Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

Christmas 2009 - Don't Bother

The intuitive among us have already decided against any attempt, however feeble, for creating a Christmas in 2009.  That means nada: No decorations, no responding to those chatty holiday letters tucked in red velvet, no baking, and of course no gifts, at least that cost even a few bucks.

That embargo doesn't bother me a bit.  Actually, it's a relief and one of the really awesome unintended consequences of the Great Recession.

But those of you who are determined to be giving this coming holiday season, you can do so without spending.  Below are three free-to-you ebooks you can give as gifts to those you love.

• For someone whose professional success could be enhanced by a few extra Emotional Intelligence points Download CUsersjasneDocumentsjg
• For someone who's stuck in the old economy and is ready to become unstuck Download SavingSoulsJaneGenova
• For those over-50 who need work, any kind Download Geezerguts.

Enjoy the no-holiday season.  You earned the right to peace and frugality.

Do we have runaway bride situation here in New Haven, CT?

My gut tells me that missing Yale graduate student Annie Le could well be a runaway bride.  Yale had to have briefed her on the dangers of New Haven, Connecticut.  They had to have given her information about protecting herself.  Yes, these are the killing fields.  I got off easy with a stolen car and mugging lite.  That's because I take measures bright females take.

Le was scheduled to wed this weekend.  Maybe she did what any young woman would consider doing when ambivalent or more: Run.  If she did take that road increasingly more traveled, then she should have to reimburse the government for the search.  We can understand the emotions.  We can't pick up the cost.

Here's hoping she wasn't a victim of foul play.

Free Agent Economy - Getting Paid, and mostly on time

Actually, it was intuitive.  Although I have been part of the Free Agent Nation [term coined by Daniel Pink in 2001] for about two decades, it wasn't until recently that I started getting paid all the time, and mostly on time.  It came to me from my gut.  That was to adopt the persona of The Hammer.

I give those I provide my communications services to a 30-grace period to pay the invoice.  That's standard.  I also don't require pre-work deposit.  Years ago, as a boutique owner, I figured it out that money demanded before the assignment has commenced might fly for the big guys but not for small niche players.

After that, I expect to be paid.  Here's how I make that expectation known:

• I use my three bogs - here and here are the other two - and more recently Twitter.com to gain the power and influence of those who used to buy ink by the gallon.  Remember how no one would mess with reporters from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL?  It has come to pass that Blog Power and Blog Influence can create the same layers of protection. 

• When prevention doesn't do the trick, I share this disappointing experience of not being paid with blog and Twitter readers.  Since I am comfortable around legal matters [e.g. run legal blog http://lawandmore.typepad.com] I am adept at describing the situation without inviting a libel or defamation lawsuit.  Should one come, I will use self-representation, that is pro-se litigation, to defend myself.  That makes litigation much more time-consuming and expensive for the plaintiff.  In addition, the story of this litigation is more information I can share with readers.  After one or two posts, a check for the full amount and the request for my signature on a gag order usually arrive Federal Express. 

• Then there are those accounts I want to keep, at least for a while, despite slow payment.  Those I won't blog about, not explicitly or implicitly.  I will call.  I will write.  I might show up in person.  I will repeat all of this over and over and over again.  This is when The Hammer swings into action.  No, there's no place for old Waspy decorum.  Like an animal, I hunt my money.  Those being hunted know that all this communication from Genova Writing, Coaching and More about money owed can get their own rank and file concerned about the organization's financial solvency. 

• No, The Hammer is not 100 percent effective.  That leaves me with the grim option of coughing up a piece of the action to my own lawyer or to a collection agency.  If my own lawyer is licensed in the city in which the debt is due he can send a stern letter.  When the check comes in, he will take a cut based on how much work he had to do, such as follow-up phone calls.  On a $2500 debt he collected from a vet service using my marketing communications services, he deducted $400. 

• As for collection agencies, they are the choice when the debt is large and the debtor is a tough nut to crack.  Those agencies are equipped with myriad but legal tools of making the debtor know you are very serious about wanting to be paid.   Some might perceive the tactics as a form of "harassment."  The standard fees of PSI - Prestige Services Inc. are:  Accounts $200 or less are handled at 40 percent.  $200 to $3000 at 25 percent.  $3000 to $10,000 22 percent.  Accounts over $10,000, rates are negotiable.  In addition, full-service collection agencies will handle the next step, which could be to bring the dispute to court.  The attorney fee will usually be affordable and the case will usually settle the day before the court date.  Some collection agencies are a practice of law within a law firm.

Of course, the best course of action is to screen prospects carefully before taking on the assignment.  For that reason, I rarely do work for individuals and embryonic startups.  They perceive every penny that is supposed to be paid to me as coming from their being.  In addition, they tend to be hand-wringers who will email and call compulsively.  Forget that whole enchilada.  Honest, there is plenty of work out there for those of us who know how to market and close the deal.  But that's material for another post: Free Agent Nation Marketing Itself.

Dying Art of Survival - Why You Can't Get a Job

Long-term affluence seems to have frayed the human wiring for survival. 

If that wiring were intact, folks needing jobs would get them. Intuitively they would sense and carry out all the right moves.  For instance, a few months ago I hired a contract writer, who was paralyzed by a stroke on one side.  He offered to work free for a week as he proved himself.  He did work free and did prove himself.  His were the right moves.

I have to assume that a Greenwich, Connecticut former marketing executive didn't recognize what the right moves were and how to make him.  Yesterday I read about him in an AP story on the unemployed.  He didn't make the cut for selling gym memberships.  I know the person who did.  The guy's a hustler.  He sizes up the situation and does whatever it takes to close the deal, including nailing down that job.

Can you fix your wiring?  Of course.  I did just that in 2003 after way too much success ate my business, my nest egg, my talent and my mind Download Geezerguts.  Here are some recommendations.  They have been effective with those I coach.

• Stop looking for a job.  Get one.  Looking for a job becomes an exotic art in itself, accompanied by joining networking groups, buying books on job hunting, and not missing one advice column. 

• A job, any job, is a start.  Don't pursue an immediate homerun.  A job leads to a better job, then usually a much better one or starting our own business.  No job leads no where.   On the job we relearn survival skills.

• Try what zen business teacher Marc Lesser calls "radical openness."  In his book "Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less," Lesser documents how those who are open to what's happening in the now versus being busy busy busy spot opportunity and have the energy to exploit it.

• Position and package your sales pitch - in person, on paper, over the phone, through social networks - to demonstrate what you can do for the organization based on what you have accomplished in the past and present for other organizations.  The new economy runs on results, not credentials.  Yes, return to the drawing board and redo all job-search communications to tell the story of can-do. 

• Adopt the stance of already being on the team, but don't push that too much.  Use "we."  Make suggestions.  Offer to develop those suggestions, at no cost, more fully to submit as part of the job application.

• After each point of contact on a job search or the pursuit of new business, reverse engineer what you did well, what you could do better and what was counterproductive.  Staying employed demands continual and immediate course correction.

Yes, we can change.  We can relearn how to survive.  The trick is being willing to let go of all those success formulas from a different time.  What used to work simply doesn't, not any more.  Here is an ebook with more than a million downloads on remaking ourselves for not ordinary times Download Savingsoulsonparkavenuekstreet.

An Intuitive Reading - How to give yourself one

All the answers are inside us.  The trick is to get them out in front of us.  Fear is making that difficult.  For instance, we're terrified that what comes out might be worse than our what-if scenarios.  That's exactly why we're flocking to "readers," or "psychics," or "clairvoyants."  We need them to give us that gentle push to take a peek.

Then there are those who have managed to get past the fear.  They can break open any time.  Here's how they can give themselves an intuitive reading:

• Empty yourself of past, present and future.  Then ask yourself:  What's dark and what's light inside yourself.  Bring both out.  They will appear differently on the outside.

• Why were you unable to reach in before?  The answer to that will point to where you're still apprehensive, lacking confidence, or simply stuck.

• Create a simple action plan - with only one or two to-dos about applying this fresh insight - and courage.

For those not ready to let go of the fear, there are intuitive readings about professional matters at $1 a minute, no mins, no max.  Call for appointment 203-468-8579, or email Mgenova981@aol.com.