when you ask for a sign…

be ready to accept it.

i have known for some time now that i do not belong in corporate america.  

sure, it pays well.  sure, there are a lot of smart people.  sure, the stability helps my dad sleep at night… but it’s just not me.  i went to SOBcon in search of friends, education and inspiration.  i got it all… and then some.

there was a videoblog contest (sponsored by utterz.com) and i thought “go for it, jen”  i realized that i was much fresher on the blogging scene than many others but i listened to my instinct and entered anyway.

…and i won!  

my video was a satire of my life in corporate america.  it is my way of saying that someday i will do what i was put on this earth to do…  perform.  

…and the sooner the better.

so i have been pushing myself to see what i am made of… and capable of… and i look for signs of encouragement.  

ask and ye shall receive.

here is the link to my video:  www.getmymessage.blogspot.com 

(ps: thanks so much for voting for me, SOBconers!)

liz strauss: irresistible offer

frosted mini-wheats: heart and head combined w meaning (tell me how to fit them into my life)

irresistible offer: something they want at a price that they can afford to buy

to get more comments on your blog: your 8th grade english teacher is not reading.  it’s a conversation.

end your blog with one last question… give them something to talk about.

5 minute blog post exercise: why i should have taken a typing class in HS

i was just challenged with writing a 5  minute blog post.

that one line just took 2 minutes because i am a sucky typer.  who knew that the typing class in HS that i opted out of (because it sounds boring) would continue to haunt me.  

• is is too late for me? 
• should i hire someone to collect my thoughts?  (like when i finally hired someone to clean my house and then realized that was one of the smartest things i ever could have done)
• will i always have to look at my hands as i type?
• what just happened to my spacing?

time is up.  this took forever.  i silently remind myself that though there is room for improvement, however… i am really good at other stuff… will there be dancing later?

Lorelle VanFossen / Chris Garrett

lorelle vanfossen is speaking on defining our online business and we are supposed to do it in 10 words or less… um… i’ll come back to this.

lunch… yum.  

1:19- Chris Garrett / Find topics from your business process

• content: what do you want to make happen?
• even if you reference something else, make your comment.  don’t get in the way; ask something.
• ideas: the hardest part; write them down when they come to you!
• a really good question can be better than a really good statement
• mind map: get thoughts out of head and off the paper
• make content of how you do what you do 
• use an editorial calendar for your blog
• invent ideas wherever you are
• be efficient: have 4 or 5 posts that are completed but still in draft
• you’re only as good as  your last post
• sometimes you have to do the 5 minute blog post; start w the end in mind
• impact: who for? what? so what?
• don’t be perfect… then there’s no reason for anyone to comment
• rubber ducking: get a rubber duck and talk to the duck… i want to write a post about “this” and what do you think about that?
• focus your time (ex: 5 hours: 2 for blogging / 1 for commenting / 2 for promotion)
• multiple blogs?  use scribefire
• skitch: good for screenshots
• blogbridge: lots of feeds
• skype: podcasts as content

SOBcon 08: learning and mastermind team

so i’m here at this blogging conference and i have had to remind myself (more than once) that i am REALLY good at other things… because i have come to realize that i know SO LITTLE about blogging.

there are people here that have taking this blogging thing to a WHOLE new level and (more than once) i have heard acronyms that only sound vaguely familiar.  i will list them here and update as i define what in the world they mean!

we are grouped in teams.  here are the members of our awesome mastermind team and their websites:

thomas kroghan:  http://www.golfnoise.com/

ria sharon:  http://www.checkmytag.com/

shashi bellamkonda:  http://www.shashi.name/

steve koerning: no website yet, but he’s handsome… and i like that.

MIA

so yeah, maybe i have been MIA lately, but moving from austin to chicago was way more time-consuming than i would have guessed.

and i am actually off to SOBcon 08 so i can’t write a ton today either… BUT

i saw that there was a video contest and i decided yesterday that i wanted to enter.  if for no other reason than i have something to talk about with all the “blogging fancy-pants” that will be in attendence.

so here it is.  

(mom, this video screams “i am my mother’s daughter”  i miss and love you so much.)

actually, i miss and love a lot about austin, but that’s a whole other blog that i have been avoiding due to time restratints.

anyway… seriously.  here it is.  i think you can vote on YouTube or something, so if you know how to do that, i’d like that.

grr… can’t get it to upload and gotta run… check it out here

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJieGT-9BPM) 

6 days…

I leave Austin for Chicago in 6 days…. with packing, selling my condo, saying good-bye to friends and tying up loose ends… not a lot of time to blog.

Daily Quote

visit forbetterlife.org

Laughter is the best medicine!

This made me cry with laughter!  If only we could all STILL, as adult, find such delight in the moment… I need to watch this once a day!

4/3/08

1. someone came by to look at the condo.  it’s officially FOR SALE!
2. steve sent me a great blog that gave me permission to write about nothing
3. had a great walk/talk with brian
4. jason called to check on me… wanted to see if i won the costume contest
5. my sister said she would watch the dogs while i go up to chicago to look for a place… a few weeks
6. renae called and told me how much she’ll miss me
7. michael buble sings like butta
8. marvin gaye tambien