Happy Birthday to Me

Apparently this blog has turned 1 year old as of the other week. And my business has reached the 3-year mark today.

Happy Birthday to company, Happy Birthday to company, Happy Birthday to COMPANNNYYYYY, Happy Birthday to company!

Now where is the cake and presents...

Green Festival Seattle

I went to the Green Festival in Seattle today as it's a consumer tradeshow I've thought about possibly exihibiting at if I choose to focus more on a direct-to-consumer business strategy. The show was smaller this year then in years past according to the friend I went with, but as a consumer I still found it a beneficial way to spend a few hours. Some of my favorite booths:
1. earthentree (www.earthentree.com)- a small company that imports wooden toys from India that are all colored with natural colors (ie - yellow comes from tumeric). The toys were very well made, very beautiful, and so much better then any mass produced from some factory.
2. EcoHaus (www.ecohaus.com) - a great retail store for anyone looking to make 'green' changes to their house.
3. SEE Turtles (www.seeturtles.org) - if you're looking for a great volunteer vacation in a warm location check this place out. They run a few trips each year to Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica, and Baha CA to help protect the endangered sea turtles. My husband isn't convinved that I wouldn't try to sneak a baby turtle or two home with me.
4. Race In (located on Stoneway in Seattle) - if you want custom-made triathlon/running/biking gear made from eco-friendly cloth this is the place to check out. Best of all, you can just get one of any item made. I'm thinking my company may need to start up a racing team and have race gear made up. :)
5. Mighty O Doughnuts (www.mightyo.com) - because only in Seattle can you get handmade vegan doughnuts. And they're surprisingly good!

There's no ME in Team

First of all, there is a ME in team - there's an M and an E so I've never really understood that saying. But it's becoming more and more evident that I just don't play well with others when it comes to work. Actually, for my actual entrepreneurship work I've built myself a perfect little situation in that I don't have to deal with the corporate BS that drove me absolutely batty at other jobs. This post (or more rightly, vent)is about work I do with a nonprofit and how the corporate BS I find myself mired in from time to time with that just makes me crazed.

Long story short and omitting any details that might give more away then necessary, some things are not getting done and deadlines are not being met by some of the paid staff at the nonprofit. I am now being asked to 'manage' that issue. I am not good at managing people. If I was I would have a fulltime staff but I don't, I have dogs, and they learn very quickly thanks to clicker training and some cheese treats. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to manage this problem with a clicker and a strip of cheese. So what will likely happen is I'm going to vex over this issue all weekend (it's already leaving a bad taste in my mouth) trying to determine the best way to get this problem on track in a positive way.

Then there's the voice in the back of my head which is telling me that this is a great way to build on my management skills so that one day when my business is large and profitable (I'd settle for just profitable right now) I can successfully manage it. I know the voice is right but that doesn't stop me from hating the fact I have to deal with this.

Work...ehhh

It's that time of year again. No, not Tradeshow time...that's the "other" time of the year. It's the time of year when my reserves have run low and, like a lizard, I need some sun to recharge my batteries. And a quick look at the ten day forcast does not provide any respite unless it magically comes with a ticket to Hawaii or some other sunny climate. I love where I live, but by March I think the entire city is pretty much just 'done' with winter. Even my ever-chipper husband seems to have reached his breaking point.

I'm convinced I have SAD (seasonal affectiveness disorder) - my husband is convinced I'm nuts. But, honestly, this time of year I want nothing more then to crawl into a hole - preferally a warm one - and wait it out with Phil the Groundhog. And if Phil could get some UV lights strung up in his den so I could get sunlight while waiting it out I might even be willing to pay rent. Every day right now is a struggle to get up and get motivated which, not surprisingly, impacts the amount and quality of work I get done on a daily basis. The only thing that's saving me right now is a massive to-do list though I do cherry-pick it daily to figure out which to-do's can get done with the limited amount of brain synapses that seem to be firing. I'm also grateful for email which enables me to communicate and followup with people as promised but doesn't require me to try and string two coherent sentances together over the phone which I'm just not so good at right now.

I know it will all end and those of you who are right now reading this in a warm sunny climate will be cursing my name as I enjoy temps in the low 80's, sunshine, and no humidity all summer long and you sweat through another season of mindblowing humidity. At least that's what I keep telling myself over and over and over again.

Marketing Musings

Marketing is one of those roles that anyone thinks they can do but few do it well. I'm one of those who think they can do it so there's a good chance I'm in that don't do it well camp. For example, I completely forgot that the trade publication we ran an ad in this month is also going to be handed out at the industry's biggest spring tradeshow. So just dumb luck we're in it.

But at least I don't think I'm doing as poorly as a direct mail piece we received today. As the economy has slowed we've been getting more and more direct mail pieces and the best thing is that many are for restaurants we already like or wanted to try so we're definitely utilizing the savings. However, today I received a direct mail piece from an eatery I've never heard but, at least according to them, they are a city institution. But, get this, with your purchase of an ice cream cone (apparently what they're known for) you get a free massage.

Now I'm not normally one to pass up a great ice cream cone but the thought of ice cream and massage just freaks me out. Am I the only one who doesn't think that's a good marketing combination? While I'm guessing that you probably get a certificate for a free massage for a nearby/sister company, all I keep seeing is the same guy who doles out the icecream also giving massages. Other people's skin and dairy products is almost enough to turn me off of ice cream completely. Almost...

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a...Guest Bedroom!

Movement of the office out of the guest bedroom into the newly refurbished basement is now complete and the guest bedroom is...gasp!...a guest bedroom. My better half and I finished cleaning it out this weekend and both commented on how much larger the room actually seems now. There's still some stuff in the closet that needs to find it's way onto Craigslist but for the most part the guest bedroom is actually now welcoming and usable. Nothing like an impending visit from the in-laws this weekend to add some extra motivation to the process.

Work has been really quiet lately and I'm trying to enjoy the silence. If I knew that it would pick up again when anticipated I could enjoy it a lot more. So in the meantime I've been throwing myself into a project I'm working on for the nonprofit I'm on the board of. It's keeping me surprisingly busy. Take today for instance, I have about 4 hours worth of meetings for the project and other board stuff. That doesn't leave a whole lot of time for napping or surfing random websites!

Bringing out the Big Guns

Remember how when you were 20/21 and just graduating from college and everyone you know told you to "Network, Network, Network." But, if you were anything like me, you were sure you could do it on your own so you simply smiled, nodded, and then went about in your own blissful state of mind confident that someone would hire you into our dream position (which was never an entry-level position by the way) simply because you were you. How'd that work out for you?

Now, ten or so years later, I've learned that the best way to get anything done in this world is to tap into your network and use them to help you figure it out. Best of all, most people love to help people out so it's innate in most of us to network and help other people network. Nothing brings me more joy then being able to help an unemployed friend get a direct track into the HR department of the company of his dreams rather than just letting him send in his resume to the black hole of electronic resume filing.

In return, I use my network whenever I can which, for me, is usually to try and identify the right person/team within a company to whom I can talk to about possibly adding our product to their line. About a month ago I sent in samples to BIG company who had expressed interest in our products at a tradeshow. I've done two followups and still no news. Not all together surprising but at the same time, as crazy as this may sound, I'm losing that window of opportunity to get into a BIG company for Holiday Season 2009. As such, I've tapped into my network to try and find the right contact within another BIG company (actually BIG Company #1's competitor). Truthfully, my product line probably plays better in BIG Company #2 so I'd love to get the product in front of them and see what they have to say. And while I don't necessarily expect either company to decide they want the product, I figure like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play.