Blog Posts
Book Review: Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps
I came across Flickering Pixels through a great article in last month’s Relevant magazine. Intrigued by the article, I trekked to the Christian bookstore to buy it.
I finished in one evening.
Shane Hipps has written a fascinating book on the role media plays on our faith and communication. Not limited to social networking, smart phones and the internet, it examines how the world changed with the invention of the alphabet, the printing press, the camera and finally all the media devices at our disposal now.
We like to blame texting and Facebook for connecting us on a superficial level but the disconnection actually came about when the printing press was invented. “As reading and writing became available to more and more people, the community was no longer needed to retain teachings, traditions, or identity,” Hipps writes.
The book is eye opening—allowing the reader to fully appreciate how the media and the message are both lenses in which we see the world. One cannot be addressed without the other.
I have always been a proponent of offering different modalities for educational materials. I don’t want to download a guide to my iPod or Blackberry. I want a printed booklet in front of me which helps outline the steps. I love my iPod for music but not being an auditory learner, I don’t *get* podcasts or news talk radio at all. I lean towards the written word which explains why solid Christian books speak more to me than the best Sunday sermon.
So of course, at the end of the book, I wanted a concrete To-Do and Don’t Do list. I expected Hipps to suggest ditching all electronic media and return to campfire stories within community. But the point of Flickering Pixels is not admonition. It is a well-written guide, opening your eyes to invisible influences (both good and bad), allowing us to function in the world with deliberation.
His insights on the Christian message were especially thoughtful. For example, our rational (text based) mind turns Christianity into a formula and discounts emotion as irrational. As an avid reader and writer, I do struggle with seeing Christianity as a formulaic solution. Hipps chapter “Dimmer Switch” suggests the “being saved” process is more like a dimmer switch than a light switch was exceptionally profound for me.
Flickering Pixels is a book I will be passing along to friends and family and one that I will reread again and again, trying to absorb the meaty concepts Hipps so eloquently writes.
Analysis: This is a roast with carrots and potatoes book. Substantial and filling, it will challenge you and sustain you. And the carrots will help you see better!
Giving Thanks
Today is Thanksgiving 2008 and my family and I are spending it quietly at home. The turkey (breast only) is in the oven along with the broccoli and rice casserole. And I’ve already nibbled on the cranberry bread with cream cheese. Yum!
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it’a all about community. No gifts are expected, except maybe food or wine. The couch is crowded with family and friends. This is a quiet year for us but it makes it all the sweeter. For Mark’s and my first nine years of marriage, he worked on every Thanksgiving. Around 3 pm, I would bring in plates of food for him and all the rest of the pharmacists on duty. It wasn’t home–it was the hospital’s breakroom. But it felt like family nonetheless.
This year I am especially mindful of the family members I have adopted throughout all our cross country moves. I love my parents, grandma, sisters, nieces, nephews, in-laws, cousins, uncles and aunts. And they can all be found in Michigan, holding a place for me everytime I come to visit.
But I also appreciate the girlfriends, couple friends, kids and families who have adopted us along the way. From Michigan to Atlanta, North Carolina and back to Ohio, our extended family stretches across the miles. Some I talk to weekly; some I see monthly for coffee or at the grocery store. Some get a Christmas card and photo from us but remain on my mind all twelve months of the year. And some have left this earthly plain.
Regardless, I feel rich in community. I am well loved and I hope my loved ones know how well they are loved back. And for that I am thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving!
N@
Have Written
This month is National Novel Writing Month and I am once again participating. I “won” last year, finishing an unreadable and at times embarrassing novel in 30 days. This year I had an awesome concept for my next fiction book but I have not been able to find the time to finish the non-fiction book currently making the rounds. So instead I am writing non-fiction this year.
It is still a phenomenal experience–writing a book. Since I am a writer by trade, I am often told, “Oh, I always wanted to write a book.” A survey shows 81% of Americans want to write a book but less than 1% actually do. And as my college professor, Wally Metts always said,
“No one wants to write a book. They want to have written a book.”
Each day I struggle to log off my work computer, after having written press releases, web copy and blog posts for my clients. The last thing I really want to do is start writing again. I write my NaNo book on my beat-up laptop, on the couch, at Paneras with the DANG group, in the WordWorker’s writing studio, in Barnes and Nobles or anywhere else I can find. It’s not always fun. It certainly isn’t romantic. No one applauds as I complete my daily word allotment. It’s work.
And sadly, when November is over, I still won’t be done. Then comes the hard work of editing, fixing, tweaking, reworking and editing again. All of this work goes into a book that has no promises of being published.
But at the end of it all, I will be one of the 1% who has successfully written a book. I will have relayed the message that is on my heart. I will have been obedient to the call I hear in my head.
I will have written.
N@
Who Am I?
You can have a bit of an identity crisis when you try to juggle more than one job. I am a copywriter and marketing consultant by trade. But I am also a freelance magazine writer and potential book author. (I am also a wife and mother but no one pays me for that.)
When it came time to design my marketing materials, I was looking at double the inventory and cost because of my dual duties. Here was my solution:
I love the concept because it’s fun and quirky, but still professional. The business card actually flips over and has a hole punched out. In fact, I carry them on a snap ring. The letterhead is just rotated, based on who I am contacting.
I enjoy the comments I get on my unique letterhead and business cards. I even got one job from a client who was impressed with my “money saving skills.” I have used free business cards and discount letterhead for years. This has been my business splurge which has paid off.
N@
The ONE Thing You Need for Business Success
Just one? When you start researching how to start a business or even what business to start, the laundry list of everything you need seems to be a mile long.
Are you selling a product? Well then, you need a brochure, maybe a catalog, a price sheet, packaging, shipping boxes, a return policy and a maybe an online store.
Selling a service like life coaching or pet sitting? You’ll need business cards, an hourly fee, networking connections, maybe a website or a magnetic sticker for your car.
And don’t even consider starting a web based company without all the accoutrements. There is a website, of course, plus a blog, electronic signature, maybe a Flash intro and all the online gadgets like a Skype phone line, Aweber list manager and a Paypal account.
The list is so overwhelming you might decide starting your own business isn’t worth the hassle.
But in truth, you don’t need all of those things to get started. To be a success in business you only require one thing.
Just ONE Thing
The only thing you need to succeed is often overlooked. But without it every business is guaranteed to fail.
The big, earth shattering secret? The only thing you need to succeed in business is…customers.
Seems rather simplistic, doesn’t it? Of course, you need customers! But keeping your end goal in mind, how have you set up your business to make sure you get and keep customers?
Many new businesses are created because it sounded like a good idea, other companies have had success, it is a product or service YOU enjoy, it fits nicely into your skill sets or because it is one of the things you know how to make or do. But the litmus test for a good business venture is to ask this question:
Are there people who will buy this product or service?
If so, where are they and how to do you find them?
Everything else is just gravy. I have met successful business people who do not have a website…or business plan …or business card …or even a single dollar in investment. But they have customers which is the key to their success.
So don’t get bogged down in deciding what the next step you should take in your business. Put off downloading the next gadget. Take a deep breath instead of stressing out over your endless To-Do list.
Instead concentrate on who your customer is. Create a picture of her in your mind. Give her a name. Follow her around in her day to day life. What makes her happy? Where does she shop? What problems can your product or service solve for her?
It’s only after you’ve answered these questions that you can effective marketing to these key customers. All the bells and whistles can be effectively applied. But it all starts with the basic building block of your business—customers.