Saturday, May 30, 2009

Going in the Right Direction

I appreciate the feedback I received on my last post. It is becoming clearer to me that I want to use all of my social media tools - blogs, Facebook, Twitter - to promote my work. I also need to work on an expanded description of my work/services and what I bring to a project (thanks Alice, for highlighting this). I have been nervous about listing all of the things I do for fear that people may think I am scattered and not focused. To turn this into a positive, I bring a diverse range of experiences to my work and can view a project holistically. For example, because of my writing experience I can edit text in the middle of designing a piece. Finding a balance between copy and design can be challenging because the client may not want to sacrifice any text but too much copy can be overwhelming to the reader. Because I am both a writer and designer, a client can entrust me to design and edit simultaneously!

It feels uncomfortable to be writing so much about myself - I prefer to write about other peoples' ideas and projects - but this is an important part of my journey. I recently had a conversation with Judy Kinney, a Law of Attraction Life Coach (check out her website Dream and Flourish Coaching) about making money doing what you love, and as a result we are going to host an event on this very topic. Just being open to this possibility has already helped me to shift my attitude.

So here I go down this road. Hope to meet new companions along the way!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Self-promotion and Micromovements


I have a hard time promoting my paid work. My "volunteer" work or community arts initiatives I have no problem talking about, pitching to the media, etc. But when it comes to my own graphic design, grant consulting, public relations, it is tough for me to sell myself. I am thinking perhaps this blog could come in handy for this.

So I am putting out to the universe that I want to grow my business and get new clients.

Here are some questions I have for myself:

- What do I have to offer a client?
- What am I looking for in a client?
- What is/are my ideal project(s)?
- How do I convey this in my promotional materials (website, business card, etc.)?

Possible action steps:
- Create e-newsletter and email list of past, current and potential clients
- Gather testimonials from past and current clients

I consider writing down these thoughts "micromovements. I found this concept years ago in a book by Sark. "Micromovements are tiny, tiny little steps you can take towards completions in your life. I'm a recovering procrastinator, and I have a short attntion span, so I invented micromovements as a method of completing projects in time spans of 5 minutes or less." (The Bodacious Book of Succulence, 1998)

My goal is to blog about my process, ideally encouraging me to move forward and help manifest my goals. I'm also interested in what others have to say about this!