At long last, we come to the end of this little (LITTLE!?!) project. So what did I learn from it?

1. (Regular) blogging is awesome!

I learned this lesson on two fronts this year, blogging 5x/weekly on my main site and weekly here. Regular blogging done reasonably well brings more readers, and more readers helps keep writers motivated. Or it keeps this writer motivated. It brings in more readers (see my post on communicatrix for detailed stats), which can translate to more clients and evangalizers. It brings in comments and emails (or not) that tell you when what you’re writing is landing and when it’s not. And it

2. (Regular) blogging is awful!

I won’t lie: I’m relieved that it’s over. Not the marketing-regularly part: doing anything with focused attention helps move it along, and this was no exception. The weekly posting became burdensome about four months in, right around when my interest in what I was pursuing shifted. On the other hand, it forced me to reinvent things about halfway through: in case you hadn’t noticed, the posts became much more about sharing my journey, and that’s something that I always enjoy doing, even when it’s not easy.

3. Podcasting is super-awesome

If you had told me back in January that the best thing about this project would be my podcasts, I’d have said, “What podcasts?” Because it was only at the urging of Peleg that I decided to give them a whirl. I couldn’t believe that people would rather listen to me yammer about the week than read about it. People did, bless their crazy hearts, and I loved doing it. I’m kicking around an idea for a podcast to start up next year. It may not be marketing-related, but it will be fun-related.

4. Writing goals down works as well as they say it does, whoever “they” are

This is the scary-amazing part.

I know that there really isn’t some study of Harvard Business School grads who made x more dollars because they wrote down their goals. And by no means did I hit all of mine: I abandoned ship completely on several, and several others I morphed into more reasonable, attainable and—most important—interesting-to-me goals as the year progressed. (This is the hardest part of goal-setting for me: getting honest not only about what really excites me, but how many hours I have available in the day to work on the stuff.)

One goal I abandoned early on, with Ilise’s approval: that of 50 consulting clients. Given the health setbacks I had and all the plates I had spinning, it just wasn’t feasible. Plus my offering was still not completely formed and needed work (heck, I still haven’t moved it off the Super-Secret Page it currently lives on.) So I just dumped it as an action item and forgot it, although I didn’t stop taking on clients.

So tallying up the year’s results was kind of a shock: a cursory count showed 27 individual consulting clients, and I ended up getting talked into doing some ongoing coaching with three of them. An over 50% success rate just for writing something down? I’ll take it!

I also exceeded my goal of 12 speaking or teaching gigs (I’m including webinars), racking up a whopping 16! Again, I didn’t do anything specific to go after these, like targeting, researching and calling. (The one bit of calling I did in the beginning of the year, reaching out to colleges with theater departments, netted me nothing. Bad timing, with endowments gutted because of the market crash.)

5. Accountability is critical

Blogging-out-loud helps with accountability, but it wasn’t enough. (It’s not you; it’s me.) Having people to report to, on the other hand, made a huge difference. Mid-year, I added something called Success Team, a group of four creative folk who meet in person once weekly to hash out what happened, offer and get guidance and generally provide support. (It’s mastermind-like, if you’ve heard of those.) I tried out a few phone partners: for the past couple of months, I’ve had bi-weekly phone dates with a fellow coach/consultant-type that’s been working well. And a couple of weeks ago, I added a daily check-in with a Twitter pal who’s a designer-consultant; we’re using Google Wave, and it’s really interesting and fun.

I loved my time with Ilise, too; paying for a coach is a great investment in your business, and there’s no way I’d have come this far without her. Right now, I’m investing my self-improvement allowance in a rare form of martial arts training (I know, but it’s cool) and in monthly shrink appointments, but I’m sure I’ll have another coach eventually. Meanwhile, I can’t recommend Ilise Benun highly enough if you’re a creative solopreneur looking to build your business. And Deidre swears by the Marketing Mentor groups.

What’s most important? Clarity, focus, flexibility, and…

Accomplishing big things requires regular energy and attention, and there’s just no way you’re going to sustain that over the long haul without passion.

So my advice going in is to be honest, and get clear. If  you don’t have the focus you need yet, don’t fake it: commit however you can to discovering your passion.

Then, once you’re clear on that, go after it like a white-hot laser of focused energy.

Thanks for making this journey with me. And thanks to the intrepid Deidre Rienzo who hunkered down and did the work week by week, and also blogged out loud about it. (And speaking of Deidre, you should immediately go to the Marketing Mix blog and read about her astounding, measurable success. Puts me to shame, she does, and good on ‘er!)

Here’s to an amazing 2010. And if you want some help, do check out the new 2010 Calendar. It’s got a number of really cool additions, like helpful articles and several recurring sheets to help you track your progress (I wish I’d had numbers handy as I sat down to do this).

“Marketing” round-up for this week:

• 6 blog posts (five at the main blog, one here)
• Two holiday parties (sorry, but I accidentally did business at one; reflex action, I guess)
• Wrote marketing column for actors
• email! email! email!
• morning and afternoon checkins with Facebook and Twitter

Funny—I got a comment via email this week about my Thanksgiving Day poem (I post a little something in something a little like verse each Thursday).

In it, the reader very kindly thanked me for the poem, and hoped that someday, my days would be full of poetry rather than self-promotion and self-reflection. Which I know he meant in the kindest of ways, but which kind of stung: am I really all self-promo, all the time? And if I am, what of the Yellow Highlighter People? The mind reels.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about thankfulness and poetry and marketing and all the rest of it. What I’ve come to is this: that some people will always think any promotion is too much promotion, that you have to do what feels right for you and your business (and let other people learn where the line is for them), and that I’m pretty happy with my own mix of self-reflection, self-promotion and poetry.

This week, there wasn’t much of any of it, save the poetry. I had an arduous drive back from Portland, followed by some mandatory rest and relaxation, followed by some semi-mandatory family/holiday time. I’m using the rest of the weekend to squeeze in some relaxing puttering, much of it marketing-related.

And what’s made this little break possible? Nothing but the regular-as-clockwork marketing I’ve been doing for years now, especially this past year.

I know it can get tedious at times: I’ve had my own late-night wrasslin’ with my email newsletter, and there have been plenty of times when I questioned my sanity, committing to this  networking event or that unpaid speaking gig. But putting aside the weird and utterly unquantifiable sensation that somehow, everything is coming together underneath, there’s the very real truth that because I market all year-’round, taking a week off at the holidays won’t hurt me.

If you haven’t yet committed to your own year-long project for 2010, I’d ask you this: why not? Can you not spare two hours a week to create some room and sanity in your life?

“Marketing” round-up for this week:

• 6 blog posts (five at the main blog, one here)
• email! email! email!
• morning and afternoon checkins with Facebook and Twitter

Crikey! Has it really been six months?! It seems like just yesterday that little Junior cut his first tooth.

Ah, well. I was feeling a bout of reflection coming on, so really, it’s perfect timing. (And I hear tell there will be a non-dated version of the Calendar coming out soonish, so maybe this will also be helpful if you’re just getting started.)

What I’ve learned about marketing by doing it every day

1. It adds up. Doing a little here and there may not seem like much as you’re doing it. (Or it may seem like a lot—YMMV!) But halfway through the year, I realized I’ve met a big personal-marketing goal of mine in increasing blog readership. To wit, I’ve doubled in six months what it took me four years to build in the first place. I credit a number of things: writing daily posts, responding regularly in comments, commenting on other blogs, staying active in social media. (And it didn’t hurt that Facebook exploded this year.) I also increased my newsletter list by 50% in six months, while maintaining open rates and click-throughs. This may be a function of critical mass, but I think it’s at least in part owing to working my butt off to continually improve the two things I care the most about, output-wise.
2. Pace yourself. Part of the reason I think I crashed so hard three months in is because I worked myself too hard out of the gate. A few people commented to that effect when I confessed how sick I got, and even said they were somewhat relieved to hear I was, in fact, human. I’m still not sure about that, but I’ve realized that having down time and a life are both important. Remember: blank weekend spaces on the calendar are there for a reason!
3. Accountability helps. A lot! There were weeks I’m certain I would have blown off everything but for the shame of having to admit it out loud here. And I never would have even tried cold calling—no way! Of course, I’m still not as good at it as Deidre, but that’s for a couple of good reasons. Namely…
4. Practice makes perfect. Okay, not perfect, but better. It’s a muscle, and working it makes you stronger. It also takes away some of the sting and fear. When you don’t die enough times in a row, you start to trust that you’ll be okay with whatever it is you’re afraid of. Most of us don’t look forward to cold calling at first, but eventually, you can become like Ilise and Peleg (and maybe Deidre!) who actually look forward to the game of it. I don’t yet, and there’s another reason as well:
5. All of this assumes you like what you’re doing the marketing about. Last week, I confessed to some ambivalence. I’m glad I did (accountability!) because it made me reflect on it more this week. I’m still not 100% sure that I’m either the be-all, end-all of communications consulting (and if I am, I had better find a different way to describe it) or if I’m just meant to write, period (and if I am, I’d better clear even more time to do some “real”—i.e., offline—writing as well). But I’m committed to putting my consulting practice front and center, and seeing where it leads me. I really, really enjoy teaching people what I know, and both consulting and writing (and speaking, too) let me do that.

My goals were very different from Deidre’s and probably from yours, if you’re a normal business owner. Ilise and I talked very specifically toward the end of 2008 about my desire to focus on increasing my readership. This has translated to more client work, too, but I’m aware that any growth there is a gift, as I wasn’t putting my all into marketing my services.

Thanks for keeping me honest so far; I hope you’ll stick with me as I move forward.

And hey! Did you know I have a blog and a newsletter you can subscribe to?

This week: More cold calls, slightly new script, whole new outlook

I’m not sure how many of you who read this are working the Veteran’s Calendar (which I’m supposed to be working) vs. the Start-Up Calendar, or even whether you’re working the calendar at all. While this series is supposed to be an out-loud demonstration of the calendar in action, with all the helpful knowledge that you’d expect from same, it’s not necessary to be working the marketing plan/calendar yourself to get something out of my (and Deidre’s) experience(s) with it.

This week is going to be a perfect demonstration of that. Because unlike the previous weeks, it’s not full of demos and how-tos and tips and tricks, but just one big, fat, cautionary tale about what not to do.

Let me preface this by saying that whatever you’re doing, it’s important to keep doing it, one day at a time, one task at a time. Yes, when you look at the totality of a marketing plan—its lofty goals, its ambitious benchmarks—it’s overwhelming at times. Even doing the individual things is overwhelming sometimes, when the things are things you’re not as good at, or that you’re scared of, or that you just despise. (That’s me and cold calling, for those of you who have not been paying close attention.)

But it is important to do a little something every day. Me, I’ve been doing a lot of something every day—a lot of blogging, a lot of writing, a lot of networking. Sometimes it works out like that: you get some great opportunities lobbed your way, and you’ve got to go for it. My opportunities came in the form of three speaking gigs in the space of a week, plus a lot of other one-time-only networking and meet-up opportunities I felt the need to jump on. Add to that pile the intense load of writing I’ve committed to for 2009, and you can see the potential for it all catching up with me.

Which it did, on Friday. After too many days of cheating sleep, I was exhausted. I could tell, because I started getting snappish—patience is not my strong suit, and it’s replaced by outright bitchy short-temperedness when I get overtired. So Friday night, in a fit of disgust, I went to bed early (for me) and slept for 10 hours.

When I awoke on Saturday, the fog had lifted, and a number of things became clear:

Self-care is not optional; it is the fuel that runs the entire operation. I’ll be writing a review of Leo Babauta’s excellent new book, The Power of Less, very soon, but its core principles—that you must isolate what it is that you truly want and protect that thing with the ferocity of a mama bear—are worth noting now and remembering always.

You can accomplish what you promised, but you must be prepared to make adjustments. For the record, while I’m “doing” the Veteran’s Calendar, I’m really doing a Colleen-ized version of it. Five cold calls these first two weeks instead of the suggested ten. Because I’m (brand-) new to cold calling, and because this particular flavor of business is also new to me. This week, I did my cold calls straight to voicemail on purpose. I knew I could put on a little 15-second show for each prospect and it would be sincere; I seriously doubted whether I had the energy required to interact with another new human being over the phone, much less a potential prospect, and forget entirely about doing it TEN TIMES. Five. Straight to voicemail. Checked off the list. Speaking of which…

You must build in tiny victories to keep going. Small “I did it!”s to keep your enthusiasm up. Stuff you can literally or figuratively check off a list. I write in the public forum for Leo’s New Year’s Challenge to “check off” my 10 minutes of daily guitar practice. You have a calendar with boxes to check off your marketing chores. In true FlyLady fashion, I’ve been making my bed every morning for months now, and it really does make a difference (I recently wrote about FlyLady and the magic of controlling what you can on my own blog, communicatrix-dot-com).

By tomorrow, the worst of my commitment-crazed month should be behind me. I’ve learned a TON from this experiment already, and expect I will keep learning more. Which I’ll continue to share because (a) I promised! and (b) it really is helpful to share this stuff out loud. I encourage you to do the same, in whatever way you feel comfortable with.

Maybe even a few ways you feel UNcomfortable with.

So if you feel up to it, please let me know in the comments what you felt about this. Is is helpful to see me struggling? Or would you rather I shut up and just share tips and tricks? Or is there a winning ratio of wins-to-foibles you find useful and/or inspiring?

Come on…your turn!

NEXT WEEK: Optimizing your online presence

You can subscribe to the whole podcast and get everything—Ilise’s entries, old entries from the Designer’s Guide series that I moderated (good for designers but useful for all creative solopreneurs)—or just listen to the individual entry here.

Please let me know what you think! I was really surprised to hear from Ilise how many people wanted an audio option, and would love to know if people who actually read the blog posts like it (as in, in addition to reading) or if you’d actually prefer just an audio podcast.

Thanks!

xxx
c

You can’t make me market myself…

I’m not immune to “I Don’t Wanna” Disease, especially when it comes to certain aspects of it (cold research calling, I’m looking at you.) Yet I’ve never been more aware of how important it is to be out there like clockwork, with a consistent message. The stuff I managed to do well in 2008—networking, primarily, both in real-time and via social media—really helped my business. I started landing the speaking and consulting gigs I was interested in, and it’s given me hope that I can fully transition my business from one thing (primarily design) to another (primarily helping people become better communicators).

…or can you?

As many of you know, Ilise is not only one of my co-authors on the Marketing Mix: she’s also my coach, and has been for over two years. She knows me well enough by now to understand what floats my ChrisCraft: I love solving problems, creating order where there was none, and illuminating stuff along the way. So I should not have been surprised when she came up with this genius idea:

“Why don’t you do the Grow Your Business calendars out loud, as a project, here on the blog?”

Love! It! And for a whole host of reasons.

How YOU are going to help ME (and vice versa)

First and foremost, this project will provide personal accountability to keep me on track with my goals. I’ve got a business to get up and running, and I do better when I know people are looking. Sad? Maybe. But true, so I might as well get down with it.

Next, it’s right in line with my personal credo: live out loud; help other people do the same. My writing, my volunteering, my one-on-one work are all about throwing a light on something I’ve been through, to make it a little easier for the next person. I’ve got a lot of good company in the self-as-experiment department, from my friends Gretchen Rubin, Matthew Cornell and Jason & Jodi Womack to the founders of NaNoWriMo to…well, a host of famous pundits.

Finally, it’s a new project! And I’m a nerd—nerds love new projects! I’ll be seizing this golden opportunity to put up a new WordPress site under a sort-of-new imprimatur. Articles will post here every Monday through 2009, and be cross-posted to The Marketing Mix. Dig it!

Aaaaand…a pitch! (Hey, it’s MARKETING, remember?)

Of course, with any luck, we’ll also sell a few calendars along the way. (Or rather, Ilise and Peleg will.) There are two, so you know: the Start-Up Plan and the Veteran’s Plan (that link again). Each takes you step-by-step through a plan that will get your marketing in place, running 24/7/365, to help you avoid “feast or famine” syndrome.

Since I’m in the unique position of being both a veteran at some things and a newbie with this consulting start-up, I’m going to be drawing on both. You can choose whichever you like, or roll your own. But I’m telling you, the calendars are great. I get nothing for saying this (other than a warm, fuzzy, Virgo feeling of righteousness), so you know I’m not shilling, here.

If you’d like some hands-on kinda help, Ilise can provide that a number of ways, as well. For details, click here.

Let me know if you’re going to play along. It’d be great to have some company. Or just stay tuned and cheer me on. (It’d be seriously great to have some cheering.)

NEXT MONDAY is STEP ONE: Getting your contact database in order!