the master plan: why this is such a huge day in my journey

Have you ever looked back on your life and suddenly understood why the pitted paths you took were oh-so-necessary? They might have been bumpy and unpredictable, but you gained some wisdom or perspective that came in handy later on, right? I’m just awestruck when I have those moments of clarity about my own journey, reminding me I’m always in the right place at the right time.

Today, friends, I’m having one of those moments. I am launching a brand new project and I have butterflies! It’s called The Limelight Letters – a year-round, weekly email service for entrepreneurs who want to build buzz for their brands – simply, cost-effectively and super-duper successfully. (If that sounds like you or someone you know, get details here.) Now, if you had told me five years ago that this is how I’d be spending my time today, I’d have laughed.

See, five years ago, when I left my comfy corporate job running a radio promotions company, I was totally burnt out. I worried I’d just wasted a whole decade of my life promoting and publicizing huge brands, most of which I didn’t care much about. But a funny thing happened as I became a full-time creative entrepreneur: I found myself frequently leaning on my marketing and PR skills – and fielding promotion questions from fellow entrepreneurs. How do you get buzz, they’d ask? How do you even find the courage to self-promote, they’d ask. It prompted me, earlier this year, to develop a new ecourse called BuzzWorthy – an intensive but fun media bootcamp for creatives. It exceeded my hopes: the participants say they learned a ton (over a quarter of them are already signed up to take it again in January!) but I’m pretty sure I learned even more: it felt like validation for me – proof that those two decades working in communications had served a huge personal purpose, after all. I’m calling upon all of those skills and contacts now to help passionate entrepreneurs I adore get the attention they deserve.

So, that brings me back to today – launch day for The Limelight Letters. Squeeeeeal! I have an amazing team helping working behind the scenes (all entrepreneurs themselves) in order to offer content – rich and irreverent – for 52 weeks starting January 7, 2013. The team even includes my own brother Kai, who’s our creative director (it’s a little dream come true to be collaborating with him!).

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE for you to visit the new site (so proud of it!!!) and share The Limelight Letters with any friends, family members or colleagues (yep! gift certificates available!) looking for ways to boost their businesses next year. We wanted it to be affordable, accessible and inspiring for all of you who feel ready to share more of your work with the world – and those you know who need a nudge, too. We cannot wait to get this party started. Heartfelt thanks in advance to those who sign up or share it – I’ll see you in the limelight!

P.S. My dear friend, artist Lori Portka, interviewed me for her What’s Real video series: you can watch our conversation below or skip over to her site to get her thoughts. We are total dorks, but I think you’ll have fun watching our talk!