business + wealth articles

ode to the entrepreneurial spirit: an apology to 9 to 5r’s everywhere

I think an alarming number of us are indeed Zombies, as Everett Brogue puts it. I rode the Metro in Washington, DC for three years and all it takes is one week riding next to depressed and frazzled government commuters in their too tight Dress Barn suits and crappy ties, eating on the go, looking vacantly into the dark tunnel to conclude that, Yep, 9 to 5 is a special kind of hell and the residents are too tired to escape.

Around that time I came into a lot of contact with Navy Admirals and Pentagon folk. As a vegetarian, apolitical Canadian with crystals tucked into my bra and the Law of Attraction as my secret weapon, I wasn't too stoked to meet Colonel and the boys. I reeked of judgment. But now I can tell you from experience that the Pentagon is peppered with enlightened men whose primary intention is to make the world more peaceful. They believe in universal intelligence and they're remarkably open-minded. I even knew a vegetarian Commander. So the joke was on me. The human spirit thrives everywhere.

And the entrepreneurial spirit thrives everywhere -- even in cubicles and factory lines.

I've been waving the great flag of work-for-yourself freedom for years. Bust out! Crush restrictions! Define life on your own terms! Creativity sovereignty or death! I'm a midwife of the strategies that make freedom dreams real -- and proud as any Baptist or Marine about it. Righteousness is beautiful, dangerous territory.

There's so many of us fuck-the-system cool kids with platforms now, it's giving me cause for some pause. I see the potential for divisiveness. Superiority. J-o-bs vs. Careers. Ninjas vs. Suits. Artists vs. Civil Servants. I think the freedom message is evolutionary. It's sacred. And we need to stay anchored to the pure intention of it.

Is someone working at Cisco or ABC Tool & Die missing out on the good life? Are line-workers and 9 to 5r's less daring, less free, less...entrepreneurial? I used to think so. I apologize.

I know executives who are profoundly liberated in how they bring their gifts to the world. I know people who work for themselves in such a punishing way that they may as well be working for The Man.

It's not about the packaging, it's not about the form, it's the heart of the matter that we need to see rightly.

It's the entrepreneurial spirit that I want to foster.
Inside the system and out.
Everywhere.

Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs sums it up in this TED talk. His masterfully told story begins with a tale of castrating sheep, winds through some Greek philosophy, and lands on the war on work and this insight:

"Clean and dirty aren't opposites, they are two sides of the same coin. Just like innovation and imitation, risk and responsibility."

When we peel back the labels, and the job titles, and being cool, all work can be an opportunity for liberation.

. . . . . . .

 

qualified requests: how to ask for stuff

Just ask. Ask and It Is Given. Ask and you shall receive. Good things come to those who...ask.

Agreed. Emphatically. Ask and keep asking. Ask the universe, your boss, your crush, bank manager, bus driver, car salesman...ask for what you want and keep on asking. But if you want to increase your odds of receptivity, you've got to go about it with some style, darling. The formula for stylin' askin' gets down to this: sincerity + brevity = intelligence.

My Malcolm Gladwell Ask
For my first book I wanted the best literary agent in the business. So I started at the top, naturally. I honed in on the books and authors I admired most and read their acknowledgments sections, looking for the writers who genuinely and emphatically thanked their agents. In The Tipping Point, Gladwell swooned over his agent - claimed she should run for the US Presidency. "Well, she'll do!" I thought. Where to start asking? With Malcolm. How to get his email? Off his website. [Yep - it can be that easy, and it often is.]

The Ask went a little somethin' like this:

Dear Malcolm,
You're Canadian. My business partner and I are Canadian. You've been called "obsessively competitive." My partner was a former nationally-ranked athlete and she still hates to lose. You're half black. And, well, I'm a white girl with dreadlocks. I'm hoping you'll be charmed enough to help open a door for us...

[When you're being authentic, you have nothing to lose. Giving it "your all" is often about leaving pretenses behind. Win or lose, you'll feel all dignified and jazzed because you fully showed up.]

We want to get to [Madame Agent.] You think she could run the world, and I think she could make my dreams come true. Here's our concept:

[What followed was ONLY three sentences - two sentences describing the book idea, and one sentence describing the market.]

I think [Madame Agent] is my Neo. The One. And if you could tell me what vintage of wine she drinks, her favourite bon bons, or how to get her pay attention to my book proposal, well, I'd be immensely grateful. If there is a direct entre to [Madame Agent] or if you have a suggestion on how to appeal to her, please let me know. We need more Canadians on the bestseller list. Very appreciatively….

[inserted website and contact deets]

The result: Malcolm, good Canadian that he is, responded in a day or two to the effect of "Well, how can I say no?" [The universe can't resist authenticity, it's a law. Thankfully, Mr. Gladwell couldn't resist it either.] He forwarded the email to Madame Agent. She reached out to me, and not long after, we landed a phat book deal.

the 5 essentials of making qualified requests

1. Identify affinity: You better know as much as you can about who you're talking to. Be clear about why you’re interested in them in particular, and mention that at the get-go. I once called a local creative exec – found his wife's number in the ol' phone book and gave it a shot. He answered the phone. "I just read an interview where you talked about creating a "culture of yes" to support one's creative process and it got me thinking…" We talked for 15 minutes, I asked when we could meet for tea to tell him more about what I was up to. A week later, he invested in my company.

2. Brevity is a form of respect, especially when you're asking a busy person for help. If you send more than three paragraphs (one is IDEAL,) and attachments, and you delve into your history or ten years into the future, I guarantee you'll get flagged as annoying, delusional and/or not too bright. And really, if you can't boil down what you're up to in one concise paragraph, you don't have a good grip on it.

3. Specificity is a call to action. What EXACTLY are you looking for? Your request could be a simple as "I'd love to get your perspective, just to have the opportunity to hear what you think of my strategy would be a great value. A half-hour of your time over coffee or in your office – you name it and I'll be there." "I want to know everything about social media that you can tell me in fifteen minutes of your spare time…I'm looking to raise capital and would like to pitch you." (Though remember what the ol' rich guys love to say, "If you ask for money, you'll probably just get advice. If you ask for advice, you're more likely to get money." I can back that up.)

Never, evah ask for "free" advice when you haven't invested in someone's material (either with your time actually studying their free stuff, or actually buying their material.) If you're asking for help in the form of a written response, you need to be even more succinct and gracious. If I get general requests like, "Do you have any advice for how to start up my business?" Well...you're kidding me, right? Guess you missed the 900+ free articles on this site, and the fact that I make my living giving strategic advice. But sure, here's some advice: get a job where someone tells you exactly what to do, 'cuz you're going to need it.

Try this: "Could you look at my website and just tell me the first three words that come to mind in terms of my brand?" Bam bam, smarty pants.

4. NO BULLSHIT HYPE. Embellishing things is a no-no way to start any relationship. Smart folk usually have excellent memories and if they sniff out a white lie or exaggeration about how successful you say you are in the beginning, it could all go south really quickly. Stick to the facts. Facts are a solid foundation.

However...
5. HEART HYPE is essential. Don't spend a lot of airtime talking about how you think your idea is going to make a zill or get you on Oprah Ellen, Larry King Piers Morgan, but do hit a big love note: you're passionate, you feel called, you're giving it all you got, you're in it to win it. Passion persuades.

You may be surprised at how many successful people sincerely want to help you - when you can prove your smarts and passion by asking smartly and passionately.

I recently raised my price for 1-on-1 Fire Starter Sessions to $1000, from $500. (The demand exceeded the supply and it's clear that clients can earn back the $1000 investment with a few strategic gems...) I got a few people who were like, "Dang woman! Why didn't you tell me you were going to raise your price?" I don't really have a warm-fuzzy response for that.

And a few others took a more proactive and optimistic approach. They open heartedly asked if I could honour the old fee, briefly explained what they were doing in the world, and how a session could help them knock it outta the park. My answer: "Well, how could I say no?"

. . . . . . .

INTERVIEWS

Thanks to some super practical and focused questions, my recent interview with BlogCastFM is probably one of the most, well, practical and focused interviews I've ever given. YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HERE: Danielle LaPorte On Finding Your Mission and Purpose, Literary Agents and Book Deals,Building Your Speaking Career, and More...

 

the epic 72 hour smart stuff sale

Adam Baker, aka, ManvsDebt, has done something rather, epic: he said "hey, want to put some of your best stuff in an Epic Mix of smart stuff? And I'll sell the mondo collection of goodness for just 3 days and it will be ... awesome."

I said, "Smart ass idea. And you know I adore you, so, what's mine is yours, baby."

Baker wrangled a dozen or so high-selling e-products (Leo Babauta, Jade Craven, Chris Guillebeau...) and is offering the kit n' kaboodle only for 72 hours, for only $97 bucks. So the value is a no brainer. It's enough knowledge and how-to for strategizing your 2011 from business to lifestyle. In summary:

23 Business Courses From 23 Successful Entrepreneurs. Normally $1,052, On Sale For $97. For Only 72 Hours

Go get 'em. Only72.com

Enthusiastically,

 

rich, happy & hot advice: surrender, act now, just breathe

I brought you some presents from my trip to New York! Marie Forleo kicked some major motivational ass with her 3 Day Rich Happy & Hot Live event at Donna Karan's Urban Zen Center. I got to share the stage with some very bright people (and hot dancers) and here's what I brought back for you:

MARIE FORLEO, Entrepreneurial Coach
An introduction: Marie leads a yearly sold-out Adventure Mastermind Group (and I can tell you that her coachees are Rich, Happy & Hot), she was the first woman interviewed by Tony Robbins for his New Money Masters program, and she's heading to South Africa next year to get all philanthropic with Richard Branson. Her gold:

If you were the best in the world at what you do, how would you behave?

This question is revolutionary. Let it seep into your bones, rise up into your psyche, and inform some smart-cookie action. Value yourself THAT MUCH and everything changes.

MarieForleo.com
@marieforleo

JOSH PAIS, Committed Impulse Founder, Actor
Josh has acted with DeNiro and taught thousands of actors Committed Impulse - a body-centric methodology to help you be more present and powerful. He's got an uncanny gift for helping people access their courage. The goods from Josh:

: Your breath will bring you to the present. So just breathe. See what's in front of you. Feel the sensations in your body, and you'll be back - instantly. When you can act from the present - even if it means revealing how scared or nervous you are, you drop into your power and become infinitely more credible and accessible.

CommittedImpulse.com
@JoshPais

BRYAN FRANKLIN, Executive Coach
As a coach to Apple and Cisco execs, Franklin has been called one of the best kept secrets in Silicon Valley. His material on sales and time management is top rate. And his approach to succeeding hinges on this one piece of perennial (but often overlooked) wisdom: if you want to succeed, you need to fully appreciate where you're at right now. Appreciation creates the conditions for success.

Bryan and I had a rapid-fire chat about how I'm growing my own career. "The majority of people look for what the market needs and work to fill that need." he said. "But that's not how I roll," I interjected. "I know, let me finish." he said. I nodded. "You teach, and people who resonate show up, it's a totally different model." True dat.

"Yeah, I call it the Deepak model." I explained. "Soul-teach, be crazy prolific, just give 'er and don't stop giving. But it's a bit nerve-wracking, you know. Art is risky. I know how to make money. I could run high-level groups, crank out products, and tip a million bucks next year. But I'm called to write and speak. So I just need to trust that my fortune will grow through my art." Sigh.

"Yes, it's very much about surrender." Bryan said.

"Less strategy, more surrender. I can get hung up on the surrender bit, though," double sigh.

"Yes, but you see, the surrender is the essential ingredient to making the art that makes the money," said Coach Franklin.

Ahhh yes. Surrender sweetens the pot...and the outcome. Check.

BryanFranklin.com
@BryanFranklin

KRIS CARR, Crazy Sexy Wellness Expert

Ms. Carr is the most radiant testament of courage and determination. She's been living (and thriving) for years with a very rare form of cancer (that only 200 people a year in the world are diagnosed with.) Her Crazy, Sexy, Cancer documentary landed her on Oprah and gained the respect of both medical and holistic wellness braniacs. She is the Wellness Goddess for thinking holistic women and men everywhere. Kris bits:
: You are not your genes.
: If you want to lose weight, kick dairy - it's sort of that simple.
: Sleep is not something that you can ever catch up on (so get eight hours of it.)
: Self-reliance is part of the healing process.

Carr's new book, Crazy Sexy Diet is destined for the bestseller list. It officially launches on January 17th, 2011 and everyone from Dr. Oz to Dean Ornish is singing Kris' praises.

CrazySexyLife.com
@Kris_Carr

TODD HERMAN, Athletic Performance Coach

Herman coaches Olympians and hockey players on their inner game. Like most great presenters, Todd came out of the gate with his best stuff:
love your resistance. When you start resisting growth, not wanting to train and making excuses, rather than getting down on yourself (which just starts a downward spiral of loserdom,) re-frame your reluctance into something much more positive. Your resistance is a sign that your system is reconfiguring itself toward success. Embrace it and you'll move through it more quickly. Brill.

But Todd kept it coming. Here's a bit of his story: Olgivy, one the world's preeminent PR agencies, ran a contest looking for the World's Greatest Salesman. The challenge: "Sell a red brick." Yep. That was it. A brick. Make it cool. Sell it.

Todd's video sales pitch elevated the lowly red brick into a symbol of dream building and achievement throughout human history. It's utterly charming and the result is an emotional response that makes you wanna red brick of your very own, stat! It landed him the title of World's Greatest Salesman and a trip to the Ogilvy award ceremony in Cannes.

But if that weren't cool enough, as much as Herman's story-making skills have to teach us about smart marketing, his actual execution is even more motivating. A friend tipped Todd off to the Ogilvy contest and within TWO HOURS of hearing about it, he had written, produced and submitted the Red Brick video pitch to Ogilvy. Hell ya! "When you feel that rush," said Todd, "act on it - that's where the power is." So next time your plotting your campaign and budgeting for weeks of creative execution, just Act. On. It.

ThePeakAthlete.com
@todd_herman

Laura Roeder is a social media coach and co-runner of The Rich Happy & Hot B-School. She and the graduates of the Rich, Happy & Hot Adventure Mastermind group took to the stage and shared some impressive stories of doubling their income in a matter of months, reviving on-the-brink marriages, and doing work that they were proud of - on their own terms. It was a stellar testimony to what happens when ambitious women put their minds to something -- and cheer each other on all the way.

If you want a nugget of what I had to say at Rich Happy & Hot, Alexandra Franzen was there to capture it. Why Nothing Is Free, Not Even Free Stuff

PS...
I also got myself a fine prezzie in NYC: a book deal with Random House/Crown! We'll be launching an all-new print edition of The Fire Starter Sessions in Spring of 2012!!! Gonna make some magic happen. Thank you for cheering me on all the way.

Love to the Love,

 

heart these people: the affiliate cake of love

Your business should be a Cake of Love, that's what I say. Lots of layers of substance to sell and serve with, and between each one, some icing of generosity. Make. Give. Make. Give. Eat. Keep finding ways to mix give-back components into your master plan.

If I sell The Fire Starter Sessions on my own, I clear $145 per program. ($5 goes to one of two charities, which the buyer chooses from.) If an affiliate sells it, my kid and I get $100 bucks, and the affiliate gets $45. I love that math, actually. We've paid out $13,971 in affiliate commissions since May of this year! I could take at least three fab trips, with spa treatments at each destination for that. But of course, I wouldn't have sold as many Fire Starters without other people's help -- the affiliate phenomenon is mighty. But that's not the only point...

Every month when I hit the "Pay Affiliates" button, I feel incredibly loving and proud. I'm all jazzy jazzed that I can add to the economy of consciousness entrepreneurs and lovers of sincerity. I extra-LOVE the 1st of the month for this very reason. And I know lot's of affiliate-offering bloggy types who feel the same way. It feels profoundly good to involve other people in your prosperity -- it's incredibly nourishing, and I highly recommend it. Your skin starts to glow. You sleep better. People buy you drinks.

If you've been waiting / wondering / waxing poetic about purchasing The Fire Starter Sessions, here are 24 super-champ affiliates who'd LOVE to be your gateway to the fire. And from October 21 to 31, they get even more love if you buy through them: 50% of every sale — aka, $75 buckeroos.

Please toodle through the list and feel out who you'd like to share some cake with. (more...)

 

transparency. when it works and when it bombs.

Someone recently made my Transparency Barometer go ding-a-ring-hell-yay-ring-RING! Baker. Adam Baker. An introduction:

Adam Baker is ManvsDebt.com He's been here before (read our interview.) He recently posted this: How to Suck at Launching a Product. Whether you give a toss about launching info-stuff on the internet doesn't matter. What matters is Baker's thoroughly honest account of his tribulations, emotions, and learnings of being an entrepreneurial human. He bares it. All. And he does so methodically, and with an intention: to be useful.

And this is how I think you truly serve.

First, and primarily, you intend to teach; and then you do so with very thorough and relevant honesty.

(Malcolm Gladwell said it. "Authenticity is the new cool." Uh-huh. Interesting times we live in, eh?)

At it's worst, transparency without the intention of teaching can amount to a lot of diarist wanking. Which has it's place, of course. Voyeurism and art are great lovers, and there's a deep translation of shared humanness that happens when we get all bloody and exposed in our creations -- and when someone else is provoked by our outpouring, or even more profoundly, relates to it, then, well, it's a divine kind of wow.

But I'm not talking about that sanctity of pure art and self expression. I want to talk about peddling your expertise -- the place where plenty of art meets plenty of commerce, in which case:

You need to keep your art focused.
You need to have a point to your story.
If you're going to get naked, it better be relevant to your mission.

TRANSPARENCY AS A TEACHING TOOL

1. Be on the other side of the dark side. Which is to say, be on the light side, the logical, happier place when you tell your story.
Do not, I repeat, please don't "teach" about your personal learning when you're in the hell of it. Keep your pants on. Get through it first, THEN turn it into a "10 Steps To Survive Hell" presentation. It's better that way because it's less about you and more about what you're offering. If you want to bleed, gather your inner circle or paint it out. If you want to teach, do us the favour of walking us through your steps to awareness, from beginning to end.

2. Share the actual Big Emotion Moments
If you read Baker's I-bombed-so-hard story, I bet you'll walk away with this image that he shares: "On no sleep for three days… at the moment that was suppose to be one of the best for my business… I put my head down and cried." THAT registers. When I speak to audiences about the day I got canned from my own business, I describe driving home, and having to clench the steering wheel because I was shaking so hard with rage. It doesn't get more truthful and illustrative then those Moments. If it's a moment you'll never forget, it's a moment that carries resonance for someone listening to you.

3. Give details
In the drama of sweeping life lessons (which can range from a pet dying, to a fender bender, to bankruptcy) it can be easy to lose sight of the wee nuts n' bolts that unhinged along the way. But we need to hear some details. Anchor your transparency to some facts and sequencing.

4. Name names
Talk about the other people involved in your learning (anonymously if necessary.) We fail and we succeed together. We want to see how the people around you were aiding your inevitable wipe out, epiphany, or overnight success. Give us their opinions, their hesitancy, their reasons.

4. Give yourself credit - unabashedly
Claim your license to teach. You've been around the block and you're hear to tell the tale. You know a few things. In this matter...you are wise.

5. Go to the trouble of spelling it out
Go to the extra-refined mile not because you're writing Three Days to Enlightenment for Dummies, but because you care deeply about your audience and you want to be of as much service as you possibly can. Fine points, and how-to's, and summaries are incredibly respectful and loving.

A metaphor to close out with: A playbook is not the same as a journal. Journals evolve into playbooks. Playbooks are tried and true and have victory and loss to back up each play. Tried. And TRUE. And we all wanna peek at THAT, brothah.

. . . . . . .

Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Portland, and online... check out my upcoming speaking gigs.

 

cast your votes! strike a match for fire starter session winners!

♥ CLICK HERE TO VIEW + VOTE FOR THE LOVE MATCHEES ♥

Love Match Week yielded 130 fervent applications from aspiring entrepreneurs from New York to New Zealand. Guidelines for applicants were finicky but open to interpretation. Alexandra and I selected 15 finalists, and now it's time for the the free world to choose the winners. 7 of them. Each of whom had a great cocktail line and is revving to take their work in the world to the next level.

It's out of my hands now. I kind of feel like Simon Cowell when it's America's turn to choose the Idol. (But sweeter. And without all that V-neck exposing chest hair.) (more...)

 

snap, crackle, win. the love match tally is in! 2 days to play.

It was Love Match Week last week for The Fire Starter Sessions. For every program purchased, we gave one away. "Gifted" copies were directly donated by purchasers to their friends, daughters, fellow bloggers (there were tears and applause, lot's of goodness,) or, buyers could donate their copy to the Love Match Mix, for aspiring/applying entrepreneurs to win. The results are in: (more...)

 

strike a love match: you buy. we give. everyone wins. a special fire starter sessions program event.

It just takes one person to start a movement. Kinda like Toms Shoes. You buy a pair, he gives a pair. Or Shauna M., a White Hot reader who emailed me to say:

"Dear Danielle...Here's a question for you: I would love to donate a Fire Starter e-book to someone who would really love it/want it but can't afford to pay. I am not starting any business myself, but I would love to give it as a gift to someone. Is there someone from your birthday give-away that you know who would do a happy dance to receive the book? Let me know!"

Wow. Just giving. To give. And I thought, There's a party in here somewhere. So let's get it started. Fellow seekers and achievers, I'm thrilled to announce:

From Monday, September 27 to Friday, October 1, 2010 -- just this week, for every Fire Starter Sessions program purchased, we'll give one copy away: either to a friend of yours (you tell me who), or one to a happy stranger (we’ll pick ‘em together). Yep — you buy one for yourself. And together, we give one away — to an appreciative someone who will put the program to use.

(more...)

 

traffic, tears and tenderness: lessons from 5 years of on-line hustling

Before I launched WhiteHotTruth.com, I was a partner in an on-line "lifestyle media company." I wrote about the soulful side of style. The stakes were high, we'd raised over half a million dollars to make it all fly. And thus, the site became...a content factory (insert sound of fizzling fire cracker.) I had 15 writers working for me. More writers = more content = better search engine ranking = more eyeballs = potentially more ad clicks-thrus = money...or so one hopes. It was a creative nightmare that I let happen. I got ousted left that lil' empire. The company folded and the site was auctioned off as a remaining asset. The new owners started running articles on cellulite cream and pregnant brides. End of story.

I learned a lot. Grateful for all of it. And when I went renegade about two years ago, I took my SEO smarts, vetted it through my artistic soul, et voila! WhiteHotTruth and more learnings...happier kind of learnings. Here are a few:

17 lessons from five years of on-line hustling, in no particular order:

1. Stories are effectual.
When I wrote about my meeting with the Dalai Lama, I thought it would be a flop. Same for my First Spiritual Heartbreak. Yet those articles elicited some of the most heart-felt responses I've ever received. This is a repeating lesson for me: TELL your story, tell YOUR story, tell your STORY. And when you tell your story...

2. Talk about how you feel.
Some people told me they pre-bought The Fire Starter Sessions just because of the admission I offered before blast-off: "launching in a few hours. hope it doesn't suck." The posts in which I'm most emotionally transparent or vulnerable have ended up being some of my most valued material.

If you're doing more the publishing data or facts, then the "real" story behind what you're teaching is how you feel about what you're teaching. The feelings are the magnetism...the white hot truth. Yep -- SOUL SELLS. Transparency is all too rare and we're all craving to relate.

3. There's nothing Tweeters like to tweet about more than Twitter.
Write about the Twitter itself and it WILL get re-tweeted.
Case in point: 3 Keys To Un-Branding and Why I Changed My Twitter Name

4. Some people have way too much time on their hands.
I've received three paragraph explanations as to the etymology of a particular word. READ: an email about a typo. If you're alerting me to a typo because you care and don't want me to look like a dork, thank you! It's energy well spent! If your alertng me to a typoh becuase your just plumm anoyed ... than like, reelly?

5. Overly sensitive types need not apply.
If you're going public with your opinions, and especially if you want to wear your heart on your sleeve on a big stage, you better: a) know what's driving you and be convicted in that; b) be just slightly arrogant enough to think you deserve your place on that stage; c) be tough enough to not let the turkeys get you down. The internet is a massive landscape, and the turkeys have email access. You need to learn to chuckle when they squawk.

6. When you cry while writing an article...it only means something to you.
Just because you're have deeply cathartic experience crafting an article, doesn't mean it will be a transcendent piece for the reader....but it may be.

7. Know the metrics that matter most to you.
I recently did an interview with Pace Smith for the Engaging E-Course program she's co-creating. She asked me all these great questions about stats for The Fire Starter Sessions and my readership. Doh! I didn't have a lick of data for her, because, I don't really do much data. I went two months without checking my Google stats and just about fell off my chair when I found out how much my traffic had increased. Do I care? Hell yes! But I keep my eye on what matters most:

I care about email subscribers. Because I hope my stuff is sweetly useful and you'll give me the privilege of getting into you in-box just twice a week. I care about the quality of emails that I receive - the nature of gratitude and opinions. I care a lot about how my exposure relates to weekly sales of The Fire Starter Sessions.

8. Give yourself three to six months to find your voice.
When I started WHT, I created categories for "fashion + beauty," "wellness + healing", and "relationships + sex". I've written maybe five articles in total that fit those categories. Within a few months of launching it was clear to me that I was most passionate about "inspiration + spirituality," and "business + wealth", with "creativity" making an frequent appearance.

Your true interests will surface if authenticity is your priority.

9. Your blog could be your book. Just maybe.
Six months into WHT, I stood back and saw the outline of a book proposal. Which then morphed into TWO books. One of which is The Fire Starter Sessions, the other is my next book, tentatively called, DESIRE. Yay!

10. When you are always intending to be of service, you will never run out of ideas, or content.
I could break this post into a series. I'd rather pack it all in. There's always more where that came from.

11. Change.

Things I've tried here:
: Burning Questions Interviews. I featured some fabulous people.
: Comments (I'd like to take the opportunity to say here, since the debate of blog comments on or off is still in the air - I think that leaving comments on until you "get big," with the intention of shutting them off at such a time is...sleazy.)
: Posting daily. Well that just about killed me. I post about twice a week now.
: Hot Songs (I may resurrect the tunes...I kind of miss them.)
: Inspirational quotes. There are hundreds of them buried in this site. They started to feel like filler. Nixed.

12. Schedule or no schedule? Your call
One of the reasons I adore Chris Guillebeau is that he is so damn reliable. If he doesn't post every Monday or Thursday, you can rest assured he's been kidnapped. Me...I post when I'm pumped. And I know there are "ideal" times of the day and days of the week to post for readability, but...I publish when I publish.

13. People will use you and you'll use them.
This is life. Favours, climbing, sincere friendship and fanship. It's up to you to keep your intentions straight up and clean. Kissing ass to build traffic gets tired really fast. Genuine interest is much more sustainable.

14. Your best stuff may not be your most "viral" stuff. Write it anyway.

15. Generosity makes for a great party.
Every time.

16. You are having an effect on people, even if you don't know it.
People may write you months after an article went up, and tell you that your words are taped to the fridge for encouragement, or that they read your piece at a banquet to a round of applause.

One line - honesty delivered, might motivate someone to do what they've needed to do for years, or to be more audacious, or more gentle with themselves and the world around them.

17. Just write it.

. . . . . .

Check it: New Vancouver + NYC gigs.

New HOT SHOP! Shop it! xoxo