I wasn’t born a writer. In fact, when I was 9, I wrote in my diary:

“I’m not realy a big writing fan.”

And, if I remember correctly, that was an understatement. I hated writing.

Yet, by the time I graduated college, I’d been working as both a professional magazine writer and copywriter for several years. I had prestigious writing credits to my name including writing awards and bylines.

So, what changed? How did I become a copywriter?

It’s a question I get asked lot. People ask how I learned my craft, who I learned from, what programs I recommend. And, truthfully, though I wouldn’t change a second about the way I learned, I did it the hard way.

The really, really hard way.

Last year, I talked about my copywriting training a bit and I talked about why so much of the training I received really isn’t relevant to the work that I do in professional website design and copywriting. The way that so much of what I learned is about fear and stoking that fear in the reader, and the way that’s so unnecessary.

In other words, as I trained to be a copywriter, I learned a lot.… Keep reading

A few months ago, Izzy was very sick. (Spoiler alert: he’s all better.) As you already know, I adore this dog. And I was very, very anxious.

I worried if I’d chosen the right vet. If we’d chosen the right treatment. If I’d done something wrong (I’d taken him for a long hike just the day before and I worried somehow I’d caused him to be sick). So much worry.

But there was one thing I didn’t worry about. Not for one second. It didn’t even cross my mind to worry about how I was going to pay for it.

How can that be? How can I not have one teensy tiny worry about how to cover an unexpected (and large) vet bill?

Because I have a very particular skill. A skill that’s always in high demand. A skill that I don’t always trot out, but that when I do, I can write my own ticket.

In fact, I can remember the very day I learned this lesson. It was Izzy’s first vet appointment (almost nine! years ago). They rang up the total and it was a lot more than it was supposed to be. I don’t remember why, but I handed over my credit card and my mom, who’d gone with us, asked me in a worried voice: “How are you going to pay for that?”… Keep reading

If you’re using WordPress to manage your website, your website is vulnerable to hackers. There are some simple things you can do on your own to make your site more secure–like make sure you always have the latest version of WordPress installed–and there are some more advanced things that you’ll want to turn to the professionals for. Think it won’t happen to you? In the last few weeks, I’ve had clients with gigantic sites and the latest WordPress version get hacked, and clients with tiny sites (with fewer than 500 visitors/month) get hacked. It’s not about how many visitors you get, it’s not about how popular your site is–it’s just about getting unlucky.

What’s more, if your website is hacked, you can immediately lose your Google rankings–and those rankings can be very difficult to get back. If your site is hacked, your website can become an “attack” site (and be labeled as such by Firefox and Internet Explorer–meaning people won’t be able to visit your website). And, what’s more, for visitors who don’t have appropriate virus protection, if your site is hacked, it can install viruses to your visitors’ computers. (Is that really what you want associated with your website?… Keep reading

This morning I'm writing you from a deck overlooking Lake Norman. Pretty, huh?

About a month ago, my coach issued a challenge. My assignment was to go somewhere for several weeks. (I'm kind of a homebody and tend to limit vacations to 5 days or less.) Most importantly, I wasn't to check email or voice mails for a full two weeks while I was away.

I knew I'd chicken out if I didn't do it right away, so I took immediate action. Booked a dog-friendly house right on Lake Norman for Iz and I to escape to. And that's where we've been for the past three weeks as I write this–we've been having a blast!

Seriously, what is it about being on vacation that makes even grocery shopping more fun and less of a chore?

This week, I've gotten back to doing a bit of work. I'll admit, the view is more than a bit distracting! One of the tasks I've been tackling is to read through my folder of reader questions. Each week, I receive 5-10 questions from new subscribers. While I answer as many as I can, I always have an overflow.

Lately many of these reader questions have to do with a certain piece of writing advice that's been floating around.… Keep reading

Over ten years ago, I launched my first digital product. (Crazy, right? Ten years ago…) It was an ebook and a collection of HTML email newsletter templates. And, just like you hear, it sold round the clock. Seeing sales come in while I was sleeping was the most exciting thing ever.

But that’s not what I want to talk about today.

After I’d created the product, I remember being really frustrated when it came time to figure out how to write a sales letter. At that point, I’d been a direct response copywriter for about 4-5 years, and I was really comfortable selling other peoples’ products in writing. But I did not want to sell my own.

It wasn’t so much that it felt sleazy as it felt like I was doing my product a disservice. “It ought to sell itself!” I thought. And I didn’t want to be convincing people who were on the fence because, quite frankly, that felt a little demeaning. (Sort of like begging people to buy something they wouldn’t otherwise buy.)

I remember whining to a friend who owned a business: “I don’t want to write a sales letter. I wish I could just say: ‘I’ve worked really hard on this.… Keep reading

FILLED. Thank you for your interest!

I mentioned in last month’s newsletter that we’re taking care of more web design clients in February than in any other single month since ThriveYourTribe began. Which is amazing. And also means that we need to bring on some more people. We’ve been needing to hire for a few months, but I’ve been putting it off, so we’re looking for people who are ready to start immediately and who won’t need training. (We know you’ll take some time to get up to speed with our way of working and we’ll be patient with you, but because of how busy we are, we’re looking exclusively for candidates with experience. Thanks!)

Both current positions will require on-site visits to North Carolina once per quarter, but you can work from any state. That said, you need to be at your best and available during regular, east coast business hours. You’ll have set hours (you won’t be on call).

We also have an opening for a programmer. Stay tuned for that job posting.

Designer–2 Openings

Your Career at ThriveYourTribe

As a staff designer, you will be responsible for creating attractive websites, email newsletters, and blog designs. Our clients are mostly small business owners and solopreneurs.… Keep reading

If you don’t have kids, you probably haven’t given this much thought, but most parents have to teach their kids to share. It’s not something they just naturally do. So, at some point in your life, you were taught to share.

Sharing comes more easily when there’s more than enough of something. It’s hard to share when something’s limited or you’re worried you’ll run out. It’s easy to share when you know you’ll always have more than enough.

That’s what makes email newsletters naturally so easy to share. If I share my copy with you, I don’t lose out, and you get to read something you might enjoy too. It’s not like giving away a million dollars, where you’d want to really think about who deserved it and whether or not you wanted to give it up.

The good news is this means your readers won’t require too much encouragement to start sharing your newsletter. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need any! Why don’t readers share your newsletter more naturally? Lots of reasons!

• Some readers think you wouldn’t want your newsletter shared. They may think you want to control who has a copy, and that you only want people on your list to receive it.

Last week, I entered the delightful Marie Forleo’s RHH Live contest with a video entry. (Warning: I’m wearing my PJs–it’s a metaphor, obviously.) For the contest, she wanted to know the biggest challenge you’re facing in your business, and, I realized that I’ve been feeling kind of worn out, creatively, lately. My clients haven’t noticed, but I just haven’t had the creative energy to tackle my own projects lately with any sense of robustness. I just wasn’t feeling my usual sense of boundless creative enthusiasm.

After making the video, I got to thinking about the tools in my toolkit for replenishing my creativity and, unsurprisingly, I’ve letting most of them collect dust. No wonder I was feeling out of sorts! So, right after recording the video, I immediately made myself a little checklist card (I *love* checklists!) of creativity treats that I can add to my day throughout the day. I wanted to share my list with you in case you, too, are feeling a bit depleted, and I’d love to hear what works for you for rejuvenating and replenishing.

• Row. I’ve had this rower since January 2007–it’s small and basic, and I adore it. I’m not a fan of walking because my neighborhood is riddled with bad drivers, so though Izzy and I go for walks, I can’t let my mind wander.

A few years ago, I decided to do something about the way I handled failure. See, my tendency was to beat myself up for even tiny mistakes, and that wasn’t actually helping me make fewer mistakes. So, it seemed sensible to try something new.

What if you aimed for a failure a day?

I decided to make a failure a day part of my to-do list. That’s right, I was now *supposed* to fail. Every day. Some days that was something tiny and other days it was something I didn’t really want a repeat of (like the day I backed my car into a bush in the landscaping).

Though it’s been awhile since I practiced the art of failing daily, I remember that it had the exact effect I was hoping it would: failure became much less worrisome. See, when you’re *required* to fail every day, you do some things hoping they’ll fail just so you can check that off your list. You send the email that’s likely to result in a rejection. You strike up a conversation with the unfriendly grocery store checker almost hoping it won’t be any fun.

Fear of failure is crippling. Just like those ole experts say it is.