Saturday, August 9, 2008

Travel, Novel and more

Since the last post, long ago, my experience of life has been like being in a washing machine - I will come out new and sparkling but there's a lot of turning upside down and inside out in the process.

In July I attended Roger Hamilton's Wealth Dynamics Experience - a great way to work out how to best leverage your strengths, provide maximum value and make use of wonderful complementary networks to achieve your goals.

The next week I took my 12 year old daughter, Alex, to the Australian outback, a wonderful 8 day experience involving camels and trans-continental trains which had me well outside my comfort zone the whole time.

My time since being back has been focused on marketing old and new parts of my business. My newly branded websites are launched: http://www.homestyle.co.nz/ and http://www.businessstyle.co.nz/ now coordinating with my personal site http://www.jennifermanson.co.nz/. Thanks to Phillippa and the team at Mega Advertising http://www.megaadvertising.co.nz/.

I have signed an online distribution contract for my audio program "How to Prepare a House For Sale" - if you are thinking of selling this is great for giving you the buyer's perspective and easy steps to property presentation that sells - you can find it on the Home Style site.

I've made many contacts with Real Estate agents and companies about my Home Staging and Property Presentation services, and launched a Real Estate Agent training program, teaching agents to do what I do as an additional service to their clients. Many agents already do this well, but more information and a chance to focus on it is always beneficial.

The other big news is the novel. The working title is "Law of Attraction" and it follows the life of a woman who breaks out of her expected role and creates a successful business of her own. As a reader I am always looking for positive fiction, so that is what I aim to provide as a writer. I also look for role models in the real world.

"Law of Attraction" aims at uplifting and inspiring and providing a role model for women creating their own designed life. Email me at jennifer@jennifermanson.co.nz if you would like a preview of the opening chapters.

After initial feedback from the publisher and novel coach I have just finished a completely rewritten second draft. It goes out for feedback and market testing this week. I am terrified. From a creative perspective it is easy to read any feedback as criticism and take it to heart. I have great support, however, and this is getting near the last step before publication. If I screw up my eyes tight and use my imagination, I can see this phase as an opportunity for growth.

Time to be really, really brave.

Cheers,

Jennifer.