According to
the University of Scranton,
75% of resolutions are kept
during the first 7 days of the year.
However,
only 46% make it
past six months.
Today is day 11.
We’re in that dangerous
in between time,
the time many folks get discouraged.
Nothing encourages me
like achievement.
Break that big goal down
into smaller achievable parts.
Celebrate each milestone.
Keep yourself focused.
You CAN achieve your goals.
Some newer writers pride themselves
on having absolutely no grammatical
or spelling errors in their stories.
The thing is…
no reader has ever
recommended a story
based on
its grammar and spelling.
Readers want solid grammar,
solid spelling
but they’ll tolerate some errors.
They don’t want perfect.
They’re looking for readable,
for good enough.
Striving for perfection
in this area is a waste of resources.
“Everyone competes on something.
That thing you compete on
is your most.
The other things you do,
those need to be enough.”
If your prospects would be happy
with ‘good enough,’
don’t strive for perfection.
Spend your additional resources
on some other area.
You’re sitting down
to negotiate a sale.
Who makes the offer first?
Ideally,
you should.
Bruna Martinuzzi,
Founder of
Clarion Enterprises Ltd,
shares
“There’s widespread agreement
among many negotiation experts
that it’s advantageous
to make the first offer.
This taps into the power of anchoring.
There’s generally an inclination
not to “bargain” too far away
from the anchor
established by the opening offer.”
Make the first offer.
It is very easy,
as business builders,
to add more and more tasks
to our days
until we’re overwhelmed.
One of the things I’ve done
is,
now that I’ve found my ideal pace,
my optimal number of daily tasks,
I don’t add tasks to my day
without dropping another task.
One task on my to-do list.
One task off my to-do list.
What this also does
is ensure I prioritize my time.
If the task I’m considering
isn’t as important
as the task that are
already on my to-list,
I don’t add it.
Sandra Yancey,
eWomenNetwork’s CEO,
shares
“The worst thing you can do
is keep adding things to your plate
and not take anything off.
Where your energy goes
is what grows,
so if you don’t believe in balance
you’ll never have it.”
When you add a task
to your to-do list,
delete another task.
Emotion plays a role
in almost everyone’s
decision-making process.
Some decisions
are more emotion-driven
than others.
That makes analyzing them
more challenging.
We can’t look at cost savings
or increase in sales
or brand reach
for these decisions.
We can’t apply logic to them.
We have to look at
the emotional payoff.
For example,
if you voted for XXX
because you liked him,
do you still like him
after he’s elected?
Do you like him more
or less?
If you like him less,
was electing him
a bad decision
or
is it still a good decision?
It is all subjective.
If you’ve made an emotional decision,
only YOU can decide
if YOU made the right one.
No polls or experts
can decide that.
Evaluate the success
of an emotion-based decision
on the resulting emotion.
I wrote a story
a couple of years ago.
It was dark and edgy
and had a scene in it
that might have gotten
the book banned
from booksellers.
I knew this.
I knew I was taking a risk,
pushing acceptable boundaries.
But I decided to publish it anyway.
It wasn’t banned
and it ended up being
my bestselling story thus far.
A writer pushed
those same boundaries
even farther last week.
Her book sold quite a few copies
and then WAS banned.
If you push boundaries,
you’re taking a risk.
There’s usually huge upside
with that risk
but also be aware of the downside.
Prepare for both situations.
(This writer is now selling
the story directly to readers,
marketing it as a story
so extreme
it was banned from booksellers.)
A reader asked writers
why they often describe
their heroes’ hands as ‘calloused.’
She’d searched on Google
for calloused hands
and found the photos
grotesque.
Being a writer,
I have a callous
on my third finger
where my pen rests.
It isn’t grotesque.
It isn’t rough.
It is merely a bump
I earned through the repetitive act
of writing.
But I haven’t taken a photo
of it
and posted it as an example
of a callous.
Why?
Because it isn’t extreme enough.
Only extreme examples
are usually posted,
Only extreme examples
come up on searches.
I keep that in mind
when I’m doing any sort of research.
People post extreme examples,
not the average example.
Almost every saleswoman
has been or will be
called pushy.
“We call someone pushy
when they are trying harder
for forward motion
than we are.
We call them pushy
when they have more at stake,
or more to gain,
than we think we do.”
Pushy is subjective.
What I think is pushy,
another person wouldn’t consider pushy.
For some people,
ANY action that encroaches
on their personal bubble
is being ‘pushy.’
If you are in sales
or marketing
or, heck, want anything in life,
you WILL be called pushy.
Find peace with this.
Figure out a response.
(My favorite is
“YES, I do want this.”)
Don’t let this label stop you.
You can’t be all things
to all people.
Huge businesses can’t do this.
Walmart couldn’t be the low price leader
AND
known for top notch quality.
They chose one.
“”Anyone can be our customer
and we will get you what you want…”
is almost impossible to pull off.
So is,
“we are the cheapest
and the most convenient
and the best.”
It didn’t work for Sears,
or for Chevrolet
or for Radio Shack.
It definitely doesn’t work
for the local freelancer,
eager to do whatever is asked.”
Choose your niche.
Dominate that niche.
Expand that niche.
Don’t try to be everything.
Coca-Cola makes
a good portion of their profits
from selling
classic Coca-Cola.
McDonald’s makes
a good portion of their profits
from selling
Big Macs and French Fries.
I have 2 titles
in my 150 plus backlist
that earn me
most of my profit every month.
“Book publishers make
more than 90% of their profit
from books they published
more than six months ago.
And yet they put
2% of their effort
into promoting and selling
those books.
Editors, agents, salespeople
all focus on what’s new,
instead of what works.”
New is exciting
but our classic products,
our backlist,
often pays the bills.
Every time I promote
my two bestselling titles,
I see a huge lift in sales.
Don’t forget about
your classic products.
Promote them also.