This week have been one for the books. A lot has happened, both good and bad challenging. Let start at the beginning of the week and go from there.
Well the boss is out of town at the coffee shop so the 3 of us who work there have been pulling together to keep the store moving smoothly. I have to honestly say, I do not know how the boss keeps her head on straight. She is amazing. She has been doing this for 10 years now and I wouldn’t be able to last 6 months in her shoes. Things have been going fine though, but I have been sticking around the store in the afternoons to lend a hand if needed.
Early in the week I received my advertising funding which in its self is exciting but then I thought I would take the first step. I became a member of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce and with that booked a booth at their annual Trade Show. That is one of the more exciting things, the booth.
I will be in the front lines of Yellowknifers for 2 whole days. Along with telling people about what it is YkOnline.ca and WiTH Media does, I am going over the idea of live streaming from the event. I could potentially have a bit of a studio set up in the booth with 2 mics and cameras. With that I could invite other businesses over to the booth and we could do live interviews (as well as recorded). I asked the other day about a portable audio/video setup and the idea behind that was to be able to walk around while streaming live, but at this point I don’t think there will be a reasonable solution. I’m very excited about this, if you can’t tell.
Friends are few, but support is strong. I hate using people, I hate depending on people so it takes a lot for me to accept help (it may not seem it, but is true). So when friends step forward so say they want to help and want to see me succeed, it means a lot. I know this will sound a little self-centered but the one thing that bothers me is people who don’t leave comments or feedback. I want to know if the content I’m creating it good or not. If it isn’t I will change it. Anyways, this week, one friend in particular, who I have known for many years from around town and more recently from the Mall and Twitter, came down to the store after a brief conversation on twitter. He seemed more excited about my possibilities that I was. He offered advice and a helping hand and for that I am extremely thankful. There have been others who are supporting me by encouragement and ideas. While I’m on the topic of thanking those who have helped thus far I need to mention my father. The man use to write proposals for a living and with out him there wouldn’t have been a chance in hell that I would get those proposals in let alone done. Sometimes I don’t say it enough, but thank you all.
The one thing that I have mentioned before is my social awkwardness, I don’t know if that is the right word but I’m going with it, around people I don’t know. Well it goes the same when it comes to business stuff. The main model for YkOnline will be advertising and what I struggle with is approaching people. Sure it is easy enough to tell me I just need to go talk to some people, but I can’t just do that. I over analyze it, remember, and fear to much about the outcome(I need to learn that it is alright for a person to say no). I’m to use to being on the other side where the client comes to you rather than me going to them. I have thought about what it is that would help me over come this dilemma which has be eating at me inside for weeks now. That is that I need a starting point or something to work from. In my mind, anyways, I come to the conclusion that if I see another people try and sell ad space to a business that I will feel better about the first time I do i. That and I might stop analyzing everything.
Well it seems I may have gone a bit off track, I blame the fact it is really late on a Friday evening and I have been up since 5:20am. Anyways the boss is out of town so we were all trying to do out best at the store, I received funding, became a member of the Yk Chamber and got a trade show booth, was encourage by a good friend who offered a hand and told me he wanted to see me succeed. I think there is more, but that will be for another time. So excuse the spelling/grammatical errors I’m just to tired to care. Let me know what you think. Cheers.
Julie says
Membership/booking a space with the Chamber of Commerce is a great idea, and setting up for the live streaming/interviews – even better! What a great way to get people/businesses engaged and excited!
nancy (aka moneycoach) says
Can’t wait to hear the livestream – I’d *love* to hear more from Yellowknife business owners. Esp. Arctic Farmer, Yummys and the Swap Shop (some of my faves)
Kyle, add me to the list of people who believe in you (I think you know that already). You’re making a real contribution to Yellowknife that will only grow over time.
ps: But I still want to see you go to university! Just sayin’!
Hughie says
you know i was thinking about your dilemma with the live streaming. will nwtel have wifi at the event? you can at least use a static setup for your booth that will allow you to live stream, i know you did it in Dawson one time I watched. we’ll get together this week and brainstorm, i think i’ve got a few ideas to share with your booth as I had to do one a few years ago. Keep on Kyle – you’re right, as sell more ads, it will get tons easier