THE PROCRASTINATION STATION AND WHY GOAL SETTING MAKES SENSE

Whoot Whoot … All aboard!  First, next and last stop … Procrastination Station!  This basically sums up the past two(ish) weeks for me in the trading world.  Blog posts?  No.  New trades?  Nope.  Great new ideas to make trades happen?  Not really.  Low motivation concerning the whole project?  You Betcha.

You all know what I’m talking about.  Picture this:  you’re nearing exam period but it isn’t quite down to crunch time and suddenly you realize that you simply will not be able to get any work done unless you rearrange your furniture, or vacuum all of the floors, or clean up your iTunes library, or rearrange your closet according to colour, or finally get around to starting  another project that you’ve already applied your great procrastination skills to and pushed firmly to the back burner, etc.  How is it that out of the blue you can’t seem to concentrate when there are so many things that just need to be done?  Really important things like baking, tanning, napping, checking off easy tasks on recently made “to do” lists that give the illusion of productivity, FBing, replying to e-mails, and just general tidying.  Friends, this is my continual struggle.

In the interest of being open and honest on the ol’ blog, I’ll offer up some examples of my extreme procrastination.  In point form (and don’t worry I’ll also provide photo evidence) here is a sampling of all the extremely important things I have done since I last posted – feel free to eyeroll at any time:

• Rearranged furniture in my bedroom
• Bought a new dog bed + toys + bowl + brush
• Helped complete a Coke themed jigsaw puzzle
• Online shopped for myself and others
• Real life shopped for myself and others
• Decided it would be fun to take up knitting again
• Knitted roughly 30% of a scarf
• Painted my toenails .. two coats
• Watched the Grammys
• Watched two episodes of Survivor, three episodes of Glee, and one episode of Australia’s Best Athlete (yes, it exists)
• Read 29% of Pride and Prejudice
• Bought a lawn chair for tanning .. and also used it
• Bought new sheets + a new pillow
• Read multiple magazines.. many of the tabloid variety
• Baked two batches of brownies for different occasions
• Participated in a longish bike adventure
• Got a car wash
• Went out for numerous coffees, ice creams, and lunches
• Aided in the construction of a fence to prevent the dog from making any more “great escapes”
• Watched Toy Story 3 .. which I have already seen
• Set up a trade section in the living room of our training camp apartment that highlights the current trade item
• Believe it or not I am also currently procrastinating by watching Survivor and only typing on commercials

Photographic evidence:

Very sophisticated method of showcasing ol' blue.  Are you wondering why it's not working?  Me too!

New digs for Liesl the Weasel

I'm not ready to apologize for these just yet.  I'm convinced they were time well spent

Two coats

Very mature and stylish, I know.  Young House Love would be throwing up in their mouths right now.

Surprisingly effective ... for now.

This says 27%, the list above says 29%, and I am currently at 32% which gives you a rough idea of how much procrastinating went down during the actual composition of this post.

I know it seems as though these things wouldn’t really kill too much time, or that I could easily find a few minutes to sit down and tap out a quick blog, but that’s not really the point is it?  C’mon, we’ve all been there. The whole “I’ll do it on Monday” routine where Monday turns in to Tuesday, Tuesday turns in to Thursday, Thursday turns in to next week, next week turns in to two weeks and next thing you know you’ve either completely forgotten about it, just realized that it’s actually due tomorrow, or have this horrible guilty feeling all the time.  Not to mention that the longer you leave something, the more daunting the task seems to become.  I’m in the nagging guilty stage at the moment because I know that I’ve been neglecting the project for no other reason than because it became significantly less fun than when I started.

Procrastination as a result of low enthusiasm

I am entirely aware of it, but why do I still procrastinate and put things off?  In this case, it’s a mixture of a few things.  I think that because this is sort of for fun, I didn’t have that sense of urgency that really aids in productivity.  Also, there are no set rules, no real deadlines, and no severe consequences for not posting.  Essentially, it was on me to keep it up, and when prioritizing my activities and managing my time, thelittleredpaperclip somehow slipped down on the list (how it got below car wash, I’ll never know).  I think that part of it is definitely because the trading has really dropped off.  Things are less exciting and believe it or not, very few people in a sunny southern state feel the need to own a lightweight spring/fall jacket (spring and fall referring to Canadian spring/fall).  This lull threw me off because the trade scene was really buzzin’ at first.  I suppose that this is bound to happen with more expensive and specific items, and I’ve certainly got to figure out a new way to deal with it.  The bottom line is this:  I tend to put off doing things that I don’t consider to be fun.  Ummm duh Una.

The importance of setting goals and making plans

In trying to determine why I was suddenly so disinterested in something that I was borderline obsessed with a week earlier, it struck me that I hadn’t really applied any of the normal practices to the project that I would for sport or school or work.  In the trading/blogging world, I was that girl who makes a well-intentioned fitness resolution at the onset of a new year, and then only uses her gym pass from Jan 1- 8.  I didn’t sit down and make a plan of how I wanted to proceed, I didn’t set any concrete goals for what I wanted to achieve, and I certainly didn’t give much thought to what I would do if things weren’t going well.  I am now left wondering why on earth I thought wingin’ it would work for this, when I know for a fact it does not work in any other area of my life. 

There’s something really cool about setting goals and writing them down.  Somehow it’s like as soon as you say them out loud or write them on paper, they are real.  What was once just an idea is now something more physical, concrete and measurable – there’s a record of it.  Having a goal makes the tough parts easier to manage because it keeps you motivated and on track.  When things aren’t going as smoothly as they should, you can look back on your goal and remind yourself why what you’re doing is worth it.  I had an ah ha moment when I realized that this isn’t going to be super duper fun all the time (what is anyway? besides eating ice cream), and that I still need to commit to it anyway.

Setting a goal and writing it down sounds fine and good.  Easy enough right?  Not necessarily.  Not only do you have to set goals, you have to make a plan for how you’re going to achieve them in measurable terms.  Tracking your progress also helps to keep you motivated and excited about the task.

For example, here are some of the goals I have set out for thelittleredpaperclip project, and some ideas that I have to help me achieve them. 

Goal:  Go outside of my comfort zone and make trades with people other than my immediate family and social circle in an attempt to gain new skills and confidence.

Plan:  Try as best as I can to at one point make a trade with an absolute stranger – and have fun with it.

Goal:  Make at least five trades before April 30

Plan:  Stay on top of blogging and promoting my current item.  Never miss out on an opportunity, and remind people about what’s going on.  Also, be proactive about trading – don’t just wait for someone to come to me with a trade. 

Goal:  Try to differentiate myself from others who have done the project before, or are currently doing it (ahem Connor Taras).

Plan:  Be creative and explore interesting ways of trading.  Make a trade through the mail, maybe even make an international trade.  Try to make a trade using only the Internet.  Aside from posting a blog and a new profile picture, try to make a trade NOT using the Internet.  Research marketing strategies and techniques and apply them to my trading.

Goal:  Even if there are no new trades, blog once a week at the very least.

Plan:  Set a time each week to sit down and write.  Make sure that this is a time where I won’t be distracted or easily convinced to do other things.

Goal:  Maintain and/or improve my writing while not taking an English class.

Plan:  Approach the blog in a professional manner in terms of editing and structure.  Obviously the style isn’t super scholarly .. but don’t settle for typos and carelessly sloppy sentences.

Goal:  Have fun and learn lots.

Plan:  Remember that this can be fun as well as challenging.  Add a personal touch to each trade and try to pass on a smile.  Stay focused and commit to the project, but try to avoid taking myself too seriously.

So here’s the deal ...  same item, new goals, new attitude.

Once again, if you’re interested in trading or even stopping by to see the jacket, drop me a line at unalounder@gmail.com

TRADE #2 AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS BE PREPARED

Okay y’all, trade numero dos has officially taken place.  Over the weekend, I was able to trade my French language Scrabble game with a close friend’s boyfriend (Manfriend? Special friend? Partner? What is the proper terminology after turning 18 anyway?) over dinner. So I am now the proud owner of a Men’s size Large Marmot jacket.  Awesome trade, I know!  This thing is valued at $100, so once again, I am in the positive profit zone (up $70 from the $30 Scrabble game).  Not to mention, it is a great jacket.  Here is a link with more details on all of its great features, http://marmot.com/products/approach_jacket

Here are some highlights:

• Lightweight but breathable.  Wicks away moisture – great for all of you runners/skiers out there, or just generally sweaty people.
• Stretchy material – because let’s get serious, some days things just fit a little tighter than we would like them to.
• Zippered handwarmer pockets – both cozy AND good for not losing your keys/spare change.

ohhhhh ahhhh 

I am really happy with this trade.  Although I am now into a gender-specific product, I still think that it was a step up and that it won’t be too difficult to find someone who needs a good spring jacket.  That being said, fellas - if you are in need of a jacket, or just really like it then let me know and maybe we can set up a trade.  Ladies, know someone who would look great in the jacket or need a really awesome V-Day gift for Monday?  Helllo – great opportunity!! Once again my email address is unalounder@gmail.com if you’re at all interested.

wow! what a great jacket! please disregard dog on stove

one last look at the current trade item .. dog not included

So this all sounds fine and good - I go home for a weekend for a quick visit, go to dinner with some friends, and come out with an awesome trade right?  Wrong.  This is not how it went down.  I am not afraid to admit that I totally dropped the ball on this one.  Here’s how it actually happened.  In a frenzy of attempted “light” packing on the day of my flight, I made a conscious decision to leave my Scrabble game behind.  For once in my life, I was traveling with only carry on bags, and believe it or not, the board game would simply not fit comfortably in either of my very practical (yet stylish) carry-ons.  I figured, “hey, I’m only going to be gone for 3 days, I probably won’t have time to make a trade.”  UGH!  This is totally not the attitude a good marketer/business person should have.  It’s important to look for an opportunity in every situation.  I now know that this is a 24 hour job, where a large chunk of it happens when you’re not actually on the job.

So we got to talking about the blog during dinner, and all of a sudden, there was a trade opportunity in front of me.  My trader was planning on giving this jacket away (say what?) so it seemed like the perfect plan.  One little problem, I had nothing to trade.  To me, this was like the equivalent of meeting a really important person in your industry, chatting about what it is you do, and then realizing that because you don’t have any pockets, you neglected to bring a business card to pass along.  Total marketing faux pas!  Once again, lesson learned.  Obviously, I won’t be able to carry the jacket with me every second of every day, but I vow to never miss out on an opportunity and to be ready for anything.  Luckily, the trader was willing to accept an I.O.U in exchange for the jacket.  I promised to mail him the game as soon as I was able to, and he gave me the jacket to take back with me.  Obviously, I will be footing the bill for the shipping.

Behold ... The beautiful I.O.U ...

I know what you're all thinking ... maybe I should have gone to art school, I know!

added touch

The finished product

After receiving the beautiful handmade I.O.U, I got a message from my friend saying “Just dropped off the jacket.  We just got high from the smell of permanent marker on that iou lol”  HAHA!  So maybe it was freshly made, but nothing says, “thank you” and “I’m sorry” at the same time like crazy sharpie fumes and a great colour scheme (which I now think was unconsciously inspired by the team colours of the Dillan Panthers). I was inspired because over the holidays, I ordered something from Etsy.com and the very same night that I placed my order, the jeweler e-mailed me to let me know that she had received it, was getting to work on the item, and would notify me when she dropped it in the mail.  When I received the item in the mail, she had included a hand-written card thanking me for my order and wishing me happy holidays.  I was really excited and surprised by this act of kindness and realized that I really appreciated the personal touch and customer service.

So the bottom line is, I wanted to add my own personal touch to the trade that reminded my trader that I was appreciative of the trade and also of his understanding.

From now on, this will be a regular occurrence.  I believe that each trade should be about more than just the items being traded; it should be about the experience too.

That being said, if you are in need of a jacket and a smile .. please, please, please get in touch.

AH HA! MOMENT #2

First and foremost, I am fully aware that have been neglecting the blog.  I know, I know … rookie move, especially for a new blog trying to make a name for itself in the big bad cyber world.  Truth be told, I was out of town for the weekend visiting my folks and didn’t have time to sit down and write something that would be worth reading.  That being said, I am sorry and I promise to make it up to you – all of my super supportive and loyal readers J (all 8-10 of you).  This past weekend was actually quite eventful so I am planning to either post twice tonight, or to post once tonight and once early tomorrow morning before I begin my journey down the I-95 to The Sunshine State.  I’ll fill you all in on my most recent trade (YAYYYYY!!) and the competitive aspect to this experiment that is certainly heating up.  For those of you that have me on FB, be prepared for a lot of annoying status updates and link sharing announcements in the next 24 hours.  For those of you who don’t have Facebook, or haven’t yet “friended” me, no need to feel left out – I will think of a way to impose myself on your daily lives soon enough.

Again, a disclaimer: this is going to be a lengthy one so treat yourself to a cup of herbal tea, a yummy desert or maybe even a night cap (whatever tickles your fancy), and dig in!

Dealing with the Competition … Whether you want to or not

Although slightly caught off guard and intimidated by Connor’s new marketing strategy, I have decided that I can no longer ignore it, and will try my best to explain what he’s up to as well as offer some insight as to how I’m going to deal with the challenge.  All businesses have got to respond to what the competition is up to – be it a big or small response; it’s the acknowledgement that’s important.  I’ve decided that selective ignorance is not the way to go (mostly because I just learned that Connor had 500 views on his blog – WOWZERS!! My measly 8 today can simply not afford to ignore it any longer).  One of my goals for this blog is to be open and honest about my experience – positive or negative - so you’ll know what I’m thinking every step of the way and how it pans out.

The actual competition … a blue paperclip

Some of you may remember from the introductory post of yester-week, that this trading exercise is also a bit of a competition between a teammate, classmate and friend of mine, Connor Taras (also affectionately called Connor-Bomb by friends and teammates) and I.  Many of you probably know Connor, and some of you may have actually found my blog after reading his or vice versa (the link to his blog – which you’ll notice looks freakishly similar to mine - can be found on the left-hand sidebar).   For those of you who don’t know Connor, he is in one word, a character.  Connor is positive, energetic, personable, and driven.  He knows how to work a room and is often the life of the party.  Connor is always looking for ways to be better at whatever it is he’s got going on.  This is what makes him a great athlete and a fierce competitor.  Shocking, I know, but believe it or not, he has actually taken all of these personal strengths and applied them to his marketing strategy for his little blue paperclip.  Genius! Ugh .. why didn’t I think of that … first?

In the interest of not writing an entire post about Connor, I encourage you to check out his blog to see what he’s up to.  But, to sum it up, Connor has partnered with an organization called CANFund in an attempt to trade his way up.  CANFund endeavors to raise awareness, support as well as financial assistance for Canada’s amateur athletes.  Connor has promised to auction off whatever his final trade item is, and donate the money to CANFund, and ultimately, Canadian athletes.  By doing this, he has expanded his market and by having his blog promoted by CANFund, he is now reaching a HUGE audience. As I mentioned earlier, he has had 500 + views.  Connor is calling on his potential traders to think of their trades as directly supporting Canadian athletes, which is a great angle.  Does this make me feel a little nervous and jealous? Totally.  Am I going to admit defeat and leave you all alone from now on? Dream on, you’re stuck with me!

The response

Initial response: “O-M-G!! I’m done for .. no one will ever read my blog ever again because his idea is so much cooler.”

Secondary response: “UGH this is such a good idea, I’m so jealous and bitter, how come I couldn’t have thought if it first? We are so not friends right now.”

Final response (here comes my “Ah ha” moment): “I wouldn’t have ever thought of that because it’s not like me.  This is a great idea, but the bottom line is that it’s a great idea for Connor and it works with his personality.  I have to find a new angle that fits the way I work.”

So how exactly do I work?  What are my strengths?  How can I remain competitive, but still stick to my guns and follow my original ideas?  To quote one of my new obsession and time-killers, the series Friday Night Lights, “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” (for those of you who have seen it .. I hope that just gave you pre-game butterflies ... haha).  Not only have I been waiting for an appropriate time to insert that gem into the blog, I actually think it applies without too much of a stretch.  Basically, if I have a vision of how I want to operate, am cognizant of what the competition is doing without letting it distract me, and give it my all, I can’t completely lose out on the experience.  To be cliché, we can both be winners here (awww, isn’t that nice). 

Don’t get me wrong people I still want to win and am going to put up a fight, albeit a different kind.  I figure that at this point, I am the underdog, but that’s okay with me.  At first, I thought I needed to find something that was bigger and better than Connor’s idea, and to basically one-up him.  This is a marketing strategy that may work in some scenarios, but I really don’t think it will work for me.  I am going to stick to what I had originally planned, with the logic that I thought it was a good idea before Connor’s big break, so why wouldn’t it still be a good idea afterward?  Clearly, my vision for this project is something that’s a little different.  It’s something that is smaller, independent, quality-oriented and more personal.  For all of you Dartmouthians or Ottawans (Ottawites?), perhaps you can consider me the TIBS or Wild Oat to Connor’s Starbucks or Tim Horton’s.

To clarify:  I am still trying to win. However, I am 100% supportive of Connor’s efforts and will not trying to undermine his initiative.  I think that he has chosen a great partner in CANFund and is doing something that is really special.  In fact, I encourage you all to go to CANFund’s website and donate some dollars to deserving athletes – it’s a wonderful cause and it is undeniably money well spent.

I plan only to highlight our differences, and my strengths.  Heck, I may even end up trading with him – you never know!

Bottom line:  Not only do I want to win the pageant; I also aim to win the Miss Congeniality sash while I’m at it.

I started this blog for a number of reasons, and yes one of them was to compete with Connor and to try to win, but the bigger reason was because I wanted to.  That may sound incredibly selfish because his strategy is entirely based on charity.  But, in the interest of honesty, I really love writing and have secretly wanted a blog for awhile.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone; promote my paperclip by starting a blog, and write on something that is fun, unique and interesting.  Selfish? Maybe.  Wrong?  Absolutely not.  My angle is something along the lines of Loreal’s “Because you’re worth it” campaign.  Through this blog, I am doing something for myself.  I hope that you will do the same through checking it out;  if you like reading it, please continue to do so.  Maybe you think it’s horrible and it gives you a private giggle at my expense every day, maybe you think it’s a cool idea and find it funny and that’s the way you get your laugh, maybe you’re interested in marketing and find the real-life application appealing, or maybe you’re like me and you just love blogs.  Whatever the reason is, I hope that it’s for your benefit and that you get some enjoyment out of it, otherwise, why bother?  In many ways, my blog is also my product, and I will try my very best to produce a quality post each and every time (not to mention, I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve and plan on attempting some really cool trades).  If you see something that is up for trade that you legitimately want, please get in contact with me and I will try my best to make it work (this doesn’t mean I’m going to make bad trades willy nilly just so that you can get the item you want .. but I’m willing to be creative here so don’t be shy).  Another aspect of this paperclip exercise is to engage in interactions with various people who I may not have connected with otherwise.  Sure, it might be weird and a bit awkward, but I kind of want to see what happens when you put yourself out there.  I am really interested and excited about the interactions that this project might bring, both on and offline.  If you are interested in an item, just want to say hi, or have some sage advice, get in touch with me; I’d love to hear from you.  In a nutshell, my current angle is this:

I am having a lot of fun with this and I think you should too.  Enjoy yourself.  I’m offering a personal touch and a quality product, and will try to make your reading and/or trading experience a pleasant and memorable one.

Last big not least, I promise that all blogs will not be this lengthy and/or this touchy-feely.  To prove that to you, the next one will feature lots of pictures (because c’mon .. sometimes I don’t even read the whole post if there are great pics) and less soul-searching-marketing-strategy talk. :)

TRADE #1, INITIAL INVESTORS, AND THE POWER OF BUZZ ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB … INTERNET … OKAY, MAYBE JUST FACEBOOK

Alrighty, it’s official, I have made my first trade! YAY!!!!!  Lots of excited punctuation and caps, I know .. but hey, if this isn’t reason for celebration, then I don’t know what is. 

I am now the proud owner of a Scrabble board game (great trade right? I totally know! eeek).  This is going to be a longer-than-usual post because I have had a lot of trade related activity over the past day and a half so grab your cup of bean, hot chocolate, or non-fat extra hot chai tea latte now if you plan on sticking it out.

Initial Investors

So first thing’s first. You may be wondering (as one FB friend put it), “who is the sucker” who traded a great board game for a measly little paperclip?  Well, to be blunt, it was someone who is close to me and who probably just wanted to help me out (and may have felt a little pressure from yours truly).  It seems like a wild jump, and rightly so - amazon.ca tells me that a Scrabble game these days can run you up to roughly $30.  So on my first trade, I have made a $30 profit (wow!).  Truth be told, this was a win-win trade considering that the trader was actually in possession of two Scrabble games so it wasn’t a significant loss to them. 

Here’s the thing though, as this little experiment goes on, I expect big trades like this to become few and far between.  The first few traders are likely to be people who are close to me personally, who want to help me out, or who simply want to be a part of something that may eventually be really big and super duper cool (images of Hollywood movies like Julie and Julia and The Social Network are flashing through my head at the moment … feel free to giggle).  Brian Stever hit the nail on the head yesterday when he commented on the last post saying:

“Seriously, I don't understand why people wouldn't want to trade with you! I mean this is the beginning of a great story and these people have the opportunity to be part of something huge! I'd certainly be willing to trade something much more valuable for the little red paper clip!”

Thanks for the comment Brian – my thoughts exactly!  Don’t worry, I will harass you for a trade in good time!

These people who are willing to make outrageous trades are similar to the initial investors that you might approach if you were going to start a business and needed resources or support.  They trust you, or at least believe in your idea, and have the means to help you out.  Of course, they expect that when you become rich and famous that you will in turn, help them out and remember where you got your start.  Essentially, they are people who want to be a part of whatever you’ve got going on, and are willing to help you get on your feet.

Listen, unless is involves selling my soul, as they say, I’m not above taking handouts.  Invest in me people!

Buzz .. and not like the kind that comes from Bees

Yesterday I look the plunge and put myself out there on Facebook.  This is a relatively small network (I have less than 450 “friends”), but the amount of feedback that I have received has been huge.  I never would have been able to round up so many page views any other way.  Without sounding cocky, there seems to be quite a bit of buzz going on around the blog so far ( 5 “likes” and 13 comments in les than a day is nothing to sneeze at people).  To clarify, my computer dictionary tells me that buzz is to “have an air of excitement or purposeful activity” but I just think of it simply as people noticing and talking about what you’re doing.  This is really exciting and has actually demonstrated the positive power of Facebook’s social networking claim to fame – and here I thought it was only good for procrastination during exam period and “creeping” on one’s cooler, trendier, more popular acquaintances.  In our era of Google, Youtube, Facebook, and Myspace, anything seems to be possible if there is enough Internet buzz going on in your favour (think Justin Bieber, OK Go, LOLcat, and Double Rainbow).  Buzz, and especially online buzz can be huge for a business and is becoming increasingly more important in the marketing world.  Don’t get me wrong, there is the possibility for bad buzz, but some would still maintain that any publicity is good publicity.  I don’t entirely agree with this, and I believe that it’s important for marketers to make sure that they are creating the right type of buzz for their product.  Having the right people talking about what you’re doing can make all the difference in the world.  For example, it is said that if your product appears on Oprah’s Favorite Things show, you can expect an insane increase in sales.  Am I surprised?  Absolutely not!  Given the chance, I too would be one of the screaming, crying fans in the front row lovingly gazing at all of the wonderful things I knew I was about to receive.

Anyway, I want to send out an early thanks to all the initial supporters and buzz perpetuators … I vow to you that I will endeavor to keep this blog buzz-worthy!

A little hiccup … Why it’s good to do your research

After rejecting a trade offer from my mom for a batch of delicious chocolate chip squares – if anyone has ever tasted these, they will understand why I had to refuse (I would have obviously devoured them in about 30 seconds and been left with nothing to trade), a stick of gum, chocolate kiss, and a guitar pick, I made what I though was the best first trade EVER.  In the initial excitement of making the trade (and by excitement, I really mean smugness at the quality of it), I neglected to take a good hard look at the actual item I was acquiring.  Turns out, I traded my paperclip of a version of Scrabble that is in the French language.  I’m not really disappointed, but I had to slap myself on the wrist for this one.  It’s the principle .. always read up on what you’re getting yourself into!  Literally, all I had to do was read the front of the box.  It’s still not a bad trade, but it took me by surprise after the fact, which is probably not the best strategy for the future.  Luckily I have a lot of friends who speak French and I am still in the early stages of trading so I am not too worried about it, but the lesson has certainly be learned.

That being said, I am still maintaining that this was a valuable trade.  I mean, c’mon, who doesn’t love Scrabble?  Every Word’s A Winner, or as my box says, Chaque Mot Compte!!

Anyone need to brush up on his or her French vocab?  Let’s keep the trades going people … 

AH HA! MOMENT #1

Okay, still no trades (I know, I knoooow).  Don’t give up on me yet though, I may still have a few tricks up my sleeve.  I’ve been thinking a lot about how to go about this and today I had a bit of an epiphany (since I’m such a beginner, this will be the first of many, I’m sure).  All right, brace yourselves, here it is:  awesome trades are actually not going to magically materialize in front of my eyes.  Earth-shattering eh?  What I mean is that I haven’t really be actively promoting my product (the pesky paperclip) and so why would anyone want to trade with me - or even know that I have something to offer?  Picture the cartoon light bulb blinking over my head right about ….. now!  This incredible discovery came to me after a friend (whom I cautiously offered this link to) asked, “not to point out the obvious – but who knows about the blog?”  Obvious?  Hmmm.  I started a tally of people who I had sent the link to and had read at least one post, and stopped counting after about six people, two of them being my parents and one of them being myself.  Sad, I know. 

Truth be told, I was a little apprehensive about telling people what I was doing.  Inexperience and self-consciousness have been getting the better of me.  Now I realize that I have nothing to lose and that a big part of marketing and business in general is putting yourself out there, making your product known, and figuring out a clever way to help people understand that they actually do need what you’re selling (okay, that last one was a little sarcastic, but you get the picture).

So today’s goal is simple:  STOP HOLDING BACK AND COMMIT ALREADY!  What’s the point of this if I’m not going to throw myself into it100% right?  I don’t know what I was so nervous about in the first place.  I mean, what’s the worst thing that could happen?  People may not like it and may think it’s a stupid idea.  So what? 

From now on I will not hold back on sharing the blog or the exercise with my entire facebook friends list (sorry FB friends.. deal with it or delete me) as well as my non-FB friends.  I am going to commit to changing my display picture to reflect the current item that is up for trade with the hope that it will attract potential traders as well as announcing new blog posts via status messages (which is sort of a big deal because I do roughly 2 of these a year).  More importantly, I will stop holding back on trade offers just because I think they will hinder my future trading.  Just this once, for the first trade, maybe I will trade simply for the sake of trading.  A warm up, if you will – just to get the willies out.  It’s got to start somewhere so maybe I should stop over thinking it and as Nike says, Just Do It!