Seattle BizJam Poster going to press - last call for sponsors who want their logo included
We’re sending the poster for BizJam to press tomorrow, so if you’re considering sponsoring BizJam as a principal sponsor, this is your last call to be included on the poster. (If you want to jump in last minute I’ll be happy to accommodate you - just call me at 206.228.0780 before 3pm Tuesday). Of course, you can still sponsor BizJam after that, which includes many benefits, but having your logo appear on the poster will no longer be one of them. Check out the poster below - we’re very happy with the design, which was created by Biznik member Nadja Haldimann. And Biznik member Bill McKinstry of Fire Hydrant Solutions will be printing the poster, and we’re thrilled to announce that his company is also a leading sponsor of BizJam. If you’d like copies of the poster to distribute, we’ll have them on hand at Biznik happy hours for you. Or drop a line to dan@biznik.com and I’ll arrange for you to get some.
Download PDF of Poster (PDF, 440K)
1 Comment It’s the message, not the medium, even now
I know a guy who knows a guy whose brother is a Google AdWords expert. He has made a good bit of money with the medium, and his business has done very well since picking up this skill. He taught a few tips about AdWords to his brother, whom I know to be a very sharp guy. He has used AdWords to catapult his business to number one in his region. That says a lot for the medium.
It also says a lot – truckloads even – for the message.
This sharp guy tells me that he wants to partner up with my ad agency to put his AdWords skills to use in my clients marketing and advertising plans. “Great,” I say, “Let’s get something going. AdWords would be a great compliment to our other online and print advertising and direct mail services.” The rest of the conversation goes like this:
He says, “Direct mail is dead. You won’t need that anymore.”
“Direct mail is not dead,” I say. “Poor messaging is dead, poorly executed direct mail does not work. Strong messages sell, and direct mail with strong messages gets read and noticed.”
“No,” he says, “Direct mail is dead.”
“How do you know it’s dead?” I ask.
“Well, I get on average about seven pieces of junk mail per day, and I don’t read them,” he says.
“How do you know you get seven pieces?” I ask.
“I go through them every night,” he says.
“So, you are looking at all of this junk mail that you get every day?”
“Yes, but I don’t read any of it,” he says.
“Well, people don’t read poor advertising anymore, and most direct mail is poorly conceived, poorly written, and poorly executed.”
“Exactly,” he confirms.
“So, if the messages in your mailbox were compelling, advertising a product or service that you actually want or need, you would probably read it, wouldn’t you?”
After a long pause, he says, “Oh, yeah, I would read it then for sure, absolutely. I see your point.”
“I have always believed in an integrated approach to branding and advertising,” I say. “Companies who put all of their eggs in one basket usually find themselves disappointed as they hop from one bandwagon to the next in search of good, consistent results.”
“Yeah,” he says, “That makes a lot of sense.”
Savvy people are quick to jump on new technology and new media, but I find that many of these same people are quick to dismiss tried and true methods that are still extremely effective when done right. They often base their decisions on incorrect assumptions about the tried and true media, which is not all that difficult to do given the plethora of examples of poor branding and advertising to which we are all exposed on a daily basis.
The success of compelling messaging relies heavily on placement and timing. Many companies do their own media buys, often putting their ads in front of the wrong people in the wrong places, or mailing to people who do not fit squarely into their target market. Even people who have not yet mastered AdWords have this problem.
Are there mediums that are dead? Of course there are, but direct mail is not one of them. Direct mail can work extremely well when the company has the right goals for the medium, and when there is a realistic budget for strategy, creative, and copywriting. It’s the message, not the medium, that ultimately dictates whether a direct mail advertisement works.
Even Google AdWords success is dependent on excellent messaging. Once people click the ad, the website needs the exact same thing that direct mail needs in order to sell – a compelling message.
Kelly Hobkirk owns Train of Thought, a strategic branding, web and advertising firm, which provides clients with fully integrated branding and marketing solutions.
AdWords direct mail Google Google AdWords messaging
11 CommentsThe best source of information on the challenges of running a business are other knowledgeable professionals
Seattle BizJam is a gathering of indie business people - bootstrapping entrepreneurs, freelancers, anyone who’s self-employed - to discuss experience and strategies for creating and building an independent business. Those involved in running a business share many common challenges: tools, billing, marketing, business models, legal issues, finding clients and collaboration partners. And we’ve found that the best source of information on all of these challenges is other knowledgeable professionals who are doing the same thing. Join us!
Learn more and register online at www.seattlebizjam.com.
bizjam bootstrapping conference indie business networking Seattle startupBiznik-2-Biznik: “Making more money and having more fun”
Karrie Kohlhaas and Andrea Driessen.
You never know what’s going to happen when you go to a happy hour. For Karrie Kohlhaas and Andrea Driessen, a Biznik happy hour led to mutual appreciation, more money, more joy, and a satisfying validation. In this post, Andrea and Karrie share their story and a few tips on how you can make great Biznik-2-Biznik connections too. Read on!
Why did you join Biznik?
Andrea: I joined to expand my circle of contacts and connections, though not my client base (most Biznik members are not my clientele, who are almost exclusively corporate meeting planners).
Karrie: I never thought a networking group could offer the community I craved: Until Biznik. My client Kat Morgan offered such a strong recommendation, I felt a fool not to at least try it. She was right.
How did you meet?
Karrie: At my second Biznik event, a Holiday Happy Hour, Andrea and I struck up a conversation. I was not looking to "drum up a new client" but rather, I genuinely wanted to get to know her. She’s interesting, she’s smart, and she’s run a successful business by herself for many years.
Andrea: (Hmmm. I believe the only Biznik events I’ve been to so far are happy hours…! Maybe that’s why I joined in the first place: to attend the events at pubs!
What’s special about your connection?
Andrea: The old saying is true: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." What I most appreciate about Karrie is her capacity, which seems almost magical at times, to flex from one aspect of business (strategy, for example), to marketing, to an aspect of my personal life… It’s as if she has a built-in micro-macro lens that she can move at will, and on a dime. Being on the receiving end of that kind of keen observation, I found myself growing and learning in ways I’d not thought possible.
In fact, I experienced more internal focus and sustainable, external growth in eight short hours spent with Karrie than I did after scores of hours [and thousands of dollars’ worth] of meetings with the world’s largest CEO-membership organization. I’m working less, experiencing more true joy, making more money, and having more fun. I just had my biggest month ever. And I have a much deeper well of self-assurance down to my core. The law of attraction—a combination of confidence, energy, and belief—is really working for me now.
Karrie: Through her work, bringing wildly interesting and unusual talent into corporate meetings, Andrea is shaking up the system, giving them something different, unexpected and something new to talk about. Not everyone has that entrepreneurial spirit, so Andrea brings a taste of it to them! She is truly filling a need and doing it in such a clever way.
Working with Andrea has been inspiring and reminds me why I love my work. Andrea brought a level of willingness and motivation to the table that moved me and made me want to up my own ante. Witnessing Andrea transform one thing after another in and between our sessions, I too wanted to cause a new level of transformation in my own business.
I stopped consulting in the corporate sector because I thought I could make bigger differences helping small businesses grow. Working with Andrea was a wonderful reflection that I am doing the right thing, and that feels profoundly satisfying.
Based on your experience, if you were to offer one piece of advice to a new Biznik member about how to get the most out of their membership, what would you say?
Karrie: I don’t think enough people at Biznik do follow-ups. I find this to be one of the most important elements in building relationships and I encourage more people to do it. I follow up with people after having meaningful conversations at events by sending a short email and sometimes by calling. I mention something about them that struck me or I send them a resource I think might be helpful to them. Sometimes I just say hello and how glad I was to get acquainted with them. Basically I am real with people and I let them know that our meeting meant something to me.
It’s important to let go of thinking about what you are going to "get" out of the relationship. Follow up just because you liked someone or thought they have an interesting business. Or maybe you want to ask them another question or introduce them to someone who might be a good connection for them. Many times these follow-ups have led to unexpected referrals, new ideas, new friends and yes, new clients.
Andrea: Be grateful for and take advantage of the depth of Biznik’s resources. I started my business over 8 years ago, and had to do so much on my own. Looking back, I think that had something so readily available and affordable as Biznik been available then, I would have certainly fast-tracked my ramp-up time.
Thank you Karrie and Andrea for sharing your story! Do you have a Biznik-2-Biznik story to share? Contact Joe Shirley.
biznik 2 biznik business relationships relationshipsJust Say No
Sorry, this has nothing to do with Nancy Reagan or the war on drugs.
I’m talking about saying no to a potential trouble client, and stopping client headaches before they begin.
I learned this lesson the other day after talking to some colleagues about a client that came in for a consultation. We’ll call that client “Pat.” Pat was willing to pay top dollar for our services (sweet!), but something just didn’t feel right to us (hmm…).
Pat was 20 minutes late for the meeting, and even after seeing our portfolio, s/he wanted to see more examples. We obliged, and a seemingly unimpressed Pat asked us to send a quote. Then s/he left.
We could tell Pat wasn’t too excited about our portfolio or our services (which is fine, you can’t please everyone). And by being late, s/he clearly didn’t value our time. To us, that meant working with Pat would be akin to partaking in a series of unpleasant root canals.
So instead of sending a quote, to which Pat could potentially say “yes” and both parties would unhappily sludge through the project, we decided to Just Say No. Sure, the money would have been nice, but what about the headaches?
By politely telling the client that it’s not a good fit, you can end any future problems from the start. You can even refer the client to someone who would be a better match. Chances are the client will see the mismatch too and appreciate the honesty and the referral. Furthermore, the person Pat decides to go with will appreciate the business. You can please three people just by saying no!
Nancy was right about something.
Jace Krause is a independent copywriter and in-house word guy at Design Kompany. When he’s not writing words, he writes music and plays guitar for local pop outfit, Friday Mile. He lives in Seattle, Wash.
business tips headache nancy reagan saying no taking charge trouble clientsIntroduce your indie business at BizJam Seattle on June 9th
Brady Forrest is putting the word out that now’s the time to submit your proposal if you’d like to introduce your business at BizJam. He’ll be hosting an hour of Ignite Seattle-style rapid-fire presentations, in which you’ll have an opportunity to present your business, or cool indie-business-related idea/project/concept. These presentations are a lot of fun, because of the format: you get 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide, for a total of 5 minutes start to finish. It goes really fast! I jumped at the opportunity to introduce Biznik during Brady’s first round of these talks back in December. Somebody shot a video of my presentation, which you can view for an idea of these work. If the idea of watching a PowerPoint slide show doesn’t excite you, consider that each speaker has only 5 minutes to present 20 slides, and the slides are automatically timed to advance every 15 seconds. It’s a blast, and it’s a great way to spread word of mouth about your business.
business ignite presentation indie SeattleThe Theory Of Learned Incompetence
Just after college I spent two long, brutal years slaving away in the pits of the Los Angeles entertainment industry. I discovered a lot in my time in LA. I discovered that I wasn’t cut out for 100 hour work weeks. I discovered that too much sunshine is as bad as not enough (and that while rain doesn’t cause cancer, it does cause big, messy accidents on the I-10.) I discovered that In ‘n Out Burger makes the best darned cheeseburger in the whole wide world (and that “Animal Style” is both messy and delicious.)
But the most important thing I discovered was my “Theory Of Learned Incompetence.”
You see, my last year in LA I had this boss named “Bob.” (Name changed because “Bob” was a pretty cool guy and I’d rather not make him feel bad.)
“Bob” was a smooth talking gay, Jewish guy from New York City who spent the big bulk of his work day surfing the net for porn. Not to say that “Bob” wasn’t good at his job. He could schmooze and deal like nobody’s business and taught me tons about how to deal with people.
The problem was that “Bob” couldn’t do anything *but* schmooze and deal.
* Answering the phone? Uh uh.
* Sending a fax? Better if he didn’t try. Toner is expensive, after all.
* Replying to an email, licking a stamp or figuring out how to set up the voicemail on his brand spanking new cell phone (he lost the last one on a trip to France)? Yea, uhh. Not gonna happen.
Now, what struck me about “Bob’s” utter, kindergarten-like incompetence was that at some point–on the way to landing his nice, cushy quarter-million a year gig–he *must* have learned how to do this stuff.
You see, in the entertainment industry, there’s a pretty strict ladder to climb. You start off way at the bottom as somebody’s assistant. You go through heck for a couple years fetching coffee, doing mindless admin stuff and trying to prove that you have “initiative.” And then if you’re lucky and tenacious you move your way up, get your own assistant, spend all your time chatting on the phone and surfing porn–and so the circle of Hollywood life continues.
So once upon a time, “Bob” knew how to use a copy machine.
Once upon a time, “Bob” knew how to put somebody on hold, get another call and then get back to the first person without accidentally calling the fire department.
Once upon a time, “Bob” was competent.
Until he learned that if he wanted to get ahead, he’d have to *learn* to become *incompetent.*
You see, in Hollywood (and, from what I’ve seen, in all of corporate America) if you know how to do something well, you’ll inevitably be roped into doing it again and again and again. In fact, if you’re too good at something (fixing the copy machine. Getting coffee. Preventing wars.) you tend to get tied down to that one thing while all the less competent folks around you get promoted.
So what do ambitious folks like “Bob” do?
Consciously or not, they *learn to be incompetent.*
They pour all their energy into developing a few core, useful, sellable skills and let everything else slough off and atrophy until the folks above them have absolutely no choice but to promote them.
“Bob keeps messing up the copy machine and we’re afraid if he keeps getting close to it it might explode” they say. “We’d better just get him out of there and give him that corner office.
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Nice Theory, Haddad, But What Does This Have To Do With Marketing?
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Just this. In my day to day life I run into a lot of new entrepreneurs and business owners–refugees from the corporate lifestyle–who haven’t quite woken up to the fact that while the theory of learned incompetence will help you get ahead in corporate America, it’s absolutely deadly when you’re out on your own.
When you’re stuck in the “ivory tower” you can forget how to do all sorts of stuff, knowing full well that the infrastructure of that big, fat company will take care of you.
But out in the real world, if you decide to forget how to work the copy machine, the copies don’t get made.
If you decide to forget how to answer the phone, there’s no one there to save you.
And if you decide to become incompetent at marketing . . . well, pretty soon you don’t have any sort of business at all.
Chris Haddad is a direct response copywriter and strategic marketing wonk. He has theories on everything. Visit his Hard Working Words website at http://www.haddadink.com, and his blog at http://www.haddadink.com/blog
incompetance independent business marketingWhy I don’t work hourly–and neither should you
One of the first questions potential clients ask me when I first meet them (right after “Is your head really that round?” and “Why are you smiling like that? Cut it out. It’s creepy.”) is “What’s your hourly rate?”
And they always get just a little bit stymied when I say “Err. I don’t have one.”
Because–except for in extreme cases–I don’t work hourly, and in my not-so-humble opinion, neither should you.
Why?
Because working hourly–asking clients to pay you a set amount of money based on the amount of time it takes you to complete a task:
-Turns what you do into a simple commodity.
-Is kind of demeaning.
-Encourages dishonesty and distrust.
-Is patently unfair both to you and to the people who are paying you.
-And just don’t make no sense.
Let’s take these two at a time.
Turns what you do into a simple commodity and Is Kind of Demeaning
The vast bulk of Bizniks are talented and tough-minded professionals who provide a valuable service. These are bright, eager entrepreneurs trying to make their way in the world and to shake off the shame and horror of working for “dah man.”
So it always shocks me when business folks new and old demean themselves and devalue what they do by working based on time. Why? Because if you say “I’m a designer who works for $X dollars per hour” you’re basically saying that while your effort (the time you spend on the project) is worth something, the end result of what you provide (a beautiful and powerful design that will serve your client for years) has no actual value of its own.
Basically you’re saying that your time is worth something, but your product is just another cheap and easily obtainable commodity.
Which is kind of ass backwards.
Now, personally I think this has a lot to do with the suffering mentality we Americans seem so addicted to. Work is HARD. Work is TOUGH. Work is NASTY and if I’m going to spend my TIME suffering like that, I’d better be PAID for it by gum!
And in a lot of ways, regular employees are indeed selling their suffering. The kid who slaves away at McDonalds isn’t providing anything particularly valuable that couldn’t be done by anyone with a 6th grade education level. A lot of employees (excluding executives and the like) are really just there to man the wheel.
And in that case, paying hourly makes perfect sense.
But as an entrepreneur, you aren’t manning the wheel, you’re providing a result.
Which we’ll get to in a second, but for now let’s move on.
Encourages Dishonesty and Is Patently Unfair to the people who are paying you
Ok. Disclosure time. Early on in my career, I had clients who insisted on paying me an hourly rate and I was too green to talk them out of it. Now, unfortunately I’m cursed with the ability to work really, really fast. I’m also good at what I do, so while another copywriter might take 10 hours to do this one job, I got it done in . . . err. . . 2 and did it really, really well.
And looking at the rent coming due, and looking at the fact that the client expected the job to take closer to 10 hours (and that in a lot of ways the client would value the work less if he knew it was done more quickly) I, um, lied.
Yup. I marked myself up. Or, possibly I just multiplied my hourly rate.
But either way, working at an hourly rate made it not just easy but attractive for me to be dishonest in a business dealing. I don’t like lying. It makes my head hurt. It gives me lines.
But even if you’re completely honest in your dealings, track every hour to the second and submit detailed time sheets for every gig, you’re still being unfair to your clients. Why?
Because if you’re charging hourly, you’re basically telling your clients that they’ll pay more if you @$%# it up.
If I knock a job out of the park and do it perfect the first time I’ll get hourly rate X 5 hours.
But If I mess up, do a crappy job and have to go back and do a second, third or even fourth draft I’ll get hourly rate x 10 hours (or 20 or 30.)
And suddenly my client’s budget is blown right out of the water and I’m looking around for a new beach house.
Like I said, unfair.
Which brings me to my final point. If you’re a business professional who delivers potent results, working hourly Just don’t make no sense.
Let’s try one of my wildly strange and shaky metaphors.
Imagine you just got back from the playa and your car is just CAKED in dirt. You’re driving back into the city and you see two car washes right across from each other. One car wash has a big sign that says “Get Your Car Clean: $10.”
The other car wash has a sign that says “Spend two minutes in our car wash: $10.”
Which one are you likely to go to? Which one is offering you actual value.
Now personally, I’d go to the car wash that promises a result. If I went through that car wash (whether it would take 30 seconds or 5 minutes) and I came out the other side with a clean car, I’d pay my ten bucks with a smile (and if the car wasn’t clean, I’d ask them to scrub a little harder until it was.) With this model, I’ve basically got one possible set of results:
* I pay 10 dollars, my car is now clean. I’m happy.
But what if I went through the “two minutes of scrubbing” car wash? All of a sudden I’ve got three possible sets of results:
* I pay 10 dollars, my car is scrubbed for 2 minutes. My car is now clean. I’m happy.
* I pay 10 dollars, my car is scrubbed for 2 minutes. My car is not yet clean. If I want my car to be clean, I will have to pay at least another 10 dollars, maybe more. I’m not happy.
* I pay my 10 dollars. My car is scrubbed for 2 minutes. My car is clean, but I really feel like that car wash was slacking and they could have done the job in 1 minute. I feel ripped off.
Now, obviously there’s a ton of conversation that could be had about how to price yourself, particularly if you’re in a “face to face” service profession such as massage therapy. (The only time I charge hourly is when I’m doing face to face consulting. Of course my hourly rate in that case is really high because, well, I hate meetings.)
But if you take anything away from this hourly post, it should be this: Hourly work sucks. You don’t suck. You shouldn’t have to work hourly.
Later
c
Chris Haddad is a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant in Seattle, Washington. You can learn more about him at http://haddadink.com
billing hourly rate professionalLots of Bizniks will be presenting at Ignite on Thursday
Brady Forrest just updated the Ignite blog with the latest additions to the speaker list for the Thursday’s Ask Later presentations, and it includes plenty of Biznik members. Check out these talks. Looks like Thursday night is going to rock:
Thomas Schmitz (SEOcritique.com, ) - Become a Marketing Piranha
Think about the piranha. You know, that monstrous tiny little fish. By itself its just small and ugly. It might nip at you, but you can easily get away. As a school, piranhas are fierce and can take down large prey. You wouldn’t want to be a caribou in a pack of hungry piranhas. If you set aside the horror movie connotation there is a lesson here. By working together the piranhas get the caribou and there is enough food for each fish. The piranhas are the sellers in your market or the members of your network. The caribou is the market, the buyers and the prospects. It’s a big Amazon river out there, but by working together it’s your school of fish that is enjoying the meal. I especially like this analogy because when you look at a school of feeding piranhas you will see that there is also competition within the pack. It’s not uncommon for individual fish to get pecked and cut-up a little. Still, there is enough caribou or market share for every fish to get a meal. Also related with concepts to be included, What Dr. Doolittle Can Teach About Marketing and Networking.
Karen Anderson (Writer Way, Biznik) - Workplace Survival Tips
I’m a graying geek with many years of tech workplace experience, most recently six years at Apple’s .Mac Internet Services and the iTunes Music Store. Workplace Survival Tips is quirky look at what’s over-rated, what’s under-rated and what’s absolutely essential in the workplace environment. Slides will cover the topics listed below. My presentation experience includes commentary for KUOW-FM. For a sense of my communication style, take a look at my blog, Writer Way. Teamwork Money Apologies Office Friendships Office Romances The “In” Crowd Indignation Martinis, Mojitos and Single Malts Making the Rounds Training Evil People Phone, SMS and Email Skills Humor Sweat Management Books The Impact of Visuals “Being Yourself”
Shelly Farnham (Waggle Labs, ) - Why Social Tagging Really Matters (to me): Semantic Overlays on Social Networks
Social tagging has revolutioned how we organize and retrieve online resources in systems such as Delicio.us, Flickr, and BlueDot. Yet, they have been incorporated into social networking systems in only rudimentary forms. I will talk about the potential for social tags to provide a semantic overlay to social networks, and illustrate how we used them to develop a social map of Seattle Mind Camp, and are incorporating them into our Pathable project.
Scott Berkun - Attention and Sex
What things in your life demand undivided attention? Whatever they are, I claim they define your life more than anything else you do. Your obituary will not list the hours you fought off boring meetings or ignored your friends by reading forgettable blurbs about forgettable things on your cell phone. This talk explores how the wise and happy throughout history have avoided situations that divided their attention.
The final list of speakers will be up at on the site tomorrow. See you there.
ask later ignite networking Seattle technologyCheck out Andras Jones’ show, The Ego And The Oracle this weekend at CHAC
If you’re looking for something fun to do this weekend that’s funky and offbeat and that supports a creative Biznik member, check out Andras Jones’ show The Ego And The Oracle. It’s playing Friday and Saturday at CHAC. Here’s the poster:
Part experimental theatre. Part rock n’ roll cabaret. Part mystic mind-expansion. The Ego and The Oracle is a night of live rock n’ roll divination based upon Andras Jones’ Radio8Ball show on KAOS 89.3 FM in Olympia, Washington, featuring Boston’s Jim’s Big Ego as the band. Audience members are invited onstage to ask questions. Their answers are chosen by spinning a wheel with the band’s songs on it. When the wheel stops Jim’s Big Ego plays the song and then, with the help of “Professor” Jones, the answer is interpreted.
Friday, April 6th & Saturday April 7th
At The Capitol Hill Arts Center
In the CHAC Lower Level
www.capitolhillarts.com
Doors – 6:30pm
Show – 7:00pm
Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door
This show is an ALL-AGES event.