Power of two

I always think that women sometimes have a disadvantage when it comes to business because most of us have been raised, as good girls, to be modest about our own accomplishments. (Maybe I am universalizing my own personal disadvantage, but it has held true for many of the women with whom I am in contact.) When you are trying to make a name for yourself in your given arena, it is hard to market yourself and still remain humble (that oh-so attractive feminine trait). I know that when I write any blurbs or press for myself, I need to write it in third person. I can do it, if I pretend to be someone other than the subject. So, what is a woman to do when she has to go out into the world and forge new territory?

I've found something that works for me and the natural inclination of women to network and nurture: the buddy system. Yesterday, I went to Moon Dancer Winery to scope out the place for my show. I took my friend with me. She is a faux painter. We talked with the owner of the winery and came to found out she wanted some rooms of her house painted. My friend stepped up to the plate and gave her contact information, but I was able to supply the kudos for all the gorgeous work my friend has done int he past. I'm not saying that she couldn't have been her own sales force, but sometimes it helps to have someone else carry your banner.

I know this has worked for me when I went gallery hopping in New Hope. Another friend of mine went with me and was able to give a gallery owner some bragging points about my writing and painting that I would have been too inhibited to reveal. As a result, I made a connection with a gallery owner that I would not ordinarily have made on my own.

And if that friend bit doesn't work for you--consider taking your mom with you on your next business meeting. If your mom can't brag about your good points, nobody can.

The Machine

My labor day weekend was spent--in labor. I was working on the old marketing machine. I designed postcards for my upcoming art show, business cards for my studio partner, and last but not least, a fall newsletter to send as a mass email. As per the suggestion of another author friend of mine, I found a site from which to compose, send, and manage mass emails. It has been my goal to put out a quarterly newsletter--not so often that I am annoying, but often enough that I manage to keep my brand of writing/art on everybody's mind.
My first effort seems to have failed miserably. I had finished the newsletter design on Monday, but decided to wait and send it out until I looked it over one more time. Kids left for school on Tuesday, and I planned to write for the entire day--after taking 5 minutes to upload my newsletter and send it out. No problem. Wrong! I spent the entire rest of the day trying to reformat the mailing to work with the website. When my first efforts failed, I decided to go back and redesign the thing as a webpage. The distribution site had a place to just insert a URL. There's the ticket, I thought. I am not a natural web designer. The whole process is counter-intuitive to me. I worked for 15 years as a CAD designer, but the HTML and CSS is baffling. Still, I persevered and got it done--only to discover that the site doesn't accept CSS (or any other kind of formatting, apparently). But no CSS? That's the way the textbook taught me. I don't even know another way to design. I considered just plugging my information into the site's pre-programmed newsletters, but I find their formats too limiting. So after 8 hours of fruitlessness, I surrendered to a bubble bath. I wished I would have had cucumbers to put over my eyes, because they were bugging out.
Today, I have vowed to write and paint and forget about the newsletter. It will get out later. Maybe. I don't know why I am pushing myself so hard in this way. I guess I just want to know that I did everything in my power to launch my book, my art show, and my workshops. I want to do what I need to do to ensure that I will have success in my chosen path so I can do what I love more of the time. I just wish I knew where to put my time and marketing money for the most effect. Here's a link for those of you who would like to see the newsletter.