affordable & cute black patent purse (dammit!) for the wedding in June. Track down some pretty petal shoe-thingies. Don’t be surprised if I come home with some new makeup. I’m just in that sort of mood!  Tift Merrit show at the Troubador tonight.  Woohoo!

What Do You Need to Know Before You Buy Your URL?

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Okay, I twittered this, but 1) I haven’t blogged yet today and 2) I’m hoping to get some more answers still.  So here goes…I’ve been asked to write an article about what one should know before even purchasing a business URL, let alone start up a website.

This is a big deal since many people immediately run out and buy a URL because their starting up a business and wind up spending a lot of money they don’t need to spend: paying more for registration, paying for services that you don’t need, spending more on a website than is needed, etc.  So I’m hoping for this to be more of a tutorial/how-to sort of piece.

So I ask, any suggestions for your fellow webbies and bloggers?