Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

It’s Not too Late to Think About the Holiday Season…

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rei-opt-outside-600I had a call earlier this week with a client who mentioned they want to share a Black Friday deal for their newsletter subscribers. As we were chatting I agreed this is a good idea and encouraged that we make it a Small Business Saturday promotion as well.

If you’re just now realizing this is something you should be doing for your business this holiday season don’t worry – there’s still plenty of time! (okay, two weeks)

I really loved REI’s anti-black Friday campaign last year and if your business is about health and wellness I encourage you to do something similar for your subscribers of social media fans.

If you have a product or service that you’d like to promote by the end of the year, then I encourage you to think about a Small Business Saturday promotion.

  • Buy 4 massages get the 5th Free
  • 20% off Salon Services scheduled on Small Business Saturday
  • A free additional gift with purchase (great for direct sales folks…)
  • 20% off your package if ordered by the end of November

This is also a great time to be thinking about holiday gifts for clients and holiday cards. You certainly don’t have to do either but if it’s something you’ve done in the past, now is the time to talk to your graphic designer and printers about getting those holiday cards created. And now is the time to figure out your holiday gifts and get them ordered.

There’s still time I promise, but it’s time to start!

My Quarterly Follow Up Rant

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img_3786I was chatting with a colleague of mine the other day about a referral I had made a few years back. they were ready to sign a contract after their initial consult and then…crickets.

WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE?

Why oh why do you keep doing this? What is so hard about follow up that you can’t be bothered to send over the proposal or contract or details and recap of the call you just had?

Why is it when you’re networking and someone says they need to hire you, you find the worst place to put that business card so you either never find it again (“oops I forgot” only works so many times) or find it weeks later. That business card was COLD HARD CASH and you treated it like a gum wrapper.

Here’s what I think is happening…

  • You don’t know what to say – You have the card, you know you need to follow up, but you don’t know what to say. “Hey you said you wanted to give me your money” isn’t the way to start that conversation, but “I wanted to follow up with you to setup time to talk further about working together.” Is a great way to start.
  • You don’t want to – True confessions, I have accidentally misplaced/recycled a business card because I didn’t want to work with them and didn’t have the energy to go through all the hoops of pretending I did.
  • You don’t have a system in place – Do you need a schedule for when and how to follow up with people? Do you need prompts of WHAT to say? I’m honestly curious here…
  • Being successful sounds like a terrible idea and so you do nothing to make sure you’re never successful. Too on the nose?

I LOVE follow up, if you’ve ever read this blog (or my newsletter) you know this. And one of my top goals in this business is to help solopreneuers create systems and schedules for their marketing efforts. Getting out of your office and going to network is great. Never following up with people you network with is a waste of your time, money and the people you meet. Someone said they were interested in what you sell and you couldn’t find 5 minutes to follow up?

If you struggle with follow up I’d love to hear what’s holding you back and I might even have something coming up that can help…

October Pop Culture Roundup

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norm and E and boba fettOctober may mean pumpkin spice crap for you, but to me, October means fall TV in all it’s glory and an abundance of great pop culture to be consumed. And it meant one final EPIC image from my photo shoot with Britney Gardner this summer. I’m not sure another photo better encapsulates my favorite things like this shot!

Reading

Hey – I read a book! Sure some of you read a book a week, but I consume my pop culture in a variety of ways, and this month a book made the cut. I was excited when I learned that Maria Semple had a new book coming out this fall. Today Will be Different did NOT disappoint! She is a really fun writer and her books are a quick and easy read, which is what I needed this month. The entire book takes place in a day, and includes a flashback or two, and is very fun. The book also takes place in Seattle and does a better job at getting the geography right than her last book that I also loved, Where’d You Go Bernadette?

I caught up on some comics including Outcast and Han Solo, but really need to get to the comic shop so I can power through Clean Room, my new favorite comic! I like to read about the TV show I watch, so I’m spending more time than usual on The Ringer and HitFix lately getting insight into what’s going on on Westworld and trying to decide if I want to watch this season of The Walking Dead.

Listening

As per the usual, I’m listening to a lot of Keepin’ it 1600 and The Watch. A friend introduced me yesterday to Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell & Hari Kondabolu, it’s AWESOME. I listened to the interview with SE Cupp and it’s fantastic if you like politics, which I do!

I went to see Hannibal Buress last week with my brother and the same week he started a new podcast, Hannibal Buress: Handsome Rambler. It has a way to go still but I’m sticking with it for one of my favorite comedians.

On a road trip earlier this month to Seattle I caught up on Ask Me Another – which is a GREAT road trip podcast to keep you awake. I also listened to a few episodes of The Nerdist, Sarah Jessica Parker and Neil deGrasse Tyson were both really great! And the WTF with Katie Couric was interesting and made me want to check out her podcast.

Watching

Let’s be honest, there’s too much TV to watch. I am still loving This is Us, The Good Place and Pitch. My new obsession though is Westworld! It’s really fantastic and I’m loving the world they’re building and figuring out what’s in store…Dolores is a great character and I think it’s impressive how far Lyle the Intern has come.

imagesThe Hamilton special on PBS was the best way to see the show for 99.9% of Americans. The history of Hamilton the man and the musical were both very interesting, and the music was obviously great!

Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend are both back! I think I’ll keep up on Jane almost weekly, but I may stock up a few Crazy Ex episodes, it’s a show better binged.

Masters of Sex has turned around this season and I’m glad I’ve kept with it. I watched the first two episodes of Luke Cage and want to finish that up in the next couple of weeks, it’s really great and the music is fantastic! I watched the first episode of the new season of Black Mirror and it was too long and not a strong start, but I keep hearing the rest of the season is good so will keep with it, since it’s such a great show! You’re the Worst is still fantastic, and I think I’m going to stop watching The Walking Dead unless someone tells me that season premiere wasn’t needlessly violent.

Okay, that’s it for me this month (not really, but that’s a good summary of what I remember!) What were you loving in pop culture this month?