WritingThoughts

I’ve been running a gauntlet of deadlines for my bigger projects (one today, one Monday, one Tuesday, and one next Thursday).

As a result, I haven’t had time to write the thoughtful posts that I usually like to post here. Nor have I had the time to respond to memes. I’ll get to those posts. I’ve already got the ideas in my head. I just don’t have an idea materializer yet (although I once wrote about one on another blog).

In the meantime, I thought I’d give some of that link love back by listing the people who have linked to me this week.

People that have given me link love lately (in no particular order):

• Andrea
• Jeanne
• Vivienne
• Lilly
• Char
• Michael
• Faisca
• MDY

If you’ve given me link love in the last week or so and I accidentally forgot you, let me know and I’ll link to you here.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

This is a question that’s been in the back of my mind for some time now so I thought that I’d throw it out to you for discussion.

Several years ago I attended a presentation on writing. The main speaker had to give a little biographical introduction about herself before she spoke. This particular speaker really focused in on her kids during the biographical part of her speech. In fact, the bio was mostly about her kids.

Personally, I enjoyed the speaker’s presentation AND her biography. I thought the focus on kids added warmth and made her seem real.  Since the time I spend with my kids is something that I value highly I felt that I could really relate to her.

I was shocked when, at the end of the presentation, a woman that I had been sitting with commented on how unprofessional the speaker had been.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, she focused way too much on her kids. I just think that was really unprofessional of her.” My companion said.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I’ll tell you. My companion was an unmarried woman with no children. In the interest of disclosure I should also add that the presentation was NOT about working at home or anything related to children.

What do you think? Should your children be mentioned in your professional biography? If so, how much of a mention should they get?

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Michael Haislip at Michael Haislip Helps You Make Money Online has conducted an interesting and kind of fun experiment.

Michael asked eleven bloggers to take a Myers-Briggs Type personality test, then he observed their blogs to see how their personality played out through their blogging.

While Michael admits that it’s an unscientific project, the results of his study are interesting for several reasons. First, you get to find out the personality type of other bloggers (if you haven’t been able to guess). Second, it’s interesting to see how bloggers within the same and different personality types handle their blogs.

Bloggers included in the study were:

• Michael from Faisca’s Corner
• Michelle from Bloggrrl
• Ray from FreshBlogger
• Julie Anne Bonner from JulieAnnBonner.com
• Steve from SteveOlson.com
• Lisa from Work at Home Mom Revolution
• Charlene from Essential Keystrokes
• ispf over at Grad Money Matters
• Jennifer from Broke-Ass Student
• Aaron from The Mad Hat
• Me

Want to get in on the study? You still can. Michael is asking that bloggers post their results in the comments of his original post.Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Some of you may have noticed that I’m running a mini-series today on business planning. Before I leave the subject I want to point you to three great blog resources for freelancers:

1. FreelanceSwitch. This blog contains a wealth of information for freelancers. There’s even a job list.
2. Home Biz Notes. This is a great place to read about news and issues that affect home businesses.
3. Work at Home Mom Revolution. This site will help you discover a variety of work at home opportunities.

If  you aren’t already familiar with these sites, you’ll want to take the time to explore each one.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

When I noticed the topic “How to Start a Business” at PayPerPost, I had to check it out. I went to the site, California LLC.

In my case, I was directed to a page about incorporation in Texas. I assume that I was directed to that page because I live in Texas. (The company offers similar services, at varying prices, for all 50 states.)

One thing I discovered was that incorporation in Texas is somewhat expensive. The total price quoted was $300 for the Texas State Initial Filing fee and $89 for checking the availability of the business name. I googled the terms incorporate in Texas and the price quoted to incorporate in Texas was actually less than the prices quoted by other services. In same cases, it was quite a bit less.

Next, I went to the Better Business Bureau’s site and tried to find information on the company. I found that the parent company, EastBiz.com, Inc. is a member of the Better Business Bureau and that they participate in the BBBOnline Reliability program (as of the date of this post, July 2007).

One of the company’s best free services may be its blog, Small Business Blog. The blog contains news and tips for small business owners.

If you are planning to incorporate, this service might be worth further investigation.

(This has been a sponsored post.)

I’m the guest blogger at Versa today. Vivienne asked me a few weeks ago if I would do a guest post and I had fun delving into my marketing writing background to create a post for her.

In case you were wondering what the Versa blog is about, here’s a quick overview:

Versa Creations is the web home for Vivienne Quek. Vivienne is an advertising industry veteran who runs two advertising agencies that provide a wide range of marketing and communications services. At Versa Creations Vivienne shares some of that marketing expertise.

If you do copywriting you’ll want to stop by Vivienne’s blog and take a look at her posts.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Recently I came across a copy of The Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide (affiliate link, I receive a small fee for each book purchased). It’s basically a book that teaches the business person how to create an effective business plan. I’m actually reading this book as part of a project for one of my writing clients, but I thought I’d also review it for you here.

The book has all the information that you would expect of a book on business plans. It contains information about: creating an executive summary, preparing for due diligence, creating a marketing plan, creating an operational plan, creating a financial plan, and more.

The book has a little bit more in it than just information about business plans, though. In chapter three it also outlines and describes the legal forms that a business can take. In chapter fifteen it has a sample confidentiality agreement that could easily be adapted to your own business needs for more than just a business plan.

The book is solidly written from an informative stance. While it’s quite readable, it’s not an entertaining or compelling read.  If you are in the midst of developing your own business plan,  however,  it’s a tool you might want to have by your side.

So, you think that you’re too small to worry about details like a business plan or what legal form your organization should take? Think again. Many of today’s largest corporations started out as small or home-based businesses. Apple Inc. immediately comes to mind.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Recently (the term is relative) two fellow bloggers nominated me for the Thinking Blogger Award.

A special thank you for giving WritingThoughts the award goes to:

• Drawing On Words
• Mom and More

I’m really honored by such a nomination. I feel like we have a community here that sparks conversation and helps us all to think of new ideas.

I had actually first received this award from Yvonne at Grow Your Writing Business, but since I didn’t put the icon in my margin no one realized that I had been nominated. That’s my fault.

Note: The Thinking Blogger Award started with Iker Yoldas at The Thinking Blog.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

Here are some of this week’s interesting posts about writing:

• Adventures in Copywriting discusses the proper use of testimonials. An excellent piece about how to get good testimonials for your marketing pieces.
• Copybogger talks about using heroes in business blogs. It’s a great concept that I’d like to see more about.
• Lorelle on WordPress published a new piece by Jonathon Bailey of the Blog Herald that talks about what you can do when your content is stolen. This is a problem that most bloggers face, sooner or later.
• Kristen at Freelance Switch has published a list of Essentials for Freelance Writers.

Happy surfing!

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.

What do you think? Should teens work part-time during the summer and after school?

Arguments in favor of teens working include:

• Teaches kids responsibility
• Teaches kids to handle money
• Gives kids extra spending money

Arguments against teens working include:

• May expose teens to dangerous work environments
• May distract from schoolwork
• May allow kids just enough money to get in trouble

What about you? Did you work as a teen? Would you allow your teen to work?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Contents (c) Copyright 2007, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.