A Plan is Needed… Pronto
I am faced with the very real possibility that I am not going to be gainfully employed by a boss in the near future… Now I know I have been going on about this a bit lately, and I promise this is my LAST post on this topic for the foreseeable future, but I have to get it down in words and then I will have a plan, and I will shut up. Promise.
I am currently cuddled up in bed with a sore throat and a cough and a snotty nose and an achy body, and my doctor has booked me off for the rest of this week. This hot on the heels of BL hating my latest round of ideas. And no, I am not working from my bed. I am not doing that for a boss again. Ever. Basically, I have until next week Friday to present her with 2 things.
She wants concrete plans on what we can do with the databases we already have. Only one of the three is opt-in, so she may as well roll the other 2 up and smoke them, because I cannot send unsolicited emails out to these people, who happen to be previous customers of ours. That would be great for our reputation. And right now I am pretty clueless as to how to make the one I can use work for us, as it’s been made very clear that we are not interested in running competitions or viral games, and she thinks that push marketing is dirty and vulgar (include here viral emails, DB mining, banner advertising and the like). So I am sending this database an email and in it I am saying… “Hi!” Great.
The other thing I have to present is a concrete, ready-for-implementation plan that outlines how we are going to get ourselves onto the big travel guide and destination guide sites out there. Obviously we are targeting the high nett-worth customer, to bring in a targeted enquiry because that’s the business requirement all our marketing efforts have to produce. So she wants to be on the high traffic sites because that brings volume but I can’t do it with a media buy (because that’s a push, and she isn’t keen to pay for this), and she isn’t interested in 100 new enquiries if only 1 is going to purchase. Then she would rather only have the 1 enquiry from the 1 person who ends up purchasing, so that she can see a 100% conversion rate.
And then, yesterday RA and NN tell me that the HR Manager at my current employer phoned my previous employer yesterday, asking to sepak to the person who managed me when I was employed there. She was asking questions like “What was CM’s attendance record like? Did she do her job well? Did she meet deadlines and fulfill goals? Would you say she did this in a professional way?” I have a pretty good relationship with my old manager, and he gave me a sterling reference. I am, however, gutted that they have some kind of issue with me and instead of coming to me and asking me what the problems are, they rush out to speak to previous employers, potentially hurting my reputation in the industry. So I am worried what faces me when I go back to work.
I have worked out what I need to earn every month to survive in my current lifestyle and I am ready to downsize and cut back a bit if I need to. Now I just have to figure out to make it happen.
I bumped into a friend of mine yesterday while I was out stocking the mini-pharmaceutical I have going next to my bed. She makes a living doing a LOT of freelance writing work. She is going to introduce me to the editor of a very popular women’s interest site and see if she can send some work my way. So that’s GREAT NEWS! Let’s hope she likes what she sees. So that’s a potential income right there, if I can get a regular stint (and this site is a HUGE in to some of South Africa’s most popular magazines too!!).
Then I have some pretty amazing strengths… I was once a South African synchronised swimmer, and I know my daughter’s school is keen for me to do some coaching in the summer months. I can build websites using HTML and CSS (don’t ask me how… I just can), so there is some potential here to do some basic websites for small businesses who may not know how to do this, or don’t have the budget to pay the bigger guys. Also some great freelance potential here. And obviously there is the ability for me to consult companies on their online marketing plans, because contrary to what BL thinks, I am actually pretty good at that. There are one or two other work-from-home opportunities that I am considering as well, but I am not prepared to put any stock in their ability to bring in cash just yet.
Ok so those are things I CAN do. Now I just have to see if I can find my balls, and my backbone. Because leaving the comfort of a regular income, no matter how HUGE the benefits of being self-employed and having time with the kids and all that, is crap scary. The scariest thing I have EVER done.
Wish me luck!
C
xxx
the one thing you can do and you do the best
is believe
in you
XXXXX
Be strong and Positive, you always get through every Hurdle that come your way and you come over it stronger than ever before…. Have Faith in Yuorself!!!