Sweet Honey on the Rock

I just spent an hour on the phone with my MBA-holding economist father, who has been farming for over 20years on the side, convincing him to write a business plan. Yes, it took that long. I had to remind him of the days when he used to tell me that I have every excuse in the book and then some, to justify my latest mediocrity. I pointed out that the conversation was making it clear just where I got that from. He complied. He has made a commitment to me to draft one when he goes on leave from his job as a customs officer in Jamaica.

I have a burgeoning passion for helping to develop the talent around me. So much of it lies in my family. But sometimes, we are restrained by fears of failure and the need to guarantee income to take care of the monthly expenses that come whether or not you sell on drop of honey or a morsel of cake.

So I understand. Having taken that plunge two years ago with serious personal debts, it turned really scary when business got slow. I am sure it was only just for a time, but I could not tell my creditors that indefinitely. After three months of not seeing big projects roll in like they did at the beginning, I started looking for the small ones to pay the bills. But still, the bills were too high and eventually the money ran out and within another three months, I started searching frantically for some stable guaranteed income for at least one year. Had it not been for the kindness of Imelda, I don't know what I would have done.

I have been there. I know the struggle. I know the anxiety that comes when you fall woefully short of your expenses. Had I not taken this current appointment, I would have lost my car, and done even worse damage to my credit. I may have even had to face court action with an unforgiving government student loan facility and bankers all demanding that their monies be paid in full.

In spite of that struggle, I still feel totally convinced that talented people have a God-given mandate to utilise their talent in ways that truly edify them and their community. All I want is for them to organise a little better so that they can take full advantage of the collective talent pool. When the time is right, and the business income far supersedes that of the 9-5, then they may call in for early retirement. If not, they can still earn more than a few dollars "on the side" by simply doing "them."

My father produces the Sweetest Honey on Jamaican Rock. If there wasn't already a group by that name - introduced to me by Harlem Mama - I would have used that as the brand. My job as daughter and eldest child is to challenge him, just as he challenged me when I was growing up. His time and money paid off. I am now the pain in his side, pushing him to be bigger than his muffled dreams.

He has taken some really hard blows. He was made redundant when Mutual Life, the oldest Life Insurance Company in Jamaica folded. He had been doing very well in insurance up until that point. He took his redundancy package and invested in several acres of fallow farmland. It was a good purchase, but he had four young children, and suddenly times became very hard. It was right before I was ready to go to university. Whatever investments he had put aside for my college education went to naught (hence the student loans). He took it hard. He was always a good provider until then. We struggled together as a family, but he felt so much joy his farm that it became a source of family pride. I remember us lining up to kill chickens in the backyard and cleaning so much crap off the eggs that we supplied to the company that handled in-flight catering services for several international airlines operating in Jamaica.

Business wasn't always good, and he was forced to take a job at a much lower position than he is qualified for just to have regular income and to be near the farm, which is based in Trelawny, roughly 2-3 hours drive from our family home.

So now... I am pushing him again. I am saying...yes buddy you have good ideas and you work hard. Let's think of it as a business, as the family heirloom and let's make money. Let's just make it work and not just for meagre profit or joy. Let's make it work BIG TIME.

I have been doing my own research because he soooo needs my marketing assistance.

I tell you, I hate marketing/PR for companies and governments but I take pride in being able to help my own family and those friends who are for all intents and purposes, family.

Here's to making some sweet honey on the rock.

Marketing Sheer Almshouse

I am faced with a marketing dilemma. I need your input.

On the eve of getting my new toys (camera and accessories), I have to figure out just how I will market myself. Yes I have been in the marketing business for some time, but I have marketed corporate entities, not artists, and certainly not one who uses a pseudonym in blogshpere.

I have two URLS that I bought almost two years ago. One was for my company and the other for a programme that I had in the can. That programme is lost, but the URL is a good one. But very Caribbean specific.

My company was focused on broadcast, communication and event management. I am now re-focusing to deal with audio-visual and literary communication. This includes photography, writing and audio-visual programming for broadcast media (radio, tv, web).

The broadcast element will be the last on stream, because it will take some more time to actually get around to produce the shows I have in mind. One treatment has been completed for a year now. I am still working my way through the other one. Progress has been limited by lack of access to television for research purposes.

Nonetheless, I want to continue to include my photography in this blog, as it has been a crucial part of my expression, but I also want to build my portfolio with the intention of going pro as soon as I conquer most of my learning curve.

Do I market my photography separately from my company or as part of my company? Would I therefore need to register a url in my name?

I was early on the internet... from the mid 90s. Until perhaps 8 years ago, I was the only one with my name online. I searched my name in search engines enough to know. Now there is a proliferation of young women bearing my name, but it seems I am the only black person. Not enough of a distinction for me. My techy programmer ex boyfriend who introduced me to computers way back when, has always encouraged me to purchase a url in my name (more because I use three different versions of it -first and middle, first and last, first middle and last- to protect my identity on the web. They are all still free, because it appears that I share my name with many younger people who are more concerned with social networking than purchasing URLs. I am finally going to take his advice.

So other question is...

Should I build my portfolio as
*the real name
*the real name linked to the company
*the company alone.

Talk back to me.