Vermont Shortbread Company

I'm Famous at Interstate Rest Stops (for writing)

Last spring I wrote a food article for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.  I also did the photography.  I just picked up the glossy, beautifully designed magazine (Vermont Winter Vacation Guide) at the Williston rest stop on I-89 and learned that you can also read it here.  My article appears on page 10.  You can turn the pages and read it like a real magazine.  If you really need the real thing, stop at any Vermont interstate rest stop and pick one (or two or three) up today. 

This was the most fun I ever had "working!" 

http://www.vtchamber.com/guide/VVG08eGuide.html

Call to Action: Looking for Independent Women to Interview for my Book

Recently I revived an old book proposal I had dreamed up a few years back.  At the time the idea was born, I was struggling financially, working about 70-80 hours a week, physically unwell, and my brain and heart weren't in much of a place for fun creative endeavors.  Frankly, it was pure hell.  I nearly lost everything including my home.  So creative writing wasn't at the top of my list of priorities. 

I am happy to announce that my labors are paying off.  I don't like remembering those times because they were terrifying, but I wouldn't change a thing because everything I've got now, I've earned independently.  Financial independence (the ability to support oneself on one's own no matter what the economic climate no matter what your relationship status) has always one of my top values.  I haven't been able to kick the corporate job yet, but my business is beginning to expand and requires me to hire part time help (and I've managed to attract some kindred spirits to help at that!).  I've actually been able to begin investing some of my income with my retirement and my daughter's education in mind.  While some may consider this a late start in life, I consider it a fun game of learning. While I don't want to perseverate about how bad things were 5 years ago, I also don't want to ever forget how humbling the experience was because it's what drives me more passionately than ever now. 

And it's what inspires me to rekindle my book idea. 

I've always been fascinated by independent women with a kick ass attitude who beat the odds and created a great business, career, or product out of not-so-great circumstances.  I suppose I am fascinated by these women because I understand the challenge of creating something new when one's brain is completely consumed with survival.  (Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own - "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is going to write" - rings poignantly with me as evidenced in my own dog-eared copy of the book.) 

I have a room of my own now.  So now, I want to celebrate truly independent women and tell their stories.

Here's what I'm looking for:

• women who of any age who are mothers and have created a wonderful business, education, product, idea, mission...whatever, when circumstances were extremely challenging and common convention said, "You can't do it."
• women who have the ability and courage to support themselves financially 100% (i.e., no alimony, no parental support, etc.).
• women with an outrageous sense of humor and ability to tell a compelling and inspiring story.

I have no idea if this project will ever be published or if it will just be a creative catharsis for me.  I don't care.  I have to write it.  Contact me at jsaz@gmavt.net if you want to know more about the project. 

Words as Gifts: Seven Ideas for Meaningful Holiday Giving

Here we go again; another frenzied season of consumerism is upon us. If you’re looking for ways to spend less and give more, consider a gift of words this year.

August 22 is National Punctuation Day

I'm so excited.  Punctuation is a subject near and dear to me and this guy sounds like a kindred punctuation spirit.  I think I may take the day off in honor of my colons and serial commas.

From the National Punctuation Day Web Site (www.nationalpunctuationday.com):

Think an ellipsis is when the moon moves in front of the sun?

My Blogging Goal

My goal is to turn this blog into an e-book about small business marketing makeovers.  I don't even know what that means yet, but I am having fun figuring it out.  For the past 3 months, I've been playing.  Just writing.  Just getting into the practice of daily writing, and believing that an outline for the book will make itself evident in due time.  The most important thing is to get into the practice of daily writing.  Mind you, I write for my full time living.  But, technical documentation just won't cut it here.  It's got to be free writing, straight from my own heart and brain.  And that's a bit intimidating.    It might not be perfect.  YIKES! 

Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way, talks about morning pages as a way to get the creative juices flowing.  Morning pages, for her, are three handwritten pages first thing in the morning.  Anything goes.  The idea is that between the lines of utter crap, you occasionally spot a gem.  And so it is with blogging.  I read through some of my entries and wonder, "What was I thinking?"  I read through others and think, "This is a brilliant nugget that I can develop for my book." 

Blogs provide a perfect format for e-book creation.  Using the categories feature, you can see an outline begin to emerge - naturally - as you categorize your daily pages.  The key is:  just write.  If you really hate it and don't want it out there for public consumption, then delete it.  That's the beauty of the technology. 

My goal for July was to post at least 50% of the month (that would mean 15-16 entries by month's end and I haven't counted to see how I'm doing yet).  My goal for August is to post daily and to begin to give some form and organization to my ramblings in preparation for producing the e-book.  Can I do it? 

Stay tuned.

I will do it. 

Seductive Copywriting: Contest

"Spellbindingly complex.  Deep, dark, intense." 

I'll give you a free shortbread gift box (flavor of your choice) if you can tell me the type of product and specific brand this description came from. 

No, it's not a sign on my office door, though I briefly considered stealing the product packaging and taping it on my door for my own personal evil branding experiment.    :-) 

ARTICLE POWER: Create Dynamite Web Articles and Watch Your Sales Explode by Dina Giolitto

I just bought my pal Dina's e-book, ARTICLE POWER: Create Dynamite Web Articles and Watch Your Sales Explode and I'm doing the happy dance (arms flapping and goofy grin) for Dina.  Here's why:

1. Dina's taken everything she's learned through article marketing trial and error and put it together in one 49-page, easy-to-read, easy-to-follow document. 
2. Dina clearly recognizes the value and power of teaming up on the Web to increase profits and traffic for all our businesses.   There's strength in numbers. 
3. Dina's writing makes me feel great.  It's straightforward, funny, smart, and friendly.  I trust what she says.  This woman's written millions (okay, well maybe almost 100) articles and is reeling in copywriting business.  She's humble, smart, and hilarious.
4. Dina makes me say, "Oh shucks, why didn't I think of that?"  The point is - we all have undocumented information floating around in our heads.  There are uninvented products (and multiple streams of income) in your brain that you haven't discovered yet! 

Regarding point #4, I had a big epiphany recently.  As a technical writer, I've spent most of my life documenting others' knowledge.  When I made a list of all the jobs I've had and all the areas in which I'm knowledgeable, I was flabbergasted.  I am one smart cookie (shortbread pun intended) and I'd better start writing.  It's easy, it's fun, and it's a surefire marketing win-win. 

Read Dina's book (it includes article marketing worksheets to help you plot out your first article) or contact me for more information about how to get started.  I'll bet you're a smart cookie too. 

Googling Myself

I can't help it.  I love to Google myself.  (Though why my name shows up on an Annie Potts Web site is beyond me.)  Anyone who is trying to build a Web presence is likely to be a frequent self-Googler. 

One cool thing I noticed today is that the articles I'm writing on ezinearticles.com are showing up very quickly in Google's search engine - usually about 2-3 days after I post them.  It's amazing free exposure.  I'll post more about marketing your business by writing articles soon.  Think of how much knowledge you have swimming around in your brain and how you could leverage it.  It doesn't have to be knowledge related to your work.  For instance, I was thinking about writing an article on knitting because I've been knitting since I was eight and I'm quite good at it.  Who knows what business CEO who loves to knit needs a great tech writer or the perfect corporate gift from Vermont?  He/she might read the article and say, "Oh...she's a knitter AND a writer AND a shortbread baker.  I have something in common with Ann and I want to do business with her immediately!" 

I'll keep you posted and let you know if it really works that way.

Get on the article bandwagon.  You'll introduce yourself to potential customers and get your name all over the Internet in a good way.  Get exposed.  Show your stuff. 

Just Me and My Snippet

I've been talking about the art of writing short blog snippets with several of my writer friends.  I still have this idea in my brain that every blog entry has to be a brilliant essay.  Brilliant essays are not necessary, but I am a writer, so even my snippets must be well-written.  It's my (short) bread and butter. 

How to make your snippets spiffy:

• Spell check.  Always.  Period.
• Read them a few days after posting.  Correct errors that you didn't see the first time around.  There's always room for improvement.
• Ask a provocative open-ended question that will inspire your readers to think and comment.  Example of a bad question: What do you have on today?  Example of a good question: How will you use this little gem of copywriting wisdom to improve your copy? 
• Avoid passive voice.  Use action-filled words wherever you can.
• Avoid the word very.  I've always believed that if you need to use very (e.g., very ugly), you can probably find a better adjective (e.g., hideous). 

Thus ends my snippet.  I am now going through my previous posts to eliminate all instances of very before one of my fellow writers chastises me. 

A New (Ad)Venture for Me

As most of you know, I've been a technical writer most of my adult life.  Playing the balancing act among full time tech writing, running Vermont Shortbread Company, taking care of my home alone, and being a good parent has just about sunk me at times. 

I am always looking for ways to combine my love of the written word with my love of gourmet food.  So, imagine my excitement when I met fellow wordsmith, Dina Giolitto, copywriter/entrepreneur extraordinaire based in New Jersey.  Dina and I seem to compliment each other well in terms of talents, skills and interests.  She is a huge shortbread fan  (I don't mean Dina's huge; her love of my product is!) and she's a fellow foodie.  We're cooking up a foodie Web site of our own to be unveiled soon at a browser near you. 

In the meantime, I've partnered with Dina and others to garner the combined expertise of writers from many genres so that we can all find new business.  Dina dreamed up www.wordbrains.com probably in her sleep and before I could say "Belgian dark chocolate" she slapped up a web site for this venture.  Dina's other home on the web is at www.wordfeeder.com. 

Stay tuned for more info on the foodie Web site. 

Oh, and by the way, I'm now moderating a foodie discussion group at http://fun-network.ryze.com/.   I call it the Foodies United Network (FUN). 

Happy 4th, all.  I mowed part of my field (it's about 3-4 acres of open field in all) and Winston sits eagerly licking his chops in anticipation of a tasty rodent uncovered by my tractor.  I'll opt for the standard hot dogs and burgers.  Yum.