Monday, June 16, 2008

4 Questions To Get a Clue

Saturday I had some time to reflect.

A few weeks ago this calendar was blank.

But I put some goals in place and the beginnings of a timeline.

Here's the beginning of this week. I like the 2 minutes. Those work. They help me stay present. Staying present, that's very important, especially when there is a big task, or a large challenge that is practically guaranteed to knock you to your knees every once and awhile.

This week, along with the usual work, I am after 4 really good targeted questions, matchmaking ones.

I need to cold call some galleries pretty soon. Yikes. I have a partial list of galleries from a coaching session. I am broadening the search though. This is where 2 minutes comes in very handy. Staying present. If you leave it at just a phone call, the whole this could change my life anxiety thing is lessened. Since I don't want to waste my time or theirs, but I do want to get to know them, I want 4 very specific questions. This means doing your homework and being prepared. Designing questions? Am I nuts? I want specific information, but I am also testing and taking a pulse. Are we a good match? Is this a passive gallery or do they know what they are about? Is this someone I want in my life? Can they sell my work and build my reputation? Do they get what I do? I am looking for someone who can fall in love...with me. Well, actually with my work, but I come with. See? Guaranteed to knock you to your knees along the way, like dating, only there's money and a career involved.

So this week I need to belly up to the bar and come up with some keenly insightful questions of my own. I have a checklist of questions from the coach's notebook, the usual qualifiers, and the calls will only go to acceptable "suitors". I want more. I can see my friend Patti smiling at that. I have been disappointed in the past with passive galleries. I want a fabulous relationship, and for that, the usual suspects of questions will not do. So I am doing some pre-visualizing...okay a little dreaming...to see if I can imagine that meaningful conversation...that sparkle. What are the four most important things that I want to know?

Maybe there is a post in that," How the gallery searches are like dating"? Maybe. So I will take notes, but for now it is organizing Monday. Yes, I have 3 MIT's and an armful of 2 minutes. The silks will continue. The paintings are coming along. And now these questions...what would you want to know if you were looking for the gallery love of your life?

Oh and I have to go back and read Dave's posts on getting up early. Phew, It is definitely Monday morning.

2 comments:

Parisbreakfasts said...

Matchmaker, matchmaker find me a...
Gallery!
I wish I could follow your lovely convolutions but my mini dyslexia can't get past the two minutes :(
I do like the sketch of the target..now where is the bow & arrow?
Ahem...ahem...

Janice C. Cartier said...

Oh, sorry...it's me and Monday...and the god awful let's get back on with the search ... and find my life again...hm....I 'll have to do a sketch with a bow and arrow in the next one. :)