Photo by Ulfur

Well after going through my kindle today I realized I absolutely relish a few solid books that aren’t necessarily about marketing… but boy have they made the difference for me in my approach to marketing!

And whether you’re a marketer or not, you probably have to do some marketing in your lifetime. So peek at the list below. It’s worth it!

1. Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom. Why the heck do people buy… or not buy. Or get addicted or brand-sensitive? Ask someone why they do any of these things and you rarely get the truth. You get what they think is the truth (or what you want to hear). Lindstrom here went ninja on his focus groups and started interviewing their BRAINS. He used neuroscience to study how the brain reacted to different branding messages.
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   Though it’s heady and a bit academic, this book rocked my socks off. It dives deep into the raw and real reasons we buy, and what we respond to at a biological level using scientific studies to map the brain’s behavior and essentially interview the brain about why we do and want certain things, even when we believe we don’t.

My latest column over at FreelanceSwitch.com:

Why would a freelancer want to establish herself as a thought leader in her industry or client niche? Well even for the most bashful of us, the day often (and quickly!) arrives when pushing hours for dollars or pounds just doesn’t quite cut it anymore.

I’m not saying everyone will be interested in this path. But if you are, then this article may just become your road map!.Ask yourself:

What if you had an additional option for making money that steadily grew over time, reinforced your freelancing efforts, landed you more clients, and required less and less of your time?

Yeah, it sounded good to me too. That’s why my client projects now take up less than 50% of my time and I focus the rest of my efforts on my own business, which includes establishing myself as a thought leader in my two primary industries: freelancing and women’s empowerment.

This dual focus has given me the success and financial freedom to travel this past year full-time and without paid work. Here’s how I did it and how you can too.

The Freelancer’s Path to Financial Freedom Via Thought Leadership

The following process will help you build a website that you can eventually make money with, either through sponsors or advertisers, or by partnering with fellow experts who have products or services they’d like to offer to your audience.

>> Click Here to Read More

I’ve never written a blog post about a vendor I’ve hired or worked with. Usually because I’d have to say something not so nice and that would just be sucky of me. But in case you’re ever in need of snazzy design, quick turnaround, and all around cool peeps to work with… these are your guys:

Men With Pens

MenWithPens.ca is a design team that one of my so-awesome clients Chris Cade recommended to me. I gave them a whirl this past week for another client’s project and HOLY COW! I love love LOVE these guys! My client had an emergency and needed a full fledged page design with programming to boot, plus some pretty hefty wizard coding on some dynamic tabs. And they needed it designed, coded, tested and live in five days.

I don’t know how many designers you’ve worked with but I’m lucky if I get a logo designed that fast. Websites typically take a month or longer. Not only did James Chartrand and the whole Men With Pens team get us everything before our deadline, they were instantaneous in response pretty much all the time and very easy and enjoyable to work with. Their kick ass design skills at that point are a major perk.

They’re not cheap and they shouldn’t be. These guys seriously over deliver. But if you need a web design that runeth over with personality and professionalism and a team you can actually enjoy working with and depend on… look no further.

I get absolutely nothing for recommending them. They just kick ass and credit is given where credit is due!

Much love!

Jaime

Photo by Luis Sarabia

If you’re at all curious about what makes Jaime Mintun tick, this post is IT for you. What I stand for, why I’m here, and how I hope to contribute.

Over the past months I have immersed myself into a deep and intimate study of the female psyche, neuroscience, evolutionary biology and psychology, male/female dynamics and masculine/feminine energetics. Though this article is particularly addressing what women face, I am not blind to the reality that men face a similar pain.

As we women are faced with contradicting and limiting definitions of femininity men are being overtly masculinized in upbringing while being overly feminized by media. In many ways we both bear the burden of confused identity. However I cannot pretend to know much about what my magnificent male counterparts face so I will talk here about something I do have a bit of experience with…

How to Heal a Woman’s Hurt

Have you ever faced that searing moment where you could choose to be authentic and honest: your true self… or you could choose to be loved?

According to Alice Miller, in her landmark text The Drama of the Gifted Child, she cites this as the moment when most adolescents fracture. She calls it the Sacrifice of Wholeness.

My latest column over at FreelanceSwitch.com

Here’s a celebration of all the ways we are uniquely freelancers… set apart from our cubicle counterparts, yet aware that we are perhaps still not so different. Or are we? Enjoy!

You Know You’re a Freelancer When…

1. You’re starting to grumble about your 5-step commute from the bed to your computer.  The snooze button is soooo much closer…
2. The car stays parked in your garage for days at a time and somehow you continue to grow without sunlight.

>> Click Here to Read More

My latest column post over at FreelanceSwitch.com…

Social media is an excellent way to market yourself as a freelancer. It can also be, in my opinion, entirely overrated and often misused. Every day I see professionals tweeting and updating Facebook with spammy posts and self-important chatter that makes my skin crawl. I also see inspiring social champions who inform, empower and serve their audience.

Here’s a quick rundown of mistakes you want to avoid at all costs when using social media channels for finding work (whether in your marketing/branding or in your personal life), along with a few pointers to kick start your social marketing strategy.

>> Click Here to Read More