Month: August 2015

Whenever I’m stuck creatively,
I mix things up a bit.
I’ll write in a different color ink
or move to a different location
or change my background music
(or switch to complete silence).

Eventually this restarts
my creativity.

Carmine Gallo
shares

“Nothing jolts the brain awake
as much as a change of environment
and that includes
the physical space you’re in
and the people you meet.

New places and new people
help the brain make new connections
and stimulate new ways of thinking.

You don’t necessarily need
to travel to have a vacation.
Try a different restaurant for lunch
or a space outside of the office
for creative work.”

If you’re stuck in a creative rut,
try changing your environment.

I’ve always been a writer.
I have a background in blogging
and in newspaper reporting.
I could write in just about
any subgenre.

But I won’t build a brand
or a readership
if I try to write
in EVERY subgenre.

I also won’t be great
at pleasing readers
of those subgenres.
That requires focus
(because different subgenres
have different expectations).

You’re an intelligent person.
You could probably launch
a product
in any industry.

But you won’t be great at
designing products
if you hop industries
(again, every industry
has different expectations).
You also won’t build a customer base.

James Clear
shares

“You can’t be good
at everything
and it’s hard to be great
at more than one thing,
so pick the one thing
you’re going to become great at
and focus on it.”

Choose an industry
and focus on pleasing
those customers.

Stephen King
shares

“If your critics are all telling you
the same thing about some facet
of your story –
a plot twist that doesn’t work,
a character who rings false,
stilted narrative,
or half a dozen other possibles
– change that facet.
It doesn’t matter
if you really liked
that twist of that character;
if a lot of people are telling you
something is wrong with you piece,
it is.

If seven or eight of them
are hitting on that same thing,
I’d still suggest changing it.

But if everyone
– or even most everyone –
is criticizing something different,
you can safely disregard
what all of them say.”

Yes, this is about writing
but it’s also true for product development.
If everyone is saying the same thing,
consider listening.
If everyone is saying different things,
consider not listening.

All criticism isn’t equal.
Learn how to separate
the good
from the useless.

Recently, there was a big fuss
on Facebook
about an author being unable
to post reviews.

Most authors can’t post reviews.
There’s a reason for that.

Before this ‘rule’ came into being,
authors were leaving nasty, false reviews
for their competition.

One author would post
‘This is NOT A ROMANCE.’
as a review for my romance novels
on release day.
That killed sales.

When Amazon made this rule,
all of these nasty reviews
magically went away.

This author making a fuss,
however, didn’t understand WHY
the rule existed.
She simply wanted it gone.
She didn’t understand
why other writers
weren’t supporting her.

Before changing the rules,
understand why
the rules existed in the first place.

Sandhya Venkatachalam,
co-founder
of Centerview Capital,
shares

“Make a list of everything
you have to do
— both large and small.
This not only allows you
to plan ahead better,
but relieves the stress
that comes with forgetting.
Break large projects
(like customer presentations)
into smaller, more actionable tasks
(like creating an outline
for 30 minutes,
reading relevant research reports
for an hour, etc.).”

Breaking large projects
into smaller tasks
not only helps you plan your day
but it increases the likelihood
that you’ll actually start
(and finish) that project.

We can become daunted
by the thought of a large project.
Small tasks, however,
are doable.
We can also sneak these small tasks
into empty slots in our schedule.

Break large projects
into smaller tasks.

There’s an unwritten rule
in social media land
that we should ALWAYS respond
to a comment.

I agree that we should respond
ONCE
but ALWAYS responding
will frustrate some readers.

Why?

Because there are people
who always need to have
the last word.
They tag a sentence
onto every conversation.
You post ‘Thank you’
and they post ‘No problem.’
You post ‘okay’
and they post ‘I’m glad it’s okay.’

Having the last word
makes them happy.
Our goal is to make customers
(present and future)
happy.

Allow some people
to have the last word.

On one of my non-timely blogs,
I struggled with posts.
I had content.
It was drafting the content
that was challenging.

I’d binge and purge.
Schedule a month’s worth
of posts
in one day
and then not post
for another three months,
leaving two months
with no posts.

As you can imagine,
that ISN’T the way
to build readership.

Then a couple of months ago,
I started pacing myself.
I’d schedule 2 posts
every day
and that was it.
I’m now 4 months ahead
and I haven’t missed a day yet.

This is a technique
I use with many tasks.
I’ll simply double up,
complete two instead of one.

Try doubling up.
It might work for you.

One of my buddies
is positioned to break out big
as a writer.
This success WILL happen.
She has a great book,
the support of her publisher
and booksellers,
and awesome marketing.

I have a choice
— I can begrudge her
that success
or I can help her celebrate it,
take an active role
in supporting her.

Neither choice
will change her future.
She WILL be successful.
My reaction will have no bearing
on that.

Being bitter about that success
will do nothing
except make me and perhaps her
feel bad.

So I choose to be happy for her.
I feel great about that decision
and who knows?
Her success might help me.

Be happy for your friend’s success.

Ellen Petry Leanse,
entrepreneur
and Apple and Google alum,
shares

“I started paying attention,
at work and beyond.
It didn’t take long to sense something
I hadn’t noticed before:
women used “just”
a lot more often than men.”

“I am all about respectful communication.
Yet I began to notice that
“just” wasn’t about being polite:
it was a subtle message
of subordination,
of deference.
Sometimes it was self-effacing.
Sometimes even duplicitous.
As I started really listening,
I realized that striking it from a phrase
almost always clarified
and strengthened the message.”

One of my early business mentors
told me the same thing.
He would interrupt me
every time I’d use ‘just’
because, as he stated,
it was a sign
that I shouldn’t be listened to.

Eliminate just from your vocabulary.