Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

From a phone call earlier this evening:

Glenda: “Hi!” Dead silence on the other end of the phone. “Hi?”

Caller: “Hi, this is TD Canada Trust Visa. Is Ms. Watson home?”

Glenda: “Yes, hi.” Actually it is Mrs. Watson Hyatt, but close enough.

Caller: “Is Ms. Watson there?”

Glenda: “Yes, I am she.”

Caller: “Are you Ms. Watson?”

Glenda: “Yes!”

Caller: “Is there a better time to call?”

Glenda: “No.” My speech won’t be any clearer tomorrow.

Caller: “Would tomorrow be a better time to call?”

Glenda: “No.” I am not the only one with a disability here!

Caller: “Have a good evening. TD Canada Trust Visa.”

Some Visa customers have speech impairments, hearing impairments and heavy accents. Yet, we still pay the same exorbitantly high interest rates. Thus, we deserve to be treated as the same valued customers during these most annoying phone calls.

March 7th update: I emailed TD Canada Trust customer service with this post link and an offer to conduct awareness training for their call centre employees. I’ll see what happens.

Today I am visiting Derek Featherstone’s Box of Chocolates in Ottawa. Sounds delicious! Derek is a well known instructor, speaker and developer with expertise in web accessibility consulting. He has been an invaluable resource to me while I’ve work in the web accessibility field. Given his expertise, I was slightly hesitant to chat with him, concerned that he might ask tough questions about web accessibility. But he didn’t! He is saving the tough questions for a later discussion. I would like to add that he is the first interviewer who has my book I’ll Do It Myself. Thanks Derek! Enjoy our interview.

While I’m here, I would like to mention that Liz Strauss has called me a S.O.B. In this particular case, this is a good thing because S.O.B. because it stands for a Successful and Outstanding Blogger! I share the distinction with the likes of Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing, Good Word Editing, Talking Story and many more. Thanks Liz!

Next week is the last week of my “40 Days in 40 (Business) Days” virtual book tour. Dates are still available if you are interested in hosting an appearance. I invite you to join the fun!

Imagine a cozy living room with a warm fire crackling. Help yourself to a beverage of your choice: a steaming cup of tea, a fancy cup of coffee or a glass of fine wine. Pull up a comfy chair and let’s chat about my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself.

If you have read the book, I thank you. Do you have a favourite passage? Has the book affected you in any way? Who would you suggest read this book? Do you have a question about the book? Here’s your opportunity to ask me, the author.

Simply add your comments below and share your thoughts and questions. I welcome a lively discussion.

Today, on my virtual book tour, I am making another trip to Chicago (and still no Oprah!) to chat with Scharlene Redway of Full Circle Global Mentoring, Inc. Mentoring is another topic close to my heart; in fact, my one and only “j o b” was making my alma mateer’s Career Mentoring Program accessible to alumni and students with disabilities. Enjoy our interview and check out how you can win a copy of my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself. Thanks Scharlene.

Yesterday, Liz posted the final part of our conversation. My response to her question “If you could tell the whole world something once, have them believe you and understand, what would you tell them?” has started an interesting conversation on Liz’s blog. Feel free to add your thoughts too.

Thanks Liz for hosting my appearance as four-part conversation. It was an interesting spin on the typical Q&A interview. And, I have a feeling we will be sharing more in the near future!

I would also like to thank Rick Cockrum for the mention in his blog post Happiness, Emotion, and Fulfillment – Part III. Yes Rick, I am a happy woman. I am at a point in my life where I am content and fulfilled; it is a peaceful feeling.

I am now off to my ‘live’ Board meeting, Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. I will be back here Monday for another exciting week on the virtual book tour.

Have a great weekend!

One characteristic required for being a successful solopreneur (and person) is being flexible when things don’t go as planned – and to be okay with it. The interview scheduled for today has been moved to Friday. No problem. This means I simply move the Reader’s Corner scheduled for Friday to Monday. Stay tuned for details!

Liz posted part three of our interview, in which I share how I learned how to write.

Tomorrow I am taking a day off from my virtual book tour to prepare for the Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia (SPARC BC) Board meeting on Friday evening and all-day Saturday. Since I’m the Treasurer, I figure I had better take some time to review the financial statements and to prepare my report!

A potentially interesting side note: I have been tracking particular stats during my virtual book tour. When I began this adventure on January 22nd, this blog still had “wet paint” signs up and my Technorati ranking was 1,626,267 with 2 links from 1 blog. For what it’s worth, my current ranking is 118,353 with 98 links from 33 blogs. (The lower the number, the higher the ranking.)

When embarking on this eight-week virtual book tour adventure, I had no clue what to expect, and, therefore, intentionally did not set any goals (except to sell a lot of books!). I am amazed at dramatic increase in my Technorati ranking. With two weeks still to go, I am wondering if I can break through the top 100,000. Do I dare set that as a goal?