This one went much smoother than the last video of me speaking.

BIG thanks to Claire and Pete for inviting me to present.  And special thanks to Dietz Media for making a video of me speaking that I finally love.

If you are looking for a speaker for your event, talk to me.

I started watching her after my friend Mariah went to her b-school and came back with all of these stories about how awesome and amazing and great she was.

As with everything that everyone loves I have been skeptical.

I am always skeptical.

You found the best product in the world? The cure for world peace? Pshaw. Yeah. Sure.

In fact, most of the time I don’t even TRY whatever they are telling me is amazing and wonderful. I just assume it will be terrible and don’t even need to try it because everyone loves terrible things and it can’t possibly work how they say it will work.

The other night I got an email about a new program that Marie Forleo was launching and a link to some videos she had created about her business. I then stayed up until mid-night watching all of the videos because we all have hobbies and watching videos about business is mine.

In true entrepreneur fashion, I spent this morning trying to use Facebook to crowdsource creative ideas on how I could raise $2,000 to take the online program she just launched. I am a big believer in investing in education. I am such a big believer in this that I very recently invested $55,000 in a Philosophy degree. Do you know how useful my in-depth knowledge of The Cave is? Very.

My Facebook friends had  awesome  terrible strange plenty of ideas.

The winning one was selling stuff on e-bay which made me think about the fact that I could totally SELL STUFF online. Except, noone wants my stuff because  few things in this house have both survived Aiden’s sticky hands AND his curiosity.

So I decided to turn my blog into my own personal ebay and sell my mind which has somehow survived Aiden’s sticky hands.

What can you buy?

An Hour-long Private Brainstorm-$250

I am offering five people the chance to pick my brain for a one hour phone or skype session.

We can talk about how to take your offline business online, we can talk about how to start a blog, we talk about how you can make money blogging ,we can talk about how to create a media kit, or how to pitch national media, or land a book agent. Or whatever your heart desires. My brain is yours for one hour.

But Cassie, why would I spend $250 for an hour of your brain power? Because I know that if you spend an hour on the phone with me you will leave with at least one idea that can generate $500 in profit. See? It’s like I am giving you $250 to talk to me.

As an added bonus,  you will receive a copy of the e-book “Tall Order! Seven Master Strategies to Organize Your Life and Double Your Success In Half the Time.” a book from my brilliant and successful coach Honoree. 

Pay-What-You-Can-Hour-long Live Q&A:

I am hosting an hour-long live Q&A next Thursday, May 17th from 6:00-7:00 central time. You can ask me questions about blogging, business, social media and anything else that you would like my insight on. You can donate any amount from $20 to $20,000  to join. I will send you information to access the live session once you register.

On top of that, I will be sharing my whole b-school journey in my brand spankin new newsletter. 

What happens if I raise more than $2,000?

I will donate anything I raise over $2,000 to Hope Runs, a non-profit NGO working in Kenya and Tanzania, using athletics, education, and social entrepreneurship to empower AIDS orphans.

Questions?

Last week I wrote a post about how to get press for your blog. After publishing it I got an email from a blogger who was curious about how you pitch a story.  What does a pitch look like?

When my blog was mentioned on the New York Times I had sent Lisa Belkin an email that said something along the lines of:

“Hi Lisa,
I started a project on my blog and asked women to write letters to their twenty-something selves. I have received letters from women across the country including letters from well-known bloggers Maggie Masonand Jessica Gottlieb. I thought this might be something you would be interested in featuring on The Motherlode.”

I never heard a response but two weeks later I got a notification that my blog had been mentioned on NewYorkTimes.com. There are a few things to keep in mind when pitching a story:

 

Read the rest over at She Posts. 

“A few months ago The New York Times announced that KJ Dell’Antonia would be joining them as the new blogger for Motherlode. Last week I had the opportunity to chat with KJ about her new position, her writing background and what aspiring writers need to do to take their career to the next level.

KJ began her career in the legal field but said that she has always been a writer and was always meant to be a writer. ‘I like to say that writers are born not made.’”

Continue Reading….

Fashion bloggers were trying to figure out the best way to monetize their blogs. They were making sense of campaigns in which they took part and were never compensated for and now they are discussing widget campaigns and the issues that come along with them.

Each blogging community as well as each specific blogger holds their own desires, values, and ways in which they will work with brands. Mom bloggers and Fashion bloggers share quite a few similarities however, their backgrounds and situations are often quite different.

Most (please realize I have stated most not all) mom bloggers began blogging as a hobby. A way to record their child’s moments and connect with other mothers that hopefully share the same challenges, emotions, and fears that they have. The mom blogging space began as a way to connect with other mothers for the purpose of community and support. Most (again, I said most) did not begin their blog with the intention of starting a business. The problem we found was that when brands first began reaching out to work with mom bloggers neither party knew what to expect. After a couple of years of a very delicate dance (and many failed campaigns) mom bloggers and brands have now found methods that work extremely well and other methods that don’t.

Most fashion bloggers seem to have a background or long history in fashion. Having either worked in the fashion industry or a deep desire to work in the industry. Most fashion bloggers began their websites with intention of starting a business and monetizing. Most fashion bloggers began blogging assuming they would monetize their blogs in the same way that Fashion magazines monetize.

The problem is that most mom bloggers and fashion bloggers do not run in the same circles. They do not manage their websites in the same ways and they do not always hold the same interests. So, often messages get lost.

Recently, Stephanie wrote a great post about how we could take the model that we have used when working with mom bloggers in the past and apply that to the fashion blogging space. To any fashion bloggers looking to monetize I would highly suggest looking into the ways that mom bloggers have chosen to monetize and figuring out what might work for you.

The most important thing for brands to remember when working with bloggers of any type is to forge good relationships and to find ways to accomplish your campaign goals that align with their values and desires.

I am so glad that this conversation is starting to happen. As the internet continues to grow I think we will see more and more genres joining the ranks and many of these conversations taking place. This is a good space to be.

Please excuse my over use of the word Old Media. It was the best way to distinguish between traditional and digital.

The business insider quoted Obama saying:

“I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding”

According to The Hill.com:

“Obama said that good journalism is “critical to the health of our democracy”

So here are my issues in nice organized bullet points for your enjoyment.

1. Old Media is not mistake proof

The quotes above gives the illusion that journalists supply fact and truth while bloggers are shouting out their opinions effortlessly. How many times in our history have reporters made mistakes? Sometimes they don’t get the exact facts. Sometimes they spin a story in a negative light in order to attract more readers.  No article in ANY media is written without leaning towards some sort of conclusion. Supporting some kind of opinion. We are humans. Even history books can be distorted.

2. Old Media is censored information

How many times has old media been behind in reporting information? There is only so much room in a newspaper for stories. There is only so much time within a news segment to deliver information. Often, stories get un-told. Often content is censored for political or financial reasons. Journalism is a business like any other. They have editors and publishers and advertisers.

3. Arguments exsist. And that is ok.

I have seen enough criticisms of news channels for being “too conservative” or “too liberal.” I have looked at enough comic strips filled with donkeys and elephants to know it is not just bloggers yelling at each other. Since when is having an argument considered bad? How many philosophers argued about the meaning of life and the purpose of humanity? How many religious leaders have argued for their beliefs? It is in these “arguments,” these discussions that we find truth and answers.

4. Bailout because new technology exists

Imagine if  letter couriers asked for a government bailout when the telegraph machine was created. Would it have happended? I am not trying to say that old media is as outdated as letter couriers. Journalists are still extremely important and extremely valuable.  However, people are choosing to access information in different ways. Journalism is not dead. Journalists do not need to be bailed out. There will always be space and NEED for journalism. However, traditional print media is in need of a makeover. Can we said digital?

5. When will the bloggers get bailed out?

Magazines and Newspapers are hugely profitable corporations. Well, they used to be. The government is offering to bail out an industry because they went from being work millions upon millions to millions less.  Most blogs are a one man show. Few blogs could pull in a million dollars in a year. When is the government going to bail out bloggers?

I would love to hear your thoughts/concerns. This is not to meant to talk badly about journalism and old media. I read magazines consistently. I love holding a crisp newspaper in my hands. I think that journalists are needed. That fact checking is important. But a bailout? Bad Idea.

I am a philosophy major. I believe it is the philosopher in me that forces me ask a million questions about the simplest idea. However, I am presenting these questions to you today because I am really perplexed.

I love country music. (no giggling please) Recently, this song came on the radio and it is a really beautiful song. Until the end…and this is where it loses me. They start talking about Bill Gates and Microsoft. Please listen to the song. Then answer me these questions.

-Do you think Microsoft paid for this placement?

-How does he know that Bill Gates loved like crazy to become successful? Did he interview him?

-In what way is a man with six children who can barely pay his bills correlate with a millionaire?

-Would this song be better off without the mention?

I told you this would make me sound crazy. But, seriously? Is it just me or does this not fit together well??

According to Geek Sugar:

“Carrie may still have her trusty Mac on hand for the Sex and the City sequel, but the rest of the ladies will be strictly PC. HP just announced their partnership with Warner Bros. as well as their supporting role in the latest film this morning, which means the ladies of Sex will be wired with TouchSmart PCs, netbooks, and the TouchSmart tm2.”

So my question is….does this really matter?

I think that the buzz around this product replacement switch proves that television product placements may be going extinct. Don’t get me wrong a small business or start-up getting featured on a television show can be HUGE. It can make or break a company. However, am I more likely to buy an HP because I saw one on Sex and The City? hmmmm.

We notice product placements.

The buzz surrounding this movie isn’t about raving about the computer they will be using. It seems to be much more about the business decision. WHY are they using this new computer? Apple dropped its product placement and is getting major press because of it. Am I less likely to buy Apple products because they dropped this placement? No. They are genius. They saved money AND got press. That my friend is im-press-ive.

Get it?

Im-PRESS-ive.

Anyways, I don’t see how this product placement is helping either company. Seeing a computer on a movie doesn’t make me want to buy a new computer. It doesn’t make me want to switch brands. It doesn’t make me anything. However, if they are trying the remind them we exist and maybe they will think of us approach. That may be a benefit.

However, I suggest that HP take a look at this speech from Seth Godin. They may realize that this is going out. And it is going out fast.

What do you think?

‘“Collaboration” in the modern office means a lot more than just exchanging e-mail. Recently, we told you how to microblog within your organization to enhance productivity, and it’s not surprising that companies are discovering the power of sharing documents, collaborating online, and keeping a rich web of easily searched and browsed information in the cloud.

Looking to join the action? Here’s a free collaboration tool you should check out.

Flowr is an online collaboration tool with a wealth of ways to share and interact. You get Twitter-like microblogging, of course, so team members can stay in touch and up-to-date. It has the best aspects of Twitter without the sill”

Read more here…