Shy Man Becomes Marketing Madman

John Schroeder was one of the first people I met when I moved to Minneapolis. At the time , he was working as the editor of an in-house magazine for a large company.

He surprised everyone when he decided to go out on his own as a freelance writer. His business has covered a wide range of writing projects including books, study guides, catalog copy, newsletters and articles.

He’s also a voracious fan of garage sales and spends every weekend in the summer going to sales, flea markets and antique shows.

John’s biggest obstacle has been his reluctance to market himself. In true John style, he’s named this approach his No Marketing Marketing Plan which means that he delights in work that comes to him, but seldom instigates projects.

A few years ago, he asked if he could get together with me and our friend Georgia to discuss his goals for the coming year. A meeting was set up and John arrived with his goals neatly typed.

One item caught both Georgia and my attention. Several years earlier, John had written a booklet which he was thinking about expanding into a book called Garage Sale Fever.

We were wildly supportive of this idea and pointed out that he needed to get at it immediately if he wanted to take advantage of the spring selling season.

We met again about six weeks later and asked about his progress. “I’ve kind of put that on the back burner until the end of the year,” he said languidly. “I don’t think I can get it out by the end of April.”

Georgia and I leaped into action and argued against his procrastination.

The next day, John got a call from his publishing friend Shane who said, “I miscalculated. If you get the manuscript done by mid-March, we’ll have no trouble reaching your deadline.”

What happened next was nothing short of astonishing. With Shane setting deadlines, John finished the manuscript ahead of time.

A couple of mornings later, I got a call from John—about two hours earlier than I’ve ever heard from him. I also had never heard such excitement in his voice.

“I’ve been working on my marketing plan for Garage Sale Fever,” he announced, “and I’ve come up with eighteen ideas.”

I congratulated him and said, “Here at Winning Ways, we’re planning to give you a big plug, too.”

“Oh,” he exclaimed, “that’s nineteen!”

Even more amazing were some of the ideas on his list which involved contacting the media, talking to shopkeepers and doing workshops. My introverted friend had turned into a marketing madman.

The next thing we knew, John was appearing on local radio and television shows, being interviewed in newspapers and quoted in Newsweek magazine. He also agreed to teach classes in a community education program to show people how to have a successful garage sale.

John’s story is a great example of the power of passion. His enthusiasm for garage sales, has had him on a perpetual treasure hunt for years. Being able to share that passion pushed him past all sorts of doubts and fears.

John’s story also illustrates how valuable it is to have entrepreneurial friends who can encourage and keep us accountable.

Got a neglected project that’s gathering dust? Try giving it an infusion of passion and invite a couple of cheerleaders to keep you going.

And keep in mind this bit of encouragement from Irving Allen: No matter what your present condition, there’s  something a little better right within your reach.

Four Easy Ways to Create Opportunity

Not long after Making a Living Without a Job was launched as a seminar, I had a hunch that a book would follow. I also was certain that it would take some time until I had gathered enough stories from seminar participants to use in the imagined book.

When I felt confident that I was ready to take on such a project, I explored the traditional ways of getting a book published: write a proposal, shop for an agent, revise proposal, have agent search for publisher. I knew, also, that as an unpublished writer, this would be an long process.

Perhaps I could create an opportunity for a publisher to find me, I mused. As it turned out, three publishers did just that. Although each of them  found me in a different way, they all showed up within weeks of one another.

When most people think about opportunity, they envision an unexpected bit of good fortune coming out of nowhere or something they’ve uncovered after a long search. 

And, of course, both of those circumstances do occur on a daily basis. However, I’d like you to entertain the idea that you can create favorable circumstances that will connect you more frequently and quickly with opportunity after opportunity. 

Here are four of my favorite ways to do just that.

* Offer your services to the media. Several years ago, I met an architect who had joined with several other architects to prepare a media kit introducing each of them and describing their specialties. They distributed it to all their local media outlets and made it easy for reporters working on a story involving architecture to connect with the perfect source.

Two great resources for building your own media campaign are Joan Stewart’s Publicity Hound and Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out.

* Conduct a poll. Hardly a day passes when I don’t see a poll online, in the newspaper or on the CNN crawl. Apparently, we’re fascinated by the opinions and behaviors of our fellow humans. 

One summer, Garage Sale Fever author John Schroeder conducted a poll at every garage sale he visited. What are your plans for the money you’re earning from the sale he asked. He turned his findings into a press release, giving him another opportunity for media exposure.

* Get into the conversation. All over the world people are talking about a million different things. Some of those conversations have to do with things that are your specialty or interest.

You could respond to articles in magazines and newspapers with a letter to the editor sharing your thoughts. You could weigh in online in chat rooms or commenting on blog posts. 

With social media, there are more opportunities to share ideas, opinions and resources than ever before. Speak up.

* Show up. Almost every successful speaker I know has at least one experience that taught them the importance of showing up. 

In every instance, they agreed to speak for free, were questioning their decision, kept their agreement anyway, and had someone in the audience who loved what they offered and hired them for a substantial amount of money to speak at a future event.

There’s a fundamental principle that’s operating in all of these instances. That principle is this: we all like to do business with people we know and like. If people don’t know you, they can’t like you.  

That, however, is the basic tool for creating opportunity. Get creative about finding ways where such connections are naturally going to happen.

And if you’ve been waiting for opportunity to knock, how about meeting it at the curb and inviting it in?