I have no one to blame but myself. I got bad vibes in the beginning and I didn’t listen to them. It was a potential client who wanted a logo, then didn’t want the logo, then wanted the logo, then didn’t want the logo. Then disappeared. Then came back. Then said, “I want to hire you.” Then disappeared. Then wanted a lower price. Then agreed to my price. Then asked for the contract. Then sat on it for 8 months. Then came back.

Did I really think this was going to have a happy ending?

Well, it didn’t. I’m out quite a bit of income after putting in a herculean effort.

I don’t like to give up, but looking back I can see that nothing I did was going to do cut the grade because the grade could never be cut.

The saddest part? I created something really lovely because that’s my M.O. I put my heart and soul and wild spirit into the design and I’m proud of it. But its loveliness could not be accepted.

Finally, I said to myself, “I can’t do this anymore. It’s not healthy for me.”

And I cut my losses.

Keeping your boundaries strong will be one of your biggest challenges as a business owner. I’m cognizant of it and still I found myself with a hole in my boundary. There’s the tendency to

a) give away too much for free.
b) give someone a deal because they say they don’t make a lot of money.
c) give yourself a nervous breakdown because you believe you have to make every client happy.
c) give away your self-respect.

We’ve been told to protect our business reputations so much that we end up making ourselves crazy trying to please someone to keep them from complaining about us.

Sometimes you need to just let go and not worry what an unsatisfied client thinks. For whatever reason, you need to divorce your client and take custody of your sanity.

I’m going to make it a priority to listen to my gut. Am I getting a good feeling with this potential client or an I getting a crazy feeling?

Walk away if the feeling is not a good one. That way you’ll be available for the good clients looking for someone just like you.

Hard to be a profitable business with that kind of marketing approach/attitude.

Since I did not want to go back and work for THE MAN, I needed to find a way to conquer my distaste of conventional marketing.

I found the answer within myself — market in an organic way. Market who I am, not some 60 second drab elevator pitch that sounds like a pitch because that’s what it is.

I say things that make me feel alive. If I don’t feel alive when I say it, you can be guaranteed no one listening to it will feel that way either.

And it works, people always come up to me and say, “I want to know more.” Or, “You are a hoot,” and “Tell me about that writing program.”

I’m saying things in a way I would say them at a party or during a conversation with a friend.

It’s the marketing of your organic personality wherever you go. Simple. Easy to do. And way easier and more delicious than marketing someone else’s personality. That’s when marketing feels so awful.

Why would you want to feel that way? Yes, people talk about being authentic and then they act inauthentic by copying other folks blueprints, sales templates, etc. I see it all over the Internet.

Be real, but do it my way.

I stopped doing what networking experts told me to do: blast up to folks with an elevator pitch. They all sounded pretty artificial. Even the experts “teaching” me how to create an elevator pitch sounded stilted.

Marketing is natural. It’s called being you. It only becomes scary when we’re trying to play someone else’s part. Then even we don’t believe in what we are saying.

Here’s an organic marketing tip/exercise:

Try to sell your personality. What would you highlight? See what comes up for you. Use that in your organic marketing.

Let loose your yummy thoughts, tips, fears and anything else on marketing you care to expound on – the good, the bad and the organic.

Thanks!
G.

Not sure.

Whatever the reason, I’ve noticed that a lot of employees or business owners often forget to feed their lives. They become so work-focused that they stop living a full, adventurous life. Play disappears into the ether. Or, the definition of play becomes reduced to watching others play.

Life tends to be about work, networking, making money, getting new business, etc.

Does this describe you or business owners you know?

The work path seems to be appearing earlier in the lives of children. Younger and younger kids are being directed onto the work path with resumes now starting in pre-school. Just yesterday, I read about schools giving kids more career counseling in early high school, helping them narrow their focus.

Don’t know if 14 year-olds are ready to have such a narrow focus. I certainly was not.

It feels like pressure to get on the work-a-holic path as soon as possible. If we never play, we can forget the power it has to feed our lives all along its continuum.

I’m always feeding my life – painting, drawing, singing, dancing, hiking, rebelling, saving, laughing, learning, traveling, questioning, thanking, horsing around, daydreaming.

My full life makes me want to jump out of bed in the morning and learn something new. I see life as plork = play and work. Devoting my life to just work has never appealed to me.I’m sure you’ve heard the idiom: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Does a devotion to play make me less of a success? I suppose it depends on one’s definition of success. When I get to the end of my life, I’ sure I will have wanted to know if I’ve lived it loud and wild and outrageously. I feel I’m a success based on my own definition.

Perhaps, stop and taking an inventory of your life as a business owner. Are you all work and no play? Are you dull? Or are you a good mix of work and play or like me into plork?

I have read that folks who are dying almost always wish they’d spent less time working and more time playing or hanging out with their friends and loved ones.

Please share your thoughts, tips and anything else on feeding your life.

Have you let go yet?

When you do, you’ll feel more energized. You’ll feel refreshed. You’ll feel younger.

I had a client a few years ago who wanted her visual identity to match her new zest for life. We worked together to create a new vibrant logo, stationery and business card.

One of the reasons people fall out of love with their businesses is because it hasn’t changed with them. They feel divorced from it.

I felt that way about my previous web site. It felt too boxed in, when I felt expansive. It felt too drab, when I felt colorful. It felt too safe, when I felt bold.

So, I redesigned it. Man, do I feel proud of my business now that the visual identity aligns with who I am. It may sound crazy, but I love my new web site. And since web sites are a 24/7  salesperson, it’s important that you feel good about this humble employee.

Take a look at your business – the office, the wardrobe, the logo, the web site, the business card.

Is it really you? Or is it a former you? Or was it never you?

I know Word Press templates are the rage, but it’s all starting to look the same out there. I go to web sites and experience a kind of cyber déjà vu.

Wasn’t I just at this site? Sort of. It’s Person A’s site, but it’s also Person B’s site. Even the picture on the top is the same.

If you can spring for it, try to get a custom designed web site. It will match your personality and you’ll feel closer to your business. It’s important that you two work and play as a team.

Yours in fearlessness, G.

p.s. Marisa Design – a true pixel alchemist – brought my design to life with her genius coding abilities!

It turns out that Comment Luv didn’t work because of a conflict in the HTML code. Phew! A Comment Luv/Blog/Unhacking a web site  expert fixed the error. Thank you Liz! You can visit her at Web Image Designs.

Honestly, a blog without Comment Luv just doesn’t cut it for me. I enjoy having my readers leave a link to their latest post and I enjoy leaving a link on blogs to my latest post.

It’s a real win-win. I’ve met great folks following an intriguing post and vice versa. Almost like an on-line business card. If your site is a standard word press template then it should be a snap to download the plug-in and follow the tutorial.

This site is my own design, programmed by a true Pixel Alchemist. Thank you Margie! You can visit her at Marisa Design.

I’m too much of an individualist to want my site to look like any other site out there.

See you G.

g.