And There It Goes

It's that time of year again - there's just so much money going out right now and not too much coming in as we prepare for what we hope will be a really busy trade show season, holiday season, Emmy Awards Show Season, etc etc etc. Essentially everything that could potentially bring in a good deal of money is hitting in the next three to four months which means we're doing everything possible to prep in advance and that's a lot of money going out. Money for trade show booths - trade show furniture (did you know that with your 10x10 booth space you have to "rent" carpet?) - travel expenses for those trade shows - marketing material that has to be printed in advance of the trade shows - product that has to be made and packaged in advance of trade shows, emmy awards, etc. Honestly the list is never ending and it's freaking me out. I'm just hoping that everything will go well over the next few months or we'll be tapping out of cash.

One of the biggest expenses I'm struggling with lately is for PR. I know that one needs PR but I'm just having a hard time swallowing the amount that's being spent on PR and when I think of all the other things that money could be spent on it makes me want to cry (I've wanted - heck, NEEDED, to get a new printer for about a year now and never seem to have enough "untouched" cash to draw from to go out and get it!). It's not that I don't think PR is valuable - it's just that I'm not wholly convinced that the professionals are worth the price they're being paid.

Now I know that PR is one of those tough things to measure and that if it works a lot of it is going to come down the line later - right now we're essentially laying the groundwork. But still...I'm just not sure I couldn't do an equally good job for a fraction of the price. And yes, I realize that it's insane to think that I can be doing everything. But really - compare the amount I've committed to PR for this year versus what it could cost me to get a ProfNet subscription and do it on my own...that's more then enough for that new printer. That'd be enough to perhaps even pay me a small salary!

I'm pretty committed to seeing 2007 through as planned with the PR plan in place. But I have to admit that I need to see some pretty significant results to make it worth it for 2008.

Talking to a Real Person

I imagine this is a pet peeve most people can relate to - you call up a company and end up either getting an automated message or going through a list of choices and never actually talking to a live person. Now, for a small business like mine I don't have to worry about dealing with massive call volume, but since I am going into a very busy season (I hope!) that will have me on the road a fair amount, I was very concerned with the fact that retailers and vendors who called our "office" number would get dumped into voicemail.

Thanks to the New York Times Small Business Section (my new favorite section of the paper), I am in the process of hiring an answering service that my office number will forward to when I'm not around to take it. They can either take a message for me or forward the call directly to my cell phone. Even though in the end a person may end up getting dumped into my voicemail, my hope is that talking to a person at the beginning of the conversation they get the sense that 1. We are bigger than a single gal (and two dogs) organization and 2. A real person knows they called so they have more confidence that they'll actually get their message returned quickly.

I was happy to find a small local company that can work with me and they always have a live person - no machines - answering the phones. I figure I'll give it a try through the end of the year (the busiest time for me and I'll be away for a good portion of it) and see how it all works out.

To Oprah or Not To Oprah

I've been away from blogging for a little while it seems. That doesn't mean a lot of stuff hasn't been going on. I've got three tradeshows coming up back to back to back in the next few months so I've been really busy preparing for those...and yeah, and I went and got married! So things have been busy to say the least.

One thing that has been on my mind lately is the whole PR push that we're in the midst of doing. I'm meeting with the PR company tomorrow morning so I should have a better idea of where things currently lie and where they think we should head versus where I think we should head. One point that I'm going back and forth on is whether or not to send samples and a pitch to Oprah.

Why Oprah - well even though it's a long shot (very very long shot) - if you manage to get mentioned on Oprah (ideally on the Christmas show) it can blow your product/company out of the water. The revenue and the branding opportunity would be huge and would definitely put me on the map. Plus I'm worried that at some point a direct competitor is going to come along and all of the sudden I'm going to have to do more work to differentiate myself - and what if Oprah features that competitor?

On the other hand - as is argued by my PR folks (I should mention - PR folks with many many many years in the field and far more experience with this then me) and my business partner - you really only get one solid shot at an Oprah or the like and it's better to wait until you have a little more buzz built up around your product and know that you can handle the potential increase in production that would be required.

I can't say that I totally disagree with them - but I'm impatient. So do you go with your gut or trust the voice(s) of experience?