I’m still working on the systems creation – it’s a big program. This week, I’m putting my focus on week #4’s topic in the UYB program: social media.
I know, I’m going out of order and technically, I’m still off schedule. But there’s a reason I’m doing it this way. It might work fine for other creative professionals to start working on their lists (as the program calls for in weeks 2 and 3) and then subsequently fine-tune their social media presence.
But for me – a marketing consultant who helps clients with their social media and social networking – it occurred to me I better have my own house in order first.
So, I’m deliberately going out of order here a bit and taking a deep, hard look at my social media strategy. Here’s what I found: I don’t really have one — at least, not one that took into consideration all sites together as a Social Media Whole.
From Haphazard to Holistic: Creating an Organic, Purposeful Social Media Strategy
What I did have was a presence — ranging from sporadic to daily in activity level – on most of the major sites: Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Plurk, Facebook, and Buzz. (I’m deleting my MySpace account because – really, why?) More active on Twitter and Facebook than the others, I realized that I wasn’t utilizing any of the sites with a cohesive strategy — and only had a channel-specific strategy for Twitter and Facebook.
So, here’s what I did this past week:
Reviewed my activity and profiles on each of the listed sites
Updated a new headshot to each of the profiles
Completed some of the missing information in certain profiles, and made them all a bit more cohesive with each other
Thought long and hard about how best to use each site — Twitter and Facebook for connecting, Buzz for sharing Reader items, LI for more focused marketing — and created usage guidelines for myself for each site
Imported my blog into LinkedIn
Based on the guidelines, I’m working on a schedule for updating each site on a weekly basis (realizing some sites I update daily, mainly Twitter and Facebook)
Creating a more in-depth strategy for LinkedIn, a site I think is going to be increasingly important for marketing in 2010
I think that’s a pretty solid start and worthy of celebratin’!
NB: If you haven’t yet read the post by Christine Kane that I’m referring to, go check it out. Some interesting stuff in there, though some may consider it too “woo-woo” for practical implementation – but if that’s you, please come back and read this post, ’cause I’m here to tell you: it isn’t.
Christine’s post suggests several possible morning ritual components to get a brilliant, creative start to the business day. Briefly summarized:
Drinking a tall glass of room-temperature water first thing
Exercise
Meditation
Setting an intention for the day
Exercising your “gratitude muscles”
Using a “netty (sic) pot” (I think it’s actually called a Neti pot)
Eating creatively and well
Creating a “not to do” list of stuff you WON’T do until your morning ritual’s complete
Now, here’s my confession: I have one of these already – a morning ritual, that is. Here’s how it goes:
Drink ice cold water w/ lemon (I heard it revs up the metabolism – jury’s still out)
Meditate half an hour
Do morning pages
Practice yoga for half an hour
That’s the idea, anyway. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Very proactive, very focused, relatively easy.
Now here’s the confession: I hardly ever do it. At least, not all of it. I think I have the ice water down as a habit (if only because I have to take medication first thing, and I need water to take it with, so that’s one sort of easy). The rest are hit or miss — more miss than hit actually. I can’t think of a single day in the past six months I’ve done all four.
Most days I’ll meditate for a bit. Yoga? I confess: I haven’t been on the mat in weeks. At first it was because of space limitations. Now, it’s just laziness. Easier to stay in the state you’re in than change to a higher level one, right?
That’s one of my problems. The other is that when I do try to engage in this ritual I find my mind jumping to the things I have to do that day. I just can’t stay focused on the ritual tasks at hand. That’s a problem that repeats itself, by the way, throughout my days.
Here’s the irony: I know that if I could just set aside the mundane tasks and the worry-wart tendencies for a few minutes and do the ritual, I’d have better results throughout the day. I wouldn’t find my thoughts scattered nearly as much. The ritual IS the solution, in other words. By exercising the “focus muscles,” I could develop that skill of staying on task more efficiently and quickly.
So, this all brings up the big overarching Problem-with-a-capital-P for me: at some point, all the systems and tricks and tips won’t do a damn thing for you if you can’t just make yourself sit down and do the damn work.
It’s that “sit down and DO it” part that’s tricky – but why on earth should it be? Isn’t it a no-brainer? The systems and the planning and the “higher level thinking” stuff is all designed to make the doing go easier, more smoothly, at least on some level, right? And if you want the brass ring, you have to DO something to get it. This is so basic. So why is it such a struggle? Why am I so resistant to actually doing it differently?
Case in point: I know I need to set aside an hour a day for marketing. Yet the end of the day comes and while I’ve thought about marketing a good bit, I haven’t done anything about it. Why not? Is it that my schedule is so crammed pack with paying clients that I literally can’t find thirty minutes for implementation? Of course not. It’s because it’s more comfortable to stay in the present state than jump to a higher level.
Yesterday, I did something I never thought I’d ever do: I started a Facebook group. It’s a cause I believe in, one that could impact the futures of hundreds of young people all across the country. And it’s a cause that can use your support.
OK, before you spit out your coffee and ruin your laptop, lemme ’splain: I’m being partially ironic, but mostly … well, not.
The Irony
Needs no further explanation. I mean, c’mon. It’s Alice Cooper. The Father of Shock Rock. The guy who kills himself – literally (but fake-ly) every night on stage. With the eye makeup. And the fake blood. School’s Out. You know. Alice.
And American Idol.
The Ironic Prosecution rests, Your Honor.
The Not Ironic At All
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Alice (nee Vincent Damon Furnier, Feb. 4, 1948) has been in the music industry for over 40 years, and he’s still touring regularly. This longevity alone puts him in an elite cadre of performers. The fact that he’s a freaking genius when it comes to branding and marketing the Alice Cooper image makes him, arguably, king of the elite.
Look, his music may not be your cup of tea (in which case, dang, what the heck’s wrong with you?! But I digress), but even non-fans must acknowledge his objective success in an industry not known for embracing folks over a certain age. He’s still rocking, he’s still putting out new work regularly, and he’s still touring. I cannot stress that enough. TOURING. Is hard, people!
Alice also happens to be a pretty funny, articulate, and entertaining guy. Exhibit A in the Non Ironic prosecution’s case: Alice on Hollywood Squares. (Damn, you don’t know how much I wanted to put a video clip up here. Alas, there seem to be none.) Exhibit B: his interviews. Watch the following with Nick Cannon (yes, Mr. Mariah Carey) at the Grammys and pay attention to Coop’s eloquent musings on the industry:
Not enough for you? Here’s Alice on Craig Ferguson:
In closing, I submit, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that Alice Cooper would make an amazing American Idol judge in a totally non-ironic way. He’d be a fabulous mentor to young would-be artists, he knows his stuff, and he’d be funny to boot.
Plus, we, his fans, would just about die with laughter every single night from the incredibly entertaining thought of Alice Cooper, American Idol Judge.
NB: This is a post written by Christine Kane and sent out in her newsletter. I read it this morning and have some thoughts to add, which I’ll do in a separate post when I update the world on the Experiment. And you can catch up with all the Christine Kane Experiment posts here in reverse chronological order.
It is said that your habits create your destiny.
I’d add that your habits also create your confidence, courage and even your creativity!
In other words, your daily choices, routines, and seemingly insignificant moments make all the difference in your results.
One of the best ways to generate great results is to create amorning ritual. A powerful morning ritual sets the tone for your entire day – and your entire year!
A ritual is personal. A ritual is creative. (Not reactive!) A ritual is what gets YOU on track to create your best day. (And subsequently, your best life!) It can be as simple as a 15-minute routine, or as intense as long-distance running. The important thing is that it becomes a HABIT.
My morning ritual combines a mixture of physical, mental and heart-centered activities to engage each of these human power centers!
Here are some ideas to help you create your own powerful morning ritual.
Hydrate First
Many Eastern health practitioners recommend chugging down at least a half-liter of filtered room-temperaturewater first thing. (Yes, before your coffee!)
Upon waking, your body has spent hours without hydration. Drinking pure water at this time triggers a series of physiological functions that keep your body super healthy. Some report that this one practice can actually heal many diseases. (I’m not a scientist – but I can attest to the amazing results!)
Get Moving
Exercise is called “The Number One Form of Preventive Medicine.”
It is also a prescription for happiness and a cure for depression! Getting exercise first thing sets your day off right. You can do a simple stretching routine, yoga or an all-out heart-pounding hour at the gym. Pick something do-able and do it.
Meditate
Many people don’t meditate because they find it intimidating. I say, start with just 5 minutes. Meditation connects you to your center, and to the deep silence that surpasses any drama that might be happening in the world of your personality. Don’t worry about doing it right. Just allow yourself the time to BE.
Set Intention
“Intention rules the earth,” says Oprah Winfrey.
It’s true! Your intention is a powerful force to engage.
Remembering your intention puts you back on track. You become focused again.
Reflect for a moment on your Word of the Year. Read a goal you’ve written down for yourself. Remind yourself of a financial dream. (If you’re one of my new students in Uplevel Your Business, read the intention you wrote down on the first day of the program!)
You don’t have to know the HOW. You just need to set the intention so your inner GPS can stay on target!
Be Grateful
Before I get out of bed, I silently create a morning gratitude list. When I begin my day remembering my “gratitudes,” (instead of my “anxieties”) my heart fills with extreme joy and deep awareness. I then bring that energy into everything I do – and to everyone with whom I connect.
Use a Netty Pot
(This one’s a little weird!)
For years, my acupuncturist told my husband and I to use a Netty Pot. We laughed at him. Then, in the face of acute sinus problems, my husband tried it and became a convert. He converted me.
A Netty Pot uses warm water and a special salt to cleanse your sinuses and clear your breathing. Google it, and let the idea sit with you for a while. (You might be a convert too!)
Eat Creative
Your choice of breakfast foods can set up your success with other meals as well. Start your day off in the healthiest way possible for you – and make it a ritual, not a chore.
Be Prepared: Create a Not-to-Do List
Everyone needs a “Not To Do” morning list.
Suggestions here include anything that brings up a “reactive” state: Turning on the local news. Checking email. Answering texts. Answering the phone.
Let these things wait until AFTER your ritual has been completed!
Your Assignment:
After reading this article, don’t just think, “Wow. Those are some good ideas. I should try one or two.”
Instead, deliberately create your morning ritual now. Take about 20 minutes to think about and write down what your ritual will be each morning. Start simple at first. Choose one or two items from this menu. Or come up with your own. Write out your Ritual in detail.
Begin first thing tomorrow morning, and let your habits create YOUR destiny starting now!
Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 11,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.
The Great Christine Kane Experiment of Aught-Ten (wait, do we say “Aught” after 2009? I don’t know, I just liked the way it sounded in my head, to be honest) is underway. More details here, and you can catch up with all the TGCKEoA-10 posts as well.
But in a nutshell: I have a business that needs some high-level ramping-up.
Wanting to get into CK’s program Uplevel Your Business (or UYB), but not being able to afford the price tag right now (um, primarily because my business needs some ramping up!), I am conducting a live blog-experiment on my own business right here on this blog.
For three months, I’m going to follow the UYB module outline and, using Christine’s blog posts and freely-available material (coaching calls, tweets, etc.), attempt to uplevel my own business right along with the UYBrs.
Some Questions Answered
Whoot! I got some feedback on this experiment, which – y’all don’t know how happy that makes me. I am doing this primarily for my own benefit, I confess, but what I really hope is that it helps others, too.
So, I thought I’d take a moment to answer a few of the questions I got:
Q. Wow. You’re being awfully …. brave. Does Christine know about this?
A. Yes, Christine knows all about it. Before I took one single action to put this into gear, I first DM’d her on Twitter. She said I should “totally go for it!” And thus, I am. ’Cause I listen to Christine, is why. (Oh, and don’t think you got away with anything with those ellipses, missy. I know exactly what you meant to say there — and, honestly, I kinda agree with that more than the word you chose, but – hey, it’s all good.)
Q. You’ve talked before about your distaste for oversharing about personal stuff on websites and blogs so how come you’re going to write about this business stuff? Seems to me it would be just as sensitive.
A. Yeah, this is a good point. I’m not planning to publish any info I’d consider sensitive – truly sensitive, like income numbers. If I need to write about metrics for analyzing success, I’ll stick with percentages. Or I’ll make something up. I don’t know right now but I do know that (A) yes, I agree there’s some risk here; (B) being aware of it, I do intend to protect myself, don’t worry. It’s a balancing act, I guess – writing about specifics so that they’ll be helpful but won’t reveal too much about stuff I don’t want revealed but then again, isn’t that the line we all have to walk in blogland?
Now, one thing I will say about this: I’m not sharing any information about clients. Period. I do plan to write about specific interactions, but I will mask the client’s identity and the issue. I’m pretty creative, so you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one. I’ll do my best to keep it in the same ballpark but I’m not going to jeopardize my clients’ trust in me. (There’s one story in this post, actually, that’s a perfect example there.)
Q. I kinda think this might be one of those things that sounds great in concept but won’t really work in practice — I don’t know Christine Kane but I’m assuming that she’s not going to put the information she’s selling in this program out there for anyone to get for free on her blog.
A. Meh. I don’t know, you might be right. But Christine’s got a pretty amazing amount of posts over at her blog (over three years worth, I think?) and my plan is to supplement it with some of the information I gathered in the Great Business Information Hunt-and-Gathering Spree of Aught-Nine (which I referred to briefly in the first post in this experiment). I don’t know whether it’ll work or not – that’s why it’s an experiment, and not a … thing that’s more outcome-certain than an experiment.
Dealing with Inner Resistance to the New Mindset
So with that out of the way, on to the stuff I’ve been doing in this great experiment. The first module is all about adopting a new mindset. I know why Christine put this first: because in my coaching work with my clients, I see it all too often — the mindset must change before the actions can change anything else. And you have to do things differently if you want a different outcome, right?
The thing I didn’t anticipate is how hard it is to actually think in a different way about my business. I can sit here and “get it” intellectually, but actually implementing that new mindset? Whole other ballgame.
Case in point: I’m working with a new client who’s very excited about her project right now (actually, I have two of those, but one in particular applies here – and she’s given me permission to write about this here). She wants to double up her sessions. She’s willing to pay extra.
The new mindset would tell me to:
Before I automatically say “yes” ask myself “Is this in accordance with my highest good, right now?”
Also: “Does it mesh with my needs?”
In other words, New Mindset says “Don’t just automatically jump on board the Mo’ Money train. Think for a second about YOUR needs. ALL of your needs.”
And in this case, New Mindset would say “Nope. Sorry.” Because the program she’s in is specifically designed to work in a certain way, based on my experience. It’s better the way I created it. I believe that firmly — otherwise, I would have designed it some other way.
Also, if I said “yes” to that request, it would put a serious strain on my schedule. I’m already having trouble making myself sit still and do the higher-level planning stuff as it is. If I double up with this client, even if it’s for additional cash, I’m taking away another three hours from my week, and reducing the ability to have another client take that slot.
And yet, my initial instinct was “Oh, sure, absolutely.” I mean, I had the email written and the cursor on that big yellow “Send” in Outlook, when I (thank God) stopped myself and started to think about this critically.
And even now, even after I’ve gone through that thought process, and come to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be good for her or for me, I’m still wondering if I did the right thing. It’s really difficult to give up the extra money, especially when one of the basic goals is to increase revenue.
So, I’m still struggling with this, even as I embrace the idea of doing business in a different way whole-heartedly — well, whole-brainedly, anyway.
One good thing I’d like to congratulate myself for publicly: I actually took time out on Sunday to catch up on my business-related reading, about two hours’ worth. Although I found myself tempted to stop the reading and pick up on the systems project (more on that below), I resisted the temptation and just tried to gently bring myself back to the reading at hand.
My Ongoing Systemization Project
I’m focusing on one particular package I offer at TIS by creating a series of documents that divide the package into modules. The idea is to automate some of the basic information I give out to clients going through this particular program, so I can then focus more on (A) individualized assistance and (B) higher-level business planning.
I’m still fighting this new mindset adoption thing even in this focused project, though. I wrote earlier that I have a problem with the information gathering phase of any new project (witness all the business development Evernotes I have cluttering up my notebooks).
It’s still there, but at least now I’m aware of it.
What I’m doing: I use OneNote — one section of a notebook I designed to contain all my business planning “stuff” that’s labeled “Systems for Package A.” I have pages in that section for each module, subpages for each of those module pages that contain links to references and resources I’m using to create the documents, and then one big overview page. When I’m done creating a particular module, I link to it in the appropriate notebook page.
So, I’m working on gathering resources and references for one particular module. But I keep running across all these other really cool resources — for other modules.
Decision time! Do I:
Hop and skip all over my notebook, putting each link into the appropriate page?or
Ignore them, sticking to the topic at hand?
It seems like #1 would be wiser, doesn’t it? But then I realized what will happen. With my overloading tendencies, I’ll get swamped, overwhelmed, and eventually give up. I’m using the same reliable sites over and over — it’s not like I’m going to forget which sites to research. So, why would it be necessary to note each one as I go?
On the other hand, if I stick to the task at hand –writing down reference sources for this particular module’s topics — I’m more likely to finish the damn thing before the turn of the next century.
Which is a good thing. Also? An improvement. I’ll take it.
Lesson learned: Adequate self-knowledge — understanding how and where I usually went off-track in the past — helps me improve my business results by choosing a different path.
Another lesson learned: FOCUS, damn it. (Or, phrased differently: Ignore the noise – and when you’re staying on task, anything that is not directly and immediately relevant to the task at hand is noise.)
As I wrote here yesterday, I’m engaging in a little blog experiment. The hypothesis is this: I can significantly improve my business by utilizing the framework of Christine Kane’s Uplevel Your Business product, coupled with the freely available materials on her blog and prior open coaching calls.
The business I’m trying to uplevel in this “DIY” approach is The Inspired Solo, where I offer online marketing coaching and products to solo service professionals.
I’m recounting my attempts here on this blog because it might be interesting and useful to othersmall business owners.
The Week One Focus: Mindset of the New Creative
According to the outline of UYB on the sales page, the week one focus is on creating a new mindset for the “new creative” business owner. Christine works primarily with women and she herself is a performer (singer/songwriter) in addition to being a coach but I don’t think she means “artist” when she says “creative (person)” — I think she’s referring more to a creative approach to both business and life.
Come to think of it, aren’t we all really creatives? We’re either selling something or some service that we create. Even if we only sell stuff other people make or their services, we have to create our businesses. So, there’s that.
But this update isn’t so much about Module #1 because, as I said in the headline, I’m already off schedule. But it’s a good thing, I swear!
My Big Need: Systems
My lack of systemization in my TIS business is sort of symptomatic of the whole problem, I think. I constantly reinvent the wheel with my clients, or have so far. I didn’t have a consistent, organized, automatic workflow set up for the packages and service combinations I created.
I told myself that the good part of my reaction-mode approach was that I was forced to be responsive to each individual client. But it became pretty apparent early on that if I had systems in place, I could be even more responsive.
But finding time to actually sit there and create those systems — a whole other kettle of fish.
Until now, that is. Oh yeah. I made some systems.
My New Systems
I identified several needs for systems in my business, but focused yesterday and today on one in particular: the blog coaching package/product. Most of my income flows from this product, and so it seemed like the appropriate place to start.
Here’s how I did it:
I went through a make-believe client who purchases this product start to finish and noted down in broad strokes what I do at each stage.
I double-checked my imaginary client work flow against the last three clients who went through this program.
Working in a weekly format (which is the way the program’s designed loosely), I firmed up what each week is “about” in terms of creating, launching, promoting, and growing a business blog.
I divided the entire program into ten modules (the program lasts twelve weeks but some clients need more time on one subject than another, and so I wanted to build in a little wiggle room).
I created a template document for each module to convey the basic information each client needs to take away. This way, I hope, we’ll be able to focus on implementing that information in each week’s coaching call.
I’ve finalized the first two modules and plan to get the rest done by Monday.
Then I drafted a work flow description, starting with intake and going through emailing each module document, and finishing with an “exit interview” of sorts.
Personal Reflections on Creating Business Systems
I have to say, the psychological impact alone of having this system (mostly) finalized is amazing. I feel much calmer and more in control of the whole thing. It’s just one product but it’s the main product and that’s a pretty big burden off my shoulders. To have this process become automatic will save me a lot of time and stress.
Getting Back on Track
After I get the system for the blog coaching package finished, I’m going to go through Christine’s blog and pick out the key blog posts I think are relevant to this concept of the “new creative” mindset. I may also supplement that with some other resources (from other authors) that struck me as particularly interesting and/or helpful during my mad search for “help.”
And I’ll share those here in the next post, of course.
In the meantime, you can also keep track of and discuss this experiment using hashtag #cke on Twitter. I’m tweeting my updates on the experiment from @sherriesisk. Also, be sure to follow @christinekane, too!
Those who read my Inspired Solo blog know by now I’m a huge fan of Christine Kane. She’s a business and life coach/singer/songwriter who lives in lovely Asheville, NC (one of my two dream towns, by the way), whose writing style has always appealed to me. She’s forthright, elevated without being too “woo-woo”/”New Agey” for popular tastes, and just knows her shit pretty solidly.
Christine has this new product out now – well, not new so much as relaunched, I guess — called “Uplevel Your Business.” And from the first pre-launch tease, I was hooked. It sounded like exactly what I was needing for my TIS business.
About TIS the Business
Now, a brief digression: for those who know me primarily from Tramadol Diaries or this blog, TIS might be unfamiliar. That’s a business I started a few years ago as a sideline when I was a lawyer. It began strictly as a personal writing space, but evolved a few months later into a very part-time coaching business, where I helped other lawyers with online marketing — blogging, in particular.
After the fall from grace, I needed some income fast (after the initial debilitating health crisis calmed down sufficiently to even let me work at all, that is). And the TIS gig seemed like a good fit for me. It’s something I’m interested in and enjoy doing. So I relaunched the site, cleaned up the site’s theme and categories, and expanded it into something looking like a real business, targeting any solo entrepreneur offering professional services as opposed to just lawyers, with packaged services and prices and the whole shebang.
Now — as in right now, I mean — I have a handful of clients. I’m in what Christine calls “survival mode.” That is to say, I’m reacting to everything. I get desperate when the ends of client contracts loom in the near future, and go nuts trying to find something – anything - to fill the time and the pay the bills.
Right away, I realized something profoundly simple: “Y’know, this really isn’t the most productive way to go about managing a business.”
I knew I needed some help. But what? And from which source?
“Looking for Help” Does Not Equal “Getting the Help You Need”
I began voraciously clipping articles and blog posts from a zillion sources into my Evernote notebook titled “TIS Plans.” At first, I tried to tag them appropriately as I entered the clippings, but soon even that got to be too much. I couldn’t keep up with the sheer volume of content I was finding, and it wasn’t organized, and, damn, I haven’t even gotten around to reading half this shit yet.
Insert overwhelmed face HERE:
How I Felt -- OK, OK, How I FEEL
So, yeah. That was me. Is me, on some days. OK, OK, most days. Geez.
I needed answers, and I needed some help but I was suffering from a glut of content – which is why I kind of hate that word right now, by the way — and though I felt like I already knew most of this crap already, I didn’t know how to implement it effectively in my own business. I couldn’t find the time to sit down and engage in what Christine refers to as “genius thinking” — that high-level vision-planning creative thinking that we all need to do to keep our businesses moving towards a grander purpose and goal.
Uplevel Your Business (Re)Debuts
So then I learn from Christine’s list that she’s relaunching Uplevel Your Business. And I sign up for one call — and, life intervenes. And I miss it. But I check out her sales page, and I listen to the video, and then I manage to get on another call where she answered some questions left over from the first call.
I was seriously trying to figure out how to enroll, when it suddenly hit me: I can’t. I don’t mean “I can’t afford to” — as in “I technically have the money but just can’t persuade myself to invest in my business at the present time.” I mean I don’t have the freaking money. It’s just not there.
Well, that’s symptom #1 of a larger problem in the business, but we already knew it needed some help.
An Idea Is Born And I Have Oprah to Thank For It
Actually, to be completely accurate, I have this woman to thank for it. Her name is Robyn Okrant, and for a year in 2008 she conducted a nifty little thought/life experiment, with herself as the guinea pig, by following all of Oprah’s advice for that year. If Oprah recommended a black skirt, she bought a black skirt. If Oprah said “Read this book,” she read the book. You get the idea.
Somehow, Robyn’s endeavor came to mind as I was sitting there, moping about the fact I couldn’t sign up for Christine’s program. I don’t know how. How do these things ever happen? Like every cool idea lately, it seems, it starts with some off-the-wall mash-up. Living Oprah + “I need business help” + (Uplevel Your Business - actual ability to participate) = ….
Hmm.
Three Months of DIY Upleveling
So this is my plan:
Using only the freely available materials posted at Christine’s blog and the main page of Uplevel Your Business, plus the notes I took during that second call, I’m going to follow along with the 100 lucky Uplevelers and work on my business the Christine Kane way.
Now, I’m not even sure this is completely possible — there’s a lot of information unique to the UYB program I’m simply not going to have access to. I’m not going to cheat though and try to find someone willing to take pity on me and leak it to me. First, I have too much respect for Christine to do that, and second … it’s cheating! I don’t cheat. I want this to be an honest experiment.
Why am I doing this? First and foremost, for me. I need to get my business in shape, and this method really resonated with me.
Well and good, I guess, but it doesn’t explain why I’m doing it publicly. That’s a far trickier question and to be completely upfront, I’m not really sure. The blogger in me thinks it’s cool to do stuff like this in the open. The business owner is verrrry squeamish about putting the inner workings of my business out there for the world to see.
Again, being upfront about this means I must disclose from the outset: there will most certainly be stuff I do in this program that I won’t write about, at least not in detail. I can’t say what that is yet, but it’s a possibility I must acknowledge.
That said, I do plan to be as upfront about it all as possible.
And I guess that leads me to the real “why”: because it might help other women make successes out of their businesses, too. Hey, if nothing else, it’ll show you guys what doesn’t work. But I’ll say this now (and probably a few more times in this grand experiment to boot): any failures are mine and mine alone, and not Christine’s.
It’s not going to be a review of UYB, let me make that clear. I don’t have access to that product and that’s not what I’m about here, anyway. My purpose is strictly to see what kind of results I get adopting one single “methodology” instead of hunting and gathering a bunch of different resources and trying to cobble something coherent together out of that hodgepodge.
The Basic Plan
Christine’s sales page on the UYB site is my main syllabus. It notes that UYB is divided into twelve modules, which are summarized below:
The New Mindset — the “new creative” paradigm of doing business. Thinking differently about doing business.
Uplevel Your List — how to start creating your list by identifying your “peeps”
List Building Bootcamp — specifics and mechanics of building and using your “peeps” list
Uplevel Your Website — common mistakes in business websites, the 3 kinds of sites and which one to choose, creating connections and capturing leads, rules for effective opt-in boxes
Social Media Strategies — using Twitter, etc., wisely and productively to drive traffic to your site
Uplevel Your Offer — packaging, products, and pricing
Uplevel Your Launch — selling products and services, how to create and run an effective launch, including testimonials
Uplevel Your Systems — creating systems to end “chaos” and how to build systems over time
Uplevel Your Team — how and when to delegate and outsource
Uplevel Your Image — “how to use video to build your empire”(NB: — eep!)
Uplevel Copy Writing — self-explanatory
Uplevel Your Habits — how to adopt practices to become CEO of “Brand You”
So, my plan is to adopt a weekly schedule and go through each topic one by one. I’ll use Christine’s syllabus as the guideline, and her blog as my main source of “wisdom” or material. I’ll supplement wherever I need to with other coaches’ material — but the catch is it all must be freely available online.
Can I get my business geared up and – well – upleveled?
Stay tuned! (“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can….”)
In October 1994, I was a second-year law student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. (Apologies to the school for publicly admitting this fact, but it’s relevant to what lies ahead in this post.)
I’d just won the arguments portion of the school’s Moot Court competition by decision of the state’s Supreme Court, and was riding pretty high from that major boost to my very shaky confidence as a lawyer-in-training. And as I started to come down off that high, I gradually became aware of the big news story in the Palmetto State at the time: the disappearance of Susan Smith’s two sons in nearby Union, SC.
“Everyone Thinks She Did It”
I remember watching the news in a Five Points bar as I gobbled down a cheeseburger with my best friend Lex, a classmate and my “second in command” for the national Moot Court team I was going to be heading in the spring, and discussed strategy with her. One of us — I don’t remember who — commented “Everyone thinks she did it” and the other — again, no idea which one — concurred that something was definitely amiss with this young mother’s television appearances thus far.
And then, as we ate, the news team cut to a live press conference being given by Union’s Sheriff Howard Wells, in which he announced that he had just arrested Susan Smith for the murder of her sons.
I remember when he said the word “murder” there was an audible gasp. At first I thought it was the other patrons in the bar, who like me had stopped eating and glued their attention to the big TV mounted in the corner. Then I realized it was coming from the reporters at the press conference.
It was a small detail but it spoke volumes about how the nation as a whole, and South Carolina in particular, had become personally invested in this tragedy. That professional, national reporters would react personally to hearing the shocking news — that they’d lose even for a moment their calm detachment — said more about how we’d all been affected by this story than any essay or front-page story ever could.
David Bruck, Attorney at Law
A few months later, we learned that another classmate had, enviably (by second-year law student standards) secured a position as an unpaid volunteer clerk position with Smith’s defense team, led by David Bruck, a well-known criminal defense attorney in Columbia (who now is apparently in Virginia, working at that state’s Capital Case Clearinghouse). She couldn’t tell us much, of course — she too was bound by client confidentiality — but the inside connection just made us more intrigued by this story.
As details began to emerge — Susan’s history of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather, the suicidal tendencies, the severe depression, her divorce, her Cinderella romance with the local rich kid that turned sour when he confessed in a “Dear Jane” letter that he didn’t want children — I felt myself even more torn over this case. What she’d done was so horrific, so monstrously cruel that I struggled with my life-long opposition to the death penalty.
On the other hand, something in her pained, kewpie-doll face triggered some kind of sympathy in me. Surely she needed some help of a psychological nature — this much was clear.
During the trial, most of us in the law school rolled our eyes at the attempt by the solicitor Tommy Pope to portray Susan as some glinty-eyed cold-blooded killer. This case was just not that simple, and all the hard-lined insistence of the solicitor wasn’t changing a thing.
Comparatively, Susan’s defense team — especially David Bruck — was consistently and sincerely above the fray. They didn’t “use” the media. They buckled down and did their jobs, without trying to excuse her behavior or portray her as the victim, even as they laid out the facts of her history. No one on the team let her off the hook with the ultimate responsibility for what she’d done, yet they skillfully wove the big picture, even as Pope and his team kept hammering away at the microscopic view.
It was astounding how they did that, and it was an amazing live education for us baby lawyers-to-be.
And they accomplished the goal. They saved her life. Susan was sentenced to life, eligible for parole in 2024.
For the first time in my life, I find myself angry over such a claim. Personally, deeply angry and personally, deeply offended.
Bruck was and remains the quintessential gentleman attorney. He is skilled, articulate, sensitive to the needs of justice and zealous in his advocacy for his clients. It’s a fine line that not many can walk. Bruck always walked it. I didn’t know him personally — met him once, I think, at some function or other. But I know his work, and this filing actually makes me mad.
Smith claims specifically, according to the published reports, that Bruck et al. should have used her past abuse as an alibi. Which would, legally (if I remember correctly) completely excuse her from any and all legal liability for the killings.
But the reason Bruck’s defense of Smith worked in the first place is that they specifically did not try to escape liability for the deaths. Instead, they basically told the jury, “Yes, she did an awful thing, and you need to look at this in context of the larger whole of her sad, sorry life.”
And Smith’s apparent backing of that approach is what convinced so many of us back then that justice had been served.
Her new filing makes it quite clear we were all hoodwinked. She hasn’t taken responsibility for jack shit, pardon my French. She played us all, pure and simple, and deserves no further consideration.
Life Should Mean “Life” – Period
None of this is to suggest I believe Smith should have been executed. More than ever I am convinced that capital punishment is just flat-out wrong, and any attraction we as humans have to the death penalty is based purely on our baser natures, not our higher and moral selves.
But to charge this excellent attorney with incompetence, and in so doing erase any doubts we might have had about her intentions that chilly night in October 1994 — well, that’s unforgivable.
She needs to — and will — stay where she is. What I find myself wishing for now is life without parole, so she can live the rest of her days feeling the full brunt of the disgust she’s earned from the world.
Six Minutes
Six minutes. That’s how long it took for that little Mazda to fill with water. That’s how long those little boys sat in the back, safely and securely strapped into their child safety seats, watching the cold waters of John D. Long Lake rise up to meet them. Six freaking minutes.
Once upon a time, I had a family of five. Myself, two parents, two others. Dad died first, in 1993, and that was probably no small part of why I guilted myself into going to law school that year. My bad decision, not his fault.
Then my oldest brother died in 2004, and finally our mom, two years later. I’d watched her care for her firstborn while he died, and then I did the same for her. And the only wish I had, knowing that the end was coming, was that he — my last remaining family member – would be there at the end. He’d been robbed of that experience by death’s bitch-slap-perfect timing with both of the earlier deaths.
And I got my wish. Mom passed as peacefully as I think was possible under the circumstances, early in the morning, with just the two of us there beside her.
Back up a few years. When my mother’s mother died, and then a short time later her father, we watched in horror as the extended family sort of fell apart a little bit over the remains of two long lives. I comforted myself with the belief that it would never go down like that for us. We, I said to myself, are reasonable people. We’d never act like that.
And now, jump forward to today. I’ve lost my last family member — the one I readily confess to having worshiped my entire life, even as I know you shouldn’t have favorites (but oh God, I did).
How the hell did this happen?
I’d like to blame death. I really would like to sit here and conclude that it’s inevitable, in the face of grief and loss, that families will disintegrate when the last remaining “glue” dissolves. (There’s always at least one person that holds the rest of you together, you know?)
But the truth is, I’m forced to an entirely different conclusion, and it grieves me as much as any of those three deaths did: my idol just doesn’t like me. I’m not sure but I suspect he never really has, because he’s never known me, really, and any relationship I thought we had was based on my own false perceptions.
After reading the last in a flurried exchange of angry missives, part of me wants to proclaim “Money. It’s all about the goddamned money, or the lack of it.”
But that’s not true either.
I can’t tell you what it is about, to be honest. I am nowhere near clear enough on this incredibly traumatic event to make any kind of conclusions that would hold up to scrutiny. I feel raw. I feel robbed. I feel assaulted — by this shit-storm of confusion, anger, and hurt feelings that tsunami’d us both away from each other.
All I know is that I cannot — I will not allow myself to be put down any longer. Not by him, not by anyone else. Even if it means losing my last link to my childhood – my last family member. I’d rather be alone than acquiesce to a relationship that’s dependent on one person’s emotional needs being swept aside in favor of the other’s desires and comforts, over and over again.
I’d rather be alone than continue hammering out some sick relationship built on someone’s perception of me that’s so skewed, so faulty, so plain erroneous that I can’t even begin to untangle it and show him where he’s wrong, a string of beliefs and opinions that’s tangled together like a handful of skinny gold chains tossed into the corner of a jewelry box for years.
It’s enough for me right now to know this has turned toxic and it’s no good, for either of us. And if what’s required is that I disengage completely, then so be it. After multiple attempts to “communicate” that ended only in nothing being said or resolved but only compounded the hurt and anger … well, you can only try so many times before you just give up.
I realized just how broken this relationship really is when I saw the last missive — a part of which recounted a trip Princess and I took up there a few years ago for Christmas. He blasted it as “uncomfortable,” saying I was “unpleasant to be around” — full of “snippy one-word answers.”
That’s strange, because both Princess and I remember it as the last happy time we all had together. I remember sitting around the Christmas tree we’d brought, playing Monopoly and laughing so hard our sides hurt. I remember taking walks, and driving around to see the lights with them, and lots of laughter and fun. And yes, one moment when he and his wife both jumped down my throat when I asked a simple, stupid question (something about restaurants, if I’m not mistaken in this recollection?), but other than that, just a fun, joyous time.
Yes. That read “utility.” As in “usefulness,” “efficacy,” “propensity for helpful assistance.” Not “distraction.” Not “time-waster.” Not “great big sucking black hole of energy and productivity.”
That might seem to be a bold statement. After all, is there any group of artists more known for having difficulties actually sitting down and doing the work? Witness “writer’s block” — as if it’s something that gets thrown into our path by some mysterious third party — as if we ourselves bear no responsibility for it whatsoever. (But on that point, I digress. Another time, another post.)
And is there anything more known for distraction-creation and procrastination-enabling than Twitter? It’s sort of the very definition of a time-suck, bombarding the writer with all that ubiquitous “content” (a word I’m coming to hate more and more, every day) from a kazillion different sources, complete with links to even more distraction providers.
So, how can Twitter help writers stay productive and do the work?
1. Following Agents and Editors For Valuable Input
When you follow literary agents and editors who are willing to share some valuable tips and advice on how to get your manuscript noticed and appreciated by the gatekeepers, you win big time. That’s a huge advantage over the competition — you know, all those other writers out there, not on Twitter, not receiving those golden nuggets, whose manuscripts are also cluttering those agents’ desks.
2. Connect With Other Writers to Share the Journey and Advice
Twitter’s at its best when you use it to foster networking relationships, no matter what your business is. If your business is writing, though, you really need to work on building those relationships with other writers, as well as industry professionals. Your fellow writers are one of the best sources of wisdom on overcoming the struggles we all face on the road to success and that first three-book deal, not to mention personal introductions to their own literary agents.
But don’t go into any Twitter relationship — or, heck, any relationship on- or offline for that matter — with the mindset of “What’s in it for me?” That ought to go without saying, so of course, it needs to be said twice: Nobody enjoys being used. Work on building real friendships, based on mutual interests and give-and-take that’s balanced.
Finding Writers on Twitter:
How do you find writers on Twitter? Simple: Go to Twibes.com and join a Twibe. The “writers” twibe as of this writing has over 1500 members, and there are a good number of more specific groups that have sprung up built around geography or genre. Join one or more, or create your own.
3. Engage in Writing Chats to Keep Yourself Accountable
This is probably my favorite aspect to making Twitter useful. Here’s a fabulously handy schedule for several well-known Twitter writing chats courtesy InkyGirl (@InkyElbows). The principle is pretty simple: using a certain hashtag (the # symbol followed by a short word or series of characters describing a topic), a group of tweeps engage in a group chat about a particular topic. Some are scheduled for certain days; others are ongoing. The InkyGirl post has a pretty succinct explanation of this.
Finally, use technology to help you keep all this straight. Use your lists feature to sort out writers from editors from agents. Then use a dedicated column or window in your Twitter client (and please tell me you’re not still using the native Twitter web interface) to keep the chats permanently displayed. This helps you keep up with the conversations.
Conclusion: Twitter Helps – But You Still Have to Write
Twitter can be helpful for writers. But — and here’s the big caveat — you still have to go do the work. If you find yourself writing — or tweeting — about writing, instead of actually writing, then it’s time to turn off the client, disconnect the internet access and get your head back in your work.
You've stumbled upon (or StumbledUpon) the personal blog of Sherrie Sisk -- former actress turned bartender turned disgraced lawyer turned successful-ish marketing consultant and newbie writer. Want more? Go here to my About page.
Twitterific!
Still having that #headache. Starting to think it's a longrunning migraine. Doesn't hurt so bad today, though.March 12, 2010 - 5:56 PM
@sharonrainey That's a good idea. Are those things accurate, though?March 12, 2010 - 2:27 PM
Having either high blood pressure headache or a fibro-related migraine. Feels more like latter. Going offline. I feel toxic. :( #fibroMarch 12, 2010 - 12:54 AM
Whoot! Facebook FTW! Betty White WILL host Saturday Night Live May 8th in special Mother's Day episode!March 11, 2010 - 5:41 PM
How do you guys blow off steam from a busy or stressful day? Looking for tons of ideas for a new TIS post, so let's hear your best ones!March 11, 2010 - 4:28 PM
Twitter must be busy this AM! Hootsuite's in the weeds.March 11, 2010 - 4:26 PM
(Oh, and don’t think you got away with anything with those ellipses, missy. I know exactly what you meant to say there — and, honestly, I kinda agree with that more than the word you chose, but – hey, it’s all good.)