Take the example of a vendor of mine who emailed me to complain that one of her competitors had been invited to work with me on an upcoming project. The message contained words and punctuation–no images, video, or audio to simulate a face-to-face conversation–but the attitude was palpable. “Is this an official plan now, using both of us? It’s fine… I just need to be kept in the loop!”

First of all, I wanted to shout at the email on my laptop, whom I decide to work with and how often I work with them is entirely my decision. You don’t have an exclusivity clause in our verbal contract. Dial back the attitude, missy.

Of course, I did not type this into an email reply. I want to maintain professional communications at all times. But my initial reaction to this brazen display of bad attitude got me thinking: how would I have handled this confrontation if it had happened in my office instead of on my laptop?

Protecting the reputation of my company is a priority, and so is maintaining civility in any discourse with vendors and clients. No matter how rattled I might get on the inside, it’s important to keep a cool exterior. My professionalism demands that I show everyone at least some measure of respect, even when they misbehave. Having the veil of email between us actually makes it easier to think before responding… something I might not have done so effectively had that vendor been standing in my office whining about not being chosen first.

Deep breath. Count to 10. Engage brain before speaking. This is all good advice–for both the personal and the professional in all of us.

I had one of those days yesterday. And even though I’m aware that some of the folks I met at a networking event last night might be reading this today, I just have to be honest: I wasn’t in my usual rah-rah-let’s-go mode. In fact, I almost didn’t show up.

It would’ve been so easy to just stay home, avoiding the crowds, the hand-shaking, the quick room-scanning, the u-turns to avoid running into certain people. But I knew I’d regret that decision eventually. I also knew that this was an opportunity I could not afford to pass up, even if I was in the wrong state of mind to begin with.

As a small business owner, I’m particularly susceptible to feeling overwhelmed with a long to-do list and crossing stuff off just to give myself a break. There are no staffers to send to networking events on Movick Marketing’s behalf. I am my company’s chief ambassador. I can either accept that responsibility, and all the gripping-and-grinning that goes with it, or I can go take a nap and let my company drift away.

Pushing past that feeling of near-paralysis–getting yourself out there, keeping your commitments, honing that elevator speech–is critical to keeping the momentum going, especially for small businesses just getting started with word-of-mouth marketing. It’s never okay to give up just because you’re not in the mood.

After about 45 minutes at the networking event, I woke up and started to get into the spirit of things. By hour 3, I met some really interesting people, gathered some promising business leads, and wondered why I’d ever felt like staying home.

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…Created a new page on the website–Featured Biz–listing and linking all woman-owned local “biz of the day” daily shout-outs from Twitter

…Added new social media package: Ghost-Blogging Special, for those folks who are ready to admit they need a little help writing a blog (you know who you are!)

…Got a whole bunch of new Facebook fans–enough to finally get that vanity URL! Now located at facebook.com/MovickMarketing

…Inserted AddThis sharing button on all pages and into most blog posts

…Now advertising social media marketing packages on three different websites: Market Mommies, Melissa Meman Designs, and Melissa’s blog

I started last Friday with the first tweet to promote Melissa Meman Designs, and today I tweeted for Lisa Koehler’s Singer Source.

Look for a new section on this website with a complete list of links to all featured businesses. I’m starting local, with people I know well and/or businesses that I have patronized, to show how the social networking community gives back to its own. In the case of Melissa’s jewelry business, we are old friends and I wear the jewelry myself, and Lisa is my friend and professional singer’s agent.

But beyond that, I really admire what these two dynamic and talented women have done with their business ventures–while simultaneously raising their families.

If you’d like for your business to be featured, email me or comment on this post. Come on, let’s give back to woman-owned small businesses! And don’t forget to become a fan of Movick Marketing on Facebook. The more fans I get, the more value I can add to the fan experience!

Here’s a little taste:

So when you tell prospects what you charge and the type of results they may gain from your work, this is not about justifying your price. You are helping them make an educated decision. You are looking for a win-win.

If you’ve ever hesitated before setting a price for your services or products, you absolutely MUST read this article: How can I justify my price? 

After that, you can join me in becoming her follower on Twitter. This woman is definitely onto something.

Yes folks, it’s true: you can find me on Twitter @movickmarketing! I figure it’ll be much easier for me to convince my clients that Twitter can help with business promotion if I actually use it myself.

Yesterday I placed an ad at marketmommies.com for the social media marketing packages–in partnership with Fern Carbonell of Exemplus Virtual Assistant Services (tweeting @Exemplus_Fern)–which I’m cross-promoting through my Facebook fan page and Twitter, and on this website… look at the top of the left rail!

It feels like something great is right around the corner. Maybe it’s just as simple as finally taking my own advice.

This was one of the thought-provoking questions posed during a presentation I attended last week on strategic partnerships. When you imagine your company’s name in a headline, is it announcing an exciting new development… or a disastrous scandal?

The presentation focused on how to choose the right partner, what can be gained, when to say yes, and what to watch out for. Doing your homework before making such a big decision as forming a strategic partnership means researching everything about the other company so that there would be no surprises, such as the hypothetical newspaper headline revealing an unsavory skeleton in the new partner’s closet, right as your strategic partnership is announced.

Scary stuff, right?

Taking a risk–opening the door to new possibilities–can mean staring down your greatest fears of failure. What if I lose money on the deal? What if my new partner doesn’t live up to her end of the bargain? What if my company’s reputation is hurt by this association? All of those questions are valid. But so is the flip side of that argument. What if this partnership could bring me new clients? What if my business flourishes? What if my company grows so much that I need to hire an assistant to handle the extra work?

Risk and reward are two sides of the same coin. You can’t expect your business to grow without taking at least some kind of risk. Putting your company name out in public, marketing your services online, shaking hands at a networking event during flu season: all of these things involve risk. If you let your fear of risk dictate your business philosophy, you’ll never get anywhere.

When planning to start something new, you should always do your homework and be aware of all the risks. But remember to follow your instincts and balance the potential for failure with the potential for growth. As I’m learning with an exciting new strategic partnership between Movick Marketing and Exemplus Virtual Business Services, great things can happen when you open yourself up to new possibilities!

The source of this gift? Instead of the usual 2- to 3-hour toddler nap break I get every afternoon, my daughter was so sick with a cold and fever that she slept for 5 straight hours.

There’s a word for what I feel right now: grateful. As the old SNL Harvey Fierstein-type character used to say, is that so wrong?

Building a business while raising a family involves tradeoffs and shifting priorities on a daily basis. I wield this double-edged mommy sword to ward off exhaustion, apathy, and guilt wherever possible. One side is sharpened by the needs of my child, the other by the needs of my business. It cuts both ways: either neglect one to save the other, or risk losing them both. Today, just this once, I think both were saved.

Yes, I am worried about my daughter’s health and on guard for signs of worsening symptoms that might necessitate a trip to the urgent care. But I’m also relieved that her body kicked into hyper-sleep mode to help her recover–which coincidentally helped me get more work done. Two problems solved with one mother of a nap.

As for the mommy sword, it’s resting comfortably tonight, safely locked away in a toddler-proof sheath.

This is my favorite story about freebies. There was a woman sitting next to the window on a flight last October who was very nervous about flying. My daughter was sitting (squirming, actually) on my lap and being occasionally adorable enough that the lady by the window smiled at her through white-knuckled anxiety. Eventually she even laughed and made funny faces at my daughter. The flight seemed to go by quickly, and once we landed, the lady reached into her carryon and pulled out a little paperback book. She gave it to me with a smile, thanking me (and my daughter) for helping her get through a scary experience. She said that it was a book written and self-published by her mother, who had instructed her to give it away only to people who helped her in some meaningful way. I was honored by the gesture–and quite amused by the hilariously dry wit in the short little book. So, in the interest of helping this nice lady’s mom sell more books, you can find “Helpful Household Hints for the Domestically Challenged” by Carma Allen on amazon.

The lesson I took from this savvy bit of self-promotion was this: if you’re going to give something away for free, it helps to set up some rules beforehand. Give away only a very small supply of your latest product. Decide how often and under what circumstances you’re willing to work for free. Offer free stuff for a limited time period, like 10 days. Write down your pro bono rules and stick to them. You’ll be less tempted to work for free in the future if you’re actually making money in the present.

Therefore, here’s an amazing original poem I received from a really good friend today. Do enjoy!

A Seasonal Verse
by Rollin H. Marquis

A Solstice is here.
It’s reason to cheer!
Light sparks in the dark
When the year is most drear.

More day will appear
And the sun will grow sere,
Until soon, in late June,
We again reverse gear.

Don’t fret and don’t jeer!
There’s nothing to fear.
We’re sound in this round
Until life throws us clear.

So, draw loved ones near
And praise whom you revere.
Lad or lass, grab a glass
Of nog, glühwein or beer!