Finding Time for Marketing

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Phillippians 4:19.

I met with a writing friend yesterday. We talked about how a writing career demands a certain amount of marketing be done to sustain the writing. She had heard at a writing conference that for every one hour of writing you must put in one hour of marketing.

I concurred. “But I don’t have that much time to do both!” she cried. “I barely have enough time to write an hour a day during the week.”

“What we’re doing right now can be considered marketing,” I told her. “Talking about writing over coffee while learning about people to contact or new magazines at the library or a change in editors – all of that can be considered marketing. Browsing through magazines at the doctor’s office or while standing in line at the check-out or while waiting on your child to finish his piano lesson. That can all be marketing time.”

She looked relieved. It would be hard to squeeze 5 extra hours of marketing into an already busy schedule for someone who manages 5 hours of writing per week. But if you look at it as squeezing those hours into time you already have and using it constructively, it isn’t so hard to do.

How have you worked in your marketing time to your schedule? Has it been a challenge to find time to do it? Or have you found niches of time to expand your writing horizons?

Write and let me know your newest marketing strategy. I’m always looking for ideas in this area. Take care,

Jesse Owens -- one of America's greatest athletes

Yesterday, September 12, was the birthday of Jesse Owens, one of the greatest track stars ever to be born in the US. He was born in 1913, the son of sharecroppers in Oakville AL. After many years of training diligently in running and jumping, Jesse Owens, an African-American, competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. There, in front of Hitler who despised African-Americans and 100,000 other Germans, Jesse Owens won four gold medals, as well as setting Olympic and world records. His record in the long jump stood for 24 years.

The story of Jesse Owens’s rise to fame is simple – it was based on plain, hard work. He didn’t have money or influence to push him to the front of the Olympic team. He just had a desire to win and listened to his coaches’ advice.

I am working on a big story for a major magazine about the friendship that developed between Jesse Owens and Luz Long, his German competitor for the broad jump in the 1936 Olympics. It should be a good article, as it represents a supreme example of sportsmanship on the part of Luz Long and a willingness to communicate with someone of a different race on the part of Mr. Owens.

There's not a lot of data on Luz Long, but it appears he may have been the first winner of the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship. These are rarely awarded so it is a big thing. Pierre was the man who organized the Olympics in 1896.

Now that the research is nearly completion, it’s time for the writing. I like to learn things during research but the writing is what benefits the reader and pleases the editor. I’ll post when the article is published – it may be several months from now. Hopefully, readers will find it inspiring and worthwhile of publication.

I encourage everyone reading this to study more about the life of Jesse Owens. Several books have been written about him, including The Legend of Jesse Owens by Hank Nuwer and Jesse Owens : an American Life by William J. Baker.

Jesse Owens also wrote 2 books: Blackthink and I Have Changed. He talks about Luz Long in his books and equates Long’s actions to him that day as some of the best that ever happened to him.

There is a Jesse Owens Foundation that provides scholarships for students. Here’s the website:

http://www.jesse-owens.org/about1.html

You can learn more about Jesse Owens there and at your local library. Write and let me know what you think about this athlete after doing some of your own research.

Take care,

Adventures Await!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. Explanation: at the end of July we moved a son and daughter to opposite ends of the country to begin new jobs and careers. They are doing well and learning much about their new cultures and the people who live there. We’re happy for them and pray for them daily.

Then in August we said good-bye to our youngest who headed off to college. That leaves us empty nesters. It is a funny feeling to not have to pay attention to the radio to check for fog delays or think of school supplies or back to school nights or homework or a myriad of other school-related activities.

Instead, my husband and I are getting to know each other again. We have time to take care of the lawn when it needs it, go to the library for ourselves and join mid-week Bible Studies. It is quiet around here and a lot less dishes and laundry.

We’ve heard from all three kids regularly and they are seemingly happy. It will probably be several months before they all feel comfortable where they are, especially since none of them knew anyone in their new cities.

But we’re proud of them for venturing out and being excited and courageous enough to want to see a new part of the world. That is better than staying in your hometown all of your life. We chose to come back to our hometown after living in a busy metropolitan area because of the quality of life for our kids. Schools were saner here and there was family.

But now they have no attachments and are able to make their own decisions without considering anyone else. They are free and unencumbered. Who knows how long that will last? They should enjoy it while they can.

Each day I try to send them a verse from the Bible as encouragement. Today’s from www.biblegateway.com is very appropriate:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”- Psalm 121:1-2

I hope they will always look to God for their hope and help. There is none other that is worth relying on.

What do you put your faith in? I hope it is the same Source.

Have you been adventurous lately? If so, let me know. I’d like to hear about it.

Take care,