My Message Is Love

Creating social media content is one thing, but it's another to create content that does what's it's meant to - i.e engage! You want content that is really valuable and interesting for your audience, that is fun and that connects and resonates with them, while being fun for you to create at the same time! However, we all consume content in different ways - in some combination of auditory, visual and kinesthetic. What has this got to do with your social media posts? Check out today's episode to find out!

Today I have a special episode! I am interviewing author, Melissa Venable. Melissa published her first book “Finding FabYOUlous” last year and she joined me to talk about the book itself and also to talk about the process of writing and publishing. This interview is gold for an aspiring writer...! Enjoy!

Regardless of what kind of book you want to write, how you want to publish, who your audience is... this is a MUST - You need to build an audience for your book. You need to build your author platform. Your author platform Is something that, as a writer, you will be building and adding to on a daily and ongoing basis. It’s basically a key part of your life’s work. In this episode, I’m going to give you an outline of what an Author Platform is and the basics of what you need to focus on to begin building your own Author Platform.

Have traditional methods of goal setting worked for you? They never worked for me! I used to follow the advice of some respectable person who seemed to know what he/she was talking about - set the desired outcomes, reverse engineer a perfectly planned and structured schedule, even make a detailed calendar, created financial projections and other stuff too. Perfect goal setting - apart from the fact that I never reached any of those goals! Here’s why: I forgot to take into account one crucial part of the puzzle – ME! Now I set goals with my personality in mind and the FEELINGS I want as paramount - and I ALWAYS reach them! Wanna know how to do this too? Listen in for more!

Love. It’s a word that is bandied about and so often used/misused in life. Or else used for things that are really not the same at all. I love dark chocolate. I love my brother. They’re kind of different things, right?! Also, love gets tarred with a kind of pink sparkles and glitter type vibe. Like it’s nice and sweet. But the love I am talking about is a force AND the only way to live, as it happens… What am I talking about? Well before I get started talking about living from a place of love, it would probably make sense to define what I mean by the word "Love" and go from there. Love is...

Procrastination. Perfectionism. You know what we're talking about, right? Resistance. “Imposter Syndrome”. Fear of Criticism. Incompletion. It’s all resistance. When life is working really well, when creativity is working really well, it flows. If you're stuck, if you're not even sitting down to do your work - that's generally resistance. Resistance can feel pretty insurmountable - especially when you have had these habits of behavior for a long time. Believe me, though. It is absolutely possible to break through resistance - and It is possible for your writing to flow freely and easily and pleasurably for you. Listen to today's episode to find out how...

All emotions – including the ones that feel bad and the ones that hurt - hold valuable guidance within them. They are golden. There are truths being whispered, often long-hidden truths that are aching to be heard. These feelings may be inconvenient for us in our lives, but the inopportune timing can often be another clue as to what we are really feeling that we have not been allowing ourselves to acknowledge. These dark times are an invitation to lean in closer and listen to what our feelings have to say, what guidance is housed with them. Being really honest, being real about our feelings opens us up to hearing this guidance and from there we are empowered to change. New ideas can start to spark, new opportunities to open up - all in a way that is real and sustainable. At the end of the day, it is all good. It just may take a few brave steps or a little bit of time to get there. In the meantime, you may need to "just have a day..." Listen to today's episode to learn more...

I’ve been thinking about the ideas of superheroes (or real life people) as role models for us in our lives - role models for how to behave with integrity or courage or how to stand strong in the face of adversity or challenge or as a stepping stone to developing a desired trait. This isn’t just a cute idea - it’s confirmed by psychologists. The truth is that each of us has more power and ability within us than we employ in our lives. We each have access to a far greater spectrum of feelings and abilities than we allow ourselves access in daily life, because we don’t believe an expanded way of living or being outside our normal lives is possible for us. In today's episode I have a little writing challenge for you and a free download to go with it... Enjoy!

When I ask people why they haven’t written a book so far, they give me a variety of reasons – they wouldn’t know where to begin or it seems like it would take a long time or they wouldn’t know how to get it out in the world. Here’s the thing – Now is the best time ever in life to create. Whether it’s creating music or a book or art or whatever. Why? Well, for 3 reasons. I'll tell you what those reasons are in today's episode and then I'll gift you a simple step-by-step strategy. Enjoy!

Nothing in life connects like stories. Your stories are unique to you. Nobody in the world is quite like you and how you have experienced something is unique to you and how you tell it is too. It's also how you welcome people into your world. It's so important to infuse story in whatever you are creating in the world - a book, a blog, a song, whatever it is. Story is also important in your brand, even more so if your brand is a personal brand. Today, let's talk about 5 secrets to compelling, attention grabbing stories...

The world is more than just physical. Just because things aren’t visible doesn’t mean they aren’t, in the truest sense, tangible. Yet, this is not common conversation in the world - and so many people feel on the outside, like they don’t fit in. So, say you "get" this. You’ve observed it. You’ve figured this out. You know who you are. You’ve lived a chunk of your life by now. You’ve had life experiences and adversities that you have lived through and that you have overcome. You have wisdom to share. You have wisdom to share with people who are a little behind you in terms of experience or who may be a little lost where they are right now and who could use someone reaching a hand out to them. You can make a real difference in the world with your writing. How? Listen to today's episode to find out...

You do not have control over how what you create and share is received in the world. I know it’s not nice to hear. So many of us are scared to share fully and openly because we don’t want to be criticized or judged. Acknowledging this lack of control over how people may respond to you is freeing because it allows you, it allows us, to get clear about what really matters and root into that first. It's all about focusing on the picture, not the frame. Listen to today's episode to find out what I'm talking about...

Parents are big on rules when you're a child, right? Mind your own business Don’t be nosey Don’t brag Tell the truth Don't be dramatic Now, I know it makes for polite and mannerly society to follow certain rules and, believe me, I am all for manners, but I'm pretty sure that politeness and manners are not exactly what writing should be about. Listen in to find out what I'm talking about...

Social media is a fundamental part of creating an Author platform. If you want to connect with your audience and share your message, it makes sense to be where your audience is and also to communicate in a way they can connect with. Yet, many authors I work with really struggle with this - and with being visible. Almost all authors I have worked with identify themselves as sensitive souls, people who feel life deeply, are alert to the intricacies of life and situations, who have a strong intuition and who can pick up on the feelings – including unspoken feelings – of others. Most authors I have worked with identify themselves as introverts and as private people. So there’s a conflict – what do you do when you feel you have a message to share and it’s important to you to create and to express yourself, yet publicizing yourself feels jarring and you resist it? Today's episode will help...

According to a survey by The New York Times, 81% of Americans feel they have a book in them. Most have not and will never write one. When you are writing a book it makes sense to publish in the way that is best for you (and for your book). As a book editor and book coach, I get asked these questions again and again: "Self-publishing or traditional publishing? What’s the difference? Which should I choose? How do I decide which is best for me?” I answer these questions and more in this week's episode...