Happy start of the Fourth of July weekend! We all know that you have plans, and we have some awesome round up news for you before you disappear for the holiday weekend. So here we go!

Item One: We’re rolling out our first shiny new membership program!

Well, a test run, at least! We’ve been kicking around the idea of a low key subscription program around here for awhile now, and we’ve finally decided to go ahead and do it! We’re not putting the official sales page up until Monday (mostly so Laura can convince Holly not to refer to it as orgies of copywriting breakthroughs on the actual sales page), but we’re letting you guys know early.

We’re going to have two sessions a month which are open discussion. They’re going to be low price (around $25), and you get to hang out with Holly and Laura and pick our brains about whatever copywriting, product launch, or marketing issue you may have at that time. You can buy tickets to multiple sessions for a discount, or just one at a time if you’re feeling particularly stressed. It will be fun, low key, and a great way to get some professional advice on some specific problems, or to just kick around a new marketing idea.

The first session will be the 15th of this month, so put it on your calendars, and watch for the sales page on Monday.

Item Two: Our Crazy Facebook Consultation

So there was a ton of excitement going on at our Facebook fanpage this week as we reached our 128 Likes goal and then some! So of course this now means free consultation! On Tuesday, July 6th, we’re going to have an all day Skype consulting fest where you can book a free 15 minute session with us. If you’re not a FB fan, become one before next Tuesday, and sign up!

Item Three: On exposure and your blogging tank being on empty

There’s been a lot of personal writing and expressing one’s fears going on at the cottage a lot this week, what with Laura’s post on 8000 words of crap and Holly’s guest post over at The Complete Flake about hiding behind our business superhero identities. So we thought to add a few more personal posts that we’ve found around the blogosphere:

• Tony Teegarden talks about being naked on your blog, and while it’s friggin’ scary, it’s also the best thing in the world.
• Allison Nazarian did this great post on your tank hitting empty and how you seriously need to take care of yourself and “fill up your tank” if you want to keep going. And that’s perfectly okay.
• Charlie Gilkey also did a post on writer’s block (or bloggers block) and how it’s hard to get back on the blogging horse, but you’ve got to do it.

And that concludes the roundup! Have a great Fourth of July!

My awesome new shoes, courtesy of Zappos

It’s Friday again, so that means round up! It’s been busy around here this week, so we have a bunch of items to talk about.

Item One: Laura has moved to Olympia, Washington!

In case you’re wondering why Laura has disappeared for the last week and a half, it’s not because I locked her in a closet. She has officially made the move from LA to Olympia, although most of her stuff is in still back in LA. She’s taken the week off to get settled in and attempt to unpack her boxes (which is why she hasn’t been blogging) but she’ll be back next week so I can catch up on my sleep. Although, she did manage to get featured on AKA Writer while she was on vacation, so go check it out!

Item Two: The Greatest Shoes Ever.

This is really more of a customer service story than a shoe story, but I thought it was worth sharing with you all. I’ve recently become a running addict, and started this 10k training program. However, it was when I started the 10k program that I realized that my three year old cheerleading shoes were not going to cut it anymore.

I did a bunch of research and bought my first pair of real running shoes from Zappo’s, which made me nervous because I hate buying things that are hard to fit online. Not only did they get here within 24 hours, but they fit perfectly. I was so excited I tweeted the Zappo’s rep, and they actually tweeted me back and wished me good luck with my running program!

The moral of the story is that the little touches are what impresses people. Not only are my shoes perfect, but I’d now happily buy from Zappo’s rather than someplace else.

Item Three: Social Media and the Demise of the Guru

This video is provided by Laura, but hits on an issue that I also see all over the place online. If you’re going to call yourself a guru, you’d damn well better be able to prove that you are actually qualified for that title. While this video is awesome, it’s also an hour long, so be warned that you will be sucked in and might need to budget some time if you want to watch the whole thing.

Item Four: 128 Fans Means Free Consulting For You!

So, Laura has this crazy Facebook idea. Since the first Cottage Copy blog post went up on 12/8, we’re going to do a full day of free consulting once we get 128 Facebook fans. Our plan is to schedule short sessions from 6:30 am PST to 11:30 pm PST on a yet to be determined date after we hit our goal. Yes, we are insane, and yes, we really love you guys. If you’re not a fan on Facebook already, please go and like our page so we can plan a date for the big consulting fest! And if you are a fan, spread the word!

So, per the blog from the other day, it is here!  In two weeks, Cottage Copy will launch its first teleclass! This class, Stealth Marketing for the Small Business will consist of four teleseminars, all for free! I’ll help you develop a marketing plan that makes you feel good, and teach you some basic copywriting and marketing secrets. The focus on this class is learning how to market your business while being yourself and not making yourself hideously uncomfortable with the whole thing. There may be small amounts of zen, but not much, I promise. And it will be fun and interactive, so start gathering all the scary business questions that you want to ask. And, you get to hear my lovely voice, so that’s an added bonus.

If you’re interested, click here to sign up: it’s free, and we’ll all have fun. Hopefully I’ll get to meet some of you lovely blog commentators!

P.S. Mom, the link you want to click is the one at the beginning of this post. Love you!

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I was adding consulting to my repertoire. I’ve finally added it to my Services page, and in order to kick things off, I’m running a giveaway here on the blog.

I’m giving away two one-hour consulting sessions.

Each session gets you an hour with me, on the phone or over an instant-messaging client – your choice – to talk about the best way to create new copy for your website, blog, etc., or to massage your existing writing to better suit your needs and wants. You don’t even have to be a small business – as long as you’ve got something you want written or edited, you’re good to go. Each winner and I will set up a time within the next two weeks when we’re both available; all you have to do is have an idea about what you want to talk about.

Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You can introduce yourself, talk about how you’d use a copy consultation, or just say hi – the only requirements are that your post be in English and that you leave a valid email address.
2. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST on December 26. (I’ll use the comment time to determine eligibility.)
3. On December 27, I’ll randomly select two of the eligible comments and send out emails with more information. I’ll also post the winners’ names (or preferred pseudonyms) in another blog post this weekend.

That’s it! Good luck, and have a great day!