Happy seasons (whatever season it is when you see this)! There are plenty of gift-buying guides out there. I thought I’d add one that’s a gift-getting guide. Free gifts, for you. All they cost is your email address. Whether you’re shopping for help with: Making your writing funnier… Building your email list… Booking your first […]
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Shrimpmukkah! A 2023 roundup of must-have lead magnets from Shrimp Club superstars
Interested in the most recent Shrimpmukkah Freebies? Check out the list from 2024 here. Happy seasons (whatever season it is when you see this)! There are plenty of gift-buying guides out there. I thought I’d add one that’s a gift-getting guide. Free gifts, for you. All they cost is your email address. Whether you’re shopping for […]
KEEP READINGTough Titties Freebie Fest! A Special Edition 2023 roundup of must-have opt-in freebies from Mixermind superstars
If you’re looking for quick wins in your copy, online business, creative career, and life, you’re in the right place, my friend. All the gift guides right now tell you where to get the best barbecue set. This one’s a little different. It’s a roundup of free gifts — none of them great for grilling […]
KEEP READINGShrimpmukkah! A 2022 roundup of must-have opt-in freebies from Shrimp Club superstars
Interested in the most recent Shrimpmukkah Freebies? Check out the list from 2024 here. Happy seasons! There are plenty of gift-buying guides out there. I thought I’d add one that’s a gift-getting guide. Free gifts, for you. All they cost is your email address. Whether you’re shopping for help with: Getting your business in the media… […]
KEEP READINGShrimpmukkah! A 2021 roundup of must-have opt-in freebies from Shrimp Club superstars
Interested in the most recent Shrimpmukkah Freebies? Check out the list from 2024 here. Happy seasons! There are plenty of gift-buying guides out there. I thought I’d add one that’s a gift-getting guide. Free gifts, for you. All they cost is your email address. Whether you’re shopping for help with: Getting your business in the media… […]
KEEP READINGI’m a born procrastinator who hates homework. Here’s how I designed a “no homework” career
My fall semester, Frosh year—that’s what we called first year instead of the male-centric “Freshman”—I stayed in my room most of the time. I passed up invitations to go to the student center, to go play pool, to go hang out “with the guys.” My friend Risa, locking her room across the hall and dangling […]
KEEP READINGFor Some of Us, “A Time of Fear” is Always.
Written February 22, 2020 at the Gateless Writing Retreat “You seem to have a long list of interesting fears,” she says as I decline her offer of pouring coffee into the cup while I hold it. We’re at a weekend writing retreat, all staying in one house and squeezing on two sofas. This isn’t her […]
KEEP READINGBlog post vs. email — the death match
What should go in my emails and what should go on the blog? Can they overlap? Should they be the same, or different? I struggled with this one for a long time. Here’s what I used to do:
KEEP READINGMake your name by doing the unsexy work. (AKA Puff Is Pissed, AKA Grownups Eating Ice Cream And Crying)
At the company off-site, they had tubs of ice cream waiting for us first thing in the morning. Breakfast of cry-babies.
KEEP READINGMy new favorite writing prompt is even more fun if you’re old as dirt
OMG best thing ever A fellow copywriter/word nerd posted this Merriam Webster tool in a Facebook group, and all I can say is, what a perfect birthday gift. It lets you see what words were made official the year you were born. I thought that would make me feel old, but many of the words […]
KEEP READINGAfraid to repeat yourself? Take a tip from every dumb ’80s sitcom.
It’s not just me, right? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s rewritten a perfectly good talk because one person – repeat, ONE PERSON – who’ll be in the audience was there last time and heard it already. (I’m not, right?) And lord knows it’s not only me who’s thought, “Oh no, what if […]
KEEP READINGEasiest money you ever made?
The easiest buck I ever made was in 1994. Before I tell you what the job was, let’s talk about easy money. I often see business coaches posing this question: “Do you feel guilty charging for work that feels easy?” They post it on Facebook and Twitter, offering to help people break through this so-called “money […]
KEEP READINGThe F-word I don’t use (and maybe you shouldn’t, either)
“Are you a freelancer?” When someone asks that, I nod yes-ish and answer, “I have a copywriting business.” I’ll call myself a consultant, a professional copywriter, an independent contractor. I’ll say I’m for hire. A free agent. Available for projects. A business owner. But I don’t say “freelancer.” Why? Because it sounds poor. Poor, and […]
KEEP READINGYes, it’s raining, humans are weird, and you can make a living telling us what we already know.
The other day, I was on my walk (fyi – when I say “a walk” it means just a putter around the neighborhood where I might stop into a clothing store and try on a top; when I say ”my walk” it means a long one that counts as my workout for the day. A walk that must happen. Podcasts […]
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