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{Weather}

The weather here in the Seattle area has been just absolutely gorgeous lately! I’m really enjoying it. It’s still cold in the morning and at night – about 30-36?- and warms up to the mid 50’s by noon or so. Quite nice! Things that don’t normally bloom until Spring are starting to blossom already and there are a lot of birds as well.

{Shoulder}

I think I must have inadvertently slept on my shoulder last night because it and my arm are incredibly sore this morning. Not just sore, actually, but downright painful. I hope the referral for my MRI comes very soon. Kinda getting tired of waiting. I want to know what can be done about this pain before it gets any worse.

{Weight}

Now that it’s been almost a whole month since my doctor changed my blood pressure medication, I’m absolutely sure it was what causing the weight gain. Since I began taking the new medication, I’ve lost 10 pounds and I haven’t changed anything else – foods, exercise, etc – so I know for sure that’s what it is. This is very good news! I am so glad it was the answer.

Let me tell you – being “in touch” with your body and what’s going on with it is very important. If I hadn’t been, I’d still be taking the other medication and my weight would still be climbing. Many people don’t understand those subtle things about their bodies and aren’t really in tune with what’s going on. You owe it yourself – and your family – to understand your body and your health. Taking care of yourself is paramount.

{Cane}

My cane arrived last Thursday and I went grocery shopping with my mom Friday. Using the cane was so nice. I was able to take the pressure off my leg a lot and that really helped my endurance. My back didn’t start really complaining until we were nearly finished with our shopping. And I didn’t have that odd grinding feeling in my back every time I took step. I think this is going to turn out to be very helpful indeed! Glad I decided to go with it.

{Projects}

I’ve got two major projects going on right now. Both are for my cousin’s hair and nail salon. The first is designing a website for her home salon and make up line. It’s been fun and challenging! The second is a web-based application I’m building with Ruby on Rails for her to keep track of her client information. I’m having a good time learning RoR as I go along and I think the application is going to turn out well.

{Snow Leopard}

I finally took the plunge and upgraded my MacBook Pro to the latest OS X operating system – Snow Leopard. It’s running great and I like the updates. Lots of new features that I didn’t have in the Tiger edition of the OS. Some of the improvements are just little changes but those are good too. My system is now running faster (although it was never really all that slow) and I gained a few GB of space on my hard drive. That’s pretty cool! Before SL, I had 24gb of hdd space and now I’ve got 30gb, so that’s a bonus.

{The Husband}

My husband has been in college since last Spring, taking the AA degree program in welding. He’s almost finished! Yay! He gets to take a certification test next week and then he’ll actually be qualified to work in the industry in Washington State. Then, he has Spring quarter plus a couple more classes over Summer quarter to complete the full degree. Being that he’s never really finished anything in his entire life, this is a huge milestone for him. Now, hopefully, he will find a good job in the industry and stick with it.

{Miscellaneous}

I think I’ll do an “Around the Web” update this week and maybe even a few other things. Haven’t done those in a while and I know everybody always enjoys those. So look out for that, probably Wednesday or Thursday.

And have a great week!

Until next time -

Be blessed,

With the close of January coming up very soon, I thought I’d post one more time about my Themes for 2010. Earlier this month, I wrote about my ThemeWord for the year – CREATE. And it’s my single-minded goal for 2010. What that means, is I take that one word and apply it to everything I do – “What can I CREATE with this?” With only one thing to focus on, I find clarity as well as productivity in the things I do every day.

I’ve read several blogs recently that are taking this ThemeWord thing even farther and adding in things like Theme Song, Theme Color, and a variety of other ideas. While I don’t want to take it that far myself, I do like the idea of themes. Like I already said above, it creates clarity and productivity for me plus it also gives me a sense of balance.

(And sometimes a sense of balance is sorely lacking in the world around me! LOL)

Now, having said that, I am going to add a ThemeColor to my ThemeWord for 2010. I don’t know about a song. Maybe I’ll find one that really draws me in and compliments my other theme choices but for now, no song.

So here’s my color . . .

Mind you, I do NOT like pink very well (I’m not a girly-girl!) but I do like the brightness of this color. If I thought I could effectively change my blog design to incorporate this color, I would. But I think it would end up throwing the design off quite a bit and I have yet to find a design I like better than this one. So for now, no design change either but that may come at some point as well.

Have you considered adopting any themes for this year? Why or why not? And if so, which themes have you incorporated into your life and/or business?

(Please don’t be afraid of disqus! It’s a great commenting system. Oh – and speaking of disqus, look out for my post tomorrow about exactly why I decided to implement disqus here. I hope it’s helpful to you!)

Until then . . .

Be blessed,

There has been a bit of upheaval recently around the blogosphere about pseudonyms and their impact on the trust factor. While I can understand and empathize with some of the trepidation, I don’t get the bashing and obnoxiously self-righteous attitudes.

There are certainly times when a pseudonym is beneficial and one must always take great care to ensure the use of one doesn’t hinder their integrity and trustworthiness. I think there’s a pretty fine line between being trustworthy and not; perhaps a line that for some, is too easy to cross.

Of course, sometimes one gets pushed across the line, perhaps by necessity (possibly in extreme situations) or perhaps by another with less than honest intentions. Either way, it’s going to cause some backfire. Those on the outside shouldn’t be so quick to judge, though.

It’s that whole “walk a mile in their shoes” thing. Put yourself in their situation and truly examine your heart – would you react that way then? Possibly. And possibly not. But until you’re actually faced with the same set of circumstances, you can’t say for sure.

A teacher I had several years ago in a college course I took said, “All of us are only one thought, one action, one reaction from being in that place.” She was talking about the state prison. She went on to describe everyday, nice, upstanding people that were faced with a choice and ended up on the other side for whatever reason. Often, to protect themselves or someone they love.

And I think that pertains to the use of pseudonyms – especially for single moms. As someone who was once a single mom (with an ex-husband who was stalking her and had/has a restraining order), I totally can relate to that. In fact, “Annie” is not my real first name. (I guarantee you, though, I am most certainly a woman!) Annie is a nickname my family has always called me, ever since I can remember. If you know me, you know my real first name (though Anderson really is my last name) although I have not completely hidden my true name – you can find it.

My point, though, is that in the end, it’s just a name.

As we have found out, however, it’s what’s behind the name that matters. And while I think there are certainly other ways the whole thing could have been handled, I don’t fault anyone for it. We all make our choices based on the facts and feelings we have at the time. The problem is that over time, those facts and feelings can change.

The lesson here, is that having a professional pseudonym gives you a certain responsibility to your clients and those you work with to ensure that your actions are held to the highest integrity. You must always come clean with those you work with, otherwise it can (and most assuredly – will) be taken as dishonesty when the truth is revealed. I think this is especially true where gender difference is concerned.

And if you know anything at all about karma, you know that the truth always comes out eventually!

Now, having said all of that, let me just say – I think it took a tremendous amount of balls to do what James Chartrand did.

(By the way, the truth coming out doesn’t always have anything to do with dishonesty, either.) (Just some food for thought there.)

Be blessed,

This whole thing raises some other interesting questions and I may discuss my thoughts further in the future. For now, though, I think the whole uproar is rather silly.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

A few days ago, I posted that I was (finally) adding my writing services to this blog. Although I’ve had a “Hire Me” page for quite some time, I’ve never actually used the blog to sell my services. However, I think it’s time I do so.

Now, don’t worry – I won’t be posting every day (or probably even every week) about it but I will be posting a few times a month with something I want to highlight.

And so today, I want to highlight Article Writing.

And that means the following special is on until I decide to end it.

Article Writing Package 1

• 5 articles
• any topic
• up to 500 words per article
• seo optimized
• hard copy in pdf format (or word)

And you get all of that for $50. That works out to $10 an article and roughly .02¢ a word. I think that’s pretty reasonable. The only 2 stipulations are that each article must be on the same general topic and I will not write for sexually explicit or other questionable subjects.

As always, payment is required before work begins. And to make it easy for you, just click the “Pay Now” button below. Once I receive your payment, we’ll discuss the details of the assignment.

Quick. Easy. Painless.

In the arena,

Turn-around time for your articles is usually 3 days tops. And most of the time, it’s less. All amounts are US Dollars and payment is only accepted in US currency. (PayPal can convert it for you before you send! So, yes, that means I accept projects from clients in other countries.)

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

Over the past few weeks, there has been so much going on, I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve had physical therapy for my shoulder and back, we’ve had birthday parties, we’ve been to the beach, the cows got out – not once, not twice or even three times but a good half a dozen! And that’s not even all.

But before I write about all of that and post the pictures I’ve taken of various events, I have something else to share with you.

In my last post, I briefly gave you an over-view of what I do – writing, design, research and consulting. And although I’ve never really “sold” my wares on the ‘net, I’m about to start. Now, this has been the goal all along, really – to use the internet as a sales tool even more so than I already do (which, admittedly, isn’t much and is few and far between).

And now that’s changing. Not because it’s really a change, but there will be some differences.

In the past, I’ve had a “sales page” that I would direct people to and advertise somewhat but it wasn’t the whole of my marketing efforts. Now, though, I am going to make it a more primary part of that advertising and marketing. Also, rather than doing full-blown quotes for services, which is how I’ve always done it in the past, I am going to offer some different “packages” of services that you can buy right here on my blog.

This is for a variety of reasons:

1. There are different time zones and work hours so sometimes connecting via phone is difficult.
2. Some people don’t really want “custom” quotes and what-not (don’t worry – I will still offer them for those who want them).
3. Of course, there are times it’s simply just easier for both clients and myself if I can point them to a “shopping cart” and let them purchase when they’re ready. It takes the pressure off.
4. Some clients are ready sooner and others later. This will enable me to cater to both of them and not just one or the other.
5. Sometimes the details bog things down to much! Why not get the ball rolling? We can sort out all the fine print as things move forward.
6. And because there are times when “a la carte” makes more sense than selling someone all the bells and whistles.

So, right now, what is available on the “Marketing” page is what I’m calling “Marketing Package 1″ which includes website copywriting (content) for up to 10 pages, basic installation of a WordPress platform (mostly because WordPress is something I’m quite familiar with), basic customization of your blog/site, a logo, header images if you need them, 2 stock images, matching business card design (both print and digital editions) and 3 months of marketing consultation.

Along with the above, you have 3 payment options. The full package costs $3,500. You can pay it all up front, pay half up front, or pay a deposit of $500. However, the full amount MUST be paid in full before work begins. That is my policy. No work begins until then. You do get a consultation and we’ll work out details in the interim. But for work to actually start on your project, the entire $3,500 has to be paid.

Now, I would prefer to be paid in full right off the bat – I don’t like making you wait for your projects. Things are just smoother all the way around. On the other hand, I totally understand finances and know that full payment all at once is just out of reach for some folks. That’s okay – I get it. So, I think this is more than fair.

If you’re interested, go check out the Marketing page and either go ahead with it if you’re ready or send me an email with your questions. You can find my info on the “Contact” page. The links are above in the menu.

And that’s all for now. I’ll be back soon with all the tales from the last few weeks including our exploding pipe in the basement, our poor missing kitty and other fun stuff. And yes, I’m saying that with a totally sarcastic tone. Plus, I have some other things I want to take about like abuse, stalking and stuff like that because a while back, I also told you I was going to start telling some of my story.

Stay tuned, y’all! Have a great weekend!

In the arena,

September is just around the corner. School will be starting. I am so ready for that!

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my “system” for productivity and it has quickly become my most popular post on this blog to date. It literally TRIPLED my traffic.

But anyway . . . that’s not really wanted to share with you. What I actually want to write about is that one of the programs I use on my iPod Touch called Grocery IQ just had a major overhaul and it knocked my socks off! This app simply ROCKS! I liked it well enough before the revamp but now, it’s legions better, if that’s even possible.

Before, you could sort the store by aisles, add new aisles, delete aisles, keep lists of favorite items, show a history of past purchases and of course, check off things as you put them in your cart.

What’s better than that?

Well, the new app allows you to create lists by STORE! Which is so cool for those of us who shop at more than one store. Now, I am not one of those crazy people who clip coupons and shop 10 different places but I do buy certain items at certain stores because the others don’t carry them.

For example, I can only buy RAW local milk at the Food Co-Op because they’re the only ones who carry it. I can only buy the brand of Hemp Milk I like at one store and I can only buy the brand of non-dairy ice cream we buy at yet another store. So, the ability to not only arrange the list by aisle but also by store, is fabulous.

And the other new thing that makes it legions better than before is the ability to move your checked off items to the “checkout” without having to discard the whole list. This was annoying before because I didn’t ever get a true reading of my shopping “history” since sometimes I would buy 10 things at one store and not go shopping at the next store for a week. Plus, you couldn’t make different lists for different stores. So, it was all on one list.

This was annoying for 2 reasons – first, because not all stores have their aisles arranged the same so I’d be scrolling through the list all the time and invariably miss something. And second, because once I checked something off, it just sorta disappeared. If I wanted to add those things to my history, I couldn’t do that until everything on the list had been checked off. If you shop at only one store, that’s probably not a biggie. But since I don’t, it ended up confusing at times.

With the new app, I can make lists for each store, check the things off as I add them to my cart and then when I get to the checkout, I can hit “checkout” on the app and it adds those items to the history. Oh and you know what else? You can also add the price of the item to it’s details page so you know how much you’re spending and can compare prices at different stores! How cool is that??

I LOVE it! It’s fabulous.

Seriously. Get an iPod so you can have Grocery IQ.

Oh and PS – that’s not a pic of my actual list – it’s a screen grab of the app’s listing in the iTunes store.

In the arena,

If you regularly shop at 10 different stores and clip coupons to get all the stuff on your list, don’t worry – I don’t really think you’re crazy. No. I just think maybe you’re a little OCD than me.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

Just thought I’d add a couple pictures of my planner files so you can see exactly what they look before you download them.

Enjoy!

Please feel free to download the PDF files from the previous post.

In the arena,

Happy 4th of July to all of my American readers! Hope you have a safe, enjoyable and fun holiday.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.