Monday’s Link Roundup.

Monday's Link Roundup

On the eve of a new year, my wish is that 2013 brings you much happiness and peace.

This is the last of Monday’s Link Roundup for 2012. Don’t miss A vested interest in palimpsest. I must confess I didn’t know what palimpsest meant. Now I can’t wait to use it. ;-) For another wonderful word to add to your vocabulary, check out 19 Regional Words All Americans Should Adopt Immediately. There you’ll find out  what whoopensocker means.

  • Biographies That Defy Expectations. “This year brought us some brilliant biographies of world-famous leaders .., but this list focuses on books that chronicle the lives of some true originals from many different walks of life…the subjects of these biographies spent most of their lives well off the beaten path and gained fame for their stubborn refusal to conform to other people’s expectations. You could say the same thing about the biographers. These books are written with extraordinary style and originality, by masters of the craft who can spin a tale as adroitly and memorably as any novelist out there.”
  • 12 communication basics everyone should know. “You know that saying about not getting a second chance to make a good first impression when you meet someone? Well, when you’re communicating with someone, especially if it’s electronically or by phone, you get even less slack—particularly when it’s for work. That’s when lost opportunities can have bottom-line consequences. If you want the prospect to open your email, the client to return your call, or the journalist to read your pitch, you’ve got to communicate impeccably. Here are some of my favorite basics:”
  • 19 Regional Words All Americans Should Adopt Immediately. “When traveling across the United States, it sometimes feels like the locals are speaking a whole different language. That’s where the Dictionary of American Regional English comes to the rescue. The last installment of this staggering five-volume tome, edited by Joan Houston Hall, was published last month, and let me tell you, it’s a whoopensocker. In celebration of slang, here’s a list of 19 delightful obscure words from around the U.S. that you’ll want to start working into conversation.”
  • I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why. “If you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building.”
  • Reading Habits by Place. “The latest survey from The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project focuses on how residents of different communities (ie: urban, suburban, rural) read and use reading-related technology and institutions.”
  • A vested interest in palimpsest. “The English language contains certain meaning-rich words that command attention and stir controversy. “Paradigm,” for instance: When Thomas Kuhn used it in 1966 to describe accepted scientific theories, and gave us the phrase “paradigm shift,” he launched a thousand articles, several hundred books and quite a few careers, some just distantly related to science.That kind of word raises curiosity and pries open the imagination, encouraging us to think about what we might otherwise ignore. My favourite is “palimpsest.”

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Are You Ready for a Moment of Calmness?

This piece has become an annual tradition. Many of you appreciate the idea of a place where you can focus for a moment on calmness. Enjoy!

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It’s time to stop  the rushing and working and worrying. You can always pick that up later. For now, as we come to the end of another year,  let’s all take a deep breath and calm ourselves.  As my holiday present,  I’ve put together a little virtual retreat for you. You’ll find some wonderful calming images, music, books, and quotations. Start anywhere you like.  There’s the three minute Whispering Sea guitar video.  You can  feast your eyes on all the sumptuous calming images from Google. There are three books you might want to check out and some insightful quotations on calmness, my favorite being:

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.
~James Allen

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Season’s Greetings from Victoria.

Peace

Broken Islands, B.C. ~ Photo by Dan Curtis 2012

 I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
 
~ from “The peace of wild things” by Wendell Berry

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To all my readers a joyous holiday season. May the New Year bring you much happiness, peace, and good health.

It’s been my privilege over the past year to provide weekly posts on topics of interest to professional personal historians. I’m looking forward to 2013 and a whole new series of  articles.

Thank you for all your comments. It’s always a treat to hear from you.

Warmest wishes,

Dan

Holly

Photo by Jack Berry

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Monday’s Link Roundup.

Monday's Link Roundup

For those of you celebrating Christmas tomorrow, have a very Merry Christmas!

If you’re a fan of director Michael Apted and his “Up” documentary series, you’ll enjoy his interview in The secret to success for director of Up docs? The power of ordinary people.  The folks at Copyblogger are offering a free Internet marketing course. Why not check out Grab Our 20-Part Internet Marketing Course (No Charge) and get a head start on your 2013 marketing?

  • The Paper Trail Through History. “Scholars  “have always looked through documents,” said Ben Kafka, a historian at N.Y.U. and the author of “The Demon of Writing: Powers and Failures of Paperwork,” recently published by Zone Books. “More and more they are also looking at them.”If paperwork studies have an unofficial standard-bearer and theoretician, it’s Mr. Kafka. In “The Demon of Writing” he lays out a concise if eccentric intellectual history of people’s relationship with the paperwork that governs (and gums up) so many aspects of modern life.”
  • 10 Ways to Get Clients in 10 Minutes. “Does it seem like you can never find the time to market for more clients? It’s hard to find open hours in the middle of a busy week. But not every marketing task requires big chunks of time. Here are ten productive things you can do to get more clients when you have just ten minutes.”
  • How 6 New Tools Change the Equation for Writing and Self-Publishing Your Book. “…today’s tools marry writing and publishing, bringing artists ever closer to the end product with click-of-a-button e-book creation capabilities built into the writing tools. In 2012 the technology plot thickened, with the development or maturation of six representative tools that change the way we will write, produce and perhaps even change our very concept of a book in 2013.”
  • Grab Our 20-Part Internet Marketing Course (No Charge). “Want to discover the smartest ways to mix social media, content marketing, and SEO for lead generation and converting those leads to customers and clients? We’ve got you covered with Internet Marketing for Smart People. And there’s absolutely no charge.”

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8 Tips to Prepare Your Business for the New Year.

new-year_hd-2013

Your small business is like your car. It needs regular servicing to keep it running smoothly.

With the year rapidly drawing to a close, now’s the time to give your business a tune -up.

Here are 8 tips that’ll have your company running like a Rolls Royce in 2013.

1. Evaluate

Take a hard look at what’s  not working in your business and drop it.  It might be a marketing approach that has failed to generate leads. Or it might be fees that are too low to sustain your business.

Similarly, look at what’s working. How can you do more or improve on your success?  Maybe your  speaking engagements have been a great way of getting new clients. Consider offering more.

2. Declutter

Finding it hard to find the surface of your desk? Are there file folders and books stacked on the floor? Actually, it’s beginning to sound a lot like my office. ;-)

You’ll feel more organized and on top of things once you get rid of extraneous stuff. You don’t have to be a fanatic about it. A little order and spaciousness can go a long way.  Set aside a few minutes  a day and you’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish.

Just to let you know I’ve started my own decluttering. I do have a desk!

3. Bookkeeping

If you keep your receipts in a shoe box, it’s time to consider a bookkeeper or an accounting software program.

It’s critical that you have a clear picture of income, expenses, and profit. Without an ongoing snapshot of your financials you’ll never be able to accurately assess your company’s health.

4. Learn

Being a successful small business owner requires constantly upgrading  and learning new skills. Look for webinars, tutorials, expert speakers, and courses that will make a difference to your performance  in 2013.

For some great online training sites of interest to personal historians click here.

5. Connect

There’s a wealth of information and support to be found in professional  and small business associations.  For example, if you’re a personal historian and haven’t yet joined the Association of Personal Historians, make sure to join today.

6. Plan

Without a road map you’ll never know where you’re going.   Look ahead at the coming year and write down your goals. Keep them realistic. Grandiose plans are sure to fail and will leave you discouraged.

Check out Really Simple Goal Setting   for some excellent help.

7. Website

If you don’t have a website or blog, get one. If you have one, it’s time to take a critical look at it. How fresh is the content? How easy is it to navigate around the site? What’s missing? What can be discarded? How professional does it look?

You can find more on building a successful blog here.

8. Self-care

A healthy business needs a healthy owner. It’s easy to neglect your own care  when working hard to make a success of your business.

Make certain to schedule time for you in your day planner.  Whether it’s going to the gym or for a walk, meditating or reading a book, you need to give yourself permission to relax and recharge.

For more articles on taking care of yourself check these out:

What are the things you do to get yourself and your business ready for a new year?

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Monday’s Link Roundup.

Monday's Link Roundup

If you’re a second-hand bookstore fan, you’ll enjoy reading Why second-hand bookshops are just my type in this week’s Monday’s Link Roundup.  And for an  evocative and highly original look at a slice of World War II history, be sure to view Ghosts of History: Dutch Artist Eerily Superimposes Modern Street Scenes on World War II Photos.

  • Interactive Art Installation Encourages Writing In Library Books. “At Dixie College‘s new library in St. George, Utah, German multimedia artist Christian Moeller has revived the interactive nature of physical books in an increasingly digital age. Through his latest installation dubbed Clouds, Moeller has created a living work of art that aims to continue changing and growing by leveraging the ideas contributed by library-goers.”
  • The Making of Motherwell. [Video] “If you love beautiful books, check out this marvelous video from the Dedalus Foundation, in which we see the production of Robert Motherwell Painting and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1941–1991.”
  • The Best Illustrated Children’s Books and Picturebooks of 2012.”On the heels of this year’s best science books, art books, design books, and philosophy and psychology books, the 2012 best-of reading lists continue with the annual roundup of the year’s ten-or-so most delightful children’s and picturebooks.”

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The Top Personal History Blogs of 2012.

fireworks

It gives me great pleasure to announce my fourth annual listing of the best personal history blogs of the year.

I’d like to pay special tribute to two blogs that have consistently shown up on the “best” list since 2009. They demonstrate what it means to be a dedicated blogger.  Please give a rousing cheer to Sharon Lippincott, The Heart and Craft of Life Writing, and Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnet, Women’s Memoirs.

My listing of the “Top” blogs  is based on each demonstrating:

  • Frequent, consistent, and reliable posting.
  • Personable and clear writing.
  • Short scannable articles.
  • Uncluttered pages.
  • Use of graphics, photographs, and video.
  • Intriguing and descriptive headlines.
  • Useful content.

Without further ado, here are my picks for the top seven personal history blogs for 2012, ranked in alphabetical order.

Congratulations to everyone!

  • DMB Picture. Owner  Debbie Mintz Brodsky describes her company as “a boutique video production company specializing in producing broadcast-quality personal stories for families, non-profits and small businesses.”
  • Reel Tributes. Founded in Philadelphia, PA in 2010 by David Adelman. Reel Tributes describes their objective as, ” [delighting] our clients with a film that surpasses their expectations.”
  • True Stories Well Told.  Owner Sarah White says, “Here’s where I share the thoughts I might bring up for class discussion. Here’s where I post the writings of my fearless, peerless, workshop participants. Here’s where I share stories from my own life, as well as my pet peeves, pointers, and personal observations. I hope to create the atmosphere you find in my classrooms.”
  • Verissima Productions. Owners are Rob Cooper and Pam Pacelli Cooper. Pam says that she and Rob have a, “shared love of preserving history. .. we work to bring… stories to life so vividly that anyone watching will feel they are in the midst of the story as it’s being told.”
  • Women’s Memoirs. Owners Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnet have put together a wealth of information that includes writing prompts, book reviews, and more. Women’s Memoirs is not strictly speaking a personal history site but there’s a lot of useful material  here for anyone involved in personal histories.

Photo by Kevin Dooley

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