Work, life and things in between – Day 109 – Going public!
To tell you the truth, this telling of the story, one day at a time, is beginning to wear me out. It talks about what happened when I was trying to put my business together and to some degree my life as well. If you have read any of it you know that patience is not my forte. The sun is at high noon here. There is no more shadow or looking back. I want to come to the end of it….I am gearing towards a wrap here!
Since I was serious about running a business I had to agree to go public. Everyone does nowadays, even funeral parlors, and they have as captive a market as you can hope for!
This meant website and social media galore. You remember the branding exercise we did with the career transition firm?Well it was time to move into real branding. To start with, I needed a business card, a website, a Twitter and Facebook accounts. Sounds simple, but it took me weeks. Make that months.
A business card looks like a small item but it is huge. It is your signature. Take the time to make it right. It will be in your face for a long time.
A website looks big? It is! you can waste your time, money, self and maybe marriage in this….You should not attempt to do this by yourself unless you are good humored, talented and have all the time in the world. If this is about your business, it needs to look like one, and mostly, the golden rule is: Distinguish yourself.
Facebook and Twitter, well, if you know how to connect them all then you will be all right. But remember, it is a business, so your clients do not need to know that you just bought a new pair of jeans!
My resolution was to stop doing everything by myself. So I stuck to it. I interviewed three web designers: A well organized, efficient and reliable one who inspired me as much as the door knob. A dynamic, creative, knowledgeable one who had no time for me and an artistic, colorful, passionate one who could meet my timeline.
I went for artistic. Hours and hours of work and re-work followed.
Blessed are those who know not what they are doing for had I known what I was getting myself into, I am not sure I would have gone ahead. To day 110.