Over the past year it’s been a pleasure to follow the rise to fame of David Airey’s graphic design blog. David is someone who really gets what blogging is all about – his posts are thought-provoking and full of useful information. He’s also a real gent – commenters are made very welcome and are guaranteed a thoughtful response. So when David invited people to donate prizes for a competition to mark his one-year blog anniversary, I was happy to offer some free coaching sessions.
EDIT: the competition has now closed. Congratulations to all the winners.
My prize – free coaching sessions
- 2 x 45-minute coaching sessions via telephone or webcam.
- You can use the sessions to work on any aspect of your professional development. Most of my clients are creative professionals, but I’ve worked with people from all walks of life over the past 11 years, so whatever your background, I hope to help you find some new options for reaching your goals.
- My specialisms are creativity, communication, collaboration and management – so you may find the sessions particularly helpful if you are facing current challenges in any of these areas.
- The first session will help you clarify your goal and make an action plan; the second will review your progress and help you overcome any obstacles encountered.
- As a coach, my role is not to give advice (sadly, I’m not the fount of all wisdom!) but to listen carefully and to ask questions that will stimulate your thinking and help you clarify your goals and options for achieving them.
- The sessions will be strictly confidential.
The other prizes
I’m taking part in the competition via my prize so won’t be in the draw, but frankly there are a lot of prizes I’d be very happy to win. Have a look through them and visit their sites. Good luck! N.B. the following list was written by David Airey…
Gold award
The ultimate business blog package:
Silver award
Bronze award
Bonus prizes
The following prizes will be drawn individually.
Podcasting kit
Behringer Podcastudio USB Podcasting Kit, kindly donated by Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog. Looking for a new way to express yourself? Ever wanted to be a famous producer? Then podcasting is the answer and the BEHRINGER PODCASTUDIO USB bundle has all you need to make high-quality podcasts and home recordings.
Free money
$25 via PayPal courtesy of Gayla McCord of Mom Gadget. Free money! Who doesn’t want free money? Very kind of you Gayla.
USB storage keys
2GB USB storage key x 3 courtesy of Jamie Clague at Terinea Weblog. Three USB sticks will make up three separate prizes, with free worldwide postage. Jamie, Edinburgh Computer Services, has also kindly donated his valuable time to helping with the prize draw administration.
Blog reviews and design help.
Telephone and Skype consultations
- Blog writing consultation with Ben Yoskovitz of Instigator Blog. Ben has offered his expertise to review 3–5 of your articles, providing tips and giving suggestions on writing, plus a quick guide to social media and how you can benefit from it.
- Two 45 minute coaching consultations with Mark McGuinness of Wishful Thinking. Mark specialises in coaching creative professionals, and is a real expert in his field. The first session will involve goal setting, with the second session reporting on progress and making adjustments.
- 4 hour business growth consultation with Rebecca Caroe, via telephone / Skype, or face-to-face in London / Cambridge. Rebecca is a business growth consultant for creative agencies, so if you’re looking to expand your company then this is the prize for you. If you want Rebecca to visit your offices simply pay her travel expenses.
- Tele-Coaching with Tammy Lenski. A one-hour, private telephone consult with professional mediator and conflict coach Tammy Lenski. Figure out how to deal with a challenging client, strengthen your contract negotiations, or confront difficult conversations with more confidence and success. Free call within the U.S., via Skype outside the U.S.
- One hour product launch consultation with Design Translator (DT) of Design Sojourn. Whether you’re launching a line of t-shirts, custom furniture, electronics, or any other product, DT will lend you his product launch expertise.
- Blog improvement or monetization advice with Easton Ellsworth of Business Blogwire. You choose, do you want to generally improve your blog or do you want help making money from it? Easton has kindly offered his help.
Art and literature
- Two premium quality books designed and produced by David Hyde of david the designer. John Hinchcliffe, internationally acclaimed designer-maker, is the subject of the richly illustrated first of two quality books. Crafts in the 20th Century is the second book kindly donated by David.
- Copy of Brand Aid by Brad VanAuken of The Blake Project. Brand Aid is a practical how-to guide on building winning brands. Derrick Daye was kind enough to offer this great prize.
- Watercolour print from Ed Roach Watercolours. Ed has quite a talent, and will graciously ship your favourite print from his watercolour studio.
Online advertising
Forum membership
Lifetime membership to the paid membership site that Andy Beard, WordPress SEO and Niche Marketer, will launch on Andybeard.eu (eta and value yet to be determined). If the prize winner already qualifies for membership (some people will), then Andy will kindly come up with an alternative prize.
How to enter
The deadline for entries is Wednesday, September 26th 2007, and the winners will be announced on David’s blog on Monday, October 1st 2007.