September 2012 – Page 3

A Real Job

An aspiring singer
told me yesterday
that after having a child,
he needed money
and decided to quit the music business
to “get a real job.”

Ummm… singing IS a real job.
Plenty of singers make good livings.

That he didn’t considered it a ‘real job’
told me
he hadn’t been taking singing seriously.
He had treated it as a hobby,
as fun,
goofing around
and not applying himself to his ‘dream.’

Listen to the words you use.
They are a great indicator
of whether or not
you’re taking your business seriously.

BTW… if buddies aren’t taking
your business or dream seriously,
your word usage may be the reason why.

Last weekend,
I ate at John’s in New York City.
This fabulous pizzeria
is adamant about not serving slices.
Yes, this must lose them some business
but it ensures quality,
something they won’t sacrifice.

A buddy of mine
is known for writing
deliciously long stories
filled with flowing description.
She doesn’t write short stories or novellas
and this costs her some sales
but she won’t change her style,
a style her readers love.

Marketers love sampling,
giving away a slice of product
for free,
hoping to entice consumers
into buying more.

But this tactic only works
if the quality remains the same.

Sample your best.
If you can’t sample your best,
don’t sample at all.

Focus On The End Goal

I came from poverty.
I knew I had one shot at a formal education
and that formal education had to be worth
the sacrifices.

When I chose my field of study,
I made damn sure
the investment in my education
would pay off
with a job after graduation,
a job I could eventually earn a good living with.

Some of my buddies had no idea
what they’d do after graduation.
Their thinking was
that an education was enough
to become successful.
Many of them graduated
to find they weren’t employable.

Steve Siebold,
author of “How Rich People Think,
has drafted up a list of
21 ways the rich think differently.

One of these ways
is how the rich view education.

“Many world-class performers
have little formal education, and
have amassed their wealth
through the acquisition and
subsequent sale of specific knowledge.”

“Meanwhile, the masses are
convinced that master’s degrees
and doctorates are the way to wealth,
mostly because they are trapped
in the linear line of thought
that holds them back
from higher levels of consciousness…

The wealthy aren’t interested in the means,
only the end.”

Education isn’t enough.
It is what you do with that education
that matters.

One-Person Show

Running your own business
can be very lonely,
especially in the early years.

Every task, every responsibility
is yours.
Even if you outsource,
you are the person responsible
for managing that resource.

As Yaro shares

“It’s a one-person show for a long time,
filling every spare hour outside of work
on your little internet business
until it’s big enough to justify
quitting your job
and going full time entrepreneur.
Once it reaches true sustainability
you can finally bring on help and
you gain back some time freedom in exchange
(or more money, or both).”

That is why networking with other entrepreneurs
can be the difference
between success and failure,
not only because you benefit
from their experience and skill
but also because you benefit
from their companionship.

Take some time
out of your busy schedule
to meet with fellow entrepreneurs

Back To School

As the kiddies go back to school,
we should also consider
taking a course, a seminar,
learning a new skill,
expanding our knowledge base.

Yes, I post something similar
every year.

Why?

Because we can’t use skills
we don’t know exist.
We don’t know what we don’t know
and contrary to myth,
what we don’t know
CAN hurt us
(or at least slow down our success).

These are exciting times.
The world is changing quickly.
We must change too.

Learn something new.
Go back to school.

One Step More

While promoting a story set in Alaska,
I shared that I’d been to the State.
Readers asked me to post photos.

Along with each photo,
I posted a one-line fictional “story”
something along the lines of
“Diane ran from the huge brown bear,
not knowing he was a shifter,
her destined mate.”

Readers LOVED this.
They forwarded the posts.
They added their own contributions
to the “story.”

Recently, I had dinner at a fancy restaurant.
I debated between two entrees,
finally choosing one.
The waitress brought out that entree
AND a sample of the other entree.
I was amazed, impressed.
I fell in love with that restaurant.

Delighting customers
is easy.
Do what they ask
and then take one more step.

That First Week

You’ve started a brand new job
but your boss is busy.
She doesn’t have time
to set up meetings for you.

So help her.
Set these meetings up yourself.

Ask the admin assistant
for the organization chart.
Set up half hour meetings
with your co-workers.
If they’re too busy
to meet with you,
they’ll ask to reschedule.

Draft a list of questions.
My favorite is
“What do you know now
that you wish you had known
when you started?”

Ask the questions.
Write down the answers.
Thank them for their time.

Between these meetings,
put these answers
(excluding private information)
in a general format
(“I wish I’d met with Ted”
becomes “Consult with the purchasing agent.”)
and create a new hire FAQ binder.

Bam!
First week on the job,
you’ve showed initiative,
you’ve learned,
AND you’ve added value to the organization.

This is much better than staring into space.

Marketing And Sales

Sales and marketing
often has a love/hate relationship.
The common refrain
within sales
is that they don’t know what marketing does.

A loved one is a great salesman.
He has, however,
always worked with smaller companies.
Recently, he moved
to a larger company,
a company with an established brand.

After his first sales call,
he told me excitedly
“I didn’t have to explain what we did.
And I didn’t have to tell them
why they should trust us.
All I had to do was
concentrate on the product.”

THAT is what marketing does.
A strong brand
(often the product of great marketing)
allows salespeople to concentrate
on the product,
the relationship.

Strong marketing should translate
to an easier sale.

Contracts And Loved Ones

A buddy is lending $100,000
to a loved one.
He told me
he doesn’t want to draft up a contract
around this loan
because he ‘feels funny’
and he doesn’t want the loved one to think
he doesn’t trust her.

Contracts have nothing to do
with trust.
If you don’t trust someone,
you shouldn’t deal with them.
Period.
Enforcing the terms of a contract
with an unethical person
is almost impossible
and very, very costly.

Contracts are about
outlining the terms of the transaction,
ensuring everyone is on the same page.
This eliminates misunderstandings
and benefits both parties.

If you explain this to the other party
and the other party pushes back,
wishing no contract,
you should ask yourself why.

Limiting The Non-Compete Clause

An intelligent buyer
tries to make
the non-compete clause
(the clause stating
that the seller will not open a similar business)
as broad as possible.

An intelligent seller
tries to make this clause
(if she can’t eliminate it completely)
as narrow as possible.

This narrowing is, of course, easier
if your next business is already started.

For example:
A buyer was interested
in a buddy’s cover design business.
The original non-compete clause
stated that my buddy wasn’t to have
any dealings with the publishing industry.

She already had a stock photography business
and publishers/cover design firms
were her biggest clients.
She pushed back.

The buyer saw that the stock photography business
wasn’t harming the sales of the cover design business
and she had no problem
narrowing the clause to cover design only.

The biggest concern of the buyer
is that the seller will steal customers.
Prove that the customers are different
(for example:
Sci Fi readers have different review sites
than paranormal readers)
and the buyer is more likely to narrow
the non-compete clause.

Month: September 2012