November 2009 – Page 3

The ‘Rules’

In many publisher submission guidelines,
they state
that they won’t accept manuscripts
submitted for consideration elsewhere.

That is a lie.

Because they accept (and prefer)
manuscripts from agents.
Agents submit to ALL publishers
at the same time.
They do that with a hope of creating bidding wars.

There are no rules in business.
There are laws
which you should follow
if you want to stay out of court
(and jail).
There are guidelines
(ethical and other)
that may or may not help you
be successful.
But there are no rules.

For every rule,
there is someone breaking that rule
and becoming VERY successful
by doing exactly that.

Be conscious of your ‘rules’
and ask yourself
‘are they limiting me?’

Concentrate On Fabulous

Seth Godin has a great post
on the increase in fabulous products.

As he states…
“If there was ever a moment
to follow your passion and
do work that matters,
this is it.
You can’t say,
“but I need to make a fortune instead,”
because that’s not happening right now.
So you might as well join the people
who can say,
“I love doing this.””

I had a challenging weekend
because my list of fabulous things
I want to do is almost overwhelming.
I’m so excited,
I don’t know where to start.

And yes,
NONE of those things
will give me an immediate return.
I’m building for the future.

Go out there
and do something fabulous!

Covering Up Problems

A friend of mine was having problems
with her marriage.
Instead of addressing those problems,
they had a baby,
hoping the problems would magically fix themselves.
Now she’s divorced with a child.

I was having problems
with a character in my novel.
Instead of spending the time
to gain an understanding of that character,
I crammed the story with action and excitement.
The story still doesn’t work.

We all do this.
We try to solve a touchy problem,
not by addressing the problem directly,
but by applying a quick fix.

Quick fixes are okay short term.
Long term, they don’t work.
Don’t cover up problems,
solve them.

Focus On Contribution

Renowned architect John Portman
looks back
on 85 years of living
and the business lessons he’s learned.

One of them is not to concentrate on profit.
Focus on contribution instead.

“The emphasis on contribution
often results in greater long-term profitability,
because you’re focused on the long term
and the greater good
rather than short-term financial gain.”

Entrepreneurs are naturally long-term focused.
We build businesses
knowing that it may take years, even decades,
to see profitability.

Yes, we need cash flow to stay alive
but often our contribution in early years
far outweighs profitability.
Build for the future.

Optimism And Success

This week,
I’ve noticed an increase in pessimism,
especially on the blogs and twitter.
Fight it.

Optimism (or pessimism),
like happiness,
is a choice
(barring illnesses, etc).

I choose to be optimistic
and I use tools to increase that optimism.
I don’t often watch the news
(I read headlines, that’s it).
I read romance novels
(always a happy ending).
I love hearing good (or groaner) jokes.
I don’t hang out with complainers.
I decide to always, at first,
answer yes
and THEN decide if it should be a no.

I work hard at maintaining my optimism.
Why?

Because most successful people are optimists.
ALL successful entrepreneurs are optimists
(why they launch businesses
despite the rather low odds of success)

Dr. Toshihiko Maruta, a Mayo Clinic researcher,
reports that “optimists have
a dramatically higher level of
physical and mental functioning than pessimists.”

Protect and nurture your optimism.

The Nike Store And The New York Marathon

This past weekend,
I cheered a loved one
during his first New York Marathon.
The day before,
there was a free bus
from registration to the Nike Store.

Once runners arrived at the Nike Store,
they were given cowbells
(as many as they wished).
Not racing gear or gadgets,
cowbells.
These cowbells are used
to cheer runners on.

Brilliant.

You see,
Nike already had these runners
as customers
(why they were visiting the store).
The cowbells were meant
for friends and family,
possible NEW customers.

It was a clever way
to make runners happy,
loved ones happy,
AND
spread the word.

Swine Flu, Sick Leave, And Getting Things Done

Almost everyone I know
is ill or fighting the flu
(swine or otherwise).

It makes you wonder…

If you get the flu tomorrow,
will your business continue?

If a key person can’t come to work,
will decisions be made?

Is your staff cross-trained
on associates’ tasks?

Can a temp come in tomorrow,
without training,
and fill lower level positions?
(freeing up those employees)

Can your over achievers
work from home if necessary?

Illness happens.
Mass illness happens.
Be prepared for it.

Pro Wrestling And Community

Sam Ford has a great article
on
10 Things Corporations Can Learn from Pro Wrestling.

My favorite is the lesson on community.
“Your Audience Uses You
as an Excuse to Build Community.”

You are an excuse.
Your audience is looking for a reason
to build community.

My most recent story, Released,
mentions animal rescues.
It is a small part of the story
yet I’ve received hundreds of emails
about pets being rescued or adopted.
These readers were looking for an excuse
to talk about this subject
(of course, I’ll be featuring the stories on my site)

My dear mom is a Toronto Blue Jays fan.
She doesn’t live in Toronto.
The reason she’s a Toronto fan
is because she likes being part of that community.
It isn’t about the sport.
It isn’t about the team.
It is about the fans following the team.
It is that feeling of belonging.

You can encourage
an emerging community to grow
by providing your audience tools
(a chat room, a blog, conferences).

The Perfect Candidate

A friend of mine
interviewed and interviewed and interviewed.
She finally found the perfect employee,
the candidate had the exact skill set
needed for the job,
she could do the job in her sleep.

She lasted less than a year.

Why?
Because she was bored.
She wasn’t learning.
She wasn’t challenged.
All she was getting from the job
was money
and for a bright, ambitious person,
money isn’t enough.

Another friend
looks for abilities rather than direct experience.
The project managers she hires
may have led teams
and worked with cross functional teams
but they’ve never led cross functional teams.
Mastering that ability takes a couple years
so she knows they’ll be challenged for that long.

Guy Nadivi has some other thoughts
on why the perfect candidate
isn’t perfect.

Respect The Product

A friend of mine is entering
a Harlequin Presents contest.

Harlequin Presents is a very successful line.
One of the reasons
it is so successful
is because they put their product tags
right in their titles.
Their titles are monstrosities like…
The Spanish Billionaire’s Virgin Secretary
or
The Sheikh’s Captive Mistress
or
The Prince’s Waitress Wife.

Readers will buy all the Billionaire books
or the Sheikh books
or the Virgin books.

Marketers love it.
Authors cringe.

My author buddy submitted an manuscript
called something entirely different.
She insists that if she wins,
she won’t budge on the title.

She won’t win.
Why?
Because she doesn’t respect the product
and when you don’t respect the product,
it shows.
Selling is difficult enough
when you believe in what you’re selling.

There are millions of products out there.
Work with a product
you believe in.