First Word

All right I'm going to protest because frankly this episode's opening of Jason and Eric hooking up (sorry for spoiler) was just plain ole gratuitous! It was the chance to get hunk no. #1 and hunk no. #2 naked, and it offered no other value to the story line. Why (and maybe they will explain later) they had the vamp sex connection with a vampire in which if my memory serves me at all they never exchanged V ... no clue and really turned off. I don't mind sex in context. I do MIND when it's just a sex scene to serve nothing apparent. That said, the teacher (again sorry for spoiler) literally disintegrating between Arlene's thighs was almost too priceless and a great campy scene a la classic True Blood . Shall we take that as one massive and bloody menstrual cycle (wink from the writers maybe)? And did Eric have the disease or not? I was a little confused but I think he did ... which for the final season explains where Eric is headed or not headed; but I would still...

In promoting numerous books over the years, here are a couple things that I've learned that "are what they are," so to speak. If the tipping point never arrives ... it just doesn't arrive and dumping more money and resources will not change that situation . I compare this to survey. If you survey 100 people and come up with an answer that is perhaps between 10-12 percent it doesn't matter if you survey another 1,000 people, your answer will still roughly be 10-12 percent. So if you're marketing and your book finally finds its place in the market and starts selling, it will continue to sell if you continue to promote. If you're marketing and your book has gotten 10 reviews with no momentum it's not very likely 20 reviews will be any different. The buying mood, the topic or story isn't resonating for whatever reason in the marketplace. When I have a book that has received more reviews than we can count and yet still sales remain overall flat (even ...

In my recent dabbling in what most would call event planning but I would call "stumbling along with good fortune" I managed to put together my wedding at an unprecedented budget to be envied by the conservative-spending crowd. A few comments before I "sing my own praises". Marriage is sacred. Getting married is important and requires respect. What in my opinion it doesn't require is a debt the size of the deficit. Any couple who are getting started young or old really should get off to the best possible start. So, taking a second out on a house or extravagant spending that has to be "paid off" makes no sense to me. So if you're getting married and want to avoid the debt aftermath, here are some really great tips to help you along. eBay and my wedding dress (cost $100 + shipping) : This experiment was definitely an "experiment" in the sense when you buy on eBay who knows what you're going to get. The clues that it would be all right:...

I love this cover image! One of the latest titles coming off press this month is a personal favorite titled In the Footsteps of Greatness . Since I am the publisher my critique of the book wouldn't seem credible, but I will say I really enjoyed working on this project and felt inspired by Josh's word on a daily basis.  I think you will really love this inward and outward journey. Here is information: “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” – Marianne Williamson Those words have always resonated with the softly strumming chords of my soul. It is so much easier for me to be not quite good enough and to remain wrapped in the snug cloak of angst. My life was littered with the wreckage of self-imposed roadblocks. But I didn’t want to be that man anymore, and I could see my light shining up ahead, just waiting for me to step into it. I realized that I had just arrived at the moment this trip was des...

Dumping the words "lesson learned" into my business knowledge I have acquired section of my so-called "management manual," there is a good one all small business owners should apply. Never pay contractors their fees all upfront. Either do payments or 50/50. Wanting to be a trusting person, I've stumbled and fell on my face a couple of times after "trusting" the wrong contractor -- someone I should have been able to trust. The rules should apply like this: No. #1 Don't do anyone any favors out of strict kindness and pay them in advance of work . Motivation to do the work sometimes requires a carrot and a stick. If the contractor eats the carrot before commencing the work, the motivation is now gone. Leverage is now gone, too. Outside of legal recourse, that contractor can hold you hostage to his/her whims or lack of work ethic. No. #2 Trust is earned ... period . I'm never one to suggest not to be trusting. Trust is a beautiful thing especia...

True Blood -- Season 7 Episode 1: Vulture I was hugely disappointed last season with the show's declining writing after creator Alan Ball changed directions and left the series in the hands of the other directors and writers. As this season opened I was also a little apprehensive with the prospects of the "zombie-vamp" mutation story. But as the show began with an explosive slaughter of humans, and the fates of some show favorites like Arlene and Holly on the line, I was quickly absorbed into it. I liked the way they got back to basics with Sookie being able to read the entire "accusing" citizens' minds as they blamed the "vampire whore" for inviting this havoc upon them. The show had deviated so far off her fairy powers in connection to citizens in recent years it lost a little of its humanity. The intensity of the opening scene though immediately invited you in for an absorbing episode where we find Andy and Vampire Bill on the hunt to fin...

Welcome back my campy True Blood characters as June 22nd marks the beginning of the end of this truly unique vampire show that even from a non-vampire lover such as I managed to be absorbed  season after season. I have read that the sexy Viking vamp Eric Northman as played by the red-hot Alexander Skarsgard (my future daughter-in-law and I had quite a conversation about sexy men, and we had a mutual meeting of the minds that Skarsgard AKA Skarscandy wins! Well, she did have an admiration for Tatum Channing, which I can feel her on). I did ask Kirk for a hall pass should I run into Skarsgard and his eyes narrowed and he scoffed, "No! You're too pretty! He would probably go for it." LMAO ... maybe ... ;). Last season sadly went down the tubes as creator and executive producer (and master storyteller) Alan Ball stepped down and his directing team and head writers stepped up. The story line took on this discriminatory hate theme that ended with our favorite vamps locked aw...

I have always been one to follow my instincts -- your gut tells the truth even when your mind resists. Gut-reactions are the ones that speak the initial truth. It is only our minds that cloud the issue and drum up questions or my all-time favorite, "Why?" A client of mine was talking to me about the book Blink b y Malcolm Gladwell, and he said its theory is that we size up stuff pretty much in a "blink" of the eye. I agree. Our senses tell us everything we need to know quickly. It is only our minds that interfere in the obvious. Some people might even say it's psychic, and I'm willing to go along with that assessment too -- part gut, part observation, part psychic. You have two self-empowerment tools you probably didn't realize were at your disposal: your gut and your ability to trust your gut. Problem is (as this applies to women especially with men who are "players" or don't have pure intentions) many people will have that gut-reaction ...

I get regularly asked how I do so much. I can distill it down to one word: goals. My entire life and career I have been goal-oriented. The way to keep goals organized and stay on task is to write (not type) your daily, weekly and monthly goals. I have a desk calendar. When I was in college and had to travel from class to class, I had a binder calendar. I would write the homework assignments and deadlines on my calendar. I once had this condescending HR woman look at my calendar and make comments about "silly" calendar and neat penmanship. The only person who looked 'silly' was her. Truth is, I still to this day have a desk calendar with the same so-called neat penmanship, and I use a highlighter pen to put special emphasis on deadlines. My eye always goes right to the highlights so things do not go unforgotten. The trick to the workhorse abilities is to systematically go through your daily goals, accomplish the tasks, mark it off, and move to the next. A list keeps ...

I posted this about weddings on Facebook: That's it ... SACRED. I kept trying to explain why I felt a real effort be put into having a beautiful and thoughtful wedding ceremony, and not something to be done lightly, quickly or on-the-fly. It's SACRED! That was the word , and it's a rite of passage that symbolizes your deep love and commitment. To not go through the rite of passage thoughtfully, genuinely and with great reverence for what you're doing makes it easier to throw it away and disrespect the union. The rising divorce rate and the idea that marriage is disposable has diminished the value and respect for the union. I've watched people literally get married and within months conveniently toss the relationship in the nearest "trash can". You could say marriage has become disposable and "recyclable" -- fail and try again. This accepted mentality has resulted in quickie marriages that don't  withstand the test of time, and a com...

Rating: ***1/2 I always love an intricate story (since I'm a storyteller) and admire the writer's ability to keep it all straight. The Edge of Tomorrow , the new Tom Cruise movie and co-starring Emily Blunt, was one of those movies with extreme thoughtfulness to details to make it work. The movie begins right as the world is about to be conquered by aliens called Mimics. Tom Cruise's character begins as a cowardly spokesperson who gets suddenly thrust in the invasion on the beach of France (think D Day in World War II). With absolutely no combat experience, Cruise is thrust right into the "shit" and within moments is not only being dropped from an airplane with no experience, but also lands on the ground to face the enemy. He is (naturally) instantly killed, but before his demise he lays eyes on Emily Blunt's character and a look passes between them, and then she dies and Cruise dies ... or so we think. All of a sudden, he wakes up with a jolt back to th...

The biggest failure I see entrepreneurs do is fail to promote effectively at key moments. If you have a newsletter, blog or website you should have links and information about it on every promo piece. You can't drive traffic to your website simply by having one. You have to advertise and promote it. Blog -- same thing. You have to promote your blog to increase readership. Keywords and social media are not enough. Your blog is designed to market your business and increase visibility and therefore exposure to your brand. You have to spread the word about it at every opportunity. Also, if you're doing speaking engagements, make sure you're either bringing a sign-up sheet to capture audience contact information for a newsletter or to promote an upcoming product or service. Make sure you ask permission (naturally). Again give the audience a business card or postcard to promote your other marketing material. You often have to continually touch your audience until they remember,...

In giving my marketing presentation (especially in front of older audiences), a theme has developed. A contingent of the audience has what I'll call the folded-arm social media "disgust" attitude. The demographic here usually consists of those whose hair (how shall we say) has grayed. They don't accept social media, and most of these folks don't even know what to post or more importantly "why" they should post at all. Social media has become a lynchpin to my marketing mix. For me not to post on social media I would be missing a tremendous and valuable percentage of the market segment. Now the gray-haired naysayers who typically look at me almost with an incredulous disdain when I say it's mission critical to have a social media presence don't seem to understand social media in general nor do they even want to deal with it. The next contingent of naysayers will look at me with their eyes glazed over and push back by saying, "Who has time?...

I was recently criticized by an associate for "living my life" on Facebook. Today I came back from a very productive meeting with a Facebook connection who observed me for approximately six months before he pulled the trigger on a meeting. He is not the first business associate to use Facebook as a tool to keep an "eye" on a prospective business partner or employee. In the course of our conversation we discussed the whole Facebook "thing," and he made some interesting comments that I don't want to digress off the topic. So the question of being one of those people who lives their lives on Facebook I'm going to shove in the cubby hole I'll call "and that's your opinion". Here is my opinion: I do think there is a fine line between TMI and smart business. I do think there is a balance to strike. People like to work with people they like. So meaningless fluff or comments that border on salacious or inappropriate fall into what I cal...

Did you know you have a personal brand? It is funny but even you as an individual are in a way a brand. What do you project about yourself? Personal image is a part of a personal brand. If you're in business you do have to consider your self-image as a part of your personal brand, and what you project to the world. Your personal brand can affect who hires you. Your personal brand can affect whether or not you receive that promotion at work. Are you now wondering, "What is my personal brand?" A personal brand extends beyond self-image, but self-image is a part of your brand whether you realize you had a brand or not. Most people don't think of these things in business terms. Beyond what you project to others is any personal communication you put in the public arena that defines you both professionally and even personally. Personal brand identity starts with what people associate with your name and what you do. Everything about you out on the Internet is defining that...

The Destination Unknown this week was to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a place that is special to my fiance and I since he proposed to me on the upper deck. The aquarium is constantly changing with new exhibits added to keep it fresh. The baby sea-turtle display (see picture) was all new. I thought the turtle was cute, and I had to follow him around the aquarium a bit before I could snap off this shot. The aquarium now charges $39 for each adult and $24.95 for children. It's a great place for kids and adults alike to stroll through at a leisurely pace and check out the displays. Stacked in three layers, you see everything from the sea-bird preservation enclosure to penguins of all of all types, and of course the adorable sea otters. In the spring you enjoy seeing the babies. Sweet, itty-bitty sandpipers run around the bird enclosure. This year the most captivating exhibit was the octopus display. The octopus was suctioned to the glass, and that made quite a sight. After an after...