A$$hole Avoidance. This goes both the same in your personal life and in business. In this case, I am talking business. I cannot stress enough how important it is to pre-screen your clients. The pay check isn’t worth it. Once the “I want to be famous syndrome” sets in (and this would be my biz) there is no way you can pull who thinks he should be the next Dr. Oz back to planet earth. NASA won’t help either – I would have tried. I fortunately only had two problems this past year even after prescreening and had to fire them. One example, was a nut job screaming on my voice mail (and I am not exaggerating, screaming) and the other was a combo of both that and emails. In either case, I responded, but the end situation was lost time for other clients, wack jobs did not fulfill their contractual obligations (thus having a billing department now), and lost time when you could have worked with truly amazing people. All I can say is not worth it. And, on the top of my list. Glad I only had two. And, I fired them.
Avoid conference Chaos. All I can say here is research, research, research. You should always do your due diligence prior to an event and even if that means reaching out to past attendees. I was asked to speak at a lucrative conference this year (I am sure my family is still pondering why I was given a microphone to speak in public) and the attendance was just not there – 5K one year, 500 the next. What did we do? We made the best of it and had a blast. I spoke to a whopping crowd of seven, shopped and most importantly, met every single business owner at the conference. Would you consider that a total failure? No. And, most importantly we had fun, fun, fun. My point is to do research before you blindly spend your marketing dollars.
Do as I say, not as I do. OK. Reality check. Get your marketing in check and this is coming from the worst person in the world looking at her own to-do list and a company that nails it for her clients. It took me almost two years to create a new brand my website. Yes, shame on me. I can tell you however, I have a newsletter (obnoxiously high open rate), website, videos, media kit, and more PR to follow. At the end of the day, and if you do not have a marketing plan, all I ask is that you take quick peek at your own marketing. I can send you a checklist if need be, as I am in now in check. Or, I schedule a meeting for someone to kick you in gear. If you cannot do it yourself, hire others.
