I have five cats. And no, I’m not a crazy cat lady. Here’s the deal: My oldest cat is Kate. Kate came to me about 18 years ago, and had been fully declawed — not my thing. The other four cats were feral, born in my dad’s garage about four years ago. I brought them home to socialize them for adoption and of course, I fell in love with all of them and they’ve been here ever since. They’ve still got all 72 claws (18 claws per cat) and a tendency to rile Kate up, which doesn’t do too much for her “old lady” heart condition. So while all five cats pretty much have full run of the house during the day, at nighttime and when we’re not around, we keep the four rambunctious “kids” confined to a spacious sunroom. Now that you have the background, I can tell you how four of my fur babies taught me a little business lesson recently.
Sometimes in the morning, I sit down with my coffee and breakfast and forget to open the door to the sunroom right away. Scooter, of course, is quick to remind me to open the door. He pads at the door until I come over and let him in. Scooter runs right in, looks up and makes eye contact with me, and he’s quick to hop up on my lap for a morning cuddle. The rest of the cats, Lance, Agnes, and Grandpaw, are slower to emerge, and take their time connecting with Leo and me throughout the day.
The other morning, as I was letting Scooter in, it hit me: by being at that door when I’m ready to open it in the morning, by letting me know he’s there, and even scratching on the door to remind me, Scooter is just using smart marketing. Basically, if you translate this into micro-entrepreneur terms, Scooter’s connecting with his target market (me), letting his target market know what he’s up to, and putting it out there that he’s got something to offer me when I’m ready to open the door and let him in. And as soon as he’s in the door, he’s already working with me, connecting with me, and showing me he’s glad I let him in.
In contrast, the other three cats laze about on the sunroom sofa and chairs. They gaze out the window, watching leaves blow around, watching the snow fall. Occasionally they come up to the door and look in, and it seems like they wish they were inside. But they only take action when I open the door and coax them inside, and then it takes them awhile to mosey by for a quick scratch under the chin. Translate this into people terms, and you’ve got all the micro-entrepreneurs who say they want clients and customers, but who actually don’t put themselves out there or market themselves properly.
Here’s the lesson: You have to market wisely and once you’re in the door, you have to deliver everything you’ve got. It’s about relationships and putting in the effort to get in front of your audience and make yourself known, then when you get your foot in the door, deliver, deliver, deliver.
Welcome to 2010, a brand new year and a brand new decade! In the last part of 2009, I made some plans for 2010, and I’d like to tell you more about what those plans are. The most important thing you should know is that I’ve made 2010 My Year of Making It ALL Work.
What does that mean? It means I’m taking it all down to the bare bones — everything in my life, from my business to my health and everything else, and I’m looking at everything, analyzing what works and throwing out what doesn’t. I’m focusing on getting back to basics and taking a good hard look at where Business in Blue Jeans is going and how we’re going to get there.
As such, I’ve planned out the entire year, with a theme for each month. I’ll focus on that theme in my No Suits Allowed! e-zine and in my Wednesday Wine & Business Chats Teleseminar Series, and bring in experts when needed so I can interview them and get the lowdown. I don’t want to show all my cards just yet, but so far, here’s how the first part of the year looks:
January: Getting Organized and Planning Ahead
February: Finding Your Purpose
March: Branding and Positioning
The first call in the Wednesday Wine & Business Chats will be in February and we’ll be rolling from there. I’m pulling in some big names for bonus calls, too, and you really won’t want to miss this.
I’ll be sharing my insights as I get down to the bare bones with my business. There are quite a few lessons I’ve learned in the past year that I want to share with you — things I’ve discovered about the folks I thought were my mentors and things I’ve discovered about myself. So stay tuned. Things are about to get lively and interesting around here.
