Dena's Musings

When describing myself to others, I have always characterized my persona in terms of being a results-oriented chick with a penchant for getting things done fairly quickly.  Sometimes it’s a curse (who knows what spending more time on something might have produced?), but most of the time it’s a blessing to have this personality quirk. Why? I figured out at one point that it keeps me from sweating the small stuff and leaves me in a constant state of “thrill” about things.

Like other women, I love to shop.  Instead of going to five different stores to find the perfect pencil skirt, I will go into a store, find one that fits and looks good, and even if it’s a few bucks more than I would have spent, walk out with it with a smile on my face.  While other women who make snap decisions may come home with the nagging feeling that they might have found a better skirt at a better price if they had just looked around longer, I flop my shopping bags on the bed, eminently happy with my fait accompli.  In that sense, I suppose I am more like a man, just like some song lyrics from a number in the musical My Fair Lady .

Sometimes I can’t distinguish between the conquest high I feel of finding something quickly or the giddy part of me that just falls in love easily.  Once smitten, however, nine times out of ten I remain loyal to my decision.  It is extremely rare I find myself standing in a refund line.  Call it trusting my instincts or call it foolhardy.  I think my stress level remains low because of it and at my age, that’s a very good thing.

I even tend to do this in my work life as a freelance writer. I may be giving you a peek into my secret little world, but take, for instance, a number of looming projects on writing deadlines.  I pride myself in meeting or exceeding deadlines whenever those gauntlets are thrown in my path. I have to admit, however, that I handle them almost the same way I do clothes shopping. I trust my gut and, like a writing maniac, wait for my inspiration, get the project finished in record time and then sit back and admire it for awhile, only heightening my excitement for it before it’s time to send it off to my client.   

Just as I might try on my new pencil skirt several times before I wear it, I revisit my work over and over again, more than earning my hourly or project fee.  If it needs a nip here and a tuck there, I may send it to the alterations person (in the case of writing, ME), but it does not lessen my love for it.  I can return to my work over and over again, make a few tweaks, but still know in my gut that it’s what I wanted it to reflect about 99% of the time. 

In writing about this trait of mine, it may appear to others that I am a short-cutter. This may be true, but I don’t see it as a bad thing.  Finding ways to live more efficiently while keeping your sanity are, to me, just as important as doing the best that you can do.  When we take an important exam, we are told by test-taking experts to trust our first instincts on marking answers instead of going through the entire exam and second-guessing ourselves.  “Educated guessing,” then, is no curse and can be a godsend at times.

Are you like me?  Of course, using one person’s tactics may backfire on someone else, but I think it’s important not to beat yourself up for going with the work (or shopping!) style that works for you, as I have sometimes done in the past to myself.   In the big scheme of things, trusting your gut may be the biggest gift you can give your blood pressure.

Web site: Communic8or.com,  Dena  Kouremetis' freelance writing service located in northern California.

Web site: Communic8or.com,  Dena  Kouremetis' freelance writing service located in northern California.

Often when I have the opportunity to meet with a prospective client who is considering using me to ghostwrite a blog, help with a newsletter, re-write their bio or help with any other number of writing projects, I am asked about how I can help them with social media, web site design or even graphics.

Do I know much about any of these other services?  Sure.  In fact, I have a DANGEROUS knowledge of what they do, which is why I must admit that I am not an expert in ANY of those things.

Words are my drug of choice -- the tools I use to make ordinary people sound like the rock stars they really are as well as showcase their talents and experience in their chosen businesses.  Most of us have something we are really good at, though.  Just because writing is not something you enjoy, are stellar at or can take the time to do doesn't mean you're not the most talented insurance broker, financial planner, attorney, closet organizer or aesthetician in your area.

Truth be told,  most people have not had any instruction in writing since college or even high school, yet they are called upon to be excellent communicators in print or online. Can you even sit down and write a five-paragraph essay any more?  That's okay, because I can't advise people on how to invest their money, defend themselves in court, or build a house.  But I can write about any of those things by doing research and using well-chosen, carefully crafted words.

Like an aerobics instructor who spends most of his or her days in workout clothes, I spend my time in my "grubbies" behind my iMac screen writing nearly every day of the week. Writing has rules, it has a cadence and for me, it even has a formula. It's similar to how your personal trainer knows what to do when warming you up, putting you through your paces and how avoid injuring your back while tightening up your abs.

Why are freelance writers in such demand these days?  Because the cyber-written word represents us on a global scale in this medium we call the Internet.  Whether we are trying to fill in our web sites touting who we are and what we do, informing potential clients about what is new, giving them points to ponder in our blogs or just using the proper words to convey our message on a simple brochure, the words we use cause people to judge us in so many ways.  They judge our education level, our ability to communicate in general, what we do and how we do it, and even the passion with which we do it -- all by how our words on the computer screen or iPad or smartphone speak to them.

Did you know that more than 75% of consumers will go online and Google (who knew that word would become a verb...) before they'll even begin considering using someone's services or buying their product?  Whether it's to get information on pricing, look at photos, read about what to expect or even find out what other people have said about you, most consumers will do their own due diligence before laying out the cash or signing on the dotted line.  For instance, I might look on Yelp.com before I choose someone to fix a dent in my car door.   What people say about your body shop there MIGHT make we want to check out a web site or two. Most of the time, however, I'll just keep web surfing until what I find a person or company that seems like a good fit.   This only goes to illustrate that if the words that represent you don't match up with someone's ideal of the expert you're supposed to be, your credibility is dismissed in a matter of seconds. We have developed shorter and shorter attention spans because we have the world at our fingertips, so to speak.

Services like mine can be one-trick pony assignments, like providing edgy wording for your web site home page or writing your bio or they can be ongoing with regular blogging and newsletters that drive potential prospects to your web site and help your "brand" move up in the Google search rankings.  It's easy for me to explain why I love what I do because, like any job we do that we are passionate about, my profession offers so much more than a mere income.  I help companies win coveted awards, tell a family's history, or even write "elevator speeches" so small business people know what to say about themselves in networking groups.  When you think about it, professional copywriters are behind every TV show, commercial, speech, movie, book, branding message,  and advertisement you see. But pay no attention to the man (or woman) behind the curtain. People just don't know we're here.

Okay. So now you're expecting me to come up with something profound to say:  I write, therefore I am?

But we freelancers don't just write.  We write for YOU and can often make you sound better than you can in your own words.  And that, my dears, is what makes all the difference.

From the time I was tiny, old-movie-watching was a disease in our household.  My father, a lover of television and communication technology in any form, would excitedly yell out to the entire family when a good old movie was about to start on TV.   And because he was the smartest man on earth to my brothers and me, we would rally ‘round the old tube-laden console and try to see things through our father’s eyes.  He would explain who the actors were, what the story was about and we would learn to love the past through movies. 

As a child, I saw the movie world that lived inside our TV set as one that must have existed on another planet.  Movies made in the 1940s had people wearing huge shoulder pads, hats at all times, suits  even in the hottest weather and dresses in the kitchen, spouting their lines in fake British accents.  They spoke to one another just a few inches from another actor’s face (tight screen shots, no doubt), which made me wonder about halitosis on the set. Still, I was riveted.  They spoke more rapid-fire than you and I, and they miraculously never interrupted one another.

Some of the more enjoyable movies were the moral-to-the-story ones with children, however.  Movies like Cheaper By the Dozen, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Lassie Come Home, National Velvet, and The Yearling helped us get a peek into another child’s world, whether growing up in a huge family, being the offspring of immigrants, being lucky enough to ride horses, owning an amazingly smart dog, or living out in the wilds of America.  Even charming shorts like The Little Rascals captivated me, as I saw what life was like when my parents were small.

As I grew older, I came to savor the whacky humor of the Bowery Boys, the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, the Marx Brothers, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby’s “Road to…” movies and Laurel and Hardy’s antics as classics, taking any opportunity to see them again and again.

Some people don’t like to watch old movies.  Having seen them once sometime in their past is enough for them.  “All the actors are dead now,” one naysayer in my life would counter when I begged him to watch a classic with me.  How morbid.   The thought never occurred to me, probably because it didn’t matter. If all the characters in the movie were make-believe anyway, why did it matter that the ones who portrayed them no longer got up and brushed their teeth every day? It’s inconceivable now that he would ever purchase a DVD of an old movie and watch it over and over again, as if it were an old friend.  

So I am a sucker for nostalgia.  But I wonder if the generations that follow us boomers will learn to appreciate our history through the world of cinema or take comfort from watching decades-old movies.  Unlike my father, I was not the parent who called out to my only child that she had to watch an old movie with me because she would be silly not to, nor was I as clever nor as regal as my father when trying to explain the significance of old cinema.  Did I do her a disservice?  Is it like failing to guide your child to classic books – ones that can live inside them for a lifetime?  I can only hope she remembers the delight on my face when she passed by the family room as I watched an oldie and that memory will be enough to make her curious. I would love that legacy to live on.

Web site: Communic8or.com,  Dena  Kouremetis' freelance writing service located in northern California.

When asked, most people like to talk about themselves. 

When I used to train people in the corporate world, one of the first things I would ask my students to do is  ‘fess up.  Who are they? Why did they choose this as a profession?  Why this company in particular?  And what do they bring to their careers that will help catapult them into success?

Most spill their answers out with no hesitation, offering considerably more than a short glimpse into their personalities and experiences.  So why is it such a monumental task for people to write their own professional profiles?

Truth be told, the ‘disconnect’ between spoken and written words is not imaginary for a lot of people.  And the frustration you may feel about writing your own profile, whether for a press kit, a resume or a web site is very real too.

Here’s the thing: Think long and hard about whether you want people to read about you having been described in first person or the third person.  Which sounds better?   “I have 5 years experience’  or "Joanne is a five-year veteran” --?

True, it may feel like old home week to blog about yourself, but if you look at the most well-written

 professional profiles, they tend to read more like press releases than individuals expounding on their own virtues.

Still want to say something more up-close-and-personal?  Use a quote, as if you were a reporter writing about yourself:  “I believe in giving back to the community,” says Joanne, when talking about her volunteer work at the Children’s Home. “There is nothing more rewarding than knowing I have contributed in some small way to putting a smile on the face of a child.”

Words are important.  They can move us, inspire us, inform us, pique our collective curiosity, change our minds and, for us writers, anyway, help create our legacies.  The way you sum yourself up is just as important for something that will become your semi-permanent brand in print or online, so I encourage you to give some forethought to how this portrait of you will sound, feel and appeal to others who would read it.

Web site: Communic8or.com,  Dena  Kouremetis' freelance writing service located in northern California.