Sorry I have been off the map on this blog for a while. Leading up to and after BlogHer '08 I was really busy. The summer really, really flew by for me - I didn't enjoy it much, actually. I missed my kids. I missed my home. I literally wanted to throw my computer out the window half the time. I was buried in work and in email and in all of it. Then...September came and my three kids and I started their parent participation preschool. Work slowed down by its own accord - my major technology licensing client that is very quarter-end sales driven simply wasn't having any sales this September. And with the economy, who knows? I was not expecting this slow-down in work, but my business is often a roller-coaster and it turned out to be a good thing at this time. I was able to focus on my kids, to catch up with them and with my home life, to take just a few minutes every day to just think. It has been really nice. The money thing is ok. I am spending less in general - along with the rest of the world, right? And I am finding that I am happier for it. I have been craving a simpler life and I really don't need ALL THAT.
Now that I am at a place where I can take a breath, I have been thinking. A lot. About what next and how. A few things recently have inspired me. At a board retreat with my kids' preschool - I am the membership chair there - one of my favorite teachers, Annie (she teaches the 2 year old class and I have had conversations with her a few times that have changed my life perspective in just a couple of mintues) led us through an exercise about shapes - are you a circle, a square, a triangle, a squiggle, or a rectangle? I thought I was maybe a squiggle and/or a circle. But I think maybe I am also a bit of a rectangle right now, as that shape signifies transition. You are only a rectangle for a brief period of time on your way from one shape to another.
I have been reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Right now, I am praying in India along with Liz. Last week I was gaining weight in Italy and reading about transformation. It may not take a year-long trip to three countries of the world to realize that you don't have to be what you were yesterday or last year or what you were when you were in college or what you thought you would be. It is about being here, present, in the now.
Then this morning I read a post by one of my favorite bloggers, Gwen Bell. I am not a daily reader (of any blog, really), but I met Gwen briefly at BlogHer '08 and am a twitter friend of her. She is always inspiring and did not disapppoint today. She actually posted this on Saturday, so I am a couple of days late in reading it, but no matter. The message is somewhat similar to what I am reading about in Eat, Pray, Love and it is timeless and, at the same time, very current in the wave of collaboration projects that are taking place in the Web 2.0 world. Here's an excerpt (read the whole post here):
"Practice like your hair is on fire. We have to possess that spirit of giving. That’s part of the practice. Not be be all doomsday, but you can’t take it with you when you die. So practice giving it away now. Touch that place within you that recognizes your connection to all people, everywhere. Forget follower numbers, forget friend numbers. Focus on sharing what you have, giving what you can. Maybe you won’t get that slice of cake today or next week. But, guaranteed, living your life for in the spirit of giving, being aware you will die (without getting paranoid about it) and focusing on making the most out of what you have while you’re alive… Don’t practice with thoughts of reward. Practice like your hair is on fire. You don’t need me to explain what that really means. Only you know what that means. Only you know how to do it. So get out there and practice. Like your hair is on fire."
Last Spring when I started doing a lot of legal work with bloggers, I felt a real need in this community, especially among mommy bloggers, but others as well, for simple education about how to protect yourself and your work. After all, many successful bloggers were never educated in the ways of business and law. They are simply great writers and have a need to protect their content and their brands. I thought about writing a book. Then I thought about just publishing on my blog, since, after all, I was thinking about helping fellow bloggers and you are all sitting in front of your laptops anyway. I spoke to many people about it and I remember one conversation in particular in which a fellow lawyer told me "Don't educate people for free. You have to have a backend." As in, don't ever give away your knowledge without the promise of a monetary reward for it. Yes, this is my business - I have legal knowledge that I have traditionally sold at an hourly rate. But I completely disagree with this stance and it is exactly what Gwen is talking about. When I think about it, this is why I don't work for a law firm. Why I went into practice/business for myself. Why I took 2 years "off" between law school and taking the bar exam (yes, I did pass the first time when I did decide to take it) to work at Silicon Valley start-ups. I don't enjoy the clock and tracking hours. I do enjoy being involved with interesting, inspiring, useful business ventures. But I was persuaded in this direction and I now realize that the need for comfort has crept up on me of late and that this fear of "giving it away for free" has stopped my from writing in a useful capacity on this blog.
So here I am, deciding to just write some thoughts down for people who may benefit from my knowledge. With no expectation or promise of reward. Simply to share. New clients that I take on will not be at an hourly rate, but always at value pricing, as I have started doing for some recent clients. I will work on figuring that out as I go...I have no doubt that it can be done.
The first topic I would like to share some of my thoughts on is trademarks, as this is a question I hear very often from bloggers. To come shortly...stay tuned.
