I'm excited and terrified at the same time on "hanging out a shingle". I'll admit it.
There are large and small details, but I've come to a realization.
The single most important thing I can do in building my business is this: SELL.
I was talking to a friend the other day who was trying to come up with a name for his new website. In his voice, I heard a similar tone as I'd had when I was preparing my business cards:
I need to get it right.
Actually, I don't.
It's possible to spend hours thinking about names, logos, typefaces, etc.
Does my blog look consistent with my business card and with my email signature?
Right now, who cares?!
Somewhere between now and multi-billion dollar corporation, it is important to get all of that right, but TIME is my enemy.
My cards have to reinforce my brand, which as my newest client (still waiting on legal approval) said represents:
A sense of excitement with mild irreverence
And I am fine with this. More than fine, I love it!
The "brand" is the sum of experiences that a person has with the corporate entity (right now, me), so do the business cards, the blog, the Facebook status updates, and EVERYTHING else reinforce that "brand promise" of excitement/mild irreverence...even if they don't look exactly the same?
That's what matters and I can quickly act according to those guidelines.
Meantime, I need to go out and sell the services I am offering.
BTW, beta 2 of the answer to the "what do you do" question is this:
I help companies figure out how to turn their customers into their best marketers.
Thoughts?