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Posts Tagged 'linkedin'

Who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile: Is it a hoax?

If you’re a member of LinkedIn, no doubt you’ve seen the section in the right column, “Who’s Viewed My Profile?” Below that headline, it says something like, ”Your profile has been viewed by 900 people in the last 15 days.” And just to prove it, there is big fat number “900″ right next to it.

This is so smart. I mean, who wouldn’t be flattered to know that anyone actually read their LinkedIn profile, let alone 900 people? Can you resist the tantalizing question, “Who’s viewed my profile?” If you said yes, well, you are a stronger person than I. It reminds me of classmates.com’s pathetic attempts to woo me back by sending email after email (after I continually unsubscribed) saying, “Christy! Someone’s been looking for you! Upgrade to Gold Membership to see who.”

Uh, yeah, that sounds like a potential stalker to me, I don’t think so, classmates. Except maybe it’s not a stalker…maybe it’s someone I like who has not become one of the 500 million people who joined Facebook.

The thing is, Classmates.com and LinkedIn know our dirty little secret: Continue reading ‘Who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile: Is it a hoax?’

6 stages of the writing process for business and fiction

Published June 9, 2010 Business , Copywriting , Creative Writing , Marketing Leave a Comment
Tags: busienss writing, fiction writing, first draft, linkedin, revision process for writing, writing for business, writing process

Recently I had the pleasure of watching a really smart, motivated guy I’ll call Sam put together a presentation from scratch in a matter of days. I was there from the beginning to end, coaching him on, suggesting new directions and edits, watching as he shaped and crafted the content from a rough outline to a finished, polished presentation.

It occurred to me that this process was much like–no, exactly like–the fiction writer’s process. I am usually so enmeshed in the writing process myself that I forget what it’s like to look at it from the outside in. But the similarity of the writing process for business and fiction is uncanny. See if you recognize these six stages of the writing process:

STAGE 1: The Creative Spark. For Sam, it started with an email that consisted of the basic idea and eight bullet points. He was pumped! Confident he could complete the presentation in two weeks, he requested that we move thedelivery date up. Thankfully, we talked him out of that. Because once the initial excitement of the spark wears off, stage 2 sets in.

STAGE 2: Writing the First Draft. One week later, three of us gathered together impromptu to see Sam’s first draft. It’s important to note that we kept this group small and selective. First drafts are sacred and too much Continue reading ’6 stages of the writing process for business and fiction’

The #1 secret to being more creative this summer

Published June 2, 2010 Creative Life , Creativity Coaching Leave a Comment
Tags: bored kids, creativity, linkedin, summer boredom

Whether you make a living as a creative professional, you enjoy creative pursuits or you just want to infuse a little oomph into your family, work and play, there’s one secret ingredient to making it happen:

Let yourself be bored.

Yep, that’s right. Creativity and boredom go hand in hand. I was reminded of this when I read this Chicago Tribune article about slowing down and enjoying summer. I’ve heard myriad expressions to quash boredom in kids, ranging from, “Only boring kids get bored” to “Go find something to do.” But Kim John Payne, quoted in the article and author of “Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids,” makes a great connection between boredom and creativity. In the article, he says: Continue reading ‘The #1 secret to being more creative this summer’

How not to make a living as a writer (hint: content mills)

Published May 19, 2010 Business , Copywriting , Creative Life , Creative Writing , Freelance Writing , Social Commentary 9 Comments
Tags: Associated Content, cheap content, content mills, linkedin, make a living as a writer, writing for a living, writing for content mills

Here’s a headline from Fast Company that made the polish come right off my pedicure: “Yahoo Buys Associated Content, Scores 380,000 Freelancers and Boatloads of Cheap Content.” Is this what content has come down to now? A commodity that can be bought “by the boatload” and scored cheap cheap cheap? Like t-shirts? I see visions of content with Wal-mart “roll back” price signs. Good grief, is this seriously where we’re heading? Are we really this desperate for “boatloads of cheap content”?

Some of these articles can be bought for five bucks. Yes, you heard right! You can now buy a well-researched, well-thought out, comprehensive article for a little more than a hamburger Happy Meal (according to this Answers.com article, it might be $5.50 if you upgrade to chicken nuggets and a shake) and a little less than a cute pair of flip-flops. I can’t even get a pedicure to look good in the flip-flops for five bucks, I’d have to pay $40 for that. I could get a cheap bottle of nail polish for five bucks or less and do it myself.

Recently, a spate of LinkedIn group discussions have sparked this debate about content mills like Demand Studios which pay, oh, let’s see, as low as five bucks an article. Inevitably you get the content mill writers defending content mills: but we get our work out there! We get “exposure!” Many of us are unemployed journalists! We’re just testing the waters! They give us detailed manuals of writing guidelines!

Here are my counterpoints to those arguments: your work is Continue reading ‘How not to make a living as a writer (hint: content mills)’

Are graphic designers hard to work with?

Published May 14, 2010 Creative Life , Design , Marketing 4 Comments
Tags: linkedin, managing creative people, working with graphic designers

Once upon a time, I was helping a company with a website project. I contracted a new freelance art director to help with the design. We met a few times in person in the beginning, but most of our business was conducted over email. Things were going pretty smoothly–until I had to ask him to change something in his design. Twice. When he neglected to make the change the first time, I didn’t notice it until the end of the project and the client was not happy. The conversation went something like this:

Me: “Hi, everything looks great, but I noticed that the blue door icon on the landing page is still solid. The client wants some white added, similar to how you treated the other new icon.”

Him: “What?!”

Me: “Well, remember, I told you that they prefer the lighter icon over the solid blue.”

Him: “The design is meant to be like that.”

Me: “What?!”

Him: “It is the only connection to the other page.”

Me: “Okay…makes sense. They still want it to have white.”

Him: “This is the way it was designed.”

Me: “This is the last thing we need to change so the site can live on schedule. The web developer is waiting on this graphic.”

Him: “But that’s not the way I designed it.”

Me: “Look, we can go around and around about this, but at the end of the day, this is what the client wants.”

Him: “Fine. I’ll get you your ‘white door’.”

I understood the designer’s point of view. Really! I appreciated that Continue reading ‘Are graphic designers hard to work with?’

What social media marketing and tattoos have in common

Published May 12, 2010 Marketing , Social Media Leave a Comment
Tags: blogs, Facebook for business, HootSuite, linkedin, new challenges, online marketing, social media marketing, tattoos, Twitter for business

Recently, I was assisting a nonprofit group with their marketing program. In hushed tones, they asked if I knew anything about Facebook and Twitter. These ladies are all very nice mostly stay-at-home moms who are working hard on a worthy cause, and many of them had faced countless hurdles in their lives (one woman’s house had recently burned to the ground), yet at the mere mention of social media, they looked frightened.

When I asked if they wanted to start a Facebook group, they exchanged nervous glances around the table as if I had asked them to go streaking down Main Street in Downers Grove. And get tattoos afterward. There was a long, awkward pause, until finally the president squeaked out, “Let’s do it!” Translated: What did we just do? She looked skeptical, hopeful and worried. Social media marketing has that effect on a lot people—much like tattoos and streaking down Main Street.

I would know, because Continue reading ‘What social media marketing and tattoos have in common’

Walking through the chaos

Published May 9, 2010 Creative Life , Creative Writing , Essays 2 Comments
Tags: clear head, connection, linkedin, walking

I took a long walk this afternoon. It’s Mother’s Day, and this walk was my gift to myself. I feel rusty and out of practice, between the long Chicago winter and short days, not to mention the foot injury that’s sidelined me for weeks. But new music on the iPod got me moving as the late afternoon sun shined through the trees. There was a late-fall chill in the air, but the leaves and grass were so brilliantly green it hurt to look at it.

Nothing clears my head like a good walk and the sun on my face. I concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, trying not to trip on sidewalks buckled up by tree roots. Recently, a string of bad news has left me feeling more uncertain than ever. It’s been hard to focus, hard to keep one foot in front of the other. My foot literally aches. But a walk brings me back to where I belong.

My mind meanders over events and people, decisions made and not made or not made well. Soon it contemplate new ideas: should I Continue reading ‘Walking through the chaos’

10 painless ways to find time to write

Published May 7, 2010 Creative Writing , Creativity Coaching Leave a Comment
Tags: finding time to write, linkedin, writing

You’re too busy to get to your creative work? Yeah, don’t even go there, I’ve heard it all before. From myself! That’s why I’ve come up with 10 relatively painless ways to make time for your creative work:

1. Give up 1 hour of TV. I know it’s hard; that’s why I didn’t say “Give up 1 hour of TV every day.” Just try one hour today–turn off the TV, go to your creative space and work. See how you feel afterwards. You might even work longer than an hour. Now try it again tomorrow.

2. Sit in your creative work space. Yep, just go there and sit. Don’t pay bills there. Don’t wrap gifts there. Whether your space is in a closet or the spare bedroom or your dining room table, go there and sit with your creative tools–notebook, pens, paints, whatever you need. You don’t have to write. But you will. Sit there for 30 minutes. Eventually you’ll get bored and write.

3. Listen to music that moves you. Just like actors need prompts to help them get into the right mood for a scene, writers need that too. Let Continue reading ’10 painless ways to find time to write’

Need inspiration? Try looking up.

Published April 30, 2010 Creative Life , Creativity Coaching , Essays Leave a Comment
Tags: being present, inspiration, linkedin, listening, stay in the moment

Every time my Hubby walks into a building, the first thing he does is check out the fire alarm system. He checks the fire alarm panel for trouble lights. He looks up at the ceilings and examines the pipes and cables. He points out sloppy installation work and shakes his head in disgust. We’ve been together for 19 years now and it still cracks me up.

He is a fire alarm contractor, sure, but before I met him, I never noticed any of that stuff. Now I pay attention to blinking lights on fire alarm panels in strange buildings. I notice the beauty of a series of conduit pipes in concentric 90 degree bends, an intricate wave of pipes with purpose. It requires skill. It requires math. It’s a craft. You can tell if someone put time and care into their work. It’s why Continue reading ‘Need inspiration? Try looking up.’

How to build the brand of you? Think like a marketer.

Published April 21, 2010 Brand , Creativity Coaching , Marketing 2 Comments
Tags: building brands, creative personal branding, linkedin, marketing yourself, personal brand

The concept of personal branding has been around for longer than I realized; this great article came out in 1997. I guess I always thought of it as common sense–”dress for the job you want, not the job you have” kind of stuff. But now I realize that it’s more than your clothes; I think it’s the story you tell about who you are and what makes you “you.”

So how do you find your story? Think like a marketer! Whether you’re looking for full-time creative work or pitching your services as a freelance creative professional, here are five questions that come up in the marketing process that you can use to build the brand of you: Continue reading ‘How to build the brand of you? Think like a marketer.’

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