Annie Anderson | Blog

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Just a quick post to let you know I’ll be posting some stuff from around the web later today along with a couple of other things and possibly part 3 of “Stories make us who we are.”

I also want to talk more about customer service but that will likely have to wait until Monday or so.

Don’t want to overwhelm anyone. I know these next few weeks are hectic for a lot of folks what with getting kids back to school and all.

So, see you soon!

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

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.

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Is it really Friday? Because normally, I love Fridays - it means the weekend when things are slower and my husband is home from work is right around the corner. But today? Not so much.

It was Freshman Orientation and Check In today for The Teenager.

What a nightmare! I’m so glad the G-Man won’t be starting high school for another few years. The orientation was completely disorganized and probably completely unnecessary. I don’t think even half the freshman were there.

Now, the check-in earlier today wasn’t too bad. It could have been a bit more organized but it was at least manageable once you figured things out. The actual orientation, which was this evening, was a disaster. And in The Teenager’s opinion, “lame and stupid” not to mention totally not useful. There was nothing to indicate it was orientation.

I mean, when I think of orientation, it’s where teachers and other support faculty are on hand, answering questions, taking students on campus tours, showing kids where things are and what to expect. It’s like an outline for a paper - neat, tidy, organized and makes sense. All the points are thought out and filled in, not necessarily fully scheduled, but at least planned.

But not here. They threw everyone into the gym, had some upper classmen do some lame skits about having an ASB card and how if you don’t, dances and other activities cost more. While I’m all for supporting the ASB, it seems that was the focus of the whole orientation. Nothing about what to expect the first day of school or how things work, or where to go, although they did have some tours - which were so disorganized, we didn’t go on one. They did offer a Q&A session for the parents, but in my opinion, I think the kids should have been a part of it.

Fortunately, I graduated from my daughter’s high school, so I took her around and we found everything. Granted, some things are different now but we were still able to make sense of things. I told her perhaps we could go back next week during the day when the teachers are there and check things out if she feels the need to do so.

By time we left, The Teenager was grumpy and upset. I think she was feeling more than a little confused and overwhelmed too. I don’t blame her. If I were her, I probably would be too. It might have been better had we not gone at all this evening. Sometimes these things can affect her mood for days. But . . . I hope not this time.

Things are getting busy around the Anderson household as school gears up. In some ways, I’m dreading the start of school - don’t want to let the lazy days of summer slip away. On the other hand, I’m so ready for them to all have something else to do so I can get some work done!

Speaking of work . . .

My schedule is filling up fast for the next few months so if you think you might like to work with me on any of your upcoming copywriting or design projects, please let me know ASAP. If you miss the boat now, I likely won’t have any time available until November. I do have few slots available in September and October but as usual, I expect they will fill up fast. You can download a copy of my fee schedule on the Hire Me page. (Note: my fees are not set in stone. The best way to find out what it will cost for your project is to request a free quote.)

I hope you all had a great day and that you enjoy your weekend!

In the arena,

Did you know I design blog headers and ebook cover graphics, too? Yes, I do. And you can get one now for the introductory price of $55 for a limited time. Just send a payment of $55 to me via PayPal along with a description of what you want. You’ll have a design within 48 hours.

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.

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What a weekend! My brain is fried, I’m tellin’ you.

The Short Dude fell Thursday and bonked his head. Just in time for his 4th birthday Friday. You can read about it here.

Friday was spent between ensuring The Short Dude wasn’t going to puke and trying to cool down. Because it was hot. In Seattle, if you can believe that.

Saturday was shopping day. We met Gramma (her spelling) at Staples and got supplies for the kids. Do you know how much it costs to get school supplies for 4 kids? Even when Staples is having sales and things can be had for .09¢? Yeah . . . $78. I don’t even want to think how much it would have been had they been normal prices. And I won’t tell you how much we spent on clothes! 4 kids and clothes? Let’s just say one almost has to take out a line of credit on their home equity to pull it off!

The Teenager spent the night with Auntie Friday night so I took her clothes shopping today. What an experience. Ever shopped with a teenager? Let me rephrase that . . . have you ever shopped with an ultra *picky* teenager? Don’t. It’ll take years off your life.

On a more business-like note - I have some projects coming up in the next few weeks that I’m really excited about. A couple of them are in real estate which is fun. Real estate is one of my favorite topics. I also have a couple of projects in the design department as well as a few others. It’s always fun to work on projects that are in alignment with ones hobbies and joys.

It’s also the 3rd week of The Thirty Day Challenge. I’m way behind again and who knows when I’ll get caught up. I haven’t even looked at any of the stuff for the past 3-4 days and I’ll be too busy for most of this week to do so. I might have some time very late in the evenings but not sure if it’ll be enough to catch up on anything completely. We will see.

This week is also orientation for The Teenager at the high school. She’ll confirm her class list, get pictures taken, get her ASB card and pay for a bajillion dollars worth of stuff - PE clothes, ASB card, yearbook and other necessary teenager stuff.

And the 21st marks the first day of classes for me again too. I took the last 2 quarters off and it’s time to get started again. I still need to order books which I’ll probably do tomorrow and if I order through Amazon like usual, they’ll be here in time.

I’m not really ready for summer to be over, though. We’re finally just now getting to have summer-like weather here and it’s a bit sad to know it’s almost over anyway. Oh well! At least it’ll be quiet around the house for a few hours every day. I actually am looking very forward to that part! 4 noisy kids home all summer has meant a change in my writing schedule and it’ll be nice to get back to a more regular one.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that your week ahead is wonderful!

In the arena,

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

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.

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First - the links. I said earlier this week I’d post some links to stuff around the web that I found and enjoyed lately and I have yet to do that. So . . .

Jeff Fisher Logo Motives - The Practice: What’s Wrong With Spec Work?

Steve Pavlina - Money and The Law of Attraction

Freelance Folder - Massive List of Killer Freelancing Tips By and For Our Readers

Zen Habits - 32 Ways to Make Someone Happy Today

There were a couple of others and for the life of me, I cannot remember what I was thinking! But I have a good reason . . .

The Short Dude fell this afternoon and smacked his head - H A R D - on the corner of my desk. He and G-Man were running around being wild munchkins and ran into my office where The Short Dude miscalculated his distance as he climbed up on my chair’s arm and fell off. When he fell, his head hit the edge of my desk.

He cried for a moment as I picked him up and rushed to the kitchen for an ice pack. When I set him down in the chair at the table to grab the ice, he stopped crying and tilted to one side, nearly falling asleep. I knew then it wasn’t just a little bump. He was pretty lethargic and his pupils were dilated.

I grabbed the ice pack, scooped him up, called my husband at work (because he had taken the car today (we only have one car) for an appointment after work) and told him to bring it home immediately. I then called my mom, who luckily, was just on her way home from work and asked her to come help me get him to the doctor. While we waited for everybody, I called the doctors office and they cleared space for him to see the urgent care doctor. Fortunately my husband only works 3 miles down the road so he was able to get home pretty fast.

My husband’s boss followed him home so he could take him back to work (since it’s only the 2 of them there and my husband had deliveries to make this afternoon). But it did irritate me a bit that he couldn’t just come home and help me. If my mom had not been able to come help me, I’d have been more irritated. But . . . anyway. That’s a whole ‘nother story.
When the doctor was checking his face and head, pressing here and there around his check bones and eyes, she asked him if it hurt here or here or here and he kept saying no. But when she got to just above his right eye where the bump and bruise are, he grimaced and wrinkled up his nose but he said it didn’t hurt. She said “I think it hurts there.”

The good news is that the ice pack did wonders and probably saved him from worse trauma. It took a long time before it actually bruised. The bad news is he has a concussion, a huge bump, an ugly bruise and he’s pretty nauseous. His head hurts like hell, too.

His speech is still a little bit slurred and he’s got the hiccups from his tummy being upset but otherwise, he’s acting pretty normal right now, though he’s pretty tired. It’s been about 7 hours since he hit his head and there doesn’t seem to be any new symptoms or anything going on so I will feel better about putting him down to bed.

Ok . . . well, that’s about all the drama I can handle for a day so I’m off to get some things done, like finishing up the laundry and dishes.

In the arena or the laundry,

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

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.

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Special Announcement

For the past several years, I’ve been creating blog headers and ebook covers for friends and family but it’s not something I’ve really put out there for my design or writing clients (or on this blog, for that matter).

Until now.

Introducing my blog header and ebook cover design project!

It’s brand new and as a result, I’ve decided to offer a very cheap introductory price of just $55 per graphic. Now, if you’ve looked at my fee schedule for my other services, you will know this is a rock-bottom offer here. And I’m doing it this low for one reason: YOU! To show my appreciation for you - for reading my blog, for following me on Twitter or FriendFeed or wherever. It’s all for you.

So, if you have a blog or an ebook you need a design for, let’s talk! I offer a 72 hour guarantee which means I guarantee you’ll have your design in 72 hours or less. You’ll get the file as your choice of a JPG, PNG, or a GIF in the case of a header and your choice of JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF or Word doc in the case of an ebook cover design.

To find out more, simply follow this link to my contact form, send me a quick description of your blog or ebook cover project and if we decide it makes sense to work together, I’ll get started. (The contact form is broken at the moment so in the meantime, just send me an email to my business email.)

If you don’t need a blog header or an ebook cover, please feel free to send a link to this post to anyone you know who might need one. I’d appreciate it!

Make it a great day!

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This week marks the beginning of a couple of new projects, one of which I’ll be posting an announcement about either Monday afternoon or Tuesday. It’s just about something I’m starting - a sort of niche within a niche - because I’ve seen a need for it lately. I’m excited about launching it.

Well, it’s not really a launch, per se, or at least not like one of those big launches most of us have come to expect from the big marketing guru’s. No, it’s just a simple announcement and I hope it’s something that others will find useful. If not, we’ll regroup and take another path. Simple as that.

It’s not an earth shattering thing nor anything new - just a simple thing I hope does well. And if the comments I’ve read recently around the web are any indication, I think it’s going to be a nice little project.

Anyway, enough of that. For now.

A while back, I wrote a post about regrouping and dropping some projects that just don’t fit. In the past month + since then, I’ve done that and I feel good about the direction I’ve chosen. Right now, the decision I need to make concerns what to do with the projects I’m letting go - sell them, sit them on the back burner and come back to them later or just completely delete them. I’m not sure.

I’m seriously considering selling one of them but to be honest, I have no idea how to go about that. I’ve never sold a website/concept/project before. So, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Meanwhile, expect some other things coming up including what I’m working on for the Thirty Day Challenge.

And of course, my announcement later today.

I hope you had a great weekend! If you haven’t checked out what’s new here in the past couple of days, don’t miss my write up about the KWJZ Smooth Jazz Festival my mom and I went to Saturday. Wayman Tisdale brought the house down! Man, what a great show.

It was equally great to spend time with my mom. Not something we get to do very often and I always enjoy it when we do. It’s so great to just get out with her by myself and have fun.

And it was great to come home to a fixed septic system after our relaxing day out. Spending a week + with things out of whack was very difficult, especially with 4 kids home all day. Glad it’s over and things can get back to normal. If you’ve ever dealt with septic issues, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

Oh - one last thing before I go - look out for a post in the next day or two about stuff from around the web. Haven’t done one of those posts in a while and I’ve found some great stuff lately I’d like to share with you. Hope you enjoy it!
In the arena,

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when

I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

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.

Share

It’s almost time for the Thirty Day Challenge again - it begins August 1st. This is the 2nd year I’ve participated during the actual challenge month, although I’ve been doing the challenge for 3 years now. The first year, I began at the very end of August and went through everything on my own. It’s much more fun to do it during the “live” challenge. If you haven’t checked out it yet, I encourage you to do so.

But, you might be wondering just what the challenge is, huh?

Well, it’s put on by 2 internet marketing guys - Ed Dale and Dan Raine - who have been very successful with their own online businesses and they do this every August - for FREE. They teach you how to make your first $10 online with subjects such as:

• Niches
• Keywords
• WordPress and other platforms
• Social Media

And lots, lots more

And they use free tools to teach it so if you don’t have a lot of extra money to throw at a new online biz, this is for you. Or even if you do, this is for you. Lessons are generally posted weekly and there’s a video, sometimes a podcast and sometimes PDF downloads and such. The official website has a forum where everyone can share and learn together as well. There are even prizes to win! I have no idea what’s in store for this year, but Ed and Dan promise it’s going to be awesome!

The tagline this year - “There’s no charge for awesomeness.”

Since June, Ed’s been hosting “pre-season” - this is where he helps you get set up with some of the tools that’ll be used for this years Challenge. For 2008, they include the social web browser, Flock, YouTube, Twitter and Twhirl (a Twitter desktop client), FriendFeed, Google Reader, StumbleUpon and more.

Oh, and you know - half the fun are Ed and Dan themselves. Ed is a crazy Australian dude and Dan is witty guy from the UK.

There’s still time to get in! And yes, you can do it alongside your other activities and commitments. It’s meant to be a fun learning experience, no pressure. You won’t be graded or kicked out if you get behind.

I’ll see you there!

PS - I’m lsandrsn over on the 30dc forum.

PPS - Almost forgot! I have a 30dc blog that I blog the challenge from, too. Come along for the ride!

Make $10k in a weekend - “Too good to be true.” That’s the first thing I said when
I heard of http://tinyurl.com/5lq2g4. You can’t REALLY make $10K in a weekend. But I quickly bit my tongue once I saw the content. . .

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.

Share