Writing about Writing

Happy Turkey Day from my daughter!

Hey there party people! Are you excited for the short work week, the turkey gravy and the low calorie/sugar free pumpkin “pie”? I know I am. * insert creepy winky face here* Oh and for all of you who don’t celebrate American holidays don’t worry, you’re not missing much. Just take a nap after you eat dinner/lunch and you’ll feel like a real Yankee Doodle Dandy.

To send you out to Thanksgiving family time I thought I would talk about a blog post a read recently called “Writing about writing so I can get back to writing because today I’m having a hard time writing” by Mr. Wil Wheaton*insert girlie swoon here*

The blog post touched on how he writes fiction and the ways he tries to cope with all of the ideas buzzing around in his head, and it got me thinking about how I write my newsletter articles.

Sara’s Four Step Process to Writing Awesomeness

Step One: Drink coffee.
Today we are serving it up with Peppermint Mocha creamer! Yum!

Step Two: Surf social media sites and read favorite blogs.
This step actually serves two purposes. First, I get to surf around the Internet and “work” while I check on people’s statuses and such. Second, it opens my brain up to some new ideas or topics to get the creative juices flowing. Sometimes I already have an idea of what I want to write about because of something I did that past week or that weekend but if not, the “surf and read” method is pretty good at coming up with awesome ideas.

Note: Just because you think an idea for a blog post is ridiculous doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write about it. Sometimes the posts that I really like but think are down right weird are the ones that people really appreciate the most. Oftentimes they’re tired of hearing the same old same old over and over from every other social media/marketing blog out there so if I can make similar points by bringing in ST:TNG episodes, I make it so.

Step Three: Skip over the subject line.
When I first started up the newsletter I would spendforever trying to figure out a witty, funny, high open rate subject line for my newsletters. Now I skip over that and dive right into the meat of the article. This way I can get some broad strokes down and some general ideas moving and most of the time I come up with the subject line as I’m writing the body of the article.

Step Four: Don’t OVER edit. 
I am the kind of person who tends to edit things to death and then the result is something that sounds nothing like me and is so boring I wouldn’t even want to read it! Write like you speak and put your personality into your writing. People will connect to you on a different level than they would if you edited yourself down to a social studies textbook.

Note: Editing does not mean proofreading. I try to read through my article at least twice to try and catch all the proofreading mistakes and even though I don’t always catch them all, I normally catch a few each time I read through it. Nothing has to be perfectly perfect and a few spelling errors never hurt anyone but you don’t want you’re readers tring to decifer your riting because ewe didnt see that you spelled “shure” incorrectley…

Thant’s it!
Super simple. 

Some days this is much easier to do than other.

Some days I just stare at the computer and ask/scream,“Why do you mock me so?!” On those days I step away from the computer, maybe dance a bit to my YouTube or Spotify dance mixes, and then regroup. There’s only been a few times when I just couldn’t write anything and on those days I tend to beat myself up… but then I just regroup for the next time.

One thing that helps (which I need to do a better job at) is writing more than one article at a time and scheduling them out ahead of time. This is the one thing I have had little to no luck with so far so if anyone has suggestions let me know!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving/Evacuation Day and know that I am truly thankful for each and everyone of you! *muah*

Have a fabulous week!
— Sara Carbaugh

PS: Don’t forget to check out the new Chocolate Banana website! Be sure to sign up for the updates and discounts for when the products and the awesomeness starts a-rollin’! (Don’t know what a Chocolate Banana is? Click HERE for all the delicious planning information!)

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Source: shop.ilovetypography.com via Sara on Pinterest

I’m in the process of putting together some amazing things over at Your Chocolate Banana but I wanted to take a minute to share a cool tip I’ve picked up over the past few years that really makes marketing online SO much easier; a timer!

Once you start getting those big plans underway you don’t want to spend oodles of time marketing but you still want it to work. Here are a few ways that I’m able to keep up on my online marketing and still have time to eat each day!

Step one:
Set a timer. I know that most of you have a timer somewhere in your house, on your phone or implanted in your head… Go get it and set the timer for 10-15 minutes.

Step two:
Dedicate that time to the one type of online marketing you would like to focus on today.

Here are some idea on what you could use your 10-15 minutes on.
Choose one or more of the ideas listed below depending on how much time each takes you!

Twitter ideas:

• RT or reply to at least 5 people
• Schedule out tweets for the day using a site like Hootsuite
• Use an app like Buffer to help share fun or interesting content you find online.

Facebook ideas:

• Comment on at least 5 other pages to start a conversation
• Share some tips with your fans and ask them to join in
• Upload fun or educational images or graphics to your page to start a comment thread

LinkedIn ideas:

• Connect with 5 new people by sending them a personal message
• Write a recommendation for a connection
• Answer a question in the Q&A section

Email ideas:

• Respond to all those emails in your “Follow Up” section to get your email as close to Zero as possible
• Check in with past clients to see what you could help them with now
• Set up auto-responders to go out to your list with info on upcoming products or services

Blog ideas:

• Use a plugin like the WordPress Editorial Calendar to set up some posts in advance. You don’t need to finish writing them, just get some basic ideas out there for you to come back to later.
• Write a new blog post. Short and sweet posts are sometimes the best ones out there.
• Go out and comment on at least 5 other blogger’s sites. Build that community!

So there you go! Online marketing in as little as 10 minutes per day. You can choose to take these steps just once per day or opt for two sessions, 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at the end of the day. Try some ideas out and see what works best for you. Any little bit help!

• How did you do?
• Which activity did you get the most out of?
• Do you remember the Set It and Forget It commercials? It still makes me laugh when I think about it…

PS: Don’t forget to sign up for the Chocolate Banana updates to be sure you’re on the list to get special event invites and promotional pricing just for you!

(Don’t know what a Chocolate Banana is? Click HERE for all of my current Banana posts!)

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Sooooo, hey there! I’ve been super busy the past few weeks (plus I had the plague for about a week… joy of joys…) but this week I am back to a normal schedule and wanted to fill you in on some big things that have happened / are happening for me!

You know those dreams that you have in the back of your head just waiting to become real but you think to yourself “Naw, not something I can ever do.”? Well I had some of those and now I’m on the look out for new ones because I’ve been moving through my list pretty fast this year!

Source: voguebespoke.tumblr.com via Sara on Pinterest

Become an Actress

This past weekend I starred in a community theater production of Almost, Maine. I tried out for the play on a whim because I realized earlier this year that my passions really lived in performing (acting, dancing, singing) and was over the moon when I got not one role but TWO!

It was so much fun and the other actors were so inviting and really made me feel welcomed. Normally I am extremely shy when I meet new people but in that setting with those people I was my fun quirky self the whole time and it was fantastic. Feeling like I belonged there was the greatest feeling in the world and I can’t wait to do another one soon!

Raise the next Audrey Hepburn

Another big success of mine was my daughter’s 3rd birthday! I know, not really MY accomplishment that she is the cutest most wonderful little girl in the world but I like to think I’ve been a pretty big influence on how awesome she is turning out to be.

I tease people and say that I’m a horrible parent, and sometimes I really believe it, but this past year I have basically turned my business upside down and rearranged a lot of my time just to be sure she has as much of my attention as she needs. I think that at least deserves a vacation to Vegas… but I’ll settle with a big squeezy hug and an “I love you Mommy”.

Become a Speaker

(but preferably not one that lives in a van down by the river…)

This past year I’ve been putting together Power Points and worksheets to create presentations on branding, social media and business planning. Not all of them have worked out the way I had planned but the point is that I have pushed forward because this is something I really want to do in my business.

I love helping people and I love helping them figure out how to do something they didn’t think they could ever do before. Sometime there is a lot of hand holding but sometime they just need that push in the right direction to make things click for them.  I had a great workshop on how to start using social media at the Women Writing for a Change center here in Cincinnati which I was really excited to do! I really think there were some light bulb moments for some of the attendees even though we covered A LOT of content! I’m also working on my first ebook/ecourse on how to create a plan for your one big goal which will hopefully be done by the end of the year! I’m really excited about that and I’m hoping that will open a lot of new doors for me as well!

No Fat Mommy

My other big success has been my weight loss journey. I started my journey last year, almost to the date, and so far I’ve lost over 100lbs which is a lot more than the planned 50lbs that I figured I would lose! It’s amazing to be thinner and to feel better about the way I look but my favorite things about this journey has been the way it has changed my self confidence and the way I feel about myself. I spoke with a friend last week that put it very simply for me. She said that the weight was just an outward manifestation of the way I really felt about myself and I totally agree. Once I made the decision to change my life and lose the weight everything fell into place. 

All of the other items above could not have happened if I hadn’t lost the weight and gained back my feeling of ME. I feel like Sara now instead of Old Sara, as I lovingly call her now, because I was holding back so much of myself before, but now I feel free to be myself and be happy. I can put myself out on a stage and not care if people think I’m rediculous. I can act silly and chase my 3 year old daughter around the house while she squeals with delight. I still get super nervous when I do trainings and speak in front people but I’m still pushing myself out there even though it is scary.

Keep Following Your Dreams

Wow, this ended up being a sap-tastic post huh?! Well, now that you know where my passions are and how I’m moving towards them let me know where you are on your journey!

• What successes have you had in following your passions?
• What passions are you working towards right now that will change your life in awesome ways?
• How have you fallen in your journey to accomplish your dreams? How did/will you pick yourself back up and keep moving forward?

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1. What are you reading right now?

Just finished up Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea and I’m on page 65 of Promise Not to Tell

2. How many books have you read so far?

Three; two children’s books and one audio-book

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

I’m really hoping to finish up Promise Not to Tell before I eventually pass out

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

Well I tried to make it a family fun day but my daughter was not as into it today as she was yesterday… Mostly I just tried to fit in as much reading time as possible with my free time I had.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

I had to go grocery shopping so I took my iPod and listened to the Are You There, Vodka? audio-book while I shopped. It worked awesome even though I did laugh out loud a few times and probably looked like a crazy woman laughing to herself in the cereal aisle…

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

I am actually really enjoying trying to read on a schedule! I didn’t think i would enjoy it but it’s kind of nice to have an end point in mind for a book.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

Well the Read-a-Thon in general is pretty awesome; I am loving the hilarious blog posts!

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

I need to plan it out better next year so that I don’t have a client project, a craft show and a Read-a-Thon all on the same weekend!

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Kind of but I’m going to try to work through it. Maybe another cup of coffee wouldn’t kill me…

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

Having the mix of an audio-book and a physical book and going back and forth between them has been great. Plus the audio-book allowed me to get up, move around and get some other stuff done while “reading” the book!

Phew, it’s be a really fun day so far and I hope to have at least one more book to add to my finished list by tomorrow morning!

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Today I am participating in the Dewey’s Read=a-Thon which is a 24hour reading marathon with mini challenges and prizes that are given away throughout the day on blogs and social media!

Here are my kickoff question/answers for this fun day of reading!

1)Where are you reading from today?

Mostly from the house (Ohio) but we’re planning a trip to the local library so maybe some reading there too!

2)Three random facts about me…

My favorite color is purple.
My favorite job was working at Johnny Rockets in Cedar Point one summer.
I really love Peach Jolly Ranchers but I can’t have them in the house because my husband had a bad night with Peach Schnapps back in the day… hehe

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

Well I have a few but I’m afraid I am not the awesome reader that most of the other participants are so I’ll be lucky to get through two! hehe
- Are You There, Vodka? It’s me, Chelsea (audio book)
- The Phantom Toolbooth
- Promise Not to Tell

Plus I have a stack of children’s books that I’m planning on reading with my almost three year old so that will be a fun way to involve her as well!

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

I want to read at least one book for myself but my main goal is to spend a day reading with my daughter! She’s really excited about reading all day with me so we’ll see how long this lasts. hehe

I’ll be checking in on my progress and doing mini challenges throughout the day so look for some awesome updates all day long today!

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I’ve talked before about how important it is to be creative because it’s not a waste of time but this past week I actually saw it in practice!

As you may know, last week did not go exactly as I had planned. Instead of going to Chicago for a week of relaxation and me time I instead spent the week with my family in Northern Ohio. I had a great time with my family even though I’m pretty sure my daughter had MORE fantabulous time getting super spoiled the whole week!

Even though it wasn’t exactly as I envisioned I got a lot done that I wouldn’t have gotten done at home (trainings, banking, budgeting) and I got to spend some much needed time with my mom, dad and siblings.

I also attribute my good week to the fact that my daughter’s babysitter roped me into crocheting hats for a local craft fair this Sunday! Two weeks to make 30-some hats, head wraps and hopefully some stuffed animals. Phew! Thankfully my mom and sister were there to help make some hats with me and make a dent in my quota.

I was pretty disappointed about my plans being messed up but being able to throw myself into my crafting was a great way for me to push through to a happier mood and see the bright side of my plans being changed.

Having that creative outlet was super important for me and maybe for you it will be painting or writing  or singing or designing vintage reproduction clothing(give me a call…). Whatever you creative outlet is let it be your way of calming down and enjoying yourself.

Oh and if you’re in the Hamilton, Ohio area and want to meet me in person and buy a hat from me, the craft fair will be on October 22nd from 10-4:00pm at the Hamilton Elks (4444 Hamilton Middletown Road)!

I’m rather excited to see how this goes! It may be a new blog post in the making; either “How to do a Craft Show right” or “How NOT to do a Craft Show” hehe

• What are your creative outlets when you need to change your mood?
• Maybe your creative outlet is being still and meditating. How is that feeling different than throwing yourself into a new project?
• What are your tips and tricks for making a craft show spectacular?

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I talk a lot about planning here on my blog but there are times when planning still doesn’t cut it and you end up at square one again.

That happened to me this week. This was supposed to be my business vacation week but because of scheduling conflicts and other issues I’m not in Chicago like I wanted to be, I’m still at my parents house. Not that I don’t love my family (Hi Mom!) but it’s just not the week I had planned out for myself, with peace and quiet and lots of no-baby business time. Once again I will remind you that I love my family, but listening to my daughter run around like a crazy person with her grandparents is not quite as relaxing as it would be if I was tucked away in a coffee shop in Chicago observing all the hipster youth getting their ironic hot chocolates.

So what did I do when I realized my plans were going down the proverbial toilet? Did I stand up straight and say, “No problemo. I will make this work!” ? No. I was pretty weepy, had a “poor Sara” party that included Chipotle and THEN I made a new plan. My new plan involves some dedicated business time in the mornings and then family time in the evenings. The Universe must be trying to tell me that I need to spend more time with my family and that’s why everything is keeping me here with them right now.

I’m also going to cut back on the number of items I wanted to accomplish this week. I had some grand plans for all of my uninterrupted Me time so now that I only have Mini Me time I’m not going to beat myself up about not getting it all done.

Making a plan is so important but being able to roll with the flow can be even more important because everyone will have a wrench thrown into their plans at some point. The trick is not to get stuck in the “poor me” vortex because it’s really hard to drag your mind back out once you’re in there. You won’t get ANYTHING accomplished if you stay in your little sad sack. For me, I was pretty stuck until I decided to put on my dance music and shake all the sad sackery out of my system! (Watching the wee one dance around with me was kind of the icing on the cake! )

How have you rolled with the flow when your plans have been derailed?

What’s your favorite thing to do to cheer yourself up?

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Today we’re continuing our planning discussion. You should have gotten your Chocolate Banana, your Chocolate Banana’s Vision and Researched your Banana’s competition all from our previous posts, so what’s next?

“The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there – on such short notice! Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn’t allow it. 4:00, wallow in self pity; 4:30, stare into the abyss; 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one; 5:30, jazzercize; 6:30, dinner with me – I can’t cancel that again; 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing… I’m booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear? ”

- The Grinch, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

 

Budgeting is more than just money. 

When I started planning for my business I had the money flow all set up to see what I needed to make, what I wanted to make and how much work I needed to bring in to make that number happen. This is a step that i think a lot of people miss because it takes a lot of time and energy to put it together if you don’t have a good relationship with your calculator. There are a lot of great websites and templates out there that can help you make sense of all the numbers. SCORE.org is a great resource for new small business owners and they have great templates and worksheets to help you figure out a money flow for your project. Mint.com is another cool site that lets you organize all of the money you have now and track how you’re spending money and how you can start saving some money as well.

From my experience though, budgeting your time is just as important as budgeting your money.

I had all the money taking care of, for the most part,  but what I didn’t account for was the time it was going to take to make all my caviar dreams come true.

When my daughter was teeny tiny, I could count on her sleeping most of the day, or if not sleeping at least laying somewhere and not moving… Now that she’s almost three years old, there is no way that she is going to sit still to eat let alone give mommy a chance to finish writing an article or tweaking a newsletter for a client! Now that her schedule has changed, mine had to change as well.

She goes to  the baby sitter 2-3 times a week to give me some time to focus on my work and it’s amazing how much more work I get done in and on my business when I don’t have to worry about what she’d doing or why it’s so quiet upstairs!

I always eat lunch with her even on the days when she doesn’t want to eat anything. We sit at the table and play with her cars or read stories and I try to get her to eat at least a piece of turkey before she goes back to playing with her trains in the living room.

I plan my day out in the morning so that i don’t have any surprises during the day. I do still get urgent emails and have to tweak my schedule once in awhile but for the most part, even just having a plan of attack is super important to a happy Sara.

I shut down at 6.00pm EST everyday. I’ve talked about my worked schedule before but this is a really important one for me because it gives me enough time to get work done during the day but then gives me the time to put food together and spend some time together in the evenings before she has to go to bed.

I try to work with her now and make sure that she’s always the priority. She’s the reason I stayed home to work so what’s the point of working my butt off if I can’t play princess with her when she really needs me to?!

What’s your view of Budgeting?

• Have you ever done any budgeting; money and/or time?
• How did your system work out? Did you end up tweaking it along the way?
• If you are a WAHM, how do you manage your time to make sure you have a peaceful household and a booming business?

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In addition to today’s blog post I also have a guest post up on Michelle Ward’s When I Grow Up blog! Go check out the awesomeness!

We’ve all heard of Right Brained people and Left Brained people. Right Brain’s are creative, emotional and have to touch and feel everything around them in order to understand what they’re learning. Left Brain’s are logical, analytical and need to plan out and learn before they get into doing something.

I, on the other hand am what I am calling a Platypus Brain (mostly because I love Platypuses…Platypusi….ummmm more than one Platypus.)

What happens when you combine lemons and sugar?
You get lemonade!

What happens when you combine humans and Cylons?
You get human/Cylon hybrids!

What happens when you combine a duck with a beaver?
You get a platypus!

In each case you have an organized, logical ingredient (lemons, Cylons and beavers) combining with a free spirit creative element (sugar, humans and ducks). When they combine they create something new and wonderful and sometimes a little hard to understand.

This is the way Platypus Brains work and because of their awesome mixture of characteristics they are hard to put in a category. Taking me as an example, I love to make to do lists and plan ahead and think problems through logically BUT I also love to go on spontaneous adventures and dance around the house like a crazy person when I need a pick me up!

I love being a Platypus Brain because it allows me to help get Right Brains organized and bring out the creative sparks in Left Brains!

What kind of brain do you have? Right Brain, Left Brain or Platypus Brain? I think there are a lot more of us out there than people think so I’d love to hear about how you see yourself!
If you don’t know how to decide what Brain you are, take this quiz and find out!

Here is my results.

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realizing your right brain/left brain tendency will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (8) Right Brain Dominance: (8) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

See! Platypus Brain! : )

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Today we’re continuing our planning discussion. You should have gotten your Chocolate Banana and your Chocolate Banana’s Vision from our previous post, so what’s next?

Research is one of those planning steps that you either LOVE to do or you would rather stick your face if a pile of spaghetti.

Finding out all you can about your Chocolate Banana can save you hours, weeks and sometimes years of work because what if the novel you want to write has already been written? What if the cupcake business you want to start has already been started? Neither one of these questions are dead ends because you can always tweak the story of a novel slightly or offer something completely different with your business that the other guy just can’t offer.

When I started my business as a virtual assistant I did loads of research into what a virtual assistant was, where did they work, were there any in my area, how did they charge, what services did they offer? Once I had those questions answered I asked myself,

“Now, what can I do better/different than all of these people?”

In my case, the answer ended up being my awesome quirky personality. For you it might be your awesome way with telling a story that the other authors just can’t match. Maybe your cupcakes are designed to go with your passion for science fiction and comic books instead of the normal pink and white frosting that the other shops are selling.

Homework for today:

• Take your Chocolate Banana and figure out your research questions. If you are starting a business your questions will be different that if you are starting a creative venture like creating art to sell on Etsy or writing a novel.
• Do your research and then take it a step farther to find out how you can bring your own special “something” to your Chocolate Banana. (Sprinkles are always welcome.)

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