I plan to re-brand my company. The name I chose for it is limiting and I hate it. I want to come up with a name that doesn’t seem so, one person working from her loft. My consultant suggested Golden Lizard Marketing. I kinda like it. The issue is that Lisa and Mom think lizard holds bad connotations. Plus, I feel no real connection to lizards… although I do like the idea that I could get a gold lizard pin and wear it.

I would love to somehow come up with a name that is really ME! Something that spans both technology and marketing with retro and futuristic sensibilities. I want the name to sound like a real, full-fledged, established company.

I want it to be bold and creative and whimsical and unforgettable!

So can anyone do better than Golden Lizard Marketing?

The other name my consultant came up with was Viral Marketing and Design… but that seems blah and contagious.

So any suggestions? Any ideas?

If I ever call myself a “Thought Leader“… SHOOT ME!

So the book is out there. The final proof arrived on Friday and I flipped the switch. Is it perfect? No, but it’s good enough. Now I need to market the darn thing so I can sell some copies. I am excited.

I have a list of 4 items that I need to get accomplished. And I am procrastinating. Which is silliness. Instead of doing it and feeling a sense of relief… I am thinking about it, fretting it, fearing it, and dealing with it for a much longer period of time. I think I may do what I used to do… light a peppermint candle and force myself to get it done.

The sun is bright outside but the air is frigid. It might be good to get out and walk around.

Turns out the book cover issue was my fault. The dimensions were off. I corrected the mistake and re-uploaded it along with the updated interior file. Now I need to figure out what to do. I have to wait for them to approve the files on their end. Once they do, I must order a final proof. The thing is, I don’t necessarily have to wait for the proof to arrive before I approve it on my end. Once I approve it, I can sell it on Amazon and the other online retailers. Sooooo, do I trust that it’s going to be okay this time? Or do I wait until Friday/Saturday for the proof to arrive? There will not be any issue with the interior file. The only issue there may be is with the cover. So far even when the cover was rather mangled, it wasn’t that bad. I probably could have gone with it if I wasn’t a crazy, anal retentive-Virgo.

What do you think? Approve it before seeing the final proof? Or wait it out, get the final proof and then proceed?

So I went buck wild and re-edited the proof. I called it quits last night and uploaded my files. This morning I ordered what I hope is the final proof. Really. I am done. Stick a fork in me!

How is it that each time I printed the dang thing out, I kept finding errors and issues and things that needed fixing. I am sure if I printed it out one last time, I would have found additional things to change. I have no idea how real authors do it. How were books written prior to Word? Did it all just flow out of Emily Bronte perfectly the first time?

Oh, and my mother said the sweetest thing to me today. “Donna, did you hear about Japan? They are saying that the radiation may hit us over here! Your father has decided to buy liquid iodine just in case. You should head over to the pharmacy and buy some, too. All you need is a couple drops in a glass of water. You look thyroid-y anyway, it might do you good.”

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day: I am doing pretty darn good. I am running my own business. I am speaking in front of groups. I wrote a book. It’s like my dream came true and I wasn’t paying any attention to it. Instead I was concentrating on my messy house and other not so perfect things in my life. It’s strange how that happens. I feel like a loser yet I am doing what I always wanted to do. Maybe it’s time to try some gratitude on for size?

The proof of my book didn’t arrive this afternoon as I had hoped it might. Clearly when they say, ETA 3/11, they mean it. I can’t wait to see how it looks in book format! And I am curious to see how well I nailed it… or not.

I received an interesting message today. And I am kinda torn whether to go into it here or not. At one time I had complete anonymity blogging… not anymore. Most of you are my Facebook friends and the rest have totally surmised everything else. Even though I don’t have an employer, is it right for me to vent here? Especially since it could get out? Who is reading these posts? I have no clue! Why don’t more of you comment!?!

Throwing caution to the wind, here’s the interesting message I received today: “Wanted to know if you had about an hour next week to sit with me – I have a client who I will be [insert everything I do for a living] and I wanted to pick your brain before getting started…can we do an hour consultation? What do you charge?”

Is it just me or is this out and out wrong? And INSULTING? Does she honestly think an hour consultation will provide her with all the information she needs to do what I do for a living? And why should I give her one hour of my time to arm her with the info to do my specialty? I can’t believe she didn’t read the email through and think, maybe this is inappropriate and tactless?

And now I am left wondering how to respond. Am I overacting? How would you respond?

I met with a consultant yesterday. He woke me up to a bunch of things. I have been operating from a point of fear. Bring in money otherwise FAILURE! And I was actually hurting myself. I brought in too much business; more business than I could support and at a low rate. Right now I have to get back onto a healthy course. I need to set my sights on my initial goal which was to make money but not kill myself along the way. I haven’t been to the gym, I haven’t been writing on this blog, I haven’t been keeping my house up, I haven’t spent time with friends…. all because I am too busy working insane hours. So this post is my manifesto… I am going to take the work that makes sense to me and I am not going to under sell myself or my services. I am going to have a schedule and I will stick to it. I COME FIRST. It will take me a few months to dig out of this hole but I will and I will be happy again.

Read Steve Pavlina’s latest blog entry and did a back flip when I saw what he charges for 1 hour of telephone consulting. $997 USD

Do you think he can really command that amount? It’s rather genius. Why bother pricing at 99 and working 10 hours when he can price it at 997 and work 1 hour. The issue becomes finding people who are willing to pay 997. He may have to spend those 9 saved hours looking for that 1 person. He’s drawing from a pretty big pool though– so it may not be as hard for him to find those ppl.

Sometimes it seems so hard. But it really isn’t. Ultimately, it means nothing. Days wash by, one after the other. What was once important is soon forgotten.

I really need to figure out how I can support myself without killing myself. Undoubtedly my life is easy. I am not doing manual, hard labor. But I am now at the point where I rarely stop working AND YET I can’t seem to get done what I need to get done. I keep taking on more work because I figure I need to make hay while the sun is shining.

I am not looking for any answers– I just need to just figure it out.

Guys, I gotta rethink my strategy. I am working my ass off. I don’t want to be working this hard. Not for what I am making. I need to charge more.

Fewer higher paying gigs. That’s what I need.