Past meeting: August 5, 2000
Marketing for the Shy
with Carol Roberts
Summer Workshop: A Focus on Marketing for the Shy
Coming from far and wide, 28 indexers of all experience levels convened at the second annual summer workshop east of the Cascades. Greeted by a wide array of delicious breakfast rolls and fruit, most everyone took time to both munch and mingle.
Sherry Smith, chapter president, started off by welcoming everyone and determining the winner of the mileage contest, with Sharon Russell taking home the prize for traveling the farthest from Port Moody, British Columbia. Sherry and Barbara Kempf, chapter vice president/program coordinator, shared the task of honoring volunteer efforts while Barbara (joking that her business partner was too shy to even attend the workshop) introduced the day's speaker, Carol Roberts.
At the outset, Carol explained that she was not out to "change" anyone's behavior, but instead propose marketing alternatives that circumvent the need for behavior modification and the need for dreaded cold calls. Audible sighs of relief were heard as she explained that one could have a successful indexing business without ever making one single cold call. "Her first words put the workshop participants at ease," noted Martha Osgood, chapter secretary/treasurer. "Her premise was that shy people do not need to be cured or fixed."
Carol went on to show how to create an effective marketing strategy through a variety of techniques, with an emphasis on networking. In her opinion, traditional marketing methods, such as advertising, were extremely costly and produced minimal results. To network effectively, Carol stressed the importance of having well-designed business cards that are printed professionally, providing examples to illustrate the do's and don'ts of design. She included brochures as a networking tool, circulating copies of hers and explaining how she incorporates them. Even indexers with years of indexing under their belt came away with fresh ideas. Carolyn Weaver commented that "I enjoyed seeing different types of business cards and am thinking about revising my own in the near future." The inclusion of brochures as a networking tool gave Carolyn "a determination to get my long-postponed brochure finished ASAP."
Networking opportunities abound outside the realm of ASI functions and publishing conferences, asserted Carol, especially at business/professional meetings and social events. Her favorite source for locating such opportunities is through the newspaper, by examining the calendar that lists events and meetings. Armed with business cards and/or brochures, shy indexers can attend these functions and need not be the one to strike up conversation first. More often than not, Carol assured, people will approach you, and opportunities to hand out business cards will arise. However, even if no conversations ensue, a few well-placed brochures on a table will be picked up, and read, by someone. She stressed that an indexer's business cards and brochures need not land directly in the hands of someone writing a book. Why? Because the people you meet, or that pick up your brochure, "know lots of other people." Those other people, she philosophizes, may need an indexer, either now or in the future. She also suggested making connections with reference librarians, bookstore employees, and university professors. The methods presented "gave me hope that I can actually market my services without having to change my personality," recalled Beth Palmer.
Carol also discussed cover letters and resumes, providing samples and guidance on the do's and don'ts in preparing these materials, including several worksheets to help indexers pull together a well-written, functional resume. The "Not-Really-Lying Worksheet" was a big hit among those just starting out in indexing and she surprised some by saying it was okay to mail marketing materials to editors listed in publisher listings (like the Literary Market Place) without calling first to verify names. Drew Proctor recalled, "Carol's worksheets will help me organize my thoughts as far as writing a working resume and mining contacts I already have were most helpful."
The methods put forth by Carol were appealing to both the bold and the shy. "Several of her non-cold-call marketing methods were totally new to me," admitted Martha Osgood, they were "nuggets in this shy-indexer workshop that even I, as a non-shy indexer, was pleased to discover." Sherry Smith summed it up when she said, "These marketing techniques help all indexers develop their own professional self-image and will produce work." Carolyn Weaver noted that, "I've (successfully) been using 'marketing for the shy' my entire career and didn't know it!"
Coming from far and wide, 28 indexers of all experience levels convened at the second annual summer workshop east of the Cascades. Greeted by a wide array of delicious breakfast rolls and fruit, most everyone took time to both munch and mingle.
Sherry Smith, chapter president, started off by welcoming everyone and determining the winner of the mileage contest, with Sharon Russell taking home the prize for traveling the farthest from Port Moody, British Columbia. Sherry and Barbara Kempf, chapter vice president/program coordinator, shared the task of honoring volunteer efforts while Barbara (joking that her business partner was too shy to even attend the workshop) introduced the day's speaker, Carol Roberts.
At the outset, Carol explained that she was not out to "change" anyone's behavior, but instead propose marketing alternatives that circumvent the need for behavior modification and the need for dreaded cold calls. Audible sighs of relief were heard as she explained that one could have a successful indexing business without ever making one single cold call. "Her first words put the workshop participants at ease," noted Martha Osgood, chapter secretary/treasurer. "Her premise was that shy people do not need to be cured or fixed."
Carol went on to show how to create an effective marketing strategy through a variety of techniques, with an emphasis on networking. In her opinion, traditional marketing methods, such as advertising, were extremely costly and produced minimal results. To network effectively, Carol stressed the importance of having well-designed business cards that are printed professionally, providing examples to illustrate the do's and don'ts of design. She included brochures as a networking tool, circulating copies of hers and explaining how she incorporates them. Even indexers with years of indexing under their belt came away with fresh ideas. Carolyn Weaver commented that "I enjoyed seeing different types of business cards and am thinking about revising my own in the near future." The inclusion of brochures as a networking tool gave Carolyn "a determination to get my long-postponed brochure finished ASAP."
Networking opportunities abound outside the realm of ASI functions and publishing conferences, asserted Carol, especially at business/professional meetings and social events. Her favorite source for locating such opportunities is through the newspaper, by examining the calendar that lists events and meetings. Armed with business cards and/or brochures, shy indexers can attend these functions and need not be the one to strike up conversation first. More often than not, Carol assured, people will approach you, and opportunities to hand out business cards will arise. However, even if no conversations ensue, a few well-placed brochures on a table will be picked up, and read, by someone. She stressed that an indexer's business cards and brochures need not land directly in the hands of someone writing a book. Why? Because the people you meet, or that pick up your brochure, "know lots of other people." Those other people, she philosophizes, may need an indexer, either now or in the future. She also suggested making connections with reference librarians, bookstore employees, and university professors. The methods presented "gave me hope that I can actually market my services without having to change my personality," recalled Beth Palmer.
Carol also discussed cover letters and resumes, providing samples and guidance on the do's and don'ts in preparing these materials, including several worksheets to help indexers pull together a well-written, functional resume. The "Not-Really-Lying Worksheet" was a big hit among those just starting out in indexing and she surprised some by saying it was okay to mail marketing materials to editors listed in publisher listings (like the Literary Market Place) without calling first to verify names. Drew Proctor recalled, "Carol's worksheets will help me organize my thoughts as far as writing a working resume and mining contacts I already have were most helpful."
The methods put forth by Carol were appealing to both the bold and the shy. "Several of her non-cold-call marketing methods were totally new to me," admitted Martha Osgood, they were "nuggets in this shy-indexer workshop that even I, as a non-shy indexer, was pleased to discover." Sherry Smith summed it up when she said, "These marketing techniques help all indexers develop their own professional self-image and will produce work." Carolyn Weaver noted that, "I've (successfully) been using 'marketing for the shy' my entire career and didn't know it!"
Breaks and lunch were interspersed throughout the day. Breaks provided the opportunity for people to sign up on the volunteer committee lists, network among each other, and peruse the assorted ASI literature and related information on display. Lunchtime roundtable discussions provided the forum for small groups to share marketing methods they found effective and review "Indexer Traits and Practices Revealed" compiled by Kari Kells.
Last, but not least, everyone broke into small groups for the peer review portion of the workshop. Many new indexers seized the opportunity to "pick the brains" of more experienced indexers for tips and techniques to hone their skills. "I completed the USDA training but had not used my skills for some time," remarked Beth Palmer, "so this kind of professional feedback was very valuable." Martha Osgood added, "The reviews offer everyone - regardless of their years of experience - a chance to see how others would use your product."
All too quickly the summer workshop came to a close, but a good many extended the day by taking over a section of Red Robin for dinner. It "was an excellent opportunity to make connections," reflected Martha Osgood, "and to learn that the experienced indexer is also a very ordinary person just like you and me." Afterward, most of that group caravanned over to Drew Proctor's house to experience her renowned berry/peach crisp. "Drew's crisp and hospitality were truly as good this time as everyone said they were last time," Martha concluded. "We definitely can count on indexers to pay good attention to detail!" Kristin Manke recounted a funny moment involving Anne West's head count for dessert. "She asked us to raise one hand for crisp and two hands for crisp with ice cream. The entire room raised both hands. We looked like we had just surrendered!" What a hoot! &