Gracie Communications

Last week I was reminded of a valuable lesson about being an entrepreneur.

You don’t always have to do it yourself.

I was helping my youngest daughter, Helen, work her stand at Lemonade Day Indianapolis’ kick-off event. She’s been a part of Lemonade Day from the start and I am wildly proud that she has made all the decisions, secured the venue. picked the charity beneficiary, and designed the booth all by herself.  She was pretty proud too, until she heard that her total revenue was way under the other kick-off event participants.

This wasn’t a case of the other kids having Daddy Did It All Syndrome (for the most part). The real difference was the other kids found locations using the resources of the Lemonade Day organizers. They were inside when we were out in the rain last year. They were working with corporate office support and marketing efforts.

Helen and I talked all the way home about what she was going to do differently at this May’s event. She is still going to raise money for Joy’s House, but she is going to get help from the organizers in picking a higher-traffic location. She is going to go to one of the preparation workshops. And she is going to borrow ideas she learned from the other kids at the event, including adding some entertainment to draw people in.

My 10-year-old’s story reminds me of my own (and many others in business for themselves). Entrepreneurs go into business for themselves to fulfill a lifelong passion or a dream. They’ve always wanted to be their own boss. To make the rules. They are excited every day to get to work. It is their great idea or unique way of providing a service and no one is going to tell them what to do or how to do it.

Here’s the rub. When you do it all yourself, you miss out on others’ great ideas on how to make your great idea even better.

Who should you be partnering with, listening to and emulating in your business?

My 17-year-old daughter just called me from her U.S. History class to ask for a ride home. Her teacher – who will remain nameless since I want him/her to keep a job – allowed her to call as long as she told me that she loved me in front of the whole class. Which she did. Twice.

I think letting her call from class was a wise communication move on the teacher’s part. (more…)

A good friend of mine once told me that he liked to surround himself with people smarter than himself. He said we’d all be in trouble if he were the smartest person in the room. While there is plenty that this friend is the smartest about, I have taken that advice to heart and try to hang out with ubersmart people. I’ve found the really smart ones are also the ones most willing to share what they know.

That was definitely the case at Blog Indiana 2010. The two-day conference was filled with smart presenters who gladly shared their knowledge and expertise with everyone in the room.  With 35 speakers, I wasn’t able to attend every session but there were two in particular that stood out. (more…)

There is a lot that a communications campaign can do, but it can’t take the place of good, old-fashioned customer service. There are many companies out there that talk a good game but how well do they really listen to their customers and try to meet their (ever-changing) needs? (more…)

Last week, I had a client, who wants to be better known in the market, pass on a sponsorship opportunity because they didn’t think they would get a whole lot of media mileage out of it. The sponsorship meant getting access to eight key companies, working in partnership with a major university and a handful of influential state and local agencies, and being included in a wide swath of social media strategies. But the client was right – they most likely were not going to get a major media mention from it. (more…)

It’s been two weeks since my last blog post. I’ve spent a lot of that time with kids. My own, who have invaded my home office since it is summer vacation, and a great group of teenagers who are sharing their thoughts with me about youth obesity. While I love to talk about my kiddos, today’s post is about what a group of teenagers recently taught me. (more…)

At lunch with a prospective client last week, I was asked if I was a publicist. I inwardly recoiled at the term. Then I decided I’d better make sure I understood his definition of publicist before I answered. (more…)