Proof That Marketing Pays

I realize that the concept that it pays to market is not new to most entrepreneurs and professionals. But I got positive proof just yesterday that letting people know what you do is the first and maybe most important step to building your business.
You probably know by know that I wrote a book - The Cat Lover's Book of Days - and several folks on have said nice things about it. But to meet my definition of success for this book I needed to reach a wider audience, so I chose to work with a PR professional to get the word out. She drew up a list of target media, we prepared a press release, and started to spread the news.

And it worked! In a matter of a couple of weeks we've sent review copies of the book to radio stations, magazines, and websites. Yesterday I got confirmation that I'll be interviewed on a national radio talk show, "Talkin' Pets" with Jon Patch, on this Saturday! It's going to be great fun and I would love it if you all called in with questions or comments. Here are the details:

"Talkin' Pets" with Jon Patch - 5:00 p.m. EST - Saturday, January 30, 2010

Toll free call in number: 866-606-TALK begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              866-606-TALK      end_of_the_skype_highlighting (866-606-8255 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              866-606-8255      end_of_the_skype_highlighting)

Website - you can listen online: http://talkinpets.com

The show runs from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and I'm scheduled to be on during the first 1/2 to 1 hour. To find an AM station near you that carries the program, go the website and click on the "Station Info" button on the left.
Please call and say "Hi!" - I'd love to hear lots of friendly voices. This Saturday. 5:00 p.m. Fun

Thoughtful Thursday

I don't know if there is such a category here as "Thoughtful Thursday," but that's what it is for me today. After a morning of networking, a midday of working on a press release and creating a new edition of a client's book, and an evening of more networking, I will be packing to go to my brother's funeral. In the past days I've learned things about him I never knew, thought a lot about him, and find that sad as it is, I'm looking forward to seeing many family members this weekend. We will drink toasts to him, we will remember him, and there will be as much laughter as tears. Mostly we will, as my cousin said, "celebrate a life well lived."

We've found old photos and sent them to his family so they could add them to a memory site. It was good to see some of those old pictures again, but even better to see ones I never knew of. This is my favorite - the man who loved golden retrievers was also a friend to cats, and they knew it.

Dick Silloway and Coriander, both R.I.P.

We can all aspire to that...a life well lived.

Tell Them You Love Them

I've been away for quite a while with some big projects. By now I had hoped to be back in the swing of blogging, but life threw a huge curve ball on Friday night. My brother who is only a few years older than me, died suddenly. I was reminded forcefully of something we all know and all forget - there is no guarantee of tomorrow, no assurance that someone you love will be there next week or next year.

Reach out, call them, hug them. Remind them that they are an important part of your life. Create good times and good memories together, for the day will come when you'll have to wrap yourself in those memories to keep warm. And when that day comes, it won't matter how many big deals you made or dollars you earned, only how good were the memories you made along the way.

Today I am wrapping myself in memories of my brother, Richard F. Silloway, 7/14/1941-1/8/2010. Big brothers aren't supposed to leave kid sisters. He was healthy and active which makes it that much harder to comprehend. His death has left a gaping, dark hole in my life, and I still cannot believe that he's gone.