Come on… be honest. How many e-newsletters can you actually read?

When I started my business last year, I subscribed to a kabillion newsletters about copywriting and freelancing. One of my books had a list of successful copywriters and their websites, and I dutifully visited them all, signing up for their free ebooks, their weekly newsletters, their seminar announcements.

My inbox grew each week. I figured I had to subscribe since they were successful and I wasn’t. I decided that what they had to say would be worthwhile, even though I hadn’t read it.

In the last few weeks, I’ve done the same thing on Twitter. I have been following the marketing and writing people who have 2000+ followers. I figured they must be doling out pearls of wisdom that would make me a better person, right?

But here’s what happens. I was getting 5 or more expert newsletters a week. I was getting 5+ Twitters a minute. And when they came in, I’d move them out of the way so I could get to things I wanted to read.

The moral? It’s time to cull. Let’s cut out all the emails and Twitters and other distractions that do not contribute to our conversations. As a producer of an e-newsletter myself, I’d rather deliver to a few hundred who want my info than to thousands who never read it. And perhaps when we cut down on unwanted emails, we’ll be better able to keep up with the ones that deserve our attention.

Dear readers,

I’ve started this blog post at least 5 times this morning. Nothing’s coming out right, so I’ll just give a summary of the pithy pearls of wisdom I was hoping to deliver. These are all the ideas I had in reserve, so I’m tapped. Maybe read just one a day for the next couple of days in case I don’t come back with more posts?

• I was going to write about me changing my haircolor and the fact that stylists have begged me to leave my roots alone (and for God’s sake — step away from the bangs when you’re holding a pair of kitchen shears and a glass of white wine at the bathroom mirror!).The Point? Some things are best left to the experts. Unless you really have the expertise, don’t do your own taxes, website, logo or hair color. Investing in an expert is a really smart move.
• I want to book many more speaking gigs in 2009, so I started a marketing train in my head. Have to rebrand website, build new one, create clever postcard, write personal letters, get new database, start membership into National Speakers Association… The list became overwhelming, and I put it off and off and off because it was too big.The Point? Sure, you’ve got a great idea, but you might not have to do everything at once. I ended up crafting a 2-page flyer with session descriptions and testimonials, and I sent it to about 50 people who enjoy my stuff. Let’s see what that brings. The new website can come later.
• I just got the new Google Phone, and I was going to write a review (Post One). And then I was going to write about data management and creating filters so your email is organized because my new phone gets every single email and it’s overwhelming (Post Two). And then I was going to write about how the availability of things like the Google Phone makes us forget that we really don’t need a lot of toys on our phone. It’s a damn phone, for gosh sake (Post Three).The Point? Wait for the next generation of the Google Phone. This one’s a little clumsy. Use Google and Outlook to create email filters that automatically sort incoming mail, and filter what you push to your phone so your important messages don’t get lost. And you (I) don’t need the latest and the greatest technology to do our jobs or live our lives. Sure it’s cool, but having the ability to scan bar codes with your phone to check for the best price will not improve your life.
• Today is Mom’s last day of radiation. I can’t believe she got through it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so brave and so sick at the same time. Thanks to everyone who sent their positive thoughts.The Point? There isn’t one, really. Just thank you, and thank you, Mom.

I’m always looking for free and low-cost tools that will help my productivity. The other night I looked for software that would keep me from blog surfing, news reading and other “screensucking” activities.

I discovered Zihtec’s Internet Control for Business, a handy little computer babysitter that promised to help you “regain the productivity currently lost due to employees frivolous and inappropriate online chatting or non-business related surfing and shopping.”

I downloaded the free trial.

I’m still reeling from the computer carnage that ensued.

During the initial install, I didn’t get a setup wizard which would have let me establish an admin password. As soon as I installed it, I saw it was a little rinky-dink program with bugs and a not-too-professional appearance. I tried to uninstall. It said, please disable the program first. I tried to disable. It said, please enter the admin password. THERE IS NO ADMIN PASSWORD.

This clever little program was designed to be completely unremovable by naughty employees who don’t want corporate big brother software on their personal machines. I downloaded uninstallers, consulted technology experts on my favorite listserv, tried to revert using Windows System Restore, left three messages with Zihtec’s help desk (no response)…. I actually was able to remove most of it, but a little remnant is still here. And the kicker — the remnant blocks some of my other programs and prevents me from being able to use Windows Task Manager to stop cranky programs. It even broke my Jing!

Thus, yesterday I spent the entire day rebooting, downloading utilities, consulting with experts, cursing and finally coming to the conclusion (with the experts) that I’d have to format my computer, wipe everything off, and rebuild it.

Now, getting back to the purpose of downloading the software to begin with: I did it to INCREASE productivity, and I wasted all day!

Yeah, I had a cookie with dinner. And I think I deserved a cupcake as well.

The good news is that I did find a very nice program to do the same job. I downloaded a trial of Internet Access Controller, and it allows me to restrict certain URLs during the day (like Twitter, for instance) so that I don’t have the option of getting caught up in social networking instead of work. I’m going to buy this one for $14.95.

More good news: Thanks to the tech experts, I found a bunch of utilities that would allow you to find and destroy a NORMAL icky program. This Zihtec thing, though…. it’s like The Terminator.

PS — Today’s little extra for my email subscription folks is going to be a list of the utilities. Subscribe to Avenue Z by email if you want the inside scoops!

PS again — if the Zihtec folks read this, I’ll be very, very happy to print an updated blog post about how you came to my rescue and solved this problem!

On Thursday I received this note from a client who hadn’t written since June:

Hello Beth,

I am sorry it has been so long since we last communicated. I have completed the taxing project and taken a few small vacations since we last traded emails.I am ready to give the newsletter the attention it requires; are you still interested in working with us?

Cheers.

In July I kind of wrote this client off, thinking that he had simply decided that he didn’t want to move forward. He had paid me a deposit which had covered most of the work, so I didn’t bother bugging him with “Just checking in” notes.

But I get more paranoid with other clients. When one of my biggest clients stopped sending me big projects, I became quite paranoid. I called a couple of times, and she said she was simply busy — too busy to figure out how I could help. I imagined that her boss had questioned what they were paying me — that her “Beth Budget” had disappeared. Or I figured I was missing the mark on her projects, and she was rewriting them after I sent them in (she rarely gives me much to go on, and I frequently guess about her needs then get little feedback).

I was nutso over the weekend with another project. This is a big, big opportunity for me — to write/edit a book with a well-known author and speaker. I’m “auditioning” for the job by rewriting the book’s intro, and the first draft went over very well at first, then they came back to say, “We’re not there yet.”

So I wrote and wrote and wrote Friday and Saturday. Not only do I have to please my clients, but they have to please the publisher, who is skeptical of using me, a writer who has never completed a full-length manuscript. The publisher is HUGE in the publishing world — I shouldn’t have Googled him — knowing how big he is freaks me out. This intro has to be perfect, and my clients told me getting it turned around was priority #1.

I sent the second draft to them on Saturday. They didn’t write to say they had received it. They didn’t write to say they loved it. They didn’t write at all. I imagined them (a husband and wife) looking at each other and shaking their heads — “This doesn’t cut it. Beth is just not up to the task.”

I finally texted them yesterday evening, and at 10 p.m. the wife texted back to say that the husband (the official author) would write me soon. UGH! Write me soon saying what? I checked my phone again and again, waiting for that little red light on my BlackBerry to show me that they hated/loved/tolerated my second draft.

I so wish I was more relaxed about the silence. What silence really means is that your clients are busy. Most of the time they really don’t hate you. They’re not plotting to cut you out of the project. They’re not out finding a new writer or designer or whatever. Maybe they don’t have the answer to the last question. Maybe other priorities have come up. Maybe they’ve been out of the office or entrenched in meetings. Or maybe they died (I worry about that). But they probably don’t hate you.

My best advice to make things happen? Pick up the phone. Last week I called a number of the clients who had gotten silent. Most of the time, they responded with something like, “Oh, Beth — I’ve been meaning to call you,” or “I’m still waiting on X person to get back to me about the project,” or “Shoot — I just haven’t had any time.” Everyone was friendly, and the calls even jump started a few new projects.

Oh… the author finally got back to me. It was a complete non-event.

Beth,
I really like the new structure and length…. Almost all my charges were in that opening section.

I made a few other small changes to answer your questions, or for accuracy, or to insert a word or two the way I would say it in this new structure.

I’m ready to accept changes and send to [the publisher], but wanted to send it back by you, in case there was anything in the changes that doesn’t sound good to you.

Best…