Biz Savvy

Befriending the Gargoyle of Destruction

By • November 21, 2014 • Biz Savvy, Memoir • 9 Comments

gargoyle front valencia photo

Photo by lord_yomismo

He lies deep within.
Cold-blooded.
Reptilian.
A predator.
(Or so it seemed.)

He’s been with me for ages.
Taunting. Clawing. Whispering,
“You haven’t suffered enough yet.
Kill. Die. I hate you.”

Unlike other unfriendly voices within, he scared me too much to pour him that cuppa.
I knew he’d take me over.
Harm friends.
Mame for the maniacal fun of it.

But finally, we arrived at an impasse.
And I gathered every last drop of courage and asked him,
“Who are you? What do you do? What do you want?”

It took a moment to get a response.
For he is from a time before words.
Ancient as cells. Primordial as teeth. Read More…

What’s Your Blogging “Win Condition”?

By • October 4, 2014 • Biz Savvy • 15 Comments

angel of berlin photo

Photo by Werner Kunz

 

Lola* was distraught.

She had just completed a 3-week writing challenge and successfully cranked out a blog a day for her new biz. But her pride took a nosedive when she shared her drafts with a high-level marketing consultant. His response was … less than glowing:

  • These don’t establish you as a leading expert in your field.
  • Your blog is too much about you, not enough about the reader.
  • Your writing isn’t high-quality enough to promote your services.

Ouch!

Lola was crushed. When we spoke several weeks later, she confided in me: I haven’t written a word, since.

Now, Lola’s consultant wasn’t entirely wrong. Her blogs did need work. And his feedback was given with the most loving of intentions: he genuinely wants her to succeed. But his suggestions, however smart, did more harm than good.

Not only did Awesome Consultant’s suggestions bruise Lola’s ego, they pointed to a deeper problem: she didn’t know why she was blogging, in the first place. Worse, yet? Neither did her consultant. Read More…