K + L + T = S

 

KLT your writer.

 

Attention!!! - Marketing Directors!!!

How do you SOLVE this equation?

 

Questions are the answer.

 

A little analogy will show you what I mean.

 

I had to paint the living room last week.

 

What color? Am I gonna get new furniture? New drapes?

What's the mood I want to create?

What do I want it to look like when it's done?

And will I be happy with it?

 

OK, we all know most of those questions will be answered by my wife.

She tells me what she wants. What it's going to look like.

We (read 'she') pick out a design.

All one color? Half-walls?

 

Day One is done.

 

Day Two.

We go to the store. Pick out the best paint match.

Buy the brushes. The rollers. Pans. Drop-cloths. "Frog tape".

 

Back home. We have to either clear out most of the room and/or cover everything.

 

The next morning.

Day Three.

 

We cover the stuff we don't wanna move.

We cover everything else.

After lunch, it's, get out the 'frog-tape-time’. We start "taping".
And tape the windows. The fireplace. Etc.

This takes all day.

 

Day Four.

 

At long last. We can paint.

And it's done in half a day.

 

We clean up the brushes. The pans. The rollers.

After dinner, we watch a movie.

Tomorrow we’ll take all the tape down. Remove all the covers.

And put all the furniture back in place.

 

And enjoy an evening in our new living room.

PHEW!!!

​

A lot of non-painting type of work - to paint the living room.

 

The same goes for finding the right person for your project.

 

Your project is THE elephant in the room.

Doing the project is only a portion of ‘the elephant’.

Finding the right fit - you and your writer –
is like finding the right ‘design’.
And the right ‘colors’ to paint your living room.

(Or maybe even paint the elephant. LOL)

Or perhaps, even the right ‘home decorator”.

 

Questions. Questions. And more questions.

 

The ‘K’ variable

KNOW your writer.

 

Is this person the writer for me?

Is he/she gonna do right by me?

Can I depend on her?

 

Am I sure I can hand off my project?

Will he lessen my load?

Can I not stress whether it'll get done right?

And on time?

 

Does Jane understand what I need?

It’s critical we're on the same page.

(A ‘personal’ saying of mine, “You can’t be on the same page TOO much.”)

 

I’ll ask Jane questions.

But,

and this will be telling -

does she ask enough questions back?

I’ll feel better if I know she can ‘wrap her head’ around what I want my project to look like in the end.

 

So, know your writer.

 

How do you know your writer?

Maybe you have a checklist. One that you created.

Or one you've found somewhere.

Maybe you’ve done this enough it’s all in your head.

Are you asking yourself,

‘Does this writer satisfy my requirements? Or most anyway?’

 

Research.  All the usual sources.

Writing samples. Previous projects. Check with references.

 

Switch gears.

What do I know about this writer personally?

Social media is a great place to start.

LinkedIn. Facebook. Google. Twitter.

 

What does she post? Who IS he?

What are her interests?  Hobbies? What pushes her buttons?

What is he passionate about?

You can find out a lot about someone on social media.

 

Delegate.

In order to delegate something, anything, to someone, 
what do you have to know about them, for you to feel at ease?
That the job is going to get done.
And done right. 
And done on time. 

 

As much as possible.

 

But, that’s not all that matters.

You should…

 

Like your writer – the ‘L’ variable.

 

All right,

do you think you’ve found a qualified and competent writer?

 

Let’s assume you did.

You’re on the same page. Intellectually.

Jane‘s qualified. So is Joe.

 

But…

can you work with her?

Is he easy to be around? And talk to?

Are the two of you comfortable with each other?

 

“Do you like Joe?”

 

Have you got any similar interests?
Sports? Music?

Restaurants?

 

Wouldn’t you like to enjoy working with your writer?

 

Is he easy to talk to?

If he can communicate with you, chances are he can communicate with your customers. (Maybe.)

 

So, talk to her.

 

And I’m not just talking about ‘staid business talk.

(You’ve already done that to see if Jane is qualified.)

 

Get to know who Jane is.

As a person.

Ask questions. Everybody loves to talk about themselves.

Listen.

 

There are many ways to do this.

 

emails,

Twitter,

Marco Polo,

SKYPE,

Hangout.

 

The phone, and in person. (If possible)

 

Can you ‘like’ him?

Enough to work with him?

 

If the project gets stressful, is it nice to be working with Joe?

Or does Joe make it worse?

 

That is IMPORTANT!

 

And the last variable – ‘T’ – trust

 

You’ve asked enough questions.

Joe asked enough questions.

The project has gone along A-okay.

Deadlines are met.

Results are what you wanted.

 

If you’re lucky, they exceeded expectations.

 

Your POWER formula for SUCCESS is complete.

K+L+T = Success

 

The final question has been answered.

Now you can trust Jane.

 

Trust is earned.

 

BSOT - Be safe out there.

Ian