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There was a sign posted in the lobby of my building this summer advertising “Yoga by the Pool at 8:30am Saturday mornings.” I took note of it and thought, “I’d like to go, but I have a standing activity at that time on Saturday mornings.” Two weeks later, I passed the sign again. Now it read “Yoga by the Pool – 10:00am Saturday mornings.” I still couldn’t attend, but smiled at the persistence this yoga instructor was demonstrating. S/he’s a smart marketer. She tested her offering, and when it didn’t produce the results she was looking for, re-tested. In other words, she didn’t give up.
I don’t have to tell you that it’s tough out there. I, too, am putting out offers, then tweaking to see what will work best for my clientele. Today I’m starting a new Mastermind Group with more flexible scheduling for participants than in the past. Now, participants can opt in to eight sessions that work for their calendars, not a pre-determined six dates posted at exactly the same time and day of the week. In today’s lifestyle, it’s a challenge for people to commit their time in that way.
On Wednesday, October 26 I’m giving my first webinar. It’s complimentary (click this link to receive the details) and will introduce my first ever webinar series starting in November. It’s called The Soul Proprietor’s Formula for Growing (or Starting) Your Business. The free webinar will not be recorded, but each weekly session of the full program will be so you can download it and listen at your leisure.
This webinar came out of the goal-setting process and great persistence. I used every tool in my toolkit to get this up and running. There are many moving parts, and I’m especially grateful to my accountability partner, Sandy Weiner, who helped me out on the persistence part of this. I’m thrilled with the program, but definitely wanted to quit along the way. Who doesn’t?!
Erica Tannen, of the e-list – An Excruciatingly Opinionated Guide to the Connecticut Shoreline (boy, does that tag line tell you what it does!), and I had a brainstorming, goal-setting lunch in New Haven back in February. We determined we’d like to pool our resources for an event which is now scheduled for Monday, October 24th at the Saybrook Inn. Talk about persistence! We’ve been exchanging emails, looking at venues (well, Erica has anyway), and coming up with a topic and a format that would be inviting. We nailed it!
Please join me at noon on the 24th for lunch and a talk. Click this link for details. We’re already near capacity, so are thrilled that this clicked for our target market. I hope you can come.
It’s all about trial and error, goal-setting and persistence. I often quote Rosabeth Moss Kanter who says:
My personal law of management, if not life, is that everything looks like a disaster in the middle.
The winners are those who never give up. What do you need to get back in the ring for today?
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.
I’ve got three great offerings coming up this fall, and I’m really excited to share them here first.
My final Remarkable Women’s Network event for 2011 is Wednesday, October 5 from 5:30-7:30pm at Troy Fine Art in Southport, CT. The focus that evening is Come As You’ll Be. At past goal-setting retreats I’ve run, this themed party concept was the Saturday night highlight of the weekend. Guests are asked to dress, speak and think five years out.
What success would you love to live into for Fall, 2016? Dress up as the best-selling author, award-winning designer, fabulously wealthy business owner, etc. The paparazzi will be on hand to capture the moment. You’ll meet 30 other remarkably successful women and find out how they achieved their goals. I promise, it will be the most fun you’ve had in months.
I’m also rolling out a new concept in Mastermind Groups at a special lunch event on Friday, October 14 in the Club Room at 597 Westport Avenue, Norwalk. You’ll not only meet two dozen other women who want to grow their businesses, but you’ll have the opportunity to get feedback, motivation and inspired accountability.
What do I mean by inspired accountability? When I hear a woman business owner commit to taking a huge step forward on her own behalf, I get inspired. When I hear a dozen women stake their claim and set a date by which they will research, call, announce or commit to the next growth adventure in their businesses, I’m blown away. That’s what October 14th will be about. Stay tuned for the details via my newsletter, but save the date for my kick-off lunch event.
My third offer coming up this fall is a brand new webinar series on how to become a Soul Proprietor. I’m really excited to be making my own offer after studying with a group all summer on the best way to create and present a program like this. I’ll be starting with a free webinar in a month so you can try out the medium and see if you like it. What I love about this opportunity is that over the years I’ve heard from so many of you outside the tri-state area–like the Pacific Northwest, Singapore and Moldavia. I’d love to get YOU on the line for these sessions. Watch for the details!
I hope I’ll see you this fall at my Remarkable Women’s Network event Wednesday, October 5, my Mastermind Groups lunch launch on Friday, October 14 and/or on my upcoming late October free webinar class.
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.
A colleague of mine who’d studied journalism taught me a quote she’d learned in her school days. Their mantra was, “Notice what you notice.” In fact, I call my bi-weekly newsletter The Noticer. This hit home for me yesterday in three quick observations.
Yesterday I had lunch with a client of mine who is in the home care business. We were walking in the center of Fairfield, CT, by a small park where a camp group had assembled. My client spotted someone pushing a wheelchair. “I wonder why he’s wearing [surgical] gloves. There’s no need for that.” I looked over and saw what she was referring to, but would never have even looked twice. But, that’s her business, and she took note.
After lunch I drove to a new salon in Bethel for a haircut. It’s housed in a large, old Victorian house on the second floor. The first floor is devoted to a restaurant. Although there is signage for the salon–I knew I was in the right place– all of the signs in the parking area said “Parking for Restaurant Only” which made me question whether it was permissible to park in the lot.
Not wanting to be towed, I drove to another lot across the street. The sense that I got was that the restaurant may not be welcoming to the beauty salon clients walking through their premises. This was all split second stuff, but I was conscious of whether I was entering the right door or not. It set up a negative experience. That was quickly dismantled by the gracious hostess and the salon owner’s apology. “As a business owner,” I offered, “you need signage for your new clientele letting them know the score.” That’s the kind of thing I notice: what will be useful for a business owner to enhance the client experience and comfort level.
The reason I was trying a new salon was that the owner had attended a speaking event where I was featured. We’d had a delightful conversation afterwards, and he said he’d love to cut my hair. “I took a good look at you when you were speaking and noticed that you could use a different cut.”
What are you noticing? This is what makes you who you are.
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.
For me, the summer is a quiet time. The phone doesn’t ring as much, the speaking invitations become fewer and far between and my regular networking events are on hiatus until the fall.
Over the years, I have come to enjoy and treasure this quiet time.
I re-evaluate the business goals I set for myself in January, tackle projects that have yet to be completed and spend time on my own professional development.
As part of my own goal to become more comfortable with social media, I am holding my second social media contest. One of my social media followers/fans will be given an opportunity to coach with me this summer – for FREE!
- If you are a Facebook Fan, post one business goal that you plan to achieve this summer on my wall.
- And if you are on Twitter, Tweet your goal! Just be sure to mention me (@JanePollak) and use the hash tag #GetSocialwithJanePollak in your Tweet.
This month’s contest will open at Noon on Monday, June 20 and will close at Midnight on Friday, June 24.
Everyone who responds will be entered into a drawing to receive a FREE, 30-minute coaching session (conducted via phone) this summer.
I will announce the winner on Monday, June 27 at Noon, via Facebook and Twitter. I can’t wait to read your summer goals – I’m sure they will inspire and motivate me!
“I suck at advertising,” was one of Drew Lamm’s opening lines last night to the group of assembled women. I could tell this was going to be a special event by the energy outside her purple front door. Women were pulling their cars onto Drew’s quaint, narrow street in the village of Rowayton and bustling up the purple stairs into her home. I overheard excited chatter among classmates seeing each other again after having shared intimate thoughts they’d written under the gentle, constructive guidance of their teacher Drew.
My thought after experiencing this special night was that she advertises extremely well. Word of mouth had filled the room. There is no finer testimonial than bodies filling seats, worthy readings and hearty applause. I’m not even in the market for a writing class and I wanted to sign up!
It was a grown up recital, much like those old piano class days, of students demonstrating their talents for the assembled masses. Drew gave an admittedly extemporaneous opening modeling her belief that when you’re in the company of creative women and the space is safe, the muses will inform you as they certainly did Drew. She spoke eloquently from the heart about the sacredness of the practice she preaches. One by one, her disciples read their drafts to us, smiling at the unexpected laughter they engendered, touched by the applause when they completed their reading.
“You’re hearing rough,” Drew explained, but it hardly felt so. These were wonderfully tender, meaningful and well-crafted essays and poems by a disparate group of women.The topics ranged from collecting lightning bugs to breastfeeding to cursing matriarchs to what to be buried in (naked on satin sheets was the request). Drew had promised a break during the readings, but read the mood of the room and kept the pace going. We were enthralled. An intermission would have disrupted the flow.
Drew made a gentle pitch at the end of the program for her upcoming workshops offered this summer. Based on the obvious success, support and affection that happens in this kind of environment, I don’t think she’ll have any trouble filling her sessions. For more information, visit her website.
Her house is eclectic and she invited us to visit her particularly magical bathroom located behind the star/beaded curtains. I was intrigued and captured a few images. The one above is the mirror in that room. There are many inspiring quotes hanging framed on the walls there. This was my favorite. It’s hard to read, so here’s the translation: There are two things in the world–life and death. ‘Art’ is life. ‘Not Art’ is death. ~Stuart Davis
Remember the 401 courses you took in college–the advanced seminars vs. the elementary level 101 courses? I felt like that’s where I was last Thursday night when I walked into the Four Seasons Boardroom in NYC for, of all things, the Boardroom–publishers of Bottom Line–networking dinner I’d been invited to. This was the second one I’ve been privileged to attend. I still feel wide-eyed about how exquisitely it’s done.
I go to many networking events each month, but none quite like this in style or content. Marty Edelston, who founded Boardroom Inc., instituted these high level get-togethers many years ago. He invites experts who have already contributed to Bottom Line newsletters, the product of Boardroom Inc., as well as professionals whom he would like to have as contributors. He provides a lavish setting and sumptuous dinner for all involved–no fee is charged for the honor of being in this prestigious group.
Marjory Abrams, the President of the Bottom Line and daughter of Marty, met me at the entrance to our private area and began introducing me to other attendees. Because the list is well-culled, meaningful conversations began instantly. As soon as we were seated and the first course was being served, Marjory and her sister Sarah Hiner (Publisher and COO of Bottom Line Publications), microphone in hand, began reading the bios of all assembled so that we got to know who was in the room.
After everyone had stopped chewing (!), Marty addressed specific questions to each expert regarding his/her industry. At the table were men in women in the arts, medicine, finance, academia, law, wellness, coaching and more. We were each given about 5 minutes to address a current area of interest to the group at large. In between the introductory bios and the longer Q+A, we had time to learn more about our seat-mates, all of whom were fascinating.
I had many takeaways, including a beautiful bouquet that had been part of the centerpiece. I have three dates on my calendar to meet with contacts I made that night. I don’t know where any one of these connections will lead me. But, I’ve learned over my career that these kinds of relationships often lay the groundwork for whatever is coming next for me (and them).
It’s not what happens at these events that’s as important as what you do with what happens. I’m grateful to Marjory, Sarah and Marty for providing an evening with so many advantages.
Mary Ellroy, owner of Gamebird, is a game and toy inventor as well as a consultant to those wishing to bring their products to market. She’s also a member of my nearly 20-year old mastermind group and a dear friend. I take what she says seriously.
Slight digression: I remember my father trekking into NYC with me in the late 60′s carrying a perpetual calendar I had designed as a college project, which he thought was worthy of manufacture. My point here is that pretty much everyone I know at some point thinks they’re an inventor. Since you know some things about me already, one is that I didn’t get rich (or even sell anything) from that product.
Consulting to this audience proves tricky for Mary as most would-be inventions are as well-intentioned but un-salesworthy as mine. How do you kindly educate your audience, save them years of frustration and disappointment and take a small chunk of change in the process? Our mastermind group is an ideal place for her to share this challenge and develop strategies for making each appointment a win-win.
One not-so-easily rejected client of hers, after Mary thoroughly assessed her game idea, shot my friend an email the day after her disappointing evaluation. She wanted an explanation of what Mary meant when she said, “It’s all about the WOW factor.”
Mary is one of the most kind-hearted people I know. She doesn’t enjoy rejecting ideas, but also needs to respect and teach the wisdom of her industry and honor her own expertise in marketability. “That question had me go to UrbanDictionary.com to look up WOW Factor. They nail it down,” Mary told our group.
I’ll let you look it up yourself, but the more important take-away from our session was a retort Mary learned from Hasbro to whom she’s been selling for years. “The WOW factor–we know it when we see it. If we knew how to achieve it every time, we wouldn’t need you.”
It can be a tough world out there. The truth hurts. But it’s a time saver and may move you to the track you belong on rather than the one you may wish for.
