Archive for the ‘Networking’ Category
From my friend Ilise Benun at Marketing Mentor: this looks to be a great event for all of us independents and you can’t beat the location! The Creative Freelancer Conference, slated for August 27-29, 2008 in Chicago, is the first and only business conference for self-employed creative professionals, serving graphic, web and interactive designers, photographers, copywriters, illustrators and anyone else who fits the bill of “creative solopreneur.” A panel of creative-business experts, led by Ilise Benun and co-founder, Peleg Top, will share best practices for pricing, marketing, building client relationships, crafting proposals and contracts, maintaining a work/life balance and other skills critical to freelance success. Creative Freelancer Conference Please share with other freelancers. Details are also posted on the ideaXchange Events page.
Truly, I would like to use the “R” word, but I’m trying to be an optimist. Adapting an entrepreneurial business in a down economy is challenging. You’ve got to get creative and stay positive, even while others around you may be faltering. Here are a few ideas: Marketing: It’s important to maintain client relationships without being too aggressive in your marketing efforts. One of my favorite marketing approaches is a simple postcard, mailed every other month or quarterly. Don’t get caught up in the big sale; instead, offer some tidbits of advice that remind your client base of your value. They’ll appreciate that you’re staying in touch, offering resources, and not pushing the sale extra hard. You’ll stay top-of-mind for a low price. (I recommend getting your postcards printed and assembled at Kinko’s or Staples. You can bring them your mailing labels and stamps and they’ll put it all together for you, saving you valuable time.) Proving your worth: This is the kind of climate in which clients most want to understand your worth. You’re likely competing with at least one other service provider, so you need to prepare yourself. Research market prices to ensure you’re competitive. Gather testimonials from past clients to post on your web site, use in your marketing materials, even include in your email signature if possible. Now’s the time to polish your resume, get your clips together, freshen up your sample books…generally get your act together so you can present the full package any time you have the opportunity. Networking: You’ve got to keep those non-client relationships strong, so networking is key. If your budget’s tight, you may be considering letting some memberships lapse…but don’t! Association memberships are comparably low-cost when you consider the networking possibilities. Use your LinkedIn connections to make new contacts, and participate in online communities and list-servs. You never know when a contact will refer you to a new client. Spirit: It may be tough to keep yours strong when you’re frustrated with a business slump. This is a great time to get in touch with old contacts that you’ve let slide, and to rekindle friendships that can offer support. Stay active with organizations and find new ways to hang out with business contacts - attend events together, take a class with a group, join up at a coffee house every week for communal work times - anything you can do to surround yourself with other creative, entrepreneurial folks. These are just a few suggestions that have helped me stay strong through the years. I would love to hear more of your tips so join the conversation!
Saturday, March 22nd is International Pillow Fight Day, which brings together large groups of people in public places, taking out their aggression safely with pillows. Chicago’s Pillow Fight is being held in front of the Art Institute (Michigan Ave & Monroe St.) at 2 pm. BYOP! Ok, perhaps it’s not networking in the traditional sense, but amidst whacking people with pillows, you could pass out a few biz cards…
The Trib featured ideaxchanger Jackie Sloane this month discussing the benefits of virtual networking. If you would like to learn more about e-networking and e-marketing, come to my presentation tonight. Hosted by Independent Writers of Chicago, I’ll be highlighting the work of several ideaXchangers in a discussion titled “Writing for the Web: How to Find, Get, and Do Your Next Writing Gig Online.” On Thursday, mix your virtual and physical networking at the mediabistro.com Chicago party for creative, content, media, and publishing pros at D4 Irish Pub & Cafe, just in time for the holiday. My cohosts and I enjoy getting to know your professional endeavors and introducing you to people with similar goals. Hope to see you at one or both events!
The Lincoln Park Chamber is having a Networking After Hours this Wed, Feb 20th. Brian Fons of Corporate Creations, who many of you know from a meeting long ago at my house, and I will be doing a Networking 101 at 5:15p. Event starts at 5:30. These are always well-attended and well worth attending! Feel free to share this with your friends and colleagues. Details: 5:30 - 7:30p Place- Walter E. Smithe Furniture 2009 N Clybourn Non-members: $30. You can pay at the door. Info: 773 880 5200
Since Rickey, Jenni and I appeared in that Sun Times article last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about networking. Coincidentally, I’ve just returned from a major networking extravaganza. And it took me totally by surprise. Here’s what happened. One of my clients is Lakland Musical Instruments, a bass guitar manufacturer located here in Chicago. And I’m a bass player as well as a writer. Handy, hunh? Anyway, I was invited to go with Lakland to the winter NAMM show (National Association of Music Manufacturers) Jan. 17-20 in Anaheim, California. I went because I wanted to take a bunch of pictures for the Lakland Web site and MySpace, meet some artists and set up some interviews. Plus I’d heard it was a lot of fun. I did not go to “network.” I went for a little vacation. (Yes, I went to a trade show on my vacation. That makes me a geek. I know.) I met more people in those three days (Thu. - Sat.) than I have all year. I met people on the shuttle to and from the hotel. I met people at the Lakland booth. I met people standing at a counter eating a plastic hamburger at the convention center cafeteria. It was wild. And I think I know what happened — and why. I love music, music stuff, gear, music people, and artists. I love every aspect of the business and everything in it. And you can tell from the picture — I was lit up like a Christmas tree, exuding happiness and contentment. Being in my element turned me into a people magnet. So next time you want to network, forget about where the “best” or “right” people are. Figure out where there are a lot of people doing things that you love, and join in. And then just watch what happens.
This is what happens when you’re a busy networker: You become a resource on, what else, networking. Rickey Gold, Helena Bouchez and I are in the Chicago Sun-Times this morning as part of an article by Sandy Thorn Clark on networking strategies. Enjoy. And feel free to share your own networking strategies in the comments section!
In addition to the ideaXchange blog, does anyone belong to an industry-specific online social networking community, such as MyRagan? What about your clients, e.g., for those of you in healthcare, SocialMD? Benefits? Drawbacks? Please share!
Meet Your Neighbors, but Just Not in Personis the title of an article in Monday’s NY Times about socializing close to home….real close, like in your neighborhood..or closer yet, in your apartment building. Two companies appear to have captured the market there to date. One has been around since 2004. The other only since March of this year.I think it’s a pretty clever concept. Am curious as to what everyone else (well not everyone else, but lots of folks) think. Could something like this fly in Chicago? Would anyone use it….maybe in the dead of a Chicago January when you had a craving for some great Thai food and were tired of all the neighborhood places you knew. Hey high rise dwellers…. would you use a network like this?
The Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (CCLaP) recently interviewed two of our members. We send a hearty thanks to Executive Director Jason Pettus for his fantastic podcasts! Listen to Gapers Block Editor and Publisher Andrew Huff and me, Writing and Communications Consultant and mediabistro Chicago Host Chris Benevich. Visit GapersBlock.com for all the coolest art and entertainment activities in Chicago, and come to mediabistro Chicago parties to mix ‘n’ mingle with your fellow creative, content, and media professionals! |