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Carlette Cormier holding her Savannah Toile handbag.
I spent the early part of this week visiting my good friend Meredith Gray at her new bungalow in Savannah. We invited a fellow Savannah-ite to join us for breakfast Tuesday morning at the Sentient Bean.
Carlette Cormier and I had met in 2003–I as a speaker, Carlette as an award-winning designer. She recently took my webinar, so our friendship was re-kindled and visiting her in GA was a must. Her focus now is in developing her Savannah Toile business, which she’s doing with great success.
Carlette is a born story-teller. She was describing a big job she’d installed a few years ago at an elegant restaurant in town called Ele. As a designer, she was tasked with creating upholstered walls for one of the dining rooms. I asked her how she had received that opportunity. Carlette’s next door neighbor is a masseuse and the owner of Ele regularly received massages from her. Carlette’s neighbor happily made the referral. As Carlette so succinctly put it:
“You never know where your next referral is coming from.”
Carlette’s upholstered wall panels for Ele
I attended a stellar event last night at the Westport Library, the first in a two-part series called “Creating and Growing Businesses that Thrive.” Doug Bernstein, of Melissa and Doug fame, was interviewed by NPR reporter Alison Freeland in front of a packed house of business owners. The 90 minutes flew by as Alison tossed out questions to Doug and he shared his vast expertise.
Here’s some of the wisdom I heard (interviewer’s or audience’s questions in italics):
- What’s a typical day? Every day is different. Every day you get thrown a lot of pitches. You decide which ones you want to hit. There are always more than you can get done.
- If you’re not failing a lot, you’re not testing yourself hard enough.
- What is your definition of entrepreneurship? Wanting something to be different; wanting to effect change; making something different or better
- We begged our first customers (toy store owners) to watch our video [their first product]. It’s ALL about the customer!
- What advice would you give people who are starting a business? I’ll go out on a limb here and say, this Internet thing is going to stick.
- While the NYTimes recently wrote that toy companies are going techno, we love being contrarians.
- How do you manage the PR for your company? “We don’t. We’ve spent $1.87 on marketing in 23 years. Our customers do the marketing for us. The best marketing you can do is taking care of your customers.
- We stay intimately involved with our customers. It is always ALL about the customers.
- Our culture is unique in its lack of meetings. I’m not a big fan of meetings.
- Rejection is the best thing that can happen. It fuels your success. Mistakes are the best part. There’s a hunger you get from them.
- Are you worried about imitators? No, we realized that while they can copy a product, it’s the combination of our product, our interest in our customers and our innovative style–the culture and soul of our business–that can’t be duplicated.
During the Q+A session following the interview, I asked for confirmation on something I thought I heard him say while being interviewed. I asked, “Just to be clear, did you say that you left your job at MCA (Marketing Corporation of America) without a business plan or a product?”
He did. Without a plan, a product or a safety net, he quit his job. He then explained how he and Melissa went to their parents (they were in their late 20′s and not yet married), sat them down and told them, “We’re going to have a… business.” The rest is history.
Alison Freeland Interviewing Doug Bernstein at the Westport Library “Insights from Entrepreneurs” Event
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Terrie Williams
I’m a big believer in mining your files for ideas and opportunities that already exist and are in your back pocket. As I was clearing out my file cabinet last week, I came across an old EWN Newsletter featuring 20 Ways to Promote Yourself in Business by one of my all-time favorite business leaders and speakers, Terrie Williams.
I’d heard Terrie speak at an AWED (American Women’s Economic Development) Conference years ago, then again at my local networking organization not long after that. Her messages have resonated with me ever since hearing her stories at those events. The article summarizes that wisdom.
I emailed Terrie today to ask permission to share her ideas with my readers. I was hoping to hear back from her by week’s end. I got a response within 10 minutes with an emphatic “but of course!”
Thank you, Terrie, for your generosity then and now. Here’re the first 10 tips on her list of the “little things” that set us apart from the competition (slightly edited):
- Know that your reputation is valuable – and that it often reaches people before you do. Be sincere, be honest, be prepared, be professional, be thoughtful, be efficient–and delivers.
- Do what you say you’re going to do. If you can’t deliver on time (and reasons for this should only have to do with circumstances beyond your control) pick up the phone ASAP and say so. Make sure you meet the next deadline you set.
- Return all phone calls. You never know why a person may be calling.
- Treat everyone with respect and courtesy. A person’s position in life should have absolutely noting to do with how you interact with them. What goes around comes around.
- Be visible. Go to professional seminars, luncheons, receptions, dinners, any kind of gathering of folks. You have to be out there for people to notice you.
- When you meet people, be mindful. Look them in the eye, smile, be personable, have a firm handshake and actually be with the individual in that moment.
- Try to develop a knack for remembering names. People will be flattered if you can call them by name after only a brief introduction. Your recall is best when you want to remember.
- Be an active listener while you’re engaged in conversation. Politely excuse yourself if you feel yourself becoming bored or distracted.
- Create a “small talk” notebook for when you go out–anecdotes and/or questions you jot down about life or current events that are guaranteed to stimulate conversation. Be creative, even outrageous but always professional with your ideas. Ask people something about themselves. People do like to talk about their own lives and jobs.
- Be sensitive to the body language of those you come in contact with. And beware of how you come across to other people.
More coming later this week…
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Although I had never heard of Kevin Hart before last week, I was riveted by his podcast interview with Marc Maron which I had recently downloaded. My daughter Laura has been listening to Maron’s podcasts for a couple of years and had raved about the depth of those conversations with comedians.
Besides laughing out loud and learning who Kevin Hart is, two things stood out for me during their hour-long session. Kevin hit the big time in his early 20′s, only to be hurtled back to earth in a devastating way after his youthful success. His story of re-creation is as formidable as it was tactical.
He didn’t give up.
He went back to performing in small houses (after filling a stadium at one point in his early career). After each performance, he and an assistant gathered the names and email addresses of every member of the audience. They manually entered those names into a database noting the venue at which he had performed. They diligently tracked every performance that way, and when Kevin would return to a Cleveland or a Hoboken, they would use email and later social media to contact EACH of those attendees to let them personally know that Kevin would be appearing again and invite them to the show.
How would YOU feel if you got that kind of attention from a performer who you enjoyed seeing?
As he built up his store of email addresses, he created an enormous constituency who then became devoted followers when he transitioned to twitter, MySpace and Facebook to announce his performances. He relies on social media now and the viral effect to sell out his shows, which he does regularly.
Once again, I see evidence that there is no silver bullet and no shortcut to success. Kevin Hart not only makes me laugh, his dedication to his business makes me smile too.
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I received a straightforward email recently from a long-time subscriber who clearly stated that she ‘cannot stand’ my recent email marketing campaigns; that she will stay on my list only if I go back to my old way of coaching. I politely invited her to select which mailings she might like to continue receiving, for example just my e-newsletters and not my joint venture offers or announcements of my speaking engagements.
Interestingly, I’ve recently observed a sharp upswing in calls from the opposite camp requesting my services mainly because they admire what I’m doing online.
Anyone with an email address understands that business owners are using this form of communication frequently and strategically. I personally unsubscribed from over 200 lists at the end of last year. But I deliberately remained subscribed to some competitors whose multiple blasts may feel at times intrusive, but are also highly instructive. Hitting the delete key is worth the price of seeing what the competition is up to, where they’re showing up, what they’re offering and how they’re offering it. It’s a bit of a free education from the sidelines. I’m taking full advantage.
What bothered me about the email I had received was the intention it conveyed: Don’t grow, Jane. Don’t change. I liked you the way you were. Please stay that way and I will continue to be a fan.
This subscriber might have put it this way instead: “I’m really inundated with emails these days, and I’ve noticed an increase in your distribution. Is there any way I might stay in touch and not have quite the deluge?” I understand that some folks may not like the changes that I’ve made in order to grow my company. That’s okay. I’ve known for a long time that I can’t please everyone. I am willing and eager to meet your needs, but be aware of your own motivation and impact as you navigate these murky cyber-waters.
Personally, I know that what I say to others is a 100% reflection of where I am in my life at that time. It is my projection onto them of what I want or don’t want, and I’ve learned to take ownership of that.
Yesterday I attended a meeting where all participants had 3 minutes of air time to voice their issues. When it was apparent that there would be extra time, members were invited to share again for 2 minutes if they would like to contribute a second time. Three or four people raised their hands, and I noticed a growing resentment building inside of me. “Look at them! They think they deserve to be heard again. How presumptuous!” What was really going on inside of me was the deep desire (and fear) to get my hand up so that I could be heard again.
My attitude was about me, not them. As soon as I raised my hand and spoke, my pent-up emotions went away. I no longer had any judgment of others because I was tending to my own needs and taking responsibility for them.
I’m curious if you notice your own behavior around criticizing others. You’ve heard the biblical saying, “Before you take the speck out of your brother’s eye, remove the log from yours first.” Anyone want to share for three minutes here?
IBM Pavilion by Charles and Ray Eames - Worlds Fair NY
When Meredith Gray, a good friend and Artsy Girl, recommends a video I take it seriously. She’s a former magazine editor and fashion stylist. I find her taste level and aesthetic impeccable. She responded to my cry for help from my sickbed last week asking for interesting things to watch while laid up. She promptly sent me a link to the Charles and Ray Eames PBS documentary and I just as promptly watched it.
Eames Chair
As it said in the film, everyone is familiar with the famous Eames chair designs, but I was not aware of their influence and innovation in so many other areas of the design world. I wasn’t even aware that there was a THEY and that Ray was Charles’ wife, not a brother or son. She had an extraordinary role to play in the output from their studio, but took up less space publicly because of the decades in which they worked. Women were often behind the scenes fame-wise, even though she was clearly an equal contributor.
You’ll have to watch the video for the complete story, but one piece I will share here is about the IBM Pavilion at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair conceived and designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. You get to see the pen and ink drawings of their concepts. They were the first to use a multi-screen theatre. They invented it. Although we take that elaborate technology for granted these days, they told how perfect the timing had to be so that each image — thousands of photographs were taken worldwide to convey how IBM impacted our lives–would appear at precisely the right time to match the words from the announcer. The announcer, they said, had a nervous breakdown before the event because of the demands and pressure to pull off this breakthrough performance.
You meet many of the designers from their office in the film. In one interview I heard about the ‘plunger’ concept–how Eames envisioned the patrons of the pavilion rising into the domed structure. The employee asked Charles Eames how to implement the elevator concept in this most unusual fashion. “Figure it out,” he was told. Reminded me of Steve Jobs’ innovations and ‘reality distortion field.’ Somehow the impossible gets created when great minds have a vision and others support it.
I’m thrilled by these amazing inventors. Any other recommendations?
Old Ongapotchket Site
After many months and many meetings and many decisions, the new janepollak.com is alive and well and hopefully worth your valuable time and attention. It feels as though my last website went up only weeks ago, but it’s been six years. It was time for something new, fresh and more adaptable to today’s social media opportunities.
My mother used a lot of Yiddish words when we were growing up. The one that popped into my mind every time I pulled up my old site was ongepotchket (uhng-guh-potch-kit), which can mean too fancy or ornate, fussy, overdressed, overdone. What I had it mean in my head was “too much going on.” After four years of plain and simple, I had my assistant add the logos from the media outlets that had once featured me. Then, when the revised edition of Soul Proprietor came out in May 2010, we threw the new cover up there with links to amazon.com.
The site got cluttered and messy looking–ongepotchket–so every time I clicked on my home page I had to squint so as not to notice the clutter.
And then, you just know, it’s time to re-group and re-launch. I hired a wonderful marketing/branding company to work with me, and I’m thrilled with my new look. It’s congruent with the cover of my book. There’s no more ‘egg’ symbolism. And we’ve added a lot of video and social media connections to stay abreast of the times.
I hope you’ll spend some time checking it out, send your friends, sign up for a free webinar and/or hang out with my remarkable clients sharing their experiences on the youtube clips.
Welcome to my new site!
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At last night’s mastermind group, during the first round of sharing successes, photographer Katie Settel took her turn with pride and delight. Her goal had been to photograph Beyonce’s new baby. We all supported the dream she had laid out in session 1 (this was our 5th) and have witnessed her transformation as Katie developed her marketing materials in that pursuit.
At our third session, Katie arrived with an elegantly designed package of her photographs, which demonstrate her talent, plus her freshly written cover letter…and a huge smile. She had put together an exquisite pitch package which she sent to Beyonce’s agent in NYC. Even getting that far was a win. Katie also designed the concept of a photo shoot with purpose (i.e. not winning a million dollar contract from People, say) which she proposed as a differentiator from all the other photographers in pursuit of that opportunity.
The baby has been born. I haven’t found any photos on the internet yet (correct me if I’m wrong), but as Katie put it last night when giving her report, “I didn’t get the shot, but I gave it a shot.”
While not everyone would claim not getting the sought after opportunity as a success, I surely do. How many people scheme and dream and don’t even take the first step in the direction of their own success? Katie moved several paces in that direction by not only following through on her own vision, but also by ratcheting up her skills, materials and courage level by giving it a go.
Success is the journey toward a worthy goal, so chalk up miles of advancement for Katie’s career.
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You’re probably thinking, what does this subject line have to do with entrepreneurship? But, the essence of this question arose yesterday when I received an email from one of my webinar participants inquiring why I’d combined my two groups in one private Facebook page. That is, the ones who’ve been in the program for 5 sessions with the newer students who are only up to Session 2.
In 1997, while attending my first ever NSA annual meeting in California, I attended a workshop where the speaker talked about his career development in terms I’d never heard. He knew that he was using high level language and explained, unapologetically, that his job as a motivational (and I use that term thoughtfully) speaker was “to keep the Toastmasters running after the caravan.”
That image became seared in my mind. Here were the paid professionals holding forth and allowing us newbies to press our faces up to the glass, to mix metaphors, and see what being a pro looked like. It felt aspirational. These NSA’ers had what I wanted, and by joining them and attending their meetings, I was going to learn what they knew.
It had me breathless in anticipation and effort to keep up with and master the arenas they were all playing in. I loved that I got to rub shoulders, listen in and ask questions of the pros. I’d much rather play in a tennis game with someone better than I am than someone not as good. Don’t we all want to up our game?
So it is with intention that I combined the two groups who are participating in my webinar. One group has had four more sessions than the other, are deeply engaged in comparing notes, sharing successes, products and resources with each other. It may be a stretch for those who are newer, but my objective is that it become an invitation as well as a temptation to grow and join the conversation.
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When I signed up for the Meet the Editors event at Miraval Spa in Tucson last June, I had no idea how well-timed this getaway retreat would be. These last few weeks have been intensely full and productive with my recent free webinar and subsequent sell-out of the actual 8-session course starting next week.
I’ve wrapped up all the trimmings for the first session on 11/17, so feel really good about taking a long weekend of rest, renewal and some pretty cool networking.
My coach asked me what my ‘high dream’ would be around the event. What would be the best outcome? I don’t know how this came out of my mouth, but ‘a column’ was what I responded. I’ve got copies of my book to distribute–I shipped them ahead to avoid shlepping them on the plane. And I believe I walk the talk of a Soul Proprietor. A monthly column geared toward women-owned businesses would work beautifully in that publication.
Earl Nightingale said that “Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.” Wish me luck!
