This is Week 44 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.
Try as I may to make sure I’m doing one networking event per week, it doesn’t always work out that way.
Some weeks—like this past one—there’s either nothing going on that really floats my boat or no time to squeeze even one more thing in, even if I wanted to. (And trust me, after a couple of the freakouts and setbacks I’ve had this year from overscheduling, I most decidedly do not want to anymore!)
That’s okay, because really what we’re after with this marketing calendar thing is consistent, ongoing marketing: avoiding feast or famine syndrome, not breaking our backs, blowing opportunities or otherwise screwing up our lives and businesses by adhering rigidly to some kind of absolute set schedule. Yes, I need to market myself regularly; no, it does not have to be the way the law was laid down in print by someone else or even in the beginning of the week by me. I am the boss of me, but I am more than that: I am the capo di tutti capi, the boss of bosses, too.
This past week, I had the opportunity to have several one-on-one meetings with people: one with a brand new friend (we’ve been Facebook friends for a year), one with a former client (who resurfaced with a new opportunity because—wait for it—we had stayed in touch via marketing) and a couple that were sort of hybrid business meetings/stay-in-your-face meetings. (There’s a lot of bleed in business.) Between these meetings, a full workload of consulting and an uncharacteristically full workload of writing (downside to a 21-Day Salute™)—oh, and a personal life, which I’ve been working hard to reinstate—there was no time for a standard networking event.
That’s okay by me. I had a super-intense network-y month in September, and just came back from a solid couple of days of networking at BlogWorld Expo (sans flu, which some of the unluckier attendees—possibly overnetworkers?—got). There will be other times that are similarly lush with multiple-human contact—March, with its anchor, South by Southwest Interactive, always seems to be one of those.
The way I’ve come to look at it is the way I’ve come to look at eating a balanced diet: rather than feel obligated to have x portions of y and z in one day, I try to aim for balance over the course of the week. Similarly, I’ve heard people talking about having more success with flossing once they moved flossing time to the morning, upon arising, when they had the energy. I get that it may still be ideal to floss at night, but a thorough job in the morning is better than nothing. (We’re assuming we’re still brushing at night, or…well, ew.)
Finally, I get how easy it is to beat yourself up over any of this. May I suggest that it’s fine if you want to do that (because it goes without saying that it’s not the most productive, nor nicest thing in the world), AND that if you do, you do it quickly and get back on the horse. One thing. One call. One email. One “thumbs up” or “Happy ding-dong birthday!” on Facebook. One “@” reply on Twitter.
No one is keeping score except you. No one wins or loses except you.
xxx
c
Marketing round-up for this week:
- 8 blog posts (seven at the main blog, one here)
- recorded last week’s GYBWM podcast (2 in a row?!? Holy crap—I’m gonna spoil you guys!)
- two one-on-one meetings, plus two hybrid biz/networking one-on-one meetings
- some writing for my upcoming newsletter
- email! email! email!
- morning and afternoon checkins with Facebook and Twitter
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