Working From Home, Innovation, And Google

Google’s Chief Financial Officer,
Patrick Pichette,
isn’t a fan
of the working from home movement.

Why?

As he shares

“There is something magical
about sharing meals.
There is something magical
about spending the time together,
about noodling on ideas,
about asking at the computer
‘What do you think of this?’

These are magical moments that
we think at Google
are immensely important
in the development of your company,
of your own personal development
and building much stronger communities.”

Of course,
working from home
doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

A loved one spends
at least one day a week at the office,
working the rest of the week
at home.
He has the best of both worlds.

Working from home,
like any strategy,
isn’t suitable for all careers, all businesses.
Do what is best for YOUR career/company.

Failure Faith

Failure almost always comes before success.
Successful people know this,
they accept this,
they often expect this.

As Lewis Schiff
shares

“Indeed, the “normal” psychological reaction
to failure is to distract yourself
and do something completely different
right away.

But extremely-successful entrepreneurs
typically defy this “normal” reaction.
They go back and
try again at things they fail at.

That’s because they often believe in something
I call the “failure faith,”
a powerful conviction that
every setback offers vital lessons
that could not be learned any other way.”

If you want success,
learn how to embrace failure.

World Domination Plan Update

Two years ago,
four writing buddies and I
started working
what we half-jokingly call
the world domination plan.

At that time,
we were below mid list
eBook exclusive writers.

Today,
four of the five of us
have book deals with New York Publishers
(the Fortune 500 or rather Fortune 5 of publishing).
Three of us will be proving our sales first
in eBook format.
One of us will go straight to print.
(One of us has put her writing career on hold)

That’s after a mere two years
of concentrating on our careers,
of pushing each other to achieve.

I’m an extremely driven person
but I know I wouldn’t have pushed so hard
if they hadn’t kept me honest,
telling me to write 500 more words,
to submit my stories to one more publisher,
to answer a call for submission
I was certain I didn’t have time to answer.

Two years of concentrated effort
has made a big difference in my career.
The support of four other people
with their own views of success
has also made a difference.

Draft your own world domination plan
and then WORK it.

Seth MacFarlane And Oscar Advice

Billy Crystal is known
for being one of the best hosts
in Oscar history.

So what do you do
if you’re asked to be the host
the Oscars?

If you’re Seth MacFarlane,
you seek advice from the best.

Seth MacFarlane shares
“I talked to Billy Crystal,
and he was a super nice guy
and genuinely helpful,
took time out of his schedule
to sit down with me.
I came out of it
with some practical, practical stuff.”

Getting advice from your predecessor
makes sense in any role
even or ESPECIALLY
if your predecessor screwed up.

The Career Bucket List

Many of us have a list of careers
we’d like to try
(or businesses we’d like to launch).

For example:
I knew I wanted
to work for a couple of Fortune 500 companies
I’ve always admired.
I also knew I wanted
to write romance novels.

I wanted to try
both of these careers
but I realized this would be easier
to do
if I arranged my list in a logical order.

I tried
the careers
requiring formal education
and favoring youth over age
(the Fortune 500 companies)
first.
I had a blast.
I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish.

And now I’m exploring the careers
not requiring a formal education
and favoring age/life experience over youth
(writing romance novels).

Look at the careers
on your life wish list.
Can you put them in a more logical order?

Ask For Ideas

A big publisher made
a call for submission
in a certain genre
(this is an urgent request for stories
with a specific theme).

I read in this genre
but I don’t write in it.
I passed the call along to a writing buddy.
She got so excited about the call,
she blanked out on ideas.
Hey, that happens!

I gave her one of my ideas.
I’ll never use it
as I don’t write in that genre
(I have great opportunities
in my own genres).
She tweaked it
and is happily writing.

Writers, entrepreneurs,
professionals in all creative fields,
usually have more ideas
than they can possibly use.
If you’re stuck,
ASK.

The worst that can happen
is they say no.

And, of course,
pass along opportunities you can’t use.
That’s how you build world domination alliances.

Blaming The Trend

I watched a special on
CMT (Country Music Television)
and a bunch of songwriters were talking about
how hard it is to sell songs
because of the trend
toward singer-songwriters.

The next day,
I watched a special on
country music star Alan Jackson.
He explained that the main reason
he started writing songs solo
was because he was touring so much,
he couldn’t afford the time
to go to Nashville
and sit down with songwriters.

Blaming a trend is lazy thinking.
Trends and yes, even fads,
start for a reason.
Experienced romance writers can tell you
why vampires were popular two years ago
and why 50 Shades of Grey is popular now.

Know your business.
Know why trends are occurring.
Figure out a way to benefit
or to sidestep a trend
(like virtually meeting with singers).

Matt Kemp And Staying Focused

When I’m in,
what I call,
the writing cave,
nothing disturbs me.
A train could roll behind my chair
and I wouldn’t notice.

The writing cave isn’t a place.
It is a mindset.
When I’m writing,
I’m writing.
I’m not checking email.
I’m not thinking about dinner.
The only thing in my head
is the story.

In May 2012’s
Men’s Health,
Matt Kemp shares

“Sometimes you’ll have a bad at-bat
and then take your anger into the field
and misplay a fly ball.
Or you’ll make an error in the field
and then do something wrong
on the base paths.

What Davey
[the Dodgers First Base Coach]
stressed was,

‘When you’re a hitter,
be a hitter.
Block everything else out.

Whatever you’re doing,
focus on what you need to do in that role.
Don’t carry over negative feelings.'”

Focus is very powerful.
Develop it.
Use it.

Zac Efron And Working It

I’m still working like a demon
writing a trilogy of novellas
in less than a month
plus my usual short story.
(that’s 85,000 polished words
in a month)

I don’t mind
because hard work
has been key
to all of my successes.

Hard work has also been key
to Zac Efron’s success.

In the May 2012 issue
of Men’s Health,
he shares

“I could pick up almost anything.
If you put it in front of me,
I could always find a way to tackle it.
I was never a natural at anything,
but I could always outwork everyone.”

Work it like Efron!

Direct Mail Don’ts

Direct Mail is still a viable marketing tactic,
especially for businesses
appealing to a local market.

The United States Postal Service
outlines some direct mail don’ts
in A Marketer’s How-To
(and Why-To)
Guide To Using
Direct Mail.

These include

“Don’t
-Begin your Direct Mail campaign
without a clear, measurable objective.

-Overwhelm the reader
with too much copy or graphics
so your offer or call to action gets lost.

-Mistake income for interest
– just because people can afford your product
doesn’t mean they want it.

-Assume you know
what your customers want or need
– use your mailpiece to ask them directly.

-Mark your pieces “urgent’ when they’re not
– customers feel misled
and will likely ignore your messages
in the future.”

In other words,
know why you’re marketing,
communicate what you’d like prospects to do,
target the right prospects,
figure out what your prospects want,
and don’t lie to them.

These are great tips
for every marketing campaign.

Published
Categorized as Marketing