ZEN AND THE ART OF PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS (part 1)

I recall the punchline for my college graduation commencement speech that went "don't fear failure... avoid it at all costs!"   When you look into the eyes of a seasoned business owner, you may find a trail of tears and exhaustion from having tried many things and failed.  Those eyes have seen what having their ass handed to them is all about - more than once.

Failure is exhausting and debilitating - but, if you harness it right, (learn the right lessons from it) it can be completely empowering.  "If you fall the right way, the 'getting up' could leverage you far higher than the horse you fell from..." (a quote from Sin City). 

THE REAL FOCUS
When you're in the promoting phase of your business, it is imperative that you NOT look back and think about money.  Forget about what you've already spent- or what you hope to make.  Being too money-minded turns cowards out of investors and losers out of contestants.  This doesn't mean to be go-for-broke foolish; you certainly need a budgetary margin to work with.  But oftentimes, the biggest mistake that most owners make is chickening out mid-flight a campaign when they don't get any immediate response.

True risk-taking is SMART INVESTING; do your due diligence, intuitive research, planning, market studies and scheduling, then focus on giving it all you've got right after a LAUNCH.  Focus on getting to the finish line and think about what else you can do to get there faster and with the least amount of casualty.

CHANNEL YOUR ROAD TO "STARDOM"
Everyone has at one point competed for something and won.  Where it is human nature to doubt oneself, channeling prior successes is food for risk-taking, innovation and determination. The road to business success is all about obstacles.  Conditioning yourself for the long haul means arming yourself with the proper understanding to endure what lies ahead. 

As a promoter of others, I often use the term "building a rock star" humorously, but the feeling and intent of shooting for the stars is genuinely what's behind the hard work.   I am very fortunate to know what it's like to be under the spotlight of a concert stage with a few thousand people watching me play.  It's a thrill like no other and if you've ever experienced anything even remotely similar to that, channel it into your business model because all the lessons and motivations are all there!

So start by channeling your previous successes by asking yourself "how did that come to happen?"  What did it take to get there?  Then transform those answers into your business stream and you may find that (point for point) the steps are identical!   You start with a DREAM, then PRACTICE, then, if you believe, be OBSESSED.  Next, over time, you grow to find your community where you connect with others who share in those beliefs-- that's the social maturity.  This community is the support system that moves you to learn and grow in your field at a faster pace.  You then grow technically, take more chances, flop and 'try again' (repeat this step if necessary), then after a while, you finally succeed.  This success becomes the game-changer that heightens your level of commitment to keep going and to pursue the next stage of your competition.

Business is the same.  

MARKETING MENU
There's a different marketing plan for everyone.  Promoters design a plan ranging from conservative to adventurous- depending on your budget and objectives. Some are about SEO and BRANDING while others are more about PR (publicity) and reputation.  Then there's ADVERTISING, DIRECT MAIL, SOCIAL MEDIA, TRADE SHOWS ... and the list goes on.  Very few promoters will stress this fact but each effort carries a variable amount of risk and provides ZERO guarantees.  They do, however carry their own track record of potential success depending on longevity, budget- and luck. 

SELECTING THE PATH- AND THE RIGHT AGENT

At this point, there are as many options for promoting as there are roads that lead to a dead end. Kick-start programs as well as 2.0 pushers (the ones who promise to take you to the next level)  will sell you on a bag of beans if you have a check to sign.  Hence, choose wisely and do your homework!

Over the years, I have learned some vital lessons when it comes to planning, direction and campaign designs for a client. As a promoter myself, I have come to live by some core beliefs to keep me at the right side of business:

- Develop a thorough and highly detailed plan
- Conduct major homework on the client's needs, their environment and their objectives
- Track progress regularly and keep client abreast of all significant moves
- Don't be afraid to submit negative reports as long as you have an alternative solution to steer the program back to its course
- Always be innovative
- Keep the faith, stay the course, steer and navigate and look for opportunities as they arise

(End of part 1)

This blog is brought to you by imworx.com.  Copyright (C) 2014- Image Unlimited Inc. All Rights Reserved.   Written by: Lennard M. Gettz, MBA and Luis Ferrer.

"SMARTER BARTER"- THE RE-TRENDING FORM OF CURRENCY

Without getting into a history lesson, BARTER has come around (again) as a highly enjoyable, efficient and popular way to break into a new exchange relationship and trade goods, services and resources without the use of greenbacks.   Friendships have also founded bartering in the form of "favors" to eliminate that whole sticky money exchange.  Bartering is everywhere that two people seek to fill needs.  So many industries use bartering and partial-bartering to leverage acquisitions as a means to a great end- and if you explore it correctly, EVERYTHING IS BARTER-ABLE!

WHY BARTER
- To remove spending $$, barter gets you more for your business (or personal life)
- A great extension of your acquiring power
- By bartering, you can afford to think outside of your business plan to fulfill needs to grow your business (ie. acquire a better website that's normally out of your budget in exchange for your specialty service)
- A powerful way to promote yourself to the community without advertising + a great relationship builder (exchange based on trust and communication)


BARTER AS AN ICE BREAKER
Though not everyone is into the idea, your breaking the ice with someone to approach bartering may open a whole new channel of business just by introducing your concept.  More and more businesses are subscribing to this form of trade as a form of "partnering" with other resource groups where seeking out and connecting with another business in this level may become a highly lucrative and financially fulfilling experience for you and your marketing.

GETTING TO KNOW through LET'S MAKE A DEAL
There is no better way to "audition" a vendor than to try them out yourself.  But because we have grown skiddish to explore vendor services without referral or reference, the business community trends on counting on YELP (unreliable and often corrupt opinions) and other review sites for gospel.  Old school doctrine says that "the best way to build a real opinion about someone is to know them yourself!" Through barter, you have a first-hand way of learning about that person or company as the direct receiving end.  Barter encourages more communication between the two parties in order to get to the right deal.  If all goes well, what you get out of it is a new trusted ally, a vendor and a trading partner.

COMMON TRADE
If you go into the home page of Craigslist, you'll see a large barter community trading everything from copper wire for hair services to office cleaning for dental insurance.  If I have something, chances are, someone out there has something I need and is willing to barter for it.  National leaders themselves barter all the time.  With the diminishing power of greenbacks + the rising national debt, governments are resorting to the barter system to acquire resources, services and labor.

BUILDING THE RIGHT BARTER RELATIONSHIP
With today's information access, it doesn't take long to learn about whom you are doing trade with.  So finding out who's got the right goods and who's got the public credentials to exchange with is a process just like any other shopping experience.  But a successful barter means knowing your products/services value for exchange + getting an idea what you are willing to give up to get "that" thing.  In the end, bartering means two (or more) parties getting something they never thought they could afford- and creating a bridge on top of that is always a plus!











Produced and written by: IMWORX.com

"GET ENGAGED!"- Post Production Brings Professional Finishing

RAW VS COOKED: THE OPTIMIZING STAGE OF VIDEO ENHANCEMENT
The simplified breakdown of a video shoot calls on camera, lights and a subject.  But to fulfill a successful video product demands the expert hands of the post-production people whose focus is on capturing and maintaining the attention of the judgmental yet easily distracted eye (what we call the A.D.D. audience) .  From footage repair and cleanup to enhancement and optimization, the post-production process oftentimes take over 85% of the project's labor/time/budget and is a direct link to getting the right look to get the message across.  

REPAIRS: It is the nature of shoots to have both camera and shooter to have flaws in the footage. From unexpected lighting issues, dirt on the lens to wrong camera settings (ie. white balance, iris setting, focus, shutter speed) and a myriad of other issues, many issues have the fortunate safety net of "post-production" where these things CAN and SHOULD be fixed. Field monitors and viewfinders themselves cannot always be trusted to "see what you get". Especially with digital equipment, much of the footage relies on your technology to perform right - and disappointments often show up after the production stage when a re-shoot can happen.

ENHANCEMENT: To make any image POP is the objective of any producer.  The visual pop, such as color, contrast, sharpness, composition and overall dynamics are concerns that, to our advantage, can largely be addressed using the latest retouching tools - many of which are already embedded in the current editing software.    Where washed out blue skies can be enhanced, flesh tones can be boosted and sections of a shot can be emphasized or diminished as part of the "retouching" process of turning "blah to blam".  Moreover, a common process is when the producer decides to "rewrite in post".  Today's editing capabilities allow us to crop and re-compose a shot, add zooms/pulls, pans, blurs, fades and mimic other lens-related behaviors in post to add expression and cohesion to the piece. 

AUDIO ENGINEERING: This expertise is a large part of the movie watching experience.  This specialist is responsible for the selection and insertion of powerful soundtracks, audio cleanups (noise removal/reduction from live recording) and vocal track enhancement.  In the case of interviews and announcers, audio editors bring the speaker right into your living room by fully optimizing the timbre of their voice.   If you listen to the BEFORE segment of the enclosed video, a weak under-processed audio recording takes all the enjoyment out of watching any video- whereas a powerful audio track is the key to sensory engagement.

Digital processing and enhancement converts 'what you see' into 'what you PREFER to see'.  Where professional standards mean pushing footage through the optimizing process, the post-production investment cranks out products that greatly separates the big fish from the guppies- and so with their market value.

For more information on this article and post-production process, feel free to contact Carmen Regallo-Dewitt at carmen@imworx.com or log on to: IMWORX.com.  Footage courtesy of TruImageDental.com and is a registered trademark of Dr. Veronica Greene.  

FASHION WEEK & TRUIMAGE SIGHTING

by: Grace DellaValle (full article in Response NYC)

September 11, 2014- FASHION WEEK. For all the reason why NYC captures the eyes of the world, designers and the most alluring fashion models take center stage at the Highline Ballroom (431 West 16th Street NYC) giving over 1000 New Yorkers a memorable fashion night to remember.

But within this massive crowd of celebrities and fans alike, we find two familiar faces, our friends in the beauty education business Dr. Veronica Greene and Amanda Gabbard- no doubt pursuing their lifelong regard for fashion events and staying connected with 'the community of all things beautiful'.  "Our aesthetics alliance brought us here," started Gabbard. "When you share information and connections, you uncover events that make living and working in Manhattan the blessing that it was meant to be.  With a support system like my TruImage partners, I find myself on the front row of a runway of probably one of the largest shows in Fashion Week surrounded by everyone who is just having a great ol' time with the energy of beauty!"

Dr. Greene first heard about the Prive Fashion Show through an invite from  one of its main promoters - EUROCIRCLE.com (a global connector of all style-related events).  Dedicated to helping her entire list of 400+ personal image professionals, she took to her LinkedIn connections to get as many of her allies to enjoy an unforgettable night of Fashion. 
 
For those who could make it, they earned a front-row seat to a powerful marketing tradition and one of the most glorious displays of design artistry that New York City is remembered by the global community. "I think this is probably one of the most impressive shows I've ever attended... and with the number of cameras and media people there, I had no doubt that the industry was paying attention!" says Greene.

In pursuit of the August 20 Self2.0 Beauty & Wellness Business Summit, Gabbard and Greene forged one of the first TruImage partnerships to produce an educational marketing series on Beauty and Personal Enhancement and is also collaborating on developing a complete cosmetics product line for future online promotion.
 

As far as celebrations go, the runway certainly did not disappoint.  With a record crowd of industrial aficionados and onlookers, the Mercedes Benz NYFW Series "PRIVE GROUP EVENT" delivered international designers to showcase current impressive styles and creations with the most stunning models from across the globe that signified the almost-week's end with beautiful new trend-setters.  The party started at 8pm with the usual line of zealots running all acrsoss 16th street. If the call for an "open bar" won't get you running, the event planners delivered New York top DJs Francis Mercier and Stephen Jervis to introduce the finest of NY's high society for an illustrious fashion show featuring Redvanly, Muti Chic by Christine DeAngelo, Susan Merriam, Style Number, Moi by Yaa and handbags by Sewzanna and a post show "partay" in keeping with the tradition of fashion week entertainment.


*Event co-produced with Magnises Sparkology, Eurocircle, Night Up & iClubNYC
- See more at: HIGHLINE BALLROOM EVENT LINK INVITE

HOMEWORK: TRY VIDEO SCREEN TEST TO TUNE UP YOUR PUBLIC PRESENCE

Written by: Len Gettz / Carmen Regallo-Dewitt

To master your public image means understanding how to manage your look, your body language, your voice and how you engage others with all these personal elements. Taking a page from Hollywood directors, I find the most helpful way to conduct sales training is through the use of a Video Screen Test. 

If you find it a little disturbing to hear your recorded voice, that's normal.  This only establishes the actual separation between your actual self and the 'you' that is the subject of study. I found the best solution to studying your complete public self with objectivity is by viewing yourself on screen.   Much more effective than looking at yourself in a mirror, reviewing a middle shot of yourself (independent of your current conscious state) interacting with a camera delivers a voyeuristic perspective - lending itself to better analysis and self-adjustment.

In a casting situation, an actor is asked to read lines from a given script and the director reviews how they read through the lens of a camera.  Where watching a person read in front of you shows one set of truths, the lens has a way of discerning other subtleties that helps is truly identify a complete set of elements in one's character.  By studying yourself as 'this other person', the screen lets you dissect your best, your worst and how to adjust.  Here are some things to look for:

- Clarity in presence
- Clarity in speech
- Choice of words
- Body & facial gestures
- Over confidence
- Eye contact
- Body language and mannerisms
- Posture (overall and reactive to certain dialogues)
- Choices of smiles
- Overall attire

Here's a familiar face. You be the director. This screen test is improvisation where the subject creates her entire topic and delivery on the spot.  Rate her based on her confidence and ability to engage.  Study her speech patterns and try to identify the high points and how she works the camera.

In your opinion, how well did she do?  Where are her strengths and where do you think she could use help? Please give me your comments?

Meanwhile, try this exercise at home. You will be amazed what you find about yourself.  What's more, you'll see just how others see you- such that you have the golden opportunity to TWEEK parts of your body language and/or physical expression for your next personal interaction.

Written by the producers of imworx.com and the how2station.com