What's the Big Idea?
I'm a small businessperson myself, though I've worked for big companies and been privileged to participate in some of the largest marketing campaigns and highest profile film releases in Hollywood history.
Ever heard of a little film called Star Wars? I helped design the packaging for the big trilogy release a few years back. Ever heard of Hellboy? I participated in the design of some of the movie posters, banners and billboards for that film. Ever heard of that little known property called Pirates of the Caribbean? I helped create the DVD art and in-store point-of-purchase displays for that one.
If you're interested in seeing the "other side of me" – kind of my secret identity, as it were – you can take a look at my entertainment advertising work over here.
So, while I've worked on the extreme high end, I've also done plenty of work for small businesses over the years, from designing logo and business cards, to building web sites and producing low-budget marketing and "guerilla" viral ad campaigns.
Today, my focus is on helping small business people like you build, maintain and grow personal relationships through unique, highly effective referral and lead generation systems!
It's All Done With Mirrors!
I've been an employee, hired and fired, supervised others and done all the stuph a staff guy does. I've been there during start up and I've been there during shut down (I've only been "fired" one time, but a heck of a lot of jobs have simply left me). Mostly though, I've been a freelance creative director.
It has it's charms, but it has plenty of hassles, too. And as an independent contractor, I've struggled mightily over the years with the very same things other small business people struggle with. You know the ones: billings, expenses, insurance, continuing education, compliance, taxes, etc.. Oh, and getting more business!
Because I was a typically over-stressed and harried "creative" (as they often say pejoratively in the business), I was always so busy developing cool marketing pieces that the next most important thing I needed to be doing never got done! It's really unbelievable when I think about it. Namely, I didn't have time to nurture, maintain and grow the ranks of my satisfied clients. In fact, I realized (very belatedly – I'm kinda slow) that the steady clients I did have had stayed with me despite my appalling lack of effort at keeping them! Yikes.
What referrals I got were by accident, not design. What leads came my way were really just flukes. What repeat business I received was due to the generally favorable impression I had left, but not because I'd "pinged" anybody or reminded them that I was alive and available. If fact, I lost a awful lot of business over the years because I made no effort to "be remembered" at all. Ouch.
Talk about a huge mistake! But as I soon realized, I wasn't the only one in this fix. Both in Tinsel Town and out of it, small business people and entrepreneurs constantly struggle with both doing their business and trying to keep it going at the same time. It's kinda schizophrenic. It's almost like you have to be two people (at least) to get it done!
Schmooze Me, Baby!
In Hollywood, it's even worse. If you know anything about "the Dream Factory," you know whey they also call it "Schmooze Central". If you're a vendor, you'd better bend over backwards to make your clients ecstatic to know you. Because if you don't, you might end up dead. In fact, if you don't "grease the skids," you probably will.
Obviously, this involves a lot more than just delivering quality work on time. It involves considerably more than just the "normal" relationship and trust-building that goes in "day-to-day" business. It's all on steroids because, to be perfectly honest, the "suits" in Hollywood expect to be fussed over, catered to and pampered like a poodle with a trust fund. Heck, it sometimes involves flat-out bribes – though we very politely avoid calling them that!