Backlog

I've got a backlog of video projects on my plate, which is a good problem to have. I want to get to the point that I have more projects on my plate than I can handle myself so that it creates a growth opportunity for my company.

A few weeks I set up a day plan in which I was going to work on three different projects. As it turned out that plan didn't work. In order to fit in three projects, I had blocked out two hours for each one, for a total of six hours of production work that day. What I found was that just as I was picking up momentum on one project it was time to switch modes to the next project. My new rule of thumb now is plan to work on only two projects in a given day. Then I'm more likely to hit my objective for each project for the day.

Holiday Showcase

I did my first trade show this weekend at the TBDC Holiday Showcase. I met quite a few people there, mostly the other vendors. I'm growing my network.

Being at the trade show was a lot of stimulation and I sure needed my time after to recover. I don't know if the trade show thing is for me; breakfast networking events such as BNI work better for me despite the early morning start.

I won't write off doing more trade shows just from the one experience, but I'm not going to rush out to do another one too soon either.

Negotiating tactics

There is an adage about negotiating that says, whoever is the first to name a figure loses.

So how does that work when both sides of a negotiation are following the same adage? It seems to me that it would result in a standoff, with both sides avoiding naming any figures.

It also seems to me that the person who follows this strategy would be playing the game of win-lose rather than the game of win-win. Where is the abundance in that?

It seems to me that if I am going to show up in my life as a leader then there are going to be times when I choose to be the one to take the first steps to move things forward to attain my goals. It won't serve me well if I choose to equate that with losing.

Maybe it's time for a new adage.

Breaking the Sales Call barrier

I started making sales calls this week. My goal was to make ten sales calls. What am I selling and to whom? For my current promo campaign I am targeting wedding photographers. I am selling partnership. I am offering my services as a video editor to any wedding photographer who would like to offload their post-production work so that they can spend their time behind their camera instead of their computer.

I have collated a list of almost 500 photography businesses in GTA and have identified that 168 of those claim (or once claimed) to do wedding photography. In theory, if I call each of those 168 businesses I should find someone who will want to do business with me, yes?

I used some of the tricks I learned at my weekend with Tony Robbins (see Walking on fire) to get myself in the right frame of mind. Change my physiology to change my state - sit up straight, don't slouch; smile, look up and not down.

The first call I made was a wrong number and the second call went to an answering machine and it didn't sound like a business. I didn't leave a message. What if my whole list was garbage? What if I spent the time calling each of the 168 prospects and they all turn out to be wrong numbers? Discouragement started creeping up on me.

Well forget that. Next!

On call number three, the guy I spoke with said, "Yeah, we might be interested in outsourcing when we get busy." Great! Now what's my next step?

Do I sound like I was a little under-prepared? Yes. But I needed to start building momentum. I needed to start building my sales muscle. That's why my initial goal was to make only 10 calls out of 168. What did I learn? I felt as much hesitation before making call #10 as I did before making call #1. I thought it was supposed to get easier with practice. So far it hasn't.

Maybe I need to continue building my muscle.

A string of wins

I've had a string of recent wins in the past few weeks and I've been so busy and working intensely that I haven't had time to celebrate them until this week.

My successful presentation and completion of Phase III; the completion and delivery of my "Final" business plan; a successful completion of Legacy Discovery weekend as Training Team Manager; the sale of one of my rental properties. These are all some big wins that I've had lately.

Last week was an intense week for me. My business plan was due on Monday and I knew I was going to not have time on the weekend to work on it, so I was scrambling to finish as much of it as possible last week. I handed it in yesterday and went to Booster Juice to treat myself to a smoothie as a celebration.

Today I was in decompression mode. I felt the need to feed my creative side. I spent some time doing the layout for a photobook in Scribus, and in the evening went to High Park with my digital camera to shoot some more pictures. I only took a few before the battery in my camera ran down.

Batteries running down seems to be a theme this week. The battery in my Palm Pilot won't hold a charge for very long anymore, so I may need to look for a replacement soon.

I need to charge up my Palm Pilot, I need to charge up the batteries for my digital camera, and I need to recharge me.

Presentation Day

I had my Presentation Day yesterday. What that means is that I handed in the first draft version of my business plan and gave a ten minute presentation to a panel of business people.

I got up early because I still needed to finish printing my business plan. I have it structured as a separate document for each section so I needed to open each document, print it, and put all the sections together. And get it stapled - my stapler won't punch through it because there are too many pages. For my next version I am going to structure it as a master document with sub-documents.

I had set my alarm to go off at 4am so I'd have enough time to do all my last minute preparations in the morning before going off to my 9am presentation.

My alarm went off promptly at 4am and woke me. Anguish! Cruel cruel universe! I did not want to do this - I just went to bed four hours before that!

I finally hauled myself out of bed. Threw the dress shirt I wanted to wear into the dryer with a sheet of Bounce. Bachelor-style dry-cleaning. Went off to take my shower.

It was sooooo nice to be in the shower. Warm. Wet. Comforting. I felt like standing under the falling water for, like, half an hour. I didn't.

I knew I needed to be thinking about my presentation, getting mentally prepared, but I was still processing my thoughts and feelings from the previous day. No time for that! I have a job to do and I need to prepare for it!

By 7:30 I was done printing my business plan and finished collating my handouts. The Executive Summary needs more work but that was all the time I had for it.

I took a moment to update my Facebook status to wish everyone in my OSEB class well with their presentations. My morning magic chuckle - watching the Muppets "Manna manna" video that one of my classmates had linked on her Facebook. Then off to McDonalds for breakfast.

McDonalds - the breakfast of champions. And of busy entrepreneurs.

By 10:47 I was done, presentation, question and answer, feedback and all. Done! It went by quickly; it went well. One of the panelists complemented my presentation skills and said that with the right tools I would have no trouble selling. My three times at Twenty First Century Leadership and my experience on the core team in MDI have paid off; this is where I have practiced my presentation style.

After it was over I went to Booster Juice and treated myself to a celebratory smoothie.

The last ten weeks have gone by quickly. Tomorrow is my last day in Phase III. I have a workshop in the morning, Introduction to Phase IV, and in the afternoon we have our class graduation party. Yipee!

Business cards ordered

I ordered my Stage 1 business cards on Friday. I'm justa movin', movin', movin', forward.

Decided not to wait to get my business name registered.

I call it Stage 1 - this stage is about the start-up activities that I will take that can be completed quickly and at a low cost. The purpose of this stage is to demonstrate that my business really exists. It's not just a figment of my imagination any more! It's purpose is also to support my initial networking and prospecting activities; in essence, to begin building momentum.

I've set up my business email account too. So far I've completed the first three activities on my Getting started list.

Domain name registered

I had planned to get my first batch of business cards done this week but decided to hold off. Reason being that I found that someone is already using the business name I want to use and the domain name I want to use.

I selected another domain name that I will use instead, and got it registered. I'm thinking about whether I should get my business name registered or not before getting my first batch of business cards done. I learned in class today that registering a business name does not actually protect my business name, it merely identifies me as being the person associated with that name.

So should I register my business name or not? I'll have to register it eventually anyway, so the question really is, how important is it that I register the name before I start printing and handing out my business cards?

Getting started

I find it hard to believe that I'm already in Week 7 of my OSEB Phase III program. I've already submitted two milestone assignments and have one more tomorrow.

The other day, my coach Stew asked me if I had to wait until I graduated from the program to get my business started. I told him that I do not - there are people in my class that have already got a business in some stage of development.

So - what am I waiting for? Do I really need to wait until I complete my business plan before I start doing business? No, I don't need to, and I'm not going to.

I've made a list of start-up activities that I can do that do not have to cost a lot of money or take a lot of time. I call this list Stage 1.

Here is my current list of Stage 1 activities:

• Design and print 250 business cards.


• Register domain name.


• Set up business email account.


• Attend first networking event.


• Complete first Touchstone (portfolio) video (add soundtrack and ending).


• Create initial list of people I want to be in my Mastermind group.

I'm targeting to have my business card design completed by Tuesday.

Two deliverables

I had two deliverables due this week that were significant to me. The first deliverable was the completion of the first milestone for Phase III in my OSEB program - Mission Statement and Company Profile. The second deliverable was my participation in the Team Dynamics Training event held by MDI.

I completed my milestone assignment on Thursday evening and handed it in on Friday morning. I took the night off from rehearsal to have more time to complete it.

The Team Dynamics Training event was an all-day event yesterday, Saturday. I think the training went well and I feel good about how I did in my part.

Getting my first milestone completed in my OSEB program and delivering a successful TDT training are my top two accomplishments of this week and both are events worth celebrating.

Mission Statement

My first assignment for the OSEB program is due next week. My assignment is to write the Mission Statement and Company Profile section of my business plan. This is what I have come up with for my mission statement: To create and shape new and better realities.

How well does this work as a mission statement for my business? For it to work it has to be more than a mission statement for my business, it has to be a mission statement for my life.

I've decided to operate under the premise that, whether or not I know my mission statement, I am living it out in my life. So to test this MS I would look at different parts of my life and ask "How does this MS show up in this area of my life?"

How does this MS show up in my music? When I write music, the song that I create becomes a new reality.

How does this MS show up in my writing? When I write for my novel, the characters and situations that I create become a new reality.

How does this MS show up when I participate on the training team for the Legacy Discovery weekend with my men's division? When I train a man or give a man my truth and he makes a different choice and improves his life, then I have shaped a new and better reality.

So I think that my mission statement lines up well with my personal mission and is close to my personal ideology, if not bang on.

OSEB application accepted

I got the word last week. Congratulations! You've been accepted. I'm about to start a new chapter in my life - the OSEB chapter. It's ironic that I got that call because the same morning, perhaps two hours earlier, I had a dream that they told me no.

Friday was contract signing day. I won't say that I've signed my life away, because I have already signed my life away several times. I will say though that I've signed the next 52 weeks of my life away.

Tomorrow is my first day at school.

The RTWAP saga continues

Last Wednesday I attended the OSEB Phase II workshop. I was supposed to bring my Return To Work Action Plan (RTWAP) with me but I didn't have it yet and the earliest appointment I could get with an assessment counselor who could write one for me was for the day after, Thursday.

I went to see the assessment counselor on Thursday. She opened a file for me and collected some general information about me but we didn't have enough time during my short appointment with her to complete the plan. "Come back tomorrow," she told me.

So I went back on Friday and met with her again and she completed the plan. It was a rushed job because she was booked up for the day and didn't have a lot of time to spend on it and I had told her that I needed it yesterday. It was a rushed job but at least I got it and it had the all important recommendation that I apply to the OSEB program. Mission RTWAP was successful I texted to my buddy.

Several hours later I was home and getting ready to forward it to my business advisor in the OSEB program, when the counselor called me and asked me to hold the report and not send it out. She found something in my file that she wasn't sure about. It was close to the end of the business day now so I agreed to hold off and decided I would go back to the office to resolve the issue on Monday (today).

I went to see her again today and this time she told me to hold off submitting it until after January 3, and that she wanted to make some changes to it, since the original version had been rushed.

Now I was feeling stressed, because January 3 would be even later past the deadline I had for submission. So I went to see the business advisor in person and explained my situation to him. He told me to bring the plan with me when I have my Phase II interview, which is January 8. At least I have some relief on that front now.

Thoughts on network marketing

I am skeptical and cynical when it comes to network marketing businesses. I have heard so many bad things about them. There may be legitimate ones out there, but how does one differentiate the legitimates from the scams? I think that network marketing has gotten enough of a bad rap, that if the industry wants to be taken seriously then it better start cleaning up after itself.

Someone I know has recently approached me to join one. I've looked at the inviting scripts that I am supposed to use, and I what I see in them is that I will not establish credibility in my personal network if I use these scripts. For example, if they ask "is this multi-level marketing?" I am supposed to respond with "Absolutely it is; and its one of the finest. You have to be at my house tomorrow!"

So what is it that makes this company be one of the finest? Are there any facts to back this up or is it just a hyped up claim?

And what's with the have to language? One thing I have learned about leadership is that I do not get people to follow me by telling them they have to do anything. I have people follow me when I am being authentic and open; I have people follow me when I inspire them.

Here's another example of script that I don't like. "Listen, I just found a way for us to make some serious money! Trust me and be at my house Tuesday!" Okay, what's with the trust me language? When I hear someone say trust me an alarm goes off. I either trust someone or I don't. When my people trust me, they trust me because of my actions and because of the way I'm being. When I am being trustworthy and in integrity, my people do trust me - I don't need to tell them.

So I am skeptical and cynical when it comes to network marketing. Every once in a while I decide that I want to be more open minded about it, but when I do I start to find things about it that I don't agree with.

Return To Work Action Plan

I found out late on Friday that I have been accepted into Phase II of the OSEB (Ontario Self-Employment Benefits) program that is being offered by the TBDC (Toronto Business Development Centre). My Phase II appointment is on Wednesday. I'm supposed to bring a completed Return To Work Action Plan with me on that date. I need to go to an Employment Assessment Centre and have a counselor complete one for me.

Oops. I need to have this done for Wednesday, but the earliest appointment I could get at an Assessment Centre is for Thursday. I spent most of my morning calling the different centres in order to get this appointment.

I called the TBDC and let them know that the earliest I could bring my RTWAP is the day after my Phase II appointment and they said I could bring it then.

I'll have to carefully prepare my rationale for entering the OSEB program in order to get this RTWAP.