May-June - Issue #63

• Intro
  
• Article - How to Unlock Your Creative Motivation: Bruce Stanley
  
• The Office Corner
  
• Grammar Question of the Month - Compliment versus Complement
  
• Tech Tips by Terence Kierans - Putting a Graphic in a Header or Footer
  
• Writing Corner
  
• Word of the Month - eke
  
• Recommendations
  
• Judy's Corner
  
• Judy's Photo Gallery
  

* Network, network, network. Martha Retallick recommended a great website, http://freelanceswitch.com, and I subscribed. One of the first articles I received via email made me think of you. I contacted the writer, Bruce Stanley, and he gave me permission to reprint it. I actually used the article on his blog, which was a bit shorter, but if you want to read the more comprehensive article at Freelance Switch, go to http://freelanceswitch.com/working/how-to-unlock-your-creative-motivation/

If you're a writer, you might want to submit articles to Freelance Switch. In any event, always be open to the ideas swirling around you. You never know when just the right idea for your business will land on your shoulder!

by Bruce Stanley

Take a look at these five key motivations for the creative process and work out where the force is strong with you. Tailoring your work to suit your strengths and weaknesses can mean jobs become rewarding activities rather than laborious headaches. Most people are strongly motivated by only one or two of the following. It might help to imaging a recent project from your own work.

  1. Competition – being the best or unique. What gets you up in the morning is the idea that what you will eventually deliver will be better than everyone else's. You like standing out from the crowd or coming first in the pack.
  2. Process – building something step by step. You love being there behind the drawing board, notepad or wherever the working surface of your job takes you. Just doing what you do, practicing your skill is your motivation.
  3. Product – seeing the finished article. Even before you've started you can imagine the task completed. Pictures on a wall, pots on a shelf, an album being played. The rest, making the thing, comes second.
  4. Effect – the audiences' appreciation of the product. What gets you out of bed, tackling those moments of low motivation is the idea that people will love and appreciate what you've made and that, somehow, you will get to hear some of that feedback.
  5. Oversight – controlling the whole process or team. You can see all of the stages needed to bring an idea to production. Your motivation is to oversee all of the work and ensure that it all joins up. This tends to only apply to groups working together.

Build on your strengths

You can begin to restructure or craft your job to suit your particular strengths. Pick positions or tasks that naturally suit your motivation. Make the most of the stages of the job that you know you'll really enjoy. Find a balance between your intrinsic and extrinsic motivation if you use this model to enhance your commercial work. If you apply it to your leisure time creativity then intrinsic motivation is more important.

Work on your weaknesses

Recognize the stages of the process that you're not strong in and plan around them accordingly. It could be that you can avoid that stage altogether. If, for example, you are strong in Product and Effect motivation but weak at Process, you may be in a hurry to finish a job with a cost to quality. Simply knowing that could encourage you to take more care or you could work with someone else to check your work through the process stage.

Another strategy is to save your most focused and energized working time for the stages of the process you are less motivated by – and to set small, clearly measurable targets for that work.

Bruce Stanley ran away from the Circus to become a creativity and happiness coach. He specializes in finding ways to make work easier and loves providing "Aha!" moments through his resources.
http://www.embody.co.uk/

1. FONTIFIER: Fontifier lets you use your own handwriting for the text you write on your computer. It turns a scanned sample of your handwriting into a handwriting font that you can use in your word processor or graphics program, just like regular fonts such as Helvetica.
http://www.fontifier.com

2. TAKE IT FOR A SPIN: Trial and Demo Versions of Desktop Publishing Software. Before you start downloading all those free trials, get some tips on evaluating software with trial versions then go download.
http://tinyurl.com/537kyc

3. WHY FACEBOOK AND LINKEDIN ARE GOOD FOR YOUR BUSINESS by Stephanie Ward
http://www.businessknowhow.com/internet/facebook.htm

4. DOING TOO MUCH? by Janet Attard
http://tinyurl.com/3mwwnw

5. IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION by Tim Knox
http://www.businessknowhow.com/startup/location.htm

6. BUSINESS CARDS THAT WORK by Janet Attard
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/business-card-design.htm

Did you know there are major differences between "compliment" and "complement"?

COMPLIMENT
"Compliment" is more commonly used. It means saying something nice about someone.

Examples: Mari Bontrager complimented Will Bontrager on his latest software...Michelle Dunn complimented Terence Kierans on his technical support tips... My compliments to the chef.

COMPLEMENT
"Complement," much less common than "compliment," has several meanings associated with matching, completing, or perfecting. If you're not giving someone praise, the word is usually "complement."

Examples: My new yellow socks complement my orange shoes...His purple hair complements his green eyes...The Air Force base has a full complement of pilots.

EXCEL

Putting a Graphic in a Header or Footer

There is a direct capability to place graphics in headers or footers. Just follow these steps:

1.	Choose "Page Setup" from the File menu. Excel will display the Page Setup dialog box.
2.	Click on the "Custom Header" or "Custom Footer" button, depending on which one you want to change. Excel will display either the Header or Footer dialog box.
3.	Select the section of the header or footer in which the graphic is to appear (left, centre, or right).
4.	Click on the "Insert Picture" button, (the second button from the right.) Excel will display the "Insert Picture" dialog box.
5.	Use the controls in the dialog box to locate and select the graphic you want in the header or footer.
6.	Click on "Insert". The graphic is placed at the designated spot in the header or footer, displaying the code &[Picture] where the graphic will appear.
7.	Make any other changes to the header or footer, as desired.
8.	Click on the "OK" button to close the Header or Footer dialog box.
9.	Click on "OK" to close the "Page Setup" dialog box.

Terence Kierans
Cyberspace Virtual Services
tkierans@virtualservices.com.au
http://www.virtualservices.com.au/
We keep your project on the boil, while you sleep

1. DRESS YOUR SALES PAGES FOR SUCCESS: 5 Tips For Creating Appealing Sales Pages by Elizabeth Adams.
http://www.elizabethadamsdirect.com/newarticles/dress-up.html

2. COPYEDITING - ONLINE TRAINING: The experts at Copyediting have embarked on an ambitious plan: to create a flexible program of editing tutorials for experienced editors and novices alike.
http://www04.mcmurry.com/product/CE/Training.php

3. To capitalize or not to capitalize—how do you spell "Internet"? Government Computer News
http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/26963-1.html

4. LINCOLN, MARK TWAIN & LIGHTNING: CHOICE WORDS ON WORD CHOICE
http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/choosewords.htm

Main Entry:2eke
Function:transitive verb
Inflected Form:eked ; ek-ing
Etymology:Middle English, from Old English *ecan, *can; akin to Old High German ouhh*n to add, Latin aug*re to increase, Greek auxein
Date:before 12th century

1 archaic : INCREASE, LENGTHEN
2 : to get with great difficulty — usually used with out *eke out a living*

*By permission. From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary at www.m-w.com by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

1. HAL ALPIAR'S BLOG: if you're a small business person who wants to improve, visit Hal Alpiar's blog. It's a must-read publication. He is an amazing communicator and human being.
http://halalpiar.com/

2. COMMERCIAL GRAPHIC DESIGN IS NOT SELF EXPRESSION by Chuck Green. Take a look at your design portfolio. Does piece one for client A have distinct similarities to piece one for client B? By that I mean, do the pieces share similar concepts and/or layouts? Do the same typefaces, color palettes, and types of imagery appear project after project? Is there a "look and feel" that permeates everything you do? If so, there could be a problem.
http://tinyurl.com/585kmk

3. TALKING ABOUT DISABILITY: A Guide to Using Appropriate Language
http://www.traponline.com/language.htm

4. METRICS 2.0: According to a recent study, business managers spend up to 2 hours a day searching for information to do their jobs. Metrics 2.0 helps business executives, managers, consultants, and investment professionals save time and do their jobs more effectively by keeping them informed of important data-driven big picture business and market trends.
http://www.metrics2.com/blog/2006/04/03/about_metrics_20.html

5. THE ONE-PAGE BUSINESS PLAN FOR YOUR BOOKKEEPING SERVICE by Linda Hunt...and this article applies to all small businesses that offer services
http://tinyurl.com/6nkxzd

6. STEPHEN BROCKELMAN'S BLOG: Take time to read Brockelman's blog. You'll be glad you did. It's a symphony of good presentation and information.
http://www.baltimore21201.typepad.com/

What a breezy month or two. Literally. Arizona has had numerous windy days, accompanied by moderate, beautiful weather. During that time, I've been able to take some good photos, and work on developing the plants in my front and back yards. My sunflowers are in full bloom, and I plan to quadruple them next year. They are unusually photogenic.

On a Friday and Saturday in late May, I attended three memorial services in two days. What a mixed blessing. They were three extraordinary women, and they will be missed, and they all left behind a legacy of giving that is awesome. These women, Ruth Ann McCormick, Nita Gabe, and Julia Harper, went through life cheerfully taking care of obligations, and taking time to help others along the way. They're my heroes.

Love photography? If you own PaintShopPro, you can start your own gallery on one of Corel's websites. The site allows others to vote on the quality of the photos in each gallery, and has a good forum. The reason: to promote a new print publication PaintShopPro Magazine. Take a look. In addition to the magazine, the site is going to work for many photographers.
http://www.officialpspp.com/

Buckeye Butterfly taken at Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, by Judy Vorfeld, May 2008

Brenda's Rose, taken by Judy Vorfeld at Brenda's Peoria home.

Frog taken at Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, by Judy Vorfeld, May 2008

Bronze sunflower raised by Judy Vorfeld, taken May 2008. Edited using Virtual Painter 5 Gothic Oil Painting.

White Tank Mountains, Arizona, taken by Judy Vorfeld and edited using Virtual Painter 5 Gothic Oil Painting

Zebra Longwing Butterfly taken at Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, by Judy Vorfeld, May 2008

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