Dollar for dollar, your business card is  one of your best forms of advertising. I’ve been looking at my  card lately and thinking it’s time for a major makeover. It’s not that it’s terrible. It’s just not memorable. So I’ve been doing a little research on what makes for a great card. I’ve distilled it down to these ten key points:

1. Include only essential contact information. This means your name and principal contact number. Don’t include  a fax or a cell number or address if you rarely use these for business.
2. Keep your card clean and clutter free. You want it to be easy to read. Clutter is confusing and conveys a sense of disorganization and poor design sense.
3. Don’t print your cards on your home office printer. You simply can’t get the same quality card stock as a professional printer and your cards will feel cheap. That’s not something you want to convey.
4. Make  your design reflect your business. Put what you do on your card. For personal historians, you don’t want cartoon characters in neon glow colors. That would be fine  for an animation studio.Think legacy, books, film, memories, families, passing time, love….anything that suggests the work we do.
5. Show your personality. You want your card to be memorable. Add a dash of color and an image that says something about you. Perhaps you could include a studio portrait of yourself or an image that conveys your style.
6. Add a tag line. Create something that’s short and memorable. I’m thinking of using what I coined for my brochure, Preserving Memories Is an Act of Love.
7. Make it readable.  It’s surprising  how many people  put light type on a white background or dark type on a darker background. Don’t use italicized or script fonts. They’re hard to read. If people have to squint to read your card, you’ve lost them.
8. Leave your card back blank. Some argue that it makes sense to use every inch of your card. Others believe that a blank back gives you room to add more information or space for people to make a note about you. I’m for the blank back.
9. Keep the standard format. Offbeat formats may be clever and fun but they’re hard to store and too often get trashed. If you can afford it,  a slight variation on the standard is to have one curved end or rounded corners. It’s a classy look.
10. Hire a graphic designer. It can be expensive but the results are worth it. Business cards are a design challenge. To creatively convey information, style, and values all in a memorable wallet size card is not a job for amateurs.

Check out these books for more inspiration:

• It’s in the Cards. “Ivan Misner, Candace Bailly and Dan Georgevich review more than 2,000 business cards from 10 countries and select more than 200 examples of some of the best, which are shown throughout the book in full-color.”

• The Best of the Best of Business Card Design (Graphic Design) “…readers will find hundreds of unique and memorable designs in a broad range of colors, styles, and shapes for every type of client. Filled with inspiration for designers and their clients, this creative resource shows how any individual or business can make a tiny space speak volumes about who they are and what they do.”

• The Business Card Book. “This comprehensive book contains all the information you need to create an effective business card. It is divided into four parts: deciding what messages you want to communicate; crafting a powerful card; using your card to build business; finding useful resources and references.”

Photo by Kariann Burleson

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Sometimes I encounter an adult son or daughter who’s  had no success in convincing a parent to record a life story.

My experience has been that if people are really reluctant, it may be very hard to nudge them into documenting their lives. I hope these tips may be of help.

• Don’t make it sound daunting. You don’t want to create the impression that your parents have to toil away writing down every detail of their lives from birth to the present. You might say something like, “Mom, you’ve told me some great stories over the years. I’d really like to capture some of them so that your grandchildren will know more about your life. It would be a wonderful gift for them.”

• Explain that you’ll help. You can say something like, “ I can bring over a recorder and we could just sit and chat about some of your favorite memories. What do you think?”

• Suggest some different approaches. As I explained in a previous post, there’s more than one way to tell a life story. You can do it chronologically or thematically. Or you can focus on major turning points.

• Counter the myth. One of the favorite reasons for not documenting a life story is the one that goes, “Oh my life isn’t all that interesting.”  Sound familiar? Explain to your parent that you’re not looking for interesting. What you treasure are the stories that illuminate a different time. What you want to know is what it was like living before the advent of television, computers, supermarkets, and so on. What you value is the wisdom accumulated along the way – the life lessons. What you want to hear are the things  that made  mom or dad proud, happy, and sometimes sad.

In a previous post,  6 Reasons Why Writing Your Life Story Matters, you’ll find some other good arguments to help convince your parent to record a life story. Good luck!

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Lots of good stuff in this Monday’s Link Roundup. For Anne Murry fans, there’s a glowing review of her recently published memoir We needed her. Don’t think you can tell a riveting story in a little over a minute?  Check out The Closet. And for those of you using LinkedIn, take a look at 10 Linkedin Tips for Professionals.

• Talking Suitcases tell unique life stories. “[Susan]Armington explained that a Talking Suitcase is broadly defined as some sort of container for a diorama of handmade artworks. Those created by the women of the Korean Service Center reflect each woman’s life. “These are thoughtful, courageous, and sensitive women. As they worked, more and more memories came alive.” [Thanks to Linda Coffin at www.historycrafters.com for alerting me to this article.]

• All of Me. “Anne Murray’s voice comes through in her autobiography with low-key, self-deprecating humour and surprising honesty.”

• Photo Storytelling. “The holiday season is nearly upon us! It’s a time of year I associate with food, family and friends, but it’s also storytelling season…Memory is a funny thing. You can show an older relative the same picture year after year and get no new information. Then all of sudden someone else in the room starts talking about an event related to the image, and remembrances start pouring out of that older relative. It’s all about finding the right memory trigger.”

• Danville resident used filmmaking to get the word out. “David Walker returned from military service in Iraq with countless memories and experiences — the kind that would stay with him for a lifetime. Fighting in a war is not something one easily talks about…[he]enrolled in English 497: Narrative, Oral History and New Media Technologies in the spring of 2009. The goal of the course was to help returning veterans become filmmakers by creating short documentaries about the experiences of the Iraq War. Dubbed “Back from Iraq: The Veterans’ Stories Project,” these films, along with student interviews, class footage, and course materials, are now available online at http://wpsu.org/backfromiraq.”

• The Closet. “Never underestimate the power of a great story.”- a seventy-four second YouTube video by Canal+ [Thanks to Larry Lehmer at Passing It On for suggesting this piece.]

• How to Be Happier: Stay Connected to Your Past. “A while back, my husband and I noticed a characteristic we shared – neither of us did a particularly good job of staying connected with our past. It was true of us as a couple, too, once we got married. In each stage of life, we’d have good friends, but when we moved to the next stage, we found it difficult to stay connected to the people to whom we’d earlier been close.”

• 10 Linkedin Tips for Professionals. “Despite the hype over Twitter and Facebook, Linkedin offers the greatest opportunity for professionals to make connections that lead to business.”

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An exercise I particularly like to use in workshops is the six-word memoir. This is based on Smithmag.net and their popular six-word collections. For more information click here.

The idea is rumored to have started with Ernest Hemingway. He was challenged to write a six-word story and he wrote:

Baby shoes for sale, never worn.

I think the six-word memoir is a great way to get your creative writing juices flowing. Having trouble starting your life story? Why not write a six-word memoir and use it as the title for your book. Alternatively,  turn it into the introduction to your story. These mini memoirs can be intriguing and often call out for a fuller explanation.

To give you some inspiration, here are a few of the six-word gems from the participants in my recent Dawson Creek workshop.

• Mom’s revenge, I am my mom!
• Who said it couldn’t be done?
• I’m aching, broken but I’m alive!
• Work hard. Live well. Enjoy life.
• Waiting to see what is next.
• Daughter, sister, wife, mother,  grandma, wow!
• Have motorcycle, will travel. I’m free!
• Family is my Love and Joy.
• Love it all. Not enough time.
• Years happen. Still learning. Constantly amazed!
• Investing in others now. Rewards coming.

Here’s mine: Learned much. Much more to learn.

What’s your six-word memoir? Jot it down in the comment box below. To encourage you, I’m offering a free 30 minute telephone consultation. You can ask me any burning questions you have about personal histories and I’ll do my best to answer them.

I’ll select a winning six-word memoir on Thursday, November 20th, at 7 pm PST. Good Luck!

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In a previous post I mentioned that I was traveling to Dawson Creek, British Columbia. I ran two life stories workshops there for the South Peace Hospice Palliative Care Society. One of the questions that came up frequently was  “How do I get started?” I thought that was an excellent question to address here. This is what I’d suggest.

Start by reading  some reference books.

There are many excellent self-help books on writing your life story. Here are three that I’d recommend.

• How to Write Your Own Life Story: The Classic Guide for the Nonprofessional Writer. Lois Daniel, Chicago Review Press; 4th edition, 1997

“I have taught memoir courses from this book, so examined most others in the field of writing one’s own life story. This was the first, and I think, the best. The author makes the task manageable with “get started” topics that trigger memories, inspiring samples from her real-life writing classes, and helpful tips. Perfect if you have an elderly parent or grandparent who should record his/her life for family archives.. .or if you want to do it yourself.” ~ Reviewer: A reader, Chicago

• Legacy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Personal History. Linda Spence, Swallow Press; 1997

“Aiming to prod the story out of the writer, writing consultant Spence has designed a book of questions and quotes that goes deeply into the hows and whys of the writer’s life. The questions are well written and divided by time period, from earliest memories of childhood to life as seen from the vantage point of old age. People will probably want to own and spend time with this book because the project it proposes will take longer than a three-week checkout.”  ~ From Library Journal

• Writing Your Life: An Easy-to-Follow Guide to Writing an Autobiography. Mary Borg, Cottonwood Press, Inc.;  1998

“Senior-education teacher Mary Borg…provides lively questions on family, career and friendships, designed to tease out memories.” ~ Review: New Choices Magazine

Choose a format that appeals to you.

There are many different ways to record your story. Here are three.

• Chronological. Organize your writing by following the stages of your life from birth and childhood through to adolescence and adulthood.
• Turning points. Write about those moments when your life took a turn such as the death of a parent, the birth of your first child, a life threatening illness, loss of a job, or retirement.
• Thematic. You could write vignettes around themes such as the values you’ve lived by, life lessons learned, the most memorable person you’ve known, or your accomplishments.

Make a date with yourself.

After you’ve selected an approach, decide what time of the day, what days of the week, and how long you can devote to writing. Mark those days and times in your calendar and stick to them.

Start writing.

The trick here is just to write and keep writing until your time is up. Write the way you talk. Don’t worry about being perfect. Editing and polishing can come later.

None of the above.

You might want to try one of the online life story programs.  Check out my previous post Put your Life Stories on The Web. I listed ten sites that might be of help to you.

I hope these suggestions have been helpful. If you have other tips, I’d love to hear from you.

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Better late than never! This Monday’s Roundup has some great ideas for family history gifts and holiday scrapbooking. You’ll also find some interesting memoir links, particularly the one from the Philadelphia Inquirer on Celebrating the memoir.

Celebrating the memoir – fiction’s day is done? “When browsing online or in a bookstore, one might easily conclude that every third person in the country is actively engaged in writing or reading a memoir.”

Ethnicity project reveals students’ shared traits across cultures. “The students were assigned to interview a family member to determine what traits characterize their family’s cultural heritage or ethnicity, and in the process to learn more about themselves.”

Holiday Scrapbooking, Writing, & Remembering. “When orange and yellow leaves begin swirling in funnel circles outside my windows and large pots of soup and stews and homemade bread ignite my taste buds, I begin thinking about holiday memories past and how I will inspire the new ones we will create this year.”

Love Hurts: Betrayal in Memoir. “When you write about your life in essay or memoir, you naturally lean toward things that have some emotional weight: the people, places and events in your life that have had enough heft to have left a mark. Often these things involve family members—whether siblings, mates, parents or children. This is where it can get sticky.”

Now’s the Time to Start on Family History Gifts. “We don’t mean to rush you into the winter holidays—it was just Halloween—but if you’re thinking of giving family history-related gifts this year, now’s the time to start. Many such gifts require prep work: For example, you’ll need to gather, scan, digitally touch up and label photos for a photo CD; start laying out an online photo book or calendar; or collect and transcribe family stories. Maybe you want to check another record or two before finalizing a compiled family history.”

Heinz® Ketchup and Josie Bissett Team Up To Grow 57,000 Wholesome Memories. “As American families turn to simpler pleasures this summer, Heinz® Ketchup and Josie Bissett are teaming up to encourage them to celebrate a priceless part of daily life: memorable moments. At HeinzWholesomeMemories.com, families are invited to share their personal photos and favorite memories, from backyard barbeques to baseball games to family traditions. For each story shared, Heinz will make a donation to the National Gardening Association (NGA), and 57 memories will be selected to win a Growing Wholesome Memories kit, filled with supplies for creating new memories at home. In keeping with the iconic Heinz “57,” the goal is to collect 57,000 inspiring memories.”

Passing on a recipe legacy. “A recipe for wonderful memories and fascinating stories begins with a hand-me-down cookbook.”

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I’m sure that many of you have had the experience of a potential client eagerly wanting to engage your personal history services but unable to afford the cost. It’s disappointing. But here’s a word of advice. Don’t immediately slash your rates to try to get the job. No self respecting professional would do that. There’s a better way.

As a professional we want to be helpful and we want to be remembered. This client may not be able to afford you but if her experience with you is a positive one and exceeds her expectations, then she’ll talk to her friends about you. And one of those friends may phone you up one day and hire you to do his personal history!

Here are four suggestions that will help you retain a client who can’t afford you.

• Meet their budget with an appropriate product. If your client can only afford  $500 not $5,000, then provide a list of things you could do for that fee. You’ll have to plan ahead to have a list of  lower priced products. Some suggestions:  an unedited video or audio recounting of a special event such as a wedding, major travel adventure, or life altering experience.

• Provide some limited services. You could offer several coaching sessions to get your client started on writing a life story. Alternatively, you might provide some help starting the person on a DIY family story software program like Personal Historian.

• Offer to find another personal historian. There are personal historians who are starting out and who need to have  samples of work for their portfolio. Some of these individuals might be prepared to offer their services at a modest fee. There are other personal historians for whom the work is largely a hobby. They would likely consider doing the work for little or no money.

• Provide a list of personal history resources. For those clients who can’t afford anything, provide them with a list of books and web sites that could help them write their own life stories.

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I’ve written over two hundred posts since starting this blog fifteen months ago. These are the top ten, ranked in order of the most viewed.

1. 100 Free Resources for Personal Historians.
2. How to Interview Someone Who Is Terminally Ill.
3. How Much Should You Pay A Personal Historian?
4. Warning: Using Copyright Music Without Permission Is Illegal.
5. 9 Essential Articles on The Art of Interviewing.
6. Editing Brings Out The Gold.
7. 8 Reasons Why Personal Historians Should Use Twitter.
8. 20 More Free Resources for Personal Historians.
9. Ethical Wills 101: Part One ~ How to Begin.
10. 12 Key Tips for Successfully Working Alone.

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Saying “no” politely is a necessity if one wants to lead any kind of stable life. ~ Richard Chamberlain

The “N” word has a bad reputation. It’s seen as negative and mean. Many of us find it hard to say. But saying No will help you not only with your work as a personal historian but also with your life in general. I’m getting better at saying No but there’s room for improvement. The reality is that saying No is a healthy way of providing us with the space we need to be the best we can be. Saying No takes back control of our lives. You have a right to say No and feel good about it. Here are ten things where No can be the answer. Do you have any to add to the list?  Send me a comment. Love to hear from you.

1. No to clutter. Physical and mental clutter fills space and leaves us less energy for the things we really want to do. Clean up your office and throw stuff out. Being mindful of the moment and focusing on one thing at a time will reduce mental clutter.
2. No to worry. “I worry about scientists discovering that lettuce has been fattening all along,” says Erma Bombeck.  So what are you worrying about? Can you do something about it? Then do it. Action is a powerful antidote to worry. If your worry is something you can’t do anything about, then let it go. For every minute spent worrying we could spend that minute reflecting on the good in our lives. The mind can’t hold two thoughts at the same time.  Hold thoughts that are pleasing. Soon there will be little space for worry!
3. No to the Gremlin. Our Inner Critic keeps us locked in  old beliefs and time worn patterns. Recognizing our Gremlins and saying No to them opens up new ways of interacting with the world.
4. No to procrastination. When we think of tasks as difficult or inconvenient, there’s a tendency to procrastinate. When we give in to procrastination, we perform poorly and  are often under increased stress. One solution: break big tasks into small size pieces.
5. No to time wasters. How is your time wasted during the day? Make a list of all the situations that waste your time and then zap them! You know what they are -  answering soliciting calls, listening to gossip, trying to find that document you filed  somewhere, surfing the Internet, and grocery shopping at the busiest time of the day.
6. No to overwhelm. Taking on one more task or project can tip us into overwhelm.  Ask what you will have to say No to before saying yes to your next project.
7. No to pleasing people all the time. “I really cannot give you the formula for success. But I can give you the formula for failure. It’s this: try to please everyone,” says  Bernard Meltzer. We all want to be liked. For some of us that means saying yes to everyone so that they’ll like us. It’s a no win situation. You can’t please everyone all the time and so someone is bound to feel slighted. It’s better to be clear who the people are that have a priority on your time and be generous to them than to stretch yourself thinly and satisfy no one.
8. No to tolerations. Our lives are full of things that we tolerate. They  sap our energy and limit our potential. Tolerations can be big and small from tolerating an unhappy relationship to tolerating a squeaky door.  Limit your tolerations and you’ll have more room in your life.
9. No to blame. Blaming others for our difficulties is not helpful. A better approach is to examine your strengths. Then ask yourself, “How can I use my strengths to improve my business and my life?”
10. No to “toxic” clients. You don’t want to be around clients for whom nothing is right. You may think that you need every client you can lay your hands on but you can do better. Fire your “toxic” client and you’ll leave an opening for someone who really values your services.

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I’ve been self-employed  for twenty years. I’ve loved being my own boss. But it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. There have been some real challenges and some hard sloughing. Over time I’ve learned some things about working alone  and I’d like to share them with you. Maybe you’ve got some additional tips. If so, please share them by leaving a comment below.

1. Create a home office. It’s important to keep your overhead down so don’t spend money on an outside office. Make sure your home office is a place where you can work without being disturbed. Close the door. The sound of barking dogs and crying children isn’t very professional when you’re on the phone with clients. It’s also important to make a clear mental separation between the place where you live and the place where you work in your home.
2. Get a comfortable ergonomic chair. One of my best investments was a quality ergonomic chair. You’ll be spending many hours in your chair. You want to be comfortable and properly supported so that you don’t end your day with aching muscles.
3. Set work hours. The quickest route to failure is to wander through your work day without any sense of a beginning or end to it. You don’t need to punch in at 9 AM but you do need to be disciplined about when you start.  Make certain to have a fixed time of the day when you stop work. Don’t keep pushing on until midnight.
4. Look sharp. Get out of your PJs and bathrobe. It might be tempting to shuffle around in your rabbit slippers but it doesn’t instill a sense of professionalism. You don’t need to put on a suit but you do need to change into something that makes you feel sharp.
5. Enlist the services of a bookkeeper. You need to set up a bookkeeping system to get a handle on your income and expenses. Hire a person who is familiar with the needs of the self-employed.
6. Get insurance. Speak to an insurance broker to assess whether your home insurance adequately covers your home-based business.
7. Be persistent. I like to remark that I’m not brilliant but I’m persistent! When I look back, I realize that I’ve accomplished a good deal because I seldom gave up unless it was  clearly a futile exercise. To succeed on your own you have to keep pushing ahead through the inevitable set backs and road blocks.
8. Join a business networking  group. Isolation can be a detrimental factor when working alone. Find out what local business networking groups are in your area and join one or two of them.
9. Have passion for your work. One of the challenges of working on your own is that you don’t necessarily have “cheerleaders” to keep you motivated. If you don’t absolutely love what you’re doing, it will become increasingly difficult to get through the hard times.
10. Don’t be consumed by work. It’s easy to go non-stop when you’re working alone. Make sure to take 10 or 15 minute breaks every hour. Schedule time for family and friends. Go for a brisk walk.
11. Prepare a list. You need to have a plan for your day. It can be something simple like  writing down the three things you must complete today. I like to use the GTD approach to maintaining productivity. It helps to break big tasks into manageable pieces.
12. Keep learning. This is critical because you need to keep on top of changing technologies and trends. Find time to take training programs and workshops, read books, subscribe to newsletters, and attend  lectures.

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