As Monty Python’s Flying Circus might say, “And now for something completely different.”  Today instead of an advice-packed or inspirational guest post, we’re sharing a poem.  Samantha Bennett, the founder of The Organized Artist Company, wrote this ‘Ode to the Entrepreneur, or, Oh, You American Dreamer’.  We know you’re going to see yourself within it and find some insight into the struggle we all take part in as entrepreneurs.  Happy reading!

And as you stand there
Wondering
About your Search Engine Optimization and
Curious if this new seminar might really be of some help and
Kicking yourself a little for all the work that is piling up as we speak

Let us now praise you.

You, the wondering, the curious, the kicking yourself a little.
You, the Founder, President, CEO, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer who Will
Double your sales this year.

You, the American Dreamer.
You are made of stern stuff.

You hopped off the Merry-Go-Round
(or maybe you were pushed)

And now you live in this new world of
Checking Google Analytics and
Waking up with a Great Idea at 4am and
Telling your family:
Yes, I’ll be right there – I just have to do this
One
Quick
Thing.

And while you may grimace when you hear your friends say,
“Wow, it must be great to work in your pajamas” and
“Wow, it must be so great to be your own boss” and
“Wow, are you lucky!”

It’s true.

It is great to work in your pajamas and
Be your own boss and
Yes
You are lucky.

Lucky to be here now in this time of unprecedented opportunity.
Lucky to have this passion for your work.

And even though you might start making
Hysterical hyena-like sounds the next time some pessimist mutters, “Well, in this economy…”
and even though
The loneliness of being The Boss can sometimes be a hot, shimmering desert of aching
solitude and

Even though…
Even though…
Even though…

You wouldn’t have it any other way because
Now you know what you did not know before.

Now you know:
Always. Back. Up.

And now you know:
Always have someone proofread, especially the dates and the phone numbers.

And now you know:
Always test all the Action Links

(And don’t just hit the “send test” button because I think that sends from a different server so you need to actually create a “find people” test list made up of dummy addresses that you set up in Yahoo and Gmail and your own webmail and, if you have to, even AOL, so you can see what people are actually getting in both HTML and Text-Only – trust me, it’s totally worth the hassle.)

And now you know:
Always trust your instincts.  Always.

Because it is your instincts that have

Brought you this far and
It is your instincts that will
See you safe home.

So dream on, you Gladiators of the Kitchen Table.
And as soon as you can figure out
What the hell API integration actually is,
I have no doubt that you will do it.

You are living The Dream.
You are living Our Dream.

Long live this vibrant, gritty, hard-fought, hard-won, capricious, eclectic, heart-pounding, soul-
stirring, headache-inducing, detail-oriented, incessant, unstoppable, terrifying, tantalizing,
who-needs-a-penthouse-of-chrome-and-glass-
when-dad’s-old-Chevy-runs-just-great?
why-don’t-they-teach-this-stuff-in-school?
jump-on-in-the-water’s-fine and
I’m-sure-next-quarter-will-be-better and this is
so-much-harder-than-I-could-have-thought
so-much-better-than-I-ever-could-have-imagined
heartfelt
(bloodied but unbowed)
American Dream.