http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog 2009-01-05T01:10:00Z Alisa Bowman en http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/439 Among freelance writers, blogging and guest posting are quite controversial topics. The debate has two sides, or camps.The Write-Only-for-Money Camp: "It's bad enough that some writers are willing to work for pennies. Now you bloggers are putting your stuff out there for free. Do you realize that if you keep doing that, no one will want to pay any of us anything?! We will all starve. Is that what you want? Is it?"The Write-What-We-Want-Even-if-We-Don't-Get-Paid Camp: "But blogging is really f... 439 2009-01-05T01:10:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/421 Thanks to Karen Renzi, fellow STS blogger, for encouraging me to think about resolutions. I've been procrastinating this task. Today is New Year's Eve.What will I resolve to do in the next year?That question leads me to ask another question, "Is a resolution different from a goal?" For instance, I already have about 378 goals for next year: Write two guest blogs a month (more on this in another blog) Break down my memoir into a book proposal, get over my fear of rejection, and sen... 421 2008-12-31T17:59:05Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/411 I've wanted to hold a contest at Project Happily Ever After for a while. After all, all of the blogging experts keep telling me that contests are one of the fastest ways to build exposure for a blog. Yet, I've been stymied for many months. What should I give away? How do I figure out who wins? How do I make sure people ever find out about the contest in the first place? Now, after months of reading about contests and studying other people's contests, I've created a strategy. I will write abou... 411 2008-12-28T14:05:37Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/385 I've probably learned everything I know about StumbleUpon in much the same way I've learned about Twitter--by falling on my face. To prevent you from scraping your knees up, too, I thought I'd offer up all of my hard earned tips here. StumbleUpon is one of many social bookmarking sites. To get started, you need to use either Firefox or Internet Explorer. Don't even think about trying to use SU with Safari. It just won't work. To get started, you go to this page http://www.stumbleupon.com/ ... 385 2008-12-19T18:20:04Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/366 I wanted to get A LOT more done today. I wanted to get so much done that I nearly started my work day last night. Thankfully, I listened to the part of my body that said, "You want to do what?! Nuh-uh sister. Your pillow is calling." So, at 7 a.m. this morning, I had 9 things on my to-do list. Granted, I always write 3 items on my to-do list that I have no intention of accomplishing. I just put them there in the event of a space time miracle. If I find that the rest of the items are crossed... 366 2008-12-15T20:21:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/357 Experts say that mental challenges keep our brains young. If that's really true, I figure I've subtracted at least 7 years off my brain's biological age during the past 4 months that I've been blogging.How could I not have? Not a day goes by that I don't confront some word, expression, or abbreviation that completely stumps me. For instance, a few months ago, I was surfing around a mom's networking site. I'm a mom. The other women on the site are moms. I figured we'd all speak one another's l... 357 2008-12-12T16:55:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/342 Ever had your index fingers stuck in one of these bamboo cylinders? It's an anxiety producing experience. You pull and pull and pull and the dang thing gets tighter and tighter and tighter. You give up and sob your eyeballs out because you think your only escape entails chopping off your index fingers.Yet as you mourn the eventual loss of your fingers, a strange thing happens: you escape. Just.Like.That.Indeed, the secret to getting out of Chinese Fingercuffs is the Art of Not Struggling. The... 342 2008-12-09T19:13:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/322 This is just a short addendum to my last post, "Everything I learned about Twitter I learned from being a screw up." First, I thought of one additional piece of Twitter knowledge that I learned from screwing up. It's this. RT = Re tweet. If You see an RT at the front of someone's post, that means they are passing some other person's post forward. I learned this when I--stupidly--responded to someone's tweet with the information her  RT had asked for, and then she DMed me, telling me th... 322 2008-12-04T17:08:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/316 First things first. I promised someone important that I would do this. Check out Storked! on Glamour.com. That will make sense soon.But first, a story.About 6 months ago, I attended a wine and greet for the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). I had a lot in common with everyone in the room. We were all writers of one type or another, and we were all attending the ASJA conference.You'd think, among networking functions, this one would have been cake.So not. Within 5 seconds of ... 316 2008-12-03T12:28:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/315 Really, it's true. I'm the type of person who does not read instruction manuals. I'm the type of person who says, "New swimming pool? I'll test the waters by jumping off the high dive." Well, maybe not that type of person, exactly, because I have an intense fear of heights, but you get the idea.So, when I first read that Twitter was the new Facebook, I thought, "Well, I better see what this is all about." I typed Twitter into Google. I created a profile, and I sent my first tweet. (That's Twi... 315 2008-12-02T20:39:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/301 It's that time of year when we all take note of the goodness in our lives. This year I think it's particularly important to do so, as so many negative forces are attempting to drag us all down. When I look back at my life just one year ago and compare it to my life now, I'm thankful for: Taking control of my career destiny Finishing my memoir Establishing my blog Getting quoted on cnn.com, Pregnancy magazine, iparenting.com, and a few other outlets. Meeting... 301 2008-11-26T18:58:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/297 Way back in August, when I first started blogging, a friend told me about Penelope Trunk. "She mostly blogs about career stuff, but she also writes about her personal life. She's my favorite blogger. You should check her out."I did. At first, I wasn't impressed, but that was mostly because the initial blogs I read were 100 percent Penelope's bread and butter: career advice. I feel like I should make one of those top 10 lists that says, "You know you've made it when..." Because one of my answe... 297 2008-11-25T14:20:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/282 I was reading Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist today. One quote popped off the page and resonated with my entire being: "As I publish this today, I remind myself to be happy about what feels good, right now, instead of focusing on what I want to change right now. Wherever we are in life, we have two, separate lists, and we can choose which to focus on at any given time. Here's three cheers to choosing the happy list for the day." Thanks for the great reminder Penelope. I soooo needed it. ... 282 2008-11-20T12:19:18Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/271 My business cards for my blog have FINALLY arrived: all 2500 of them. These have been a long time in coming. One, it took me forever to decide what I wanted them to say and look like. Then I needed to wait for my brother to design them. Then I kept screwing up the online ordering process. The poor people at the company that made the cards had to cancel THREE of my orders before I finally ordered and paid for what I wanted. Then, you know, the pony express had to deliver them. But they arriv... 271 2008-11-18T15:05:28Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/264 The American Society for Journalists and Authors (ASJA) has asked me to serve on the Social Media panel for the spring conference. It will be me, Peter Shankman, and one other person.I'm so flattered that I don't know what to do with myself. I also have this incredible "I've made it" sensation because: I'm on a panel with Peter Shankman! Peter is the epitome of social media grace. In fact, I learned most of what I do from studying him. Note: if you don't know Peter, he's the guy who estab... 264 2008-11-16T23:52:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/257 So when I took on this personal project, my main goal was to garner 20,000 monthly blog visitors by January. When I first told Angela--the Savor the Success goddess--about that goal, she asked, "Are you sure that's realistic?" I wasn't sure of anything. Honestly, I'd picked that number randomly. It sounded good. I figured that if Dooce could get 850,000, then I could get 20,000. Yeah, that's about as much thought as I'd put into it. As my traffic increased throughout August and September, i... 257 2008-11-13T15:49:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/240 Someone at STS once encouraged me to Accept Greatness. Today, I was reading about blogging, and one of the tips recommended "embracing failure." It REALLY resonated. After all, the past few weeks haven't been my most successful. I won't recount ALL of the failures, but .... * My hosting company deleted my entire website. * I worked my rear off (well, I really worked it ON considering how much desk chair sitting was involved... but who's looking at my butt anyway?) to write an essay for NYT... 240 2008-11-05T19:23:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/233 It's been two weeks since I met with Bill McGowan at Clarity Media Group for media training. I promised to tell you all about it, like, well, two weeks ago. Then I almost got on national TV only to not get on national TV. Then I got mired in depression. Then my website crashed. So here I am two weeks later to tell you about media training! I scheduled four hours with Bill for three reasons. First, my publicist suggested it. Second, I did a radio interview not too long ago and when I listened... 233 2008-11-03T18:26:12Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/205 I lost my website Thursday night. One moment it was there. The next, it wasn't. All that was left? A blue parking page that said, "This URL has just been purchased." I stared at that parking page for a while. I hit my refresh button a few times. And then panic set in. "It's gone? Gone?" I eventually learned that a misunderstanding between me and a sales person at my hosting company had caused them to delete my entire site. The next morning, my mother called. The stock market was dropping ... 205 2008-10-27T19:29:50Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/197 Did a black cat cross my path? Did I break a mirror? What? What? What did I do? Ugh! Grrr!! Okay, so I'm not even going to go into the past four days. I've written about them in past blogs here. All I'm gonna say is this: not the best days of my business life. I mean, I KNOW: things could be much worse. I could be earning my living by dressing up as an elf for a holiday display. I know. I know. But still! This past week has not been my best. Well, tonight, the stress intensified when I a... 197 2008-10-24T01:29:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/194 A quick recap for those of you who have not been reading along: I'm a ghostwriter who has been trying to break into real writing--memoir, first person, essay, blogging. I've been trying to promote my blog and build a platform for the book, which, thankfully, involve doing the same thing--PR. And earlier this week, I saw that Fox's national morning show was looking for moms who do not believe in spanking. (They also wanted spankers, but I don't fit into that group!) I fired off an email. An h... 194 2008-10-22T22:17:41Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/193 I know you are all waiting to hear whether or not I'll be on national TV this Thursday. (You are all waiting to hear this, right? You follow my every movement, right?) Well, all I can say is this: I have no idea. None. My husband spoke with Blue. We are waiting to hear. Last I spoke to Blue, we were one of the top families under consideration. He also told me that Thursday -- the day they will supposedly do the segment -- is an eternity away. I guess in TV production time, one day = one year... 193 2008-10-22T02:15:33Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/188 So this morning I was going to write a blog. It was going to be something about how I'm all done with The Dark Place, thank that Dark Place very much. I even walked my dog before starting work. It was sooo beautiful outside, and I decided to treat myself to some sunshine, crisp air, and movement. It was during that walk, however, that I encountered the first omen of things to come. The Jehovas were out--in force. I saw the women walking, two by two, up and down the driveways. It wasn't that... 188 2008-10-21T01:29:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/182 First, I want to thank all of you who wrote me--either here in the comments area or privately--about your dark places. It does make me feel better to know that I'm not the only person who goes through this. Second, I started crying this morning--really for no reason. It's just going to be one of those dew-eyed days where the slightest thing sets me off. It made me realize that my dark period might be a little more chronic than I'd thought. I'd been blaming it on hormones until now. This is a... 182 2008-10-16T15:01:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/180 I've been in the dark place the past few days. If you've ever been prone to depression, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, I'll explain briefly. It's that place where everything feels wrong and nothing feels right. In my dark place: * My marriage was in the toilet * I was an idiot for thinking I could accomplish this dream * I was even more of an idiot for thinking that my husband would support it * And even more of an idiot for taking time away from my established payi... 180 2008-10-15T03:29:52Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/163 Well, Dad did manage to find a few shoehorns in his closet. We can trace them back to circa 1970. Not exactly an antique in my opinion. So EBay I went. As it turns out, antique shoehorns are quite easy to find. They are also quite affordable, considering David Sedaris and yours truly are probably the only two people in the world who actually are looking for this sort of thing. They range in price from 99 cents to a few hundred dollars. The higher priced ones were 14 K gold or silver. I ... 163 2008-10-08T20:49:07Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/161 Well I told hundreds (if not thousands) of people about the shoehorn. I told so many people that I had this little fantasy about David himself hearing this nice little story, getting a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, and picking up the phone and calling me to thank me in advance. This is how I imagined the conversation going: Me: Hello Him: Hi Alisa? This is David Sedaris. I understand you are my biggest fan. Me: Who is this really? Is this some sort of cruel joke? Him: Um, no, this is rea... 161 2008-10-07T16:26:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/159 So I opened email this morning and found a message from Mike (aka agent) that said,"Congratulations. It's great! Let's talk." Then I did laps through the house. Then I read the email again. Then I did a few more laps. I know, perhaps it shouldn't be a big surprise. I suppose I'm more surprised than you all are. But it's a huge relief. Just huge.  Now, that said, there are a few things he wants me to tinker with before sending the book out, but they are minor. Overall, it's there. I'm ... 159 2008-10-06T16:15:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/155 So my agent has had my memoir for a month. He hasn't read a page. I know this because he happens to know all about my neurotic personality and occasionally takes pity on me by emailing me and letting me know, "Haven't gotten to it yet, but I will very soon." I'm not the kind of client who asks for much. I'm really not. Some people are squeaky wheels. Others are WD40. I'm the WD40 variety. But this week I got squeaky. One, I just couldn't stand it anymore. Two, I'm waiting on him to tell me t... 155 2008-10-04T17:55:02Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/153 Have you ever woken tired? That's how I've felt nearly everyday this week. At first I blamed it on the weather. Then I blamed it on hormones. Today, I woke with that acidic burn in the back of my throat, you know the kind one gets from post nasal drip. "Oh great, I'm getting sick," I thought. All I want to do right now is go back to sleep. I'm craving it. My body aches. My throat hurts. My eye balls ache. But I have a training session with Capessa in 20 minutes and if I take a nap right now... 153 2008-10-03T15:42:30Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/146 So, as I said recently, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. My site traffic is very close to 2000 monthly uniques. Self magazine just indicated that they are interested in having me write "sex" articles for them. I'm doing relationship articles for American Baby. I am the relationship queen for Capessa. I'm so totally not a ghost writer any more. But with the success comes confusion. For one, one of the reasons my web traffic has grown so quickly is that I'm advertising on Google... 146 2008-09-30T03:51:44Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/136 You know, I check my web email obsessively, almost as obsessively as I check my site stats. And when I log into the webmail for my site, I get REALLY excited if there are 5 messages waiting for me. That means 5 people commented on my site, right? I'm so popular! People love me!  So not. What's usually waiting for me are 5 messages that read like this: (This is a real message, by the way) Name: Lera  City: New York State: New York Email: milop@hotbox.com Comment... 136 2008-09-26T23:11:11Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/133 My agent emailed me this week, not long after I'd sent him a list of my PR activities (who'd quoted me, who I thought was going to quote me, and who I was trying to talk into quoting me). He asked, "Is your crisis of confidence over yet?" I don't remember exactly what was going on when the crisis started and I told him about it. Maybe I was having a bad site traffic day. Maybe a PR op had fallen through. It doesn't take much. Yet, he seems to be clairvoyant sometimes. He was so right that t... 133 2008-09-25T19:32:35Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/124 Well it's official. I just accepted a freelance position as The Relationship Queen for Capessa.com.  I have to say, I would have done it just for the title, but they are actually going to pay me, too. The site is currently under redesign, but my mug, bio and creative posts should be up in the relationship area of the site in early October. I'll be doing a regular Q and A column, editing and managing the other blogs, adding content, and who knows what else.  The site currently has ... 124 2008-09-22T19:13:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/118 Did I tell you just two days ago that my site traffic was dropping? Was I complaining that I couldn't do this, that I would never reach my goal? Was I sulking in a corner? All I can say is this: sad no more! No, I have something else to say: I LOVE THE LADIES AT STS. Thanks to those of you who stumbled my How To Teach Your Man to Romance You, my site stats are through the blogosphere. In just the past hour--that's right--HOUR--268 people have come to my site to check this story out, and t... 118 2008-09-19T19:47:59Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/107 So yesterday I was a sad, dreary person. Today is a new day. Nothing new has happened. My site traffic did not double overnight. The Today Show has not called. A publisher did not discover me. My hair didn't lighten in my sleep. I just woke up and said, "I can do this." I used to have a shirt that said "Can Do" in big block letters. I have no idea what happened to it, but I'm wearing an invisible version of it today.  My morning pep talk was a short one. I asked myself, "What am I dow... 107 2008-09-18T15:21:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/104 So last time I wrote, I was floating above the Earth. I was feeling like a SOMEBODY. Today I'm feeling like a NOBODY, a nobody who will never reach her goals. I know this isn't completely rational. It's a mixture of hormonal issues (yes it is that time), lack of light (time to break out the light box), and overreacting in general. I know I'm obsessing over little things that don't matter, but I can't see to stop myself. The small things that I am obsessing over? Let's see. First, there's th... 104 2008-09-17T21:11:01Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/89 Can you see me doing a little dance? Can you see me waving my arms? Jumping up and down? Today has been a good, good, good day (despite the rain).    Before I get to the good, I have to say: this risk taking and goal setting is like riding a roller coaster. Some days it all feels like a big uphill battle. Nothing seems to be going right. Daily site traffic might be down. Perhaps someone makes a passing comment that just isn't empowering (like the guy who told me the photos of me o... 89 2008-09-12T17:21:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/77 Thanks to everyone who helped with the Digg experiment! Here are the results. ** I got 9 Diggs, and I believe nearly all of them were from people I know personally or who I asked to Digg. Lesson Learned: If there is a tipping point where a few friends digging your site evolves into a digging frenzy, it either A) happens after 9 diggs B) requires a different type of blog or web material that what I've posted ** According to the stats, 14 people have clicked through from Digg. Um, not such a... 77 2008-09-09T18:43:40Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/71 Ladies, I'm hoping you'll help me test the benefits of social bookmarking. I've been sending my blogs to social bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon and so on for a while, but I have hesitated to continually ask friends, family and random people on the street to vote for my blogs on these sites. I guess I'm a little shy. Perhaps I'm not so good at selling myself. Something about the whole idea of "vote for me" feels awkward. Thankfully, I have no aspirations to run for public office. Yet... 71 2008-09-08T17:49:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/68 I just sent my 102,000 word, 367 double-spaced page baby a.k.a. The Marriage Memoir a.k.a. Project: Happily Ever After to my agent. I'm feeling a mixture of exhilaration (I finished it!), fear (will he think it sucks?), and relief (I finished it!). A recap for those who have not followed my story from the beginning: I'm trying to start a new writing career, using what I learned during the year I spent saving my marriage to 1) write and sell a memoir about that experience 2) write and promote... 68 2008-09-05T21:44:33Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/61 Sometimes I really do things backward. For instance, I created a website blog without consulting a single how-to manual on the topic. Now that I've been blogging for a month, I decided to read my first two "how to blog" books over the weekend (I'm a speed reader when it comes to self help). Thankfully, according to the books, I'm already doing a lot right. I learned a few tricks, though, too. I thought I'd pass them on to you all, in case you find them just as useful. 1) If you want comments... 61 2008-09-04T17:52:51Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/58 When I first met with my publicist, she handed me a news article and said, "I have to be honest here. I don't know what this thing is but, I really think we both need to learn more about it." She was talking about Twitter. So, what does a gal with a new blog do? She races home, fires up her computer, types in Twitter, and says, "Exactly what is this thing anyway?" I need to say something right now before I go on much farther. I manage to get myself to learn and understand the latest and gre... 58 2008-09-03T18:43:47Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/49 This week I got confirmation that I will be quoted in articles that will appear in: * Iparenting.com * Cnn.com * Better Homes & Gardens (November) * Redbook (December)--this one is complete with photos! Who-hoo! I've only been actively doing PR for about a month. I'm, of course, doing cartwheels. All of these came about because of HARO (helpareporter.com). If you want exposure and you are not on HARO, I highly recommend it. It's free. You can't beat that. I learned about HARO f... 49 2008-08-29T20:48:24Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/42 Oh, how to blog when I can't even decide if I want to write about pitching the media or about blogging in general. This blog is kind of about both. It all started as I was listening to Susan Harrow on the STS call tonight. She mentioned that Oprah bookers are looking for guests who can make an audience: 1)  Cry 2) Laugh 3) Say, "Wow." (Harrow actually said surprise, but the writer in me wants this to have parallel construction).  I found that point not only refreshing, but also ... 42 2008-08-27T01:56:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/40 What good is reading a blog about success if you don't also get a taste of the setbacks along the way, right? Well, here's a set back for you. Or, perhaps more accurately, an embarrassing moment. One of my goals last week was to send out an e-newsletter. I Use Constant Contact, which advertises that the most illiterate, technologically challenged dummies can send e-newsletters with their software. (They advertise this in a somewhat more professional, less vernacular way). Well, apparently th... 40 2008-08-26T01:12:53Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/35 So my brother -- the all knowing web guru--was on vacation last week. He got back from Boston yesterday. I gave him fewer than 24 hours to unpack and grocery shop. I drove to his place today(Sunday) and pounced with a week's worth of stored up questions. One of my biggest questions centered on how to check my website stats. "Oh that's easy sis," he said. (He ALWAYS says this... It's always easy for him and never easy for me, but I'm digressing). Anyway, he logged onto Google Analytics and, v... 35 2008-08-25T01:25:28Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/32 Top photo = top of Mt. Liamuiga, a huge volcano. The hike did me in. Took three days before I could walk normally, but the view was fantastic. Middle photo: What an island beach looks like during the off (hurricane) season Bottom: Me by a giant leaf in the rain forest      32 2008-08-22T14:23:13Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/31 First, thanks for all of your support. It’s nice to know that I can come to my keyboard, type away about how overwhelmed I feel, post it, and then get lots of advice. I love that we’re all working hard to accomplish our dreams. We’re in this together. Hear us roar! Second, I want to report that I’m feeling much more balanced. I crossed every single emergency off my to-do list. I hit my blogging goals this week. Today, 95 percent of what’s on my to-do list rela... 31 2008-08-22T14:05:29Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/24 Various people on the forums have described me as lucky, and, in many ways, I am. My brother is a web designer who specializes in branding, e-commerce, and SEO. I have to say, he’s quite a good little bro to have. Also, about a year ago, my wonderful agent doubled my writing fee for collaborations. Thanks to him, I made enough money in Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 that I could stop working for a few months –possibly longer—and still be able to pay my bills. Even better, I ma... 24 2008-08-20T19:49:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/20 If you read my initial blog, then you know I’m putting my neck out there in a big way. I’ve got big dreams, and cojonas the size of hot air balloons for telling you all about them. Will I fall on my face? Perhaps. Will it be really embarrassing if I do? Definitely. What I know is this: if I’m going to succeed in Going from Nobody to Somebody in 5 short months, I need support. You all are great, but I’m talking about family support. I’m particularly talking abo... 20 2008-08-18T20:49:00Z http://www.savorthesuccess.com/member/alisa-bowman/blog/5 Project: From Nobody to Somebody in 5 Short MonthsGoal date: January 2009 This blog details my journey from nobody to somebody. It chronicles Project: Platform.“Project” should probably be my middle name. When I was depressed, shy, and self-conscious during my early 20s, I started Project: Get a Personality. I used self-help books to launch Project: Stop the Dog from Eating the Garbage. I did Project: Get Pregnant Already, Project: Healthy Pregnancy, and Project: Get the Baby to ... 5 2008-08-12T04:00:00Z