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Yesterday was a glorious day in CT, especially compared to last Sunday when we were all cleaning up from that freaky fall blizzard and subsequent power outages. This day was sunny, blue skies and the perfect temperature for taking in a multitude of offerings.
I chose to attend Crafts on Stage at SUNY Purchase for which my dear friend and colleague Terry Capuana has served as Chair. I was also attracted to this event because I saw that Micki Ravitz (in photo with me) was among the exhibitors.
I’d recently mentioned Micki in the talk I gave at the Saybrook Point Inn when relating the lesson I nickname, Graduating from Wannabe, in my book Soul Proprietor. When I first began exhibiting my decorated eggs in the late ’70′s, I had a tiny booth across the aisle from Micki’s large and luxe ultrasuede boutique which was dripping with her elegant handmade necklaces. Her booth was constantly populated with loving fans waiting for a moment with this talented woman who would select exactly the perfect piece of jewelry for them, write up their order, then send them off with her warm and sincere smile and a hug. I wanted what she had.
The lesson I learned in observing those attributes–gorgeous booth/display, return clientele, a warm and generous spirit–was that I could attain them by imitating the master. I worked long and hard to afford someone who could design a new booth for me. I started a mailing list and conscientiously sent out postcard reminders to let my fans know when I’d next be exhibiting. I worked on my attitude and brought along a new and positive one to my weekends of public exposure.
There’s great information in those feelings of envy and jealousy that can be mined for success.
When I told this story in Old Saybrook, an audience member raised her hand and enthusiastically said, “I know Micki, and it’s all true!” I wanted to share that story with Micki when I saw her at her booth on Sunday. She greeted me as warmly as any of her ‘old’ customers with a huge smile and a hug. She had actually already been told about the story, so we shared a good laugh. I reminded her of how much I admired her style, especially her lavish booth. “It’s over 35 years old!” she exclaimed. I loved that, too, because when you invest in yourself, it pays you back.
Although I’ve bought pieces of Micki’s jewelry in the past, yesterday I chose 
to buy a beautiful bracelet from another exhibitor. After the purchase, I asked if I might take a photo of the artisan in her booth. She had a well integrated look that supported her craft beautifully and professionally. I wanted to share that with you. Notice the large photo images and name branding, the proprietor elegantly wearing her own designs, the simplicity of the booth (even this small slice of it that you see) and the edited selection of pieces offered. Customers can be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work on display. Wendy narrowed the choices making it easy for me to select one of the designs similar to what she was wearing on her own wrists.
After leaving the fair in NY, I followed the advice of my dentist who has often mentioned the energy medicine doctor he’s been seeing and now swears by. Dr. Jeffrey Zimmerman held an opening of his new wellness company in downtown Westport on Sunday afternoon. I was able to arrive in time to hear his lecture on energy medicine after my trip to Westchester.
I was inspired enough by his personal story and information to sign up for an upcoming class on self-healing and wellness. I left his talk and went home for a well-deserved and nurturing nap.
When I spoke for the Women’s Council of Realtors in September, I gave out three copies of my CD How I Got on the Today Show to winners of the Networking Bingo game we played.
One of the recipients, Birgit Anich, took the time to send me not only a beautifully composed thank you note, but also an attractively packaged gift of cookies. I’d met her several times at EWN events, but her generous gratitude for the CD has now made her indelibly sealed in my positive memory bank.
She wrote:
In particular I wanted to thank you and express my gratitude for your CD. I cannot stop listening to it over and over again. I have been featured a few times on local TV, newspaper, online communities. However, my goal is to get on HGTV and I know that getting on national TV is a completely different ball game and persistence. Your CD give me great ideas on how to get further prepared for this. Thank you!!!!
Want someone to remember you? Take a moment today to say ‘thanks’ in a meaningful way.
I’ve been a fan of Susan Keane Baker since we first met at an NSA-NY Chapter meeting in NYC at least 15 years ago. Class acts have a way of being class acts from the get-go. Susan’s brand experience is excellence, depth and connection and she’s delivered that consistently in our friendship and professional relationship since day one.
It was from Susan that I learned how important the personal touch is. She’s been sending out a print newsletter for over a decade. She mails several thousand at a time and hand writes a message to each recipient. Who does that anymore?!
Every newsletter I receive from Susan is packed with valuable content on her subject: improving the patient/health care practitioner relationship. Of course, substitute the word “client” for patient and “service provider” for health care practitioner and her advice resonates loud and clear.
Each time I open one of Susan’s mailings, and they come quarterly, I think to myself, will there be a message in this one? Is it really possible for her to do this repeatedly?
I was not surprised then, but ever delighted, when I opened up her most recently mailed newsletter and found not “Happy Fall!” or “Hope to see you soon!” but a truly personal, hand-written note acknowledging my new webinar launch. That’s the Susan experience.
What’s your brand experience, and when was the last time your client/patient/customer had a taste of it?
I rely heavily on Scarlett De Bease of Scarlett New York for advice on my wardrobe. She’s created a look-book for me, which means that every time I need to go out in public and look presentable, I have a photographic album of outfits Scarlett has assembled for me to choose from. My bodily flaws are camouflaged by the shapes and accessories she helps me purchase and coordinate.
Naturally, any magazine would want to feature Scarlett’s expertise, not to mention her great good looks. In fact, she was recently contacted by O Magazine (Oprah’s rag for those of you who may not recognize it by name), to be in a makeover shoot for an upcoming issue. Scarlett had emailed me that she had a noteworthy interaction that might be of interest to the women I serve. Here’s the email invitation she received inviting her to be photographed for a spread on fashion makeovers:
Our team of fashion experts are here to help! Tell us about your “problem area” (not limited to the ones listed above [sic arms belly, neck, bust] and we’ll teach you how to dress in a way that will make you (and everyone else) forget all about it!
To which Scarlett replied (thank you, Scarlett, for letting me share your response verbatim for interested readers):
Thank you so much for contacting me, and I am so sorry to say that as much as I REALLY want to be in the magazine, I cannot participate in this feature as it is my specialty to show my clients how to solve the very same issue your feature is all about and it would discredit my work if I were a model for this particular story.
I know you are working hard tonight and I am truly sorry I cannot be a part of tomorrow’s casting. I do hope you will continue to keep me in your files for future features as, naturally, I would be delighted to be included.
Scarlett was relieved and pleased to receive an acknowledgment (often producers do not respond at all) saying “I totally understand” with a winking emoticon after the sentence.
I always love to hear, see or read what goes on behind the curtain. Thanks to Scarlett for sharing this story with all of us.
My son Rob first told me about Warby Parker a couple of years ago when I admired his cool eyeglass frames. What I remembered was that they cost under $100 including the lenses. Unheard of!
I also remembered that it was a by-appointment-only shop in NYC, so that was a deterrent. I was still functioning fine with a few pairs of glasses on a prescription that needed renewing. Once in the optometrist’s chair and told my eyes had worsened, I looked at the bright side of finding new frames–especially at Warby Parker’s inexpensive showroom.
Long story short, I made a visit this month only to find out that they don’t handle progressive lenses. Those of us who need our glasses to perform multiple functions without the embarrassing, tell-tale line of bi-focals won’t benefit from this company’s cookie-cutter approach to filling prescriptions.
I ordered a pair of frames anyway (at a slight discount) and decided to handle the lens-filling locally. Finding a nice pair of frames for $80 (my cost without any lenses) is a challenge anywhere, even at discounted places like Costco.
When the package of frames arrived, there was a cool enclosure that made me smile. Here’s how it reads:
WARBY PARKER
eyewear
Get ready–starting today you’ll be getting a steady stream of compliments on your new Warby Parker glasses. We want you to love your glasses as much as we do. If you have any questions about them, or about Warby Parker, or life in general, please don’t hesitate to call us at (888) 492-7297 or write us at help@warbyparker.com.
FOR EVERY PAIR OF GLASSES YOU PURCHASE, A PAIR IS DONATED TO SOMEONE IN NEED.
I promise to show you an image of me in my new glasses once I get them back from my optometrist’s in-house shop. And I’m grateful to know that for any questions I have from now on, Warby Parker will be there for me.
It’ll really feel like the school year has started when I attend the EWN Luncheon tomorrow featuring Fabienne Fredrickson. Fabienne is an excellent speaker and role model for walking your talk. She is one of the most successful people I know.
I hear tomorrow’s event is a sell-out which makes it very exciting. The energy of over 100 women entrepreneurs is intoxicating to me. And the new location–Dolce Norwalk–makes it even more attractive.
I hired Fabienne as my coach in 2004 and credit her with helping me get my coaching business flourishing. She’s no longer coaching 1:1 and instead runs huge events in California with hundreds of attendees. I am in awe of what she’s accomplished and admire her drive.
She provides quite a different map than this Soul Proprietor. I find it endlessly fascinating to watch a master at work and look forward to learning something new.
Last night was my Office Party with over 50 women business owners in attendance. The sun peeked out long enough for us to enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres on the patio. There had been some question about the party being held given the seemingly endless rain we’d been experiencing here in Southern New England over the past few days. But, the skies parted and almost everyone who intended to come came. There were messages about canceled flights and scattered flooding, but most of this stalwart crew showed up anyhow. That’s what we do. We’re business owners.
For me, the evening was pure bliss. Being surrounded by all these amazing women who I’ve worked with over the years and listening as they shared their accomplishments with each other was energizing and inspiring. My favorite part of every networking event is the round robin of self-introductions. Much as I dislike giving my own 30-second commercial, I always love hearing how others say what they do. Last night was exhilarating. There was such a wide assortment of industries and talents represented. I particularly loved the buzz after this part of the program as women connected and continued the party.
Today I feel so good. Mission accomplished! I did what I set out to do, it was well received and I am basking in the glow.
Tomorrow I take off for a conference and will be out of the office until next week. I will not be posting entries until I get back. I want to give this next event my full attention. I’m sure I’ll have lots to say when I return.
During the evening I asked the women what word or phrase stands out when they think about what they’ve learned in our work together. The very first woman who spoke said, “Self care.” She’s so right. Giving myself a break in my routine of blogging is an example of how I take care of myself. Showing up 100% where I am on a daily basis and making sure I’ve covered my bases (i.e. telling you not to expect blog posts) allows me to be at peace and fully present.
See you on the 23rd.
Next Monday night I’m hosting an “office party” for all of my entrepreneurial clients who never get to go to office parties or company picnics. Depending on your point of you, this could be sad or lucky.
In addition to providing a traditional get-together in a nontraditional way, it’s my way of expressing gratitude to a remarkable group of women. My apartment community has a luxurious Club Room, pool and patio area where we will gather.
Entrepreneurs don’t get to have these corporate ‘perks’ so I’m making up the occasion to entertain. Besides, I value my clientele so highly that not only do I want to express my appreciation through celebration, but I also want to give them the opportunity to meet each other. As I continue to navigate my way in the social media world, I recognize that my greatest strength is actually social networking LIVE–another advantage of this fun event.
Since there is no hierarchy among this group, there will be no office politics to contend with, no behaviors to be gossiped about over the water cooler the next day, just laid back fun, mingling and new friends to be made.
I just heard a useful piece of information regarding pricing. The age-old question is: How much should I charge? It doesn’t matter if it’s a piece of jewelry or a coaching service. The quandary of how to price your goods or services is a perennial challenge.
I have always loved my father’s wisdom on the subject, coming from the retail background he did. His response was a question: How much is a black dress? Of course, it depends. What’s the fabric? Who’s the designer? What’s the market–Bergdorf’s or Target? You can see that the decision, while influenced by these factors, is arbitrary.
Carolee Friedlander of Carolee jewelry designs taught me years ago that “jewelry is a blind item” meaning that so many factors go into it that there’s no strict formula for creating the pricing structure. Whatever the market will bear comes to mind. That’s true in the coaching world as well. There are coaches charging $50 per session and others charging $1000. There is no definitive rule on the matter.
A new slant on all of this came via a coaching community I’m a part of. The instructor began bluntly. “If you don’t know what to charge in your own industry…” (Now here I thought he was going to give a lecture on market research and due diligence, but he surprised me) “…then you can only imagine how little your customer knows about pricing in your industry.” Brilliant! And true.
Prices are all over the place in every industry, so why not make up your own? His point, which is one I salute and profess myself, is to put it out there and see what happens. There is too much analysis paralysis (guilty!) and not enough running it up the flagpole to find out who’s saluting.
Lesson learned. Watch for my new offer coming soon…
An unexpected package arrived at my door today…from a floral company. The return label revealed nothing about the sender. For a few glorious minutes I wracked my brain for who might be sending me a bouquet.
My birthday is next week (July 4 for anyone who wants to take note), so this would have been a little early to acknowledge that day. I have just came back from a wonderful family celebration in California, so might be on the sending end of flowers, but definitely not receiving for the gratitude I was feeling for my kids and siblings and nieces and nephews.
I tore open the cardboard-zippered carton and took in a deep breath of appreciation for nature’s ever-present gifts–a beautiful arrangement of sunflowers and complementary blossoms–tucked neatly into a glass vase with two packets of flower fertilizer enclosed. The neatly attached message solved the mystery. “Dear Jane, Thank you for continuing to refer women in your network to me.”
My marketing consultant, Heather Habelka of Red Poppy Marketing, had generously and thoughtfully acknowledged a recent referral I’d sent her with this beautiful surprise package. It’s another example of how well she does things. I was thrilled with her gift.
