Celebrate: An Invitation to Blessing

11-11 at 11 AM — Receive a Blessing

We open the portal to Befriending the Unknown and immerse in a time for “Tending the Inner Garden.”

Bobbye Middendorf Photography
All the time, Love and I are One.

In celebration, Beloved!

Please join live (or receive the recording) in this no-cost blessing celebration and ceremony for amplifying the unique song of your essence, sourced from within and expressing outwards to reshape your reality.

In my experience, this is the greatest gift we can give to support the emergent new reality. We shape it through our BEing, through expressing our essence, through amplifying our unique Song of Essence, what the Seer Almine calls the “Song of Self.”

11-11 Blessing Ceremony

You are invited into deeper alignment with your inner being and to amplify your unique “Song of Self” during this potent time. I convene and hold the sacred space in partnership with the Infinite and with the field of Belvaspata, the source of this “Song of Self” practice. You are invited to relax and receive. You are invited to celebrate your BEing as an expansive resource in co-creating your own new reality.

This space-opening ceremony is the portal to a longer engagement, and this may — or may not — be your time to engage at that next level.

The headwinds may have lessened — just slightly — on our journey into Befriending the Unknown. However, even the President-Elect noted that we are “at an Inflection Point.”

What this means is that the outer sphere now publicly recognizes this pivot point. It’s the place we’ve been playing and cultivating deep underground for quite some time. The new-reality-co-creation project — that all life flourishes — is the heart of my journey in partnership with Yin Arising, as collectively we learn what it means and how to Befriend the Unknown.

Many of us have been working underground and as background support for this time and this emergence. We are co-creating this invisible and invincible infrastructure of new reality in partnership with the forces of Yin Arising and others in invisible realms. This joyous play of our fullest expression in emergence is more timely than ever. Maintaining our focus is even more crucial.

The WayMakers, Evolutionaries, Change Catalysts, and Conscious Creators — you and I — are here at this inflection point to open the field of invisible potentiality even further.

And it starts with each of us opening to RECEIVE: To receive the blessings and gifts that emerge as we align with and magnify the unique essence of our song. As each songline comes into its fullest expression and radiant alignment with the flows of the One Life, we become the living alchemy of this sacred moment that opens the way for new realities.

Are you ready, willing, and able to receive? Then say yes to you.
If you are reading this and want to join in, you can contact me by sending me an email at
BJMiddendorf(at)gmail(dot)com
If you want to understand more about the longer journey, Befriending the Unknown: Deepening Journey to Tend Your Inner Garden, you can read more at this link.

Further Backstory on 11-11

Nine years ago, at a retreat on the Big Island that encompassed 11-11-11, I allowed myself to be witnessed by an intimate circle of beloveds in claiming and owning the title “divine priestess” for the first time I recall in this lifetime.

Nine years on, and it still isn’t how I typically show myself … And yet I now publicly admit to “partnering in co-creation with Infinite Mother,” and claim “Yin Arising” as the overarching umbrella of my body of work. So, yes, this date offers a pivotal marker for me of more profoundly claiming my role and my power.

Since then, evolution has happened, of course. Evolutionaries gotta evolve. And so the journey and expression continues and expands. Thank you for walking with me along this evolutionary edge.

Don’t Take Action

What if taking action actually took you off course? And what can you do before you “take action” that will align your actions with the greater essence of your being?

While it may look, sound, taste, smell, and feel like “action” that’s familiar and you’ve always known (and acted from), what’s most commonly done in “taking action” in the world is too often wheel-spinning. Too often what we’ve always known about action (and done about it) is ultimately a lot of thrashing about, not going anywhere.

Whaaaaat?

We live in a world that is biased toward bold action — like that old, tired saying, “Ready. Fire. Aim.” For most of us, most of the time, action without the grounding cord and spiritual connection to a source of energy beyond (or within) you, leads to a lot of smoke and very little fire. (Or more dangerously, in the ready/fire/aim model, bullets that go off course and create destruction and chaos.)

With this empty form of “action,” nothing lasts. Nothing of substance comes from it. The action takes you nowhere and leaves you depleted. Empty. Disillusioned. Or worst of all, it takes you and your personal energy off course. Off purpose. And you wonder, “What happened? Wasn’t I taking action?”

Some kind of “action” may be necessary, but action alone is not sufficient. So what comes before action?

What if you knew —- from the deepest part of you —- that the deepest longing and inner yearning you hold is already whole, complete and present in your life? From before the beginning of time, it is fully present and with you in every moment. In every cell, molecule, and atom of your Being in its greatest and fullest sense. What would knowing this (and living from it) change for you in terms of “taking action?”

Energetically, you are a divine radiant being filled with divine light and divine love. On some level you know this. The “great conspiracy” is the forgetting of this fact of your soul’s birthright. We are at a place and time for waking up into this level of profound knowing of the ultimate ground of reality: We are all one. We are all connected. Consciousness is the essential fuel of us and the entire universe. Taking “action” from within the consciousness of our greater connection magnifies the love, the creation, the compassion, in an expanding circle of positive reverberations throughout the universe.

Consciousness — the I AM — the pure essence of divine love is the animating spark of the universe — and it is our essential nature. You and I share this essence. We are it, and it is you. This is what connects us all —all the children of all the species across all universes, space, and time.  It’s the common currency of creation-creator-process of creation. Creation is about love.

Taking action in this “3-D” world from that utter and palpable knowing of connection makes all the difference. Wake up to that, live from that, and then the puny “taking action” idea becomes literally a worn-out meme that ultimately drops away. Even living in this 3-D world, when you are able to start with your Being state and your essence as Divine Love, you will connect to the essence of your WHY. This changes the “doing” (action) to a completely different magnitude.

This is truly the “shift’ that Einstein talked about when he said, “You cannot solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

We’ve gotten this whole “take action” thing completely upside down. We think it’s the materiality that is “real.” Materiality is the last of it — and the least of it. Focus first invisibly on the level of consciousness and pure intent from the heart of love. From there, realize that creation  exists because consciousness and energy are the All-that-Is. It’s Us, growing and changing at our growing edge, with our awareness of the invisible realms, the parallel, pre-existing universes, and finally, eventually it drops into the apparent solidity of 3-D.

Join me on a journey to awakening. Test out this experiment: Don’t take action. Start from Being. See how that goes for you. Report back. Share your results.

 

 

 

Ready for a Book Breakthrough? (Summer Camp 1.2)

Summer (Author) Camp Preview!

Can you sense it? The tastes of summer
coming alive, the smells, the yearning to
step fully into yourself as Conscious Creator
…and yet your hesitancy to reveal the
sweet and juicy heart of your message and to
become visible around what is at your core.

As you are planning your upcoming week,
I don’t want you to miss out on this special
Summer Camp preview opportunity for creators —
especially if you are a writer, author, messenger.

Summer brings out those creator-longings,
and the times urgently call us to reflect on–
and then dive into — ideas and projects
from the heart. There’s a spaciousness that
summer allows and invites — for you to go
after what you care about most and feel
called to share with the world.

In fact, I know that many of you have been
thinking about taking that big leap to start
(or finish) a book and feeling increasing
urgency to make your mark with your work.
(And if you know my story, you realize
I am on a similar path, even as I guide
others to do this!)

Now, with some time to breathe, maybe your
excitement about deciding to “go for it”
may be accompanied by some anxiety and
a few (or several) questions:

. Is it really the right time to publish?
. Can I truly be successful with my
message and book?
. Where do I begin?
. Can I believe the stories and advice I
hear on what works — and what doesn’t?

From inside the publishing industry, things
are shape-shifting at warp speed, much like
all the other changes we are facing.

Then there’s all the hype, conflicting advice,
and the pressure to “publish, publish publish!”
All this can make it confusing and difficult
to find the best path for YOUR message and book
in today’s noisy and competitive market.

And, without that clarity, it’s easy to waste
creative energy, time, and money only to realize
that you might be following a path that doesn’t
align with your timing, budget and goals.

If you’re thinking about writing, publishing, and
figuring out the best next steps for your ideas,
message and work, I invite you to take advantage
of a fantastic no-cost call from my colleagues
and friends, Janet Goldstein and Elizabeth Marshall.

Clear your calendar for
Wednesday, June 27 at 3:00 pm EDT on
the “5 New Rules for the Right Time to Publish.”

Janet and Elizabeth are the real deal, with years of
experience in traditional and self-publishing worlds,
and they understand how to help “real people” like us
to develop and share their work with the widest
possible audiences.

I’ve been a fan of Janet and Elizabeth for several years.
I have already booked this call onto my calendar!
Publishing is just moving too fast for any one person
to stay on top of all the details. I attended
Elizabeth’s and Janet’s very first Book Breakthrough
when it was a single day, live in Dallas. So I highly
recommend their work.

On this all-new content-rich call,
you will discover how to:

• Find your “right thing” to publish
and promote right now

• Pick the RIGHT MODEL for your book or project —
and why the “start from scratch” approach
doesn’t work today

• Leverage the Big 3 Ingredients that you need to
successfully develop and launch your book or message

• Uncover your real WHY for publishing —
and how the answer makes every step of the
process more successful and more fun

https://lizmarshall.infusionsoft.com/go/rules/bobbye/

On the call, they’ll include examples of current clients
and they’ll sprinkle in stories from their work with
bestselling authors you know and love, including
David Allen, Harriet Lerner, Barbara Kingsolver,
Howard Behar, Michael Port, Seth Godin, Keith
Ferrazzi, and Carol Roth.

Don’t put off your publishing dreams a moment longer.
Register today for The 5 New Rules —
a content-rich, no-cost call
with Janet and Elizabeth:

June 27 at 3:00 pm EDT (12:00 pm PDT).

No-cost Preview call sign-up:
https://lizmarshall.infusionsoft.com/go/rules/bobbye/

You’ll be glad you did! I look forward to joining
you on the call.

Love, Light & Laughter,

Bobbye

P.S. This call is a preview of what Janet and
Elizabeth will be teaching as part of their
Book Breakthrough Virtual Master Class this summer.
(Yes, it’s summer camp for authors affordably available
right from the comfort of your own home!)
Based on their incredibly successful live event,
this 4-week online program is an affordable way to
help you break through with your idea, book and
business — and sooner than you ever thought possible!

https://lizmarshall.infusionsoft.com/go/bbtnycmc/bobbye/

P.P.S.  I so believe in the value of their
work that I’m committed to spreading the word.
Using my links means I receive
a referral fee — only if you decide to purchase.

Summer Camps for Conscious Creators–Part 1

A shout-out to you, Conscious Creator: A lifetime feeling like a misfit, aching for the joy and refreshment of being replenished from deep within, longing to make the connection with like-hearted others… Make this summer your time to shine your light. Solstice, called Midsummer, is the start of summer, so DECIDE that this is your summer to create momentum and connect with your tribe. Here’s a start-of-summer listing of summer camps for Conscious Creators. En-JOY!

For Conscious Creators -- Summer Camp Creations
A believing mirror for Conscious Creators; Image by Bobbye Middendorf

What will YOU make of this remarkable summer?
Ask yourself if it’s time for your own Summer
Camp. If you are a Conscious Creator, this is
YOUR time. Replenishment and creative play are
key to your health, wealth, and personal growth.

Take time to look into one or more of these
supportive communities/classes. You’ll play with like-
hearted others and build your impetus and
momentum with the wealth of information,
inspiration, and guidance to move along
the Dreams of Your Heart’s Desires!

Lots of rich and delicious opportunities to
create your future — starting THIS weekend!

It’s no secret that time seems to be moving at
warp speed and everything is changing almost
before it’s born.

That said, you’ll discover a
spacious creativity available when you step
into the Kairos time of the Conscious Creator…

The eternal present remains uncluttered and
focused, a place where you can step into
your fertile phase of BEE-ing!

1. Saturday June 23:
Bring Your Inner Vision — Out!
Virtual Vision Boarding with Sherry Murry

This event is the first of several fantastic outlets
for energizing your vision, purpose, projects, and
conscious connections over this summer 2012!

Get started here with my friend Sherry Murry’s
virtual workshop to sharpen up your Vision for the
rest of 2012 by creating your very own tailor-made
Summer 2012 Vision Board.
Details at:
http://visionwithin.eventbrite.com/

(Tell Sherry that Bobbye sent you!
It’s a soul-replenishing process from the
Songstress of Soul!)

2. Sunday June 24:
Live and in person in Chicagoland!
Gathering Chicago’s Change Agents:
Cultural Creatives Unite at
Chicago IONS.

This is an event for you if you’ve always felt
like you never quite fit in. You may be on a
path of Change Agent, Thought Leader, or Messenger.

Even if you don’t call yourself that (yet),
Paul Ray gave us a name: Cultural Creatives.

On Sunday, Adam Shames of Kreativity Network
updates the community with the latest
research based on his interview with Paul Ray.
Most important of all: It’s a
gathering of the Cultural Creative Tribe on 6-24.
(and you can connect with me live if you are able to
come out for it.) I’ll be scribing our community
town-hall findings, discoveries, and conclusions
on the flip chart.

If one-people-one-planet resonates for you,
we would love you to join us. Details:
http://chicagoions.org/programs.html

3. Monday June 25 at 5pm Eastern Time is the LAST
DAY and MOMENT for you to sign up
for Web Site Campwhere you get the hands-on
know-how to bypass a webmaster and go live with your
WordPress website.

Just Imagine how you feel.. fall is in the air,
the kids are back at school…
and you are confidently posting new content and
programs and updates on your OWN WordPress website !
What a relief!
How long have you been waiting?
Wait no longer!

If this is the summer that — no matter what —
your website goes live — then my colleague and
mentor Christina Hills is the best person to hold
your hand and show you the inner workings for
your own D-I-Y WordPress website.

Get comfortable with the basics.
You’ll soon fearlessly go under the hood,
see the Dashboard as a friend, and you’ll
get your web site up — finally!

Imagine building your website with WordPress–
and loving the process! It IS possible. Christina
helped me with my WordPress website.
And this short course is a great value.

Christina’s Summer Program covers the fundamentals
of WordPress for non-techie people who want
to build a website without a webmaster.

It happens live for 4 weeks, but then all
the materials stay online
for you to go through at your own pace.
Full details:
http://tinyurl.com/Websitecamp

Bonus:
If you sign up for Websitecamp through
my affiliate link,
http://tinyurl.com/Websitecamp

…then email me a copy of your receipt,
we’ll get you and your site onto
my schedule for a complimentary
“Inspire Your Message” copy review
(a $197 value) once the construction
dust settles.

4. Talk to me!
Leave a comment below (or send me an email
or use the contact form) and tell me how these events
land with you. Are you up for a summer
of letting your creative juices flow?

Let me know what’s up in your life, work,
and heart. How are you faring in refining
and polishing your message, regularly
sharing your great content, and connecting
with your perfect people for
building your tribe? Is it smooth sailing —
or have you hit some potholes?

How may I be of service to you in your
busy life and business?  (Sometimes a
believing mirror can help you see things
that are invisible to you.)

5…Watch for more news, events, and
inspired connections coming soon.

(Save the dates: July 23-August 16 for
a juicy new Write Synergies Circle gathering!)

Happy Summer 2012!
Happy Solstice!

May this dark of the moon
be the seed-starter for the
Dreams of Your Heart’s Desire.
And keep on shining your light — in words!

Love, Light & Laughter,
Bobbye

P.S.
And be sure to check out the
new 2012 Summer Solstice poem at
WriteSynergies.com:
http://tinyurl.com/JuneSolstice

P.P.S.
I’m just an email/phone call/Skype
session away if you’d love a dose of
creative support and inspiration for
your messages.

Owning Your Greatness and Why It Matters

Owning Your Greatness:

The Write Synergies Path to Manifest Your Creative Vision

Birthing visions and clothing those visions in words: What an exciting path to traverse!

For Conscious Creators, change agents, thought leaders, and those committed to creating a global awakening of consciousness, aligning your heart — the inner fire and desire — with what you intend to create and manifest in the world, is absolutely crucial.   Without this inner alignment, all the outer marketing tools create anemic results at best.

At worst, they fall flat, and drag you farther from your goal because you are literally “losing heart.”

Starting today, is there some way to bring that inner heart-knowledge into alignment with what you intend to create in your business, book, or creative project?

One powerful process to manifest your creation and your vision is to follow your inner yearning. Listen to it. Get into a dialogue with your inner yearning.  I’ve discovered that one of the most effective ways of tapping that inner yearning and building the dialogue is using a gentle writing and journaling process. I’ve seen this process create miraculous transformations in my Yoga + Writing workshops time after time.

In one iteration, I call it, “The Write Synergies Path to Owning Your Greatness.”  A guide and playbook to this process is my gift to you for signing up in the box at the top of the right column.

But what does this “The Write Synergies Path to Owning Your Greatness” really mean?

Write Synergies is all about generating results greater than the sum of the parts using writing.  This can be a process of uncovering information, tapping into your essence, connecting with your inner voice or trusted source, as well as generating finished results.

Owning Your Greatness means just what it says. We each have gifts to give.  Those gifts are our greatness, often living quietly hidden and invisible for years — if not lifetimes.  After a time, the inner yearning to express those gifts becomes palpable, not to say painful.  When the pain or divine discontent gets great enough, that means it’s time to listen, to really pay attention, and make something happen in bringing your vision to life. It’s time to join yourself on that inner journey.

Many are being called in this moment to share those visions and gifts. In this profound shift and turning toward consciousness on this planet right now, all the deep gifts are needed. How do you have the courage to bring them forth, out of their long invisibility and into the light of day?

“The Write Synergies Path to Owning Your Greatness” is a process that gives you the chance to listen and write your own vision into expression. So many of us hold ourselves back! I know. I’ve been doing it for years.  We put on the brakes, slip into the invisibility cloak and resist having to fully step into owning our greatness.  Now is the time.  We are called to express our greatness and gifts fully.

Starting right now: Make this the year that you are Owning Your Greatness — and receive the commensurate results!

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.”

Embrace Your Marketing Mindset (4Cs)

“I’d really rather just be doing the work that is mine to do, practicing my art or craft or therapy or career or profession. What is all this about marketing?!”

I’ve heard variations on this phrase for years — starting with the authors I worked with at the publishing company that employed me. They saw marketing, at best, as a necessary evil.

Now that I’m a free agent, hiring out to write and market and coach and strategize with and for my clients, I regularly come across writers, artists, healers, coaches, therapists, designers, attorneys, entrepreneurs, and even bankers who deeply dislike (hate?!) marketing. They see it, at best, as a necessary evil.

These are perfectly capable people who seem baffled when it comes to marketing. They tap fearfully into the seemingly endless supply of  variations on “marketing.” There’s corporate marketing, database marketing, SEO marketing, LOA marketing, internet marketing, social media marketing, MBA marketing, marketing trends, marketing research, marketing segmentation, branding, Superbowl marketing, direct response marketing, B-to-B marketing, B-to-C marketing, and we haven’t even touched advertising or PR, which might be included if you talk about integrated marketing or its longer-winded cousin, integrated marketing communications.

Are you intimidated yet? Are your palms sweating? Is fight or flight kicking in? Maybe this is why you hate marketing. Where are you in all this foreign-sounding gibberish? Where is your heart? Where is your gift? Where, even, are your people?

At the most fundamental level, for Conscious Creators, soul-preneurs, world-changers, visionaries, healers, and others in the soft sell marketing community, it really is all about your people. It’s about you and your community and connecting the two. We can talk about marketing without even going past the letter “C.”

Marketing is all about your Community. You can call it your circle, your clients, your customers, or even your audience. You can even go past “C” and call it your tribe. It’s all about your people. Well, what about them?

Marketing is all about Connecting. Connecting is a two-way process. You connect with them, and they connect with you.  How do you connect? From my perspective as The Write Synergies Guru, I’m partial to making the connections via words.

But connections come in every sensory variety. Music connects. Visuals connect. Paintings. Sculpture. Movies. Architecture. Movement connects. The healing touch of massage therapy connects. Even the tantalizing smells from your local cafe-bakery make a connection.

Marketing = Connecting + Communicating. So you make this connection, and from this connection you communicate. As with connecting, above, all your senses have their ways of communicating. But unless you’re right in front of the bakery or the painting or on the massage chair, the actual connection is tough to maintain. Distance isn’t a friend for these ways of communicating.

That’s why words as a medium (though imperfect) can paint the sensory details in a way that makes the communications possible over long distances and across time and space. Words can connect. Words can bring alive the connections across the world.

Words may be stories (Jeanne Kolenda is a master at stories with a purpose.) or metaphors. Words may be how-to or checklists. Words make up the books, the info products, the blog posts, web sites, brochures, business cards, press releases and even the 140 character tweets that are the currency of our communications.

Words weave the background texts of our lives. Words, both spoken and written, are how we communicate!

You mean marketing is just about talking to people? In the broadest sense, yes. That’s exactly what marketing is.

Connect with your Community by Communicating your Content. We prefer, all things being equal, to do business with people we know, like, and trust. How, in this digital marketplace, do we learn to know, like, and trust strangers?

The bakery cannot communicate its smell across the city to connect with bread-lovers in another neighborhood. But our words, imbued with meaning, with the content of our expertise, shared appropriately and clearly, focused on helping our people address whatever issue they face, packaged in a way to be useful, our words can communicate valuable content.

Marketing is that remarkable bridge, weaving together you, your heart, your creation. It weaves these “Cs” of Community, Connection, Communication, and Content into your message and beams it to your people in a way that they can hear it, can take it in, can process it. Suddenly the two-way span back and forth across your bridge is open.

They walk across the bridge to you. You meet them on this bridge constructed out of words that communicate your content and connect with your community.

Grow Content AND Relationships

A guest post over at Problogger.net recently commented, “Treat the blog … as a promotional vehicle for an actual business. This isn’t to say all you do is pimp your products. On the contrary, you provide really great content in order to build the relationship up with your reader. However, you do it with the aim of converting into a sale of your own product.”

With the opening bell of the 30-day blogging challenge convened by Jeanette Cates, Ph.D., it’s important to consider the attitude and approach our blogs are taking.  Every blog takes a somewhat different approach, and certainly they are designed as one piece of our businesses.

So, while this is true, that the blog is a promotional tool, it seems to me much more than that.  We sell ourselves, our clients/customers, and our content short if making the sale is the sole focus. While we are in business, it’s also important to create an appropriate space for relationships to expand and unfold.

Blogs are perfect places to share value and build community.  For me, the part of the quote that does hit the mark is, “…great content to build relationship with your readers.” Marketing, in particular soft sell marketing, is all about making the connections and building the relationships in a respectful way.

Ultimately we are not serving our perfect customers and clients well if we don’t move into meeting their needs  by selling our products/services in the spirit of serving them.  Maybe that’s why the line, “…you do it with the aim of converting into a sale…” somehow rubs me the wrong way. It doesn’t hit at the nuances of care for your perfect customers that I think is a critical ingredient, especially in my market of visionaries, messengers, authors, writers, conscious creators, soul-preneurs, and healers.

As a solo professional, the “product” at the moment is me–and the services I provide to help visionaries and conscious creators get their messages out to their perfect customers/clients.

But as a writer, the blog is also a place for developing book content and other creative solutions for people– who may “just” be readers of the blog. It’s designed to give my own perfect clients a taste of my philosophy, values, and style.  They can get a sense of whether it’s a “fit” to consider working with me in a more in-depth way.

So this blog focuses on publishing content in the service of relationship-building, which is itself the foundation  of marketing. It’s also a place for people to learn and gain value even if they don’t buy something right away.

To fully serve people, the next step is to sell something.  At the same time, I  am committed to the importance of publishing remarkable content as a way to build relationships.

Writing as Healing — Blog Challenge Post 27

Several years ago, two separate teachers informed me that I was a healer. “But I’m a writer,” I said. “And without a doubt, you’re a healer,” they both insisted. I was surprised. At least in this lifetime, I’ve stayed as far away from the healing arts as I possibly could, except when I insisted on natural, unmedicated childbirth with midwives. Twice. I credited my long-time meditation teachers, Rosita and Sandy at Arche International, with giving me the inner knowledge and training to make such feats possible. Them and the Bradley Method.

I have come to define healing in the broad terms my teachers must have meant. We are all healers at some level. It is that underlying healing intention that I uncover and magnify with my perfect clients, both in our conversations and in writing projects.  The transformational visionaries determined to shift this hinge-historical moment in a positive direction — the conscious creators, heart-based venturers, soul-preneurs, soft sell marketers, the healing visionaries and authors with intentions on a planetary or systemic level — are indeed weaving the healing with every word they (we) publish and client they (we) interact with.

My colleague in the 30-day blog challenge, Kazi (on Twitter as  @50andFit) recently wrote about entrepreneurship as path to self-healing. It’s a post full of common sense and practical tips. Kazi said, “…ensure you get the personal outer and inner cultivation you need to remain healthy and on top of your game. Your attention, time, energy and creativity are all aspects of your Chi. Your Chi is your very life force. It is the very basis of your health, wealth and wisdom.  If you allow your chi to diminish, you allow your life to diminish.”

Like Kazi, I advise care of the life force, the Chi. For my tribe, writing is the very means for that inner and outer cultivation and balancing of Chi. Writing is a way of strengthening the inner, of mining the inner gold of your own thoughts and feelings, many times discovering what you think and feel as you write. One client (who never really liked writing much even from school days) reported that she discovered things about herself that she never knew when she put herself into the process of writing.

From this inner cultivation and strengthening comes the outer development and presentations of our messages and our creations. The outer manifestation of our creation and its outreach message are all the stronger by being forged from the inner fires first.

Words and writing are the tools for the personal inner healing journey. They are metaphysical and alchemical agents of change. They are also the tools for manifesting written creations (books, blogs, brochures, articles, e-courses, even tweets); and they are the raw materials that go into creating the message that will then connect to the people who need to hear it.

Remember: Your creation, book, project, or venture cannot begin to do its healing of the heart of the world until it is out there, full and strong. YOU have to be a strong enough vessel from the inside out, without cracks, to bring your creation all the way into the world. You have to be healed and strong enough to go on helping it grow into the full flowering of the message and healing it is here to do.

Oh, yes. Words are powerful. One colleague recently received a serious wounding by words. Others came in and used words, attempting to mitigate and transform the pain, using their love in words as healing. Writing is healing when healing and wholeness are the intentions.

#Blog30 on Twitter.

Copywriting: The Case of the Missing Keyword — Blog Challenge Post 26

Copywriting. There. I said it. It’s part of the name of this site. It’s a valuable keyword. But it’s practically invisible, rarely written about here. What gives?

In post 25, defining Write Synergies, I said I’d address the case of this missing keyword—copywriting. I started with Write Synergies, but tacking on a popular keyword seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

On my longer marketing journey from starting this site (and even before) to now, I’ve come to realize that copywriting is a tool. It remains an important tool if you want to connect with your community, your niche market.  Copywriting helps you tell the story of your product or service in a way that connects to your people.  You identify the obstacles and challenges they are facing, then proceed to engage them in a process of understanding and accepting your offer — what will solve the problem or help them overcome the obstacle — the thing that’s most present and painful relating to your topic. (And if you’re like most of my ideal clients, you’ll add lots of value and transformations along the way, what those clients need but didn’t know they could even dream of asking for.)

The old definition of copywriting was “Salesmanship in print.” You’ll still find that traditional kind of copywriting around: hard sell sales letters, fear-based mailings, screen after screen of online letters, flashing buttons and arrows, an urgency that feels false and forced. “Salesmanship” is changing even as the jaded, cynical and info-overloaded world of people out there surfing, texting, tweeting, are finally realizing they are hungry for something else, something different, something more nourishing to both body and soul.

For those of us calling ourselves soul-preneurs, conscious creators, authors, writers, artists, healers, those in conscious business or soft sell marketing or mindful service providers and messengers with a message of change, hope and transformation, we are the ones committed to contributing and serving our communities.  For us, that kind of copywriting doesn’t ring true. Our people are looking for a genuine connection. In the old regime, authenticity and genuine connection are in short supply.  Our people hunger for our authenticity to touch their hearts. We know it, yet all that seems to be available are the old tools.

My writing journey and client interactions have indicated that copywriting, as a tool for outer expression, is best partnered with an inner journey first.  Many of the posts at Write Synergies Copywriting set the stage and make the case for the importance of that inner journey, what I sometimes call your creative or marketing vision quest. In fact, if you’ve followed along the 30 Day Blogging Challenge, you’ve joined me on an inner journey here.

While I’ve said very little about copywriting, it’s not because copywriting is not important. Rather, it’s because for those of us who bring the fire and passion of service and contribution and leadership to our work, copywriting, at least in the old sense, is necessary but not sufficient.

Some of my clients don’t even like it that I have copywriting as part of the name of my site. “That sells you short. It doesn’t get close to all you do!” they cry. But it is a piece of what I do. Crazy as it sounds, the big vision at WriteSynergiesCopywriting is to literally redefine the model and best practices for what copywriting really means. Copywriting, by the way, is but one of the many pieces of magic I do with words. The point I emphasize to all my clients is the crucial role that the inner journey plays, even in a seemingly straightforward process like copywriting.

Part of the magic, in doing this inner Write Synergies work with clients (and before getting to the copywriting per se) is that we excavate each client’s inner voice. We uncover the vision at the heart of her purpose, why she is here, why she is called to share her message.  We tap into the deepest level of authenticity that he is willing and able to bring to forth at the present moment. Who knows? Maybe in the next iteration, we will go deeper.

Copywriting is a tool, a powerful tool. During its heyday in the 20th Century, it convinced us we needed things that we didn’t even know we needed.  (Maybe, as it turns out, we really didn’t need them…) Now in this paradigm-changing moment, we reshape the old tools to the new world. We reconfigure the tools to serve the highest purpose that we can manifest in our work and creations. The new reforged tools are malleable partners with you (more synergies magic!) to communicate the highest message, the conscious and mindful path that your project, venture or creation offers to your tribe. We are in the midst of a transformative and visionary moment. I urge you to reforge the tools at hand using the heat and fire drawn from your inner journey first.

There are plenty of practical tools and many great teachers. I was inspired to write about my own “missing keyword” when I read this post by my colleague Connie Ragan Green, the brilliant and diligent teacher who convened this 30 day blogging challenge. It seems keywords are a challenge for many of us.

For practical, hands-on insights around keywords for your tribe, check out Connie’s post: http://ebookwritingandmarketingsecrets.com/free-keyword-research-how-to-use-keywords-to-build-your-internet-business/#comment-4427

Hey #blog30: We are sprinting to the finish line. It’s been a blast!