ToyBox Consulting

Katoya Palmer Public relation, marketing, sales, and event management consulting.

A Seattle based boutique firm specializing in sales, marketing, public relations, event management / production, and advertising projects. It's my Business to appropriately facilitate your project of any scale with trust, professionalism, and a positive energy while implementing new tools for professional success. "Think out the box" with TBC creative direction, nurture a trusting bond, and reap long term results.

Offering Consulting and Project Management Services in the following: Sales Marketing Public Relations Image Consultant Social Media Management Professional Blogging Event Planning and Management Fundraising Writer (Press Releases, Reviews, Bios, etc) Business Development Concert and After Party Business Events Celebrity Booking

For over ten years I've focused on building of sales, management, customer relations, marketing and advertising related skills with an emphasis in non-profit, sports, small business, start-up, and entertainment industries. My major event production resume is steadily growing and expands into fine, performing and visual arts; fashion, and music events organized.

Specialties: Meetings facilitation, marketing strategy, personal events, public relations, community relations, concerts, celebrity booking, fundraiser, branding, reputation management.

Celebrity Booking projects: Jean Grae, Jagged Edge, Amber Rose, Rick Ross, Wale, Tasha Jones, Black Ice, Jagged Edge, Gyptian.

Direct booking responsibilities for Black Stax (Jace Ecaj, Silas Blak, Felicia Loud) and the Klyntel band.

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Posts tagged "freelancer"

5 Traits of Successful Freelancers

1. Be Businesslike. Just because you may be working from a home office doesn’t mean you forget your manners. The same standards of professionalism you used in the workplace apply as a self-employed professional. Set up a work space that is conducive to doing business and working long hours. Make sure you are in quiet surroundings when making calls — your clients should not hear the TV blaring, your child crying or the dog barking while they’re considering whether to give you money to work on a project for them.

2. Be Meticulous About Tracking Your Time. It’s easy to lose track of the time you spend on a project when you’re not punching a time clock. Often, independent contractors find themselves spending more time on a project than they would have if they were working in a regular office environment. It is up to you to ensure that you’re getting paid for the work you’re putting in and complete projects in a timely manner. To set a realistic hourly rate, Michelle Mangen, president ofYour Virtual Assistant, based in Sarasota, Fla., suggests surveying the competition. “When I first started my business as a virtual assistant, I asked other VAs what they charged, and that’s how I figured out my initial pricing strategy,” says Mangen. Be sure to include project management time in your bids; interaction with clients eats up lots of time.

3. Develop a Niche Specialty. You cannot be all things to all people. Focus on a specific niche customer or industry. Examine your transferable skills, figure out the pain points of your target customer, find out where those skills are in demand, and go after the business. Also, seek out work that may fulfill a passion that you wouldn’t have gone after on a traditional job. For example, if you are a CPA who enjoys cooking, you could specialize in doing accounting work just for restaurants.

4. Build a Great Online Portfolio. Potential customers and recruiters will search online to find information about you before making contact. That’s why it’s essential to have a website and online presence that displays your expertise. LinkedIn can help you showcase your portfolio. (Read my previous column: Are You Google-able?)

5. Be a Networking Machine. Don’t become a hermit in your home office and do all of your socializing online. Seek out local networking events and trade associations in your field and join the chapters in your area. Keep your elevator pitch handy. When you’re out in the community, whether you’re in transit to meet a client or running errands, talk up your business to your banker, your local merchants, and the parent on your child’s baseball team who is an executive at a company that could use your services. Carry business cards at all times. Make sure contact information is updated and includes all places they can find you online.

Finding work: Many websites help freelancers develop their businesses and stay sane in the process. Here are three good resources.

Elance. Site connects freelancers with companies looking for help.
Freelancer. Companies and entrepreneurs use this online hub to post their projects and expertise and find good matches. .
Guru. A freelancer marketplace that also handles payment processing. The site features profiles and websites of 250,000 active freelancers.