Setting up for 2006
Self-promotion can be a tough gig for a lot of independent professionals. Many of us have our mother's voice looming in the back of our heads telling us that it's not polite or proper to brag. Others have a lack of confidence when it comes to tooting their own horn. But, odds are, if we don't toot our own horn, nobody else is going to do it for us.
With 2006 looming , now is the time to start planning to make it the Year of You.
Self-promotion isn't just a side issue or nice thing to do when you have some spare time. It's the life blood of your practice. Clients come. Clients go. That's the reality. In my practice area, research has shown the typical client/creative relationship lasts roughly three years. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. But, that's the average. Unless you've worked out some way to insure a steady stream of prospects who morph into clients, you'll find yourself caught in the feast or famine trap, which I wrote about in my previous post. Truth be told, in most cases, just because you've built a better mousetrap, the world isn't going to beat a path to your door, unless you tell them how to get there. So, it's time to break out the 'ole marketing weed whacker, clear out that path and put up some self-promo signposts.
Where do you start? In the immortal words of Glinda, The Good Witch of the North, "It's always best to start at the beginning." Start by doing some soul searching. Figure out what you're good at, what you love doing and what makes you different from every other Joe out there.
Go through the research process and determine your goals, how much dough you can afford to sink into your efforts, what your competition is up to, who you're trying to reach, etc. Then, create a plan and stick to it. For me, I pop all my promotional activities on my computer's calendar/contact manager. I love my computer. It talks to me. Seriously. I put all my activities on the calendar and then set it up so the computer alerts me when I need to do stuff. "Neil, remember you have the following task ..." One night, when my son was over, he said, "Holy smokes! You've got a wife!" Well ... not exactly, but it does help to keep me on track. The point is, when you get busy it's very easy to put your promo efforts on hold. Bad idea. It's important to keep promoting when you're loaded up with work. It helps to insure you stay that way.
Take some time and look into your promotional toolbox. What's in there? How about an e-newsletter or a blog? Perhaps a postcard campaign? Online directory listings? Cold/warm calls? Networking? Maybe get up and do 10 minutes at a Rotary Club or Chamber event? Volunteer work? Odds are you'll want to do a mix of things. But, (and it's a really big "but") choose only those tools that you're comfortable with and can follow through on. The idea is that your promotional efforts should be a natural extension of your personality and fairly easy to implement. This isn't the place for a hodgepodge effort.
I've found it useful to create a written plan that's a subset of my overall business plan. In there, I write down what I'm trying to accomplish, my budget, time table, tools, etc. It's a good idea to have some sort of checks and balances to determine whether or not certain tools and tasks are really effective. It's important to give things enough time to work, but if they're not, dump them and try something else.
Become a bookaholic. I'd recommend spending some time at your local bookseller, either online or off. There are loads of resources out there to spark some ideas for promotional techniques and inspire you.
As we move closer to closing out another year and look to the next, take the time to plan your future. Make it a goal to get out from under the feast or famine syndrome by creating a sound plan to promote your practice in a consistent, effective manner. By doing so, you'll get more of the kind of work and clients you like, be able to pick and choose your projects, and attract clients who value and respect you and your work. Now, isn't that a nifty way to start off the new year?
With 2006 looming , now is the time to start planning to make it the Year of You.
Self-promotion isn't just a side issue or nice thing to do when you have some spare time. It's the life blood of your practice. Clients come. Clients go. That's the reality. In my practice area, research has shown the typical client/creative relationship lasts roughly three years. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. But, that's the average. Unless you've worked out some way to insure a steady stream of prospects who morph into clients, you'll find yourself caught in the feast or famine trap, which I wrote about in my previous post. Truth be told, in most cases, just because you've built a better mousetrap, the world isn't going to beat a path to your door, unless you tell them how to get there. So, it's time to break out the 'ole marketing weed whacker, clear out that path and put up some self-promo signposts.
Where do you start? In the immortal words of Glinda, The Good Witch of the North, "It's always best to start at the beginning." Start by doing some soul searching. Figure out what you're good at, what you love doing and what makes you different from every other Joe out there.
Go through the research process and determine your goals, how much dough you can afford to sink into your efforts, what your competition is up to, who you're trying to reach, etc. Then, create a plan and stick to it. For me, I pop all my promotional activities on my computer's calendar/contact manager. I love my computer. It talks to me. Seriously. I put all my activities on the calendar and then set it up so the computer alerts me when I need to do stuff. "Neil, remember you have the following task ..." One night, when my son was over, he said, "Holy smokes! You've got a wife!" Well ... not exactly, but it does help to keep me on track. The point is, when you get busy it's very easy to put your promo efforts on hold. Bad idea. It's important to keep promoting when you're loaded up with work. It helps to insure you stay that way.
Take some time and look into your promotional toolbox. What's in there? How about an e-newsletter or a blog? Perhaps a postcard campaign? Online directory listings? Cold/warm calls? Networking? Maybe get up and do 10 minutes at a Rotary Club or Chamber event? Volunteer work? Odds are you'll want to do a mix of things. But, (and it's a really big "but") choose only those tools that you're comfortable with and can follow through on. The idea is that your promotional efforts should be a natural extension of your personality and fairly easy to implement. This isn't the place for a hodgepodge effort.
I've found it useful to create a written plan that's a subset of my overall business plan. In there, I write down what I'm trying to accomplish, my budget, time table, tools, etc. It's a good idea to have some sort of checks and balances to determine whether or not certain tools and tasks are really effective. It's important to give things enough time to work, but if they're not, dump them and try something else.
Become a bookaholic. I'd recommend spending some time at your local bookseller, either online or off. There are loads of resources out there to spark some ideas for promotional techniques and inspire you.
As we move closer to closing out another year and look to the next, take the time to plan your future. Make it a goal to get out from under the feast or famine syndrome by creating a sound plan to promote your practice in a consistent, effective manner. By doing so, you'll get more of the kind of work and clients you like, be able to pick and choose your projects, and attract clients who value and respect you and your work. Now, isn't that a nifty way to start off the new year?
