National Association of Women Writers: Create Your Very Own Passionate Writing Life

My good friend Sheri McConnell, founder of the National Association of
Women Writers, is hosting her 7th Annual Event on April 23rd and 24th.

This year's event is focused on helping you Create Your Very Own
Passionate Writing Life!

This event is completely free and even if you can't attend, make sure you sign up for the free audio files and our downloadable 2008 TeleSummit Workbook.

The NAWW 2008 Telesummit features:

(1) Sandy Grayson on Secrets to Getting Celebrity Endorsements–How To Get Fabulous Celebrity Endorsements for Your Business, Your Book and Your Products

(2) Sheila Bender on Hire Your Very Own Journal Keeper for Expanding
Your Creative Voice

(3) Larina Kase on Standing Ovation–How to Own the Platform

(4) Renée L. Duff, Esq. on Copyright And Your Creativity

(5) Linda Joy Myers on Creating Your Memoir

(6) Marcia Yudkin on Creativity on Call–Become a More Productive Writer

To register for this event, visit www.nawwtelesummit.com. Once you register, you'll also receive a free workbook that features great handouts and information from the speakers.

From Struggling To The Stratosphere: Top 10 Reasons Written Agreements Propel Your Business

Ah, the underutilized written agreement; a simple, 2-3 page form. The one document you'll be happy to pull out of your files should the need arise for legal enforcement. That's the extreme scenario.

What many entrepreneurs overlook are the benefits of written agreements that actually allow them to grow their businesses.

Here are the Top 10 reasons to create and implement agreements in the life of your business. You'll be astonished at the many facets of doing so.

Written agreements:

1. Portray you as a professional | Anyone who's serious about business understands that professional practices portray an image. If you have an established system of issuing written agreements any time you establish a working relationship, your image is one of the consummate business owner. Your clients/vendors/customers will take notice.


2. Build confidence in your clients/vendors/customers | When others know you always implement smart, savvy and reliable business practices, they feel safe and comfortable doing business with you. They come back again and again AND they bring their friends! You are dependable, skillful and have established systems in place -- like written agreements -- to ensure ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships.


3. Teach other business owners | We learn from each other. It's very likely not only are you providing a product or service, you are teaching your clients how to conduct their own businesses with a polished flair! It's an interesting dynamic: When we help others succeed and thrive, they want to help us as an expression of gratitude. This translates into invaluable referrals, references and testimonials.


4. Set you apart from other entrepreneurs who don't have written agreements | I've conducted business with many entrepreneurs and honestly, it is rare to be approached to sign an agreement. So, I draw up my own and have the other party sign. If you create a general agreement once, you have it forever! It's hard to imagine, but this one act sets you apart from 75% of other businesses! Don't you want to stand out with something so simple, yet professional?


5. Establish the foundation of your relationship | With a serious business approach -- like written agreements -- both you and the other party begin an arrangement based in clear communication. This benefits and serves both parties throughout the life of the relationship. If the foundation is solid you can easily work through any issues that arise.


6. Exhibit recordkeeping practices necessary for a thriving enterprise | Organizations that are, well, organized, are perfectly positioned for future growth. Growth from chaos is not stable. It's more of a fluke and won't sustain itself. Having written agreements assumes they are filed neatly for easy access later, should the need arise to enforce them. Good recordkeeping saves a colossal amount of time... time that is better spent growing your endeavor.


7. Allow you to be taken seriously | If you're a spiritual or spirit-based entrepreneur aka "woo-woo," it can be challenging to project a professional image because our services and products are not mainstream or well understood. Often we are not accepted within the business community as serious business owners. It's up to us, then, to make sure we manage our businesses with a polished and proficient approach. If it's not expected of us and we deliver, that makes an impressive and memorable impact. People will now treat you like the qualified pro you are.


8. Protect you with legal documentation | With agreements in writing and signed by both parties, there is very little room for misunderstanding. Should the need arise, you have a legal basis -- or grounds -- for preserving and protecting your business, reputation and interests.


9. Clarify the rights and obligations of both parties | This saves you time (time=money) because you don't invest time later trying to define or explain your understanding of the original agreement. You are also not in the vulnerable position of attempting to resolve misunderstandings without legal backing.


10. Eliminate worry | When you worry, you are not energetically free to focus on growth. There's always something nagging at you, quietly robbing you of the ability to be creative and move ahead to grand accomplishment. Can you begin to imagine what your business could be and how quickly it would grow with simple, yet meaningful systems already in place -- like written agreements?

The longevity of your thriving powerhouse-of-a-business depends on your commitment to doing what's smart -- like implementing written agreements. Doing so allows you the freedom and peace-of-mind to reach the galaxy of your choosing.

So, go on! Climb on that rocket and realize your dreams.

Introducing JOY! Phoenix

I know extraordinary women. In fact, I'm privately convinced the most dynamic women on the planet are in MY circle! Each has a personal flair, professional expertise and is divinely inspired. As a group they are committed to service in some of the most unique and colorful ways I've ever seen. Every day I'm grateful for this eclectic tapestry of friends, confidants and co-visionaries. Good company on The Path brings comfort, new inspiration, love and laughter. And JOY!

JOY! and I were introduced a few months ago. Since then I have come to deeply admire this philanthropic world adventurer who is the most daring and vivacious woman I've ever known.

Originally from New Zealand, JOY! now resides in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She is an internationally acclaimed life transformation coach and whole health practitioner trained in more than 12 modalities! She is pledged to a no regrets life of grand adventure bringing Awareness of Choice, New Perspective and Positive Resolution in all pleasurable ways for the greatest good of all.

Her personal mission statement is: "To make each life I touch, better for my having passed; and all life better for my being."

She made these choices after several long walks with Death following various accidents. Since 2000, she has been on "walkabout" (a spirit led journey with no fixed time or destination) in the Northern Hemisphere. JOY! travels the world as a keynote speaker, author and life coach, teaching personal empowerment, health and happiness.

She is currently finishing her latest book; Miracle Updates. Her last book No Worries, Mate! is available as a downloadable book on her Web site (See next segment for a FR*EE copy!). It contains a process that -- with a no hassles money-back guarantee -- eliminates all worry at its source.

This De-Worrying process is so simple anyone can do it, and so powerful that she used it to take her computer business from struggling to surviving in the spare bedroom of her Queensland home, to being the largest, most influential software support organization in Australia.

JOY!'s service offerings are hard to categorize because her talents are so diverse. In general she provides:

• Fast, easy, powerful stress management
• Effective techniques to conquer fear and doubt, eliminate worry and clear negative patterns
• Innovative and simple problem solving methods
• New discoveries/alternatives to drugs, chemicals & surgery

If you are ready to make dramatic positive changes in your life, JOY! can show you the fastest, easiest, most fun ways of doing it. She did it for me and she can do it for you, too!

JOY! is famous for her unreasonable success in helping people move through their challenges and into the lives they choose. Her unorthodox approach and the emPOWERment tools she has spent two decades accumulating, produce immediate, positive results... guaranteed.

As if that isn't enough (are you beginning to see what I mean about this lady?), she also offers other fascinating services including:

• Essential training in the art of face reading
• Healing for Healers (body/energy workers)
• EmPOWERment Tools Program
• Wish Granting sessions
• Keynote Speeches in her characteristically lively presentation style
• Time-sharing presentations for advanced productivity

As you can clearly see, JOY! is a wealth of accumulated knowledge. Take advantage of her many offerings to profoundly enrich and enhance your life.

For more information, visit JOY!'s Web site, call 044-322-129-1128 or send an email to joy@experiencejoy.com.

Sales and Marketing Expert? Me?

For spirit-based or conscious entrepreneurs, it can be a challenge to think of ourselves -- at least at first -- as salespeople or marketers. It's very common to want to be of service, first. Although that is a component, the bottom line is we're in business to make money.

My mentor, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, says, "For better or for worse, we are all in sales. So face your fears, gulp hard and get out there and market!"

Bold? Yes! True? Yes!

So how do we make this leap to becoming marketing and sales experts?

Step 1 Acknowledge and affirm your primary purpose for being in business; to make money. This one simple exercise will move you into a new space.

Step 2 Begin accumulating knowledge of sales and marketing. One of my favorite books on the subject is Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins.

Step 3 Apply this new information to your business in ways that make the most sense for you. The methods and approaches of others will never work if you don't modify them -- at least a little -- to fit your life.


The process reminds of a puzzle. You are trying to find the combination of pieces that, when applied, complete the sales and marketing income- generating picture for your inspired business.

Now, go get 'em!

Entrepreneurs Ask... What Is Copyediting?

To answer, let's start with a reference from the Chicago Manual of Style. It says copyediting involves both mechanical editing and substantive editing:

"Mechanical copyediting requires a close reading of the manuscript with an eye to such matters as consistency of capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation; agreement of verbs and subjects; punctuation; beginning and ending quotation marks and parentheses; numbers given in numerals or spelled out; and many similar details of style.

Substantive copyediting involves rewriting, reorganizing, or suggesting other ways to present material."

Mechanical copyediting is more of a science because most rules of grammar are absolute. In contrast, substantive copyediting is more of an art based on innate talent, training or a combination of both. A talented copyeditor effortlessly and simultaneously performs both types of editing unless the client specifically requests one type or the other.

As easy as it sounds to perform either editing task, both are arduous and time-consuming. That's why it's important to hire a pro so you can focus on growing your business!

Entrepreneur... First or Second?

Bill Gates is interviewed in my latest read; The Millionaire Zone: Seven Winning Steps to a Seven-Figure Fortune by Jennifer Openshaw.

When embarking on his career he realized the importance of making the distinction of being a software developer FIRST and an entrepreneur SECOND.

He determined that he would become the best software developer he could possibly be and this had to be his solitary focus.

When I read this, I stopped, thought about it, and reread it several more times. I know exactly what he's talking about! And what an important mental distinction to make.

With so much emphasis in the media -- and all around us -- on entrepreneurship, the benefits being your own boss, the challenges of running your own company, etc. it's easy to focus in on the business part without remembering that first you are in business to shine as the best (insert the name of your driving passion here) you can be... not the best entrepreneur you can be.

Think about it; how do you respond when someone asks what you do for a living? "I'm an entrepreneur, " OR "I teach women how to sky-rocket sales by increasing the effectiveness of their marketing materials."

Entrepreneurship is a very broad description of your business setup. It speaks more to the structure of your endeavor. It doesn't indicate what you do.

If you first think of yourself as an entrepreneur, your attempts at success are broad instead of laser focused.

In contrast, if you first (and always) think of yourself as a marketing wizard (as an example) and aim to be the best marketing genius who ever existed, your daily actions and goals are subtly, but vastly, different.

Being an entrepreneur is not your goal. You're already that. You want to stand out as the very best -- and the only option -- when potentials seek your unique product or service. The more specific you are in your thought process about being the best, the closer to the target you'll be when you actually hit your goals.

Give it some thought. Maybe a minor switch in thinking is all you need to hone in on what you really want to accomplish in business... and that is to be the best darn (insert the name of your driving passion here) you can be!