Howdy!

It's been a few months between reads, so I've got more than usual this edition. Have a squiz at the list below to find the bits you'd most like to read.

Lots of love,

xx Leticia

1. Editorial
2. Huge thanks to... (is your name here, {name}?)
3. This one's a keeper... Car wash in your shower
4. Article: Everything is Management. Everything.
5. Ask Leticia
6. News, Events & Opportunities
7. Win stuff!
8. Refer and Earn
9. Archival Gems
10. Need a new book?

The night I'm writing this is at the tail-end of my little man's third birthday. Beren is already 3! How? The days begin before the sun is over the hill, and end with the birds' version of The Last Post. In that time, we've lived several lives between the two of us. We do it every single day.

Except now he has eleventy gajillion Hot Wheels cars that he didn't have this morning. He's sleeping with a toy garbage truck and a giant dinosaur head that is supposed to be on a race track. And we've eaten through a motorbike cake that I made from 2 cakes and a photo (without directions).

You'll see some photos below. Doesn't time fly!

On that note, if you and I haven't recently connected for coffee, breakfast, picnic, playdates, phone calls, or legging it through a park somewhere, hit me up. Let's mend that situation.

In this edition I bring you an amazing use for a particular type of wash and wax, brought to you by a friend of mine. His story is as good as the cleaning tip!

In Everything is Management. Everything I cycle right back to ISO 9001. Lately, corporations want their consultants to have pieces of paper saying they can work with environmental systems, OHS&W systems and others. But they don't realise that those systems are subsequent to 9001. Why? Because management is management. If your consultant has 9001 then that's all they (and You!) need. Read it to find out why.

And in News, Events & Opportunities, you'll discover a whole bunch of things that can improve your life. Including a webinar schedule that I will be releasing in the first week of December. Webinars will kick off in the first week of February.

The final new thing in The Letter is that I have taken out my latest writing and replaced it with Archival Gems. 

You see, darling one, I have published a megaton over the past twenty years. It's very likely you haven't seen most of it. So, I'm digging out the best of them and sharing them. Some are old, some are gold, all of them are good reading. Earmark them for your next break and go read.

As always, if you enjoy The Letter, please reply and drop me a note. :)

Lots of love

xx Leticia

Chris Hooper, Wizard.

Thanks for everything you do for me professionally, Chris! And thanks for the chats and friendship. I think you're probably a wizard who fell out of the sky at just the right time. One who just happens to love numbers.

'I count things and you write stuff. Let's not overcomplicate it.' - Chris Hooper to me over coffee, sometime in the last decade.

♥ Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.

When my mate JD came to me to talk about jobs and business, after being long-term unemployed, he was gobsmacked when I told him people pay other people to clean their houses.

'People don't pay for that,' he says. (He loves to clean.)

'They do,' I replied. 'In fact, I could make you $500 in the next hour, from 5 phone calls.'

But instead of that, he connected up with someone I knew, got a good job. Now he's in leadership in an amazing local business, owns property and is an investor.

A lot can happen with the right advice and focus!

ANYWAY - 

He told me that car products and my shower are a match made in heaven. 

Why?

Because when you clean it and seal it, the water just beads off! Net result: Less cleaning.

Genius.

Go get this stuff and use it in your shower. You can buy it at Repco.

Everything is Management. Everything.

As a freelancer, artist, sole operator, or small business, international standards seem like complete overkill. Especially if you’re in touch with someone who is out of touch: They’ll tell you they’re a whole lot of useless work, like manuals nobody reads and roles that don’t add anything to your organisation. Those people are working off old knowledge (manuals haven’t been necessary since the last update, which was 9001:2015).

International standards are, however, gold standards for business. They are created by groups of appropriately experienced consultants worldwide, edited and overseen by them, and those who work in the field are invited to contribute to the next round of changes.

The standards are also recognised and accepted internationally. This means that if you trade internationally, the systems you create in your business are meaningful to others.

The standards boil down to this:

‘Do it right the first time, every time.’

It doesn’t matter what ‘it’ is. It could be networking, onboarding leads, creating new accounts, handling deadlines, handling risk, handling your insurance, bringing in contractors, creating products, handling queries and phone calls, doing your books…

And that translates to eliminating trial-and-error.

You should care about 9001 in particular, because it’s at the centre of your business.

How? I'm glad you asked!

Read my opinion about this, here.

It's like Dolly Doctor without the cringe. Send me your questions and I'll answer them in the next edition.

'How do I estimate how long my jobs take? I can blitz the work in an hour, but if it's something I hate it takes me three hours!' - Anon.

That's easy. Always imagine that every job is one that you hate. Then add 30% extra as a margin. Then, when your schedule gifts you time, use it to deal with those things that always fall off your list.

Or read my book, The Ultimate Guide to Project Management for Creatives.

1. My newest title Liminal Woman released on 1 September! If you don't have a copy yet, read this copy in the National Library (it's online). Or get it from your favourite bookseller online.
   
   
2. I'm booking life readings NOW for December and January! If you want one, reply and let me know. Christmas gift vouchers are also now available.
   
   
3. In BIG NEWS:
   I'm running a series of webinars in early 2024, which focus on ISO 9001 principles. It's for sole operators, freelancers and small businesses (especially creatives!). If you want a copy of the schedule, please express your interest ASAP. 
   
   
4. The next major publication for me is a mini-course titled Negotiation for Expecting Families and it's all about using negotiation to create an empowered birth experience. (Every woman needs this!). Yell out if you want to get a heads-up when it's available (it'll be a measly $20).

Reply to this email with your answers to WIN!

The prize this month is a handmade something.

1. What is great in your shower?

2. Why is an environmental system subsequent to 9001?

3. What age is Beren now?

4. When does my next webinar series kick off?

Enter here, before 30 November 2023.

When you refer to me someone who becomes a paying client, I am enormously grateful.

So much so that I pay you.

Key facts:

• Anyone can gain the benefit, client or not
• For referrals that result in sales:
  • Up to $5,000 = a gift card.
  • $5,001+ = 15% of the sale value in cash or precious metals (your choice).

For example:
If you were to refer a company to me for a consulting contract valued at $20,000, you have the potential to pocket $3,000.

Existing clients can choose to receive 15% off their next invoice instead.

It's my gift to you. All you have to do is send a warm introduction, and I'll do the rest.

x Leticia

Wow this is brave! In my first Archival Gem are the first five posts from the first full-length book I ever wrote. I published the entire thing, and you'll find them if you read the first four chapters.

But.

They are unedited. Unreviewed.

Afflicted needs a major rewrite (missing characters, anyone?)... but if you read it and think thoughts then I'd like to hear from you.

x Leticia

Books by Leticia Mooney are listed below. Note that Leticia also writes as Leticia Supple and Gabriele Francis. You can find them at all good bookstores (as well as Amazon and Kobo). And if you can’t find it, ask your favorite store to get it for you!

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Music Journalism 101 – non-fiction, reference

This was the first book on the mechanics of rock journalism. I was frustrated by editing and dealing with writers who were fans first and writers second. This work was my attempt at giving those who ‘fall into’ music journalism (which is most of us!) some real knowledge about critique, and real work methods that work. It also gives editors some guidelines as to handling the insane workload without compromising their publication’s integrity. The workload really IS insane in music!

Published independently, 2013.

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The Art of Postcard Writing – non-fiction, reference

Not many books are written because someone offers you a dare. This one was! When driving a friend back to the airport so she could go home to Germany after my wedding, she’d pulled a fistful of postcards out of her bag. Scribbling madly, she commented: ‘I hate this. I dare you to write a book about how to do it better’. I caught her eye and replied, ‘Game on’. This book was on Amazon before she got back to Berlin.

Published independently, 2013.

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Brilliant Blawgs: A playbook for creating and maintaining strategic blogs that clients & prospects love – non-fiction, reference

After years of creating and maintaining effective blogs for people, and teaching small law firms how to do it themselves!, I wrote this. It is a complete guide, which contains every droplet of my secret sauce. If you want to smash it in law blogging, this is for you.

Published independently, 2017.

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The Ultimate Guide to Project Management for Creatives – non-fiction, reference

As the owner of a ‘creative business’ (i.e. a professional writer), the one thing that tripped me up for years and years was project management. I studied it, I ran experiments, I did everything I could to unlock its magic. And then, bam!, I did. So I put everything about what worked well (and why) into a book. If you’re a creative, buy it and bask in your own glory.

Published independently, 2019.

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Demonic Possession is Viral: Infection of the masses – nonfiction. Published under the name Gabriele Francis.

This was the first culmination of my studies of mind control, the CIA’s MK programs, social media, and social behaviour. It presents the argument that one no longer needs physical trauma in order to embed programmed belief and behaviours, and examines the possibility that demonic possession can be ‘distributed’ in the same way. It is a sharp and impactful monograph.

Published independently, 2020.

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Ultimatum – non-fiction, history/media

Yeah ok, it probably shouldn’t be listed with books. It’s a podcast. But it could totally be a book! (And might one day, yet - that's a work in progress.) Ultimatum tells the dark story of an attempt to bribe Victoria’s premier, Henry Bolte, by the Chief Editor at The Age (Graham Perkin). The year was 1967, and the issue at the heart of the matter was Australia’s last-hanged man, Ronald Ryan.

Published independently, 2021. Listen here.

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Business by the Moon: The scheduling method that grows your business and your wellness at the same time – non-fiction, reference

This was my first foray into the mystical side of business, after I stumbled into the power and brilliance of aligning work schedules with natural cycles. I wrote this to share my method with others, because I could see people failing to rest and work in mindful ways. They were working all the time and burning out. Nature has a way, and we can re-learn it. This book gives you everything you need to know, and all the tools, and nothing more.

Published independently, 2022.

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Liminal Woman – poetry

This broke the run of pure non-fiction books. It was my coming to grips with motherhood, with the lies I’d swallowed my entire life about what made a fulfilling life for a woman, and with my emerging divine feminine. It’s a treatise on womanhood, on motherhood, on women as artists whether they know it or not. 

Published independently, 2023.