What Makes a Good Article Title (Quorafied)

Before I say that simplicity is best, the truth is, it depends on the article, the target audience, and where you will be publishing the article.

Back in the day, when I once judged writing for various contests, the title was how you captured my attention. You could drag me down with the wrong title or you can draw me in.

Are you informing, persuading, entertaining, or educating with your article?

Using true crime as an example-your title would be marketed to a specific audience who already (more-than-likely) knows the ending. In this case, there is no surprise, so your title must catch a reader’s eye who is already looking for something similar to what you wrote and the only differentiation would be some great hook like:

Who Killed Grandma? (who on earth kills Granny?)

Machete Mother Strikes Again (a woman who is made to give life taketh away)

My Brother, the Serial Killer (insider information)

However, if I am writing a technical/how-to article, the title let’s the prospective reader know what the article is about because the only other way they’ll know is by reading the article… a must-have lure.

How to Dismantle a Time-Bomb

Healing a Sick iPhone in Less than 10 Minutes

Six Reasons to Grill Your Burger in the Kitchen

If the article is purely for entertainment, this is completely subjective as half the readers will like what you name it and the other half will skip it completely. You’ll have to go with gut instinct, but maybe including a hint of what’s to come along with what type of writing it is (if the publication doesn’t make it obvious) is best.

A Night Darkly Fallen from one Comedian to Another

What She Didn’t Tell Me

Clouds in my Coffee and Other Dreams

All in all, your audience comes first, but you have to get it in front of them before they can even reject it off the title alone. 

A title grabs your attention, sets the tone, explains what's to come, and possibly even answers the phone when you can't get to it. Okay, so it's not everything, but it's most things.

Beginning Article Writing (Quorafied)

Practice:
Choose a book in the public domain—one that interests you and is well written. Find something in the book, just one part of it, and rewrite the story but as an article. Discover your purpose before and while writing--are you informing, entertaining, persuading, or serving some other purpose to the reader? When you are finished, read out loud. Change anything that doesn’t sound right. Read out loud again.

Next, give it to someone you trust and who will follow through. Have them read it and answer questions such as did every word move the article forward, was there repetition, did you write down to the audience, and what did they get from the article—what service did they feel you were serving?

You can do this until you feel comfortable, but the best way is to write articles for real and you’ll know you’re doing a good job when you get that first check.


Other Things to Do:
Read articles

Make a list of subjects you love and write about them

Make another list of subjects that can be entwined with other subjects and write about them

Write articles regardless of having a market or audience

Find online websites, magazines, and publishers that need freelance writers and ask for writers guidelines—this shows you what they are looking for


Get Used to Seeing Your Name in Print:
Write to the editor of your local paper regarding something current that you are also passionate about

Review products—books, movies, etc. and post wherever you can

Write a blog—whether personal or professional

Share your success stories with highly niche newsletters, for instance, your company newsletter, a product or service newsletter


Lastly
Article writing is fun and can be lucrative as long as push yourself—the writers who succeed do not wait for the check before writing—heck they don’t even wait for a green light from an editor or publisher—they write, send it in, write some more, send more in, write some more… and so on

Keep good records, not just on your submissions and paid work, but on your work itself

Do not be afraid to ask questions

Figure out if you are an independent contractor/freelancer and what the laws are about taxes

2013 & Resolutions: Out With the OLD Ideas

Going out on a limb, here, assuming the majority of readers have, how many of you made New Year's Resolutions and what are they? 

As you probably know by now, I have not made resolutions. I haven't made any since I was in high school, when I learned most women made diet resolutions (this was the 80's, it was about dieting, not health!) and most of those broke them. It kind of stuck on me that if I didn't make them, I'd not break them.

Fast forward back to now (I know, an oxymoron): where has not making the resolutions gotten me? While it's true I've not broken my promises, I have also not really moved forward much. YIKES! Yet... it's the truth. 

If one aspires to nothing in order not to fail, one fails. 

I've failed. I've failed myself (and deprived all of you of my good works!).

My resolution this year is to make daily resolutions (AKA daily to-do lists). I want to write a page a day; I want to work on the YouTube account; I want to write and share my blogs; I want to train the cheerleaders to be the best personally they can be; I want the cheerleaders to win competitions; I want to have my business organized; I want to locate more missing children; I want to solve unsolved mysteries; I want to earn money; I want to secure my future. And I want to be in shape.

By year's end, I will have at least 365 posts on various websites and blogs, 365 pages written, a grant written, and $365 dollars left over after paying all the fees associated with TrueCrime.co.

Happy new year to all and blessings and success upon each one of us.

Last year's Waialua High School Bulldog's Varsity Cheer Team at OIA competion-Coach Ann Dellatan

Page A Day: 9/365

9/365
Lee Iacocca gave me something better than the Mustang: he motivated me to be like him and give it all I have; then play. Yes, it's true. Time off for working hard is a MUST. That doesn't mean "take the day off" or to skip a page each day. It means, write your page and then go off to do something else you enjoy. Psychologically, your mind will remember you reward yourself for such good behavior, which in turn makes you all the more eager to repeat it. It's a vicious cycle, but it's a GREAT and productive one.

Final Word
"If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got." ~Lee Iacocca

Page A Day: 6/365

6/365

Writing a page a day is great––if you are actually doing it. Are you? Many writers find being accountable to someone other than themselves keeps them on track. Do you need a push? A tugging? Pulling? Join a writing group and tell them what you are doing, why, and when you expect to be finished. Write them when you have a down day. Someone just may have the solution to motivate you to keep writing even when you do not feel like it. Check both on and offline.

Final Word

" It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Page A Day: 2/265

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FreeWriting is the action of writing, without premeditation, freely, as thoughts flow from your mind to your paper (or computer screen). A great way to bypass "writers' block" is via FreeWriting. If you stay on target with your book, all the better.

Set a timer for five minutes. Write ANYTHING until the timer goes off. Do this every day for thirty days until you have formed a new habit. Continue five-minute freeWriting during your entire year of a Page A Day (PAD) and watch the ideas and pages add up faster than a scientific calculator.

Final Word

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~Aristotle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writing From the Heart: A Work of Love

Proofreading (something I never do, but should, for myself) is a natural progression/extension for a writer. Like most writers, I've done it several times. This week, a friend's third book is ready to rock the World; I was asked to proofread.

First of all, I assumed, wrongly, that editing and proofreading were the same things.  Secondly, like Latin, I'm learning all there is to know about writing-- through proofreading. This is TOUGH.  Wow!

For instance, I never understood why we sometimes use one hyphen (-) or two (--).  Now, I realize, duh!, it's for the reader to know whether you are combining words to make them stronger (think: compound) or if you are sharing qualifying words (like parentheticals). Obvious? Sure, but so much so, I never got it.

I'm challenging all writers out there to proofread a serious book (and you can return the favor when your manuscript is complete); by doing so, your work will become more serious in return - and that's worth it's weight and more in gold.

Perfectionism

It could be from my life as a competitive gymnast, and it could be that my mother was so smart, I had too much to live up to, but I am a serious perfectionist.  It's horrendous because it leads to procrastination, which leads to depression and feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness.

This DOES affect my home businesses.

I spend HOURS writing a thank you letter, for instance, making sure it's just right and second guessing what each word may mean to the receiver, regardless of what and why I wrote in the first place.

Even here, on this blog, I never ever re-read and edit it because to do so is death.  I would never get anything published. I have to close my eyes and push "publish post."

Great ideas are easy to come by in the wonderful world of writing-I write on the wall ideas all day AND night long. I have ideas for books, articles, screenplays, essays, poems... you name it. And they really are great ideas (I know because after a while, someone else thinks of it and makes a ton of money), but that first word gets me each and every time. It must be perfect. It has to be right or I cannot go on.


I self edit as I write, yet I'm a one-draft-deadline writer, and here's why:  the first chapter of The U-Haul Murders is the Littlest Angel/The Last Day; it's been rewritten more than one hundred times and I'm not joking.  No matter how good it is, by my standards for fellow readers, it can always be improved. Knowing Shakespeare and the Bible can be rearranged and changed for improvement - two perfect works of art (Shakespeare=all his work) - doesn't make me feel any better or edit any less.

I've been trying to earn the ChaCha bonuses (tell 'em ChaStriss sent you so we can be on the same team!), but I'm slow because I want the answers to be perfect. I want to earn 100% on the quality scores.  As a former ChaCha user, I know for a fact I'm too hard on myself compared to others, but still, I sweat it each and every time.  It's a hindrance, I tell you.

When I decide to make cold calls for my AtHome America (which, yes, I am re-instated and working until June to see what happens and how the customers deal with the new direct shipping) business, it's the same thing. I take hours to prepare and make sure I know the specials of the month and the next month. I make sure I have everything at hand, either the hard copy or the reproducibles on the computer... and I'm scared to death that I'll either be asked something I do not know, or worse, I'll know the answer and will not be able to recall it, even with everything in front of me.

Now, I know that no one is perfect and I also know that I probably won't lose a penny by a stutter or two, yet, there I am, striving to get it right before I start.

By the time I've gathered my wits about me and am ready for ChaCha or the cold calls, I've pretty much gone into the next time crunch for me, where the kids are home and I need to work on homework, or dinner's supposed to be ready, or the time zone where the customer lives is wickedly late... always something.

This perfectionism not only does not work, but it works against me.  By wanting to be perfect, I am earning less money by researching less on ChaCha and earning less money by having less home/online parties/sales with AtHome America.  0% of 0 is $0, no matter how perfect it is.

Taking the five minute idea and the knowledge my way isn't working, what if I spend just five minutes a day on ChaCha and five minutes a day making cold calls with NO PREPARATION and let whatever comes my way... come my way?

As for the writing?  I'm going to have to change it up a bit more.  No more "freewriting" because I know it's just a bunch of rambling with no intentions ever of going anywhere.  Instead, I'll have five minutes of completely unedited REAL WORK that has a preplanned purpose.  Every other day I'll write, and the next day, I'll take five minutes (and only five minutes) to edit the piece and improve as needed.


Practice makes perfect; nobody's perfect.

More (sorry?)

Obviously, I cannot stop thinking about what to do. I shouldn't feel like I'm in turmoil, but I can't help it.  It's just nothing that I saw coming. I didn't expect a positive change to feel negative.

 

I'm still not sure what even convincingly how I really feel.  I'm going to work AtHome America like I have not been able to (thanks to the lovely deployment and all the preparation (we are still waiting, even though anyone else is already gone... we've NEVER seen the changes happen that are happening and it's NOT our first time around...) since I took off in December, and we'll take it month by month.  Should I wait the first month of May to see what happens? Shall I give it until the new catalog comes out for fall and winter?  Do I cut my losses?  I don't want to; what I want is for it to work and become better than ever for us all.  I love the HomeWares, I love the people I've met, and I love the concept I felt and still feel is possible.


As for writing. I have this serious problem.  When I'm helping anyone other than myself, I have time, I do it, I finish it (whatever "it" is).  But when it's for me, it's always last on the list. My list. And even when I'm ALMOST finished (because I am never finished), it's never good enough and I'm ashamed to show it to anyone.  Shoot, even this blog, I'm half glad I'm the only one reading it because I KNOW it's garbage. I know I need to proof-read and edit as I would someone else's work. But why?  If I do that, I'll know that none of this matters and that it'll never be good enough, and that I'll realize how stupid I sound; how stupid I am. And then I'll quit.


I'm scared.  Scared to never be good enough. I wasn't always this afraid, but then again, maybe I was.


The only thing I do right, I'm not happy about. I've been working now and then on a few cases which are close to my heart - Emily Jeannette Garcia (Texas); Jennifer Lynn "Servo" Olson (Texas); Tammy Lynn Leppert (Florida); Jerry Faye, Jessica, and Mackenzie Butts (Texas); Jill Dando; Mary Shotwell Little (Georgia); and Ricky Lenn Dyer, Jr. (Nevada).  I'm not happy because I don't have the answers. I can't call the parents and tell them anything at all to make them happy.  Nothing. 


So I suppose what I need, is to write my own happy ending.  Let's see if we see this one coming.

Setback - Failure - Or...

It's been a difficult month for me, business-wise, as you may have noticed. Someone asked me how do I tell people around me that I failed at something I planned.  Fail?  I didn't fail!  I was positive, right? I didn't cry and whine [too much], right?  And... I tried. Since when is trying, and I do mean trying HARD a failure?

When you come to something that doesn't work, try, try again. And then try something else. You keep trying until you get it right or find a much better solution.

I won't go into what I most failed doing this month, but I can safely say it will be short-lived, and next month, I'll share what successes my failure brought me. 

Which, of course, makes it NOT a failure. What's a failure anyway?

For me, not writing is always a failure, my solution is to clean, and it works because everyone at home is happy and I love it because when the inspiration does or does not start and I write, I don't have a pile of dishes, a streak of dirt, or stinky laundry distracting me. 

But that is not a success story, not really.  

What if... I didn't write and things got in the way, and one day, while procrastinating and pretending like going on a cleaning binge is a positive alternative, a piece of glass cut deep into my foot?  What if I had to go to Urgent Care? What if the doctor there was a jerk and I asked to sit in the waiting room, waste more time, until there's a more competent doctor? What if the doctor came out, apologized, and I reluctantly agreed to go back?  What if... he said he was very sorry and normally there's no excuse, but this one time, he learned his brother's wife went out last night and didn't come home and what if the same doctor continued - gasp! (yes, even doctors give out strange and personal information at the oddest times) - and said "I just want to know where he hid the body. My own brother!"

I'm a true crime writer, as my kids say.  Yes, things like that happen all the time.  I'm not saying this is great to exploit him, I write for FREE!  I want to HELP. Yet, I admit, if the brother is guilty and his own brother had a feeling, and I learn about it first hand and before the police hear about, you betcha I'll be excited.  Don't judge me, it's natural, the stuff pumping through our vein!

That's one of those accidental success stories. They happen all the time.  For instance, why do you think Colonel Sander's picture is him of an OLD man?  Not only did he receive a thousand rejections for his chicken recipe before striking gold, but he also failed at pretty much everything he ever tried, including his short-lived attempt at kidnapping.  Through much more than I write here, he managed to succeed and indeed, his success outlived him.

Next time you fail at a goal you set for yourself, remember, it's only a moment and it will pass.

Check out these other famous business failures.

Five MORE Minutes - and Then Some

As you know, I'm a fan of five minutes.  I'm NOT a fan of looming deadlines, and that's what I'm facing now.  

In writing. In At Home America. In advocating for victims.

Let me add, thanks to the military, I have no contact whatsoever (for the first time ever, not even when he was in Iraq did I have a day without some sort of communication) with my husband and spent the first lonely day feeling sorry for myself.  That's depressing enough, but when I looked at my calendar, I realized the month spent trying to get our kids on airplanes back to school (and losing precious work, including At Home America parties and meetings) was destroying all I worked for (that's another story in itself, just trust me).

Suddenly, I'm paralyzed. I'm doing nearly nothing.  And then it comes to me... five minutes.  Get back into life.  So I meditated and prayed for five minutes.  Ah. Smart move.

Five minutes of freeing my mind put me on the path to success. First of all, the no contact thing does stink, but I can use it to our advantage.  I imagined four less interruptions each day, then, handing him a check for the money I earned because I used my time wisely.  Also, for us, there's one more thing, he's been waiting for me to send the children's book to the publisher and to type 43:10 (screenplay) into the computer so we can get a new agent...  I CAN do this.  Even if only five minutes at a time.

The next five minutes, about an hour later, I rationally listed my most important deadlines and what I needed to do to meet them.

For instance, as a homestyle specialist, I worked hard the past two months to get to the second of two levels, in order to earn an important all expense paid trip to Chicago to learn more about my company and how to succeed.  When the flight fiasco with the boys happened (and the lovely holidays), I set it all aside. Now, in order to gain the last level and the trip (not to mention a decent check and some free homewares for myself), I have seven days to get $800 in sales. YIKES! I typically only earn about $1000 in sales in an entire month!

Therefore:

Goal - Earn $800 in sales before 4PM Hawaii time on January 24

How - Advertise, beg, motivate three people to host a quick online party

With this information in hand:

In five minutes I rewrote my iPhone email signature and my email signature. Since I need sales right now more than a recruit, I focused on whatever might encourage someone to order ASAP - the fact the Sale-a-bration sale is only through January and only until each item runs out, creates urgency; the fact the items are as low as $2.99 creates a more urgent desire.

In five more minutes, I wrote from my iPhone five letters to friends or family who I truly care about and would normally write.  Hours later, I'd take five minutes and do the same on the computer.  Each day, I'll do it again, but with other friends.  

Results:  I ended up with two online orders.  Both were small, but they are orders I normally would not have. Besides, all orders add up and the magic number is $1000.  I'm now short only $712.

And you can see how the five minutes add up, too. And they're painless!  I'm going to post on Facebook each day a new item under $3 for sale. They have to go through the higher priced items to get to the sale items. Works for me.  I'll take five minutes to go through my address book and call a potential hostess. Five minutes will allow me to check an online party. Five minutes does so much.

With writing... five minutes will give me a minute of screenplay action (I can type a page in five minutes).  I can query three publishers, a literary agent, and print out a proposal. Five more minutes gives me another page. My deadline for the screenplay is a bit longer, I have until February 2. Still, I can take five minutes to figure out how many five minute spurts a day I need to meet the deadline.  Easy.

The most difficult of my home "business" is being a victim's advocate. The reason it's difficult is that it earns nothing and depends on the earnings from the other jobs.  Constantly, I have to stop working on what I truly feel called to do, to do the others.  It's a catch-22, isn't it?

The biggest way I help is through a website.  I've been struggling for the last several years (after years of success) because I don't understand how to create the website in my mind now that I use Mac and Dreamweaver, and therefore, rarely do I get to actually write, research, or help. It's another bit of disappointment.

Yet, again, this is how five minutes works.  Five minutes can allow me to choose a subject in Dreamweaver that I really do not understand, and read.  It's ONLY five minutes, I can deal with the dry and often confusing information in such a small amount.  I can use five minutes more to create a pretty web page as best I can. Another five minutes will be spent sharing information author Sue Russell has shared in her Missing Mondays.  And if I have another five minutes to spare, I can write. I can write about cold cases, real cases, domestic violence, a plea for help.

Yes, in five minutes, I can do it.

Incidentally, it took longer than five minutes to write this and I do wish I had an extra five to decide if it makes sense, but since I really write it for me, to keep me on track, I'd rather take my five minutes and earn another $5.

God bless you and pray for our soldiers.

What Can You Accomplish with Just Five Minutes?

When our kids were young, we often called them in for a "quick five minute clean-up." Because there were so many kids in a small house (seven), they often tried to get away with doing very little (yes, even less than a whopping five minutes of work!). You know what we'd do?  We start the time over. EVERYONE pays when someone slacks on a measly five minutes. 

A year into it, I realized they didn't really understand the concept (they were ages 4-13 at the time).  By having each one, separately, set the time and do as much as fast as they can until it goes off, they realized they could literally make a difference-an impact, really-by working gung-ho. Their five minute quick clean up work was usually much cleaner than when they'd take a half hour to do the same job.

For each action is a reaction; a consequence.  Because they took their five minutes seriously, they often didn't have any other cleaning to do for the day.  You can say the reward was immediate AND delayed and, quite honestly, they were proud of themselves.

Yesterday, I wrote I'm on a type of leave from work (purposely planning ZERO home parties with At Home America and letting the writing slide).  Though I do not have a home party planned, I do take a few minutes to find a great sale item and list it in my signature, on a postcard, or perhaps on Facebook.  And that's when lightning struck.

Why not do a five minute quick WRITE UP?  The kids cleaned five minutes. When I was a personal trainer, I would tell clients to exercise even just five minutes, knowing it often led to five more, and so on.  So, why not use the same idea with writing?

Before putting the timer on, I made a decision about WHAT to write (since I usually try to do eight or nine projects all at one time and make little or no headway).  With the decision in place (the screenplay), I wrote. And wrote. And wrote some more.  It's only been fifteen minutes, yet I wrote more, and more seriously, than I have the entire week.

Who'd ever think it'd be this easy?  Just five minutes a day.

Holiday Cheer (pre-AFTER Holiday Sale)

Writing seems to take a backseat near the winter holidays. It's not that no one is buying at this time, it's that I'm busy. Really busy.  You'd think after having seven kids for so many years, it'd be easier now that only three are at home; it's not!  I find I am harder on myself than ever to make things perfect. I feel like I should be better than ever. In other words: I don't give myself a break.

Writing is not the only thing I put on hold, though. My At Home America business is NOT having anymore home shows until January.  Why?  Because it's not worth it for me, personally.  First of all, it's past the date to guarantee that Christmas delivery.  Secondly, knowing people spend less on things they need at this time, in order to give gifts, I know the ones who NEED something can order it online this one time. And they have!

it turns out we have a pre-AFTER-holiday sale.  Over 100 items are marked down up to 80% - there's even something as low as $1.99!  Read on, then scroll to the bottom, I'm sharing some of our sale items here.

Having said all that, the one thing that NEVER takes a backseat?  Speaking out for victims. That never ends because being victimized never ends.  Take a moment out of each day to look up just ONE missing person.  See if you recognize them or something in their last day that may make the world of difference to their families.  I don't care how small the information you have is, report it, share it, and do it quickly. Time DOES matter.  Also check out True Crime Fanatic's Facebook page, they'll update the missing weekly or more.

Go on... check out the missing.  Then, come back and take advantage of our pre-AFTER-holiday sale (using the extra money you earned this season from organizing your business!).

 

For all sales - if you are interested, go to At Home America, or send me a personal note HERE with the NUMBERS of the items you want and how many of each, I'll get back to you ASAP. Thank you and best wishes this week!

Hard Up!

Believe it or not, there's still sickness lurking inside our home, infecting our lives and business in every way imaginable.  For At Home America, I literally cannot hold a home party even if I forced myself (it's contagious, it seems), the only person I mentor, I've failed because I could not come to her party because of this (and now she's sick with probably the same thing, so she's in the same boat as I am), and since I cannot concentrate, I'm not writing or reading.  But check it out; I have the BEST ideas right now. Figures!

Most days, I try to make it to the game room and to my desk once a day. The game room holds the family TV and pretty much, the family!  The desk, it's just so I can say I made it to work once again, never mentioning I didn't actually work.  Though I am admitting it now.  Today, my bed's my office.

The two things I seem to be able to do are work on the website and attempt to share At Home America with friends online.  The website has been difficult since the change to Mac and the more recent switch to Dreamweaver, which makes this a bit positive. It helps that I finally broke down and purchased the Dreamweaver CS4 for Dummies book, too (if only I could concentrate and read it).

Here's my idea for next week:
Free shipping with all online orders, even to Hawaii, begins November 23. I'm going to create an event on Facebook, with pictures of MY favorite sale items people would want before Christmas, inviting them to order using the online catalog and order form and getting their shipping free. On my private page, I'll take an idea from fellow ATA, Amanda, offer our countdown snowman to 10 lucky people who are willing to part with $10 (includes shipping and tax).

I do not want to SPAM anyone or make them hate coming to my Facebook wall, but I do not want to lose the Christmas spirit sales, you know?

Teraisa's November Holiday SALE Picks:

 

  Reindeer tumblers, 8 oz.: 4 for $3.99 (beats the recalled McDonalds cups, even in price!)

Snowman counts down the days 'til Christmas - nearly 2 feet and just $7.99

 

Holiday pitcher holds a whooping 85 oz., that's a LOT of eggnog!  Use this in the dishwasher and microwave safely or use as a festive vase $6.99

Busy, Busy, Busy

This week has been busier than usual. We have family in town and that's actually quite rare, as we live in Hawaii on a military installation.  Of course the best thing about my jobs are that they are extremely adaptable. Family? No problem; schedule around them or take that time off.

For the home parties, of At Home America, you can book two additional parties before and after their visit. This is ideal, you won't be rushed to be home in order to prepare and you won't feel guilty or continually apologize for your absence or abruptness.

Writing - a no brainer. Write in the morning, write in the car, write before bed, write in the bathroom.  All you need is a pencil and a napkin or a receipt and you can write anywhere.

Everything else I do is 24/7 and no need to push back a thing.

Of course, Murphy's Law comes into action. I am grateful to receive two leads, a catalog party, and an order in the past 24 hours and the best story idea ever within the past 24 hours, AKA My Break.

Tomorrow our family returns to the mainland and life returns to normal.  What's normal?

WTH?

My jobs are easy enough (for me):

God
Husband
Kids
Advocating
Writing
At Home America

Why is it that I feel like I'm failing at it all? And here's the kicker: I'm actually POSITIVE! I'm happy. I love life.  How can I be so sure of all this and enthusiastic, yet still... I suck.

Don't go thinking I'm having a pity party, and please do not tell me all the reasons I'm okay.  I'm not pitying myself and I am realistic. But why? All I want to know is why?

And while we're at it, why is it that everyone thinks I should be able to do everything? Why do they believe I can do anymore than they can?  Okay, that's me feeling sorry for myself-don't you feel better now?

One thing I say to complainers is to figure out a solution or admit you can come up with none, then stop complaining.  I'm done.

Home Party Business: YES!

Well, friends, live and learn!  It WAS worth it (see previous post). I ordered supplies I wanted (as opposed to needed, though I will soon) and it was really easy. My BROWSER was not working; after changing it everything worked great. Not only that, but I found out I reentered all the items, but they were actually in a place I could have clicked on, ironically (snicker, snicker) called ORDERS.

Today is my first At Home America party, it's my Grand Opening. I'll come back and let you know what's going on throughout the day and how I'm feeling.

Anyone who knows me:  yep, I'm ready to write like crazy. Why? Because today is not a writing day.  :-)

Home Party Business: Is Anyone Out There?

I've long since realized: I'm the only one reading this.  Still, I'll continue. Why? Because I'll go crazy if I keep this contained within myself.

Today, I practiced setting up my display for the first home show.  I've found tons of ideas, but I'm not happy yet with anything I've come up with. For one thing, most of the people with At Home America have special displays (which I plan on earning - the ONLY way you can get one) and they have different products than I do; making it hard to recreate their display.

I'm thinking about ordering a few more things to use in my display. I'd like to display in the way you might see a store display, rather than everything on one table. We'll see.

Another thing I'm considering is purchasing a few more of their yummy smelling candles, lighting them for the entire party, then giving it away in a drawing at the end of the night.  They provided me with cards for guests to fill out, enquiring whether they are interested in hosting a party or joining the crew... if they give it back, they just might win.  The only thing is that if I book a party from that party, I'll probably give away a completely different prize.  That way, the guests will be willing to go to more than one party, hoping for a shot at another cool gift.  We'll see. Again.

So much on my mind.

This new business is not all there is. Not by a long-shot.  I've been formatting the screenplay and have a children's book ready for an editor.  The website, True Crime Fanatic, well, that's taking longer than I'd like, but it's only due to lack of knowledge writing and working with CSS.  Always, I'm on the lookout for publishers and producers for my friends' work.  Ha! That's much easier than finding help for myself.  And lastly, I'm just about finished setting up a class to teach business management and organization on federal land. Yes, there's a need for it.

As with At Home America, if I find something I want or need and no one can provide it, I'll find a way.  And that's how things get done.