I’ve been working with a vendor for years, and have a favorite contact person there. He suddenly left the company and is starting his own business, and I’m going to follow him, for sure. The level of customer service he provides is unbeatable and he’s just a great person to work with.

But I wonder: how many people would stick with the original company instead? Some would think it’s a gamble to follow the contact while they create their own business, preferring to stick with the original company that has a long track record. But isn’t that track record really based on the work of the individual contacts there?

I’m sticking with my guy - I know he’ll take good care of me. But what would you do? What have you done?

The U.S. Postal Service has launched a program which allows customers to recycle small electronics and inkjet cartridges by mailing them free of charge. See the press release for more information and check your local post office to see if they are participating.

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!

Money Smart Week Chicago takes place April 20-26. This week-long event offers hundreds of free educational classes, seminars and activities at locations ranging from the Merchandise Mart to local libraries. Topics include investing, mortgages, and small business banking.

Search the online calendar for events in your area.

You may want to consider this update I received from colleague and Kyle Shannon mystery series author, Linda Mickey. An excerpt:

“Happy Spring. There is some big news in the publishing world that has a direct impact on me and thousands of other writers.

Amazon announced that unless certain publishing companies (mine included) use Amazon’s printing company, Amazon will not sell the book. An article in Business Week points out that Amazon’s real goal is to print ALL the books it sells on a print-to-order basis. Why? Because warehousing is costly. If Amazon switches to a print-on-demand business model, it will save millions of dollars. It’s a smart business move on their part and they have the marketplace muscle to pull it off.

There’s only one problem. Amazon’s print company, Booksurge, is not a good printer. iUniverse (my publisher) and others switched to Booksurge’s competitor because of quality issues. The Internet is full of complaints about Booksurge’s quality. (Some copies of my first book, Greased Wheels, had green pages that matched the cover.)

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to assure you that my books are available at www.bn.com and www.powells.com and many other book selling sites. If they order from Amazon, I cannot guarantee the books will ever ship. Barnes and Noble also has a $25 free shipping program.

As always, thank you for your support. Keep reading!”

You might not have noticed, but a few of our members are doing some pretty cool stuff online.

Matt Mayes has launched Give Good Web, a site for “web development ‘n stuff” the content of which is mostly over my head but whose design is gorgeous. You can pick your own color, and one of the options is orange? How can I not love that!

Amy Lillard is going blog-crazy over at her new site, Quiet Rebel Writer. I don’t know where she gets the time to write all those terrific articles AND server her clients but I’d like to know her secret. It’s my new favorite writing blog.

Andrew Huff’s creation, Gapers Block, just got a redesign that made it even better. And with all the new blogs like Drive Thru, Transmission and Tailgate, there’s enough to keep you busy for days.

I’m guessing more of you have cool new projects that I don’t know about yet, so chime in. What’s new for you?

Every two weeks for the past couple of years I’ve published an enewsletter from ChronicBabe, the Goodie Bag. I’m really proud of that accomplishment and it’s extremely rare for me to take a break. But I did just that this morning, sending out a short letter to my readers instead. The topic: the value of taking a little break.

I love the continuity, the connections you get with an enewsletter. It keeps your readers (or clients) up to speed on your activities, offers them resources that strengthen your reputation as a go-to-gal or -guy, and basically reminds them that you still exist. So even though I was feeling very burned out, I chose not to abandon publishing altogether, but go for this alternate approach, which took about 1/5 the time.

It was a relief to get it out the door so I could go what I really needed to do, which was relax. Sometimes we just need to do that! As entrepreneurs, it’s sometimes (usually? always?) hard for us to get our heads around that concept.

So how about you? Do you ever cut yourself some slack and take a little break? An hour here or there, or a “mental health day” or even a - gasp! - vacation? Fill me in.

Many of us are lax in our time tracking (you know who you are!) however it can be detrimental to your billings. From the HOW magazine website come these 5 simple tips:

Charge for Enough of Your Time by David C. Baker (click link for full article)

• Second, broaden your definition of “billable” to include anything specifically related to client work (like meeting time, travel time, phone time, and traffic time).
• Third, enter the time daily, not weekly.
• Fourth, monitor time spent against time estimated every day or so.
• And fifth, make sure you are doing those time sheets, too, or no one will take the process seriously.

I use a desk calendar to record time spent per project, then transcribe to individual timesheets. My goal is to be more diligent about recording non-client work, which is also important to keep check on.

How does everyone else handle time tracking?

I recently attended an excellent seminar series at the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) (no fooling!):

Accelerating Your Sales Performance: Sales Training for Sophisticated, Competitive Climates. The four-part series was presented by Maria Burud of the Zanon Group.

I picked up some good tips and learnings on lead generation and the sales process, so I would definitely recommend the class.

Guys,
While all of the attendees in this particular seminar were women, men are not excluded from signing up for WBDC classes!

Here’s a description of each session:

Session 1: Selling Solutions - The sophisticated basics - Learn how to win business utilizing a crisp, professional approach, making your organization look larger and your interactions of higher value, ultimately differentiating you from the pack. - Learn to differentiate between selling product attributes versus selling solutions to problems.

Session 2: Lead Generation - Getting in the door - Create a unique elevator speech that sets you apart. - Get in front of the real buyer with succinct, hard hitting messaging that gives you a leg up on the competition. - Get more business through referrals, networking, and other leading edge lead generation techniques.

Session 3: Sales Process - Winning the business through a professional sales process -Create a competitive advantage by differentiating your company and solution with a formalized world class sales process. - Develop strategies and techniques to increase your win rate and scale your business to desired levels.

Session 4: One on one coaching - Prioritizing and implementing - Get individual coaching from the experts on areas in which you need the most help. - The individualized coaching will help to ensure you can implement what you have learned in this sales series.

To learn more, contact the Women’s Business Development Center at: (312) 853-3477; wbdc@wbdc.org; www.wbdc.org