comments

Great article! It's interesting how much writing your "speech" down beforehand does help. I always write way too much in the first draft of a presentation. Then, I spend an hour or two editing it down to just the key points, and then to a couple of key talking points. When you try to tackle too much at once, you end up diluting the overall message.

I agree with Ken, the reason being that for most entrepreneurs I've met, if the business card looks cheap or quickly put together, the website does as well.

That said, what I think you are really talking about here is creating a more holistic vision for your company before you take the step to move forward with your marketing.

In my experience, many entrepreneurs have what they consider a great idea and rush to get it to the marketplace before they've given adequate thought to who's going to really want this, and how to get the message out to them. So they hop on every marketing bandwagon they can find, dumping time and money into the process, instead of just stopping to really think about this enterprise they're building.

Steve,

I think you've exactly nailed my philosophy on collaboration. I have no problem working with clients who might have a rigid (and perhaps ineffective) vision for their project, but I also believe that it's my duty as a designer to help them articulate what they're looking to communicate, and steer them in the a direction that's going to help them communicate that while being effective for their specific needs.

And if a client can't accept or acknowledge my expertise and work with me on a collaboration, then I make the choice not to work with them.

I'm with Ken on this one.

I have to respectfully disagree with the idea that giving the client "what they want" is the best course of action, especially if what they want is something that's going to be horribly ineffective for their business. While there has been the rare time when I've found the person I couldn't convince, as a professional designer whose job it is to make their company look good, I've found that if I do give the client "what they want" and, inevitably, it doesn't work - I'm the one that looks like an idiot because I'm the one who designed it. And I won't get the job next time.

I agree that listening, giving clients the benefit of the doubt, etc. are all valuable things, and I do this extensively in my dealing with clients.

But our clients are hiring us as professionals - ostensibly, as people who know more about this stuff than they do. If we willingly refuse to share our professional opinion when a client comes to us with an idea that Just Won't Work in favor of getting a paycheck, how can we legitimately claim the title of professionals? How can people trust us to do what's going to work for them?

Wow. Sorry to hear that happened to you.

In my experience, while there are millions of wonderful, caring, decent people in the world, there are also a number of them for whom tact is just not understood. The only way I've found to deal with them is to thank them for their feedback and move on.

This is a great article, Stacy. I see this type of thing all the time with designers (and the green businesses I work with, come to think about it); so much time is spent trying to convince people why they're worthwhile that you have to wonder: do they even believe they're worthwhile?

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for the detailed response. I definitely understand what you're saying here - I'm just really not getting any of this from the article, which is why I left the comment.

That said, I definitely might take you up on the brainstorming idea sometime soon. I already do an e-mail list, and I think my elevator pitch is pretty strong already - but there might be other ideas we could come up with together.

Thanks for the informative article, but it seems like a lot of the issues that you discuss are geared towards much larger businesses, especially large retail outlets.

What can I, and presumably many more of Biznik's members apply to our own businesses as independent professionals - especially since issues of layout and product facing, even employee satisfaction, may never really apply to our business?

I don't know if I have flames or hate mail to offer; I think that you raise some very valid points. My issue, however, is that the very tone you accuse these internet offenders of taking in their website is inherent throughout this article, especially in your drastic overuse of emphasized text, which tends to come across as finger-pointing and lectury even when not used to the extremes you're using here. However, I do agree with most of your points, and they're ones that I often make with my clients.

Honestly? Because I got laid off from a contract with $8500 in the bank, and I had been planning the studio for well over a year. It was time.

I've wanted to run my own show since the beginning of my career. And with all the headaches, all the sacrifices, and the annoyance of not being able to refer the particularly nasty folks to my boss to be dealt with - I'm happier, and making more money, than I have at any other point in my career working for someone else.

My desk is a bit more cluttered than I'd like it to be right now, but I have:

• a SunBox desk lamp (for helping me through the Winter Blues - thank goodness I don't need it anymore. yay sun!); • Cell phone holder that looks like hands hugging something; • paper pencil holder from India with my Ladies Who Launch pin on it; • red stapler; • happy wooden Buddha, Geode oil burner with Cardamom/bergamot oil, color-changing egg lamp; • various stones, including large pieces of Sodalite and Labradorite, and smaller pieces of gypsum, raw lapis, blue tiger's eye, rose quartz and jesuviate; • a deck of Cheryl Richardson's self-care cards, as well as a deck of Success Cards from Deepak Chopra; • a standing file with the files that I'm actually working on this week; • the world's most awesome headscratcher.

It's a bit cluttered, but oddly enough I'm very productive here. The main thing is organizing the standing-file and losing some of the stuff I don't need.

I'm a fan of Tips as well - primarily because I find the information a bit more digestible, and being busy (not to mention an avid reader anyway), it's often easier for me to read a handful of tips than it is to read even 2-3 articles.

I'm also, like Rachel, a fan of more concise writing. I find it's more helpful to make a couple of quick points in multiple posts than it is to try to explore one topic at length.

My more recent purchases aren't completely business related, yet they dramatically impact my ability to do my business. For one, I purchased a SunBox Desk Lamp for my office. I have a pretty wicked case of Seasonal Effective Disorder which can render me useless if unchecked, and having the little box of light right next to my desk makes it easier for me to get light therapy, and therefore I'm more productive. I also got a footrest, which is making it much more comfortable to be at my desk. Hence, more productive.

The most major purchase (or rather, purchases) I've made recently has been entirely un-business related, but has produced dramatic results in my overall well-being (and - you guessed it - productivity). I decided to cancel my organic produce delivery service (as the veggies were always a bit suspect, and I didn't like them very much), and have made a habit of visiting a farm about 7 miles from my house every Saturday with my boyfriend to pick out whatever fresh produce looks good. Since I started this trend, I find that my mood has improved drastically, I have more energy and feel better overall, and I'm far less likely to settle for junk or pizza because I don't want to eat what's in the house. It's made such a difference, and this is probably the one I'm most happy about, along with a Jivamukti Yoga DVD that I do every other day.

The way I see it, if you are your business, you have no excuse not to keep yourself healthy and well - and those purchases are just as important as the more obviously business-related ones.

Thanks for the great article - it's definitely good food for thought.

Is it possible that it's Sugilite? Here's a link: http://www.gemhut.com/sugilite.htm

Also, if it's got some green in it, it might be Labradorite - it's iridescent and has purple, green, and blue in it (looks a lot like Mother of Pearl, judging by the one on my desk, and my Labradorite necklace is more cobalt-looking with flashes of green and blue. Very lovely.)

Great article as usual, Ilise. One of the things that I notice about the "marketing mindset" is that it helps me to focus on an intention or goal when I'm at a networking event - I know when I walk in what I'm there for, and I end up having a more productive meeting.

I'm especially intrigued by the nametag advice - one of the benefits to having a business called "the zen kitchen" is that it's an instant conversation starter. Everyone wants to know what it is, and that makes it easier for me to talk about it.

Hey Carl! Nice to see you on Biznik!

I have a few that I'm on regularly for marketing/blogging, etc.

I keep a fairly regular blog, where I talk about being a business owner, marketing, sustainability and design;

I use Gather for posting articles from my blog.

I use LinkedIn and Facebook for general networking, and import my blog into Facebook;

I have a MySpace account that I almost never check.

I'm also active on the HOW Forums and Twitter, although that's not really a networking thing as much as it is chatting with folks.

Other than that, I check out Google, A List Apart and Creative Latitude pretty often, and I keep up on a couple of blogs.

That sounds like such a great idea... there are a couple of places like that in the Cambridge area, but they're a bit too far for my blood. If only there was one in Harvard Square...

Howard,

Thanks for your feedback, but I don't feel I was being overly negative... also, I'm not really asking for any features that aren't already free on other services (Facebook, for one, allows blog importing to all members, and most forums I've been on allow post signatures without having to pay for it). And I wasn't making demands by any means; merely stating something I'd like to see.

In terms of "stepping up," right now I've been on Biznik a month, and, while I like it, I haven't been on it long enough to determine whether it's worth $10-24 a month to get the upgraded membership, especially since the network in my local area (Boston) is still so low, and I already have three other social networking accounts that I use regularly. I don't necessarily think it's fair to say that I should "step up" and start paying for the service if I haven't even had time to evaluate whether I like it yet.