a real-time experiment in marketing a new business

This is Week 42 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 good news is that the Biznik meetups I initiated and have been working steadily to promote, now in partnership with my amazing friend and uber-talented designer, Heather Parlato, have taken off.

We have a solid core of people who show up each month, so that new people get folded in and taken care of by the regulars, who are all quite comfortable. The circle keeps growing, with new, interesting people joining us each time, adding to the flavor of the group, and becoming inspired to start their own Biznik events in other parts of the city.

The bad news is that we’ve gotten so comfortable, I forgot one of the cardinal rules of networking: business and politics do NOT mix, especially when you’re just meeting for the first time. Everyone who knows me at all (and most people who just spot me from a distance) know that I’m a big, fruity, crunchy, kumbaya liberal. And a vast majority of the people I come in contact are as well.

So—you can see this coming, right?—I was not even thinking when I brought a batch of equal marriage rights stickers to the meetup to hand out. I’d made a donation, wound up with a giant stack of stickers, and thought, “Great! I’ll hand them out as presents!” Most people were excited to see them—we had a big discussion in a small group about the NoH8! campaign, and how well done it was, at the last meetup; a couple people were neutral (and I now realize that they may have just been acting polite, which is more than I can say for myself).

One man, however, looked a little uncomfortable when I started handing them out. To his eternal credit, as he gave it back to me, he did not say anything nasty or sharp, just, “Here—why don’t you save this for someone who’ll use it?” I apologized (I think) and didn’t make a big deal out of it, but inside, I was dying: the last thing in the world I want to do is make uncomfortable someone who’s just showed up to mix and mingle for business. The conversation ground to a halt; it was obvious we were all uncomfortable now. Somehow, someone started it up again and things blew over without a big fuss. But I never got a chance to pull the man aside and apologize for my rudeness and presumption. I’ll try to locate him from the sign-in sheet, but if for some reason he’s reading this now, I hope he accept my sincerest regrets.

I’m at BlogWorld Expo now, through Saturday afternoon. If you’re here, too, come up and say “hi” if you see me, or @-reply me on Twitter (I’m @communicatrix.)

And whether you’re here or not, if you have any other words of wisdom to get me through the weekend without stepping in it again, do let me know!

xxx
c

Marketing round-up for this week:

• 6 blog posts (five at the main blog, one here)
• more emails about upcoming Pam Slim seminar
• attended wildly successful Biznik meetup (except for my unfortunate faux pas!)
• met up with some people early here at BlogWorld Expo
• one-on-one catchup confab with a colleague-peer (mm…ketchup…)
• email, eternally
• morning and afternoon checkins with Facebook and Twitter

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This is Week 41 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.

Streamlining continues at a steady pace since my freakout of a few weeks back.

I’m continuing to move toward my stated goals of clearing backlog and implementing systems that support my work. Of course, I’m also doing my work while all this happens, plus these are some pretty baked-in habits, so I won’t give the false impression that all is hunky-dory here in the Land of Perpetual Change. Or even that the change, while perpetual, is always deliberate.

One thing I thought might be useful would be to show how I’ve structured my calendar to create some of this room and order. I really enjoy seeing and understanding how other people manage their workflow; I’m hoping that videos like these might prove useful to others, as well. NOTE: if you click the little button on the bottom right-ish, you can make this sucker go full screen. And if you click through to watch it on Vimeo, you can view it in HD:

gCal (Show me your rig!) from communicatrix on Vimeo.

There’s a lot more I can do with this screencasting software (Screenflow, for the Mac, for those who are interested): zooming, adding text, bumping up the size of the Colleen screen, etc. Right now, I’m just trying to familiarize myself with the tool from a “performance” and storytelling standpoint.

But does it basically make sense? Or make so much sense that you’re all “DUH, Colleen.”? Is there stuff I should do more of? Less of? Ways to make this more useful?

Would love your input, in the comments or via email (colleen AT communicatrix DOT com).

xxx
c

Marketing round-up for this week:

• 6 blog posts (four at the main blog, one here)
• targeted mailing to LinkedIn, address book and Facebook about upcoming Pam Slim seminar
• first in-person meeting of a new chapter of the Mutual Admiration Society
• first virtual meeting of new semi-regular marketing/workflow support partnership (I’m supplying the marketing support, they’re supplying the workflow support)
• email, obviously
• morning and afternoon checkins with Facebook and Twitter
• revised one page on my website

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This is Week 40 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.

I’m still in paring-down mode after last week’s meltdown (oh, the good times! the goody-good times!), so this week was a lot less about marketing and a lot more about jettisoning projects that aren’t serving my key goals and cleaning up the horrific backlog that has built up because of my poor past practices.

I’ve already detailed much of what I’m doing to pare down, as well as what I’m working toward, so I won’t belabor it here. Just by implementing a few new practices and removing a few projects, I feel a huge sense of relief, including some hope that I may come out of this year with a much clearer sense of what next year needs to look like, both from an overall sense and a marketing perspective.

The marketing keepers

Since I’ve been doing this marketing and self-promotion stuff for a while now, it makes sense for me to look at not only what’s working for me from a business perspective (i.e., what’s bringing clients in the door, and prospects up to it), but also to really look hard at what’s missing from the mix as well as what’s fun for me. “Fun” doesn’t necessarily mean whoop-dee-doo and hallelujah: it’s more about what I find interesting, challenging and engaging—what is a good fit for my skills and bent.

The newsletter is a no-brainer, as is the blog. In addition to providing the means to share useful information with clients, prospects and fans, they keep me writing and the more I write—my core competency, by a country mile—the better I feel and do. I’m keeping my skills sharp, growing as a writer, and, because of the relentless nature of the writing, discovering by combination of necessity and accident some new avenues for my writing. Poetry Thursday, which I re-started earlier this year after not being able to write one single more long blog post, has turned out to be one of the most popular things I write. And I’ve never, ever identified as either a poetry lover nor a poet. Go figger.

The podcast is a surprisingly fun vehicle for me. I resisted it when Peleg and Ilise first suggested I try my hand at it, but like other things I think I hate until I meet them and fall in love, I’m a convert. What’s more, I’ve been genuinely shocked by the enthusiastic response to it from listeners. To me, the idea of listening to content when the same stuff is available to read is crazy, but that’s just me. And I love doing them, so there you go. Because of my commitment to the calendar project, I won’t starting my own podcast until 2010, but it’s gonna be a hum-dinger, trust me.

In-person networking with Biznik has been richly rewarding. I have really enjoyed hosting the events in the Marina, and it’s been thrilling seeing other people discover the value of them: so much that they’re willing to start up their own events. Having Heather come on as co-host was the greatest single thing that happened in the entire process. If anyone is interested in getting a regular event up and running, I strongly suggest figuring out a great, ambitious, fun, trustworthy colleague to partner with. You’ll each take the heat off of each other, plus you’ll forge an incredible bond. Heather even made me an SCD-legal pie for my birthday! (see pic top right!)

The marketing also-rans

Ilise, I’m ducking in advance, but cold calling is off the menu right now. Honestly, it’s been off since I abandoned the idea of taking my little branding and marketing song-and-dance for actors on the road. The combination of eviscerated university endowments and my split focus killed off my enthusiasm: as the old saw goes, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. I’m really, really good at talking to actors about how to market themselves. But it pulls me from other stuff I’m even better at. The good news is that once I have a real reason to pick up the phone and ask people questions, I have no doubt that I’ll be able to. So this isn’t a loss—it’s a real win.

I love my Biznik events, because I’m making great connections while I hone my leadership skills, build something much bigger than myself, and hey—just have fun! (Don’t discount fun, ever!) But I’m going to be far, far more judicious about the number and types of other events I go to. I just can’t hit that many big conferences, unless I’m speaking and they’re paying me for my time. C.C. Chapman has a fantastic podcast episode on what he’s calling Personal Price Tags that addresses this; it’s short and compelling and well worth a listen. I get that it’s going to require more effort on my part to research what are and aren’t good events, but that’s much easier to manage than wasting time at the wrong dance.

The marketing “maybes”

I have to be careful, here, because I have a well-documented and chronic case of Eyes Bigger than Stomach Syndrome. But these are other marketing ideas that have my interest:

A video podcast, series of videos or narrated presentations/screencasts. It finally hit me that after all those years of performance and presenting, I have chops that I’m STUPIDLY letting go to waste. Plus, I love it. I love talking and I love performing. Not everyone is going to want to see and hear this stuff, but some people, we’ve established, like it better. So, untapped market + Colleen Fun = DO IT. Somehow.

A book. Yes, that book—the one that some people have heard me yakking about for years now. I finally have the title and the idea. Well, that’s not quite true: I have two titles and two ideas for two totally different books. Not sure how that’s going to play out, but I have until January 1st to wrap my brain around it. (I plan to start the proposal for one of them sooner.)

A tour. Not sure what this means yet, but I have a vision of myself doing some more extended versions of my now-annual PacNW trip. If you have ideas—or better yet, if there’s a way you would love love love for me to show up in your town, please let me know.

As usual, a huge part of the reason I’m blathering all this stuff in such detail is that I’m hoping to gain some clarity. Seeing it written out is helpful right away, but feedback from objective sources is always welcome. What am I missing that’s glaringly obvious to you? What do I do that’s good for me and for you that I should turn more attention to?

xxx
c

Marketing round-up for this week:

• 6 blog posts (four at the main blog, one here)
• attended the second Biznik Chicken Wing Thing
• lots of email (although the system helps when I apply it)
• morning and afternoon checkins with Facebook and Twitter
• sent hard copy thank you notes and a thank you gift
• revised one page on my website

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This is Week 39 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.

I attended two completely different events this week.

The first was a dreadful, infuriating waste of time. The people I talked to were mainly unfriendly, unreceptive and not people I was at all interested in meeting. The panels were tedious and poorly planned; I got nothing valuable from them. Even the traffic was bad. I left early, in a foul mood.

The second was a wildly illuminating and energizing investment in myself. The people I talked to were mostly lively and engaged—so much so that I found it difficult to pull myself away from our conversations to get back to the program, which was filled with great ideas that inspired me. Even the traffic wasn’t too bad. I left early, in a great mood.

The trick, of course, is that these were two different days of the exact same event and, with the exception of Tony Robbins as a presenter the second day (he really is exceptional!), nothing changed—except me.

The first day, I woke up later than I wanted to and had a slew of things hit me sideways, out of nowhere, via my inbox. I’m not sure how many of them were genuine emergencies, but somehow I got caught up in them. Before I knew it, I was leaving a full hour later than I’d intended to the previous evening, which put me square in the middle of hideous morning rush hour traffic. Figuring I’d beat it with surface roads, I instead ended up on a long, frustrating, bumper-to-bumper tour of Los Angeles’ West Side. I showed up in a horrible mood

The second day, I woke up slightly later than I wanted to, but much earlier altogether because the night before, I prepped myself for bed earlier. I limited myself to an abbreviated version of my habitual, obsessive-compulsive, morning digital check-in (comments to the blog, items of excessive delight or despair in my inbox, quick scan of Daily Beast/Twitter/Facebook), made myself eat a light breakfast and hightailed it over.

Traffic was ass, as is the fashion of my adoptive city, but I picked a good playlist, got in the far left-hand lane and—surprise!—my freeway experience was just fine. Arrived early enough that the exhibitors were just setting up with no one to talk to, so I talked to them and got a lead on some PR writing work for a friend. Got a seat close to the stage for Mr. Robbins, then moved up to the half-empty front row: good karma (I’m a speaker, too) and more practice at putting myself out there. During his (TWO-HOUR LONG!) speech, he singled out a woman who was a 22-year entrepreneur with annual revenues of $22 million. I made a point of seeking her out later and we had an amazing talk.

I could go on and on (and on, although not as long as Tony Robbins!), but I have things I want to do today and so do you. And that’s my point, really: what am I doing to make the things I want to do happen? Or, to paraphrase my way more organized and fit and, let’s face it, financially successful friend Jason Womack, “How do I want to show up for things?” I can create the room I need, devise and implement the systems to support my work and stay tuned in to what’s really happening (as opposed to what I wish was happening, or any number of other things). Or I can blow it off and continue to live in chaos, making stuff but not making significant advancement toward my heart’s desire.

The point of the calendar is to help organize what I need to do, and to focus on doing those things one at a time, but at its heart, it’s a system for dealing with stuff. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff—possibly too much stuff—but I’ve not been doing it systematically. The daily blog posts are ingrained as a practice, as is this weekly one (although this week, I fell behind.) Ditto with networking: in my brain, I know that I need to be hitting a networking event per week, so as I plot out my weeks, I make sure that an event is slotted into each one. It works like magic, just chipping away at this stuff*. I need to introduce those kinds of systems and that kind of order to all my work, I now see, if the marketing stuff is going to be effective. After all, if I’m running a crappy, broken-down business because of lousy practices, all the marketing in the world ain’t gonna help it.

I’ve already started implementing some new rules and regs here at communicatrix HQ, and I intend to devote a significant chunk of time to getting my house in order for the balance of 2009. As much as I’d like to do a million other things, too, focus is the cure. If I can restrain myself a bit now, I sense that the payoff down the road will be huge.

Have you had some kind of breakthrough in this area? What made it happen? Which systems—small or large—did you put in place that significantly shifted things for you?

xxx
c

*I playfully call it pushing the c*cksucking boulder up the motherf*cking hill. If you need a shot of inspiration and can handle some seriously blue language, you’re welcome to sing along.

xxx
c

Marketing round-up for this week:

• 6 blog posts (four at the main blog, one here)
• 3 free consultations (1 was donation from last week’s speaking gig; 2 were to make up for poor planning!)
• met with another client and one of my colleagues on a cool new project
• attended the Twitter 140 conference
• submitted proposal for blogger’s pass to Le Web 2010
• email! email! email! (others complain, but I love it)
• informative, supportive, entertaining behavior on my social media outlets
• sent actual hard copy thank you notes
• revised two pages on my website

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This is Week 38 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.

Some weeks, you spend most of your time marketing, or working, or whatever-it-is that takes you away from whatever the rest of it is that you do in the course of a week

This was one of those incredible week’s of having to push myself a little bit harder than I’d maybe have liked, because so many opportunities came up. (And believe it or not, I actually turned down a couple of opportunities, because even optimistic me realized that something had to give.)

So while I know I’m usually the one who goes on and on (and on and—well, you know), I’m going to keep it short and sweet this week.

I worked hard. Maybe a little too hard. I definitely found the outside of my ability range (is that even a thing? “Ability range?”)

But I think it serves as a useful reminder that all of this stuff is about finding things out: who exactly your target is, and has it shifted? What exactly the market is looking for, and are you prepared to deliver? Which times of the day and which days of the week can you push a little bit harder? How much rest will you need to schedule in after the pushing?

And again, what systems are you putting in place so that you don’t have to deal with the same problems again? Because problems are fine—they’re just you, bumping up against the edges of things. It’s the repetition of the same problems that starts getting…problematic.

After some discussion with my Significant Other, we’ve decided to cancel all plans for this weekend and just chill. “Chill” may mean puttering, but we are both restored by that. And “chill” will definitely mean unplugged, not “on” time. We’ve both had a lot of “on” time this week.

I’m happy with where this week took me. I’m just not sure I want to go to all those places again.

Live. Learn. Live some more.

xxx
c

Marketing round-up for this week:

• 5 blog posts (four at the main blog, one here)
• met with a client for dinner
• met with another client and one of my colleagues on a cool new project
• Monthly Biznik Meetup I co-host with the amazing Heather Parlato (who made me SCD-legal pie for my birthday!) If you’re Los Angeles-local, sign up, then join us next month!
• spoke to the Orange County Advertising Federation on Personal Branding in a Postmodern Age (latest iteration of the “You, amplified” platform)
• attended WordCamp LA (and, as per usual, all the good stuff happened in the hallways)
• did some recon and saw a competitor’s general presentation
• email! email! email! (others complain, but I love it)
• informative, supportive, entertaining behavior on my social media outlets
• sent actual hard copy thank you notes
• met with my accountability group to go over goals made and missed
• enjoyed birthday dinner at Benihana (okay, not marketing—but DELICIOUS)

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This is Week 37 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.

I’m currently reading a very slim but quite curious and decidedly interesting (to me) volume on becoming a better salesperson. Frankly, a lot of the stuff in there is just foreign to me: I’m not a big salesperson, and I’ve never been a natural one. This is probably a combination of training (very inside-the-lines, where the lines are dictated by nuns and other Persons of Authority), wiring (introvert) and experience (9-to-5 world of advertising, followed by the surprisingly 9-to-5 world of commercial acting, where, while you are technically self-employed, you still have Big Daddy Corporate Producer cutting your checks and Mr. Agent Man brokering your deals).

One thing I wish I’d learned earlier is the fine art of shutting the hell up. I can’t count the times I’ve lowballed myself into a corner or extra work or taking stuff on I shouldn’t at all because I don’t know how to keep my trap shut. I am that person who, when handed the rope, could do the cartoon-quick fashioning of it into a noose, hurl it over a rafter and hoist myself with the grace of an aerial acrobat.

This week, I noted two very different occasions where shutting the hell up was warranted.

The fine art of shutting the hell up, learned

The first was at a networking event I attend semi-regularly, and always enjoy, even if it hasn’t netted me work (yet). At this point, I’m outrageously relaxed at events in general (another benefit of regular attendance) and at this one in particular, so I’m perfectly happy to go into question mode and let other people run on at the mouth. Which, amazingly, some do to an extent that goes from amusing to surprising to jaw-dropping and on to amusing again. Some people can talk and talk and have it be fascinating, but most people’s favorite subject is themselves, which—PARADOX ALERT—means that most people who like to run on are usually running on about the wrong thing.

In this case, at least two people talked themselves right out of any referral I would ever, EVER consider throwing their way. And I’m not concerned about currying favor and getting the referral in return because—PARADOX ALERT—when someone is that bad at listening, there’s a non-zero chance they’re also going to be bad at sending my Right People to me.

And when I thought about it, this happens more often than not: people talk themselves out of more jobs they could ever possibly talk themselves into, because 90% of good communication (which is a foundational element of any sane and sound marketing plan) is listening.

The fine art of shutting the hell up, applied

Believe it or not, I don’t spend all of my time marketing, although I realize that sometimes, it seems that way. Sometimes, I have actual presentations to build or paid stuff to write or even (gasp) clients.

I’m relatively new to consulting, and even newer to coaching, so I don’t profess to know it even close to what looks like all with either. Coaching, especially, has always seemed sort of mysterious to me, so when I took on my first couple of clients, it was with the explicit proviso that they were getting me on the relative-cheap as part of a grand experiment I not only wasn’t sure would work out, but wasn’t sure I wanted to have worked out. Because I’m squirrely and private and the like.

The first several sessions, I talked…a lot. (Because hey, I’m the communicatrix, not the listenatrix.) And I’m sure I delivered some bang-up information. But at one point in the process, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, part of my job as coach was this teach-a-man-to-fish thing, and part of that might just be shutting the hell up and letting them do a little casting. Or whatever it is those fisherman types do.

Amazingly (or not), my very smart client got everything just as quickly, if not more so, than listening to my big song and dance. Listening is as awesome in day-to-day business as it is  in selling—surprise, surprise.

Bonus-extra for tired marketeers (not a misspelling!): more listening significantly lessens drag on you, the marketeer. So there you go.

Marketing round-up for this week:

• 6 blog posts (five at the main blog, one here)
• September newsletter (you subscribe, right?)
• interviewed a supercool dude for next month’s actor-marketing column
• revised some marketing pages on my website
• networking event
• met with my genius friend, Jodi Womack, about various business plans we each have (and made a bonus-extra impromptu visit to the birthday party of a smart WordPress marketing type)
• met with my genius friend, Karen Kohlhaas, whose audition seminar I’m teaching today
• teaching that seminar for actors today!
• bazillion emails (still my main and preferred mode of communication)
• bazillion birthday greetings on Facebook/etc (what is UP with all the Virgos!)

And yes, Sunday is my birthday, so feel free to wish me a happy one!

xxx
c

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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…

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This is Week 35 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.

While the entire thing was pretty much magnificent from stem to glorious stern, arguably the best thing that bubbled up from last week’s Creative Freelancer Conference was a quote from one of last year’s attendees during a panel on what had happened between this year and last: “You learn from your mistakes; your successes just give you a big head.” (I’m paraphrasing, but I think Tim Read, the very smart and nice illustrator behind the quote, will find it in his heart to forgive me.)

To that end, I’m going to list what worked for me this time (i.e., mistakes I learned from in the past) and what will work for me better in the future (i.e., mistakes I made this time around).

Stuff that Worked at this Conference!

Constant improvement to my presentation. Honestly, I’ve never been one to rest on my laurels; I have a different set of default problems. But I’ve learned from having faulty title cards and gluey transitions to always be improving my presentations. They’re never done. Never. As in, I grabbed some screenshots of Twitter during the lunch break between the morning program and my own, and totally changed the beginning of my show to help address some big-time Twitter doubting that had surfaced around the conference over the previous 24 hours. Chris Brogan is the master of this. At a conference last fall, I watched him swap out “pods” of a preso mere moments before he went on. It made it fresh, and probably kept him fresh.

More resting and solo recharge time. I learned this the hard way: at SXSW, last year’s CFC and many other conferences. They are always-on; I’m not, nor can I be (at least, not effectively). I came early enough to have some walking-around time, I (regretfully) declined to host breakfast round tables and a lunch on the day I was speaking, and I went to bed when I was tired. Or pretty soon after I was tired. While I was still exhausted by the end of the three days, I was much better by the following morning.

Scheduling posts to run in advance. Okay—the jig is up! I front-loaded an entire week’s worth of blog posts last weekend, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about writing on the road. While I’m not crazy about taking days off from writing (writers write, no matter what), I also have finally started to realize there are only so many hours in the day, and, as I’m constantly advising my consulting clients, one has to focus one’s energy to be effective.

Stuff that Didn’t Work at this Conference!

Not checking my reservations carefully. Somehow, I’d shifted the dates I’d be staying over in San Diego by one. Fortunately, the hotel was able to accommodate me, but it will not always be so easy. This is a triple-check, two-sets-of-eyes thing from now on. As they say re: SXSW, hold up your airline reservation. Hold up your hotel reservation. Make sure they match. ‘Nuff said. I’m going to get together a system for subsequent trips, maybe hitting up my friend and road warrior extraordinaire, Jason Womack, for some tips.

Not enough resting and solo recharge time before. I’m probably at the outside edge of what I can get away with at an event, but there’s no reason that (once again) I can’t set up a better system that has me prepping trips further in advance, so I’m not scrambling. This means getting a better handle on how long things take. I’m consistent in underestimating here.

Inadequate tools. I love my sweet little 12″ traveling companion more than you can know. But computer technology marches on, even if not in the form factor you’d like, and it’s time to retire my PowerBook from active duty and get an Intel Mac replacement. It’s one thing to be frugal; it’s another to tie yourself to equipment that slows you down. Sorry, baby—we’ll find you life in some other form.

And finally, a small note of the administrative variety

In order to better manage my time and energy, I’m going to shift my Calendar posts to Friday, starting this week. That’s right: a double-header, as we head into Labor Day weekend. It’s only fitting, right?

REGULAR MARKETING ACTIVITIES for the week of August 17, 2009:

• WEB: six blog posts (one here, five at the main blog)
• NETWORKING: in the halls, at meals, in the jacuzzi, on a morning walk—you name it, I did it
• …and the (abbreviated version) of various and sundry daily tasks: Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.

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This is Week 34 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.

I’m not the world’s greatest self-promoter, which is why I think that the work I do resonates with my (right) clients: they feel a little funny about getting out there and mixing it up themselves.

Like cold calling, though, some of the work of marketing (and I’m including self-promotion under the marketing umbrella, at least, for indie biz types) can be critical to your growth even though it feels awkward or downright unnatural to your soul (and I’m including indie biz types under the umbrella of “people who have souls”—at least, some of them.)

Favors vs. consideration

Asking can take a couple of different forms. Well, tons, probably, but a couple that leap to mind:

1. There’s the asking for a favor
2. There’s the asking to be considered

Asking for a favor includes…well, any kind of having to ask someone for something: a retweet on Twitter, a plug on their blog, a set of eyeballs for the draft of your promo piece—you get the idea.

Asking to be considered is a whole nuther animal. That’s where you put yourself out there, looking for the gig. When I put myself out there and “jokingly” (as if!) said to Pam Slim that I should present a bit on branding at her Escape from Cubicle Nation workshop in Chicago, that was asking to be considered; when I very seriously asked her to submit a piece of video for my Southwest Airlines contest entry last year was a favor. (A big one, too, since I was asking for a super-quick turnaround.)

I look at both favors and considerations as debits in the capital department, albeit mild ones (we hope!). I don’t have a formal ratio for my ask-to-give ratio, but I know that anything more than 1 (ask)-to-5 (give) gives me hives, and 1-to-10 is probably more like it for me. (This is down from 1-to-1,000, so easy on me, please.)

I’m not 100% sure about this, but I think part of my problem to date with this asking stuff is that I was confusing asking for a favor with asking for consideration. Cold calling aside—because (a), there the line is pretty clear, and (b) I loathe talking on the phone in general, anyway—asking for consideration when it comes to jobs, gigs, or other types of work-related inclusion with acquaintances or colleagues is probably too hard, and something I need to examine.

In the meantime, I thought I might start by looking at my “asks” for this week. They’re work-related, because that’s the thrust of this blog, but I’ve been noting my other “asks”, too.

Favors I asked for this week

• Help from colleagues with writing I’ve finally homed in on what my first “real”* book will be, and both because it’s kind of a hot topic and I’m hot to get started, I reached out to several friends who have either published what I feel are great books or who are smart and have landed decent deals. My request? To share their proposals with me. I have a couple to look at, but I figured that these will make it more real to me. Plus I know these people pretty well, as well as their books and ideas, so it’s easier for me to tease apart how they did it.
• Help from colleagues with accountability I love my little mastermind-esque group. In addition to their weekly insight into my stumbling blocks and progress, I asked if they could review my card and marketing scheme for the upcoming Creative Freelancer Conference (still a couple more days, West Coasters—sign up! Don’t miss it! Add “CW9″ at checkout for an additional $25 off!
• Help from my readers in getting published I’d read about a publication looking for essays from bloggers a while back. Finally, I screwed up my courage and put my request front and center, on my blog. (I’ll do it again: if you like my writing and have a few minutes to enjoy some curated best-of posts, please nominate one for me! Or come back and do it by August 31st!)

Consideration I asked for this week

• To speak at the upcoming Twitter Conference LA I’ve already decided to attend anyway, as there are several people I know who will be speaking there, and a few more I’d really like to meet. But I saw the note about submitting yourself as a speaker and thought, “What the hell?” If nothing else, it was a chance to write a creative self-promotional letter.

I feel pretty good about my favors. Not that they were easy to ask for—the proposal requests took me two weeks to get off my to-do list, and I gave myself a stomach ache screwing up the courage to post that request to the blog. But I do a lot of favors for other people as a matter of course, both friends and strangers, mostly because it makes me feel so damned good. (Don’t worry—I do my fair share of acting like a idiot asshat to balance it out.)

I feel like a grade-A boob looking at the “consideration” list. That’s where opportunity lies, and I need to start jumping on it. I do like it when projects just come to me, but like counting on referrals to keep your pipeline full, it’s a fool’s game as a business strategy.

To that end, I would love your help in figuring out how to go about the “ask” in a better/stronger/faster (and, god willing, funner) way. My copy of The 25 Sales Skills They Don’t Teach You in Business School came in the mail this week, so maybe I’ll start there for inspiration. But for all I know, you might have the “ask” all figured out—or at least, are further along that path.

And yeah—that’s a favor I’m asking…

xxx
c

*Where “real” is “published via traditional means, not DIY”—I have plans for that, too. Say a prayer for me; it’s gonna be a busy Q4.

REGULAR MARKETING ACTIVITIES for the week of August 17, 2009:

• WEB: six blog posts (one here, five at the main blog)
• WEB: “twitterview” with Bryn Mooth about Twitter, on Twitter, in preparation for the upcoming CFC
• WEB: updated several posts on my site, added tweaks to sidebars and one new page (you’ll see it next Monday, but if you’re at the CFC, see me for a sneak preview)
• WEB/Real Life MKTC: Researched new communications services to improve Full Monty experience.
• WEB: wrote & submitted my monthly column for the Networker, LACasting’s member newsletter
• PRICING: (remember: it’s marketing, too) Brainstormed/sketched out new pricing structure for consulting I’m launching in September (for my birthday!)
• EMAIL MKTG: wrote one item for next month’s newsletter (I’m learning!)
• REAL-LIFE MKTG: picked up new business cards! yay!
• NETWORKING: one-on-one meetup with my good friend (and social networker extraordinaire), Chris Guillebeau. Hoo boy, did we talk shop!
• NETWORKING: hosted/attended Chris Guillebeau meetup in L.A.
• NETWORKING: catch-up call (mmm…ketchup) with my friend/colleague, Matthew Cornell (we met through the interwebs!)
• …and the various and sundry daily tasks (have you seen Chris Brogan’s great Daily Chores list?): Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.

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