Trends in Marketing

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Cleaning House

This time of year is a really good time to not only reflect on the year past, look forward to the year ahead but also clean house. What I mean by this is update your network [address book], update your website, update Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and write a new blog if you haven't in a while. Check out new trends in the industry, review your business and marketing plans and make sure you are on track with your business relationships in 2011. I pride myself on being the Martha Stewart of business. Organization is the key to success!

1. Update your Networks
Now is a good time to go through your address book and make sure all your connections are clean. This became most apparent to me with a client recently who gave me his address book to clean up for some eMarketing. I was appalled. A business that I had worked at years ago was still in his address book along with several others as we sent out the mailing. I asked him when the last time was he cleaned up his address book. You know what the answer was? Never. As someone who prides herself on my connections I was appalled. Not keeping up with your connections says that you don't care. So many businesses are all about bulk. But the really positive connections that will bring you results are the ones you form and grow. I was once given the advice my a trusted colleague to go through and call or email [or Facebook or Linkedin or Tweet] at least one of your connections a day and keep notes on the response. Favorite restaurant, kid's names... literal notes on this person. It shows them you are personal and above all keeps you in the forefront of their mind and most importantly their business radar.

2. Update your Website
When was the last time you checked the traffic of your site, updated press news and searched for your business on Google to see the results? Now is a really good time to do this. Search engines are constant. In the old days marketers went looking for customers. Now it is the customers that come looking for us. You need to constantly optimize, measure and modify. Make sure your keywords and page titles are what you want and differentiate from one another. Check your meta data, links and site architecture especially if your business had any sort of shift this past year. And if you don't know how to do any of these things, hire an analyst to do it for you. This is something you must have running at full throttle.

3. Update your Social Media
This should be updated at least daily but if you haven't been on your SM sites in a while, why on earth not? If you are too busy (which I can only hope for your business) hire a marketer to put together a plan and then hire an intern to implement the plan. The plan could be for the entire 2011 year. Build a group of news sources that you follow such as Advertising Age, Entrepreneur and HubSpot for daily news. Read articles of interest and post them to your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. Use quotes, images, videos and your blog to post on other days. The more you do it the more you will have to say and the more your audience will see you. But be careful. Make sure this is relevant to your business and not intrusive or annoying. You want to grow your audience and have them interact, not make them mad and leave your page. You wont get them back.

4. Review your Business Plan and Marketing/Sales Plan
This is always good to do at least once a year if not quarterly to make sure you are on track. Make adjustments as necessary and follow-through. If you do not have a business plan or a marketing/sales plan please get one. This is a very important step for long-term success and consistent results.

Lastly, once you clean house and feel ready to face the new year with a solid business foundation send out a Happy Holidays email with a BRIEF recap of your year, your product/services and warm tidings. And don't forget to also let your employees know how much you appreciate them too. It doesn't cost anything to let your business backbone know how important they are to the success of your business.

Be careful who you work with

I realize that I am not exactly a veteran in the workforce but as an Entrepreneur who time and time again puts myself out there (like a single woman looking to marry) I have taken away a few things that I must (if only) reiterate to myself. You are not meant to work with everyone, be careful who you work with and don’t take everything personal, its business.

Lets start with "your are not meant to work with everyone" -- if you remember anything in business relations it is this little tidbit. I am a firm believer of this. Just like you are not meant to be in a relationship with everyone. Some work, some clearly do not. Recently I had a fellow colleague ask me for some advice. While I am not an attorney or a therapist I do appreciate that colleagues do ask my for advice as a business and consultant. He was stressing about a potential client that wanted a quote for some design work done. This potential client was firm about only paying a set price for his services and no more. He even leveraged my friend by telling him he knew exactly where their business could get it done for that price if he could not meet it. Ok, let it go. I have cut my ties with these potential client bullies long ago. They are not respectful of your profession, they don't understand your work and your business is better off without them. You know why? Because all that time and energy can either be spent on growing your own business or working with clients who you want to work with because they respect your work. But the economy makes people feel desperate [on both sides] and these bullies are throwing punches left and right to try and score a good deal. Save yourself and walk away. The bully game never stops and suddenly the client is running your show. When I worked in publishing it was the same way, the smallest ad requires the most attention. So many employee hours were spent on these client bullies and in the long run not worth it. You are better spending your time going after big fish then coddling little ones.

On the other side of the coin from this is "be careful who you work with" -- this one can hurt your business if you are not careful. I know this from experience. If you haven't had a red flag go up at the beginning of the process and suddenly you are in the middle of a job and a red flag not only goes up but drapes itself all over you it is time to get out. This is where there needs to be a clause in your contract that if an unethical behavior or differences of interest require you to break ties. This is where you will thank your sweet ass that you hired a good attorney to represent your business and formed a relationship early on. People can be crooked. Businesses can be crooked and before you go down with the ship GET OUT!

Lastly, don't take everything so personally. I need to remember this not just as a creative and a business owner but also as a woman. Business can be personal and above all should be, but its not. It can be shrewd and crude. It will make you second guess your company and your talent if you let it. Just be secure in your business, keep your blinders on to the nay-sayers and keep feelings out of it. Money is mostly the bottom line and money has no feelings it has a business to run. Always represent that business with professionalism and a clear focus of what your goal is. And when all else fails a really stiff drink at the end of the day.

Getting Creative with Promotion

Tonight I met with my new good friend and attorney to discuss our businesses. She is starting up a brilliant new idea that White Space will be marketing and in return White Space will retain her services and advice (while we both enjoy endless happy hours).

What I have come to realize as the new year has shifted into high gear and motivation slips into low is that when business is not quite making the numbers promotion needs to be at peak performance. Lately what I have been equating this to is 90% promotion and 10% client work. In order to secure new clients you need to be out there promoting yourself. This can be an overwhelming process while you play all roles of the production. Consultants are great but they are there to make money. The promotion aspect of things is about using resources in combination with your own resources to reap results. In the past two months I have secured an association that I have exchanged dues for social media services, another networking group to exchange marketing for promotion and have been a supporting role in a charitable organization. These are prime creative ways that you can continue to promote your business.

Other sources of promotion can come from a local university or technical college or even in a job finder for someone who may not have a degree but an interest in working with your company in exchange for experience. Something you simply cannot put a price tag on.

I have also realized you need motivation from your business associates that surround you. Finding those people is as simple as feeling a connection with someone at a networking event and inviting them to bounce ideas around with you. The relationship that can build is powerful and priceless.

So even though times are tough and everyone is feeling the business hunger pangs, get out there and network, talk, blog, read, learn, share and grow as a business. And when all of this recession stuff is over you will be that much stronger and ready to take on more than ever!

the super-store vs the super-device

Is the electronic device becoming the super-store of media? In it's path taking down music stores, book stores, newspapers and concierges just to pin-prick the surface? I had to ask myself this question as I see not just small shops closing their doors but super-stores themselves closing up shop on magnificent miles to the north and south, east and west. It makes me wonder who will survive in this time of electronic media development and conquest?

In 1998 we watched as Kathleen Kelly in the movie You've Got Mail closed her doors to her "Shop Around the Corner" and ponder the thought: "People are always saying that change is a good thing. But all they're really saying is that something you didn't want to happen at all... has happened. My store is closing this week. I own a store, did I ever tell you that? It's a lovely store, and in a week it'll be something really depressing, like a Baby Gap. Soon, it'll be just a memory. In fact, someone, some foolish person, will probably think it's a tribute to this city, the way it keeps changing on you, the way you can never count on it, or something..." In the movie, "Shop Around the Corner" was being taken over by the big, bad "FoxBooks" telling for the late nineties as big, bad super-stores everywhere were taking over the land. "Because we're going to sell them cheap books and legal addictive stimulants. In the meantime, we'll just put up a big sign: "Coming soon: a FoxBooks superstore and the end of civilization as you know it."

But business is not a superstar, it just plays one in the movies. And electronic devices are not big, bad superstores taking over the land, eating up natural resources and paving over landscapes. In fact, are they even putting anyone out of business? Or have we just under-sized ourselves with a compact way to shop? As sales heat up in the music, book and tourism world after a cold two years do we actually have these devices to thank? For giving us the shoe and jewelry of the month club right from our smart phone and shipped conveniently from a warehouse in a area that may have needed jobs -- for a flat fee? For allowing us to not just read a book on the subway but actually download it and read it on our hand-held devices?

And while it is sad to see stores close and jobs shift to other places in the cyclical way of the working society, don't shed a tear quite yet... there will be another one in it's place soon enough and until then... you always have the super-store conveniently located at your desk, in your bag or right in the palm of your hand still ready to take your money. And if you miss the cha-ching of their registers -- I think there may be an app for that.

Visual Identity

So it is time to give yourself a visual image. Congrats! But before you call an agency you should have a well thought out plan for what you want to do. Unless of course you want to spend more money. Then of course by all means let us do that for you. Have a clear focus. Even if you don't know what you want for your own brand know what you like of other brands. Keep a brand "like" folder and a brand "dislike" folder so you can better determine how your brand will visually feel.

What I am going to say may surprise you but don't spend all of your time on your logo. I know this sounds like strange advice coming from a marketing/design agency but I see so many clients who put so much into visual identity without understanding exactly what good brand recognition is. I know this is also going to tick off a lot of my design colleagues but I am also a business owner who re-launched during a recession and trust me when I say money needs to stretch. Keep it simple!! A logo is not the voice of your business it is the recognition of your business. This is confusing to a lot of new business start-ups but there is a huge difference. The voice of your business is told through your marketing plan and your logo or visual identity is told through repetition of the plan. It is just a piece of your advertising. Now here is a valuable piece of advice. No matter who creates this artwork for you make sure they create it as a vector image. This is usually created in a professional design program such as Adobe Illustrator. This vector image is the raw format of your logo. A good designer will supply you with your logo in .ai, .eps as well as compressed into a .jpeg or .tif along with a .pdf of the logo in K (shades of black) as well as in either one to four press colors C (Cyan) M (Magenta) Y (Yellow) and in a spot color which can be one of hundreds of thousands (best for business cards!) with a .pdf guide of all of these formats. This is part of the visual identity map and what your money is paying for. The designer should then supply to you to keep in a safe and well-know place as well as backed up on a media platform of a CD or DVD. This is a VERY important step because this is your identity. It would be like losing your social security number. NOT good. I cannot tell you how many times I hear a DOS or DOM tell me that the original agency that created their identity is no longer representing them and they don't have access to their files but they do have something that you can scan? That is not gonna work people. Follow this advice and it will save you time, money and lots of hair that you will pull out on the eleventh hour while you search the entire company storeroom and hard drive for any sign of it.

Once you know that you need to implement your visual brand into self-identity. In addition to business cards make sure to implement your logo on your emails, social media, ad campaigns and any other creative ideas you may have for placement. For example recently I was in a store specializing in body products and was buying a small gift to bring home to my mother. I asked if they had a little bag thinking like a sturdy little handle bag that I could give to my mother. Nothing wrapped just a little gift in their own bag. Not only did they not have one but they wanted to charge me $5 for a gift bag. For a company that specializes in small gift products they don't follow through with their final delivery of self-identity and are trying to make money off of their own visual identity. It is your biggest advertising so put it everywhere and don't be cheap with your customer. If you have to factor a few more pennies into your products to give a nicely wrapped package -- then do it!

One more area I want to cover with visual identity is when a business has too many brands under one umbrella. We all know Entrepreneurs have like a million ideas going through their minds on a daily basis. Everything is an opportunity. But you don't have to pull out a bag of tricks in every shape and size to brand your services. For instance I ran into a friend recently that is an idea Entrepreneur. A really successful one too. Problem is he had too many brands and they were not housed under one umbrella. He kept handing me business cards from different pockets. I kept waiting for the rabbit and colored scarves to come out next. It was like a business cardapolooza. I was so confused. I could not keep them straight and honestly knowing he is on facebook just threw the cards away and thought if I ever need X I will just call him. Don't brand overload your potential customers (or your friends for that matter). Take one main brand and make it the umbrella that houses the rest. Always remember that less is more. It is a rule that never gets old and never should.

Lastly, enjoy this process. It should be the funnest part of your business/marketing plan. Make it yours and own it. It is going to be your identity for (hopefully) and long, long time!

Inconvenient, convenience

Maybe we get a little too comfortable with the words that encompass the idea of "customer service" in our personal and professional lives. Customer service to me has stemmed from an uncomfortable and frustrating place not too long ago and has over time through the innovative entrepreneurial mindfulness become an idea that along with the product or service the customer's needs and expectations should be not only met but exceeded. But, I am starting to wonder if some companies provide such good customer service that our expectations set a bar too high and we become disappointed when others don't even come close to reaching it.
How are some companies still missing the mark? How can intentions be so good but they fall short every time?

Take the idea of the convenience store. Some stores have become even more convenient to offer delivery of their products. Recently I ordered a prescription online from a convenience store with a new shipping feature. The prescription needed to start on a specific day so I ordered it a week in advance thinking that would be enough time. This monthly prescription refill can be tedious to remember and with this new service the prescription is shipped right to my mailbox and requires no thought on my end other than to open the mailbox door. Genius! Very satisfied with this new-found service I went about my week and let the delivery Gods work their magic. Until Friday. I get a notice that the order had just been processed. What? 5 days to process an online order? This is medication -- is there no urgency when it comes to medication? I have been shipped business cards in less time. I figure it must be coming by Saturday and keep my fingers crossed. Till Saturday. No delivery and now I start to get nervous. How could I have relied on this company? I should have just ducked into the one of the corner stores on every other block and just had them refilled. How could I be so reliant? So lazy? So trusting? Monday rolled around and I tried to see where my order was. Still processing. Now it had been a week. Mind you if I was waiting on a back-order of a lamp shade I may have been much more patient but in this time of technology even the slowest of slow still should have shipped this product.

I go online and try to switch my delivery method to pick up. Looks like it worked but I didn't get a confirmation. By noon I walked to the end of the block (which I could have done a week ago) and try to explain the situation to the pharmacist. He has no affiliation but he could either fill my prescription at full cost or could call customer service for me and would I like to stop by later to see what they said? Now I am getting irritated. No, I will call myself. I have been far too reliant on others already. I call customer service in a panic. Now I am going on 2 days late starting my prescription. When I finally get through I explain my situation to find out, where is my order? After, she tells me it just went through on Friday so I explain again. She doesn't know what happened but would I hold and she will look into it. Looking into it meant making me wait for 5 minutes only to be greeted by someone else who would let me know it just got processed on Friday (and with unspoken words that I was being impatient). After some pieced-together sentences about their distribution chain I asked her to please cancel the order so that I could have it filled at the store I was currently waiting outside of with bulging eyes. No problem. Have the pharmacist refresh the system and it can be filled with your insurance company. Ugh. Now I am back to where I could have been one week prior. At the store, ordering my prescription in person minus the convenient service of the convenience store. After the Pharmacist and I exchanged some glances (something like he, "I hope you never place a refill while I am working again" and me, "I hope you are never working again when I refill a prescription" I waited 15 minutes while I roamed the store, bought items I didn't need and was on my way. No matter what they had won and I felt defeated. I put my faith in a business that I thought would follow through and they dropped the ball.

When it comes to expectations, are we expecting too much?

Don't go changin (unless your customers know!)

As summer is approaching I start to search for my favorite sunscreen Hawaiian Tropic. It has been a staple in my summer brand loyal product line hanging tightly with Lancome Star Bronzer and Aveda Tinted Moisturizer with sunscreen. I use the Hawaiian Tropic 30 sunscreen and I swear by it as a redhead as the only screen that allows me to spend a day in the sun without regret and still gives me a little color. I have been very brand loyal for a person that is a product-hopping-junkie.

But as I started to look for my favorite sunscreen (white bottle with the blue letters and cap) at Walgreens and Target I came up with nothing. I looked in April and May and came up lotion-less and by the time the beginning of June rolled around I thought maybe the brand had gone out of business. Hawaiian Tropic? Could it be? I know some products are having a difficult time these days but sunscreen is a hot commodity.

On my next trip to Target I thought I am going to get this figured out. I am not going to burn this summer nor succumb to shade. There must be an answer. I am a marketer that is all about solutions. And as I ran the shelves with a birds eye view there it was... a redesign. It had never occurred to me. This product has been the same since I was a kid. (Hawaiian Tropic is best remembered as the brown bottle of tanning lotion my mom and sister used on their tan bodies while I tested the latest burning, itching and useless sunblocks one after the other, burn after burn.)

This redesign is not just a color change but even the bottle is completely different. And with a quick scan of the eye a complete glance over. I love the new look (once I found it!) but why didn't I see any marketing for this new product? I reached out to Hawaiian Tropic via facebook and asked why they didn't do a campaign. I thought if I didn't find it maybe someone else couldn't either. Their response was pleasant and helpful but it only led me in the direction of posted images on their fan page and a sales site through Playtex.com -- still how would I know? I wasn't satisfied with the response. And it made me think about how if a brand such as Hawaiian Tropic has trouble launching their brand what hope does White Space Agency have? What hope do any of us have?

So what is the best way to be marketing your brand? Even with an almost 10,000 fan page base and growing on facebook (a small number compared to customer base and target market) Hawaiian Tropic is what appears to be only using a social media platform to market this new self-proclaimed luxury line. In addition, it does appear that they have also been event marketing in the warmer regions (good luck Midwesterners) and after I did find the product noticed a coupon in the Sunday Chicago Tribune. But if I didn't know they changed their look I still may not have noticed. With endless opportunities for PR and Marketing a business needs to address the question, how do you know you are reaching your potential market? Is a social media plan enough although very cost effective? Event marketing can been very productive but hardly scratch the surface of your target market not to mention being very costly. What is the right equation? And are the results being measured in a way that will be utilized to churn out further marketing efforts? These are all questions we need to evaluate to determine, how do you get the best bang at a time when the buck is not making nearly enough noise?

Building your visual brand

It has been far too long since my last blog entry, reason being I have been working on client promotion and project management as a new business and I have neglected my own social media strategy. Social media strategies require a good strategy and the time to implement them and as a budding Entrepreneur it is challenging to find the right balance, the right content and the right audience. However, now that I have addressed this neglect I must say this entry is not about social media strategies it is about brand identity and it follows how to discover the right name for your business.

Once you have started the business plan process and developed the business name the brand identity either rides in the passenger seat or follows quickly behind and is a very important step that is often misunderstood and implemented poorly.

At the beginning of 2010 WSA started working on some brand identity [logos] for a few new business ventures and some fresh ones for an existing and long-standing business. And I must tell you that this process has given me an interesting observation between the two new business ventures and the existing business of how a visual brand identity is to be created and perceived.

The existing business knows their business well over the course of many years so understands how to visually represent this to their audience. The two new businesses are a clear observation of an 18 month existing business (Business A) that is not sure what their business looks like, "but they will know it when they see it." (Every designers favorite objective) and a new venture just getting their business plan together (Business B) and clear idea of where they are headed.

To explain further, Business A doesn't quite understand the beginning process of a business plan and clear visual identity and after 18 months of being in business now wants to say it ALL in a one inch radius even though they have never defined their objectives. What the client misunderstands about visual brand identity is they want to have the viewer immediately not only know who it is but what exactly they do as if it is an ad itself. The problem with this is a visual brand identity (also known as a logo) is NOT an ad. It is a visual representation of the business through a recognizable visual element that has been properly branded repetitively through respective media outlets. It compliments an ad, business information, tagline, social media presence, website, etc... It is only a piece -- not the whole picture. Think Starbucks, Target and Nike. And this past 18 months could have been spent promoting this visual representation instead of now trying to say it all in one big bang.

Another problem is after 18 months the client still doesn't know what their business looks like. And as a designer and an Entrepreneur I am here to tell you that a designer can only design what you know about your company. If you, the client, do not have a clear picture of what it is you want it is going to be a let me throw something against the wall and see if it sticks (over and over and over) costing your business time and money that you will not understand nor want to pay.

Business B on the other hand has a clear objective of their Entrepreneurial endeavors and a guideline of their business process. They came to WSA with ideas in a picture snapshot and allowed for us to take the reigns providing clear objectives in order to get the results they are aiming for. They are willing to take the time in the process as they build their business plan and make sure they are heading in the right direction with our guidance.

As the agency, due to the difference in clients we encounter, we always need to offer guidance. WSA always meets with the client in the beginning stages to discuss and develop the visual identity process. Once we have built the necessary steps we develop the concepts in conjunction with a standards guide that counsels the client on the process from the importance of visual identity to the correct use of logotype, tagline, color and typography. Keep in mind that this is probably going to be one of the most time invested processes of your visual brand process, one of the more costly (often times grossly under-estimated by the client) and is not something ever recommended to be thrown together overnight. Unfortunately we have businesses that come to us such as Business A that has put this off long enough and now wants something yesterday.

With all this said here is a list of things to keep in mind before you go to an agency for brand identity that will distinguish you between Business A and Business B:

1. Know your business, where it is headed and what you want it to look like (roughly) especially if you are working without an agency. A designer can take it from your ideas but should not create your business plan for you. The business should not start with a visual identity but work into a visual identity. If you don't know what you want then chances are you do not know your business well enough to promote yourself. Go back to your business plan before you start this process.

2. Have an idea of what you already like. Ultimately you are making the final decision. If you don't like the color blue or the font Interstate be very clear about that. There should always be a portfolio that you supply to the designer of what you like and what you don't like. This is brand identity and you need to know what appeals to you and what doesn't or you are going to waste a ton of time and money. If you are using an agency plan on going through a branding process which may take a few weeks time in addition to the time to create the identity.

3. Do not expect this to be a low budget project. If you have a small budget then be flexible and have a lot of homework done ahead of time. If you have little to no budget, contact your local Design Institute or University design departments to take on your business as a class project. You can help a young artist build their portfolio and get a very cost-effective design in the process. If you use a design consultant or an agency, expect to pay anywhere from $700 to $3000 depending on how much you have prepared in advance.

Visual identity is a crucial element in your business launch but it doesn't have to be a frustrating one if you plan ahead and allow time for development. A business should not be started overnight and just like your business plan your visual identity should be a well thought-out process. And lastly, enjoy it. A successful business will hold this identity for years and years to come. Who knows... after years of branding your visual identity repetitively your business could be the next Nike swoosh. And hopefully WSA help to get your there.

A business resolution

Just like everyone else I too have a New Years resolution. Of course I forgot until my sister asked me the other day what it was on January 2nd while walking to a local pub for a burger and bloody mary. Obviously, not a diet, I said to her as we entered the bar. But the truth is the reason I didn't have one big January 1 resolution in mind is because I had one big 2010 resolution -- the launch of my entrepreneurial endeavor, White Space Agency. As White Space Agency launches the official relaunch from RLD to WSA the whole business has been built around a resolution. A business resolution.

It didn't happen over night however. In fact it started on a cold January day in 2009 (much like today) when my very talented friend and Brand Manager had flown in from one of her many worldly escapades to sit down with me at a local Starbucks and ask me the question, "Where do you see yourself in five years with your business?" The business currently didn't have a name it was merely a thought of launching RLD (a consultant group offering graphic design services to various clients) into an agency offering marketing and brand design. However, I knew one thing; I wanted to continue to work with hotels. Over the 5 years of RLD I had been retained by two resorts and one hotel in various states. Hotels had become my niche and I loved working with them. They needed to constantly stay on their competitive game and I enjoyed feeling like I was part of their group speaking to them more than my own family. I thought why don't I build the agency around hotel groups and their needs? Ever since that day I have been living and breathing this business launch. But it still didn't have a name.

My Brand Manager sent me home with an assignment to do some research. Being in publishing for the past 10 years she told me to go through my magazines collection (which was embarrassingly enormous) and cut out anything that speaks to me. So I went home and I did my research cutting through food, travel, fashion and business publications and writing fervently on a pad of yellow note paper words, thoughts, ideas and styles. And then I ran across an article simply titled, White Space and I knew in an instant that was the name for my company. Of course a basic graphic concept taught on day one of Graphics 1. White Space: the white area between written characters or graphic regions. Designers use whitespace to create a feeling of elegance for upscale brands and is seen all over luxury markets coupled with typography and photography. This was exactly the business I wanted to build for my clients. Because what is in their white space defines who they are.

This blog is also a resolution. I have committed to myself writing about my experience as a bootstrapping Entrepreneur who is launching a business in one of the worst economic times possible. I will share my experiences, struggles and successes with the hope that it will not only save me money in therapy sessions but hopefully trigger your thoughts about launching one of your great ideas. I love the quote by Ron Popeil that says, "I don't think we'll ever run out of ideas. There's always going to be some necessity that you never knew you needed, but you absolutely can't live without." In fact in the next five years 60% of all business will be something we have never known before. Just like blogging there is an idea out there just waiting to happen. I hope you join me on this adventure in 2010 and share some of your own stories along the way.

Until next time...

Put on your nay-say blinders and run!

Tonight I am thinking about where my business is truly headed. I would be lying if I said that I never become dismayed by the economic situation or the nagging voice in the back on my head that says, "What the hell are you doing launching a business idea right now?" And though I try to ignore the nay-sayers for their over-abundance of fear and say that I just feel sorry for anyone inhibited to live their true dream, I too nay-say myself at times.

But tonight I am hopeful. Just when I think I want to scrap this whole idea of running a business a little spark of hopefulness sets in and I remember the driving forces of this country and how thriving economic situations are driven out of Entrepreneurs. I am proud to be one of many fearless, driven and crazy people who has decided this is what I want to do and I am doing it.

But I wasn't always that hopeful. There was a time in my life I lacked the confidence and ability that others had. I craved their open road of ideas and thoughts and wondered how they were able to have such an abundance of forward-thinking freedom. I wanted to crawl inside their minds and see what it was that I didn't have. Over time I have found from others through confidence, education and observation that I too had forward thinking ideas, they were just hidden. I just needed to find them. I needed to listen to myself and not the voices around me that pushed the freedom of thought down further.

Launching a business idea takes self-encouragement. It takes patience and a hell of a lot of discipline. It is about relationships, trust and movement. It is about setting goals, defining ideas and always moving forward. And as difficult as it may be, you have put your nay-say blinders on and head for the goal.

If you are also in a place where you feel like you are ready to give up, just remember that our world is built on ideas. If it isn't you it will be someone else. Dig down deep, let the ideas come to the surface and get ready to take off. In the next few months I will go over how to get started, what you will need and the encouragement to get there. I am hopeful for both of us. I hope you are too.