Archive for January, 2007
Interview: Jen Gordon of Freelance Tipster
Today we are talking with Jen Gordon of www.FreelanceTipster.com. Jen got a degree in Print Management from Georgia Southern University and worked in print sales for 5 years before having a “career nervous breakdown” & then going back to school to study her passion - design (at the Art Institute of Atlanta). Today she is freelanceing (see her amazing work at: www.whoisjengordon.com -be sure to READ her site- it is very, very funny and very well designed).
On her site www.freelancetipster.com she discusses the good, bad, and the ugly about being a creative freelnacer. She feels there is no mentoring and this is her way to give back to a profession that has given her so much.
Please listen to the interview with
Exciting Writing- “Sectarian” and “nonsectarian,” a tale of two words
The term “sectarian violence” is in the news so often. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what the word “sectarian” means or what it derives from? Before all the strife in Iraq, I remember hearing the word used in the United States with a purely neutral connotation; however, the word carries a strongly negative connotation.
Both “sectarian” and “nonsectarian” share “sect” as their common root, which means, according to Webster’s Collegiate, “a dissenting or schismatic religious body, esp: one regarded as extreme or heretical.” According to Dictionary.com, the word dates from about 1300 to 1350. It comes from the Latin secta, meaning “something to follow, a pathway.” Dictionary.com confirms the word’s negative, extremist nature: “a group regarded as heretical or as deviating from a generally accepted religious tradition.”
Being a Thought Leader: Writing/Speaking to Prospects
Contributed by David C Baker, ReCourses (see information about new seminars at the end of this article)
The more prospects learn about you on their own, already aware of your expertise and primed to hire your firm, the less time and money you need to spend on selling your services. The easiest way to achieve that is to be viewed as a thought leader among those prospects you serve in the marketing field, which begs the question about your positioning. For example, only about a dozen people can really be experts in “branding,” so you’re going to need to be a lot more niched than that. Once you are, you’ll know what to say, who to say it to, and how to find that group of people who will gladly give you their money.
So one method of being a thought leader would be to make fifty cold calls every week and say: “Hey, I’m a thought leader.” The only problem is that no expert “pushes” like that. Instead, they use “pull” methods that don’t depend on activity as much as placement, and that’s where writing and speaking come into play as ideal tools to establish your thought leadership and surface opportunities to impact prospects.
Exciting Writing- Decide Which is Better- Part Three
Contributed by Chuck Lustig, of ExcitingWriting Communications
This month I continue with an approach I’ve dubbed, “Which is better?” Look at the pairs of similar sentences below (Sentence A and Sentence B) and decide which is better. Then compare your choices with mine by looking at the answer key below. Last month’s ExcitingWriting Advisory brought notable comments from Tom Schneider of American Heart about last month’s #1 and #7. I am repeating them as #1 and #2 in this month’s lineup. Tom’s comments are in the answer key. Below the answer key, you’ll find a discussion of “sectarian” and “nonsectarian,” words very much in the news today. Next month, I’ll revert to the normal format, giving the “Which is better?” format a well deserved rest.
Decide Which is Better III
Read each sentence pair and decide which you think is better. Then look below in the Answer Key for my opinion:
1.
Sentence A: I learned a lot from John about delivering mail.
Sentence B: I learned a lot about delivering mail from John.
