Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
On April 23th, at the first ideaXchange meeting of 2010, we discussed setting goals for the year and keeping the group updated on our progress. We also talked about using the SMART Goal criteria and what that means. SMART Goals are: Specific For example, my SMART Goal is to add 20 new monthly clients by the end of 2010. I’ve also created a “New Client Target Countdown” tear-off pad to track our progress. Each time we sign on a new client, my Administrative Assistant and I tear off another sheet. It’s a lot of fun to watch the numbers go down and to know exactly where we stand on our progress. At each meeting, we talk about our SMART Goal progress, establish a new SMART Goal if necessary, and offer each other support and feedback on accomplishing our SMART Goals. We’ll email an update on each member’s progress through the Google group after our monthly meeting (rather than posting details here). Please feel free to send your own update as you make progress toward your SMART Goal! We are all holding each other accountable, which should provide excellent motivation for accomplishing our goals. If you haven’t yet created a SMART Goal for us to track, get crackin’! You can forward the details to Jenni or me when you’re ready. Side note: Because it’s so much fun to say (and because “SMART Goal,” when not carefully enunciated, can be difficult to interpret) you may see us referring to our “Smarkles.” Say it aloud. It really is fun! Especially at a meeting in front of the group. Here’s to accomplishing our SMARKLES!
Hey all,
 Chinatown, Chicago, Photos © Paul Berg
AIGA’s Design for Democracy submitted a posting to the Change.gov Briefing Book for President Obama’s transition team. The posting titled “Government communications should be helpful and clear” requests more attention be given to government communications. You may want to consider voting since only the suggestions with the most votes will be included in the Citizens’ Briefing Book. I voted and promise it is short and simple. Simply register with your name and zip code, then search for “Government communications should be helpful and clear.” You can also add comments.
I found this article, Recession Spending: Ad Cutbacks Don’t Always Make Sense (byAndy Marken, President, Marken Communications) in one of the b2b advertising e-newsletters, and only after I read it, did I notice that it was written back in 2003. Despite the fact that online advertising plays such a big role in marketing budgets today, the basic info in this article is still sound. If you stop advertising when the economy gets tough, you’ll have an even harder time when the recovery comes. The trick is to market a little differently, not to stop.
This week’s writing assignments have me researching ancient Egyptian art and history, the New York stand-up comedy scene, bridal industry trends, a fancy garden party benefit for a charity that helps the developmentally disabled, and much more. Sometimes I find myself wishing I had a 9-5 communications gig with a big company in the Loop — downtown Chicago is such a magical place, and at this point, employer-supplied health insurance would also be magical. But I know myself well enough to know I’d get bored writing the same stuff in the same style about the same people again and again. I like the random element of freelancing. I like making phone calls to people in a wide range of professions, across thousands of miles, and getting to know them and their work. I like being prompted to learn more about something that otherwise may not have bleeped across my radar. And now, to add even more variety to my writing day, I’m going to polish off another press release, and tackle my new gig writing greeting cards. I wonder how many versions of “Happy Birthday To My Wife” I can come up with in a half hour?
The folks over at The Marketing Mix (one of my fave marketing blogs) are planning a 2008 conference for creative freelancers. They are asking designers, illustrators, writers, photographers, etc. to take a brief survey to share their thoughts on the idea. But hurry, the survey needs to be completed by December 7th! |
Join Paul Berg as he leads another exciting Urban Photo Safari on Oct 23, 2010! This one will focus on the Ukrainian Village/East Village neighborhoods.
IdeaExchange member Paul Berg has sold out his upcoming Urban Photo Safari!