Author: Bobbye

Bobbye Middendorf, MA, partners with evolutionaries as mystic-catalyst, healer, and poet -- evoking experiences of hope, self-grounding, self-trust, resilience, and joy. Spoken Word Alchemy opens portals for Yin Arising via mentoring; she offers inner wisdom guidance and word altars. With WayMakers, this award-winning wordsmith regenerates their clarity and expansive expression to live life as a work of art.

5Cs to Live Your Legacy in Words

More than What You Leave Behind, Live Your Legacy in Words

I’ve written about living your legacy before.  It’s that important.  The following action points are part of an upcoming booklet of experts sharing insights on “defining your destiny,” a project coordinated by Paulette Ensign, the  undisputed queen of the tips booklet.

My suggestion: Test out these 5 Cs to bring your legacy alive. Use words. Write it all down. Document your process for yourself and others.

1 Center —

Begin by taking a deep belly-expanding breath or several.  Focus on your heart-center.  Listen for your internal wisdom and directions from inside.  Write them down!

2 Contribute —

From that breath-centered mindfulness, focus on the deepest gifts you are here to share.  Who are the most perfect recipients of your gifts?  Write down who you are here to serve and the gifts you yearn to offer.

3 Create —

Hold in your heart both what you are here to offer and who you are meant to do it for.  Envision what it looks like when those two come together, with results for the highest good.  Write that down.

4 Connect —

Bring your inner connections and ideas into conversation.  Invite your most perfect people into your sacred circle with powerful words and intent.  Connect and LISTEN.  Write down their words, what they want.

5 Commit —

Write down the specifics of your intent and commitment to create, connect, and contribute.  It’s your map for living your legacy.  Build it day by day with conscious actions — to make the difference you came here to make.

World-changers, writers, authors, visionaries, and conscious creators partner with Bobbye Middendorf, The Write Synergies Guru, to clarify their healing messages. If you’re ready for results greater than the sum of the parts, if you need the right words so people “get it,” if you want to make the difference you came here to make, then connect with Bobbye to live your legacy in words and “Write to Sell Without Selling Your Soul.”

Back-to-learning

September Greetings from your Write Synergies Guru!

In this issue:
*Blog Milestone
*Back-to-learning
*<Time Sensitive> Web Site Creation Workshop
Registration tomorrow!
*<Time Sensitive> Self Employment Telesummit
Starts this week!
*<Time Sensitive> No Cost Call for
Family Caregivers
*Tuesday Writing Circles

Blog Milestone
= = = = = = = = =

Just realized that my August 21 post,
honoring my beloved fur child, was my
100th post. Interesting milestone content…
Many thanks to those who have journeyed
with me on this path.

Thanks also to so many of you who
sent kind words on our family’s loss.
I truly appreciate your caring notes!

If you didn’t see my tribute,
you can read it here:
http://bit.ly/aIpY31

Back To Learning
= = = = = = = = =

Even if you think “back to school”
doesn’t apply to you, please reconsider.
If you need to write and are in business
for yourself, the opportunities to learn
and expand on your expertise and results
are a crucial part of growth and success.
As my mentors Judith and Jim like to point
out, you have to grow yourself in order to
grow your business. That is true for your
writing as well.

I so enjoy sharing resources, colleagues,
and classes that have had a profound and
positive impact on me and my work. I can’t
help but recommend these folks who provide
serious value. The  following resources
can make a difference in your business!

<Time Sensitive>
Christina Hills’
Web Site Creation Workshop
= = = = = = = = =

Doors open tomorrow morning for the famed
Web Site Creation Workshop with Christina
Hills. Learn more by reading at my blog:
http://budurl.com/aedp

Or go here to get on the early notification list.
(Early sign-ups are eligible for bonus gifts.)
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734

<Time Sensitive>
Molly Gordon’s
Self Employment Telesummit
= = = = = = = = =

Molly Gordon is starting her Self-Employment
Telesummit this week, and there’s still
time to register. The experts that she’s
gathered will help even the most reluctant
“Accidental Entrepreneurs” overcome the
fears around being in business while taking
focused action.

One of the big problems with
these kinds of group presentation events
is that they often end with information
overload. Molly is taking care of that —
by helping participants to integrate all
the great information from the workshops
via integration sessions that she will
facilitate.

(And YES! She is an awesome facilitator!)

Go here for info:

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

OR if you’d like to read what I
posted on my blog, go here:
http://budurl.com/mgSETS

The Self Employment Telesummit is
designed by self-employed
people for self-employed people
to end the epidemic of
under-earning among heart-centered
professionals. Only
3 days left to sign up.

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

<Time Sensitive>
Betty L. Smith’s
Free Family Caregivers Call
= = = = = = = = =

Author, coach and speaker,
Betty L. Smith, is one of my clients.
If you or any of your loved ones are
faced with the stresses of
being a family caregiver,
then Betty’s free call on Saturday,
September 18 at 9AM Pacific may be
a good fit. She is celebrating
September’s “Healthy Aging Month”
with a free phone call to help family
caregivers increase their health and well-being.

Go here to learn more about Betty’s
free call for family caregivers:

http://www.authorbettylsmith.com/caregivers-preview/

(To register for the free call,
you will find the sign-up box at the
bottom of that page.)

The above are links to resources and
colleagues who have made a difference to me.
Please explore their messages to see if
these are a fit for you at this time.
If you do choose to purchase, I will
receive a referral fee. Please understand
that these are people I really respect, who are
providing work that has helped me.  I
highly recommend them even if I didn’t receive
recompense.

Tuesday Writing Circles
= = = = = = = = =

Chicago-area writers!
(Write in the Garden, weather permitting!)
Gather your resources and start to share
the gifts and sacred stories that are
why you are here. I am offering an
in-person sacred writing circle for
an intimate group on four Tuesdays
(21 and 28 Sept; 5 and 12 Oct).
Cost: $125.
Email me for more details.

I help visionary authors and writers,
and world-changing soul-preneurs. You need to
connect to your tribes/communities with
WORDS — to share your healing
messages and stories so that people “get it.”

Time Sensitive Self Employment Telesummit

Register now for Molly Gordon’s
Self Employment Telesummit

IT STARTS THIS WEEK!

Molly Gordon is starting her Self-Employment Telesummit this week, and there’s still time to register. The experts that she’s gathered will help even the most reluctant “Accidental Entrepreneurs” overcome the fears around being in business and take focused action. One of the big problems with these kinds of group presentations is they often end with information overload. Molly is taking care of that — by helping participants to integrate all the great information from the workshops via integration sessions that she will facilitate.

Go here for info:

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

Only 3 days left to sign up:

The Self Employment Telesummit
Get over the hump from just-getting-by to shining profitability
September 16-October 1, 2010

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

You’ve probably heard about the Self Employment Telesummit
by now. If you work for yourself and aren’t 100% happy with
how it’s going, it’s designed for you.

And it starts in just three days.

Working for yourself can be wonderful. You get to care for
your clients, your family, and yourself by doing what you
love. And, at its best, you have the flexibility and freedom
to keep growing and learning and loving.

To shine.

But self-employment can also be frustrating. If you’re just
getting by, you can feel discouraged. Your confidence and
motivation can take a nose dive. And it can be hard to tune
into your original source of inspiration.

And most business help is either too business-y or not
really practical.

The 2010 Self Employment Telesummit is different. It’s
designed to teach you practical, heart-centered techniques
and systems to improve your earnings and enjoyment. And it
has special features to minimize information overload and
maximize results.

************************************
The Self Employment Telesummit
9am to 12:30pm  Pacific time
Thursday & Friday, September 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 & October 1
All sessions recorded. To register:

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT
************************************

My friend and coach Molly Gordon has invited 10 of the best, most
heart-centered experts to teach you:

* How to be more visible and attractive to potential clients.
* What to do to turn potential clients into paying clients.
* What you need to understand about money in order to earn more.
* Why confidence and motivation are an inside job (and what to
do about it)
* How to organize your time for maximum productivity without
stifling creativity or spontaneity.

There are only 3 days left to register. ‘Nuf said.

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

Cheers,

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

PS: Quick recap in case you’ve skipped ahead. The Self
Employment Telesummit is designed by self-employed
people for self-employed people to end the epidemic of
under- earning among heart-centered professionals. Only
3 days left to sign up.

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

Time Sensitive Web Site Creation Workshop

Doors Open on Tuesday Sept 14, at 8AM Eastern for Web Site Creation Workshop!

On Tuesday my mentor and teacher of all things WordPress, Christina Hills, opens the doors for registering for her highly popular WordPress Web Site Creation Workshop (including creating your web presence without a webmaster.)

Here’s the early  notification link.
Or here: http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734
She has some bonuses for the first few folks who register!

Christina has created some fun videos, (see links below) but more importantly, she shares a sample of her teaching approach. Go here to get a taste of her style and presentation and get a jump on your web site design:

Fast & Easy Website Design with WordPress Themes

or copy and paste this link:
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734&p=designs

Then if it’s a fit, I would appreciate if you’d register through my link. Christina overdelivers BIG TIME. I highly recommend you explore this sample class.

I wanted to let you know that tomorrow (Tuesday, September 14th)
at 8:00 am Eastern,  Christina Hills is opening
the doors for her Website Creation Workshop.

If you want to be able to quickly and easily create professional
looking websites, without having to know any HTML or difficult graphics software programs, then you really need to take Christina’s workshop.

Christina has been giving out some great videos on her website
over the past couple of weeks. I wanted to share these links
in case you missed them, or haven’t yet seen them:

Fast & Easy Website Design with WordPress Themes
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734&p=designs

And here are some fun videos from Christina too…

The WordPress of Oz – The Tornado
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734&p=tornado

The WordPress of Oz – The Wicked Webmaster
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734&p=witch

The WordPress of Oz – Dorothy & The Scarecrow
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734&p=scarecrow

SPECIAL NOTE: Christina will be opening the doors an hour early
(8:00 am Eastern) only to those people on her
early email notification list which you can sign up for at
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734

Christina has a special bonus planned for the first few people who sign up
for her workshop, so you definitely will want to be on her early
notification list.

Christina really is a first-class teacher. For less than it costs
to hire a webmaster one time and build only one website
for you, Christina will empower you to build as many websites as
you want for your business or personal passions.

Check out the great stuff on Christina’s blog right now, and be
ready tomorrow at 8:00 Eastern,
Tuesday, September 14th when registration opens for the Website
Creation Workshop.
Sincerely,

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

P.S. Be sure to get on the early notification list and get a
chance at the special limited quantity bonus Christina has
planned for tomorrow at
http://thewebsitecreationworkshop.com/a/?af=976734

Tribute: A Girl’s Best Friend

Our beloved fur child and cocker spaniel passed from this life today at home.  She was coughing the past couple of days before I departed on Thursday. The vets had talked about a heart murmur that was perhaps getting worse.

Now she has trotted along the rainbow bridge to a new home. So glad that I have her photos with me.

Now I’m halfway across the country, in Sedona at a retreat with Susan Castle and Paul Bauer. So I received the news from home by telephone.

The powerful heart essence work that we do in the retreats with Susan and Paul is a perfect sacred container for the grieving that I will be doing for the loss of my boon companion and familiar, the little black dog who was my constant shadow for her nearly 12 years with our family.

I am blessed in so many ways, and I want to express my gratitude for the fact that I was sharing breakfast with my friend Kate McGovern at the moment the phone call came. Perhaps part of me sensed something. Or perhaps it’s just that we are, all of us, vulnerable. Anything can happen at any time.

The trust in those liquid brown eyes…oh my. The faithful devotion. The beloved member of the family who walked on four legs instead of two. She enjoyed a very good life and grew up with a family who found her one late summer day at the Anti-Cruelty Society. She found a home and love, and she gave equally in return.

Rest in Peace dear one. May you dig up peanuts and roll in luxurious grass to your heart’s content. Your pawprints are seared into our hearts.

Charge What You Are Worth

Do you struggle with charging
what you are worth? I know I do.
If you’re satisfied
with what you are charging, then
stop reading right now. If not, then join
me. You, too, can be like a fly
on the wall. Read on to find out how.

My coach and colleague, Molly Gordon,
has invited premium pricing coach
Dave Navarro to discuss why it’s
so hard for artists, writers,
visionaries, healers, and other
Accidental Entrepreneurs to set and get
good prices for your work.
You offer transformation:
Now what’s *that* worth?!

It’s a touchy subject that goes right
to the heart of issues about money,
value, and self-worth. Without the
right price, you can’t have the
security you need to make your greatest
contribution to the world. Yet getting
to that price and naming it confidently
can be a real problem. That’s why
I’m so looking forward to this Thursday’s
free conversation.

[Ready for answers about your pricing?
Go straight to the sign up page
by clicking: http://bit.ly/9LqIXT ]

I’m so excited about Molly’s
upcoming interview with Dave Navarro
on how to set and get premium prices
for your work. Dave is on the faculty
of this year’s Self Employment Telesummit.

In this no-cost preview of his feature
presentation, Dave will share:

*= The inspiration for his work around pricing.
*= The biggest challenges self-employed
people face around pricing, especially
after they’ve been working for themselves
for a few years.
*= The three avoidable pricing mistakes
that can cost you big-time.
*= What you need to know to be comfortable
(and successful) raising your prices.
*= The secret that makes your
price the *right* price.

WHAT: Premium Pricing Secrets Preview

WHEN: Thursday, August 19, 9:00am Pacific/Noon Eastern

HOW: Teleconference

SIGN UP: http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

If you already know Molly’s work, you
know she is deeply committed to ending
the epidemic of under-earning among
Accidental Entrepreneurs. And she’s
hand-picked Dave Navarro to hone in
on this topic to help you get over
The Hump from just getting by to
shining profitability.

To sign up for the call, head on
over to http://bit.ly/9LqIXT.
There’s no cost and there’s so
much you’ll gain.

Come, spend an hour with Molly
and Dave and shift your thinking
about pricing.

Warmly,

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

P.S.: This no-cost, content-rich call
is a preview for the 2010 Self Employment
Telesummit. I’m proud to recommend this
event and the telesummit as an affiliate.
I hope you’ll take a minute to learn more
about how the telesummit can help you get
over The Hump when you sign up for the
pricing secrets call at:
http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

P.P.S.: Can’t make the call?
Sign up anyway and Molly will
send you the link to the
recording.

http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

P.P.P.S. Pricing secrets shared!
Don’t miss this.
http://bit.ly/9LqIXT

Hope to “see” you on the call!

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

Live Your Business Legacy

August’s “What Will Be Your Legacy Month” is a great reminder. Mostly when you hear people talk about “legacies,” it’s all about what’s left behind.  Certainly that’s worth pondering.

But I challenge you to take it up a notch. Realize that what you leave behind starts with your decisions right now, in the present moment. How about living your legacy?  With every word you write and speak, every choice you make, you can connect the decisions to the heart and soul of your deepest commitment and connection to the whole. Make the present moment your moment to, as Gandhi reminded us, “BE the change you wish to see in the world.”

As someone leading a business, you can make a conscious decision right now to make all your choices for the highest good of all concerned. You can even take it the next step to make your decisions that will benefit “all the children of all the species,” (a phrase I’ve embraced from architect and polymath William McDonogh) and for the greater good of Mother Earth herself.

Unfortunately too often what I see in business is a disconnect between what you want to leave behind and the in-your-face necessities of business. How many cut corners does it take for disaster to follow  — especially when the focus is purely on bottom line results?

You are sowing the seeds — right here and right now — of what you leave behind at some future date.  Every decision in the present moment has consequences through time. Is your business living the legacy that you intend? If it is, are you documenting the positive moves?

Maybe this month’s reminder to consider your legacy is a perfect opportunity to look at your personal purpose, why you are here on this planet at this tumultuous time.
*Is your deeply personal, greater soul purpose informing your business actions?
*Are you aligning your business and personal purpose so that you are making the difference in the world that you came here to make?
*Is your business fully reflecting the highest purpose of you, as the leader of your business?

Live your legacy every day in your business by making decisions based on your most heart-felt values!

Does Writing Eat Up Your Time Twice?

Are you wasting time and money on writing that doesn’t get you results in your business? Have you been “promising” to write a book, publish a newsletter, start a blog, but it just hasn’t happened?

If writing is not your main gig, then writing can eat up a lot of your time — especially if you tend to have perfectionist tendencies or try to edit as you go along.

Perhaps even worse than doing no outreach communications at all is creating poor, unclear, or hard-to-decipher written messages. If you are trying to make a point, but your readers (clients, customers, employees, vendors) don’t “get it,” then your time has been doubly wasted.

Poor writing can also reflect badly on your product, your service, your brand, and (if you’re a solo-preneur) on you!  Clear writing affirms your professionalism.  On the other hand, murky, clichéd, repetitious, jargon-y or error-filled writing does not.

It may be the digital age, but what fills those bits and bytes are — you guessed it — words! From 140 character Tweets to white papers, web sites, blogs, newsletters, press releases, catalogs, and the more than a million books published in 2009 — count it all up and that’s a lot of words.

Among that avalanche of words, how do you create a message that stands out? And how, out of all the possible written messages, can you serve and nurture your customer relationships? How about turning prospective clients into paying clients?

Did you know that an ongoing communication program, what some call a stay-in-touch program, can be your key to bringing in all the business you can handle?

There are many, many ways to use writing to grow your business, sharpen your brand’s visibility, generate fresh results, and open a two-way dialogue — starting with your own clear action-oriented messages — with your perfect clients.

Over the next few posts, we’ll look at some of the possibilities.

Conscious Businesses Get Results with Words

Conscious businesses, even more so than other ventures, have a commitment to bringing heart to marketing messages and soul to business. These words play a critical role as they carry the essence of your business story.

Do your writing and business communications lack impact and pizazz? If your written messages are not getting attention, if your words are not moving your customers, clients, or employees to take the actions you are spurring them on to, if your results are suffering, then maybe it’s time for a messaging makeover.

Words are powerful. The right written words, even if just a 140 character tweet, can nurture existing relationships with clients, introduce your business values to prospectors (people looking for the types of products or services you offer),  and move people to take action to get to know you a little better.

While you might not get every one of those benefits from a single blog post or Twitter tweet, your communications are an ongoing affair that, like your relationships with your customers, require regular cultivation for long-term business success and results. In fact, cultivating your messages and nurturing your client relationships are two sides of the same coin. They are inextricably related.

Clear, focused, and articulate written communications are the foundation stones on which powerful businesses grow. You, as chief messaging officer, whether owner, CEO, or marketing leader, know the difference that the right words can make. But…
*Do you have the time?
*Do you have a trusted writing partner?
* … Someone who can download all your insights and polish them up to best serve your business, provide solutions to your customers, and expand your own inner development all at the same time?

There’s a greatness in the gifts you and your business are here to share and the service you provide to your perfect audience or tribe. The right words can build bridges between your vision that you are striving to achieve and the people you are here to serve.

If you’d like to consider a messaging makeover with a proven bridge-builder, then contact me directly at jasbjm (at) earthlink (dot) net to open a dialogue.

Bobbye Middendorf
The Write Synergies Guru

Seeing with New Eyes

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.”
–Marcel Proust

What makes you “see with new eyes?”  In late June, I returned home from a week-long retreat just a short couple of hours’ drive from home.The retreat, in a beautiful, sacred space, was filled with radiant and divine people. It was a magical time out of time.

(And did you know that yesterday, July 25, was Day Out of Time Day, courtesy of the 13 moons, Mayan calendar?)

So from this June 2010 time out of time retreat, with people I’d never met, and yet who became like long-lost family to me, I hesitantly returned to my ordinary reality. But I returned with new eyes that saw the blessings in my life for what they were: true gifts of support in every way.

Somehow when I returned to our cozy house and expansive, lush garden, I saw what had been there all along in a totally fresh, and yes, radiant, way. Where we’ve lived, rooted, for more than two decades, shines with a renewed vigor and magic, visible through my newly polished eyes. I said, while on the retreat, that I lived in a Shangri La, although in the middle of urban Chicago. When I came home, that is indeed what I experienced.

In seeing with new eyes, I strive for maintaining consciousness, for appreciating the blessings, for stepping into each day as a gift. It is easy to appreciate. What is harder, at least for me, is to take the mindful action steps necessary to expand my presence within this holy, sacred space of my life.

Several weeks after my return from the retreat, we (husby, teenage son, et moi) ventured to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a preserved segment of Mother Earth tucked in between heavy smokestack industries on both sides. Lake Michigan was still cold, but the day was hot enough that the chill felt refreshing. I spied hawk flying over the beach twice, bent on some mission. The smell of pine tickled my nose as we walked along hot sands to the dune succession trail boardwalk through the preserved wild lands inland from the beach.

Counting my years along the shores of Lake Michigan, I realize it has held my heart for more than three decades, as I bask still in her flowing and liquid magic, a grateful acolyte to these central waters of Mother Earth.

I’d love to hear how you are seeing with new eyes. Take a look into your own life, your own backyard or treasure closet. What do you see when you look with new eyes? Where can you gain renewed energies from looking anew at what is familiar?

My friend and mentor Susan Castle is leading another magnificent, eye-opening retreat, this time within the sacred space of Sedona, Arizona. I’ll be there. I’d love to have you along! Retreat spaces are very limited. To learn about Susan and this opportunity for learning to “see with new eyes,” I invite you to step into her circle. Click here to learn more.

I wish you Abundant Blessings that are available when you are willing to see with new eyes.

Warmest regards to you,
from Bobbye Middendorf,
the Write Synergies Guru