Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Doing the Best We Can

I find myself working at half speed due to the flood. ServPro bailed on water recovery, so I am having to clean out the basement myself with the help of a friend. Yes, cutting out carpet, destroying furniture, tearing out dry wall, bleaching, spraying down walls. Woo hoo! Tell you what, physical labor makes me grateful to be a marketing pro.

However; with the help of family and friends, we are doing the very best we can right now. The house should be ready for a general contractor by Monday, which will leave me to focus on work full-time again. Still doggedly tied to email and making sure no apples get dropped right now.

Ordered a Prius for Caitlin, and will get a company car over the next couple of days (yes, the benefits of owning your own company). It will likely be a Highlander or an Avalon. Taking a brand step back from the Audi A4. I feel having a sizable car/SUV with leather is more important than having the label. It's a start-up, not a mega-agency from Amsterdam. Believe it or not, the cars are still close in price.

Tomorrow morning is the branding messaging summit for my new client. They are an exciting company to work with, and I think we will have a good meeting. This has been my primary work focus this week, with most of my other clients holding off until next week. Everyone has been kind and flexible, including the new client and that's been great.

Really the thing that amazes me is how an event like this really brings out the best in people. We are staying with folks who volunteered their English basement, dozens of people have called and lent aid in one way or another. It's just been a miracle. We are both so grateful.

Wishing everyone a very safe Fourth of July weekend. I will likely post on 7/3, but until then it's lights out. Cheers.
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Fear Not, Life Continues

Well, it’s an interesting time. The flood really displaced us. Our house was condemned yesterday, along with 100+ others in the immediate neighborhood. And our cars were totaled. It appears the Cameron Run flood was caused by Wilson Bridge construction.

It’s interesting that there is so little fear for me right now. Perhaps it’s all the great help I’ve received. Preferred Offices set me up with my new work digs (thank you so much to Lisa, Christie and Brooke. You guys are great!), and dozens of friends have stepped up to help us out personally, not to mention relatives. So business is running, we have many places to stay, and resources to rely on. That’s helped a ton, and we are so grateful.

A couple of friends of mine were caught in fear last week, paralyzing and affecting their activities in one way or another. The reality about fear is that it’s used as a common management technique as a primary motivator. You’ll lose your job if you do don’t do this. You won’t get a raise, etc. Yeah, I think I’ll keep my path as an entrepreneur. At least I can control my own destiny, floods excluded.

Living in fear is a horrible place to be. Worse, is acting in fear. This inevitably leads to pain. Fear really seems to be the root cause of every negative aspect of life.

How does one combat fear? Pam Slim recently wrote, use love instead of fear (as always, Escape from Cubicle Nation is linked to the right). Personally, I prefer faith. Faith in the right actions, processes, and commitment will in the end prove victorious. And though this flood has been a set back, I know in the long run, it will yield positive results that I could never have imagined.

So onward. Business continues, and to pick up where I left off pre-flood, I need to finish this week with a strong effort. I think a couple of extra quotes are in order, so here you go:

“If you're scared today, let me ask you this: What will you do with your fear? Will you let it become a motivator or an inhibitor?"
-Carly Fiorina

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Monday, June 26, 2006

Coverage of Our Flood in the Post

Not necessarily the way I envisioned getting in the Washington Post, but here is the paper's coverage of our flood.

GL
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Flooded Out

Just one hour after I posted "Finishing Strong", our house suffered from high flood waters that completely flooded the basement and cars tonight, as well as forcing Fairfax County to evacuate our street. We are in our friend's house, cancelling our appointments and work for tomorrow.

Instead, tomorrow will be about the plumber and a big pump, the insurance company as well as relocating my home office to other quarters in Alexandria. However, I hope to have the biz up and running again by no later than Tuesday. I got all of the hardware and data up and out of the office in time.

Still, when Mother Nature calls, it definitely puts things into balance. Business matters, but living means more. We were fortunate no one was hurt, and the rest is just stuff. I have a great wife, and there's no one else I'd rather be with during this time.

Finishing strong will have to be delayed, just for a little while. Now it is time to get our lives back in order.
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Sunday, June 25, 2006

Finishing Strong

Last week ended well, a new client, a second verbal, a third project awarded but delayed, entry into the finals of a major PR contract, lots of exciting actual work to do that will take a good part of the summer, and plenty of networking. A weekend of rest has somewhat refreshed me, though I am pretty tired (weddings & Bar Mitzvahs are time intensive).

Then there’s this Fourth of July thing looming. Ah yes, a four day weekend, the slow dog days of summer around the corner. With all of this progress, it would be very easy to rest on my laurels, coast on fulfillment, and let everything glide into a nice long four day weekend…

I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong, most corporate employees don’t have the incentive that I do, and that’s understood. If it wasn’t my company and I was less of a self starter, it’d be coast time. But it’s not, and I’m in this thing for the long haul. That means finishing this week strong into Friday.

Already I am hitting the keyboard hard on a strategic marketing engagement, even though it’s Sunday. And an email to Good Morning America in the works, ready to be sent tomorrow afternoon.

Why be so driven? It’s about winning, and success. Winners finish strong, and don’t peter out. They see things through until they are done, don’t go on vacation early, instead opting to fight until the end. How fitting to take this attitude going into Independence Day Weekend. After all, I am finishing strong to cement my own independence.

Here are this week’s quotes for you:


“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
- Vincent Lombardi

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one... characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers.”
- Henry David Thoreau

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Thursday, June 22, 2006

On Karma and Business

Yesterday was a tough day in the sense that I found myself in three different situations where either the person who wanted to deal with me seemed less than scrupulous, or the request would compromise my ethics. In each case, the situation had varying degrees of gray, so they were not easy to navigate.

However, since I found each of the three situations to be troubling, I bowed out as politely as possible. In one case, I just had to flat out say, “No, I’m not interested, please don’t ask again.” Why was it so important to weigh these situations? Well, you reap what you sow. That’s karma.

I read meditations every day to get me started. Here’s what today’s meditation – coincidentally on karma – had to say:

“If you put your finger in the fire, it will burn you. The fire is not responsible for that. The function of fire is to burn. You can use the fire for a good purpose or for a bad purpose. It’s up to you. So let us not blame [others] for everything.” – Sri Swami Satchidananda

How true. That’s definitely my experience, both in business and in my personal life. I realize that in bad situations, I am not a victim. It’s inevitable that I can trace back through the course of events and find that I did something to put me in that position. This exercise of review often lends itself to great lessons and wisdom for future endeavors.

And in the case of people who seem prosperous yet do bad things, it’s important for me to remember that money does not equate to being emotionally and mentally healthy. For example, they may be millionaires, but they also maybe untrusted and alone, or surrounded by other unscrupulous colleagues, a direct karmic result of their actions.

So while it’s always nice to please people, sometimes you have to say no. Doing the right thing must come first.

"I don't know the keys to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

-Bill Cosby

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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Riding Out a Great Day

Great day so far. Another new client is on board, an additional project won and then delayed (oh well, but still fun), a pass to the final round for a major RFP, and an existing client is being interviewed to appear on Good Morning America. Pretty sweet! And it’s only 5:00. Well, I did start at 6:00 today.

Anyway, good stuff. Working very hard on a lot of brand strategy and fulfillment. I find that working on branding efforts requires an immersion in the company’s strategy and target audiences. From there the value proposition and messaging kind of percolates, rising up into a verbal form. It’s best top have a few people working on this, enabling creative combustion to form a refined message.

Good Morning America represents a very significant opportunity for my client. Now I am hustling to get old video clips, books, media clips and a bio together so the client can close this opportunity. Once we get scheduled, it’s time for media training. I’ll have to get an expert familiar with TV to help out on that one.

BTW: If you think blogs don’t work for B2B, you’re dead wrong. Today’s new client came from the blog, someone whom I’ve never met before.

Well, I don’t want to lose momentum given how well the day’s going.

Sometimes business is like surfing. You have to ride the wave out as long as you possibly can, and when the surf’s good you keep going until you are drop-dead exhausted.

No, I am not a surfer, but I am the proud owner of a Boogie Board. Yes, I know what you are thinking, “What a sad sight, a bald, middle-aged guy boogie-boarding.” Understandable, but I don’t care. It’s an absolute blast, something I picked up in my childhood and recently re-engaged in. Since we’re in marketing, I’m even going to plug my Body Board company of choice, Wave Rebel!

OK, onward!

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Monday, June 19, 2006

Beginning the Week with the Right Mindset

It’s Monday, and quite a bit of work to do this week. From white paper writing and a large power point to develop for a client to brand development and collateral redesign, it will be week of strong fulfillment. Plus a couple of new business activities are coming to fruition.

As the new week begins, it seems there is always anticipation of what will happen. Perhaps this week a little more so, only because Friday marks the last day of the company’s second month. I know it will be good… whatever the actual results may be. How can I have such strong belief in this?

No matter what results occur, with the right attitude and commitment it can be turned into a positive. I remember seeing Mark Warner speak at TelecomHUB during his campaign for governor. He remarked that he had tried several start-ups that failed before successfully starting the entity that became Nextel. Mind you, this man may become our next president. Warner makes it apparent that even failure can be turned into something positive. Sometimes it takes reflection, review and change to turn the outcome into good, but with a continuing commitment to winning, success can be achieved.

Why is this important to note at the beginning? Because life continues to happen, good and bad. Mistakes will be made, the inevitable result of being human. But to venture forth with hesitation and trepidation of heart would only be to seed an enterprise within poor soil.

No, for me it’s best to move forward with the following seven components to any day, week, month, project or effort:

1) Full strength committed to the effort

2) Approach everything with an attitude of making the effort useful to the other people involved: How can this benefit them?

3) Know that the outcome will be positive

4) Expect hurdles

5) Ask others for their help and experiences

6) Willingness to acknowledge errors and change quickly

7) Turn experiences into assets that benefit the larger good

With this mindset at the beginning, I can allow myself the latitude to adapt and succeed. And so the new week begins, and it will be good.

I’m bullish on the future, so with my accountant’s blessing I have made some purchases for infrastructure. General liability insurance is done, and another computer and printer, too. Just getting ready, assuming growth is coming soon. And with that, it’s on into the week.

Here are some Monday quotes:

“The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
- Vince Lombardi

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans.”
-Peter Drucker

“Really skilful people never get out of time, and are always deliberate, and never appear busy.”
-Musashi

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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Time for the Advisory Board

Working through my database, adding and deleting contacts, I realize that I’ve got to get my Advisory Board together for a meeting. There’s advantages to having them together, in large part for the networking value they can gain from each other, but also to brief them on the company’s progress and leverage their experience for suggestions.

The drive to get a pipeline in place, the critical goal of servicing my already great clients, and creating new business has absorbed me over the past two months (the company will officially be two months at the end of next week). Plus there’s been infrastructure and set-up matters, too.

Yes, it’s been easy to get distracted, but in the end you have to come back to the vision. The advisory board verifies and/ or corrects the vision and immediate direction. As a younger executive, I find these trusted folks to be absolutely invaluable.

“Make wisdom your provision for the journey from youth to old age, for it is a more certain support than all other possessions,” said Bias. Experience is critical, but it does not necessarily have to be earned in all cases. It can be transferred if you are willing to learn and listen. That’s why I have an Advisory Board.

It was a milestone week. An employee, and yes, I paid myself back for all of my initial investment in the company. It is standing on its own merits now, with all networking associations and marketing activities paid for through the year. That’s a good feeling.

Got my men’s sale suit at Nordstroms in Tysons today (Half Yearly sale, fellas). My guy always takes care of me, and it’s important to keep investing in the wardrobe. It’s a business tool. People want to work with winners, and part of that means looking like a winner. Looking sharp helps me mentally dial in. If you are into learning more about the habits of winners, check out Denis Waitley’s Psychology of Winning.

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Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Two IS a Company

Yesterday I kind of realized that my NY creative guy became an official employee. I pay his Social Security taxes, due to a requirement from one of my new clients. Wow! How did that happen? Well, it is kind of cool. Officially, we are a company now.

Dictionary.com defines company as “a group of persons,” meaning more than one. It would seem that a one person company really means a self-employed person, but more than one would truly be a company. See Pam Slim’s Escape from Cubicle Nation on this.

My friend Doug forwarded me a hilarious David Maister article on what not to do in a consultative relationship. Since most of us are in professional services, it seemed like a worthwhile thing to pass on. It’s called “How Clients Choose,” and is written from the perspective of the buyer. Here is a passage:

“Don’t start telling me how you can solve my problems until I have acknowledged that there’s a problem or an opportunity here. Simply asserting to me that I have problems or opportunities isn’t enough. If you say it, I can and will doubt you. If I say it, it’s true.”

Heard from two out of my last three bosses yesterday. They were really thrilled and supportive. One of them, I credit with teaching me how to market to and for clients intelligently as opposed to a foolish cowboy with his guns slung on his hips. Such people often leave prospects “Unforgiven.”

Victor taught me question based selling, and also to really focus on the other person. It was great to hear from these guys.

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Monday, June 12, 2006

The Value of Great Vendors

Business keeps on rolling. Today was a day for the vendors. And they were very helpful.

I have a great team behind me, and they make launching the business that much easier. How so? Well, there is a cognizant recognition that I only know how to do so much, and the rest requires experts. Beware the layman who prescribes medical solutions for himself.

One of them, my accountant McGuire Associates, even blogs. I also have a great office vendor, an insurance agent, and several key membership organizations working for me.

Other must haves for building my business are my two law firms, one for day-to-day matters (the price is right), then there’s the high-end “nuclear option” for particularly thorny issues. Fortunately, there are not many of these problems in my life today, so the legal A team doesn’t get much use. Still it’s good to know they are there.

All jokes aside, it’s good to have these folks behind me. They make life that much easier, and allow me not to worry. I can work, and be free and focus on my job, which is making companies famous.

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Sunday, June 11, 2006

WIW: Making a Career from Writing

Here's the brief speech I gave yesterday at the Washington Independent Writers Conference. It was well received, and helped several people seeking to make a living from their primary dream job... being a writer.

As the speech had several positive quotes, it seemed like good content to start the week out. Further, the business lessons can probaably be applied to anything.

GL

Making writing profitable is an attitude: It’s about prosperity.

“All prosperity begins in the mind and is dependent only on the full use of our creative imagination.”

Ruth Ross

The first major step to writing as a means of financial existence must be turning your skill into a service others need. Writing services that people want include: Ad copy, PR, news and magazines, technical writing, brochures, websites, white papers, speeches, etc. This also means creating an unshakable belief that your writing has value.

Great writers can morph their style to the project, and they can write on demand. So make it fun, accept the challenge, and let your creativity work to your advantage. Push yourself, and be proud of the final product. It can’t always be about creativity, but it can always be about creating something useful to someone.

“Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long.”

Leonard Bernstein


Identify buyers of writing services. Some that I have worked with include, news organizations, marketing organizations, PR agencies, associations, corporations, and politicians/celebrities. Target buyers and, to the best of your ability, services that best meet your skills.

Key pitfalls to watch out for:

1) Not wanting to write for others

2) Build it and they shall come mentality

3) Selling yourself: Rejection is not personal

Develop your value proposition. How can you help them? Change your title as necessary. In the business world, I am a marketing professional whose core skills are writing and marketing strategy.

Learning to sell remains critical. Finding customers is a must, but you have to learn how to do it. Dale Carnegie (www.dalecarnegie.com) offers reasonably cost-effective sales training courses, OR if you don’t want to/can’t invest, read Jeffrey Gitomer’s Sales Bible and Little Red Book of Selling (www.gitomer.com).

Once you have an approach, go out and network where you think your buyers are and develop relationships, not jobs. The work will come. Also, use your writing skills to market yourself: Web sites, blogs, and newsletters are a great means of pushing your skill out to the market. For example, my blog Diary of an Ad Man generated a very sizable potential deal worth more than $25K within five weeks of its existence.

If you don’t want to sell yourself, treat your skill like a product, and find someone who will. This means accepting an employee role. Dicitionary.com defines a job as “a regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one's trade, occupation, or profession.”

In summation, if you take a positive attitude and apply it with 1) commitment, 2) humble approach to learning, and 3) approach targets with an attitude of service, you will succeed in marketing yourself.

“No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en;
In brief, sir, study what you most affect.”

-William Shakespeare, "The Taming of the Shrew", Act 1, scene 1.

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Thursday, June 08, 2006

Top Five PR Books

As a sequel to an earlier blog this week on the five greatest advertising books, here are the supposed top five books for PR Pros from Apryl Duncan:

1) Effective Public Relations by Scott M. Cutlip, Allen H. Center, Glen M. Broom (Preface), Prentice Hall.

2) Public Relations Kit for Dummies by Eric Yaverbaum, Bob Bly (Contributor), Hungry Minds Inc.

3) Bulletproof News Releases by Kay Borden, Franklin Sarrett Publishing.

4) Publicity and Media Relations Checklists by David R. Yale, Anne Knudsen (Editor), NTC Business Books.

5) The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications by Clarke L. Caywood (Editor), McGraw-Hill Companies.

Number one is definitely on my list, but as for the rest, I think they are debatable. In reality, they are probably as good as any, but I think a media training book, and a good crisis PR book are musts. I like Media Training 101: A Guide to Meeting the Press by Sally Stewart and Risk Issues and Crisis Management by Michael Regester and Judy Larkin.

The top 5 PR area demonstrates a lack of visionaries in PR right now, and historically. The depth isn’t there like advertising, and in many ways that is because PR is only now coming into its own as a primary marketing discipline.

What a great, exciting day!!!! We had the big pitch this morning, which went very well. Then we had a second less formal introductory meeting in the afternoon, which also went well. With both of my trusted parties in play, I got to see the full team at work and it was excellent.

Most importantly, the first prospect loved the pitch, and we got “great job” and “thank you” emails from two team players. The pitch style was fun, and my two key players got to shine on their own. It was nice to be the “chief executive” in that scenario, as I trusted them and did not have to interrupt, instead letting them stand on their own strengths.

If you have an executive who interrupts the team all the time, beware. This person has identified themselves as 1) a person who doesn’t trust the team's skills and/or 2) is too insecure to let anyone else speak. Based on my experiences, I am convinced that the really good clients are repelled by such personalities. It really comes down to a style of attraction versus one of promotion. I prefer attraction.

Next on the list, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Friday tonight with my wife and getting my presentation ready for Saturday’s Washington Independent Writers Conference. Have a great weekend!

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Wednesday, June 07, 2006

More on Networking!

A reader asked me to write some more on networking. My pleasure. Further, more suggestions for content are welcome at geoff@livingstonbuzz.com.

The key to networking is to bring value to the group that you are participating in. Try to join a committee that has people on it that you are interested in working with in some sort of professional capacity. From there, instead of getting leads, focus on being of service. Give, give, give and when you are tired of giving, give some more.

If you take this attitude the results will surprise you. Instead of getting leads, I find that relationships develop into friendships, not just for now, but for life. Yes, sometimes those relationships turn into business, too.

Ultimately, everyone who goes to a professional networking group is there for a reason. And everyone understands that. But time and effort must be invested. Rare are the short-term gains. After a reasonable amount of time -- 6 months, a year or so -- weigh the effectiveness and decide to continue or go elsewhere. If you constantly network and don’t achieve results, see a sales coach or take a training class. I prefer Dale Carnegie.

Things are going great. My designer is down from New York to prepare for a big pitch. We just finished the 11 o’clock run to Kinko’s to get the PPTs ready. Yes, the printer died last minute. Life in a start-up… Here’s a guest entry from my creative director:

“I don’t know what to say. It’s good to be in DC, thanks for putting me on the spot. Nervous about presenting, it’s been a while, but I have confidence that we have good stuff to bring to the table, and help these people.”

Thanks, buddy. Was kind of down yesterday, but slogged through it, and took a bike ride. It got me feeling positive, and that really is an essential quality to success. It’s paramount to have an upbeat attitude.

Momentum continues, and we hit a very nice project with a Fortune 1000 company. This is the result of an old relationship, dating back ten years. Good stuff.

Unfortunately, it seems things are not happening quick enough, and I am about to lose my potential partner to larger agencies that can provide a 6 figure living now. We’ll see what happens. There are players in the background I can tap for help, but maybe, just maybe things will break the right way. Regardless, I have faith that things will happen exactly as they should, not just for me, but also for my friend/partner, and the right people will appear in due time. The key is just do the next right thing. OK, it’s almost midnight and time to sign out.

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Monday, June 05, 2006

Five Greatest Advertising Books Ever

Here’s a great blog for you…. “Escape from Cubicle Nation!” An excellent blend of marketing knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit, and just good old soul searching. Keep up the blogging, Pam.

Repeat business is the best business. Why? Because you feel like you made a difference for someone, and that they enjoyed working with you. There’s a warm feeling that comes with that. A warm thank you is in order. The same goes for old colleagues who reach out and wish you well, and I’ve heard from a few recently.

I am currently researching for my book based on the first year of Livingston Communications, as documented through Diary of an Ad Man. Part of a book proposal is determining which other books are similar to yours. Recently, the Wall Street Journal published a list of the five best advertising books ever. They are:

1. "The 100 Greatest Advertisements 1852-1958" by Julian Lewis Watkins (Dover, 1959).

2. "Confessions of an Advertising Man" by David Ogilvy (Atheneum, 1963).

3. "Bill Bernbach's Book" by Bob Levenson (Random House, 1987).

4. "A Technique for Producing Ideas" by James Webb Young (Advertising Publications, 1940).

5. "Reality in Advertising" by Rosser Reeves (Knopf, 1961)

My personal favorite book in advertising is “Ogilvy on Advertising,” (Pan Books, 1983). Talk about the godfather of the industry…

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Sunday, June 04, 2006

Success Means Focus

Success requires constant focus and redirection towards goals and positivity. It’s inevitable that distractions will appear, fun will develop, ankle biters will appear. Focusing on the positive and disregarding the temporary and ultimately unimportant, is a constant exercise, but one that remains a critical action.

As someone committed to success, distractions must fall to the ways side. They have no affect on the future unless they are allowed to take too much time and resources. Instead positive motivation and visioning followed by continuous action steps are the right usage of effort. For me, there many exercises I execute to regain focus, from reading motivation pieces, audio books on tape, work-outs, and equally important, talking with other people who I consider to be winners. All of these activities keep me on the upside.

It’s Monday and there’s a lot of proposal writing to do this week. One cool thing is a book proposal relating to this blog, the result of an agent meeting last month in NYC. In addition I need to write a follow-up project report and corresponding recommendations, plus some media activity for one of my other clients.

Proposal writing requires patience. Often I find myself wrestling with the proposal’s objectives before I engage. The key is to hit the recipient hard with the value proposition immediately in the document. If the receiver feels like the document doesn’t reflect them and their needs (both stated and implied), then the proposal fails. The rest should be strategy suggestions, and tactical execution.

So, for me the investment comes in the first couple of paragraphs or pages… it means getting into the minds and need of the other party, and leaving my agenda at the door. Documents of this nature should only deal with the agency in the sense of qualifying it… but once credibility is achieved, it should strictly be written towards the target audience’s needs and motivations. Really no one wants to talk to marketing agency so the agency can market itself… they have an objective in mind.

It’s the beginning of the week, so here are some positive quotes for thought:

“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
-Anonymous

"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision."
-Mohammed Ali

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Thursday, June 01, 2006

Taking a Break

It was my birthday today, so I practiced what I preached and had a little fun. Lot’s of family, friends and colleagues pushed me to honor the day, too, so I listened. Worked for about four hours, and the rest was play. Had a bike ride on the Mt. Vernon trail and saw X3. All very enjoyable.

Sometimes by getting away you become more effective, and that’s why it’s important to honor down time. Human beings aren’t meant to go wire-to-wire without a break. While I recognize how important hard work is right now and will continue my efforts until this company is established, there must be relief here and there.

Things are going well. My client had a great MAVA presentation. And after seeing the accountant's first report, and reviewing pipe updates this week, I feel like we are moving in the right direction, and faster than I anticipated. The stars are aligning…

The person I wanted to bring on is seeing it, too, and we think things are going to work out. There is enough work for the summer, but also, now people are talking retainers. Nothing’s a done deal until it’s inked and I would not be so foolish to count my chickens before they hatched, but it’s hard not to feel positive about the direction of the company. There’s so much goodwill out there right now.

Friday is a busy day, lot’s of good stuff, good meetings. Looking forward to it.

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