The Good, the Bad … and the Ugly (Not necessarily in that order LOL)

Ever had “one of those days”? Well, that was yesterday for me LOL

I live in a very small town that’s located about 15-20 minutes north of San Antonio and when I started working with local businesses I put some serious thought into where to focus my energy … here in my local area or further into San Antonio.

I’ve done some cold calling here locally and I’ve had some decent results so far but I’ve also decided to do some marketing in San Antonio. There’s a business association in the north side of town that meets about once a month for a lunch meeting with guest speakers but they also do an event called “Speed Networking” a couple of times a year … and last night was one of them. There are about 150 people, you have a number, a chart, you move every so often and introduce your business to all other attendees throughout the night – pretty cool huh?

I decided about a week ago that I was going to go to this event and see if I could make some good contacts and gain some new clients.

A while back I had Chrissy design me some business cards and although I’d been printing them out on my computer I decided it was time to order them from a printer so they’d look more professional (and so I wouldn’t burn through my toner cartridge). I also got the idea to have a shirt made up that says, “My Business is #1 on Google … Is Yours?” I put some thought into an “offer” for potential clients and I decided to print up some coupons on cardstock offering a free one hour consultation to discuss online marketing, SEO, social media … whatever they’d like to discuss about their business during that hour (I limited this to the first 25 people who took me up on it and booked an appointment).

The “Bad”

So … it’s the day of the event … I finish my workout … I call to let the lady know I’m on my way to pick up my shirt – not ready yet. *sigh* OK … I’ll go home and eat first. I leave and go print and cut the coupons – no issues there. I go pick up my shirt but I happen to be on the phone so I quickly look at the shirt and pay her and leave. I stop in to see an existing client and we visit for a while. OK … time to go home and get ready. I very proudly pull out my new shirt to show Ken and the kids when my daughter looks up and says, “Mommy, I don’t think something is spelled right?!” Huh? What? Very funny! Yea right! I put the shirt down … Oh sh#%! What the???!

Well … as you can see she ran the words “business” and “is” together so it looked like some kind of misspelling. Hardly the attention I wanted to get or be remembered for right? LOL. OK … I’m upset but not the end of the world.

Hmmm … More “Bad”

Come to think of it … Did UPS deliver my business cards yet? What no cards either?!” *sigh*

Have you had one of these moments? You know … the kind where you feel like everything that can go wrong is going wrong? OK Suzanne … pull yourself together!

Ken’s reassuring me that I’ll do great despite these hurdles *sigh* (very sweet of him – love that guy).

I get showered and ready, find something else to wear and gather my coupons. Ken says he has kids and dinner handled so I run out the door a bit frazzled but back on track for a great evening.

Here Comes the Ugly! LOL

Well, as I’m flying down the highway telling myself how great tonight is going to be … meeting a lot of wonderful business people in town and reminding myself how much I miss interacting with real live people LOL … my radar detector starts screaming at me! Oh sh#%! You’ve got to be kidding me! There he is … on the other side of the highway going the other direction … oh please … just this once … give me a break … Well crap! There in my rear view comes the unmistakable colorful reminder that I’m driving through the “gauntlet” (the nickname for the town I was passing through because it’s well known for a high number of speeding tickets and, yes, I know better than to speed there LOL). I get my driver’s license out and as he approaches I’m sarcastically saying to myself, “Miss … is there an emergency I need to be aware of?” (They’re required to ask you that here in Texas). Hmmm … I’m reciting in my head, “No, dude … I’m late for an important business networking meeting and absolutely nothing has gone right today! Could you please give me a break?!” Uhhh … feeling fairly certain that wouldn’t go over too well … I hand over my driver’s license and smile, “No sir … no emergency.”

Now I have a decision to make … I’ll be a few minutes late … I’ve never been to an event with these people before (remember they’re expecting 150 attendees). Will I make a fool of myself? A bad first impression? I’ve teared up a bit … have I run my makeup everywhere? Screw it … I should just go home … nothing has gone right today. Clearly this wasn’t meant to be. But … how would I face my kids? I don’t let them “quit”!!! What will my husband think? Say? Is that really the soft, weak, self-defeating person I strive to be? No … Suzanne … pull it together and get back on the road (drive the speed limit) and walk in with a smile on your face and have the great night you deserve (Yes, lots of self talk yesterday LOL).

Finally … The “Good”

Well, guess what? I got there in plenty of time … met a ton of really neat people. Had a wonderful dinner (I even made very healthy choices – despite my mood LOL) and I expect to get some new clients from the event. In fact, I couldn’t even sleep last night. I stayed up late running keywords through my tools, checking rank for some of the potential new clients … I was happy and totally glad I followed through (despite feeling the world was just totally against me LOL).

Thanks for letting me vent … and if you’ve read this far … you must be a true friend (or bored LOL).

And, yes, I’ll keep you posted on how I make out with gaining new clients. *SmiLes* Suzanne

So … you know I’m going to ask … ever had “one of those days”? Did it work out fine in the end? Do you find that you let hurdles keep you from being successful in your business? What does your self-talk sound like? If you hear it getting negative … are you able to turn it around before you end up defeated? What do you think of the marketing materials I used (or even the ones I wasn’t able to use LOL)?

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Tagged as: leads group, networking group, offline marketing, offline promotion, Social /Media Networking