Man, it is certainly true that when it rains, it pours. Yesterday I talked about keeping moving and how good things come to those that put in the effort. Today has been a perfect example of the truth in that. It's like the floodgates of business have opened up, which has kind of made me think about how prepared I actually am for this.
Often times, especially when things have been slow, we tend to put all our effort into looking for opportunities. We're on the hunt for new clients, better paying gigs, or bigger and better projects to attach ourselves to, which means that we may not be paying as much attention to how well we can handle the work load that could come from it.
It's not a difficult thing to plan and prepare. It just takes diligence and a realistic, editing eye to what it is that we're doing. Nothing that self starters like us can't handle, right?
What we do here is break down our goals into blocks of time and figure out how many of which types of jobs will fit into those blocks. Then, it's time to figure out your individual rate of conversion. How many bids to submit, emails to send, phone calls to make, or people to visit in order to fill those blocks. By building a plan for our prospecting, it becomes a ton easier to handle the work load once it starts rolling in.
Happy hunting and best wishes for a busy Spring!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Don't Stop Now, It's Just Getting Good!
Ever heard the sentiment that it's not the end of the journey that counts, it's the journey itself? It's taken me a long time to understand that thought, but I think I get it now.
If we beat ourselves to death trying to reach our end goal, we won't enjoy all the little victories along the way. Hopefully we each have a nice long life ahead of us, so wouldn't it be a shame if we didn't enjoy every single minute of it?
No matter what our direction is in life, or what we do with our time, it's important that we keep working, that we keep bettering ourselves. To stop is to stagnate and who knows what fun, important, and beneficial stuff is yet to come?
It's certainly true that quitters never prosper. It's always the ones that are willing to put in the extra time and effort that see the biggest rewards in life, so don't stop now.
A little single-minded determination goes a long way. Keep moving toward your goals, even if they're nowhere in sight, just yet. You will reach them and you'll probably have a hell of a lot of fun in the process.
If we beat ourselves to death trying to reach our end goal, we won't enjoy all the little victories along the way. Hopefully we each have a nice long life ahead of us, so wouldn't it be a shame if we didn't enjoy every single minute of it?
No matter what our direction is in life, or what we do with our time, it's important that we keep working, that we keep bettering ourselves. To stop is to stagnate and who knows what fun, important, and beneficial stuff is yet to come?
It's certainly true that quitters never prosper. It's always the ones that are willing to put in the extra time and effort that see the biggest rewards in life, so don't stop now.
A little single-minded determination goes a long way. Keep moving toward your goals, even if they're nowhere in sight, just yet. You will reach them and you'll probably have a hell of a lot of fun in the process.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
When Bigger Is NOT Better
I've had a rash of Twitter adds recently that I just don't understand. How is it that these folks can have thousands of followers, yet have never posted a single tweet? No, it's not a private account that I just couldn't see. I mean, these folks have NO tweets! What does a person gain from following them, and more importantly, what do they gain from having you follow them? I mean, I don't know if you're following because you have a strong attachment to what I'm doing, or if you just want me to build your numbers. I certainly can't be a fan of what you're doing if you don't do anything.
The really got me thinking about the quality of our followings. I mean, whether you're building a following for your music or your marketing firm, do you want thousands of cold to luke warm followers, or do you want a couple hundred red hot and rabid followers?
Why the rush for quantity when it's been proven over and over again that quality wins out, every time?
Our mailing lists, our Social Media followings, our Fan Clubs, all have one thing in common. They can be a kick ass database of our loyal followers and strongest evangelists, or they can be a boat anchor full of useless contacts that will, at most, only moderately support what we're doing.
Wouldn't it be time well spent to build a following of TRUE supporters and allies? Makes sense to me.
The really got me thinking about the quality of our followings. I mean, whether you're building a following for your music or your marketing firm, do you want thousands of cold to luke warm followers, or do you want a couple hundred red hot and rabid followers?
Why the rush for quantity when it's been proven over and over again that quality wins out, every time?
Our mailing lists, our Social Media followings, our Fan Clubs, all have one thing in common. They can be a kick ass database of our loyal followers and strongest evangelists, or they can be a boat anchor full of useless contacts that will, at most, only moderately support what we're doing.
Wouldn't it be time well spent to build a following of TRUE supporters and allies? Makes sense to me.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
What IS Reality?
Hey all!
So, a quick question. What exactly IS reality? Isn't it true that the truth is subjective? I mean, my view of the truth will certainly be colored differently than yours, and vice-versa. So, don't we really get to choose what our reality is?
Think about it. Are you a struggling musician, or small business owner, or janitor, or grocery sacker? What makes you struggle? What's the difference between struggling and comfortably making it? What's the difference between having nothing and having everything? Actually, a better question is what would be the common factor? If you were to struggle, every day, to just scrape by, or if you had it all, what would be the one thing that was the same in either situation?
YOU!
Yep, it's our decision how we go through life. I mean, I'm sure that there are some folks who would say, "shut up, it's easy for you to say, you weren't born to nothing, with no prospects for anything better". To that I'd have to say, "SO?".
There are plenty of examples of people throughout the history of this country who have pulled themselves up from abject poverty and even oppression to become successful men and women. Upbringing can no longer be an excuse.
I would go so far as to argue that those of us who know poverty, who have grown up poor, or even middle class in some cases, have even more motivation to live a better life. To make more of ourselves. We have further to go and more drive, in most cases, to do it.
What IS our reality? Are we oppressed and kept down by our economic, cultural, racial, or educational situations, or are we our own people who are free to do whatever we want in this life? What IS your reality?
So, a quick question. What exactly IS reality? Isn't it true that the truth is subjective? I mean, my view of the truth will certainly be colored differently than yours, and vice-versa. So, don't we really get to choose what our reality is?
Think about it. Are you a struggling musician, or small business owner, or janitor, or grocery sacker? What makes you struggle? What's the difference between struggling and comfortably making it? What's the difference between having nothing and having everything? Actually, a better question is what would be the common factor? If you were to struggle, every day, to just scrape by, or if you had it all, what would be the one thing that was the same in either situation?
YOU!
Yep, it's our decision how we go through life. I mean, I'm sure that there are some folks who would say, "shut up, it's easy for you to say, you weren't born to nothing, with no prospects for anything better". To that I'd have to say, "SO?".
There are plenty of examples of people throughout the history of this country who have pulled themselves up from abject poverty and even oppression to become successful men and women. Upbringing can no longer be an excuse.
I would go so far as to argue that those of us who know poverty, who have grown up poor, or even middle class in some cases, have even more motivation to live a better life. To make more of ourselves. We have further to go and more drive, in most cases, to do it.
What IS our reality? Are we oppressed and kept down by our economic, cultural, racial, or educational situations, or are we our own people who are free to do whatever we want in this life? What IS your reality?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Content is King!
Happy Monday!
It's a chilly and rainy day here, but I'm not going to let that keep it from being a good day!
Today I've been thinking about content. Whether it's for your website, your social media pages, or your merch box, the content you have is what's going to bring you more fans or clients. What we provide is what's going to be the catalyst for how many people pay attention to us.
I've already talked about my views on quality, but this has more to do with the one-two punch of quality and quantity. We're only as good as our newest offering. People get bored with us is all we have is that tribute album that we produced 11 years ago. Believe me, I know. New product, news, and content is vital to the growth of our band or our brand.
Think about this. How many times have you gone to see your favorite live band and heard the same set? Now, how many years have they been around? See what I'm saying. The bands that survive and thrive are the ones who are constantly churning out new songs, new albums, new merch, and new ideas. The same can be said for small businesses. It's an ever changing environment and we need to grow with times or fold.
Music and small business are very similar. They're both creative endeavors. The question every day should be, "what am I going to make today"?
What are you going to make today?
It's a chilly and rainy day here, but I'm not going to let that keep it from being a good day!
Today I've been thinking about content. Whether it's for your website, your social media pages, or your merch box, the content you have is what's going to bring you more fans or clients. What we provide is what's going to be the catalyst for how many people pay attention to us.
I've already talked about my views on quality, but this has more to do with the one-two punch of quality and quantity. We're only as good as our newest offering. People get bored with us is all we have is that tribute album that we produced 11 years ago. Believe me, I know. New product, news, and content is vital to the growth of our band or our brand.
Think about this. How many times have you gone to see your favorite live band and heard the same set? Now, how many years have they been around? See what I'm saying. The bands that survive and thrive are the ones who are constantly churning out new songs, new albums, new merch, and new ideas. The same can be said for small businesses. It's an ever changing environment and we need to grow with times or fold.
Music and small business are very similar. They're both creative endeavors. The question every day should be, "what am I going to make today"?
What are you going to make today?
Friday, May 7, 2010
Setbacks and Persistence
Road blocks are a part of life. Every day deal with little things that crop up that take focus away from our goals, and every day we swat them away and get on with the task at hand. No big deal, right? What about those major setbacks that really put a kink in your plans?
There are always things that are out of our control, that really throw a monkey wrench into our well laid plans. Hell, sometimes they're IN our control, we just didn't factor them in or give them due consideration.
The important thing is how we deal with the setbacks. I mean, some of them can be pretty devastating. We can let it ride us, driving us into the ground, or we can pick ourselves up and look for alternatives. What kind of person we are will shape how we react to these situations. Are you a positive, persistent kind of person, or are you a negative, "the whole world is conspiring against me" kind of person? Are you going to let setbacks ruin you or shape you? The simple fact is that this part is ALWAYS totally in our own hands.
Persistence pays off. Taking the negative route just makes you look like a whiner.
There are always things that are out of our control, that really throw a monkey wrench into our well laid plans. Hell, sometimes they're IN our control, we just didn't factor them in or give them due consideration.
The important thing is how we deal with the setbacks. I mean, some of them can be pretty devastating. We can let it ride us, driving us into the ground, or we can pick ourselves up and look for alternatives. What kind of person we are will shape how we react to these situations. Are you a positive, persistent kind of person, or are you a negative, "the whole world is conspiring against me" kind of person? Are you going to let setbacks ruin you or shape you? The simple fact is that this part is ALWAYS totally in our own hands.
Persistence pays off. Taking the negative route just makes you look like a whiner.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Resistance: A Nasty Little Time Waster
Ever notice that it's the most important tasks that seem to take the longest? The ones you have the most passion for? The ones that will make the biggest impact on your life or your career? If this sound familiar than you're a victim of that nasty little time waster, Resistance. Yep, I touched on that a little bit yesterday.
The more we love something, the more we invest in it and the harder it is to let it go and be part of the world. We won't have it all to ourselves anymore. It won't be as perfect as we had envisioned it, as we built it up to be. In short, we start to over think it and we let little things pop up and take the attention away from it. We're scared of it. It becomes way easier to check our email again or go and revamp our filing system, or anything else that takes us away from delivering the goods.
Resistance is a nasty little time waster. It's a bastard. It's a part of all of our lives and it can only be expelled by diligence and force. Only by finding ways to keep ourselves on task and working toward our end goal can we beat it. Setting deadlines for ourselves, finding accountability partners, creating work hours and sticking to them, and making the conscious decision to focus on the big, important tasks first. So what if the filing system is a little weird? Who cares if the desk is cluttered? What matters is that we are doing what we do and making what we make and delivering to the world, for better or worse.
In the words of Richard Branson, "Screw it, let's do it!"
The more we love something, the more we invest in it and the harder it is to let it go and be part of the world. We won't have it all to ourselves anymore. It won't be as perfect as we had envisioned it, as we built it up to be. In short, we start to over think it and we let little things pop up and take the attention away from it. We're scared of it. It becomes way easier to check our email again or go and revamp our filing system, or anything else that takes us away from delivering the goods.
Resistance is a nasty little time waster. It's a bastard. It's a part of all of our lives and it can only be expelled by diligence and force. Only by finding ways to keep ourselves on task and working toward our end goal can we beat it. Setting deadlines for ourselves, finding accountability partners, creating work hours and sticking to them, and making the conscious decision to focus on the big, important tasks first. So what if the filing system is a little weird? Who cares if the desk is cluttered? What matters is that we are doing what we do and making what we make and delivering to the world, for better or worse.
In the words of Richard Branson, "Screw it, let's do it!"
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