Who says branding doesn’t reap big rewards? Broadcasting bigmouth Rush Limbaugh just signed a new $400 million contract: a $100 million signing bonus and $38 mil a year for eight years.

Ironically, because of his iconic personal brand, we already know everything he’s going to say!

Just do it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Most wanna-be writers think they have to save up a year’s salary, quit their jobs and flee to Tahiti to write their novel (or move to Nashville to become a songwriter). Not true. Here’s all you have to do: write a little every day. Maybe a half-hour, or an hour, even two hours.

Writing, especially creative writing, is not the kind of thing you can do all day, every day. Most fiction writers have a daily word count (or page count) they try to hit, then they take a break and do other things. Most need to get “out of their heads” for a while to let the embers of their creativity cool.

Singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield recently told the NY Times’ Measure for Measure blog how she writes little-by-little.

“(A)ll you really have to do is write a little bit every day. Even if it is rubbish, even if it’s really bad, just set aside a half hour every day to write. Write something, anything, and don’t worry about whether it’s perfect. So when you’re songwriting and you’re staring at a blank page before you — I’m talking about when you’re feeling daunted about the future and afraid to make any step, afraid that the bad stuff is going to get embarrassing — just let the bad stuff come out!

“I found out it that it doesn’t even matter if I fall because even if I fall, that gives me another good story to write… Learning all of that really freed me.”

So what are you waiting for?

It’s ironic, because it’s spring. The azaleas are blooming and the forsythia are absolutely blinding in the sunlight. Nature is busting out all over, so you’d think this would also be a time of soaring creativity and output.

Maybe it is for you, but not for me, I’m afraid. I’m only just plodding along. After a very long, cold winter, the work and the words are coming slowly. I’m working on several larger- than- usual projects simultaneously (including a couple of information products that will be of great use to small business marketers like you and me. More on that later.)

But the creative work is taking a lot more time than usual. A lot more time than I’d like. But now I think I’ve finally figured out the problem.

Mental exhaustion. I haven’t had a real vacation in years. I’m self-employed, so I work every day. I love what I do, so sometimes it’s hard to push myself away from the computer. I desperately need to take some time off and just. have. fun.

It’s easy to forget that relaxing, recreation and fun are essential ingredients in a balanced life. Julia Cameron, in The Artist’s Way, calls the process “refilling the well.” Our storeroom of creative ideas and images eventually runs dry and must be replenished regularly. I haven’t been doing that. All work and no play, etc.

As the great George Bernard Shaw said:

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.”

So let me ask you… how do you stay refreshed and effective? What kind of leisure activities would you recommend? I really need a kick in the butt to get started.

To all the dads out there…

… from all your sons and daughters.

Thanks!

Don Imus and his abrupt (and unfair) ouster from the airwaves continues to stir passionate comments. 100% of the comments I got support the I-Dude, mostly in passionate terms. (Where are the others? The witch hunters and haters? Maybe they’re busy hounding other public figures.)

While the sample was tiny — OK, infinitesimal — the demographic range of the commenters astounds me. Who knew the I-Man had millions of fans in every age bracket, from a 76 year-old female in NJ (actually, just one of several in their 70s) to today’s most recent comment from a 21 year-old college senior named Michelle.

I found Michelle’s comments to be especially eloquent and insightful. They certainly reflect well on her and her so-called “slacker” generation. Take a look:

“Believe it or not, a lot of kids my age enjoyed the I-Man… If you go on Facebook or other social networking sites, you’ll see a lot of kids who are in Imus in the Morning fan groups. I fell in love with (the show) because I love politics, news, and comedy. While I enjoy The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, I think the Imus show was superior, simply because it had longer interviews, more discussion, and a great deal of humorous conversation.”

Like me (and you, no doubt) Michelle loved the variety Imus delivered.

“Sometimes it was a comedy show; sometimes it was news and politics; sometimes it was an activism/progressive show; sometimes it was a music program. It was really a marvelous thing… One thing I also loved… was that it was not a partisan hack program. Most news shows only offer the “left” opinion or the “right” opinion. Even though Imus and his cast mostly leaned Republican, they called BS when they saw it on *any* topic. I really appreciated that.

Watching Imus made her feel like she was pulling a fast one on advertisers while thumbing her nose at popular culture.

“As a young female, advertisers expect me to be obsessed with Gilmore Girls or Laguna Beach or whatever. Yet here I was… tuning into a crazy old man in a cowboy hat… The news reports (gave) the impression that Imus fans were nothing but a bunch of old ignorant racist Klansmen. To paraphrase one of the previous commenters, I am young, female, and educated - and proud to be an I-Ho.”

What about you? Are you also proud to be an I-Ho?

BTW, guys — does that term apply to us, too?

Lots of reaction to Saturday’s post about Don Imus. It attracted more comments than any other post. Thank you all for participating.

Like all of you who left comments, I am (was?) also a huge Imus fan, and have been for over 20 years. So let me start by pointing out that the quote about Imus going “off the deep end” was said by an Emory University business professor, not me. Unfortunately, I neglected to include the link, so I’ll add it here.

I saw the “nappy headed ho” comment live as it happened, and it didn’t even register a blip in my Outrage Meter. It was obviously just an offhand comment, a spontaneous ad lib, not meant maliciously. It was just part of the Imus in the Morning routine. Regular (and even irregular) viewers knew he didn’t mean it.

However, it was probably a mistake to direct a comment like that toward young college athletes like that. So-called “public figures” (like Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Al Roker) are fair game, but not young kids.

Another point: When you look at Imus’s words in print, they look hateful, racist and indefensible. But seen/heard in the context of his show, they were actually pretty tame. But Sharpton, Roker et al pounced on it and made them seem far more hateful and incendiary.

Imus’s ranting — about autism, Thimerosal, Greening the Cleaning, Auto Body Express, even Whittaker Chambers — has long been an integral part of his act. But I don’t think it’s an “act” at all — just part of his personality. He routinely rails against the foibles of many ethnic and demographic groups, religions, stereotypes of all sorts.

I certainly do not believe Imus is a racist. If anything, he’s a curmudgeon, a cranky old grouch. I’ve never met him, but people who know him personally have told me that that’s who he is, that’s his authentic self. He isn’t afraid to be unlikable. He’s real — no wonder he was such an effective communicator. Name one other person in the blow-dried media who reveals their authentic self…

Of course, Imus is also a performer who put on a great show. He brought in terrific guests, asked good questions, then actually gave them the time to answer, instead of constantly interrupting and badgering them like most Talking TV Heads. (Yeah, I’m talking about you, Bill O’Reilly.) His in-depth interviews and live musical performances by often-ignored talents were a delight and a rarity in today’s ratings-obsessed media.

He was also rich enough that he didn’t care if anyone listened/watched or not. Imus did what HE wanted to do, and screw anyone who didn’t like it. That authenticity attracted millions of listeners and viewers, which in turn attracted sponsors and big bucks. Both have now left MSNBC and CBS radio once they booted Imus.

With his telethons and other campaigns, he did a lot of good. Like NPR pledge breaks, I personally couldn’t listen to them, but I applaud his efforts to use his fame to do good. I admire him for that.

And like many of you commenters, I haven’t watched MSNBC since. It’s part protest, but mostly because there is virtually nothing worth watching on that channel or any other. I’m on a media fast of sorts. Clears the mind. It’s good for you.

BTW, many commenters mentioned they’re boycotting Procter & Gamble. Good for you. Personally, my family hasn’t bought their products in years. Not because of Imus, but because they test their products on live animals, often blinding and maiming them in the process. An inexcusable and barbaric practice.

Finally, it’s interesting that all this reaction came just as The Sopranos was ending its long run on HBO. Like Imus, Tony Soprano is one misunderstood guy. Like Imus, the Sopranos is seen as profane, casting negative stereotypes, etc.

Most of all, what Sopranos executive producer Terence Winter said about networks applies equally to Imus:

“They live in fear of offending anybody. If one guy writes in and says, ‘I’m never going to buy Ivory soap again because you had a joke in your show about albinos and I’m an albino,’ you will get a memo the next day: ‘No more albino jokes.’ They don’t have the courage of their convictions.”

And so it goes…

Jansport backpacks have been around since 1967 — the Summer of Love, baby– when Skip Yowell’s cousin had an idea for a better backpack, built around a lightweight, adjustable aluminum frame. Murray formed a company. His girlfriend was a virtuoso on the sewing machine. Murray promised that if she’d marry him, he’d name the company after her. She did, and he did, and JanSport was born.

In 1967, no self-respecting flower child was thinking about business plans. In his book, The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder & Other Mountains, Yowell describes the JanSport team as “three hippies…no business plan…even less money…All we had was Murray’s innovative design, Jan’s skill, my creative instincts and a shared affinity for Dylan music and beer.”

One message is clear, says StartUpJournal:

Enthusiasm matters. We never really learn, from reading the book, just how much money Mr. Yowell has made or how big his company is. (Answers: a lot and very.) But we do learn about how he took dealers on climbs of Mount Rainier, joined an Everest expedition and got involved in goofy promotions like the “Bak-A-Yak” fundraiser for a Himalayan excursion.

Sounds like having fun is a solid core business principle — one that’s too often neglected in today’s frenzy for power and profits. How about you? Are you having fun yet? If not, maybe you should take a tip from an ex-hippie. Maybe we all should…

Groovy, man!