You’ve heard about power posing, right? Using your body language to generate confidence, calm, or sharpness in your brain? The Wonder Woman pose is the one you hear about most.⠀I’m sure it’s great before speaking on stage. Or walking into a negotiation. (Because a quivering lip does not back up “It’s my way or the […]
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How to type new copy into any website (and freak out your friends)
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 […]
KEEP READINGHow 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 […]
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