Today, I have the pleasure of lending the controls to Steph Auteri. She takes creative entrepreneurship to whole new levels and has some great thoughts on diversification…and what to do with your paychecks after you earn them.

I’m assuming you’re here because you’re the entrepreneurial sort. The sort who brings in the bucks doing something you love… something fun… something that allows you to access your more creative side. That’s fantastic. It’s why I’m here, too.

But what happens when that thing you do — that thing you do so well — doesn’t pay the bills?

For me, the answer was to diversify. After all, I loved juggling a variety of projects. It made me feel safer to stop relying on one type of client. And I didn’t want to put on pantyhose and go back to the corporate workforce. Now I write about sex. I coach other freelance writers. I sing the occasional funeral mass. I dabble in ghostwriting. And then I roll around naked in my paychecks before blowing it all on Etsy.

So how do you know which areas to diversify into?

First, ask yourself: What do I love to do in my spare time? Where do my talents lie? What have been my greatest achievements? What do I daydream about doing? What do I want to be remembered for?

Use the answers to these questions as jumping-off points. How can you turn your hobby into a business?

Consider the ways in which various interests can overlap. I love my cats in a way that borders on the insane, and I also love writing. Because of that, I should probably be pitching Cat Fancy, and similar publications. Could you possibly tap into one interest by using another skill?

Then, draw up a list of all the possibilities.

This can be the toughest part, so I’m going to present you with a list, just to start you off. You’re welcome.

1. Copy Editing and Other Torturous Activities:
I often neglect my copy editing background to focus on the work I enjoy the most: writing fluff and/or personal essays. But sometimes, I suck it up and do some of the tedious stuff available in the publishing industry. There’s copy editing and proofreading. There’s fact checking and transcribing (ugh). There’s corporate copywriting and ghostwriting. They may not be as much fun, but they usually bring in more money.

2. Coaching/Consulting:
When my husband suggested I do consulting work for one of his clients (who was a complete novice to blogging), I laughed at him. Then I got my coaching certification and began coaching other word nerds. Do you have knowledge or experience that could prove valuable to others? Share the wealth!

3. Teaching:
Like consulting, teaching can be a means to share your knowledge with those desperate for information. If you’re not interested in becoming part of a larger institution, there are other options, including online courses and industry-specific conferences.

4. Try Something Else Entirely:
No one says you have to focus all your efforts on one industry. Looking to mix things up? Use your imagination (and tap into your side hobbies)! You could be a wedding singer. You could teach hula hooping, belly dancing, or yoga. You could lead photo walks. You could start a catering business on the side. You could learn massage therapy, or even do bartending in the evenings. What I love about side jobs like these is that they can provide inspiration for your main endeavor.

5. Part-Time or Permalance It:
There’s no shame in taking on a regular gig in order to collect a steady paycheck. Finding that perfect balance of multiple income streams looks different for everyone. I’ve done permalance gigs several times since going full-time freelance: as a copy editor for a daily newspaper; as a blog manager at an online magazine; as an editor at another online publication. The regular paycheck was nice, but that wasn’t the only benefit. These gigs also opened doors for me, and gave me experiences I may not have found on my own.

Your career will shift many times over the course of your life. Industries will shrink and grow. Your goals and passions will change. You’ll lose clients, but then find new opportunities around the very next corner.
Diversifying will help you navigate your way safely through these ups and downs, yes. But exploring new options will also teach you to roll with the punches. And that’s an important skill to have.

Steph Auteri is a freelance writer, editor, and career coach, and she would be totally down with helping you find your own, perfect income balance. Join her mailing list to receive a free copy of Freelance Awesome: A Starter Kit, an e-workbook containing the five worksheets necessary to jumpstart a freelance writing career.

It seems like high school teachers spend a lot of time trying to keep their students off of Facebook, avoiding Wikipedia and generally preparing for careers in the ‘real’ world. But considering how many employers are looking for at least a minimal level of technical literacy these days, it seems crucial to get those same students using computers more, rather than less.
Students learn how to write resumes at most schools.

Why aren’t they learning how to handle their Facebook pages to avoid problems with a later boss?

Students learn how to type and handle other clerical tasks. Why aren’t they learning about some of the software that will let them provide administrative support to those businesses who don’t keep paper records anymore?

Students learn how to create artwork. Why aren’t they learning how to create an online portfolio of their work?

Social Media Literacy is Important to the Bigger Picture

For those students lucky enough to get any computer class at all in high school, the options tend to be learning how to use a very specific software package (such as Microsoft Office) or to program in an introductory level language. There’s very little middle ground. And these classes aren’t what’s needed. Most kids don’t need to know how to program and there are more user-friendly software options than Microsoft Office.

Instead, technology needs to be integrated into each class. Think about what a high school journalism class could turn out if each student had a blog. How would their writing and critical thinking skills evolve if their readers (and teachers) could instantly comment on what they had written. If those students plan to go into a field involving any writing at all, they’d have a heck of a head start.

With the growing demand for capable writers online, there are already some signs that the existing number of writers won’t be able to keep up — but many of the students currently in high school don’t have the skills necessary to step into the field. Adding opportunities to improve technical literacy to curricula will get those students up to speed much faster.

Education Has to Change — and It Had Better Do It Now

The modern education system is geared towards preparing students for the cubical farms, along with other regimented jobs. But if this economy should teach us anything, it’s that the very nature of work is changing. A lot of businesses have cut staff, bringing in contractors only when necessary and turning to automated and outsourced options wherever possible.

At the bare minimum, students today need to know how to operate as contractors, including a little bit of the marketing that goes along with working for multiple clients. Social media really is just a starting point.

Image by Flickr user Marie

This is just a quick post to let you know that if you want to join EnhancedFreelance.com, you have to make your purchase by the end of the day today.

We will reopen in the future, but haven’t set a date for that yet — but it’s not going to be next month, I can assure you.

I’d also like to thank everyone who has taken time to help with this launch, from sharing a tweet to becoming an affiliate. It’s very much appreciated.

In the interest of shamelessly promoting Enhanced Freelance, I want to introduce you to Jen Kentmere, my partner.

I shanghaied Jen (and her amazing project management skills) into working with me on Enhanced Freelance when I realized that not only does she know freelancing inside and out, but that she could make the whole process of creating it that much more manageable. I asked her to answer a few questions so that you’d get to know Jen’s background and why I couldn’t have handled Enhanced Freelance without her.

Why did you start freelancing? Would you ever go back to having a day job?

Would I ever go back to having a day job? Absolutely not! I worked for the public sector back in the UK as a project manager and, while I was given some fantastic training and got a whole range of invaluable skills working there, I didn’t like the slow pace of change, the morale as budgets were constantly slashed, and – my worst gripe – the constant ‘wishing your life away’ I heard around me every day. You know, that “only an hour till lunch”, “nearly home time”, or “it’s Friday tomorrow, then it’s the weekend…” that you hear in companies everywhere.
I was stressed and miserable and it occurred to me that maybe there was a gap in the market for freelance project managers? I sent out flyers advertising my skills to every local company that fit my profile and within a week I had full time work.

Who was the first client you landed that made you think, “I really can do this!”?

My very first client, the wonderful Roger from Direct Focus, a direct marketing company. He cared passionately about what he did, and he treated his colleagues and clients with respect. I learned a lot from him about dealing with people, as well as the marketing business. One day he said to me, “You need a pay rise!” He thought I was setting my rates too low, and obviously valued my skills more than I did. What a confidence boost!

What’s the biggest problem you’ve faced as a freelancer and how did you get through it?

Overcoming my own personal bad habits, of which there are many. The worst being my horrendous procrastination. Give me six looming deadlines and I’ll get to them, right after I’ve just checked Facebook…

Being a former project manager helped: I know how to plan projects and break them down into smaller, manageable chunks. But I had to take my own advice and create some systems that worked for me.

Beyond that, I’ve read some great books and countless productivity blogs that have really helped sort out my day-to-day routines.

What inspired FreelancerProjectManagement.com?

My website offers project management advice for people who are not project managers, particularly freelancers who want to manage their own projects effectively.

It was partly inspired by my time as a freelancer at a whole range of organizations, and partly inspired by what I said above about my own lack of discipline: project management techniques provide a really good framework that you can adapt to any project, whatever your profession. It helps to keep you on track as well as plan what new work you can take on. It really isn’t rocket science, more like good common sense and anyone can do it. I have found that being more effective I have either been able to take on more projects I didn’t think I could, or else take time off for my own interests.

I think one of the great things about being a freelancer as opposed to a salaried worker is that you really do get out what you put in: it’s worth having some good planning and management tools and you can see the difference in your income or in your work/life balance!

I wanted to make sure that Jen Kentmere (my fantastic partner who has managed to actually keep me on track with this project) had a chance to show her readers on her blog about EnhancedFreelance. She went to Italy last week — I’m definitely jealous! Now that she’s back, and posted on her site, I want to let all of you know that we’re capping charter membership at EnhancedFreelance.com. There are still seats left, but if you want in, you better get on it!

If you’re interested in reading Jen’s post about what we’re doing, you can do so here.

We’re currently planning to shut down the ability to purchase charter memberships on Tuesday morning. If we hit one hundred members, we’ll close early — personally, I’d rather do this first run through with a smaller group.

The Short Version

I’m launching a membership site today for freelancers who want to up your game. This is a soft launch: for $7 a month, you get to be a charter member and guinea pig. You get to see what I’ve already worked up and tell me what else you need to succeed. I’m limiting this soft launch to one hundred freelancers. Once it’s full, you’re going to have to wait a couple of months to get in and pay dramatically more than $7 a month.

You’ve got my personal guarantee that if you put in some hours on what I’ve got for you, you can make significantly more as a freelancer. I’m not going to say how much, because everyone is different, but it will be more than enough to cover the monthly cost of membership.

Go to Enhanced Freelance and sign up now.

The Long Version

Depending on how you found me, you probably know that I’ve written a lot about freelancing for different sites, like FreelanceWritingGigs.com and WebWorkerDaily.com. I even write the ‘Ask a Freelancer’ column on FreelanceSwitch.com. All that advice adds up to a few drops in the bucket, though, and there’s a need for a comprehensive resource on building up your freelance career beyond the basics.

You don’t need a coach or teacher to tell you how to write an invoice or actually complete a project — you need clues on the balance between cheap and effective marketing techniques, step by step instructions on creating an newsletter that turns clients into raving fans and the shortcuts to keep your projects manageable. That’s what EnhancedFreelance is. It’s full of advice from my experience and other freelancers I’ve brought in. It’s a community where you can bounce ideas off one another. It’s the resource you need to take your freelance business to the next level.

Why Me?

First of all, EnhancedFreelance is actually a joint effort. I’ve shanghaied Jen Kentmere (freelancer and project manager extraordinaire) into this project. Jen has injected some of her British flair into the site, as well as kept us on schedule.

I didn’t set out to be an expert in freelancing. But after just a few years of freelancing full-time, I can show you an inbox full of questions about the nuts and bolts of working for yourself (and actually making real money in the process) that I’ve answered.

I’ve been utterly devoted to making my freelance business successful since shortly after I graduated from college. I wanted to avoid being that freelancer that lives in her parents’ basement or has to go to the icky clinic — you know the one — for health care. And I’ve succeeded. I do pretty well for myself and the half dozen contractors that work for me at this point. I’ve got health insurance, a nice house and even the monster of a truck that I’ve always wanted.

It’s not because I’m a better writer than most of the freelancers out there. Heck, I can see plenty of holes in every single thing I write. It’s because I think in terms of business and I’m always looking for an edge. I grew up around business owners and I want to make money even more than I want to write regularly. I’m certainly not suggesting that you should be the same way, but you can take advantage of my willingness to try every marketing strategy at least once, along with anything else that can help me with my freelance work.

So snag a seat at Enhanced Freelance if you are ready to up your freelance game.

The entire idea of going out on your own full time can be thrilling and scary, all at the same time. Melissa Breau is making the leap right now and agreed to answer a few questions for us about how she’s making the process work.

Why did you want to freelance full-time? Just to play devil’s advocate, I’d like to point out that a lot of people would tell you you’re crazy to leave a full-time job in a recession.

Isn’t everyone who starts a business at least a little crazy? Although I’ve always wanted to freelance full time eventually, a number of different factors came together recently that made it the right choice for me right now.

First, my long-time boyfriend joined the navy and relocated from New York to South Carolina. Second, he volunteered to help me make ends meet while I get my business off the ground. And third (and probably most importantly), I hit a point at my full time job where I was no longer being challenged professionally and there was no room for advancement; I needed to make a change.

What did you do to prepare for working for yourself full-time? Were there any financial steps you took to make sure you’d be comfortable with the transition?

Freelance full time meant making a lot of changes. I knew from my research that it generally takes about 6 months before freelancers are making a living wage. So I had to prepare for that–and there was no way that was going to be possible living in New York City. I needed to be spending significantly less a month (I was spending $800 a month on rent alone).

Fortunately, cost of living is much less in the south. I figured out a reasonable budget and saved about 4 months of living expenses (figuring that over 4 months I should be able to earn an additional 2 months of expenses) plus money for a car and the move. I stressed over numbers and set up an excel document to chart how much I needed to make a month for that to work. I also asked my grandmother (who lives in NC) if I could camp out in her spare bedroom for a month or two until I find an apartment down here, which helps further reduce costs.

It’s only the second week now, but due to some unexpected expenses (namely, car issues after I purchased a vehicle) I’ve gone through a bit more of my savings than anticipated. Despite that, I’m fairly confident I’ll be okay.

I arranged with my old boss to continue working for the magazine I just left, as a monthly columnist, which will provide some regular income. He has also assigned me a number of additional pieces, which will also help patch holes. And I pitched a few assignments before going freelance that I’ve managed to land.

Additionally, I’ve got a TON of ideas for products and services that I’m working to bring to fruition that will establish regular income with a fairly minimal amount of work (more info on this below).

What sort of plan do you have in place for making sure your freelance business grows? Where do you want it to go in the future?

First, as I mentioned, I have monthly financial goals. These step up slightly every month for the first 6 months–starting at a fairly low number, and climbing to what I’d like to be making monthly for my first year.

Second, I have a number of writing projects planned. Since for the last 3 years I’ve been in the pet industry, I’m working on a product that offers various animal service providers with content for their newsletters for a low monthly fee. The trick is finding service providers in different areas, so that I can re-use the same article, but without them having to worry about their clients receiving the same information from two sources. I’ve decided to offer it to one service provider in each state–so 50 clients paying monthly for one article (which takes me a minimal amount of work to write). If the first one of these is successful, I’ll probably branch it out to other types of companies and perhaps eventually other industries. I’m still writing for magazines and have a whole list of publications and article ideas I need to pitch–as soon as I do the research to write a solid pitch letter.

In addition to my writing projects, I’m working to become more involved in editing ebook-length projects. I have my masters in publishing and my resume includes time working for Columbia University Press and Manhattanville College marketing department, in addition to my years as an editor at Pet Business Magazine. I’ve worked on a few projects like this for various clients, but I would really like to grow this aspect of my business over the next 6 months and am working on a marketing plan to allow me to do that.

Finally, I plan to continue offering copywriting services, which I’ve done as a part time freelancer while working full time at the magazine for the last year and a half.

What’s the most exciting thing for you about going out on your own? What are you really looking forward to?

It’s funny, but the thing I’m most looking forward to is the one thing so many entrepreneurs worry about. I love the concept of an integrated life–doing something you like enough that you can’t put it down. I’m a bit of a work-a-holic and one thing I hated about working for a company was the push back whenever I wanted to really dedicate myself to something. I love the sensation of throwing myself into a project; while at a number of my previous jobs, that was discouraged–my coworkers tended to believe in putting in the minimum and if I did more than that, it was chalked up to youthful over-enthusiasm. And nothing is more discouraging that doing extra work just to have someone be amused that you bothered.

I’m also looking forward to the location independence; I’ll be living in a number of different locations in the near future and my navy boyfriend will be traveling a lot–it’ll be nice to be able to fly out to visit him on location (when allowed) and to just be able to bring along my job. I won’t have to worry about finding new work in each location he is moved to; I’ll just have to worry about building a new in-real-life network.

Overall, I’m as terrified as I am excited; only the next year will tell which emotion is more justified.

BIO: After a year and a half of freelancing part time, Melissa Breau recently left her full time job as a magazine editor to take her part time freelancing business to the next level. She is a freelance writer, editor and a cheesy romantic who likes long walks on the beach and arguing about comma placement. She is blogging about her freelance journey over at Jargon Writer — or learn more
about the services she offers on her website, MelissaBreau.com.

Last October, Adam Baker (of Man Vs Debt) and Karol Gadja (of Ridiculously Extraordinary) put together a 72 hour sale of thousands of dollars worth of informational products — for a price tag under $100. They sold almost 2,000 packages, raising thousands of dollars for Kiva in the process.

This week, they’re doing it again, focusing on personal development products. I’m proud to say that the Creativity Toolbox that Ali Luke and I put together is included. If you’ve been considering buying it (or any of the products listed below), now is the time to do so.

The package deal includes:

• Focus by Leo Babauta ($35)
• Momentum Kickstarter Kit by Charlie Gilkey ($47)
• Reclaim Your Dreams by Jonathan Mead ($47)
• 52 Weeks to Awesome by Pace and Kyeli ($52)
• 5 Ingredients | 10 Minutes by Jules Clancy ($77)
• Rebel Fitness Guide by Steve Kamb ($37)
• Fear-Crushing Travel Guide by Farnoosh Brock ($57)
• Overcoming the Fear of Uncertainty by Sean Ogle ($47)
• The Creativity Toolbox by Ali Luke & Thursday Bram ($47)
• Make Sh*t Happen by Jenny Blake ($47)
• The Language Hacking Guide by Benny Lewis ($67)
• Sex, Love, Liberation by Ev’Yan Nasman ($47)
• Learn More, Study Less by Scott Young ($67)
• A Daring Adventure collection by Tim Brownson ($47)
• The Less Work, More Harmony Relationship Guide by Cara Stein ($47)
• Brilliantly Better Collection by Dragos Roua ($43)
• How to Become an Advanced Early Riser by Steve Aitchison ($37)
• Cheap Family Fun by Kim and Jason ($52)
• The Art of Relaxed Productivity + The Power of Positivity by Henrik Edberg ($44)
• Discover Package by Barrie Davenport ($59)
• Mind Control Method: How to Get What You Want by Karol Gajda ($47)
• Sell Your Crap by Adam Baker ($47)

Even if you only see three things on this list that have been on your ‘to buy list’ forever, you’ll be getting a better price than you would otherwise — the whole package is available for $97. Better yet, these products are life-changing (provided you actually read and use them)!

The sale only goes for 72 hours, from June 20 to June 23. There will likely be other 72 hour sales, but not with this set of products, so you better get while the getting is good.

Click here to buy the Only72 personal development package.

I have a theory about where the future of creative work is headed, at least in the U.S. I think it’s headed to rural areas, including farming communities.

It used to be that if you wanted to make a living as any type of creative professional, you had to go where the work was. The big cities had magazine publishers, ad agencies, film studios, art galleries and so on. There wasn’t exactly a way to ship around a catalog of the three sculptures you’ve done recently or offer up a self-published copy of your latest novel to anyone but your nearest and dearest.

But technology has absolutely changed that. Provided that you have an internet connection, you can be a freelance writer from a farm in Nebraska. You can sell sculptures from a mountain in Colorado. You can animate your own video out in the panhandle of Oklahoma. You can earn a living from your creativity from anywhere you want.

It’s All About the Connection Speed, Baby

Alright, I can admit that there are still some places where that isn’t quite as true as we’d like it to be. Sending out videos over the type of satellite internet connection you can get in the Oklahoma panhandle is not really all that feasible. Right now, the trend that we’re really starting to see is creatives of various stripes working from small cities and large towns in the Midwest, where it’s far cheaper to live than either coast — but you can still get a high-speed internet connection.

There won’t be quite as many creatives out in truly rural areas — if you can see your neighbor’s house from your porch, you aren’t in that rural of an area — until there’s high-speed internet access available out there. If you’ve heard about rural broadband, that’s the sort of change needed.

The Creative Revolution

We’ve had an Industrial Revolution, when people flocked to the cities because it suddenly got cheaper to live in urban areas and more work was available. Well, the moment that high-speed internet access hits rural communities, you’re going to see the opposite.

That’s because it’s cheaper to live in rural areas than it is to live in big cities these days. The big problem rural communities face at this point is that there just isn’t enough of the right type of work available locally, still. There often is plenty of work to get done, especially when you remember how much goes into running a farm. But there aren’t certain benefits (or at least enough money to buy those benefits) available in many jobs that can be had in a rural community. Think about health insurance. The average farm family needs health insurance just as much as the white collar worker living in New York City. But it’s a lot harder to make sure that someone in the family is working a job that provides health insurance when you have to drive an hour just to get to a town of 10,000 people.

The combination of creative work and internet connections can do a lot for this sort of situation. High speed internet access means that it’s possible for someone living in a rural area to land a job that provides health insurance that also allows for telecommuting (a category that a lot of creative work falls into). It’s also possible to build a business that makes buying health insurance on your own a lot easier. If, for instance, a member of a farming family can bring in an extra $30,000 a year through freelancing, paying for a health insurance policy can be a lot easier.

The Future of Creative Work

The ability to work from anywhere we want, on the creative projects we love, will change the world. The impact that something as simple as rural broadband might have is incredible, and something that I hope to see for myself in the near future.

Personally, I have plenty of family and friends for whom such technology will make a huge difference, if it hasn’t already. I have plenty of family members who simply live somewhere that the only internet access option is satellite connections. I’d love to see their lives made easier. And I’ve got to say that, if my work was the only constraint on where my family lived, we would be out in the boonies as fast as we could pack.

Image by Flickr user Adam Arthur

There is a simple truth that many of us forget about: today, we live in a world of the greatest opportunity. By the mere fact that you can read this post, I know that you have the ability to lead a life that your ancestors never even dreamed of. There are still people being without access to these opportunities, but they are coming fewer. Recently, I read of a computer center built in a refugee camp that made online work available to people who were forced away from subsistence-level farming.

In the grand scheme of things, a subsistence-level life is something we have only missed by the narrowest of margins. Millions of other human beings were born at times when the only life they could look forward to was scrapping a short life from the dirt around them. In my family, that life was as close as my great grandparents — in yours, that life may be as close as your parents’ generation. But today, if you have access to this post, I know you have the opportunity to literally live any life you want. You may not have the drive to turn an internet connection you access at the local library into a career that brings you wealth and acclaim. It’s harder for some of us to even start than for others.

But I have read too many stories on inspiration, seen to many people succeed despite their circumstances, to believe that you can’t achieve what you want if you are only willing to work hard to get it. Two hundred years ago, that fact was not true. Two hundred years ago, for many people, hard work brought survival and little more.

I tell you this not to force an unwelcome gratitude for a life you may not even need to think about that often, but to share my own awe. I know people who make a living from doing nothing beyond writing up their opinions and that astounds me. I have friends who earn their daily bread by making stuffed animals, music and a whole host of other artwork that there is simply no room for in an era where just to survive the year takes 365 days of labor.

Originally, this post was supposed to be a simple review of Guy Kawasaki’s latest book, “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions
.” I read the book in the matter of a couple of hours and wrote up a short review that, while positive, said exactly the same things that every other review of this particular book will say. To a certain extent, that is because “Enchantment” is a business book listing out some ideas for business that are not such a leap: if you can connect with a client or customer and convince her to like your product, the entire sales process becomes simpler.

The fault here lies with me, not with the book. While I was reading, I focused on the methods and anecdotes discussed. I read a lot of business books and that’s the way that I generally compare business books. But I didn’t truly pay attention to the overall framework Kawasaki was building. The language he used — his discussions of how to be enchanting, the impact of enchantment and so on — differs significantly from the words typically chosen for business books. But there’s more there than simply being persuasive and able to connect with potential buyers.

Have you ever thought of yourself as an enchanter? I was a little old when the Harry Potter books came out to add a wand to my playtime repertoire, so I wasn’t really able to answer that question with a ‘yes’ when I thought about it. My littlest sister routinely told me she was a witch when she was little and cast more than a few enchantments on me. Personally, though, I was half-convinced that I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

But the question of if I’m even a capable of being an enchanter has come to me again and again after reading ‘Enchantment.’ the book never talks about the role of the enchanter in any great depth, but simply by telling you that you must be enchanting, it hints that you must always be an enchanter.

An enchanter has the abilities to cast spells, to turn Cinderella’s rags into a beautiful gown. An enchanter can create more than illusions — she creates real magic that can change lives on a whim. An enchanter can create the greatest beauty, the greatest challenges and the greatest stories. And I want to be one, thanks in large part to Kawasaki.

That leads me back around to what I opened with. We live in an age of unimagined opportunity. We truly can become enchanters, provided that we are willing to put in the hours to craft our spells and build our successes. Moreover, I’ve come to the conclusion that life is too short to live any other way. With the opportunity to live the life of an enchanter in front of me, I have a hard time justifying anything less.

My ancestors truly would consider me a witch, not only because of the technology I can use, but also because of the way I make my living. I type on a little box and somehow that translates to food and money. I know I can go further, though, and ‘Enchantment’ landed on my desk at a time when I’ve been looking at next steps. I’m not the only, either, and I believe that Kawasaki has cast a spell of his own that makes this book valuable for readers.

If you are interested in a more traditional review, consider this: Kawaski is a great writer, seasoning a discussion of modern marketing and communication techniques with perfectly chosen stories and anecdotes. He has chosen a style and a vocabulary that are game-changing. I received a free review copy of this book and I have a feeling that I am going to grateful for years to come for that simple gift. Read the book, let your thoughts stew and then comeback to it again.