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I’m often the guinea pig of my own coaching. I had a task I’d been putting off and putting off for at least 10 days–creating a warm letter to send to clients, friends and colleagues about the upcoming holistic cruise I’m participating in.
I knew I had the necessary information (dates, early bird discount and itinerary) somewhere on my desktop, but when my desk is messy or I have too many windows open on my computer, I can feel overwhelmed.
First, I would have to locate those details, and second create an opening paragraph describing my excitement. Well, that excitement was buried under the mess as well, the same as it often is for the women I work with.
When I’m coaching a client who is procrastinating, in addition to getting beyond the stuckness, I am always curious to hear more about the to-do that’s paralyzing her. Articulating the situation helps break through the first level of resistance. I can hear the pressure being released and relieved. Then I come in with the zinger.
“Exactly how long will it take to do this?”
That’s the question I asked myself earlier this week. How long will it take to actually compose the letter? It felt like the answer would be “Two years!” but my higher self knew the truth–under an hour.
And so I applied this technique, shared it with my goal buddy, and accomplished it within the hour. Not only that, I personalized 15 versions of it, hand wrote a special message to each recipient, and put all 15 letters in the mail.
I’ll send out another 85 by next week. The ice has been broken. It’s downhill from here. And you know what? Now I am really excited about this amazing opportunity. 
Brian Bish – Social Media Architect
Social Media Architect Brian Bish addressed my Mastermind Intensive on Friday about the why’s and wherefore’s of social media. It was a convincing talk, and I’m seeing a good deal of activity among our members as a result.
Brian talked about the credibility of a strong web presence supported by a strong social media presence. I backed up this sentiment with a recent example. My new New York friend forwarded me an email invitation to a women’s conference (which shall remain nameless) in CT that she was considering.
Unconsciously, because it’s become second nature to me now, I googled the keynote speaker and went to her website to check her out. It was a nice site, but not a clear-cut draw for my attention.
Next, I went to amazon to see how her book, which was being heavily promoted on the conference and her websites, was ranked. Close to #2,000,000. Again, definitely NOT impressive.
Then I wanted to check out how many followers she had on twitter: 10 LinkedIn: 121
I know you can’t judge a book by its cover, but through all the visible channels where YOU can make yourself known and get seen, I want to be sure that the keynote speaker I go to hear will offer me something I don’t already have. There was little evidence of that happening in any of the marketing materials or Web 2.0 locations to tell me that story.
Jim Rohn used to say, “People shouldn’t judge you by how you look, but they do.” We could update that to say, “People shouldn’t judge you by your online presence, but they do.” Or at least I do when it comes to spending my precious resources like time and money.
Jason Wu – Designer of Michelle Obama’s Inauguration Ballgown
Reading in the Times today about the designer of Michelle Obama’s inauguration gown made me want to pose this question to my entrepreneurial colleagues and clients:
But dressing a first lady for the inauguration is a momentous occasion, and many designers have not been able to handle its weight. For every de la Renta, there has been a Michael Faircloth (Laura Bush’s first), and for every Scaasi a Sarah Phillips (Hillary Rodham Clinton’s first).
Not even Mrs. Obama’s support guarantees success, as illustrated by Maria Pinto of Chicago, a hometown favorite who went out of business in 2010 despite the first lady’s patronage.
Though Mr. Wu was just 26 when he was selected the first time, he already had an established relationship with retailers, a production infrastructure and the good sense to get himself on all of the morning talk shows the next day (as he did again Tuesday, now a seasoned pro at age 30).
When I give a talk on creating a million dollar presence, I administer a quick media readiness quiz. It’s an opportunity to check in with my audience to see if, in fact, they are prepared to handle the onslaught of attention and sales they’ve been dreaming about. Are their ducks in a row?
Of course, you want to do everything you can to get the attention of the press. Designing the inaugural ball gown is a hands down winning formula, but for the rest of us, there are tried and true elements: having great marketing materials including a logo and web presence, networking, speaking and creating a platform would be top among them.
Of equal importance is having the goods to deliver once the press opportunities and resulting demands begin to flow your way.
How successful do you really want to be, and are you positioning yourself now for that recognition and traffic?
When you put an intention out into the Universe, look out!
This year, starting February 1, I intend to lead a community of women entrepreneurs in a movement of my own creation.
I set this intention last month. At a Christmas Eve party shortly after I’d made this decision, I sat down next to Arlyn Young, pictured above left, who proceeded to share her excitement about an upcoming Seth Godin event she had a ticket for in the city: The Icarus Deception, Live. Soon after the party, it might even have been Christmas Day (the perfect gift!), she sent me a link to register.
I’m blogging to you fresh from this fabulous program. Because of Seth Godin’s brilliant deconstruction of our post-industrialist society, I am more inspired than ever to take the risk of putting myself in front of you all and proclaiming THIS IS MY ART.
I lead women in my own particular way, based on my unique history of getting to this place in time, and having the passion to share what I know about operating a business doing what you love, as I have, for the past 30 years.
You’ll have to watch Seth’s talk on video (I’ll post a link to it if/when it goes live) and/or read his new book The Icarus Deception to get the whole picture and inspiration I felt. Basically he informed us, with much head-nodding throughout the audience in recogntion, that jobs are something we invented. They didn’t exist 150 years ago when we were an agricultural society. There was zero unemployment then because we ALL worked for ourselves. We’seem to be heading back towards that model as industries that used to thrive are falling by the wayside–the music industry was the example he talked about to illustrate his point–and creative entrepreneurs are taking their art public whether it’s making the best brisket or self-publishing their poems. It’s time to start making it up and putting out your wares.
In his book and talk, the formula for success today and in the future will once again be to create your own calling. It’s inside you, and you know that. Bringing it to life is scary and dangerous. As Gregg Levoy says (I’m not quoting directly, but you’ll get the point) in his book Callings, the greater the passion, the more the Universe flings opposing forces.
Seth gave us a vivid example of 3 Buddhist monks who came across a terrifying pitbull (Arlyn, correct me here if I mis-remembered this). Two of the monks ran away, but the third holy man confronted the animal with an icy stare in return, at which point the ‘bully’ dog put his tail between his legs and retreated. That’s what your gremlins will do when you take an action in spite of the threats, criticisms or judgments.
The Icarus Project begins nationwide tonight. See if you can locate and participate in a meeting near you. By his own example, Seth Godin is not marketing this the old way–taking out ads in magazines and newspapers. He’s counting on the connectedness of his community to spread the word, as I am, because what he’s offering is so exciting, so different and so compelling. Check it out! And pass it on.
Cropped image of author at library
I’ve been down many rabbit holes in my business, but yesterday, before meeting someone at the NY Public Library, I spotted this fellow sitting near the steps of the building and thought, “Wow! That’s something I’ve never tried. That takes guts.”
Or something else. You fill in the blank.
Here was this man, an author, who’d shlepped his own table, chair and signage to sit front and center in the Big Apple with his wares. I was intrigued enough to have a conversation and learn more about him, where he came from and how this promotion was working. I asked if I might take his photo and blog about him. He happily agreed.
I was going to link this to his site, but after visiting it, I didn’t find it professional enough to recommend. I was hoping that he’d be a hidden treasure that I might help promote. But, alas, he still has much to learn. The website was amateurish, confusing and did not make me want to buy his book.
I admired his courage: to sit there with his product and avail himself of one of the most trafficked areas in the world. This is not something everyone would or should try. I give him credit for going to any lengths. Whether or not he sells many books is less important than the feedback he gets from the masses walking by. There’s always information to be gleaned when you put yourself out there. New Yorkers are known for their candor. I hope he got helpful ideas in the process.
I’m grateful to my friend and goal buddy, Sandy Weiner, for mentioning during our call today that you can now search the web using an image. Because of her telling me this, I chose to not feature this man’s face, just in case he’s surfing the web for his likeness and anything being written about him.
You never know…
Kevin and me at Fantastic Kids in NYC
I’d forgotten the conversation that had me connecting speaking colleague Kevin Carroll to my good friend and mastermind buddy, game inventor Mary Ellroy. But yesterday’s conversation with Kevin at Fantastic Kids in NYC reminded me.
Kevin was there to promote his fast-paced, bestselling game TENZI to one of over 1700 retail stores carrying this product.
“I was sheepishly telling you I hadn’t done my coaching homework when you asked me what had I been doing instead,” Kevin reminded me. “I practically whispered, ‘I’ve been working on a game idea.’ You made me repeat it because I’d said it so quietly. Then, because you were really listening to my excitement level, you immediately put me in touch with Mary.”
The rest is history. The two of them created a popular game called Pickles to Penguins that was bought by a major toy company. Kevin, bitten by the invention bug, went on to create this incredibly fast-paced, fun game that anyone can play.
He also shared his excitement over a feature in New York Magazine (image below) whose attention he got by sending a case of packaged TENZI sets to the Best Bets editor. Kevin not only knows what’s fun and engaging for people of all ages, he also knows how to get press and goes the extra mile to make it happen.
Kevin’s game TENZI featured in New York Magazine
Wendy took this photo at the beginning of the Remarkable Women’s Network event tonight and immediately posted it in five places.
I never take pictures of what I’m eating and post them online, but watching Wendy Limauge document the goings-on this evening at my Remarkable Women’s Network event, and immediately posting them out there to her minions, altered my viewpoint. Her enthusiasm for recording her activities, and the ease with which she communicated, made it all seem much more doable.
You could have heard a pin(terest) drop while each of my three guest speakers shared her wisdom about LinkedIn, twitter and blogging. Wendy demonstrated it through her actions, then shared about “the house that blogging built”–an inspirational story about finding one’s niche and capitalizing on it.
Carol McManus, America’s LinkedIn Lady, made a clear and straightforward case for using her favorite social media site for simply being a witness to her friends and colleagues successes. By daily reading the newsfeed on her LinkedIn page, and commenting on, congratulating and making natural connections, she has monetized her LinkedIn relationships through referrals back to her. She cited an $8000 speaking opportunity that came directly out of her being a champion noticer and referrer on this site. Damn inspiring!
Robin Horton of Urban Gardens raised significant questions about what your end goal is with using these tools. As she so brilliantly put it, in the old days when everything was done with pens and paper, dial up phones and ink and air, no one went around asking “What kind of pen are you using?” As though that would make the difference in your success in business. Her point being that it isn’t which tools you use for being social through the media, it’s how you’re using them to further your main purpose. Getting clear on that is half the battle.
Bottom line, just like I’m writing this blog post to show my appreciation and enthusiasm for these new media, it’s what you do with the information that matters.
My hunch is that because of my blogging over the last three years, I’ve become more visible and indirectly gotten speaking engagements and clients due to my 3x a week postings.
But last week I got what had to have been the first actual reward I can tie directly to my blogging. I received this notification:
CONGRATULATIONS! We have exciting news for you! Your entry in the Staples Martha Stewart Blogher Blog Post Giveaway Sweepstakes has been selected as a Grand Prize winner. It is our pleasure to inform you that you have won:
A SPONSOR-SELECTED STAPLES MARTHA STEWART PRODUCT GIFT BASKET.
It arrived yesterday, and what a treat! I unwrapped tons of desk accessories and stationery items designed by Martha for Staples. Lucky them! They just elevated the taste level of their desktop offerings about 1000%. The stuff is gorgeous.
All I did was stop by Martha’s booth at BlogHer ’12, accept a journal that her people were distributing to all the attendees, and then follow it up with my take on how her products can benefit women business owners, professionals, etc. Piece of cake! I truly liked the journal, so writing something complimentary was a pleasure.
I hope you can take this marketing genius’ example and apply it to your own businesses in a scaled down version that meets your market. What Martha did you can do too.
Step 1 – Identify your client base.
Step 2 – Show up where they are.
Step 3 – Make them an irresistible offer (free product works!).
Step 4 – Create a contest or other viral, participatory activity that engages them and has them telling others about you–especially through social media.
Step 5 – Reward them so they’ll continue to promote you.
Rinse and repeat. Thank you, Martha Stewart. I do love your beautiful and practical supplies.
I blogged last week about the unparalleled experience my sister had during her surgery and stay at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. A key ingredient for me, as an advocate for her, was the clarity that helped me navigate from the patient drop-off area to the Family Atrium and then to her bedside without hesitation or confusion.
So when I was at the grocery store last Saturday I had to laugh at what, for me, was new signage at the check-out. There was a distinction being made at the express lane which I had never noticed before. Read the rest of this entry »
Christa Forrest’s Thank You Gift
You know me by now. I thrill to a hand-addressed envelope with a first-class stamp on it in my mailbox. That’s what I received yesterday from Christa Forrest Fine Art. Christa is a recent graduate of my Soul Proprietor’s Formula for Building Your Business Webinar.
Christa significantly upped her game during our time together. She worked on her website, and as a reward for signing her guestbook, she promised a gift–the image you see here printed on watercolor stock and signed–a treasure! Plus a hand-written note thanking me for taking the time to evaluate her website and register. I believe in the little things.
Evidently, so does entrepreneurial guru and best-selling author Seth Godin. In today’s posting he writes:
The mass market is no longer. There is almost no room left for the next Procter & Gamble or Google. Instead, you are far more likely to do your best work if you are willing to delight a few as opposed to soothe the masses.
I urge you to continue your work of delighting a few and not killing yourself to soothe the masses. That model is no more.
Here’s what Christa said about my webinar:
I wanted to share what I got out of our time together.
- I have become smarter in making choices in regards to my business.
- More organized and I can now picture what I need to do. Before I was all over the place.
- I am blogging daily.
- I have made the commitment to paint everyday and am sharing my experience on my blog daily.
- I am working on designing a quarterly newsletter in Mail Chimp as well.
- I signed up for email updates for EWN.
I don’t know about you, but Christa delights me. Sign her guestbook today, subscribe to her blog, and begin to enjoy her art every day.
