Ever wish you could: Edit the existing copy on your website…without messing up the existing copy on your website? Change the tagline on one of the Internet’s most visited websites? Just for kicks? Get a more constructive, healthy hobby? Kidding. If you’re writing web or sales copy – your own or anyone else’s – nothing could be smarter […]
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How not to write like a 90s business robot that had a baby with a college professor
Fact: Good copywriting is always conversational copywriting. So, the first test of good copy is: Does it sound like something you’d say to a friend? Here’s the deal — most people still confuse “professional” with “formal and corporate.” Truth is, conversational is the new professional. Stiff and stodgy feels as dated as a smooth jazz cover of […]
KEEP READINGWhat if it’s a “hell, maybe”?
“If it’s not a ‘hell yes’, it’s a ‘hell no!’” If you haven’t heard that expression, then you probably aren’t in contact with any coaches-slash-“lifestyle design” experts, or anyone who’s being coached and parrots everything they hear. And you probably don’t read any of the self-helpy or businessy blogs that I can’t help browsing every […]
KEEP READINGWhy I got fired, the sauerkruat smell, and how to be un-fire-able
If it’s 8am, I’m still sleeping. Go away. 9am? Still sleeping. Maybe even at 10. I’m not proud that I sleep so late, but I’m proud that I can. I’ve built a profitable business that lets me be the Queen of Snooze that I am. (So can you. More on that down the page.) Fun […]
KEEP READINGHow to be disgustingly productive
A productivity workshop seemed like a silly idea for me. No, not because I’m so productive. I could win shiny gold medals for wasting time, if there were official world records. But there aren’t, because it’s a hard thing to measure: Is staring at Facebook for hours waiting for another like to show up wasting time? Is […]
KEEP READINGHow to be famous
Last year, I attended a fantastic event in Florida called Heroic Public Speaking Live. Or, as I now call it, “HPS Live.” That’s insider lingo. At 8:25am on the first day, I met a woman named Brenda Barbosa. She’d lined up right behind me to register, in the “last names A-D” line. Brenda knew that […]
KEEP READINGWayback Wednesday: I Worked In A Fecal Punk Rock Bar (Or, How To Avoid Having A Business That’s Not Your Scene)
25 years ago, a fucking quarter century, I was working in a bar downtown. East Village. I didn’t even know where I was, except how to get there from the subway. On my way, I walked past the Palladium and a bunch of junkies. It was winter, so I wore my black wool coat there. […]
KEEP READINGBe for the weirdos – and other lessons from a day with Seth Godin
I was so mad that Friday. At 6:40, I was hustling off to my 7pm House dance class, wearing my dowdy, full-length black down coat and all kinds of other thermal layers. I’d walked a block thinking, “Only for Cebo’s class do I go out in this cold.” Cebo is my teacher’s “dance name.” (All the […]
KEEP READINGDon’t let this happen to your ideas.
I found two plastic bags of moldy muffin scraps in my tote this morning. They taught me an important lesson about creativity. (OK, that’s a major stretch, but why not make old bread products a teachable moment? Plus, let’s face it, everyone’s “lessons” on the internet are pushing it.) Here’s the backstory: I can’t snack these days. […]
KEEP READINGRemain an unshowered troll, or show your face? (The entrepreneur’s dilemma.)
I didn’t shower yesterday. Not for any reason except I kept getting sucked into a work or Facebook vortex every time I looked at the computer. And I kept looking just when I was about to shower. I went to bed feeling filmy. I actually love the shower. I don’t avoid it like my friend Victoria, who’s scared […]
KEEP READINGThis is for the lazy ones.
I’ve helped a lot of coaches with their copy. Life coaches, wellness coaches, joy coaches, high-performance coaches, abundance coaches, gluten-cleanse coaches, empowerment coaches, vibrational alignment coaches. Confidence coaches, bone broth coaches, flow coaches. Not a menstrual thing. (I’m tempted to put quotation marks on some of those but I won’t. There’s a lid for every pot, a client […]
KEEP READING“Um, yes?” is the new “Go for it,” my father will not be stopped, and other lessons from a writing workshop in Italy
Oh hi. I’m a shitty example. Last month I was in Italy, teaching 30 people that there’s always something to write about. I even passed around a printed guide I wrote called The Art Of The Start (How To Start Writing Anything). I got everyone writing. I came back all jazzed to write about it. But I return from […]
KEEP READINGWhy I lie to my calendar (or, what really happens outside your comfort zone)
“I didn’t know you were back.” My mom is always a little hurt when she finds out I’ve been back a few days from a trip and haven’t told her. But back isn’t really “back.” Sometimes there’s jet lag. Sometimes there’s a post-vacation “I don’t want to deal with the reality that my life can’t […]
KEEP READINGA severe case of “don’t wanna do sh*t”
Last week, I treated myself to some heavy-duty, delightfully effective Tylenol Cold and Flu. Man, do I love Western medicine! Praise Duane Reade. Blessed be CVS. My one complaint is the damn packaging that breaks off your fingernails. “Peel from this corner” is the biggest tease of all time. Why don’t they let us go through all […]
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