There's no doubt that this video is a promotional item for the video author's search engine optimization tool. But that's okay, because the information that he provides is worthwhile. There are tips for creating the content for your blog or website and they go beyond just basic SEO tips.

Do you have a muse? Have you had a muse? You know, that person who fuels your creative fire, the one that you write long letters for, the one who is the entire reason that your book got started (and hopefully finished). The muse can be both wonderful and awful ... it can be something that inspires you and that's something that everyone needs. But it can also take you off track, making all of your work about this one thing and all of your feelings about your work dependent on that person.

Stephen Nachmanovitch said: "The most potent muse of all is our own inner child".

That's a powerful statement. Think about it!!

Have you ever known someone whose personality took over the whole room when they entered it? The kind of person who never just "got dressed" but who put on entire outfits, costumes almost, that would have been totally unsuitable for the occasion if it was anyone else wearing them but which were perfectly fine on this person? The kind of person who spoke so that the entire room turned to hear what they had to say, not because they were particularly smart or informed or interesting but because they were simply magnaminous?

             Everyone knows this kind of demiurge.

The word comes from a Gnostic deity who was known for creating the world out of material things. And it's not used pleasantly, because there are some evil connotations associated with the history of that deity. But nevertheless, demiurge refers to that kind of forceful creative personality that takes over the room and demands your attention just with their very being. And although some people are turned off by this and associate it with evil, we all know that the demiurge is crucial to the growth of creative experiences and movements of work.

This YouTube pick is Clarence Nero reading from his book Three Sides to Every Story. He speaks about intimately personal issues include the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the effect of knowing people lost to AIDS. It's a multi-perspective story which lets the author develop different ways of looking at serious issues.

There are two separate clips to this video, both published on YouTube by Bernard's Bookshelf. They starts off the same but they are two different videos so watch past the intro to get the full story.

"Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money."

How unfortunate it is, isn't it?

Ah, the art of negotiation. Some people excel at it but most of us aren't very comfortable with the process. Part of this is due to an internal conflict. On the one hand, we want what we want when and how we want it. And on the other hand, we've always been taught that playing nice means compromising so we work to bend over backwards to give the other person what they want. The trick to comfortable negotiation is to figure out in advance what you want and what you're willing to compromise on. This way there's no wiggle room for the other party to get into to make you uncomfortable with the negotiation that's going on.

Before you're going to enter into negotiation with anyone about anything, you need to spend some time with yourself (and / or your business partners) deciding how you want the negotiation to go. Determine what the point of the negotiation is. Do you want to secure an account from someone? Or do you want to increase the amount of money you're getting from a client? Do you want to add or subtract services? Be very clear with yourself as to what the goal is. Define it and write it down in one clear sentence. This will prevent you from negotiating over side details that aren't the real issue. For example, if your goal is to secure the account, you will debate the cost and services with the intention of securing the account always in mind. In contrast, if your goals is to get a certain price from the deal, you will work towards that price even if it ultimately means sacrificing certain services to get it.

 

Of course, all of these side issues will come up. You'll want to get the account but not at the expense of your entire budget. This is why you first outline the goal and then determine what other points you are willing to negotiate on and to what degree. By being completely aware of what you do and don't want, you are able to set the tone for the entire negotiation which is a crucial step in having it fall in your favor. The more you do this, the more comfortable that you will get with negotiating and the better you will be at benefitting your business.

One of the internal things that we're working on here at MoKa House is getting active on the social bookmarking sites. We decided it was a little bit hypocritical that we were always telling our clients about the importance of using the social bookmarking sites if we weren't active on them ourselves.

Of course, we've used the sites individually, helping our clients to put their content on the web and get it noticed. We've individually promoted our own content this way as well. We know the importance of getting noticed on sites like Digg, StumbleUpon and de.icio.us. And we've decided that it's important that we represent ourselves honestly on those sites, as a company that is promoting certain work we believe in and not just as individuals on the site (although we plan to remain active on our own as well!)

The thing about sites like Digg is that they aren't just about the traffic-driving opportunities that they present. Sure, that's what they've gotten known for recently and that's why we tell our clients about the importance of using the sites to that end. But when social bookmarking sites first got started, they were all about the social aspect they have. They were about sharing good content with others because you truly thought it should be shared, not just because you wanted to sell them your own stuff. There's a movement to reinvigorate social bookmarking sites with that purpose in mind and MoKa House wants to be a part of that. Sure, we want people to know about what we're doing, but we also want to be actively involved in letting others know about all of the great content that we see on the web ... whether it benefits us or not!

And we want to be made aware of where other great content is as well, so we're hoping that you'll share your favorites with us as we get more active on the sites. An update will follow about where to find us on the different social bookmarking sites that we're on.

Here, a fan reads a poem titled "The Woman Hanging From The 13th Floor Window" by Joy Harjo. It is a moving, touching poem that deserves the minutes it takes to hear it read aloud. Poetry like this is intended to be read aloud.

Every writer goes through a period of time when they simply can not write something because it is too painful. This might be because they aren't quite ready to go through the cathartic process of writing about something that hurt them. But often it is because they know, deep inside of themselves, that someone is going to be upset with them for writing it. Families don't want their secrets revealed, lovers don't want to know the truth about you, governments will punish you ... and so you refrain from writing and the world loses out.

There are two quotes which capture this idea (and since we failed to give a quote of the week last week, we're happy to provide two this week!)

    Anais Nin wrote: "The role of a writer is not to say what we all an say, but what we are unable to say."

and

    Audre Lorde wrote: "When we speak we are afraid that are words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid."