August 13, 2009

Dealing with Disappointment... How a Middle-aged White
Guy Became the Nation's Top African-American Copywriter...
Five Elements You Need for Financial Success... Accessing
Digital Archives for Information Marketing... and More.

I like to think of myself as a pretty nice guy. After all, I know that most people out there aren't perfect, and I've been told I'm not either. This outlook makes it easy for me to understand when people make mistakes, and I hope it does the same for others when I don't carry out a task exactly as I should have. Now, that being said, it doesn't mean I don't get annoyed and agitated when things go wrong. After all, sometimes a simple little mistake can have huge implications; whether financial or not.

The key is to evaluate which problems are worth pursuing, and which are better left alone.

Here's a case in point: From time to time, I hire the services of an external contractor to handle specific projects that I just don't necessarily have the time to perform myself. Also, he's slightly better at this particular task than I am, so I know when I hire him I'm usually going to be getting spectacular results. These results, of course, don't come cheap.

I've been dealing with him for years and we have a great business relationship, but the last two times I've had him handle a project for me, the results came back well below my expectations. The first time it happened, I overlooked the mishap because, after all, it was someone I trusted. He'd exceeded my expectations on countless occasions in the past, so one miss wasn't going to warrant any action -- even though what he sent me was an absolute disaster. The next time it happened, I had to ask him what was going on.

He told me that he'd not only been swamped with work, but he was also going through some difficult personal times that were making it hard to devote the time and effort to his job. He apologized and said that he should've informed me of his situation from the outset. I agreed that it would have been nice to know earlier on, and asked him if, when ready, he would be able to redo the assignments at a higher level. He agreed to do them at no additional charge.

Instead of giving him a hard time about his poor performance and telling me he could handle the jobs when he really couldn't, I elected to let it slide and give him another chance. Why? Well, because even though there was a lot of money on the line and he knew in advance he wouldn't be able to perform up to his usual standards, he is too valuable of a contact to lose. If I had gotten too upset with him, I may have damaged the relationship and my access to his work in the future. After assessing the situation, I decided that battling him on this issue simply wasn't worth what I stood to lose if things went poorly.

Knowing how to pick your battles is an important skill to have when you're dealing with people. If you start barking up the wrong tree too often, it may eventually shed its leaves.

There I am. You can see my photo on our web site. I'm a middle-aged white guy. Still, the company printing all the marketing materials for "Essence" magazine, the magazine for black women, called me.

This was back in 1989, but the morale of the story still holds today, so let me continue. The printing company was on the verge of losing the "Essence" block of business. The company rep thought he'd save the day by bringing me in.

I knew well before I stepped foot into "Essence" magazine's sleek offices in midtown Manhattan that the sharp people behind this publication's success would immediately notice I'm neither female nor black. I did have a slight tan from playing golf, but the 11 executives sitting around the highly polished conference table in the Executive Vice President's 11th floor office weren't fooled for an instant. I knew they wouldn't be.

So, we're chit-chatting at first. Finally, one of the younger execs cuts through all the crap and blurts out, "You're white. You're male. What are you going to tell our readers?"

I tried to look surprised when she asked that. Actually, I tried to look surprised that she asked, because I wanted her and all the others to see my approach as the obvious way to go.

"I'll sell your magazine -- the magazine for black women -- by taking race out of the picture. Everyone knows you're a magazine for black women. All women want to be beautiful inside and out, have great love lives, raise terrific kids, and all that. Your magazine helps them do all of that. Your readers buy your magazine to escape into a can-be world. I'll tell them the same things I'd tell a white woman, except all the photos will be black people."
 
The printer's day was saved -- for the next 12 years -- until Time-Life took over the magazine. But it wasn't long before companies looking for America's best African-American copywriter starting calling me...magazines, insurance companies, banks...I was on the line with practically every company that wanted to reach African-Americans.

The (surprising?) morale of the story:

Referrals. It's got to be the best way to build any business. The printing company referred me to a client that fed me money for more than a decade, and along the way referred me to other clients. No advertising required.

I cover the topic of referrals in my book, "Getting Your First Million." I'd say it's next to impossible to succeed at a high level without giving some credit to the awesome power of referrals. You can order my book by visiting the site below:

http://www.lombardipublishing.com/ads/ym/index.asp

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes and have a variety of experiences that have helped them along the way. However, even though each may conduct their business in a different fashion over a variety of industries, there are a number of identifiable traits they share. Where do these traits come from? Well, some are simply instinct, while others have been acquired over time. However, each one, even if it is a matter of instinct, can be learnt and applied by nearly everyone.

Entrepreneurs don't have exclusive abilities that are impossible for others to adopt. After all, they were born the same way you were and grew up one day at a time, just like you.

Today, I'll take a look at the common traits almost all successful entrepreneurs possess. By adopting them, you can increase your chances of succeeding in the world of self- employment.

Curiosity: This is the trait that fuels the fire. When you're curious about a particular business or industry, it serves as a constant motivator to innovate and succeed. When a person is curious, they are always looking for new ways of doing things, and will likely always be trying to push the envelope, while carrying the business even further.

Motivated: If you're going to throw yourself into something without any guarantee of success, you have to be motivated. Your motivation can be charged by a will to discover, succeed, improve or fill a void in the industry of choice, or even your personal life. The key, however, is to avoid being motivated by money. When numbers become the main motivator -- and not enjoyment or love -- you will limit your own creativity and even interest in your business.

Love: You must be in love with your business. If you're not, it will be difficult to put in the work and time to nurture and grow it. Some would even say it should not only complement your life, but become your life. After all, entrepreneurs aren't guaranteed a paycheck, so they have to work intensely to ensure one arrives. This can require long hours and it has to be enjoyable for it to be successful, or else it may be too easy to give up.

Opportunistic: It's important to learn how to look at things analytically from alternative angles. Doing this helps you spot new and exciting opportunities, and break free from traditional ways of doing things, which increases your ability to innovate. Start questioning things and taking some more time to think about traditions, thus opening your mind to different outlooks and approaches and allowing you to see things where others can't.

Thick-skinned: No entrepreneur has had it easy. They've all likely been told their ideas won't work, that they are dreamers, and experienced failures countless times. To be successful, you must let these bumps in the road trickle easily from your back, and stay focused on your goals and belief in your idea. You have to remember that, due to your analytical and opportunistic approach, your viewpoints will be unique compared to many others who simply choose to see things as they are. Their inability to understand your perspective shouldn't impact your view of what you can achieve.

On Monday, I'll go over the remaining traits of a successful entrepreneur.

** Accessing Digital Archives for Information Marketing
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

I got an e-mail from an info marketing buddy over the weekend. He's really good at what he does and prides himself on going the extra distance for his customers in providing them with the information they need.

He was really upset at his local library. For a long time, he had been using their stacks of old auto repair manuals for information in his weekly newsletters. But now things had changed.

"I couldn't get at them this week," he wrote. "They're going digital with them."

My friend is a bit older and not particularly savvy with computers. Luckily, I had some advice for him that I can now share with you, too. No doubt you are going to have to get some hard-to-find info at some point that is not available any other place than in a digital file.

I bring some advice on digital formats from my past experience in both academic and professional areas. A few years back, during my last year at school, I had a job at the continuing education office digitizing old meeting minutes and records for the continuing education office. Later, I helped a local journalist oversee some digitizing of old 16-mm hockey game films. In both areas, I got to see large bodies of word and image content being compressed into small, portable and long-lasting files.

Why are people doing this? Simply because technology is allowing people to keep everything they create. It's cheap, easy to store and, for many, good for the environment by not wasting resources. Now, likely for some of you, this is a whole new ball game, as you haven't ventured into these odd realms as I have. But that's okay. Here's how you can go about accessing those digital files for your info marketing business:

Quiz your library staff: My bud, whose story I mentioned above, wound up going back to his library and the librarian was only too happy to tell him about their new digital archive. They were happy to help him access it with the only drawback being had to go to a bigger branch that is a 20-minute drive from his place. Quiz your library staff, too. They are always in the loop about new developments in their materials and are usually pretty good about setting you on the right path as well.

Check out universities, museums, and colleges: Big, well- funded post-secondary and historical institutions are usually on the cusp of new technological developments, especially when it comes to the digital archiving of information materials. They often keep old newspapers on microfilm, old film reels on cassette, etc. Go check them out and you will be overjoyed at the amount of publicly limited info you can now have access to. You might have to pay for a membership or to photocopy info that cannot be removed overnight, but believe me when I say it will be worth it.

Check the Web: One great thing about the Internet is that it has made a lot of things easily accessible without any charge. A lot of people are kind enough to post hard-to-get info online and you'd be surprised on what you can access -- tech manuals, out-of-print material, tips and advice blogs, etc. -- in just a basic organic search. Save yourself some cash and traveling time by doing thorough Internet searches for the specific information you require. Go through as many pages as possible and bookmark pages that are repeatedly helpful.

Search out private collections and archives: I'm leery about this last bit of advice, but I think it should be mentioned. Some people have invested their wealth in keeping private libraries and collections that, for a fee or favor, you can access for your own info marketing business. The only reservations I have about these institutions are how much they charge and how legitimate some of them are; i.e., where they got their materials. But if you come across one in your searches, by all means, check them out.

If you ever go reading about cultural landmarks that have been lost over time, it's kind of sad. Often there was no way to preserve them and people almost had to get rid of them. Now that digital formats are available, you almost never have to waste anything that might be significant to your life and livelihood. Search out the forums you need for your information marketing career and use them to help your business flourish.