So you decided to throw one of those "virtual bashes" to gain you prestige and prominence in your niche... and everyone's being helpful and cooperative, how fantastic! Oh, except that one problem child, she's calling, she's emailing, she wants you to explain it all over again, she wants attention, she wants you to bend the rules for her... but what's she offering in exchange? Nothing that you need or desire! Yes, there's always the Nellie Olsen of the bunch, tossing those curls, stamping those feet and cramping your style. What's a busy online event planner to do? 1. Lay the ground rules. Your event must have milestones, deadlines, submission processes, exemptions and disclaimers to "SYOA," if you know what I mean. These are the laws that must be carefully laid out and woven into your ongoing campaign to ensure that a "Naughty Nellie" won't come along and trip you up when your guard is down. If you feel skittish about laying the laws, I'll give you my email address right now and you can call on me to get your "copywriting protection" against the Event Sabotager. Trust me, you will need it - dina/AT/wordfeeder.com. 2. Distance yourself. If you're always accessible during a vigorous event campaign, you'll never get anything done. Is old Nellie problem-solving for you again, suggesting that if you go get outside help then you would have more time to cater to her endless needs? This is nonsense, you're the Master Planner, and you must dodge the Nellster as nicely as you can. So, answer her question, post information where she can clearly see it, and then become unavailable. 3. Don't back down. If you give in to one self-absorbed person, next thing you know, the rest of the group will be clamoring their "whataboutmes". (Well, hopefully your group has more class and style than this, but one never knows.) Don't cave to the pressure of a chronic demander who's asking you to give them special treatment, trying to bribe you with things you don't want, or manipulating the rules and attempting to force-feed you your own words so that they get their way in the end. Someone who is this persistent has likely done zero to support you. They're looking out for number one and that's no one you want on your side. Remember - if they don't get what they want now, they won't be back to ask you for more later. Hold your ground! 4. Highlight the good eggs. During the course of your event promotion, you'll be "public speaking" to the group at certain points. Focus on the people who have pitched in with support, time, effort, creativity, connections, word-of-mouth marketing, assistance, and anything else that you'd consider instrumental in making the event fly. Be sure to thank them graciously at every turn, because in comparison to Needy Nellie these people are a Godsend! Turn your attention on the good eggs, and that unpleasant vision of your tormenter getting the best of you will soon fade away. 5. Ask for cash. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that Nellie the Needler has got a tight grip on those purse strings. So if she continues to prod you for special favors, give her a big smile and ask for payment. You're an online marketer after all - there are no regulations or rules except the ones that you lay down for the projects that you own. As an online marketer, you've probably devoted a heap of nonbillable hours to this extravaganza anyway. There comes a point where if someone can't observe your deadlines or requirements and is making demands of your time you should just ask for payment. Either outcome of this will be desirable: Nellie actually pays you (a small miracle in itself), or the more likely scenario - she runs away to go pester someone else. Yes, there will always be that one person who makes your life a living hell. Get away from them if you can. After all, you've got a major event to plan. Want to witness event planning live in action? Please join me and my marketing friends for the First Annual Web Content Awareness Day, scheduled to launch on February 9, 2006 at http://WebContentAwarenessDay.com. Sneak Peek: Visit the Countdown to Web Content Awareness Day Blog and learn how you can ride our wave of high web traffic! Paste in this link: http://wordfeeder.typepad.com/web_content_awareness_day/ Copyright 2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved. |
