Archive for July 2011

Wow. August… seriously? In three days? Followed by my older brother’s birthday. It’s a shame that he’s not active in social media or else I’d ask y’all to wish him a happy birthday — especially since his family is out of town. As far as brothers go, he’s a good one even though he fed me popcorn when I was a toddler.

Short ‘n sweet today.

Brain food…

• 5 Ways Crowdsourcing Can Help You Make Some Money. Have you used crowdsourcing? How?
• 5 Reasons Why Your Online Marketing Doesn’t Work. Excellent article at Writer Unboxed by Jane Friedman.
• 3 Reasons People Buy. Make money, save money and lower pain / frustration.
• Promotional Tools for Writers on Google+. Wanna connect there? gplus.to/meryl
• 7 Ways to Structure Your Picture Book. I’d love to write one… but it’ll have to join my growing list of “Somedays…”
• Writer’s Digest Successful Queries Series. Real query letters that landed agents.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 12 Awesome Items Inspired by Darth Vader. That gas mask. Oh, my.
• A Colorful Rubik’s Cube Birthday Cake for Geeks. Saw a similar cake process on Food Network in creating Mondrian Cake at San Francisco MoMa.
• Kia Stop-Motion Ads on Fingernails. Clever and message fits branding to a tee. [Link: Stephen Young]
• Phenomenal Paintings On Marshmallows. Too pretty to eat marshmallows? Nah, bring on the s’mores! Harry Potter edition is my fave.
• The Evolution of the Geek. From Geekus Prime to Gleek.

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Because of my deafness, I rely on lipreading to listen. While I’ve worn hearing aids since I was a baby, I’ve always needed to read lips to “hear.” I do catch things from time to time without reading lips, especially a song I know by heart. I can follow it when I play it on my iPod.

Photo from sxc.hu user doc_

Listening Contrast

But it’s harder to follow a song playing it on the computer when there’s background noise. One cool feature in hearing aids is the T-coil. It blocks out background sounds so you can hear during a telephone conversation. It also works the same way for headphones.

This morning, Paul (the spouse) comes to talk to me. He stands right where the shades behind me reflected on his face turning it into a striped one. Although I could see his lips, the stripes distract me that reading his lips is as reading the mouth of an ostrich. So I ask him to move over a little so his face falls between the two blinds shedding the stripe look.

If you compare my lipreading skills with and without hearing aids, you can tell when I’m not wearing hearing aids because it can take a few “Huhs?” and “Whats?” before I catch something. “My mom needs the mop,” can easily be “My mom’s knees pop.”

I listen better when there’s a strong contrast between the words, visuals and sounds. A lighting issue, too much background noise or no hearing aid can all interfere with the listening experience. Just like on websites with little contrast between the background and the text. Poor contrast creates a more difficult online reading experience.

Reading Contrast

Online content requires a different style of type than print does. What works in print doesn’t always work online and vice versa.

In newspapers and magazines, what color are most of the words? What color is the background? Black words on white backgrounds, right? You may see color on occasion like in the print edition of USA Today, but usually the paper uses it for section names (green for money, red for sports, etc.), graphs, photos and other visuals.

Then why have we seen a bad trend of sites using a variation of gray text on white backgrounds? There’s little contrast. I have excellent reading vision (for now!) and it strains my eyes to read this. What of those with not so great reading vision?

Maybe web designers think black on white is boring because it has been used for so long. The first websites from my first foray on the Internet in 1993 all used white backgrounds, black text and blue links. It worked well.

Gray text challenges our scanning abilities because we have to work harder to distinguish the gray from the white. This doesn’t mean to avoid gray on white altogether. Some gray — just like some italics — is okay, but not when they show up in lots of paragraphs.

Granted, I’d rather read gray on white than black on hot pink or blue on red (red does NOT make a good background for a lot of content). The key is to have enough contrast without harsh colors. I don’t follow some people back in Twitter because I can’t read their content. One person uses yellow for links on a white background. Couldn’t see them at all.

Do you struggle to read online content because of poor contrast? Why do you think many sites continue using gray on white? How does a light contrast between words and background affect your reading?

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My parents have three kids, four grandkids and four granddogs. Three of those kids would be my fault. The fourth is my 14-year-old niece who is exactly 18 months older than my second child. Like the rest of the US, I’m melting. Even the pool is too warm for me, and I’m one of those who needs it to be at least 95 degrees outside to go in the pool. It’s so hot that the nearby water park pour ice into its big pool.

Credit: http://alles-ausm-kopf.de

Drink lots of water and check on others who may need help especially seniors.

It’s so hot … [fill in the blank].

Brain food…

• Why I’m Loving Google+. Debbie Ridpath Ohi, author and illustrator, shares her views of G+. I’m still figuring out how to make it work for me. My problem is that I’m spending more time in social media and that’s not good because it cuts into other things.
• 3 Types of Savings Every Freelance Writer Needs. Very important especially when it comes to quarterly taxes.
• 8 Reasons Books Fail. Focuses on self-published books. Bad cover art is a biggie. I know … I know … don’t judge a book by its cover. An author who doesn’t put effort into producing a catchy cover expects us to invest our time to read it. I don’t think so.
• Memorial researchers get the cinematic treatment. Who says the annual report must be a snore? Memorial University doesn’t. LOVE it. [Link: Daphne Gray-Grant]
• How to Make Your Own Book Trailer. Excellent recipe.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Voice Actors: The Voices of Our Childhood Heroes. It always surprises me  when my husband tells me, “Hey, that’s so ‘n so’s voice.” I can’t fathom being able to recognize an actor’s voice. I can believe people recognizing the voices of family and friends — but famous people? There are so many.
• 12 Most Creative Origami Towels. I went on my first and only cruise in 2000 and I looked forwarded to my origami towel surprise every single day.
• The Real Cost of a Hogwarts’ Education. Have you considered room, board, uniforms, wand, accessories, books and all that? Yikes. And pet not included!
• Final Scenes in Movies. Can you guess what they are? Answers way down at the bottom of the post.
• Summer Nights from Grease in Lego Stop Animation Motion. I <3 musicals and actually know this song from Grease. Totally enjoyed. Even reflects every little move from the movie. Except, I think it missed Sandy crossing her arms. Legos don’t bend that way.

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Born profoundly deaf, Stephen J. Hopson didn’t let that stand in the way of fulfilling his dreams. He landed his first job on Wall Street at a major New York bank. Ten years later, he left this secure position to further his career as an award-winning stockbroker. He made aviation history by becoming the world’s first deaf instrument-rated pilot in 2006.

Because he wanted to inspire others to overcome their shortcomings, usually imaginary, the way Stephen had experienced his life; he turned his life’s journey into a national bestselling book Obstacle Illusions: Transforming Adversity into Success [affiliate link]. Through his writings and keynote speeches, Stephen is inspiring thousands of people worldwide to believe in themselves and achieve the impossible.

How did the book project come about?

The book had been in the making for over a decade after I quit Wall Street. I began hanging out in coffee shops in the city and writing stories, reaching deep within me and pulling out life experiences and putting them on paper. Soon, I was submitting some of them for publication as a way of testing my writing talents and to my surprise, it got accepted in three then-bestselling books. (Chicken Soup for the College Soul [affiliate link] was one of them.)

That gave me confidence to keep writing, which I very much enjoyed doing. In 2000, after hundreds of rejections, I landed a prominent literary agent named Joseph Dupreos who was, at that time, representing Mother Teresa. I thought for sure we would get a big book publishing contract. But after months of working on the book proposal and then approaching them, all of them turned us down.

The book went on the back burner for 10 years while I pursued other things of interest. Along the way, I had several people help me edit the manuscript while I added and deleted chapters. Eventually, I had a 300-page manuscript. On the advice of experienced authors, I cut it in a half, which is what is now the book Obstacle Illusions: Transforming Adversity Into Success [affiliate link]. The other half will eventually be book #2. I finished it a year ago and then hired a professional editor and cover designer to assist with the finalizing of the book. It’s been a long road!

What will book #2 focus on? How is it different from Obstacle Illusions?

It will be mostly a “how-to” book based on my life experiences.

How did you land your agent?

Sent hundreds of one page query letters outlining the book’s purpose and invited them to request the book proposal, which I wrote with the help of Write the Perfect Book Proposal [affiliate link] by Jeff Herman.

How long did it take to write the book?

Ten years or so.

What was the writing process for the book?

I broke it down into manageable tasks. I bought a bulletin board and a stack of index cards. Every day, at the beginning, I allocated a time block (usually an hour or two) and thought about what kind of chapters I wanted to create and then wrote titles on the cards.

They were put up on the board and I was free to move them around anytime I felt inspired to do so. Then I would pick a chapter idea that inspired me on any given morning and start writing the chapter. That was my daily commitment.

How is your book different from other personal development books from people who faced similar challenges in their lives?

They contain signature stories of things that have happened to me. People like stories because they can relate to them more than dry facts. The book gives people a chance to take a peek into my life and how I got to be where I am. People have told me they felt all kinds of emotions while reading about my experiences. Each chapter ends with a life lesson and a series of interactive type questions.

How do the emotions help them? If they read the life lesson and answer the questions, what will they walk away with?

Emotions are universal. We all have the ability to tap into them and reading a good story is a good way to help them feel better about themselves. A good story reminds them they are not alone.

Here are a few things I hope readers will walk away with:

• When we make up our mind about something, we set the universe in motion. Forces beyond our ability to comprehend, far more subtle and complex than we could imagine, are engaged in a process, the dynamics of which the human race is just beginning to understand. In other words, make a firm decision and go for your dreams! You will be supported!!
• Nothing happens by chance. Everything happens for a reason. Look for the good in everything. If you look hard enough you’ll see healing taking place in there somewhere.
• Don’t force your hand — learn to stop being control freaks and surrender the final outcome. Trust that things will happen at the right time.
• Everything you need to achieve your dreams will be made available through divinely orchestrated events — the appearance of the right people, and other resources you may not have previously thought possible. In other words, trust the universe to guide and provide for you along your journey.
• Some people call this coincidence, others, synchronicity. Whatever you call it, it all stems from you. You create your reality. So why not go for what you really want!!!

Please share a time of when you faced an obstacle and overcame it or learned from it.

When I went to a seminar for speakers and just happened to be low on funds. When it came time for lunch, I went to the hotel’s restaurant with another participant because it was sweltering hot outside and I didn’t want to venture outdoors. Everything on the menu cost over $20 except for the soup of the day which was $9.99. That’s exactly what I had in my pocket so I ordered that, stuffing free crackers in my pocket in case I got hungry later.

After the seminar was over, I went home and went straight to the mailbox to check my mail. As I was flipping through the stack of mail, I noticed a flaming red envelope, which stood out. Curious, I opened that first and as I was doing that, something fell out and floated to the floor like a butterfly in slow motion. It took me a minute to realize what it was. A ten dollar bill! I knew immediately it was the universe that just paid for my lunch earlier that day. The lesson was “It’s the universe’s job to take care of you, if you let it.”

I want people to realize that when you act on faith and pursue your dreams (in my case that was quitting a lucrative six-figure career on Wall Street to become a speaker), the universe will gather at you feet and support you along the way.

Wall Street jobs tend to involve a lot of meetings and phone calls. And so does being a coach. As a fellow deafie, I know the lipreading is not a science. How did you communicate in these roles?

Yes, indeed. I used my teletypewriter (TTY) and the relay to call clients. I placed buy and sell orders on the computer. Meetings were always a challenge for I didn’t have an interpreter nor did I request one. I just did the best I could while I was there.

Thank you, Stephen, for your time and inspiration.

How did you handle an obstacle? What did you learn from the experience? Have you ever felt the universe took care of you? If so, how?

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It’s over. No more HP movies. No more HP books. (Supposedly.) Sure, Rowling created the Potterworld, but it’s not the same. Part of me has an inkling that Rowling won’t rest and she knows the marketing machine won’t roll forever without some fuel. The other part of me thinks all good things must come to an end. To continue something for too long will dilute it.

What do you think? Should Rowling start a new series with one of the characters? Should she create a new series revolving with the new students at Hogwarts? Or just forget it all?

Brain food…

• Blogging: Seth Godin and I are doing it wrong! Refreshing. I try not to let the blog stress me. Not worth it.
• The Brutally Honest Guide to Naming Circles in Google Plus. Now using Google Plus is stressful. I’m spending too much time trying to listen to conversations and engage. Now to add another?
• 41 Awesome Blog Post Ideas for Your Company Blog. Ideas work for all kinds of stuff, not just blog or companies.
• 40 Google Plus Tips for Newbies. I think we’re all new. Find my experiments and connect with me at gplus.to/meryl.
• 10 mistakes made in freelance writing career and 10 steps to setting your freelance writing fees. Two valuable articles from Anne Wayman.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• The Evolution of the Entrepreneur [Infographic]. Technically, this isn’t a true infographic because it has too much text. Nonetheless, it made me laugh.
• Retro Tattoos Dedicate Skin to Pac-Man. Wacka … wacka …
• 12 Awesome Hot Air Balloons. Don’t think I’ve ever met a balloon that didn’t make me smile.
• Lorem Ipsum Generators: 10 Ways To Make Your Dummy Text More Fun. “The Force is strong with this one. I have you now. She must have hidden the plans in the escape pod.” [Link: Yvette Chin]

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My mom bought her Baldwin piano in 1948 with money she inherited from a family member. She always said she’d give it to the first grandchild who expresses interest in piano lessons. It took four grandchildren — the youngest one, too — for that to happen. When my oldest had to pick choir, band or orchestra in sixth grade, she picked choir.

Years later, she regretted her decision. She asked me why didn’t I make her learn an instrument. If I had, she would’ve hated her parents for it and not followed through on practicing.

I chose to take piano lessons when I was eight, the same age as the piano playing grandkid. Yet, I rarely practiced. Do you think a kid forced into music will cooperate and practice when Mom and Dad tell her to?

Anyway, we have the 1946 Baldwin piano in our living room and I’m appreciating it more than I did while growing up. After my son practiced (every day, so far!), I decided to try the lessons in his primer. I played a simple version of Old MacDonald and he sang along while I played. Small moment. Relished every bit.

For years, I remembered how to play two songs: Heart and Soul and Yankee Doodle. I memorized Yankee Doodle for a piano recital and it stuck with me because I’d play it from time to time. Unfortunately, I don’t remember now because I stopped playing it. Heart and Soul is easier and I managed to remember that one. However, I played it backwards. It’s like riding a bicycle. Except instead of hitting the wrong brake, I went backwards.

The same happened with the bike! I had my bike tuned after years of hanging upside down in the garage. When I finally rode it, I had trouble with the gears because I couldn’t remember how to use them.

Practicing makes a difference. It won’t always be like riding a bicycle as witnessed with my inability to help Yankee Doodle Dandy get to town a-riding on a pony. In high school and college, I did plenty of writing like any other student. When I read my old college papers, I recoil. Then I look at my later papers from graduate classes and the writing flows better, but not like today.

One of my writing goals is to use stories more often like Michael Katz does in his email newsletter. It takes time to come up with a story that matches the main idea of an article. But it’ll get easier with … (all together!) practice. Practice turned me into a decent softball player. Practice helped me give stronger speeches. Extra practice helped me land first chair in band. (I reread the band post and flinched. It’s six years old.)

Wanna bet I’ll look at this post five years from now and wince? I hope so, or else I’m not working hard enough to improve my writing.

How has practicing affected your life? What did it help you accomplish? Is there anything you stopped practicing? Will it be like riding a bicycle if you try it again?

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The 12-year-old son heads to overnight camp for a little over three weeks. First time he’s done that since third grade when he went for nine days. Not a bit worried. The break will be good for all of us. I’m especially looking forward to his living without TV and video games. Can you just see me grinning?

Photo by Cherie A. Thurby

I went to the same camp two summers in a row. It wasn’t my thing. Can’t pinpoint why. Why would I go a second time if I didn’t like it? It took a bribe. My parents were going on a trip overseas and had to ditch … er … put me somewhere. Other option was to stay with my grandparents. Love ‘em, but three weeks would’ve been too much.

My favorite summer camp was going to basketball camp at Texas A&M. It combined two of my loves: sports and A&M. At the time, my brother attended the school and I loved rooting for the Aggies in football. Even got to go to the A&M – Auburn U Cotton Bowl where Bo Jackson played before going pro. While I applied and get accepted at A&M, I opted not to go there because of its size. I needed a smaller school and smaller classes.

What was your favorite thing to do in the summer? Least favorite?

Brain food…

• How to Learn SEO as a Small Business Owner: There are too many resources out there regarding SEO. This should help cut a lot of the noise.
• How To Generate Social Content That Gets Clicked. This article delivers no so common suggestions. Nice job, Arik.
• The Real Secret to Personal Productivity. 10 tips from successful folk that do work. Creating habits is a biggie.
• 9 Tips for Setting Payment Terms for Freelance Writers. Magazines, books and more.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 21 Animals Riding Other Animals. Cat on chicken. Rat on frog. There’s even a monkey on a few animals’ backs. [Link: Paul Steele]
• 10 Questions to Ultimately Annoy Your Friends. Funny stuff.
• The Evolution of Smartphones. It’s a kick when I catch a show or movie from the ’90s when someone talks on a cell phone bigger than a brick.

I would’ve had more fun links to share, but they were those “Top X” lists articles. Unfortunately, you had to click through each one. They didn’t appear as a list in one page. I like it when a publisher offers both: list and pages with more info.

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As my family prepared to move in our first home, like most people — we had lots to do in the house. To do it all would mean taking shortcuts and buying low-priced items. The result would be less than flattering. The job called for prioritizing to ensure we bought decent quality items. First up: windows. We needed blinds, lots of blinds or else I would go blind with the too many windows we had. (Seriously, the eyes are sensitive to sunlight.)

Image from sxc.hu user ColinBroug

Next, bedroom furniture. Previously, we lived in military housing and chose to focus on the downstairs rooms rather than upstairs including our bedroom. The rest we added when we could or when we saw something that worked.

Good thing we didn’t do it all. It turned out those first few items we bought were my least favorites. The toddler-abused blinds need replacing. The bedroom furniture … I love its function, but not its color. I thought the wood would be a white wash wood. Instead, it was painted a bothersome faint white. We could paint it, but the colors wouldn’t work well in the dark-colored bedroom. Natural wood color works best.

This situation can happen when work slows down and it’s time to bring in new business. It’s tempting to take on every opportunity that comes along. It’s like a reverse of firing bad clients except you’re proactive. Instead of finding yourself working with a less than ideal client, feeling miserable and having to figure out how to get out of it — you skip all that.

I happened to be working on finding another client to serve when several opportunities came in. For one of them, warning signs alerted me to do serious due diligence. In the other, the prospect asked if I could write articles on X, Y, Z topics. I turned it down because I know those topics would require a lot of energy and most of it not good. I’d rather spend the energy looking for a client I can better serve doing work I enjoy.

Turning Down Opportunities

These signs give you the clues you need that a potential assignment or client may not work for you. Be careful when it comes to an assignment that scares you because you’re afraid to fail, not because something is iffy about the client. It may be an opportunity to grow.

• Boring. Think about your least favorite industry. Do you want to spend hours living and breathing that industry? When you work on things you despise, it takes longer and drains more out of you.
• Suspicious. You find little information about the company or person contacting you. The person may use a common email address, provides terse responses to your questions and reveal little else.
• Budgeted. I saved time for a prospect whose message implied she was focused on price. I gently responded if she was looking for a low-priced writer that I was not a fit for her.  I don’t turn down all budgeted assignments. For example, I liked an owner and his business, so I came up with a way to quote a lower price that worked for both of us.

Digging Deeper

Sometimes the first or second contact isn’t enough to decide yea or nay. This is the time to dig deeper. Someone contacted me about writing a bunch of blog posts. First warning sign. The email address came from a yahoo.com address. Second warning sign. The “From” address only had a first name, but she signed her last name in the first message. Half a warning sign.

I searched her name, email address and company name (I had to ask for the company name as she didn’t mention it in the first email — another sign) and found nothing. At this point, I decided this wouldn’t work out. Rather than turning it down, I replied with more questions. Never heard back. Hmm …

When you’re not sure about an assignment, these actions help:

• Research. Look up the client, company, email address and whatever info you have. Don’t stop with the client’s website. Go to social networks like Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere.
• Ask. It feels awkward to ask some of the questions you need to ask, but how will you feel if you take the job and hate it? Request links to related sites. For example, I received an assignment to write for sites on generic topics. Ask for links to those sites.
• Probe. Make sure you get a full picture of the assignment. At first glance, one assignment sounds like writing X articles. Read between the lines, and it could easily be more than double the work because of other tasks involved.
• Check. Your network may know about the person or company. If you find out who has hired your prospect, contact them.
• Follow up. Don’t feel pressured to stop asking questions after the first contact. Ask more questions especially if the answers reveal little new info. (This could be a warning sign, or simply someone who is rushed and wants to reply quickly.)

What types of assignments or clients have you turned down? What do you watch for when a prospect contacts you?

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I’ve spent too much time on social networks this morning that I’d better keep this short and get stuff done to enjoy the long weekend. Besides, lots of great reads this week. With a longer weekend for most of us, I figure you wouldn’t mind the extra reading. Worthy stuff. Have a whiz bang fourth!

4th of July in 2007

Brain food…

• 30 Websites to Find Free Vector Graphics: I currently manage two PTA and one other nonprofit organization’s websites. This should come in handy. Figure y’all could use it, too. [Link: Deborah Edwards-Onoro]
• Are Case Studies Helping or Hindering You: People also misunderstand what makes a white paper. Yes, it should mention the company, but not until the ending.
• 50 Powerful Time-Savers for Web Designers: Great resource.
• Google Web Fonts: Nice free fonts with no Comic Sans look alike. Whew. [Link: theparallaxview]
• How to sell your services for a higher price: Motivating read.
• 300+ Resources to Help You Become a WordPress Expert: Even I’m overwhelmed.
• What Is The Point Of Writing A Book If You Have No Online Presence? A keeper for writers. Not just for authors.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 Words of Summer: Last week, I asked what you think of when it comes to summer. Vacation is the only one on this list that I’d think of.
• Pacman Tube Map: Nom nom.
• 10 Coolest Items Inspired by Alice in Wonderland: Surreal, of course.
• Archiving People’s Woes: 10 Cheerful Websites. Instant upper without the Rx. Some new. Some familiar. Some not safe for work. [Link: Gina Stark]
• 10 Amazing Geek Bars and Restaurants: Love Miracle of Science’s menu.
• 20 Animal Group Names You Probably Never Heard Of: What kind of business do flies have? Corps of giraffes? They’re serving our country? [Link: Erika Napoletano] More? OK. Fun with Words: Collective Nouns. [Link: Samuel Hawk]
• Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes: Off with her … frosting?
• 12 Coolest Typography-Themed Furniture: I do love good a font. The drawers are the only useful item, but the font is plain.
• 16 Online Gamers Unmasked: What they Really Look Like. I don’t remember the last time I created a game alter ego other than the one on the Wii, and it’s awful. These rock.

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