Lunch with Two Busy Ladies

It isn’t easy getting two of the busiest women I know together on the same day for lunch. With some careful planning, long-time friends Linda Anger, Lin Klaassen, and I were able to meet last week at my home and we sure had a lot of catching up to do!

On the top of the list was celebrating Anger’s newly published, “Sweeping the Floors of the Full Crumb Café”. This book of contemporary poetry, essays and short fiction invites the reader to a “metaphorical eatery where the door is always open and the food is always fresh”.  More details about the book can be found here

She clued us in on her latest project about the secrets we keep from each other and from ourselves. What kind of secrets? She is asking us to share any secret about our self-worth, our weaknesses, and our relationships. 

Anger (pictured on left) encourages you to send your sex fantasies, porn, or any secrets that would be offensive to the average person elsewhere. Secrets that answer the questions: what are people ashamed of? What are the “…if you knew the truth, you wouldn’t want to be my friend” secrets? What have people whispered to you when they start with “Don’t tell anyone”? She promises to keep your response totally confidential, and will never reveal your name. You can contact her at info@thewriteconcept.com

When not writing books, Anger is the President of The Detroit Working Writers  and the Owner of The Write Concept

Face Reader Lin Klaassen (pictured on right) can now add “cover girl” to her long list of accomplishments. She was highlighted in a wonderful article in the September-October 2014 issue of “Women 2 Women Michigan”, written by Elaine Stenger, Ph.D., touting her expertise as one of the top face reading experts in the world and is featured on the cover of the magazine. The full article can be viewed here.

The 3,000 year old method of face reading, commonly called physiognomy, has been scientifically validated to be 92% accurate and has a wide variety of applications, such as in jury selection, law enforcement, business hiring, dating, and in playing the game of poker. Klaassen travels the country as a keynote speaker and teaches workshops on this ancient art to corporate groups or organizations.

She is currently putting together webinars to feature basic face reading to singles actively dating that want to identify compatible or worrisome characteristics of their date as well as to poker players hoping to up their game. Her website is loaded with information on everything you could ever want to know about face reading, including how to get personal reading.

Author Writes A Real Life Who-Done-It Thriller

If you were faced with having a kidney transplant, what would you do while you recuperate? If you are Carol Teegardin, you write a book.

Summoning the skills she learned over 16 years as an investigative reporter for the Detroit Free Press, Carol wrote an unbiased account of Tamara Greene, the 27-year old exotic dancer that was murdered in 2003 after performing at an alleged party thrown by former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the Manoogian Mansion.  Her book, “Strawberry: How an Exotic Dancer Toppled Detroit’s Hip Hop Mayor”, explores all the much publicized twists and turns of this real life who-done-it thriller that was the start of the decline of the wildly popular mayor.

The book explores the theory that Greene was killed after the mayor’s wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, came home to the mansion unexpectedly to witness the party and then physically attacked the strippers who were performing there. Investigators later speculated that Greene’s murder was a "deliberate hit" by a member of the Detroit Police Department, perhaps to cover up the fact that there even was such a party. But who ordered the “hit”?

Carol has also written “Strawberry” into a play and a screenplay is now in the works.  If you would like to purchase a copy of the book, contact the author at ctee123@yahoo.com. The cost is $10.

Now that she’s back on her feet, Carol is more active than ever before. When not promoting her book, she’s a substitute teacher, is acting in a local production of “Hairspray” at Henry Ford Community College, and is looking forward to becoming a part of the “Proving Innocence” project, a local initiative to free innocent men and women wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. She also is making plans to hike parts of the Appalachian Trail.  

Marketing Tip #30 - Spell Check Can Be Your Friend

Proofread. Proofread. And proofread again. Lately, I’ve gotten quite a few email blasts that were riddled with typos and grammatical errors. Hey, I’ve been guilty too. Even though I have five proofreaders look over my e-newsletter before I hit “send”, errors do happen. No time to have someone give your missive a once-over? Remember, Spell Check can be your friend, most of the time.  When there are errors, people view you as unprofessional and don’t take your message seriously. Not to mention all the emails and calls you will get pointing out the mistakes. 

Maurer Marketing Minutes #46-Bill Pirtle-The Savvy Business Owner’s Guide

Maurer Marketing Minutes-#46-Bill Pirtle-The Savvy Business Owners Guide

Bill Pirtle, author of “Navigating Through the Risks of Credit Card Processing”, was asked to write an article to benefit readers of a publication in his industry. He determined from his own clientele that most of them weren't using social media simply because they didn't understand the technology. Bill wrote a very informative two-part article explaining social media and how to use it to promote your business and to set you up as an expert in your field. He asked a panel of “pros” to contribute to the article, including Terry Bean, Corey Perlman, Al Crawford, Michael Angelo Caruso, myself and others. Links to the articles: http://tinyurl.com/48ra698 and http://tinyurl.com/4h2p5kv.

Contact Bill at 734-272-6177 or mpctpublishing@gmail.com

Maurer Marketing Minutes #38-Cliff Suttle-Excite your Audience #1

Maurer Marketing Minutes #38-Cliff Suttle-Excite Your Audience #1
In the first of a three-part interview, Cliff Suttle, owner of Excite Your Audience, Executive Coach and author of “The Anti-Elevator Speech”, describes the traditional 30- or 60-second “elevator pitch” as just a glorified commercial. “We hate commercials and usually tune them out.” As an alternative, Suttle promotes engaging an individual in conversation by hooking them with a tag line, giving them just enough information to interest them. Then “shut up and make them ask for more”. Find out more about Cliff at his website www.ExciteYourAudience.com, or call him at 248-348-1023 or email him at Cliff@CliffSuttle.com.

Cliff Suttle-Public Speaking
Cliff Suttle-“How to become Meeting Royalty”

Maurer Marketing Minutes #36-Jean Tobin Zawlocki-“Help! My company is going out of business! What do I do now?”

Maurer Marketing Minutes #36-Jean Tobin Zawlocki-"Help! My company is going out of business! What do I do now?

After 22 years in the Human Resource industry, Jean Tobin Zawlocki wrote “Help! My Company is Going Out of Business, What Do I Do Now?” What she didn’t realize is that when you finish the book and it is published, the author has to self-promote the book. Without hiring a Public Relations professional or a working knowledge of social media options, Jean has found that getting the word out about the book is taking “three times longer than I ever imagined”. Hear about my newest client’s adventures in self-promotion. Contact her at jmzawlocki@yahoo.com or view her profile at www.linkedin.com/in/jeanzawlocki.

Maurer Marketing Minutes #26-Dan Walker-“The Customer’s Way”

Maurer Marketing Minutes #26-Dan Walker-The Customer's Way
When Dan Walker wrote and published his book, “The Customer’s Way”, he began to build credibility in his field and set himself up as an expert. The book, which presents a novel approach to building better customer relations, has become a marketing tool for informing his clients exactly what he does as well as being an informative and fun way to deliver his message to all his business constituents. Dan can be reached via email at dan@riversendconsulting.com, or by phone at 248-770-2554 or visit his website at www.RiversEndConsulting.com.
Direct download: MMM-26-Dan_Walker-Author_of_The_Customers_Way.mp3

Maurer Marketing Minutes #13-David Haslam-HMSI Publishing

Maurer Marketing Minutes #13-David Haslam-HMSI Publishing
You’ve taken the time to write your book. Now what? There are three ways to get that book published: you can get lucky enough to have a big publishing house behind you; you can self-publish; or you can go through an author-funded publisher. David Haslam, President of HMSI Publishing, and author of “The Twitter Workbook”, discusses the challenges an author faces in getting their book published, distributed and promoted. Contact David at 734-259-0387, email at drh33@hmsi-inc.com or visit his website at www.publishHMSI.com
Direct download: MMM-13-David_Haslam-HMSI_Publishing.mp3