RERO or REDRUM?

Now that I'm familiar with the lingo, I'm all for RERO.
RERO stands for "Release Early; Release Often." But this whole RERO idea is starting to make me crazy with anticipation. Mad with anxiety. Wild with desire...for perfection. RERO is starting to remind me of REDRUM because it's beginning to feel a bit like MURDER.

When playing this internet game, you can't afford to wait for perfection to occur. Instead, you crank out lots of ideas, implement a few, hope for the best, then start all over again.

It's exhilerating. It's exhausting.

It's amazing how fast this game is. I can't catch my breath for even a second before POOF...it's time to change direction again. You know the things you need to stay on top of, but there's never enough hours in the day. For example, you know you need to monitor the competition, but who has time? You're tired, so you settle for just trying to stay in the game. Forget about getting ahead of the pack!

At some level, you sense the competition is just as exhausted, overwhelmed and blurry-eyed as you. You sense that those "Jacks-of-all-trades" are saying REDRUM too.

This panic-driven, always looking over your shoulder, lifestyle is unsustainable.

I feel comforted when reminded of the story of the tortoise and the hare. Can the tortoise win at this game....really? I don't think so. But I do think there's a happy medium, a mixed breed of sorts.

A "Hare-y Turtle," if you will.

I'm envisioning a rabbit with a tortoise shell on it's back, hopping awkwardly along, side-stepping dangerous land mines to avoid blow ups, and periodically leaping towards the elusive finish line. You not only need speed in this internet competition. You need protection from all those dangerous, flying ideas that take you off track and jeopardize the race.

Actually, can it really be a race if the finish line doesn't exist? I'm not sure. But I do know that whether I win or lose, I tried.

I entered the race. So in all reality, I win.

The Call of Redstone

Today was a great day when it comes to promoting my website HireMeAspen.com. I awoke to the news that my business had a pretty big write up in the Aspen Daily News; you can view the article here. Between this article and my Buzz on 82 show appearance last Friday, I feel like the snowball has finally started rolling. And, the best news? Sales are starting to trickle in.

But I'm not resting on my laurels by any means. Today, I kept true to my plan to start promoting the business and my Partner Program to potential partners. After all, my hard-working locals will need to save money too!

My gameplan led me to Redstone, CO, the "Ruby of the Rockies." Ahhhhhh...you gotta love the meandering drive to Redstone!

It's important that I reiterate the fact that HireMeAspen.com is for all Roaring Fork Valley locals, not just Aspenites. So, although I already have 23 partners signed up to date, I decided to start my sales pitches to businesses located in the outskirts. Of course, it's not hard to sell a silver partner program that lets a business support the hard-working locals and get more business traffic at the same time...all for free ;) ! I also want to make sure I take great photos from all over this valley. Photos for future reference in future blogs. Photos to help promote my partner businessess. Photos just for me.

So, with each stop I made on foot, I also took pics of the business I was pitching.

Here's a sneak peek of some cool sights to see (of course, you'll notice the first pic is of the Redstone museum that was just so big, I just couldn't make my way through the entire thing!):

It was quite a successful day in Redstone. It was such a delight meeting all the local businesses in Redstone ~ introducing myself and spreading the word.

I plan to start announcing all of my partners with a bunch of fanfare in my blog/email/facebook/twitter updates once The Hive goes live this week and all my new profiled members have their membership card in hand.

In the meantime, I suggest you plan a day trip to Redstone. It's a great escape from the daily grind!

Beautiful Day at Sundeck - top of Ajax

I decided to escape to get creative, at least for a moment.  These past 24-48 hours have been intense with promoting the business, and I need to catch my breath.

What better way to do so than to take a gondola ride to the top of Ajax and breathe in the beauty.  This view never disappoints.  The clouds today really bring out the reds/purples/greens in the mountain range across the way.  For those who are not locals, here's a glimpse of the view from The Sundeck.

I'm reminded of my first oil painting I painted.  My ex-husband and I had come here in 1999, if I recall correctly, and ventured up here.  There was a great picture of him standing in front of the gorgeous mountain range.  I used that picture as inspiration in my divorce.  As a nod to my future which most definitely included Aspen, I painted him out of it, signed it in my maiden name, and asked for a divorce.  Sounds cruel, I know.  I probably wouldn't be so cruel now that I'm older, but it is what it is.  Plus, now that I'm older, I don't beat myself up about about past indiscretions as much either.  Now I have one of my most favorite possessions: an oil painting of Aspen hanging in my home in MN.

I am remembering that lovely lady who used to give 10-15 minute chair massages up here.  I always got one when I was here, and I could use one now.  She passed away last year, but she's missed and in my thoughts today!

I'm also grateful for the wifi they installed here last year.  It sure is a nice treat..now, if only they'd get cell phone coverage.  Actually, that may not be such a great idea.  I just wish the Sundeck didn't close down at 4:30.  The clouds are really moving in now and it's SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL.

I'm going to take the gondola down, head over to The Aspen Club for a good long workout and then maybe hit the Jazz Festival in Snowmass tonight if the weather holds up.  Ciao.

Three Week Update

It's been three weeks now since HireMeAspen officially launched, and I hit the town promoting it.  Boy, have I already learned a lot about website launches!

Gameplan: Phase 1 ~ Filling Up Database of Workers

To date, we have about 55 unique profiles equalling 700+ cross-referenced profiles in our database.  My goal is to get to 100 uniques by the end of the month.  Agressive? Yes.  But doable if I really hustle!  I've got to keep the momentum going, and hopefully with 1. our launch press release being distributed tomorrow, 2, friends of friends finding out about the site, and 3. your continued support...we'll get there with ease. 

For a FREE profile, register here using code: CH01100. This code will be valid for a few more weeks only, so take advantage of it now!

Gameplan: Phase 2 ~Targeting Partners

Once I reach the first goal of 100 unique profiles in my database (or roughly 1250 profiles appearing in over 165 job categories), I can begin to focus new efforts on Phase 2 which is targeting Silver and Gold partners. You can view details about our Partner Program here.  We've signed up about 20 silver partners thus far which is better than awesome!  Once The Hive (the worker bee / members-only area of the website) is launched at the end of July, members will be able to see the Silver partner offers listed in The Honeycomb section.  First week of August, I'll start sending out membership cards so our worker bees can take advantage of these partner offers and start saving money! 

I've formulated an exciting gameplan for the Gold partners: creating an irresistable and valuable promotional package consisting of not only a business profile for all website visitors to see (including hirers), but unique promotional opportunities with other businesses in the valley like Qittle's Local Deals.  Plus, Gold Partners will receive display advertising opportunities on the site, preferred partner mentions on the site (ie. Partner Spotlight), social media marketing, and much, much more.  Stay tuned.  I've got more exciting things on the horizon for the Gold Partners.

And I've already met so many wonderful, interesting and supportive locals!  I'm finding that Facebook is a great way to generate brand awareness, so I've been playing around with several versions of targeted ads -- It's fun to see the results!  Lots of people come up to me indicating that they've seen my logo around town....from our gorilla marketing efforts of blanketing parking lots with info cards to community board flyers to hats and signage.  This feedback is great considering no press, no advertising, yet. 

Spread the Word

Become a fan on Facebook.  Follow us on Twitter.  And, if you're reading this post via FB/Twitter, please retreet/resend it to your friends.  Help me spread the word so I can help the hard-working locals.  Tell your friends/business partners we're looking for sponsors.  HireMeAspen is just what the Roaring Fork Valley locals need!

I'm jazzed for success, and I define success as: "locals ... getting hired, making money, saving money, being connected and having fun doing work they love!"

Thanks for being a part of the HireMeAspen community.  Let's get this snowball rolling!