Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Improve Your Vocabulary and Feed the Hungry

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Introducing http://www.FreeRice.com, a website where you can expand your vocabulary while making a real difference.

Your writing will be more interesting and hungry people will get the food they need.

I've been donating via http://www.TheHungerSite.com for quite awhile, and now I've added http://www.FreeRice.com to my "Home" tabs that open up every morning when I start my computer and launch my web browser.

My only concern is that it's kind of addictive to see how many words I define correctly, and what my score is 😉

De-Clutter Your Message

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At Thursday's SOHO meeting, I heard Mark Bowden of Truth Plane speak about how to "Stand Out and Be Heard." And while he was talking specifically about how we could improve our "elevator pitch" and other presentations, I think that one of his points was also very relevant to our writing activities.

Someone in the audience asked Mark about how to create great content for a presentation. She said she always runs out of time with lots more she had planned to share. I could certainly relate, and I leaned in close to hear what Mark would say.

Turned out that Mark's message was very similar to what I shared in "Trying Write the Article of Lifetime?"

He suggests that we choose the ONE thing we want our audience to know about (and how to do it) and focus on just that one thing.

He used the example of the importance of building trust in order to make a sale. So if "trust" is the one thing you want to get across as your most important point, spend the entire time in your elevator pitch, speech, article or other communication talking about how trust is important, and how to get it.

So, make your point, support your point, and then repeat your point. Over and over. At the PWAC Toronto seminar earlier this month, John Watkis stated that your goal when you're speaking is to deliver a message that will be heard, remembered and shared. Isn't that our goal when writing, as well?

Quick Writing Prompt: In the piece of writing you're working on right now, what is the one key idea you want people to take away from it? How can you "de-clutter" your message so it hones in on that one thing?

Turning Lemons into a Bestseller

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A month or two ago, a woman approached me with her idea for a book. She had been through a pretty hard time.The man she fell in love with and married was married before. Her new husband’s ex-wife had some issues with the way things turned out, and made no secret of it.

Some of the stories my client has told me are pretty shocking. And she could be mad, she could even be vengeful. But she’s not. In fact, she’s one of the most accepting and loving people I’ve ever met. She’s truly used the experience to draw on her resources and inner strength, and to forge a strong partnership and relationship with her husband.

Now, she wants to turn her experiences into something that can help other women who are going through the same thing.

The purpose of her upcoming book, “Surviving the Ex-Wife,” is to be a supportive, empowering, fun (wait until you read about the “sexfest”!) and helpful resource for the woman who is having a challenging relationship with her partner’s ex.

To increase the value of this resource, we’re now looking for outside contributions because we know there are many lessons to be learned and shared. So we’re looking to interview both other “second wives,” as well as relationship experts.

And that’s where YOU come in!

Do you have real life experience being a “second wife”? You don’t have to be married, but you do need to have faced some challenges with your partner’s former wife.

Or are you a relationship expert, such as a coach, therapist, mediator or counsellor, with specific experience healing these types of relationships?

Thank you! We will greatly value your contribution! Second wives, your name won’t be used and you don’t even have to give it to us. Experts, if your ideas are selected for the book, we will also print your bio and contact information.

Please don’t delay – this book needs to get out into the world to do it’s work. The survey will close on December 21, 2007.

And if you have a life experience that deserves to be a book, let’s do it!

Corporate Coaches – CHOICE, the magazine of professional coaching, is looking to hear from YOU!

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Thanks to my colleague Kathy Mallary of http://spiritspring.com/ for alerting me of this upcoming deadline. I’ve already written several of my clients to let them know of this opportunity.

If you’re a corporate coach, this would be fantastic exposure. Here are the details:

Call for Contributions – March 2008 Issue Theme: Corporate Coaching

Back by popular demand is the choice Magazine review of corporate coaching. Are corporations showing greater success as a result of the increase in corporate coaching? Some corporations now employ many fulltime coaches, while others are still outsourcing their coaching. Read our interviews with leading CEOs, coaches and coaching clients who will talk about their experiences and perspectives on this form of leadership support. Article Deadline: December 20, 2007

NOTE: See the choice editorial guidelines and submission requirements at http://www.choice-online.com/article-guidelines.html and http://www.choice-online.com/article-submission.html

Quick Writing Prompt: What are you waiting for? Send your submissions today – good luck!

Don’t have an article ready? Or do you have an article started that needs some polishing? Let’s talk!

Real learning from a fake conference

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Last week I attended an “un-conference” about social media. There was a lot of information and opportunities packed into a few short hours (http://talkischeap.pbwiki.com/Schedule).

One speaker, Rick Spence of the Canadian Entrepreneur blog, spoke about blogs versus print. I really liked a lot of his points, and it (almost) got me excited enough to rush home and start blogging more regularly. Really, it almost did 😉

I liked what he said about how blogs enable the reader to drill down and read more once they stumble upon a blogger they like, and because most blog posts include links, the reader can also follow through immediately to do more research into the subject they’re interested in.

Another blogger, Terry Fallis, told the story of how he used a blog (and other social media tools, such as a podcast and Facebook) to drive demand for a book before it was even published. It seems to have been a very successful experiment!