On April 16, 2010, I sent an email to all of my contacts, family and friends with an important announcement:

I was starting my own PR consulting business and I was for hire — starting today.

In the three weeks prior, I had come up with a name, worked with a designer friend on a logo, wrote and built a DIY website, cobbled together office hand-me-downs, and put a new laptop, keyboard and mouse on my Visa.

My plan was simple: schedule as many coffee meetings as I could over the next three months, and keep talking, inquiring and making myself known until I got hired. I was armed with a reasonably strong professional network, extremely supportive loved ones, a lot of bus tickets, and an unwavering belief that I could do this. I also had two contracts that I was able to secure before launching, so I knew starvation or eviction wasn’t in my immediate future; that was helpful.

I was completely naive, stupid or fearless — I’m still not sure which.

But I do know the 24 months since have been one hell of a ride.

I got clients, even some on my wish list. With my Mom’s help, I learned to file HST and other such things. I invested in a real website. And yes, I made money. I had about as much in my pocket as I was netting, after deductions, from my previous salary.

I worked with a life coach, got in touch with my soul (I had forgotten I even had one, I think), became an inspirational blogger, and set personal goals for myself that were deeper than “go to the gym every day.”

I drove to New York to see Eminem and Jay-Z in concert (can I get a ‘Hell Yeah!’ for that one?!). I initiated a new household budget. I spent quality time with my cousins in Ontario. I put my life on hold for three weeks to nurture my cat back from the brink of death. I got engaged. I went to Mexico for the marriage of two dear friends.

I grew from one consultant to three, probably before I was ready. I underestimated the ownership I would feel over Red Balloon and struggled with the choice I had made to share it. I re-learned how to play nice with others, after I had just figured out how to do everything on my own.

I took a website design course. I designed my own blog and concocted some exciting plans for what to do with it.

For three or four months, I didn’t get clients. The money ran out. The space on my line of credit almost did, too.

I ran a half marathon. I planned a completely creative and unconventional wedding. I got married. I paid for the bulk of it during a time when Red Balloon wasn’t paying me anything at all. I discovered that money, or the lack of it, doesn’t matter a whole lot to me. I learned the importance of motivating myself with non-financial rewards, and consequences.

I went from having two colleagues to one, and watched Ben find himself through his success at Yelp. I, eventually, loosened my grip on my independence and my ego. I didn’t walk away when the going got tough; neither did Wee C. You can learn a lot about a person during the unpleasant times, yourself included.

I got clients again, new ones. About 10 of them, actually. I decided, along with Wee C, that the deal we were offered for an office at the Hydrostone was too sweet to pass up.

I bought a house. We closed in three weeks. I went on an epic honeymoon to Walt Disney World. I moved. I made mortgage and property tax payments, for the first time. I missed garbage day, three times. I watched cancer consume my uncle’s body; it only took a week. I booked another trip to Mexico, for another dear friend’s wedding.

I realized that the last two years of my life have been an absolute, balls-to-the-wall ADVENTURE. That business and life are inextricably linked — they are one in the same.

Having my own business has allowed me to be truly present for a lot of important moments and experiences in my life. Having a fruitful life, filled with love (from others and myself), has contributed largely to my ability to pour heart, soul and perseverance into this business.

A lot can happen in two years. And when it does, there’s no sense in sweeping it under the rug with the cake crumbs. No. I’m soaking it in and drinking it up instead (along with the bubbly).

You see, I’m selling skills at Red Balloon, but I’m also selling me, complete with wins, lessons, celebrations and battle scars.

So cheers to that, my friends. And for the part you’ve played in the journey, no matter how big or small, I thank you.

- Big L

It’s been a large year around here. There have been tears and laughter, good decisions and bad, celebrations and disappointments, dreams and fears. While there’s much we could say, we’re going to practice what we preach and get straight to the bottom line. Here are 11 words that describe what we’re most grateful for in 2011.

Attended the ICE Awards, marveled at Atlantic Canada’s great creativity, production & design.
Attended Nocturne, took in amazing art, atmosphere, and of course, wine.

Participated in Bust a Move.
Belted Travis Tritt and Prince tunes
(at their concerts…and maybe in the shower).
Passed plenty of evenings at the hot new spot in Halifax,
The Bicycle Thief.

11 new clients.
15 blog posts.
300+ tweets; 200+ new followers.

Watched Oprah’s farewell episode in awe.
Worked with Brigadoon Children’s Camp Society,
our local visionary hero.
Worked with Applehead Studio, our local creativity hero.

Frequent words of wisdom from Seth Godin.
Love notes from the Universe, straight to our inbox.
Ships Start Here contract, a game-changing moment for Halifax.
Moneyball, a great movie about the value of thinking differently.

Monetizing blogs
+ HMTL and CSS basics
+ Productivity coaching
= our brains, stretched

Marriage,
participating and attending.
Friends old and new.
Monthly team-building time.

Grew from one consultant to three.
Accepted to two standing offer lists.
Secured first international client.

Making Ideas Happen, by Scott Belski
Uncertainty, by Jonathan Fields

Guest blogged at Stratejoy for five months.
Spoke at the 20Something Bloggers annual summit.
Spoke at the Canadian Association of Business Incubation
annual conference.
Offered wisdom with students at NSCC
and Mount Saint Vincent University.

Facilitation and communication,
leading to Bust a Move national expansion.
Storytelling for Atlantic Lottery’s 2010-11 Accountability Report.
Concept, management and content
for Techlink Entertainment’s new website.
Confirmed move to new office space (with a meeting room!).

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I have a confession to make: I find the client-consultant relationship a perplexing one. And I don’t mean my relationship with my clients, I mean the dynamic between a person who provides a service and those who purchase it. It often looks different than the relationship between those who provide goods and the people who purchase them.

Think about your local cafe or coffeehouse and your tendency to visit. Here’s what that relationship looks like:

You choose to visit because you want something in the general categories of hot drinks, treats, or a familiar and easy-to-find meeting location. You start off knowing you want one or more of those things, let’s say a hot drink. You look at the menu or ask if they have a specific variety or option that you don’t see. You might take a minute or two to decide, but the barista won’t serve you a darn thing unless you speak up and request something. Even if there was no line up when you arrived, if one forms while you’re perusing the menu or counting what’s in your change purse, then you’re forced to join in at the end. When you do order something, the barista gets to work providing it. He or she tells you how much you owe them and you pay it. You don’t ask them to cut you a deal or give you a freebie because you’ve been there 10 times before. If you don’t have enough money, you can’t have what you want. You can’t change your mind once you place an order, either. If you do, you may need to pay more.

That’s how a goods-based relationship generally works. The terms are understood, respected and upheld by most everyone who seeks to purchase the goods being offered. I’m left wondering: why do relationships between service providers and their clients lack that kind of clarity?

Keeping with the coffeehouse metaphor, here are some suggestions for conquering ambiguity in the services industry:

If You Purchase a Service

• Know What You Want — You don’t have to know the exact details, but you need to give your service provider some parameters. What is the end result, experience or feeling you’re looking for? Giving the right cues is the only way to have your expectations met. At the coffeehouse, those cues might look like: medium size, to go, caffeinated, a chocolatey flavour, and absolutely no whipped cream. At least then the barista could suggest something you might like.
• Place Your Order — Just like at the coffeeshop, the final purchase decision is up to you. Even if you ask for suggestions and they give you some, you have to get to the point where you can say, “Yes. That is what I’d like. Please make it.” Purchasing services is not different; you’ve got to take the leap.
• Be Willing to Pay — For the same reason you wouldn’t go to a coffeehouse without your wallet, you shouldn’t call a service provider without a willingness to pay. You can’t drink half the latte before deciding if its the kind you want and is worth the money, either.
• Do Your Homework — You need not know the exact price of the item beforehand, but you do need to know the general ballpark. You need a budget. For a latte, you need to have between $3 and $6, depending on the size, type, and exact coffeeshop. That’s not going to change, even if you only bring $2. If you have no concept of how much the service might cost, investigate. Ask a friend or colleague. Google it. Visit a couple service provider websites. Seek to understand to going rate, rather than hope to change it.

If You Provide a Service

• Know Your Categories — Every item on the menu doesn’t need to remain static, but I’m pretty sure Starbucks isn’t going to start offering beer or a salad bar anytime soon. They do not need to be everything to everybody and neither do you.
• Don’t Apologize For Your Prices — Why does someone else’s opinion of your value matter more than yours? If someone called the CEO of Starbucks and demanded cheaper lattes, what do you think would happen? Granted, if everyone in the entire city stopped buying $4 lattes, that clearly warrants attention. But those two situations look very, very different and should not be mistaken for being the same.
• Offer Suggestions — Know how to ask prospective clients what their parameters are. What are the general results, experiences, actions, or feelings they’re seeking? Offer suggestions accordingly. The barista who says, “I don’t know” to the question, “Can you make an espresso-based drink that has a minty flavour?” probably isn’t on the fast track to selling a $6 peppermint latte.
• Stop Talking — Whether you like it or not, clients must make the purchase decision. If you know how to communicate your categories, offer suggestions and quote your price, it’s time to stop talking. Sales pitches and persuasion definitely matter, but they can’t turn a window shopper into a loyal customer on their own. The willingness and the cash has got to be there and those two things are ultimately out of your control.

- Big L

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We use the word “communication” to describe the need we serve. We use it in all of our marketing materials, estimates and web pages. Not public relations, branding, marketing, advertising, publicity, or promotions. Communication. What we mean is:

The words, visuals and thoughts that create our interactions with other humans.

Why this? Because communication has a place in every business. It is one of the very few things that every noteworthy accomplishment in human history has in common.

I dare say, it’s a magical, influential force.

Think about it. Without communication, you can’t describe ideas, goals and possibilities. And without ideas, goals and possibilities, it’s really tough to gain the support of another person. It’s even tougher to motivate them to do anything — produce, speak, strive, believe, trust, rally, or try.

And you can forget about inspiring anyone to invest in you — with their money, time, vote, future, or effort. Unless you or your product are something people just can’t live without. Like Moms. Or peanut butter. Or deoderant. Unless you’re in that category, without communication, you’re in reeeeal trouble.

When I think about the power that effective communication holds, I visualize this:

An obnoxiously large gift wrapped in bright, shiny paper with a big, loopy bow on top. This present is so effing big, it’ll be a full body workout to unwrap it.

And guess what? A gift that big, that shiny, and that obvious is sitting, unwrapped, in offices everywhere. And by office, I mean a place where people show up to do something they get paid for. I don’t care whether its a coffee shop, sky scraper, build site, store, kitchen table, or garage. The gift is there.

And many, many people are walking by said gift every damn day. Without opening it! (Gasp!)

And this is what they’re missing: Potential for improvement. Goal achievement. Success. Those things are inside that obnoxiously large box, waiting to be discovered and realized.

That’s right, I’m saying it:

Investing in and paying attention to communication exponentially increases your chances of success.

Good, solid communication is a critical success factor, as some might say. The examples are endless. Products can’t be sold without sales people or sales pitches. Goals can’t be worked towards if they aren’t understood. Expectations can’t be met if they aren’t explained. Teams can’t work together if they don’t interact. Things can’t be built without plans and specifications. Employees can’t do better if they don’t know what they’re doing wrong. Entrepreneurs can’t succeed without advice. Students can’t become scholars without curriculum.

We can’t chase dreams without guidance. We can’t solve problems without compromise. We can’t successfully transform, innovate or elevate without telling someone else about it.

To do all of those things, and so much more, we need unity. We need collaboration. We need words to interact with each other and gain supporters, advisors, mentors, friends, clients, customers, voters, believers, advocates, and fans.

We need communication.

No human ever made history any other way. If they did, no one knows about it.

That’s why communication is what we do. Because we believe in big ideas, breaking new ground, affecting change, and bringing people together to accomplish things they never could alone. And none of that is possible without communication.

Effective communication, in any and all contexts, is what we’re passionate about. We’ve unwrapped the gift many times over the last several years and we know it makes the path to any goal faster, smoother and more straight forward.

And quite frankly, we think anyone who continues to let the gift sit there unwrapped is missing out. Big time.

- Big L

Our sixth, and perhaps most important business value, is Inspiration.

In the simplest terms, our marching orders are: seek it out, love it up, don’t go a day without it, and share as much of it as you can with others. But when we say we value inspiration, we’re not messin’ around. We get even more specific than that.

To invite as much inspiration into our lives as we can, we do the following:

1. Take ownership. The beauty of this elusive, powerful and amazing thing called inspiration is that it’s subjective. If you want it in your life, you’ve got to chase after it in on your own terms. You need to eat the foods, see the sights, listen to the sounds, read the words, talk to the people, work on the assignments, experience the pleasures, and tackle the goals that do it for you.

2. Get up. Literally. Tear your face away from technology and stand up. Visit a new place. Get outside. Go for a walk. Move, stretch. Look around and appreciate what you see. The best things in life are three dimensional and no, 3-D TV doesn’t count.

3. Create space. In your mind and in your heart. How? Take something off your to do list. Not because it’s been completed, but because it’s not really worth doing. Do something that will rejuvenate you instead. When you’re on vacation, mean it. Value your own time like it’s a service you’re paying for. Try to avoid saying yes to things that you know you’ll dread doing.

4. Soak it in. Whatever “it” is that you need, try your very best to be present when you’re experiencing it. Good friends, good wine and good conversation. The newest exhibit at your local art gallery. The sweet tunes of whoever’s playing at the jazz club this week. The preparation and process of cooking your favourite meal. A fuzzy blanket, hot tea and a new book. Whatever it is that will fill you up, soak it in.

5. Go with it. Inspiration, motivation, creativity, clarity, exhilaration, desire. All of these things can appear at a moment’s notice. Sure, we can do our best to dig deep for inspiration when it’s required. And yes, we can put some habits in place to encourage our creativity to show up. But inevitably, we’ll still get sideswiped. Case in point: While sipping my morning coffee a few weekends ago, I was struck by clear thoughts and ideas out of nowhere. What followed was two hours of furious working and writing, which was not what I had planned. But rather than risk losing the goodness — because it was good — I went with it.

How do these strategies sit with you? What tips do you have for embracing inspiration?

- Big L

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If you’re not familiar with the Free Hugs campaign, you MUST watch this video before you read the rest of this post. And, even if you have already seen the video, it’s well worth watching again. Guaranteed you’ll feel great.

Hugging it out is one of the six values we live every day at Red Balloon. We hug each other when we meet and when we leave. We hug our clients — new and old. We hug our suppliers. We hug our competitors. Indeed, we’re huggers.

But it’s not because we’re uber-sappy. We simply believe that the human connection that comes from hugging is critical. The free hugs campaign is evidence of that. We believe that if we all opened our arms a little more, our minds would follow quickly thereafter. And we believe that in business, folks are often too quick to point fingers, to place blame and to punish; all behaviours which close minds.

Greatness and remarkable outcomes aren’t achieved by creating distance between people. They’re achieved by bringing people together. Nothing does that better than a hug. And since we’re fueled by “holy shit, that’s awesome” moments, we felt it was only logical to, ahem, embrace this as one of our values.

- Wee C

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It’s not uncommon to hear “celebrate our successes” as a fundamental principle of any organization. It seems like celebration is something we all aspire to do, promise that we will, but often run out of time or move onto the next project before we get to it. You can likely think of countless wins that your company should have popped the cork for, but (for any number of reasons), didn’t.

But celebrating success is the kind of jet fuel every company needs to propel them forward to conquer the next big project or challenge. Without celebration, you’re running regular fuel when you could (and should) be running high-test. You’re also missing huge opportunities to reflect on what you did well, what behaviours you want to keep, and which ones you’d rather throw in the dumpster.

It’s this process of reflection that we feel so strongly about. Learning from our experiences, adapting, evolving and getting better is something we believe is imperative in every aspect of life. It’s the only way we raise the bar for the next time. Which is why celebration is one of our core values. It’s also why we celebrate more than our successes. Every project we finish goes through a project wrap-up where we take a good look at what we did well, where we could have improved and what we learned. And we always learn something — even if it falls more in the bad and the ugly camp. Paying attention, getting real, and growing wiser is cause for celebration no matter what. And, let’s be honest, popping the cork always makes for a happier work environment. Good thing a little bubbly is one of our favourite indulgences.

- Wee C

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Getting naked: Being vulnerable. Being willing to ask questions, admit when you don’t know the answers, trust your instincts, and be honest. And perhaps most importantly, not living in fear of losing business.

Getting naked is one of our company values, and we owe that to Patrick Lencioni, author of Getting Naked: A Business Fable About the Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty.

I first read this book over a year ago and I devoured it. It helped to clarify a point of view that had been building in the back of my mind for a while. I had long appreciated vulnerability in others and in my myself, I just didn’t know it yet.

What I did know is that certain things I had experienced in work environments didn’t sit well. Things like:

• Sales pitches, especially sales pitches disguised as something else, like lunch, conversation, or genuine interest.
• Withholding of information in an attempt to establish power.
• An unwillingness to step outside — or rise above — a job description.
• Assigning blame instead of accepting responsibility.
• Striving for perfection.

Upon realizing that all three of us get squirmy over the same things, vulnerability became an official Red Balloon value. A much more comfortable, authentic place to be, it looks something like this:

• Seeking out people and opportunities that genuinely interest us.
• Spending as little time as possible faking it for those that don’t.
• Building partnerships with clients instead of hierarchies, so we can avoid the “that’s not my job” game as much as possible.
• A project debrief process that encourages us to take responsibility for the good, bad and ugly.
• Asking a ton of questions.
• Being OK with saying “I don’t know.”
• Being comfortable in our own skin, meaning perfection is never an option.
• Spending time with really smart people.
• Don’t censor your creativity or your thinking. Don’t be afraid of being in left field.

As a continuation of our current series of posts on business values, up next is: “Be Sherpas.”

Confession: We do not guide people through mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas, but we do fancy ourselves as Sherpas anyway.

Why?

Because we love sharing knowledge. We love making what we know accessible to others.

We love sharing in the journey. We love supporting people to achieve big things. Not the ‘we reached the summit of Mount Everest!’ kind of big, but the ‘holy shit, that’s awesome!’ kind.

We love using insight and guidance to empower others. We love putting what we know to good use.

We love when people ask us to show them the way forward. We love leading people to extend beyond their comfort zones.

I think those qualities make it somewhat acceptable for us to borrow the title, don’t you?

- Big L

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People before profit. Compassion before ego. Understanding before judgment.

A few of the beliefs that guide the way we each interact with the world. And to be frank, they double as three big reasons why we’re here, doin’ our own thing.

As young, ambitious worker bees, we weren’t seeing as many companies that shared these beliefs as we would’ve liked. That disconnect helped motivate us to create our own jobs, where we could embrace these beliefs fully. Behind the scenes at Red Balloon, we’ve grouped them together into one overarching value: Act Like a Family.

As people who are willing to put our families first, before anything else, this really resonates with us. It guides everything from how we manage our workloads, how we treat each other, the types of client relationships we strive to build, and the honesty we pride ourselves on. To explain further, let’s take a look at what types of things go on around here.

Workloads:

• Encourage presence and attentiveness with our at-home families. That includes taking vacation, savouring weekends, not being online 24/7, and skipping out early when you can.
• Tag-team on stuff. We’re smarter together, and feel better supported and have more flexibility that way.
• Seek quality over quantity so we can better support our clients. (And, it helps keep us sane.)

• Gather over food, coffee and alcohol often.
• Don’t have “work selves” and “at-home selves”. Yes, even while working, I get to swear, Colette gets to be reflective, and Ben gets to share dramatic stories.
• Tell each other when we’re being smart.
• Help each other keep our crazies at bay. Be a source of perspective and calm.
• Work our shit out, in private, so as not to hang anyone out to dry. Present a united front.
• Talk a lot, preferably to each other. Or to the pets (there’s 6 of ‘em between us), they need love, too.

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