Growing up, my family moved frequently. No one was in the military, it just took my folks awhile to decide where they wanted to settle down. By the eighth grade, I’d gone to something like 10 different schools. I learned to adapt, and adaptability has served me well.

In my professional life, I’ve adapted to many different working environments, from the classroom to retail establishments to office settings. Working from my living room for the last three years has been by far the most comfortable workplace! But, it is time for a change. Beginning on May 28, 2013, I will begin working full time as a writer for  Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. Not many jobs would be worth exchanging my pajama pants for more traditional office garb, but I did not hesitate to take this one! In addition to writing articles, and editing some student-submitted articles, I will have some input on the social media policies and activities of Psi Chi.

So, what will become of Smiling Tree Writing, both the blog and the business?

As for the business, I will continue to serve the majority of my current clients, but become very selective about taking on new ones. The blog will continue very much as it always has – that is to say, sporadically and unpredictably. There is a strong likelihood the Independent Writing Series will be expanded, simply because the business of self-publishing fascinates me. I still firmly believe that we are witnessing a shift in how books are written and distributed that is as important as the invention of the printing press.

It seems that people all over are undertaking big changes recently. Friends in Phoenix, Boston, and Northern California have found jobs; new cars and new babies and new relationships seem to fill my Facebook feed. Maybe it’s just that I’m experiencing a change so notice these things more, or maybe there is a bigger shift going on. What do you think? Are you taking on new challenges lately? 

 

 

 

 

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Since I started freelancing, I have liked the idea of marketing as “sowing seeds.” One the most lucrative clients I’ve had called me almost exactly one year after I originally contacted him. The same has been true for many of my clients – I contact them, either by phone or email, chat for a few minutes and explain what I do, then hear from them months later. It happened again last week, and I wanted to share the story here, in case anyone reading this feels discouraged or as if their marketing efforts are not paying off.

I am an avid gardener. (Note the use of the word “avid” rather than “accomplished” or “successful.”) Every spring, I spend more money than I should on seeds and plants. Last

spring, I read about a hydroponics store in Chattanooga, and then found out they were having a plant sale. I went, bought some seeds, asked a thousand questions and chatted with the clerk. In the course of the conversation, I mentioned being a writer and ended up leaving a couple of cards. “Here are a couple; one for you and one to give away,” is my standard line when giving out my business cards.

The hydroponics store never called, even though I sent a few follow up emails, with high hopes of writing for them. It would be fascinating to research articles that would appeal to customers who grow things without dirt. But, then, last week my phone rang.

The person who contacted me was a prospective customer who is part owner of an aquaponics farm – they maintain fish, filter the water to collect the fish waste, which they use for fertilizer to grow delicious produce. They need some help marketing. He had gotten my card from the clerk at the hydroponics store, who told him in the course of their conversation, “I’ve been looking for someone to give this card to for awhile.”

I don’t know yet if this farm will become a client. But here are some things that I do know:

• Writing about farming, food, and agriculture in general is an increasingly interesting niche for me.
• Pleasant conversation combined with handing out business cards works.
• It’s an amazing feeling when prospects call me instead of the other way around.

There is one step left in this marketing loop: a thank you note to the clerk at the hydroponics store. Partly, I want to keep my business in his mind, and also I’m genuinely grateful for his referral.

Have you ever gotten results from this sort of  ”marketing”? It has always been both the slowest way to find business, but also the most profitable way. I’d love to hear what works best for you, or what you find most comfortable when it comes to telling people about your business.

 

 

 

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Today is the first day of the second quarter of 2013. It is also the first day of a new month, and we are early in a new season. It’s a good time to take stock of your business, your goals, your progress towards your goals, and make some adjustments. In January, pretty much everyone is listing goals for everything from losing weight to getting organized to making more money. By the end of the first quarter, those lists are often lost in a file, or buried on a hard drive. But what good are goals that are never revisited?

Last week, my fantastic “writing buddy” asked if we should take a look at our goals and progress from the last quarter when we talk this week. I grumbled. I didn’t want to look, or to talk about it. Later,

I had a conversation with a couple of friends about tracking calories and how much I hate doing it and how it feels borderline obsessive. One of them gently suggested that perhaps some denial was at play – that I hate tracking calories because of what doing so reveals.

In both instances, my hesitance is directly related to my lack of progress in reaching stated goals. Sometimes, after you have broken your goals down in as many different ways as you can think of, and you still aren’t making progress, you just want to hide from them. Or maybe deny they ever existed.

As we all know, hiding won’t get you any closer to what you want. So, maybe it’s time for me (and maybe you, too) to analyze the goals themselves, and perhaps begin to think about them a little differently. Here are some questions I’m pondering this week:

1. Are my goals realistic? Are they things that it is actually reasonable to attempt? Pretty much everyone knows about SMART goals – the kind that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. While those requirements are usually part of professional goal-setting, they can be useful when it comes to personal goals, as well – especially if you are not seeing the kind of progress you would like.

2. Do I have all of the necessary tools to reach these goals? For example, if you want to build a deck, you are going to need some lumber, some nails, a hammer…along the same lines, if you want to complete a half marathon (a goal I recently achieved!) you are going to need a training plan and some good shoes.

3. What outside forces are going to impact my ability to reach this goal? Most of the time, there are going to be factors that you cannot control that slow your progress. Yes, personal responsibility is important, and yes, you have to be disciplined to reach most important goals, but you live in a world where things get in the way. Early in my half marathon training, I hurt my back. I had to take about a week and a half off. Even with plenty of stretching and strength training, I still had to deal with a minor injury. This is probably the part of working towards my goals I most often ignore. That may be true for you, too.

4. What part of the plan did I fail to execute? Oh, this one is so very hard to think about. Sometimes, I have no problem heaping blame on myself, and other times, some stubborn part of me refuses to acknowledge that I might be shirking my self-appointed “duties.” Of course I don’t want to track calories because I am sure that I’m eating healthfully. No need to track. None. I have no idea why I’m not getting more writing assignments from trade publications. I’m sending out tons of letters of introduction – no need to count them. I know I have been.

5. Are there factors I was not aware of when setting this goal? Sometimes when you start working on your plan, you find out about obstacles you never imagined getting in your way. Much like the outside forces that slow you down, these things are mostly unpredictable. You might even find that you need a whole new plan once you find out about them. One thing that I learned in my running program was that a trail run and a road run are quite different and make different demands on your body. That isn’t really written out plainly anywhere in Running World and the only way I learned it was by living it. (Hush! I don’t care how logical it seems. I didn’t know until I was gasping for air on the side of ridge!)

I would so much rather watch the season premiere of Game of Thrones than sit down and try to figure out why my first quarter numbers add up the way the do. I would one million times rather finish reading Season Three of  Yesterday’s Gone than add up how many calories I’ve consumed today. But neither escape would get me any closer to being the super-fit, financially comfortable person I aim to be.

Do you have any techniques that help you analyze where or how or why you are not reaching your goals? 

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A few months ago, I lost a client. He simply sent me an email that said something like “I want to take a break from using your services for awhile.” There hadn’t been any complaints on either side, or at least none voiced. As far as I could tell, we had an amiable working relationship. But, since I am fairly paranoid, and really do strive to provide outstanding service, I asked if he was unhappy, and if so, could I have a chance to remedy the situation. He didn’t respond.

Now there could be a million reasons that he wanted to take a break, and it took me a few days to convince myself that answering the question about  whether or not he was unhappy with my service might have made him uncomfortable. Maybe he was having money troubles, but didn’t want to say so. Maybe I had somehow offended him, but he doesn’t like confrontation. Maybe he just overlooked the email. Eventually, I had to come to terms with the idea that, even if I had somehow messed up, it’s okay.

No matter how hard you try to please everyone you work with, no matter how much time you spend tweaking your site, your newsletter, your invoices – every customer touchpoint – there is still the chance that you will inadvertently do something that one of your customers doesn’t like. Sometimes you never even know that you did something “wrong.” Worrying about what might have gone wrong is pointless.

The best thing to do is to carry on, doing the best job you can for your current and future customers. Just keep on being as helpful as you can be. Strive to make sure there are more people who are happy with what you do than those who are not.

 

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