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9 + 1 Things Every Reader Wants from a Writer

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Where to Start

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It can seem complicated to write for a readership that includes beginners to experts. I’ve done it for over two decades. It can seem like there’s too much to consider to meet them all at their own level.

My experience is that beginners and experts are not that different when they read. They might choose to read different things, but we all do. Beyond that difference of content, beginners, experts, and those of us in the middle — all readers — want the same things from a writer. [Read more…]

AT&T & ME w/o DSL — Why AT&T Won’t Fix Problems

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The Problem

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5:30a.m. Up and to the kitchen. Turn on the coffee. To the office. Turn on the computer. Take a shower.

5:45a.m. Get coffee. Get to work. OR NOT!

Wait a minute. What’s wrong here? Walk to the router. I have no DSL. I have things to do. It’s still DARK OUT.

6:00a.m. Consider options. Start to execute. Then envision images of screwed system. Recall pact that I will die first, because I’ll never be able to figure out how this home network is configured.

6;30a.m Wake up IT husband. Tell him we have no DSL.
He gets coffee, looks at router, see light off, and confirms it.

6:45a.m. Call AT&T. Listen to recording. Punch in numbers. Answer questions. Find out that we need to call another number.

7:00a.m. Call AT&T Number 2. Listen to recording. Punch in same numbers. Answer same questions. Finally get a person on the line. Start by saying the following.

ME: Hi, before we begin, could I just say that we have a sophisticated system here, that it was working at midnight, that everything is correctly connected, and that I’ve turned things off and on again.

AT&T SHE: Can I call you by your first name? [Read more…]

This Just in: Sabine Wins!

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Scavenger Hunt Was On

As you might recall the Scavenger Hunt is on at this post about the Link Leak Virus at New York City Open Comments Night.

AND THEN I POSED ANOTHER CHALLENGE:

Question 7 was called by Shirley Buxton, but I wondered, because when I went to her blog, I couldn’t find an answer to the question. That Shirley, she’s a fun one. I found it today. Can you find it? I’ll give a link to the first person who writes in my comments here where her answer is. Here’s the question.

7. What word made Liz color on her flat screen with crayons?

Here’s the post link.

Finch on Feeding Sock

Sabine at CTBizBlogs answered correctly first.

Congratulations, Sabine!

There are still seven more questions, if you’d like to play for a link. I’ll be continuing to update as winners come in. After all as Rumpelstiltskin said, “A Deal is a Deal.”

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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A Deal Is a Deal — Shirley Buxton Wins!

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Scavenger Hunt Was On

As you might recall the Scavenger Hunt is on at this post about the Link Leak Virus at New York City Open Comments Night.

Question 2 was answered by Jason Boog.
Question 4 was answered by Tom Vander Well.
They got their awards with great fanfare.

Question 7 was called by Shirley Buxton, but I wondered because when I went to her blog I couldn’t find an answer to the question. That Shirley, she’s a fun one. I found it today. Can you find it? I’ll give a link to the first person who writes in my comments here where her answer is. Here’s the question.

7. What word made Liz color on her flat screen with crayons?

Here’s the post link.

Finch on Feeding Sock

There are still seven more questions, if you’d like to play for a link. I’ll be continuing to update as winners come in. After all as Rumpelstiltskin said, “A Deal is a Deal.”

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Seth Godin, Seminars, & What I Almost Missed

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Choosing to Go Isn’t Easy

They say that when the learner is ready the teacher appears.

061506 Seth Godin and Liz

I had the privilege of attending a Seth Godin seminarthis week. My closest friends can’t believe I managed to get there.

Getting to a seminar is a problem for me. There are so many seminars, and there’s so little time. I have a problem choosing. I don’t really like to commit my time. I really like learning, but I’m leery of things that look like school.

Learning is task that I do by myself. A seminar is a BIG DEAL — It’s an investment of time and money. I have a whole speech that talks me out of such things. I can call that speech up in a second.

“NO WAY! Can’t afford it. No time. Too much to do. Need to be working, not spending. That would be fun. That would slacking. . . . taking the easy way. Can’t buy folks’ wisdom just ’cause I feel like it.”

What a crock!

It’s a great speech. It’s not a valid argument . . . but it works when want to talk myself out of something. It’s not about time or about slacking. NO WAY, No time is my back door to avoiding something that I feel is risky.

Attending a seminar is saying out loud that I want to learn something.

What if I go and it’s not what I thought? What if I don’t learn anything? What if I fall off my bike?

The answer’s the same to all three questions. But you knew that. I had to learn the hard way. I skipped the seminar on the value of seminars. If had skipped the Seth Godin seminar, I would have missed so much more.

[Read more…]

Link Leak Virus NYC Comments Scavenger Hunt

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The Link Virus Epidemic

Link Leak Virus is a special strain of the indie virus with blogtipping mutations that occur in threes. On Open Comments Night the virus got out of control again. This time in NYC. Here are some cool links that were shared:

Many of the likely link leak virus carriers were there. The Advice Librarian started the conversation with talk of conquering the world. Scot Herrick sent a note from his vacation about why he couldn’t come. Joe joined in with talk of reindeer games.

Next thing you know Mark was missing NYC and sharing his accent. Chris Cree added some explanation on how New Yorkers talk. Ben came without the donkey about the time Chris was propagating something. Ben told us about the contest at his blog. HART taught us the correct way to make toast. Brian stopped in to be amazed that we could be talking instead of watching the Mavs. Then along came Tracy with real-life stories.

We managed to discuss Joe’s interview with Darren, how bad traffic can make a good design seem bad, and new tricks spammars are using.

Scavenger Hunt

Now for some fun for those who didn’t attend. I have a few links still trying to jump through this bloggy boat. So, pick a question and then go to the post below (just click the title to get there.) You’ll find the answer to every question somewhere in the comments.

The comment with the answers are on this post. The Mic Is on in New York City!

Playing is easy as 1 2 3 —

    1. Pick one question. Only one question and answer per person. That way I can give more people a link.

    2. Go find the answer.

    3. Post your answer on your blog and leave a comment here. That way I can have post to link to when I proclaim you a winner and other folks know which question you’ve answered and they can come read it.

That’s it.

BE THE FIRST TO ANSWER and YOU’LL BE PROCLAIMED A LINK LEAK VIRUS WINNER

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS

    1. What is the correct pronunciation of Long Island and who is from Long Island?

    2. Who asked “and I feel so alone… every body must get stoned,” who knew the answer, and who said he was too stoned at the time to remember?

    3. Who prefers Pink Floyd?

    4. What was Chris propogating?

    5. In which comment does it tell how many people actually played THE THREE STOOGES and how many actors were there?

    6. Where is Tracy’s first paying client going in August?

    7. What word made Liz color on her flat screen with crayons?

    8. Which two people ordered coffee black?

    9. Why did Liz apologize and say she was wrong?

    10. Who said he would write a cool referral script and share it?

As I’ve said before, everyone who hangs out here is incredibly cool and incredbily intelligent. Stop by next week when we go to Tuscany for Open Comment Night. We might find out: whatever happened to Ben’s donkey while we were busy talking about Jimi Hendrix, Civilization, and forensic accounting with Tracy and HART.

PS. I’m off on an airplane to NYC, so I won’t be able to check your answers until later tonight. Good luck to all who pitch in and give it a try.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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The Mic Is on in New York City!