Archive for: book

Overnight Success Story: Taylor Jones

Dear Photograph by Taylor JonesAs promised, today I’m beginning my series of posts featuring the highlights of last week’s successful TEDx Waterloo event.

At 22 years of age, Taylor Jones was one of the youngest speakers there. He introduced himself as a recent college graduate with no noteworthy accomplishments or ambitions, sharing the fact that he’d applied to attend last year’s event, but was turned down.

His life changed dramatically last spring when he was sitting in the kitchen looking at some old photos with his family. Upon noticing that he was holding a picture of his brother that had been taken in that same kitchen, from the exact same angle he was facing, he held it up, took a snapshot of it, and posted it on Tumblr with a note that began “Dear Photograph…” People immediately took notice, and he posted another, then another. Before long, other people were doing the same thing and sending him their own “Dear Photograph” stories. Believe me when I tell you that some of those stories brought tears to my eyes!

Less than a year later, Dear Photograph has over 23,000 followers on Twitter and more than 74,000 fans on Facebook, and it’s been featured on major news media throughout the world. CBS named it the #1 website in 2011, and TIME Magazine included it as their #7 pick of the top 50 websites. Who wouldn’t like to get this kind of exposure to their website?

As someone in the business of helping others get noticed online, I am amazed, excited, and inspired by Taylor’s story.

His experience teaches us that success often comes when you’re not even looking for it, and that the key isn’t necessarily about having a presence on the top three social networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) or using the latest SEO strategies. Taylor is successful because he had a unique idea that touched people’s hearts and souls and allowed them to express their innermost feelings through images.

But the story doesn’t end there. A hardcover Dear Photograph book will be available shortly, and I have no doubt it’s going to be a huge success as well.

Feathering My Nest

carnationsIt’s been quite a few years since Scott and I sold our house and moved to where we live now. Earlier this year I spent some time investigating other options, only to realize that there’s nowhere else that offers the space, the view and the conveniences we now enjoy unless we move to another city and probably pay a lot more. It seems only logical that instead of moving away from a neighbourhood that we like, we take the extra money it would cost us for moving and higher living expenses and use it to fix up our current apartment.

While shopping at Indigo this summer, I decided to explore the decorating section to see if I could find a book that focused on rental apartments, since the approach is obviously very different than when you own your own property and have the freedom to make pretty well any changes you like. I didn’t want a bunch of pictures of decorating ideas, but rather practical tips I could apply to my own situation, so I was very excited to discover Apartment Therapy by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan.

Apartment Therapy outlines an eight-step “cure” to transform an apartment from an impersonal space to a healthy living place. As I read it, I considered creating yet another blog where I would share my own experience and before-and-after pictures as I went through the program, but decided against it, because:

a) Although I would blog all the time if I could, realistically I knew I couldn’t make the time. Finding the time to work through the book is challenging enough!

b) I decided that my story would probably not really be of much interest to anyone other than myself and a few close friends and family members.

So I’ve decided to compromise. Much as I shared my struggles with infomania a while back, I will report on the highlights of my own “home cure” under a new category I’ve created called Happy Healthy Home. Between you and me, it’s going to take longer than eight weeks, but at least I now have a plan to follow.

One of the first steps Gillingham-Ryan recommends is buying fresh flowers every week, a habit I am happy to adopt. As he explains,

As simple as it sounds, the act of buying flowers for your apartment holds great significance and will heal your apartment on many levels. As organic elements, flowers strengthen the bones and contribute to the breath of your apartment through humidifying and cleansing the air. Through their color, shape, and smell they contribute a living beauty that enlivens the senses and invigorates our vision. There is nothing created by man that compares to nature’s own work. And because they are ephemeral, cut flowers are a gift of freshness and faith to oneself and one’s home.

I started with a small bouquet of carnations, as shown above. This gave me a chance to use a vase I received as a gift-with-purchase many years ago and have always liked, but never had anything to put in it before.

For more information about the eight-step home cure, read my review of Apartment Therapy.

If you know of other great books or websites I should be checking out, please let me know!

Good News Comes in Threes!

winnerIt is often said that certain events, celebrity deaths in particular, come in threes, and today I’m going to confirm that by sharing three pieces of good news with you. The first two are admittedly shameless self-promotion, but do read on, because the third one is good news for YOU!

First of all, my post Landing the Big Fish, or the most unusual way I’ve found a client, was awarded the Virtual Assistant Forums Monthly Blogging Challenge for May. I won a copy of Social Media Marketing an Hour a Day, and look forward to reading it soon.

Do you have a Google alert set up on your name? (If not, you should!) I do, and that’s how I learned that I made the list of Best Virtual Assistant Services on David Jackson’s Free Marketing Tips Blog. This isn’t a list of 50 or 100, mind you, but only FIVE carefully selected VAs. I owe a big thank you to my clients who not only took the time to write testimonials for me, but also responded to David’s email follow-up earlier this year.

And now as promised, the good news for you! I realize that I blog a lot, and it may be hard for readers to keep up at times, so I’ve streamlined a few things. All new posts that are published either here or on my other blog, Your Organizing Business, now appear on the Organized Assistant page on Facebook. Just click on the “Like” button to become a fan, if you’re not one already. Prefer email? No problem! You can now join my mailing list and receive an email every Friday that includes all my posts for the week. From time to time I may send out special mailings, so be sure to indicate if you’re interested in Southern Ontario Events and/or Resources for Professional Organizers.

That’s my good news for the week! What’s going on with you?

Invitation to VIP Pre-Launch Celebration for “How to Master Your Muck”

How to Master Your Muck ~ Get Organized. Add Space To Your Life. Live Your Purpose!Since I began actively using Twitter, my network has been growing by leaps and bounds! I’ve been getting to know literally hundreds of new people over the past few months.

One of my new online friends is Professional Organizer and Image Consultant Kathi Burns, whose new book, How to Master Your Muck ~ Get Organized. Add Space To Your Life. Live Your Purpose! is scheduled to be released on September 1st.

“Muck” refers to anything that’s holding you back, such as your belief systems, bad habits, clutter, a crazy schedule, muddled thinking, or an outmoded image. In her new book, Kathi outlines steps for managing your email, schedule, paper, and other obstacles that may be blocking your prosperity and success, whether you’re a small business entrepreneur, a stay-at-home parent, or a corporate executive.

As a fan of my blog, Kathi is inviting my readers to attend her pre-launch celebration on August 30th. If you purchase a copy of How to Master Your Muck during this VIP event, you’ll receive dozens of bonus gifts which have been specially selected to help you become more successful and more fulfilled. Here are a few of the gifts you’ll receive:

  • Get More Done: How Hiring a VA can make your business more profitable – an audio interview with yours truly
  • The Truth About Negotiation – an hour-long audio interview with Colette Carlson, creator of Speak Your Truth and John Assaraf, the best selling author in the movie, The Secret
  • Etiquette Tips for the Networking Savvy Professional by Etiquette Guru Elaine Swann
  • Attitude: The Healthy Alternative – audio class by Author and Professional Speaker Sheryl Roush
  • Hacking the Overwhelm – an audio interview with Business Mastery Creator Sterling Frandson

In addition, you’ll be entered in a draw for a super grand prize, which will be take place on Monday, August 31st.

Visit www.MasterYourMuck.com to add your name to the VIP list. Just for becoming a VIP, you will immediately receive Kathi’s free eBook, 33 Tips to Transform Your Life.

I’ve just realized that this is my fourth book-related post in a row – maybe I should rename this blog From the Library of Janet Barclay! :)