Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

Blog like Huffington, Think like a lawyer - You'll never be stiffed

Being stiffed means we don't know how to play the new digital game. Thanks to blogging, at least if we think like a lawyer and don't defame/libel/slander/make erroneous statements, my fellow speechwriters/ghostwriters and I have been collecting  promptly accounts receivable.  It's total good-bye to forking over a fourth or third to a collection agency or a lawyer or showing up at 9 A.M at small-claims court.  Actually, the last time I did that was 2004, before I began this and my other syndicated blog.  The fee collected was from a local vet. Of the $2400 the attorney took $500.  There must be a better way, I knew.   

Bloggers Morphing into Investigative Journalists

"They" said that Establishment media, be it "60 Minutes" or "THE NEW YORK TIMES," would always be needed.  That's because only they had the resources to fund investigative reporting.  "They" were wrong. Blogger Kathleen Seidel proved that.

Bestest Birthday

I was 63 today.  It was the bestest birthday, and probably because I began blogging back in 2005.  The day ended with a reader of this blog who called from Silicon Valley to wish me a special time.  Actually she sung it.  Earlier, because of what I had learned about the legal market from my other syndicated blog, I could help a sidelined former lawyer think out of the box about how to recycle those skills.  There's nothing like being useful to make one rejoice at being alive.   

Of course, I had been hoping that my estranged sister would call.

Blogs as ATM Machines - But only available in specific locations

No question, blogs have become ATM machines, spitting out money from new business, whether that be via consulting or selling more products or services.  Shel Israel, Paul Chaney, Microsoft, Marler Clark Law Firm, and Edelman Public Relations have experienced just that.  But, that ATM capacity only works in certain locations and certainly not in others.  That's the risk successful bloggers take. 

"Careless People," was what Jay Gatsby called them

It happened again.  So I and my posse of bloggers, particularly those in the Washington D.C. and Manhattan areas, are going to ensure this will be that last time.  The "it" is the carelessness of those at the top of public-affairs agencies, Fortune 500, and prestigious think tanks who promise us free agents assignments.  Fortunately, we have the electronic trail to document that, yes, promises were made - and then recklessly disregarded.

Blogging is life lived in dog years - but oh so worth it

Non-bloggers are likely gleeful to read in today's THE NEW YORK TIMES that we bloggers are actually dropping dead from the 24/7 stress of scoops and being clever.  Those of us who haven't croaked, reports Matt Richtel, are picking up industrial-size eating and sleeping disorders.  Yeah, no question, the blogging life is one lived in dog years.  But, oh so worth it.

DC Blogger Jessica Cutler Gets Around Manhattan

When blogging on Washingtonienne.com about her multiple DC-area Sugar Daddies, Jessica Cutler used their initials.  That got into a lawsuit, which is on-hold since she filed for bankruptcy.  On one of the versions of her website, she claimed to jump out of cakes for money.  In Manhattan, reports, THE NEW YORK POST's Laura Italiano et al., Cutler has become associated with the same call-girl ring which alleged to include Eliot Spitzer as a client.  Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau denies that Spitzer had been involved with that ring.

Page Views - Why I stopped worrying about them, at least in an absolute sense

Unless our goal is to attract and keep advertisers or prepare our blogs for sale, maybe we shouldn't worry so much about page views, at least not in the absolute sense.  That's the conclusion I reached last Monday when a prospect became a client.  The organization had heard of my ability to use blogging as a tool of influence, getting attention on the cheap for messages, brands, products, services, and fundraising.  It wanted me to do that for their re-branding by setting up and ghostwriting about five blogs.  My average number of page views on this and my other blog never came up in our negotiations.

Bloggers: Predatory, All The Time, So Why Do We Still Get Invited.

My friends know.  So they didn't warn me this weekend when we went to Cape Cod not to interview them, not to use any material from our holiday in my blogs, and not to not relate because I was blogging in my head. The only rule, and it was for all us, was not to bring electronic devices, ranging from any type of Internet access to plain-vanilla cell phones.  I complied.   Actually a few days offline was just what an Internet Doc would have ordered to recharge BlogThought.

When Tuesday Feels Like Late Friday - It must be Campaign08

We bloggers were covering Campaign08 developments and speculations until dawn and soon enough we will be trying to make sense of early returns and projections.