How to book Debbie for speaking

The quickest way to reach me is to fill out my speaking request form. My fees are typical for an experienced and internationally-recognized speaker. I will usually get back to you within 24 hours. You can also reach me on my mobile: 202.255.1467.

Like others, I’ve been pondering the best way to get new business, or stay in business, in today’s plummeting economy. 

Then it came to me: digital cupcakes.

It doesn’t hurt that there’s a coffee shop three blocks from me that sells (according to the March 2009 issue of The Atlantic), the best cupcake in America.

Of course, I’m highly disciplined. I wander over to Baked & Wired several times a week, laptop under my arm, and set up on the back table. I order a cappuccino. They make the kind where the swirl of foam on top is perfectly patterned.

Then I saunter blithely past the counter of thickly frosted cupcakes, clustered by flavor, just crying out. And settle down to work. OK I lie. Occasionally, I get a cupcake and snarf it down…

 

If your digital steps are delicious enough (are they satisfying to others? provocative? useful?), folks will follow you and subscribe to you and pass around your (delicious) content.

Ultimately, they’ll hire you or do business with you. Even now, people are hiring the brightest, the quickest, the smartest for short-term gigs or project work. Make yourself irresistible. Create some delicious content.

… I take that back. I don’t gobble it down. I eat it slowly, savoring it bite by bite. And therein lies my epiphany about marketing in a downturn, whether you’re a company, an organization or a just-laid-off professional.

Small is the new big

Small is the new big.

A down economy is the new reality.

Smart marketing in a recession is about building relationships. Most folks are not ready to buy – or hire. Everyone is ready to connect. That’s the secret of social media marketing.

And social media is proving to be the most powerful and cost-effective way to reach your customers – or a future employer or the next freelance gig – at least for the next 12 to 18 months.

Smart marketing in a recession is about building relationships. Most folks are not ready to buy – or hire. Everyone is ready to connect. That’s the secret of social media marketing.

Back to the cupcakes

About the cupcakes…

Everyone loves them. People smile when you say “cupcakes.”

They’re dense and satisfying. They come in dozens of flavors and colors but they share a common trait: they look like, well, small cakes.

Now imagine you’ve created a digital trail of them. But they’re not cupcakes. They’re blog posts, Tweets, Facebook updates, Flickr photos and YouTube videos. 

Make yourself irresistible

Taken all together, these digital bites add up to your digital footprint or your online presence. If your digital steps are delicious enough (are they satisfying to others? provocative? useful?), folks will follow you and subscribe to you and pass around your (delicious) content. Ultimately, they’ll hire you or do business with you.

Even now, people are hiring the brightest, the quickest, the smartest for short-term gigs or project work. Make yourself irresistible. Create some delicious content 

That’s it for now. I’ll keep thinking about this.

Gotta run because I’m meeting someone at Baked & Wired.

Update: yes, I ate a cupcake… love the thick frosting.