Greetings from CrazyTown...Population 1.
Some of you out there have probably had just about all you can take from me about how busy my little life is with four little kids. But I gotta be honest, it kind of dominates me right now. Therein is the reason I have not posted a blog since before PRINT 13 (which was super awesome by the way).
But here is how my crazy life can relate to you.
- If your life is crazy, too, you just gotta push through it. Let the people that matter know what is going on, and accept help. If no one offers help, seek it. If you are so buried with estimate requests that you can't eat lunch, reach out to a colleague to help you. It will ease. You will eventually see light at the end of the tunnel. For you, your tunnel is probably only days or weeks long. Mine, on the other hand, has about three to four years left on it.
- Understand if you have come in contact with someone living in CrazyTown. Maybe your best client looks like she hasn't slept in two years and she never returns your phone calls and has been super bitchy to you lately. Ask her what you can do to help. Maybe your best work buddy is going through a rough time. Offer to take him out for a beer and see if there's something you can do to ease his load. Most of us have a hard time asking for help, but if it is offered in the right spirit, it can make all the difference.
- Adaptation is key. I don't get to move out of CrazyTown any time soon, so I have to learn to love it. I have to learn how to work in it, manage it, and with any luck, thrive, at least some of the time. Just this morning, I realized that I just might have to find some office space to rent if I ever hope to get anything done. That, or I might have to take up semi-permanent residence at my local Panera (broccoli and cheddar soup in a bread bowl...YUM)
- CrazyTown makes you stronger. It makes you better. You learn coping strategies and organizational tricks you never knew existed. Embrace the crazy. It can be your friend. And, if work is that busy for you, it SHOULD follow that sales are up (or they will be soon).
- Give yourself a break. Run away, if only for a quick Starbucks break. Get a massage. See a movie on a Tuesday afternoon. But don't let a temporary residency in CrazyTown do permanent damage or have more power over you than it deserves.
If you've never been to CrazyTown, part of me hopes you never have to. But, part of me thinks that you will come out on the other end better for it. So whether you've been there, ARE there, or are headed there, don't panic. It's gonna be OK.
It IS gonna be OK, isn't it?
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
