One thing I’ve been doing over the past few weeks (and my boyfriend has also joined me) is meditating.  But we’ve been doing an abundance meditation. There are many people doing this in Indy right now. Now, we’re not doing this to “get more stuff.” We’re doing this to be fully aware of our blessings…what we DO have, and to recognize where that comes from and figure out how we can give more, rather than focusing on our “1^st world problems.”

We live in a country of such opportunity that we sometimes forget that there are countries/people/human beings out there who have nothing and are oppressed, starving, sad, and yet we complain of our iPhones not pulling up Foursquare or Facebook fast enough. Trust me, I speak out of being 100% guilty.

We are blessed. We are blessed because we get to do what we love. At least many of the people in my life do. We have nice cars that get us from one place to another, we have a great community that for the most part, likes each other, and get to connect with people all over the world and then meet them once a year and sometimes more at blogging and social media conferences. We get to help businesses build. We get to write, encourage and love.

I just want to encourage you all to not take anything for granted. Not the laptops we get to work off of, not the free social networks we get to use, not our children or significant others. I know that personally, I wouldn’t like any of these taken away.  I hope you all have an amazing holiday season and love big!

Okay…so, most of my readers, friends, fans…whatever, know I’m in a band. Teamwork at its finest. It’s some of the hardest work I’ve ever done, but pretty much, some of the most rewarding (outside of motherhood (could be comparable though…we all have our moments where we mother one another)).

Anyway, so, Neon Love Life is in the studio right now. We’re working on tracking the rest of the album, so we can get a spring/summer release. We’ve begun the second half of the songs, beginning with a song called Lovers Lie. It was one of those songs I wrote in like 10 minutes…where the entire skeleton came to me and lyrics were a no-brainer because of some things I’ve been experiencing.

I always get excited about these kinds songs because I start out thinking they’re great, but when I take my ideas to the rest of the girls in the band, they make it even better. They make it richer. They add their flare, which adds to the brilliance. So, this song is no longer just mine. It’s ours.

I love working with Ashley, Sharon, and Tasha. They are all so talented and insightful. I know many people are brilliant on their own, as these ladies are. But at the same time, think of the millions of ideas that start off as ideas but take other people’s help to actually make them evolve or make them happen…or make money off them. And let’s be honest, we ALL would LOVE to make a living doing what we love, right? Whether you’re an artist, musician, comedian, mime…you get my drift. Sign me up for selling out.

Anyway, I just had this conversation with someone yesterday…someone I’m about to start working with…(I’m so freaking excited about it, I can hardly contain myself…but of course, I will). The gist of the conversation went like this. For most of us ‘creative’ types, that’s what we do best. Create. Not everyone is as great on the business side. (I kind of am, but I also got a degree in it, not art, so I “get” business pretty well.) However, it often takes someone or many people who understand different aspects than we understand. This is why we have bandmates, managers, tour managers, business partners, alliances, etc. I know that without my bandmates in particular, to help build on something we start, it just wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be as great…at least not my stuff.

So, the point of this blog today, and this goes for ALL aspects of business/music/whatever you’re into: Love those you work with. Appreciate their differences. Understand that those differences and how you deal with them can be the difference between failure and success. Teamwork can be tricky…just ask any college student whose grade depends on the work of a team. However, teamwork is also what makes ideas bigger than where they began.

As for Neon Love Life, I love you, girls! Thanks for helping me expand my creative side. And Kenan, thanks for being such a great lawyer. And Dodge, thanks for standing behind us and taking us on. Yes, teamwork at its finest.

I do. Many, actually. And it’s kind of a big deal.

I just started working on a cartoon project because when I heard the concept, saw the art and comedy in it, not to mention it’s a local artist…I got REALLY excited. And when I mean “working,” I mean, helping him with the online marketing aspect of it. But before I get into that, I want to talk about this thing I talk about often: Community.

So, yeah, we’re in the Midwest. I’ve spoke with people who feel as though we get overlooked here, and I think its kind of BS. I mean, if you think about it, we’ve had great things/people come out the Midwest…musicians, actors, cartoonists, businesses…there is SO much talent here. But talent sometimes only takes you so far. It takes PEOPLE to get you where you want to go. It takes fans and supporters. It takes a community.

So, let me tell you about my friend, Billy SidebySide’s, Sister Anne, adult cartoon project. So, Sister Anne is a cartoon series about a 500 pound nun and her never-ending battle against the EVILS of sin. Here is a bit from Billy’s site.

Sister Anne® -mighty defender of goodness – is a 500 pound nun who has been specially trained by the TRUE CHURCH to sense sin and fight it. In the universe of Sister Anne, sins are actual demons that beset humanity, torture them and devour their souls. Although they are imperceptible to most people, through secret Jesuit techniques Sister Anne has heightened each of her faculties to the point where she can sense sin in every way! She can HEAR it, SEE it, FEEL it, SMELL it and god help her she can even TASTE it! And in her loving goodness and desire to help mankind she beats the sin out of people to save their souls.

The original stories were done by myself, and my partner at the time, Steve Niles (author of 30 Days of Night, graphic novel and screen writer etc. etc.) for Steve’s comics publishing enterprise Arcane Comix. I developed the idea into a cartoon while I was working for MTV animation and the Tick animated series.

TV wasn’t ready for her back then, but today with the lax moral standards and demand for visceral and extreme entertainment brought about by cable TV and the Internet, HER TIME HAS COME!! Seriously though, we think you the public is ready for this awesome onslaught of goodness and we want to bring it to you! We hope we have piqued your interest and you will continue to check back for progress towards making this series a reality!

So here’s how you can help. (This is a call to action, friends….)

This project will be FUNDED if we can raise 6K in the next 79 days. We’ve already got eight backers. Not only that, if you donate, you get stuff! Free stuff…DVD’s, posters, stickers, limited addition stuff…perhaps even some Steve Niles stuff…(he is so awesome…have you SEEN 30 Days of Night? The BEST vampire film in a LONG time…)

Click HERE to pledge.
Click HERE to LIKE on Facebook.
Click HERE to FOLLOW on Twitter.
Click HERE to learn more about Billy SidebySide.

Why should YOU help? Because, it’ll make you feel REALLY good.

I’m all about helping people make their dreams come true. Are you?

For some people growing up, making friends could have been challenging. Honestly, it kinda was for me. I went to a small, Christian school that pretty much sucked because of hypocritical parents and politics. I tried to fit in as best I could, but my parents wouldn’t always buy me the newest charms for those charm necklaces that all the kids were wearing. (Do any of you remember those cheap plastic things?) They also wouldn’t spend a bunch of money on “hip” clothes, which my friends had. I guess I could say I never really fit in…in a superficial social way. (Plus I was a kid that questioned things…which was a no no for kids to do, so most adults would say I had an “attitude” problem.)

Then we grow up. We get to make our own decisions on how we want to be, drop all the lame friends who didn’t accept us for who we WERE, and move on to bigger and better if we so choose.

When I think about then and now, I have no choice but to tie social media into who I am TODAY…both personally and professionally.  I know I’ve written in previous posts how important the people who are in my social circles are to me. We’ve all been able to encourage AND empower one another through our posts, tweets, and friendships on and off line. INFLUENCE. PERIOD.

Now think about this on a bigger scale. Think about all the awareness of non-profits that social media has contributed to.  Think of all the money that has been raised on a local, national and international level due to the efforts of those who want to help make a difference in the world.  Could this influence have taken place without social media? Perhaps to a degree…but I honestly don’t believe it would have been the same.

Back in December, one of my favorite marketing companies, Firebelly Marketing, was working with one of their clients, United Way of Central Indiana. They decided to do a little social media experiment. They took some of us local social media folks to help them out with a little video to spread the word about Live United Give United. Ch-Ch-Check it!

The response was great! It raised awareness for the cause and also increased the number of $15-$100 donations between October and December immensely. (Note, it was difficult to pinpoint the ACTUAL amount, but they did feel their efforts pay off.) Not only did it increase donations, UWCI also saw a big increase in Twitter followers and Facebook fans. That’s not to say it was ALL social media…but overall, there was a huge impact on this amazing organization.

On a personal note, I’m not a news watcher. I rarely turn my television on, so all of my news comes from the web….more specifically, Twitter. That’s how I heard about the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. I saw so many efforts from thousands of people who helped raise awareness and funds for these countries.

Social media as a whole has proven it has the power to be a game-changer…perhaps THE most influential game-changer of our time. It has taken all of YOU to be a part of that change…to be a part of each other’s lives…to be a part of mine.  Yeah…that makes me feel good.  How does it make you feel?

At Redwall LIVE we are always trying to support a good cause, in our personal lives it is no different, but we were looking for really creative ways to do a focused campaign for Non Profit’s whose campaigns we could really connect with. In an effort to give our talents to the community I approached CFI (Community First Initiative) about serving them and putting together an experiential campaign to raise money and awareness for their program that makes a lifelong impact on high school students. They Partner with Schools to provide their 40 developmental assets mentoring program. They welcomed us and we put together the following event. The campaign is  Experiential, Interactive and Involves Social Media in a major way. I’d like to especially thanks Pet Supplies Plus Stores and Deep Ripples: an Organic Search Marketing company for supporting this cause as sponsors.

Darren Heil (Director of CFI) and I (Owner of Redwall LIVE) will be living in a van starting this Wednesday (December 9th 2009)… that is an old 70s chevy van that has nothing but an old couch and a couple bucket seats in it. We’ll be bringing a web cam and a couple laptops with air cards so we can still work, and so we can tweet!

Above us will be a digital billboard that will be displaying frequent updates and directing drive by traffic to take notice of us in the van and donate at www.forkout.org. Forkout.org is “the giving engine of Redwall LIVE”. We created forkout.org merely so we could create experiential events just to support a cause. CFI is the first.

Local Media is covering the event including an article in the IndyStar. Even Mcallisters Deli Restaurants in the Indianapolis area are participating by collecting donations at the counter.

This is really made possible by social media to spread the story virally through pier to pier communication. Social media is a must with Experiential Marketing. We will be interacting with donors and viewers all over the world via twitter and the hashtag #forkout (some tweets will even make it to the billboard). Many will watch the event unfold via webcast at forkout.org. Thanks to bloggers like Kyle Lacy, Lindsay Manfredi and myself the story is finding its way to several popular blog sites and tweeted by many. Twitter Enables us to have real time conversation from people at their desks, in their cars, with their families or at work and connect to thousands of people all over the world. Simultaneously the webcast will invite people at work to watch frequent 9 minute webisodes as well as “a day in the life” through the whole procedure. Blogging shares the story of our cause and our campaign with the world in detail. With all the support and integrated social media, we estimate we will be connecting to over 150,000 people over the course of the 10 day experience.

Our goal is $25,000 in 10 days… we only need 1000 people to donate $25. But consider this. $25,000 is 10% of the annual budget of CFI, so how can we carry this on beyond the 10 days to help students?

Daniel Herndon

When I decided to write about what I do for a living last week in my blog, there were no defenses up. It was not a post defending my profession at all; it was simply one to inform you on how I run my particular business. It was to inform you of how I work one-on-one with my clients to package THEIR message. This was a direct-result post following a national magazine interview on the subject of ghost blogging. This, however, has not been the beginning of the debate. A few months back, Jason Falls interviewed me for an article he was doing on the same subject entitled, The Ethics, or Lack Thereof, of Ghost blogging. I would like to mention a few things from this article as well as a quote by me.

“Doug Karr, an outstanding Internet marketing consultant and social media thinker in his own right, wrote in reaction to my aforementioned talk, “Ghostblogging isn’t a dirty word nor is it a dirty profession, it’s an incredible one. A great ghostblogger investigates the source and accurately writes the posts on behalf of them.” He continues, “As long as the premise of those blog posts are your message, why would anyone care that someone else typed it up?”

Jason goes onto say,

“I know what Doug is shooting for here, but there’s a big difference in someone who takes dictation and writes for you. I would stipulate that if the named author is actively involved in writing the piece — dictating outlines, emphasizing points to cover and actively editing the document — I have much less of an issue and would consider the writer a copywriter/editor rather than a ghost writer.”

Similarly, Lindsay Manfredi of Linzstar, who blogs for several clients and bills herself as a ghost blogger, told me this:

“I don’t encourage my clients to hide, I am simply assisting in the bigger picture. Ultimately, it’s their ideas that are being blogged. And I also have clients who write their own, give it to me to edit and expand on, and then post away to the community they are marketing. Everyone is different, and everyone has a say. At least that is how I operate my business.”

Back to Jason:

“Still, there are some fantastic and talented writers out there not only writing materials for companies and their executives, but selling their wares as “ghost blogging,” or “ghost writing.” They are honest, ethical, genuine people earning a living loaning their talents to those who don’t have the aforementioned time, acumen or intelligence to compose pieces for their audiences.”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, as a ghost writer, I work with my clients. I always will. I am not just handed someone’s blog admin and told to “go for it.” I hold my clients accountable to sending me ideas and points, and I create the content around it. Once again, THEIR content.

Chris Brogan wrote a piece today in his newsletter about authenticity. He says the following:

“Authenticity and transparency mean being clear about what matters to you, being clear about your intentions, being open about what you’re asking of your clients, your employees, everyone in the circle around you. There are times when matters are meant to be handled in private.

There are many circumstances that don’t belong in the bright light of the public, not least of all on the internet. Examples can be anything from helping an employee find drug treatment solutions, to loaning money to a struggling entrepreneur. There are many situations that deserve to be kept between the parties that matter.

Authenticity isn’t about raw, open exposure. In my mind, it’s about presenting the story the way it is. It’s about being clear about goals. It’s about sharing all sides of the equation, and it’s about trying to be consistent.”

I have always been, and will always be clear in what it is I do. I built my business brand around me and my passion of music. Kyle Lacy and his company, Brandswag, helped me with branding and web design. When I came into corporate Indianapolis over two years ago, I was completely freaked out on whether or not folks would accept me because of my nearly full sleeves. Here I am, this tattooed girl, who plays in a rock band, and has this grand idea to incorporate rock n’ roll into business. Hence, social media rock star.  Indianapolis…the people and the businesses here have been amazing, accepting, and so gracious. I love this city.

At the end of the day, I have a beautiful, 5-year-old daughter to support, a community to lift up, a business to run, and music to create. I will not stop doing what I do because I am extremely passionate about it. After all, “all we have are our love and our guts, baby.”

Opening title credited to “Traffic,” by the band Bitch and Animal

I’ve known Clint since I was a teenager. We grew up in the same town. We never really hung out intensively, but I always knew he was a cool guy. Clint is super artistic and is currently a tattoo apprentice, plus kind of looking for something to do while he perfects his craft. His life revolves around finding deeper meaning to art and life. He is a huge supporter of his friends (I know this because he has always been to my shows, and supports other local musicians.) He doesn’t just talk about doing things. He does them.

The other day, we were having lunch at Yats in Broadripple to catch up on life. Clint was telling me about this homeless guy here in Indianapolis. Clint has struck up a relationship with this guy. He told me he felt like he needed to “sponsor” this man. All I could do was smile. Clint has given him some money, has sought him out to give him things he needs such as long underwear, and is just making an effort. He knows a bit about what this man is into, and has taken TIME to do this. In turn, this homeless man knows that someone out there is thinking about him and cares about his well-being. Now, THAT is contribution.

I know that I can get so caught up in my life and daily drama…and I have lots of it right now. And Clint, he has his own issues too. But at the end of the day, he knows there’s a bigger picture.

Are you counting your blessings? Are you giving back? Are you lifting others up…strangers even? I feel we have not only a responsibility to ourselves and our families. We have a responsibility to our community. I know often blog about supporting our artists, businesses, musicians, and not-for-profits. I never thought about just seeing someone who needs help, and making sure on a continual basis, that they’re okay.  It really made me think.

So, anyway…thanks Clint for caring for this guy who needs love. After all, we all need love. Give a little today. That is how you can make this world better.

You know, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be hungry. I never really thought about it much until I jumped on board with Carb Day For A Cause. I mean, how often do we exaggerate ourselves by using the common phrases, “I’m STARVING,” or “I’m so hungry I could die.” I mean, seriously…are we really? …Uh, no. I honestly am thankful and blessed to have never known what it means to have to go without food. There is a world full of folks out there however, who can’t say the same thing. It’s quite humbling. Okay, I’m stoked to be eating pancakes for charity in a couple of weeks. I feel honored to be a part of the amazing people behind Carb Day For A Cause.

You know, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be hungry. I never really thought about it much until I jumped on board with Carb Day For A Cause. I mean, how often do we exaggerate ourselves by using the common phrases, “I’m STARVING,” or “I’m so hungry I could die.” I mean, seriously…are we really? …Uh, no. I honestly am thankful and blessed to have never known what it means to have to go without food. There is a world full of folks out there however, who can’t say the same thing. It’s quite humbling. Continue…