Month: February 2011

In the tradition of programmers and WordPress I will keep the Hello World! post alive! As obvious as this simple statement is I am shocked by how little people and businesses take the time to say it. My shock is not to be confused with disbelief however. No, I fully understand why there is trepidation with making this statement.

FEAR

Yes dear hearts, fear is what it boils down to. From my experience fear of telling the world hello and establishing yourself comes down to two main points: 1) we fear sounding dumb or 2) we fear letting people know when we started might influence their opinion of us.

Fear of Sounding Dumb

In business we want to be on our A game all the time, especially with clients. Hey they aren’t paying you because of your car or haircut, they pay you because you are the best at what you do. If we sound dumb or ignorant of something in our profession then the client looses trust, right? Maybe.
Expertise is one thing that the client pays you for but the main reason they pay you for your services is because they trust you. They trust that the loan you write them, or the trial you are arguing, or the taxes you prepare are either getting done or you are talking with them to get it done.
You can’t know everything about your client without asking them questions right? Well it works the same way with business knowledge. Showing a lack of knowledge doesn’t mean you are dumb, it means you are honest with what you do know and are willing to learn more. Be honest with your clients and they will pay you forever.

Fear of Putting a Date on It

Everyone and everything has to start at one time or another. This is inevitable. Hiding this fact only leaves a gap for clients to fill with their own answers. Just like you don’t want to let your client tell you how to do your job you also don’t want them writing your story.
What if they see I haven’t been in business for very long? If a client is choosing their vendors strictly based on how long you have been in business you might not want them for a client. Microsoft has been around longer than Google, but I use Google over Bing because it delivers results. If your client isn’t focused on results you might want to be ready for them to fall behind on payments.
You have to start somewhere, take the leap, make your mark, and start winning! (Yes I like to make jokes.)

So with that, my first post as Roger Williams Media, let me say hello, I am not afraid of sounding dumb(at times), and yes my independent practice as a marketer started in Feburary of 2011. I suggest reading my About page if you want to know how long I have been doing this stuff(I sure hope you are impressed enough to call me!)