This is Week 36 of a 52-week project/experiment in DIY marketing. Armed with nothing but a copy of the 2009 Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar and my bare wits, I’m applying the skills you need to grow a business in real time, day by day, and reporting on them week by week here, on the podcast, and at the Marketing Mix blog.
The calendar is a living document.
Which is to say, it’s meant to be adapted to yours need rather than you blindly following it.
Since, as I mentioned last week, I’m rejiggering the posting schedule to somewhat lighten the burden that having multiple deadlines on a Monday creates, I thought I’d take this piece to do some adapting of my own. (Show, don’t tell, as Mrs. Kent used to say.)
So to break things up—and maybe put something out there to reflect upon as we here in the U.S. get ready to call summer quits for the year and gear up for the “back-to-school” stretch of work before the holidays kick in and dump eggnog all over us—I thought I’d do a bit of reflecting on what’s happened over the course of the year, and how it’s going to affect the way I move forward for the rest of the year: which big projects will I be tackling, where will I be focusing my attention, etc.
And because I’m a creative type, I’m doing the damned thing as a Q&A—where I both ask the questions and supply the answers. Self-involved? Maybe. Efficient? YOU BETCHA.
Q: Looking back over the year, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
A: Without question, the value of incremental work done methodically and, for the most part, executed against some kind of a plan. (Is that one thing?)
Q. Close enough. What exactly do you mean by “incremental” and “done methodically”?
A: Ah. Well. I’ve always been sort of a workaholic-type, willing to spend any amount of energy on a project I’m enthused about. But I wasn’t so good at the drudgery (see how I look at it?) of mundane, daily tasks. I like to say I’m a starter, not a finisher, and the overflowing plate of commitments still requiring my attention for that last 10% of work attests to that. Although I have managed to knock a few things off of it.
The big work spurts are fun for those of us who dig that stuff, but it’s the daily wax-on/wax-off that strengthens the muscles that move you forward.
Q: Do you think that the overflowing plate you speak of might also have to do with an inability to say “no” often enough?
A: It’s like you know me!
Yeah, definitely. I have a problem with disappointing people, plus a dash of God Complex. And it’s taken me a looong time to gain any sort of realistic grasp of how long things actually take.
Q: Sounds familiar. So how have you gone about getting a grasp? Has the calendar helped at all?
Definitely, the calendar helped. At the most basic level, the idea of “one networking event per week” and x amount of time with social networking, etc., was useful. I started to see just how much those things took, plus a sense of what they took out of me.
Q: The energy drain was bigger for certain things?
A: Oh, yeah. I’m an introvert. Cold calling and in-person networking and speaking all take cave time afterward. I’ve learned the hard way not to schedule things too tightly around them.
Also, I’ve gotten a much better grasp of how my brain and constitution work in general. Now I schedule client work for certain days and times, writing everyday for a certain time, marketing and paperwork-y stuff for other times. It all makes more sense now, which I think is a combination of both doing it a lot and turning my attention toward it.
Q: Interesting. Have any other patterns emerged as a result of the work that you can share?
A: Tons. Well, some, anyway.
I’ve learned that I need to chunk up some of my tasks better. Like adding little bits to the newsletter as I find them, so I don’t have a knock-down-drag-out once monthly. (There were a couple of close calls, but I’ve only gone off the schedule once.)
I’ve also learned that I need to schedule downtime: for rest, play, reading, etc. Lame, maybe, but it’s the way I’m wired. Why fight it?
And I’ve started adding features to the blog, both to spice it up and reduce the load on me. It’s pretty hard cranking out a good, 1,000-word essay four or five times per week. Writing reviews and (ulp) poetry gives my brain a break, while it also trains me to write different kinds of things in my own voice. I’m the communicatrix—why shouldn’t I be able to write a Referral Friday review of a great t-shirt shop as well as a diatribe about change?
Q: Why, indeed?
A: Exactly!
Q. So with two-thirds of the year behind you, how do you see this final third shaping up? And how has the calendar work gotten you there?
A. Great question!
The rest of this year is going to be about prepping some huge projects: a book proposal, a secret publishing project for the holidays, an under-the-hood overhaul of my website.
Doing all this marketing work is directly responsible for my vision of what the future holds, as well as for my having gotten to this new point of doing so much more consulting and speaking. I want to keep doing the consulting and speaking, but at a higher and higher level, and that means I can’t put off the book any longer.
Q: How did the calendar affect things, exactly?
A: The more I wrote and spoke and put the word out there about my writing/speaking/consulting, the more feedback I got from people. And it was the feedback that was so directly responsible for showing me the next steps: what do people want? What is resonating with them? What problems do they have that I could help them wrassle to the ground?
I got a little feedback before I got so serious about putting myself out there, but it really increased as I did more of the marketing and networking.
Plus, my network just kept expanding in exciting, unexpected new ways that opened up other avenues of opportunity. I’ve got a collaborative project for actors that’s started to take shape; my increased networking and visibility is what made that possible. And I have so many more resources to draw from, things just feel more possible than they did a year ago.
Q: Wow—that’s fantastic. Anything you’d like to leave people with?
A: Yes. Get the support you need. A group, a buddy, a coach, a mentor—whatever. And be prepared to provide it for someone else. Support and accountability are the final keys to making this work. Having my accountability group—not to mention the commitment to posting my progress here every week—really made the difference between wanting to get things done and actually doing them.
Q: Thanks for your time, Colleen. I’m really looking forward to seeing what you do next.
A: Me, too. Including this week’s podcast—that oughta be interesting…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Whoooosh and wonder, communicatrix. Here’s what I get from this:
get up, get out and get help.
be clear, say no(thanks) and be true.
create, connect and cave as it serves.
thanks for the provocation, intrigue and a story to admire and mimic.
beautiful, colleen, I love the idea that getting feedback is what marketing is about or is the result of the marketing. I had never thought about it that way.
And the one topic I keep seeing pop up (especially at CFC) that I think I’ll write about next is: learning to say no. So let me get some feedback on that here: why is it so difficult to say no?