Chase Small Business Grant - Need Votes Today

Chase Small Business Grant

Yes. I'm shooting for the stars!

I’m sure you’ve been contacted by friends and acquaintances about this Chase, savvy marketing, small business grant.

Well, add me to the list. I know it’s short notice, since the process of garnering 250 votes to be eligible for the grant ends today, June 30th. But, as I always say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So, if you don’t mind, please click on the link:
https://www.missionsmallbusiness.com/#.T-4H7n3VDsg.email

Then click on "Login and Support." They make it easy to use your Facebook account to log in.

Then, please put: Karen Cioffi Writing Services in the SEARCH BOX and click search.

Next, simply scroll down just a bit and VOTE for my business.

Just a note: You can vote for as many businesses as you like and I voted for those who asked my help.

I know it’s a long shot, since it’s late, but . . . I’d really appreciate your help. The grant is for $250,000.

I thought about using Linkedin and other social media mass emails, but I already did that once this week. That’s enough.

If you’d be so kind to SHARE this post, I’d sure appreciate it.

I'm really not crazy about companies making a grant process into a popularity contest, but it is a good marketing strategy on their part to get visitors to their site. Each applicant has to get 250 votes just to be eligibl. That's a lot of people visiting Chase through Facebook.

If you’d like to know more about me before voting, please go to:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/about-karen-cioffi/

Thanks so much,
Karen

Why Do You Write?

Don’t worry about the type of writing you do or how long you’ve had the creative bug. Focus on the reasons why. Some of you may feel an overwhelming need to express yourselves. Others feel a passion for the written word. In both cases, writing comes as naturally as drinking water to satisfy a thirst. You write because you must.

Perhaps you write for yourself, taking satisfaction from forming an idea into a finished piece. Perhaps you write for you family, preserving bits of history for future generations. Perhaps you write for publication, sharing your work with anyone willing to read beyond the first few lines.

What about money? Wouldn’t it be great to be paid for your work? A fiction teacher once told me to consider my reasons very carefully. If I sought fame and/or fortune, I ought to give up writing in favor of more practical skills.

Is it really that difficult to earn a living as a writer?

In the world of creative writing—particularly literary fiction and poetry—proper compensation seems like a half‐forgotten dream. A select few literary journals offer high fees, but competition among writers is fierce. Smaller and less established journals may offer little or no monetary compensation.

In order to earn a living, many writers turn to trade and specialty magazines for more lucrative deals. Feature articles tend to generate considerably more income than creative writing. However, most editors aren’t interested in reading unsolicited manuscripts. For the writer, that means extra time spent on research and crafting a convincing query letter. Why is your article unique? Why are you the best writer for the job? Why should the editor care?

Ultimately, you have to decide if the benefits outweigh your efforts. If you’re making good money but hate what you’re writing, you’ve probably gone off track somewhere along the way. On the other hand, an old adage suggests that if you do what you love, the money will follow.

Betty Dobson is an award-winning writer of short fiction, essays and poetry. She also writes newspaper and magazine articles but is still waiting for those awards to materialize. In the meantime, she continues to run InkSpotter Publishing, which has three new books available and several more in the works for 2012.

FINDING OUT WHAT FUELS YOUR WRITING

When I think of maintaining both a sense of inner peace and personal ambition the following quote by Lao Tzu comes to mind "By doing nothing one could accomplish everything.'"
As a busy mom, writer and psychotherapist, I rarely have time to "do nothing." As I type this entry after midnight, I have two loads of laundry in progress, a feverish child in my bed, and a desk piled high with work. A part of me thrives on burning the candle at both ends and having multiple projects in the works. However, a larger part of me, simply just wants to be relaxed and enjoy exactly where I am in this moment. For me, inner peace is simply about being in the present and knowing that everything will be okay, regardless of how crazy it seems now. Meditation is a great way to infuse your day with inner peace. I try to set aside ten minutes each morning to simply sit and breathe. During meditation, I slowly breathe in and out through my nostrils and gently let go of any thoughts or worries. I allow everything to be as it is. Having thoughts occur during meditation is as natural as breathing. I welcome the thoughts and then quietly let them go as I surrender to silence. At first, I found meditation challenging. I ,too, am ambitious. It was hard for me to sit still and I was eager to get started with the next item on my list. However, after a lot of practice, meditation is now my favorite part of the day. Paradoxically, I find that after this ten minutes of "doing nothing" but meditating, I am most productive. Some of my best ideas and freshest writing come to me after meditation. In a sense, meditation fuels my ambition yet also sustains my sense of inner peace.

 

Meditation feeds my soul and infuses my writing with passion.  What activity works for you?  For some of us, a ten minute walk deeply enhances creativity.  Others may enjoy cooking, gardening, yoga, or a leisurely telephone chat with a treasured friend.  Find out what revives your creativity and make some time to do it. After engaging in your favorite activity, take five minutes to respond to each of the following writing prompts.

 

1. If I knew that I would not fail, I would immediately...

2.  If I had enough time, I would write.,,,

3.  If I had an endless supply of money, time, talent and energy, I would make the following changes in my life....

Aileen McCabe-Maucher is the author of the book "The Inner Peace Diet" which was published by Penguin Books and released in December 2008. Aileen is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who has helped many people find inner peace and discover their unique life purpose. Aileen has worked for over fifteen years as a licensed psychotherapist and registered nurse providing individual and group counseling to a diverse client population. She is a graduate of West Chester University, Widener University, University of Delaware, and The Gestalt Therapy Institute of Philadelphia at Bryn Mawr College. Aileen studied yoga and the chakra system at The Yoga Lifestyle Center in Paoli, Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania and writing her third book.

 

 

Get your completely free Inner Peace Diet E Course today by visiting Aileen's website now at

www.theinnerpeacediet.com

 

Fear

We all deal with fear whether we are conscious of it or not. As writers, we can deal with the fear of failure and rejection. Mark Twain once said:

                  Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.

 

Courage is a decision – not a feeling. It looks fear in the eye and decides to move forward anyway. It doesn’t have to be a determined march either. It can be simply putting one foot in front of the other.

Fear paralyzes. We understand the one who becomes “frozen” with a fear of heights. Writers can become frozen, too, and not move forward.

                              ~

Some fears that can stop a writer:

•     Manuscript rejection(s)
•     Lack of encouragement
•     Comparing yourself to other writers
•      Lack of confidence in your voice or craft 
•      Overly sensitive to critiques
•      Lack of freelance employment 
•    Failure

The only way to be successful is to keep going no matter how you feel or what your experiences have been. If you give up, how will you know if the very next assignment or query may be your breakthrough?

Writers must learn to believe in themselves when no one else seems to. Chances are you write what you love. Keep going and don’t give up! Someone out there needs to read what you write.

Can you list some fears you may have had and how you dealt with them? Or fears you are currently dealing with? 

~~~~~~~~~

Kathleen Moulton is a freelance writer and nature lover. She is married, has 8 children, ages 10-28, and has been homeschooling for 25 years. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope to people of all ages at  “When It Hurts” http://kathleenmoulton.com/


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