Words Made Easy

As many of you already know, I formally joined with two colleagues late last year under the banner, Kindleman – creative brightsparks. We’re a brand house that delivers end-to-end marketing communications; from strategy, to creative concept and execution.

Though Kindleman was born on December 1 last year, we have actually been working together informally for a few years now. With me as writer/strategist, Dan as brand design and Tim as online expert, we found our skills were a natural compliment. And it seems that our clients did too. Since our unification our business has been going gangbusters.

This is all fabulous. But with added work comes added stress and seriousity. Quite honestly, sometimes I find all this great success a shame.

When we first started working together, we called ourselves a creative collaberation. We revelled in the fact that we each brought a creative discipline. I was in the throes of writing a novel, Dan was in the process of exhibiting some stunning canvases and Tim spent his mornings and afternoons surfing, with a lovely bit of design work in between.

Then we got serious. Now I have two half-complete novels in my bottom draw. I don’t know the last time that Dan picked up a paintbrush and Tim’s lucky to sneak in a cheeky half hour surf session before dawn breaks.

Our clients love us. We love them. But boy there are times I really miss the art of creative writing.

I’m not a complainer by nature, and I am often found educating clients on how to make the best use of their inherant skills and apply them to their existing businesses. So I thought I would do the same.

Rather than letting my fictional writing languish, I allowed the launch of Kindleman to inspire it. While the boys were busy building our website, and designing client account databases, I turned my back on the serious stuff and let my muse do some talking.

It wrote the story of Kindleman. The fable. The metaphor. Our true history. Once that’s much more than a power brand shop slaving away in Manly. The reason behind our work.

Dan & Tim loved the story. But as an image heavy site, there wasn’t a place to publish on kindleman.com.au. I showed it to my husband. But he couldn’t fathom that a creative writing piece would have any role to play in a business landscape. I got angry, then realised that he’s probably right. In the traditional corporate world and its communication styles, the Kindleman fable would struggle.

But there is a new landscape. One which is being forged as we speak. Where old rules don’t apply and new ones are still in the making. The Twitterverse.

So, I began last week, with a slow drip-feed of the Kindleman fable, via the Kindleman twitter account. And through the Kindleman Facebook account. I’m interested to see whether this approach to social media might have any cut-through at all. Or whether its too esoteric, even for that.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the yarn thus far. And on whether you think this is an acceptable or too whacky publication strategy.

So please come and read it: www.twitter.com/kindleman. If you follow Kindleman you will get a daily update to the story.

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

Does it really matter?

In short, YES.

The extended version reads: You can get yourself into SERIOUS trouble if you don’t know the difference. Claiming ignorance will not save you from this trouble. Naievely, inadvertently masquerading one as the other is no excuse.

At a minimum, your trouble will deprive you of gaining a great blog following. At worst, you could be sued for libel, misrepresentation, defamation. Now I don’t know about you, but as a writer I don’t have a great slush fund that I can call upon in dire emergencies. Especially not self-created, legally entagling nightmares.

So whether you have stumbled upon this blog thing as personal lark, or whether you are deploying it as a serious SEO and brand building program for your business, you might want to read on.

A case in point

Earlier this year I had a prospect ask for a quote for some copywriting for his soon to be launched website. He wanted both articles and blog posts written. Great. Makes sense to me. Until I started to delve deeper…

…What exactly did he want to say on his blog posts? What points should we be covering with his articles?

One and the same – he felt.
The same message in a different channel – he said.

Partly true.

But here’s the big problem…

.. a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Because writing a blog as if it were an article can really damage its success. And writing an article like a blog could get you in serious trouble (see entry paragraphs).

So what is the difference?

You read the newspaper right? Or magazines? Occassionally at least? OK – if never, then do yourself a favour and flick through one next time you’re waiting in the doctor’s surgery. (If its my obstetrician you should get through at least 4 magazines before the receptionist bothers to tell you he’s running an hour late. This will give you plenty of time to explore the following explanation).

When reading printed media, you will soon discover at least two stylistic approaches.

1) the journalistic article: These are generally written in the third person, in a factual reporting style. They will use references, quotes and sources to support any claims. They seek to appear independent, well-researched and impartial.

2) the opinion piece: These are written in the first person and convey the writer’s personality through jargon, slang and generally more colourful, entertaining language. They often choose to represent just one side of a divisive argument or ignite a powerful debate.

So how does apply to the online world?

Put simply, a blog is an opinion piece. Or at least the good ones are. Successful blogs (defined by huge followings and big fan bases) are written in the ‘voice’ of the author which is generally what constitutes the major difference between ‘blog’ and ‘article’. It’s also what makes them eminently more readable.

Be careful

What an opinion piece doesn’t do, is save your bacon if you choose to write something defamatory.

Here’s the Rub

Generally a publisher wears the ultimate responsibility of any piece. So if the facts are wrong, if its defamatory or libelous, its the publisher (insert: newspaper, magazine etc) that gets sued. But when you write and publish a blog – who is the publisher? That’s right – YOU!

And the same laws apply to you as to any well-paid, self respecting journalist who triple checks a source before signing their name to work. The only difference is, the journo also has a legal team, a sub-editor and an editor watching their back. Checking and rechecking their facts, questioning their judgement and generally acting a safety net against potentially libelous writings.

Who does this for you?

Make sure someone does, even if its just you. Think twice before you press that hot little ‘publish’ button. It could be a lot hotter than you think.

I have been known to waffle sometimes. OK, a lot. But having come from a film background, I can seriously appreciate that there are times when there’s no need to say a word. Ready for a laugh?

> The Power of a Good Story

Thanks to Verve Films our lovely studio partners, for sharing this one

If, like me, you are constantly struggling to increase your productivity… and if, like me, your vow to cut time wastage often falls by the wayside: Fear Not.

I had en epiphany this weekend:
When we procrastinate, we are going somewhere.

Perhaps not fast. But certainly somewhere. And as long as in the big picture you have a big goal, then:
You are going Somewhere, Better.

I set myself in goal in 2009. Well, I set myself quite a few goals actually as you would note by reviewing past posts… But one of the more important goals was to: increase my productivity. Sound familiar?

Productivity superstars like, Dave Navarro and Charlie Gilkey, have taught me some powerful tips for time mastery. As we all know, one of these is having a Clear End Goal. If you know where you are going you are more able to catch yourself when wasting time on irrelevancy. And refocus on that which is pertinent to your main objective.

But, if like me, you are also in the field of creativity, marketing, copywriting and social media, you will have noticed something else.

We can not survive on a one track mind.

So what’s a dreamer to do hey? If we don’t focus on our ‘true purpose’ 100% of the time, then are we truly wasting it?

NO. I don’t believe so.

You see, genius minds embrace multiple streams of interest. Take Leonardo Da Vinci… Among other things, he designed helicopters, studied anatomy and was a prolific artist. While we may classify these broadly under the umbrella of ‘design’ they still cover vast ground. So too designers like Eames, and artists like T.S Eliot who happily worked in finance by day and wrote poetry by night.

When Time Wasting works

Though not alive today, I’m sure if interviewed, each of these men wouldn’t dream of giving up their various activities. Beacuse each fed into the other.

The point is, that while I strongly believe that we should have a specific end goal, it’s still the journey that counts. Without it, many of our goals would not be reached. And without the diversions that lead to epiphanies, we may miss the crucial point of discovery that sees us reach The Ark.

IN real terms. My end goal is to see my business healthy and profitable. My short term goals to reach that are to become more knowlegable and to keep writing. However, unless I diverged along the suggested readings of random Tweeps, or took my kids to the Museum, or sympathised with my brother-in-law over his recent job loss, then I wouldn’t ‘get’ what was happening in the world around me and I wouldn’t be able to write with a heart.

Sometimes following the unexpected trail can lead you to a forest glade of delights. Perhaps even Baby Bear’s porridge. But you will never know unless you give yourself the time to meander.

So, by all means:

Set your goals and follow them.

Set your clocks and keep track of your time.

But every so often – probably more often than you allow – turn off those clocks and step out of the blinding goals’ light. Take the path less travelled…  and you may find yourself at the end of the rainbow.

:: Just the goal you had always dreamed of, but never dared believe.

Where would you like to go today?
Let’s get this conversation started.

Charlotte

image thanks to author Molly Dwyer – http://www.mollydwyer.com

Though I was there at the beginning, its taken me a long while to accept Facebook and Twitter into my life. I think I spent so many years building websites and online communities for other businesses, that the last thing I wanted to do in my down-time was to pick up tools.

For me, social networking just seemed like another task. And yes, it still is. But something has changed.

Perhaps its just time… Because I haven’t been involved in the day-to-day of web production for some years, and can play at the edges devising strategy and content, I’ve built myself a buffer.

Perhaps its because access has improved – I can now hop on and off for short moments using my iPhone instead of powering up the desktop computer and feeling hard-wired to my desk.

Or perhaps it because I’ve taken the time to figure out a system that works for me. So my online chat-spaces are nothing too important. They’re simply a small part of my varied days; just another way – often easier – to connect, to learn and to share.

If you’re wishing for a work-life balance in social networks, perhaps my five hard-learned tips can help you too.

1. Have a solid plan.

Like any worthwhile thing in life, social networking must have a clear raison d’entre for being part of your routine. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.

This plan doesn’t have to be anything fancy. For example, A) “A quicker way to reach heaps of people” is plenty good enough.

As you can see, that plan differs mightily from B) “a place to muse about the oddity of my days”

Both simple plans. Yet very clear. And each will dictate a radically different approach to how you use social media; and also which channels you use.

2. Know your audience

Following from above, we can start to clarify our plan – so it talks to the people we’re hoping to reach.

Plan A) is obviously searching for volume readers. But here’s a secret: unless you give your readers something they want, they’ll switch off pretty rapidly. Have a fairly clear idea about the types of things your readers are interested in. Otherwise you’re playing a stab-in-the-dark game of reader’s Russian Roulette. And doing that would be a huge waste of your time.

So. Figure out who it is you’re talking to.

Is it your friends? Your family? Your distant relatives and their third-cousins-once-removed that live in Timbuktu? Or just those that live within a 2 mile radius?

Are they clients? If so, of what business? If you’re using social media as a tool to win more work, then be aware of what image you are projecting and what topics you cover, so they can get a good sense of your personality (yes, the real one – though dressed in business attire) and what knowledge and/or passion you bring to the table.

PS: don’t make it all about work either. Or become a brag-fest. Both miss the point of social media and are massively annoying. If it feels ‘too much about me’ then go with your gut. It probably is.

3. Write Accordingly

If you’ve done the first steps right, these next two steps becomes a WHOLE LOT EASIER! So if you haven’t quite figured out Steps 1 and 2, go back and do them. I’ll see you back down here when you’re done.

When it comes to writing, even the most vociferous of us can get stuck sometimes. This is when it really helps to have a plan.

If you have created a clear roadmap, a definate purpose for being on the social networking bandwagon, you are going to be a hell of a lot more interesting to others.

Rather than posting inane comments about the weather (Last week’s Red Dust storm a clear exception), your blueprint will help guide your posts/words and conversations online.

Please don’t get me wrong. The last thing anyone wants from social media is manufactured, corporate speak. So don’t lose yourself. And don’t lose your voice.

But don’t let it babble like a blithering idiot either. We’re all too busy for that.

Instead if you have a clear goal, wrapped up in a clear sense of self, your natural thoughts will tend to inform and entertain on subjects you have a passion for. And that will lead to a natural set of loyal readers.

You can also cultivate more of them… with the next step.

4. Connect Accordingly

Obviously we hope that your fabulous writing will inspire anyone nearby to hang onto your every word with baited breath. But in case that doesn’t happen, follow these steps.

• Accept anyone that fits the defined readers you’re aiming for.
• But don’t stop there. Get active.
• Invite anyone you know who is interested in what you’re doing to join the chat-fest.
• Ask them to invite their friends.
• Scope new readers by following other bloggers who write in your space.
• Join their conversations.
• Look at their networking friends and invite active participants back to your conversations.
• Find emptier spaces where your voice won’t be completely crowded out.
• Become vocal in these and build a loyal following.

Finally… you’ll be ready to graduate

Step 5: Make it Real

Take your conversations offline, to clubs and functions and events where you can deepen the connections you’ve been forming in virtual reality. If they survive in the real world, you know you’ve really started something worthwhile.

The real allure of online connections is that they’ll ultimately lead somewhere. To more fun, more success and more real life happiness. That is the elusive rainbow we are all chasing. Enjoy the journey.

And if you have any more excellent tips for social networking survival, please add them to our comments.

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

OK guys, here’s a question for you:
Who believes that you should run separate accounts on Twitter for personal and business and who thinks you should just mash the whole lot up?

I guess the answer is obvious for those who run a Twitter account from the Marcomms division of a multi-national. (Separate of course). But what about those of us who are a one/two/three man band?

We all know that our brand thrives or dies around it’s USP. And for us ittybiz(nesses), that USP generally has quite a lot to do with our personal selves.

But when I find myself twittering away on @wordsmadeeasy about the training and fun runs I am doing for my upcoming Blackmore’s half marathon, then I start to wonder how relevant any of that information is for my copywriting/content clients and associates. I mean, really, could they care less if my legs were aching yesterday after Sunday’s Pub2Pub Fun Run?

For the most case, I heartily think not. Unless I am able in some way to link that back to goal setting or some such other business case then what the hell do they care anyway?

In fact, with all of our time so precious these days, would I not, in fact, be annoyingly bombarding them with irrelevant poppycock? To the point that, after 3 or 4 of these navel-gazing Tweets, would they then choose to de-friend me? If so, I could completely understand why.

Worse still, if I have a delivery for them about which I made vague promises re: a Monday morning deadline, and they were receiving my insistent, chest-beating Tweets about how well I had run and not-so-well recovered… would they not be wondering why I was sitting in a boiling hot Epsom Salt bath instead of writing profound words of business wisdom for them? I would hazard a hearty-and-resounding ‘yes’ coming from their stuffy, office desks.

SO what is a small business webpreneur to do?

I’m not proposing to answer this this time. I am still a relative newbie on Twitter et al. So how about some of you well-trodden social networking experts give us your viewpoint on the whether to pursue Twitter with multi-personality disorder. OR should we just say, ‘to hell with it’ and make our followers wade through the drivel, while getting to know all facets of you, and allow them to make the choice on whether to stay or whether to go.

Please. I’d really value your input on this one… How do you work your Twitter strategy? (Feel free to gratuitously plug your own blog posts and words of wisdom on this topic to you heart’s content. I feel in a very sharing mood today).

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte

Yay, today is the 30th of June – the end of the financial year and more importantly (for me anyway) the end of the 30 day Global Bender Bikram Challenge.

It’s a good time to reflect on your goals, financial and personal and take stock of where you’re heading in 2009. What plans did you make for yourself and your business at the beginning of the year? Six months in, how are you tracking?

You know that I set myself a challenge of improving my health. June saw me ramp it up a notch with the Bikram Global Bender. Now at June 30 it’s almost complete.

Thank God.

I have been practising Bikram on and off for a couple of years now. Going through patches of a few days a week and long periods of none. This year it came back on my training calendar to improve my flexibility after long runs.

Its both a serious workout and serious time-out from the every day hustle bustle. As well as improving my physical condition it improves my outlook.

Clearly I enjoy it, but I had never considered myself one of those extremists who live and breath yoga. Then the Global Bender came along.

Our Bikrams Brookvale studio often runs Challenges, many of which go for 60 days. They have always seem a reach too far for me. But the Global Bender was only set for 30 days, and right slap-bang in the darkest, coldest month of the year when early morning beach runs have definitely lost their appeal.

I had recently opened a new arm of business and had retired my long-time personal trainer, so the timing seemed perfect to sign up for The Bender.

I knew it would teach me discipline and I hoped it would see my practice advance. I also knew it would be a tough undertaking completing 30 classes in 30 days while running two businesses and raising a family.

Little did I know how hard.

Its inevitable that I would have missed a couple of days here and there due to timetable pressures. The trouble with that is – making them up. I have done 3 days of back-to-back double classes now to make up for the missed ones.

This afternoon at 5:15pm will be my last.

The commitment and dedication and sheer perserverance required to pull this off have been enormous. There is absolutely no way it would have been possible without the support (albeit begrudging at times) of my husband.

Little did he realise that when he felt ready for me to throw in the towel, I felt doubly so-inclined.

Until I thought to myself…

What am I proving to myself, my children and my clients if I can’t even complete a 30 day course in something I am supposed to enjoy? Something that gives me clear and obvious benefits. Something which is designed ready-on-a-plate and requires little else but merely showing up?

If I can’t do that then how on earth am I supposed to be able to raise two little heroes, grow self-sustaining businesses or have the audacity to coach other business operators to do the same.

So day in, day out, early in the morning, late at night, and sometimes twice a day I have dragged myself off to the yoga studio and sweated my little heart out.

When the going got really tough

I remembered a recent talk given by reigning Iron-Woman Champ, Naomi Flood. Just 23, Naomi is mature beyond her years thanks to a punishing training regime and personal hurdles she has had to overcome to reach her goal.

In 2005 Naomi collapsed just 2km from the ‘Coolongatta Gold’ finish line, due to a failed liver from poor nutrition. She simply didn’t know any better.

Since then she has improved her diet. Which has led in turn to less illness and more consistent training. Naomi says when her alarm goes off at 4:27am each morning, she gives herself 3 minutes to battle with her mind about whether to get out of bed, visualises the winning moment, then throws back the covers.

She says it can take weeks of training in the pool, every day, for hundreds of kilometres to see even one, tiny, incremental improvement in time. ‘A bee’s dick’ of an improvement as she and fellow Club athletes describe it.

Yet its over weeks and years, that each of those  precious seconds add up to precious minutes that ultimately make the world of difference between First and Second place in that one crucial race finale. Where it literally come down to a few seconds between winning and losing and making those years of effort pay off.

Now I’m no hero

Nor aiming to compete as a world athlete. But in completing this Yoga challenge, I have proven to myself that it is the ongoing, perseverance of everyday grit and determination that makes the difference.

Its not a difference you see overnight. But after 30 days I can hold myself in a ‘Standing Bow’ pose for one minute and see my foot sweep high above my head.

This from a girl who couldn’t balance for 5 seconds on one foot two years ago.

And struggled to hold the full minute just 30 days ago.

If you have a goal

Then the difference between making it and not, is your ongoing, everyday practice. Some days you may be tired. Some days it may just feel all wrong. But if you just do it, it’s amazing what you will learn. How strong your mind and your skills become. Simply through repetition.

Its not rocket science.

The greatest success comes simply in showing up.

Happy End-of-Financial-Year and congratulations to all the Global Benders. Its the 30th June. Hip, Hip Hooray.

Photo credits:

Standing Bow: no – that’s not me yet, I wish!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilikegranola/3194869497/

Naomi Flood:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23220740-5014066,00.html

That sounds like a scarily giant under-taking doesn’t it? No mean feat? A gargantuan task? Ridiculous really? And yet that’s what they suggest should strive for.

As genius online scribe, Sonia Simone describes though, this needn’t be as scary as it first sounds…

Does “best in the world” sound scary? Remember that “the world” probably means the micro-world you and your customers happen to swim in (the Internet; mid-sized ad agencies in your zip code; barbecue joints in Duluth).

Once you know the size of your world, keep narrowing your focus. Divide and refine what you do until you hit the point where no one can outclass you.

In other words: clarity.

The AIM here folks, is to figure out that one tiny, teensy, spectacular thing that makes you YOU.

In marketing speak they call it your USP – unique selling point. The one thing that you have, that no-one else does.

At this moment, most people generally panic. Don’t. No-one expects you to be Superman. Your USP doesn’t have to be cryptonite. 

Your USP, your personal USP is one tiny little, perhaps annoying, but uniquely identifiably YOU characteristic. Its your quirk.

For the average Jo this could actually be something really annoying. Like always writing in short sentences. Yes. Like this.

Or never being seen without the $2 moth-eaten beanie you picked up from Vinnies in 3rd year Uni which you still think makes you look cool (but guess what – it doesn’t).

Or always eating your toast in a pattern that looks like a half moon, which-ever way you turn it.

Or being kind to cats.

Or hating cats.

What-ever it is though, it is definitely NOT, not caring either way about cats. 

The thing that makes you different has to be clear and obvious. Ideally, if the YOU we’re talking about here is a business, then it should be something that people actually want to connect with. If the YOU we’re talking about is lil’ole you then I guess it’s your choice whether you want to be in favour or not. If you’re really rich and/or successful then I guess you don’t really care. But if you do, please read on…

This USP of yours doesn’t have to be sacchrine sweet, or nice, but hopefully it will make people smile.

For example… Sonia Simone’s good mate and part-time business buddy Naomi Dunford has a quirk. It’s swearing. It’s not nice. It’s certainly not sacchrine sweet. But it is funny. And she declares it right up front, so no-one has a chance or a right to get offended. If swearing is not their thing, they’re told right up front to find another advice-dispenser.

The thing is, Naomi knows that those who then stick around to read her writing are doing so because they want to. Because she’s given them a taste, right up front, about what makes her word-style uniquely hers.

In posh writer’s schools they call it your writer’s voice. In business we call that your USP.

Many brand agencies have been advocating a special kind of USP that comes in the esoteric nature of one’s ‘brand essence.’ Yes, it should also exist there. But to bring a brand to life, a company must live and breathe their brand. And that means doing stuff. Quirky stuff. Your stuff. The stuff that makes you uniquely you and your brand uniquely it.

At the big end of town, for Virgin that means being irreverent in communication. Always challenging the current ‘way of doing things’. Not giving in to the establishment and finding the common man an alternative. Whether that is through cheaper air travel, competitive mobile phone usage, or gyms, Virgin’s voice and approach is quite singular. You see it, hear it and taste it in everything they do.

So what does that mean for you or your business? It’s tough to answer isn’t it… But if you had to summarise the core essence of your business in one sentence what would it say?

I bet Naomi’s reads something like: shit-hot advice to help small businesses make heaps of money doing what they love.

Virgin’s is: A passion for value

And here at Jabbermouth it’s: provoking hearty conversation around stuff that really matters.

Now it’s your turn to tell us yours. Think of it as a free plug. Come on. Don’t be shy… The one thing that makes you YOU. What is it? And if you don’t think you or your business really have one just yet, then what could it be? What do you want it to be? What is the reason you get up in the morning?

Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte 

Late last year I had the fun of writing a quiz for an experiential website.

It started as pure science with a touch of emotion thrown in. We drew grids of personality markers and chose to define by eight variables on four sliding scales.

Two scales rated work:

1. active v’s relaxed
2. creative v’s logical

Two scales measured sociability:

3. sexual v’s romantic
4. quiet v’s outgoing

Being a quiz it needed to offer equal chance of selecting any personality type, so statistics reared their head. Through trial, error and a little logic (I am no mathematician) I managed to give each type a 50% chance of achieving their opposite. We were in a good place.

Once the points added up, the options of 4 x 4 character combinations meant I had to write 16 personality combinations. 

This was where the fun began… when those labels turned into human personalities.

To write copy for sixteen personas I had to take off my maths hat. Though labelled using four descriptive tags, these were my compass points in creating real people.

Of course, like any writer, I drew on parts of people I know to imagine how a particular combination would walk, talk, dream and work. Funnily enough, it was easier to drop any specific likeness to an actual living person and instead write to the result of these behaviours influencing action.

I deliberately did not answer the quiz for myself until I had completed the pesonality types as I didn’t want disaffect my creations. Not all that suprisngly, I tuned out to be a ’quiet, romantic, creative, active’ person. What does that sound like?

Well apparently I am a Sensual Visionary  (wow that sounds far more exotic than reality… I love writing for fun!) 

The advice I had dispensed to my particular combination was….

Your energy and creative vision are highly valued in today’s market. However, unless you speak up, no-one will know what you have to offer. To realise your ultimate success, you need to work on self-promotion. Get bold. Be loud. Create some cut-through. It’s OK to be pushy in business. In the personal stakes you are naturally quieter. Your personality often needs to withdraw to recharge. Balancing your high-energy business workout with weekend downtime is healthy and productive. Spending time with your partner is the ideal relaxation. Whether you’re out hiking, visiting galleries or being spa pampered, that all-important romance is the perfect remedy.

Weird. Actually cause that sounds pretty much spot on! Downing tools on a hectically busy work week, Pete and I snuck into town on Saturday night to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. We took in a play – When the rain Stops Falling (highly recommended by the way) and stayed overnight, and now I feel refreshed and ready to get out that megaphone. For me, and my clients!

So I wonder what your personality type is and whether what I write for you makes sense? Check it out for yourself: http://www.bueno.com.au/

ON this theme… What do you think of the work produced in the moment where spontaneous imagining met cold hard statistics – Have I turned your ‘attributes’ into a genuine human experience? I hope so. At the very least, it should give you five minutes of fun today.

Enjoy!
Charlotte 

Kudos to digital stars, Webling, for creating the Quiz and to Rey in particular, for such groovy animated characters.

So yesterday was Mother’s Day. Last month I told of the training I’d been doing in order to get fit enough to complete the 8km foot race this weekend. Over the last four weeks I have done numerous 8km runs – on treadmills, along beachfronts and through the bush. As I enjoyed them, I figured I had hit my stride and would do a reasonable time in the Mother’s Day Classic around Sydney’s Domain.

So there I was yesterday in a hot pink MIMs shirt running as part of the Mums In Motion team. We looked good. Having got over the Fiji flu and with two rest days under my belt, I felt pretty good too.

At 7:30am a mass of people assembled in slight drizzle, under the starting arch. Melinda Gainsford Taylor popped the gun and we were off.

Staying wide I managed to overtake quite a few people in the first half a K’. It was slightly downhill, and the autumn air kept things cool. Off to a good start I thought.

Only one problem. Yesterday I found out that there is such a thing as over-preparation.

There I was, keen as a mung bean, ready to fire up and do a sub-40 minutes. I had taken my two rest days prior. Put in some decent training before hand. Stayed off the wine for the week and replaced it three days out with Endura Sports Mix  to maximise my magnesium levels. Ate Spag Bol the night before then got up at 5:45am and made myself a hot porridge with sultanas.

It proved to be my downfall. After the first kilometre I realised that the leaden feeling in my stomach had less to do with race nerves than it did with my big bowl of Goldilock’s favourite breakfast. Instead of sitting pretty, I was running heavy. With every step swayed a big chug of swirly oats. Kind’ve like liquid concrete.

I had put so much effort in to doing the right thing for race day that I lost sight of the bigger picture… What started out as a bit of fun, to raise money for a good cause and give me a reason to stay motivated with my training had seen me overshoot my mark on D-Day.

I’ve had the same thing happen in pitches too. Spent so long over-thinking and over-analysing the perfect solution to a prospect’s situation that we’ve forgotten simply to go in and introduce ourselves. As with this race, ultimately clients and suppliers are looking for partners who are in it to have some fun, do it for the right reasons and deliver a good result. 

Sometimes trying too hard loses you that perspective.

Without doubt, the solid miles I had put in weeks before ensured that, even with a distended belly I finished within my target time. But I would have liked to have pushed it that bit further. 

Next time, with this race experience under my belt, I should be able to judge the pre-race meal a little better and incrementally improve.

It’s the sort of preparation that can only come from years of experience. Let’s hope I live a long life. I’m going to need a while to get it right.