About five years ago, I took singing lessons from a fabulous woman named Marta Hansen. Most of her students were children or teenagers, so when it was time for the recital, she told me I didn’t have to do it. Well, I wanted to.

My husband and sister and daughter all sat in the audience. When I got up to sing Greensleeves, I told the audience “I’ve overcome my fear of public speaking, now I’m working on overcoming my fear of public singing!”

And while I’m not ready to get our there with Taylor Swift, I like that approach. Face your fear and get on with it.

Recently, I was asked to give feedback on some marketing pieces. I was happy to do it, but worried because while I am always well intentioned, sometimes I am blunt. My husband calls me Frank. I diligently reviewed the piece and wrote my recommendations for improvement, as well as the specifics of why the pieces were not working. And then I asked Mr. Frank to review it to make sure the tone was what I intended.

While I am a professional communicator, I never underestimate the value of an extra pair of eyes. And the closer you are to the subject matter, the more important it is that someone else review it. Jargon, corporate speak, acronyms can muddy the water of the story you are trying to tell. And while it all makes sense to you, your reader might misunderstand.

Friday, I attended a workshop by Kim Young of The Forest and the Trees at the Dallas Social Venture Partners First Friday Luncheon Series. Head spinning, I left the informative session realizing I hadn’t even blogged in a while, let alone Tweeted or used any of the other social media tools at my disposal.

It got me thinking about priorities. And it got me thinking about the myriad directions nonprofits are pulled and where they should focus their time and energy. So, thanks to Kim, here are a few thoughts.

I had lunch yesterday with the Relentless Networker. I learned a couple of things while enjoying my time with Paul.

1. Do not order Tom Ka soup with noodles while networking. The noodles are very slurpy and messy to eat. At one point, I looked down and I had lovely coconut soup splatters on my sweater. Not my finest moment. Despite that, there were some jewels from the meeting.
2. Coopertition. No, that is not a typo. Coopertition, according to the Urban Dictionary, is when two rival team up to help each other compete. I thank Paul for introducing me to the term.

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve started a blog. I’m putting myself out there for the world to see.

I’ve jumped on the blog bandwagon for a couple of reasons.

1. Commitment. My business is important to me. Taking a bit of time each day or each week to write about the experiences along the way helps me focus on what I am doing and why.
2. Marketing. Above all, I’m a marketer. I want to experience the blog/social media sensation. See if it works to help me grow my business.
3. Feedback. Maybe someone will have something brilliant to say.