10.01.06
Posted in Articles, Tales at 12:45 pm by Dave Franzwa
Here’s a snapshot of things that happen around the `ol homestead, here in Oregon.
You’re familiar with the term “good guys finish last,” right?
Well, my boy was at a teen function of some sort awhile back, and was asked to dance by a, well, let’s just say by a less than virtuous young lady.
In the presense of others, she said that if he’d dance with her she would show him certain parts of her anatomy and perform things on him that, believe it or not, make me blush to think about, let alone describe.
So I won’t.
This was in mixed company and she’s only 15 years old!
My son (who makes me proud just about every day) politely refused her advances, not because he felt he was any better than her, but rather because he understands the value of long-term relationships, and getting to know someone before doing anything serious with them.
Upon receiving his polite rejection, she venomously asked him if he was some goody-2-shoes loser, to which he smiled and said that yes, he was a good guy, but no loser.
(Back in my day, that goody-two-shoes line might have worked. I am merely mortal;^/ Besides, I’ve been able to take what I knew of my own weaknesses from the past, and turn them into strengths in my boy.)
When he told me what had happened, I realized how blessed I was to have a young man who has actually listened to me over the years.
We talked about the way some people put down good guys by saying things like “good guys finish last.”
I created a little on-the-spot parable about a shepherd and his flock.
(Don’t laugh just yet, there’s lots of good material to be found studying sheep;-)
Anyway. We talked about this good shepherd who was tending his flock, and how he leads them from pasture to pasture, always on the guard for their welfare.
The shepherd is always the last one through the gate, and while the flock munches down on the new grass, he secures the gate and proceeds to walk the fenceline looking for weak points and signs of wolves.
He places the safety and comfort of the fold above his own needs, and only when everything is secure does he let his guard down long enough to feed himself.
So what in blue blazes does this have to do with writing good copy?
Quite a bit, actually.
The words you use to convey your thoughts can have a powerful impact on others, and that’s a tremendous responsibility.
Once you have gained the trust of your flock (your readers) you’ll continue to walk the fenceline, watch for wolves, and make sure you’re leading them into safe pastures.
Even though you may be the good guy (or gal) who goes through the gate last, they’ll follow you anywhere you may lead, because they trust you.
So even though good guys and gals may finish last…
Guess who owns the flock?
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Well, that’s it for a lazy afternoon in the country.
Hope you have a glorious day!
Dave Franzwa
ps ~ This is a message I sent to my Life-Blood list. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, the above is just a sampling of how I relate everyday life to marketing.
If you’d like to take Life-Blood for a test-drive (free), check it out at:
Life-Blood of Your Business
I’ve been working on a couple of projects, one specifically for my Life-Blood list.
I was hoping to get at least some of it off to them earlier, but around here, family stuff just sort of happens (thankfully).
For a little more insight on what I’m up to, do get on that list, especially if you consider yourself a good guy or gal ;^)
Hope to see ya there,
Dave Franzwa
pps ~ If you know anyone who would gain by being on this list, feel free to pass this message along, or send them to this link:
http://workathomesupertips.com/wordpress/2006/09/12/life-blood-of-business/
and let them sign up for themselves, if they like.
ppps ~ I almost forgot, in reference to the little chat I had with my son, I just wanted to say, there’s a big difference between a goody-two-shoes and good guys (or gals).
We haven’t raised any of our kids (3 of `em) to come across as moralistically superior to anyboby else. They just tend to have higher goals (and grades, brag, brag;-) and don’t mind standing up for what they believe is right.
Nuff said?
Dave
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08.13.06
Posted in Articles, Tales, Opinion at 12:10 pm by Dave Franzwa
It looks like I’m jumping into the tangled web of real content vs. search engine optimized copy.
I didn’t get involved in writing on the net to strike up a relationship with robots.
They’re dull-witted, have no manners, and could care less whether you or I have feelings.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t care much about playing games in which the rules constantly change. Wayyy too much for this wrinkled, old gray-matter to remember.
Even if I could remember, I was raised to believe that changing the rules mid-game is cheating, and I can’t say that I care much for cheaters either.
(By the way, watch who you choose as your banker in Monopoly;-)
With the ability of the major search engines, like Google, to change their search criteria and algorithms at the drop of a hat, that’s exactly the type of game I won’t play.
There are some folks out there that create software in an attempt to stay ahead of the search engines, or at least keep up with them, and that’s just fine, if that’s what they want to do.
Some of that content creation software is pretty cool, I’ll have to admit, but I’ll be darned if I’m going to dot my “t’s” and cross my “i’s” for the sake of a robot. Besides, Mom always said if I crossed my eyes, they might stick that way;-)
You see, a robot wouldn’t have caught, nor appreciated that little bit of fun with words, but humans would. (Most humans anyway.)
And that’s the point. If I can’t periodically entertain my readers, then there’s no sense in my doing this.
Fortunately, there are still readers who enjoy a sense of humor, and they are who I intend to keep writing for.
The internet was created for sharing information; that much goes without saying, but if the Borgs out there can’t even catch a little joke, then what other information are they judging as good when it is in fact, erroneous?
In Orson Wells’ classic “The War of The Worlds,” it was a common cold that brought on the downfall of an alien invasion.
Maybe it will be the simple joke that will be the ace up our sleeves in this war against robots that seek to sterilize all content of any trace of personality.
For all of you writing feverishly to please the labotomous Borgs of the worldwide web, continue to feed your masters if you like. I for one, will continue to relate to people who can choose to laugh at my jokes and forgive my mistakes, because it’s still not what you know (robots), it’s who you know (humans) that really counts in life.
Joke around a little. Be yourself. Poke fun at a robot occasionally; they won’t get it anyway, and I can prove it.
When you’re not sure whether you’re dealing with a robot or a human, simply say “knock, knock.”
If they don’t answer with the customary “who’s there” response, you know you’re dealing with a full-fledged, humorless, created-in-the-matrix robot.
If they do respond accordingly, you’ve got a live human on the other end, and they’re a lot easier to please.
But you’d better have a good punch line ready.
I have another one for you that the robots won’t get:
May the farce be with you.
Dave
Word-Wrangler-Press
(You’re welcome to use or distribute this article any way you choose, as long as you leave the above link intact. One of the few rules I use;^)
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08.09.06
Posted in Home, Tales at 10:55 pm by Dave Franzwa
Our close calls are there for a reason.
I was working on a little blog strategy yesterday. I was planning to bounce some information back and forth between this blog and my Blogger account, Work at Home Supertips for a bit of a traffic boost.
I had a few article summaries written to place in Blogger with links to Word Wrangler Press (WWP), and had copied a couple of those links from WWP for use at around 9:00 pm (Pacific).
About midnight, I was ready to perform the deed when I double-checked one of those links.
The check came back with a MySQL error in the database storing WWP.
I checked a couple other tools that I use that also use MySQL and discovered errors in each of them, so I shot over to my backend to check it out.
I clicked on MySQL Databases and found all of my databases missing in action.
Psffttt! Gone!!!
I must be getting better at this patience thing. Of course I have had some 50 odd years to practice it (some odder than others;), but this is how I know this was a test of patience.
I wasn’t immediately seized with that old feeling of fear that starts out as a knot in my stomach, and works its way out until everything, especially my mind, is knotted up as well.
This little test of patience was reminder for me that a good backup plan is crucial in the grand scheme of things.
The Great Spirit revealed this to me gently (for which I’m grateful), through an uncanny set of circumstances.
As soon as I was done checking those links out, I had planned on performing a full backup of my site. (No. Really. I was planning to!)
It had been way too long since the last one though, and I believe that this “glitch” was allowed to happen for one purpose, that being to underscore in my mind the importance of backing up all critical aspects of my site, including databases.
Since I was planning on it anyway, it had a secondary affect of encouraging me for being on the right track.
I really believe that close calls are there for a reason.
I was fortunate this time. My host was simply doing some regular maintenance and the SQL server was temporarily off-line.
It could have been a lot worse, catastrophic in fact, but I’m sure that my patience and failure to jump to any conclusions based on fear are what saved the day in this close call.
My dad always used to say, “Dave.” (He called me Dave.) “Learn from my mistakes and you won’t have to make as many of your own.”
I seem to have done that more in the 5 years he’s been gone, than I ever did while he was here.
Now it’s your turn to learn from my mistakes, even though I technically didn’t make one, unless you consider not backing up a sin of omission;-)
Don’t wait for close calls to give you a reason to do the things you know that you need to.
That goes for your business and your personal life.
Love people, embrace life, and though you can’t always back up some of the things that life dishes out, you can and should back up your data.
Dave
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