Month: August 2013

I don’t worry that much about piracy.
My stories are reasonably priced
and my target readership
has more money than she has time.
She’ll pay for quality
and pay to avoid viruses and other nastiness.

Kevin Spacey
shares
(this entire 5 minute clip is gold)

“Clearly the success of the NetFlix model,
releasing the entire season
of House of Cards
at once,
proved one thing.

The audience wants the control.
They want the freedom.
If they want to binge,
as they have been doing
on House of Cards
and lots of other shows,
then we should let them binge.

I mean I can’t tell you
how many people have stopped me
on the street and said
“Thanks.
You sucked three days out of my life.”

And, through this new form of distribution,
we have demonstrated that
we have learned the lesson
the music industry didn’t learn.

Give people what they want
when they want it
in the form they want it in
at a reasonable price
and they’ll more likely pay for it
rather than steal it.”

Ask yourself
if you’re giving people what they want
when they want it
in the form they want it in
at a reasonable price.

I keep a 10 cent notebook
filled with story ideas.

Whenever I get a story idea,
I write it down right away
on the closest piece of paper
I can grab.
If I don’t write it down right away,
I forget the idea.

I then transfer these ideas
into a central book.

I can’t write as quickly
as I think of ideas.
Flipping through this notebook
always inspires me.

Dylan Lauren
of Dylan’s Candy Bar
keeps a notebook of ideas also.

She advises
“Try to stay inspired.
Get a notebook or a file folder,
like I did,
and keep photos of things
that inspire you.
Do a lot of research on your concept
and take notes like a student.
I believe that
everything is possible
as long as you follow your gut.”

Consider keeping a notebook
with all of your ideas
and anything that inspires you.

I recently took a cruise.
The retired folks on the cruise
looked at the younger folks
(myself included)
and saw how we’d relax at sea days
and then work like demons
whenever we docked.
They were dismayed
and
thought we should talk to our managers.

They didn’t understand
that this is the new workplace.
We can work from anywhere
but we’re always working
(unless there’s a connection issue
as there is with sea days).
There’s no separation of business
and personal life.

Which means we had better damn well
love our businesses.
(fortunately, I do).

As Barry Moltz
shares

“In the world of
the Internet-enabled smartphone,
it is nearly impossible
to separate these two worlds.
Better advice:
Merge your business and personal aspects
into one happy life.
But establish business free zones
(like the gym, dinner table, bedroom
or vacation)
so you are able to recharge.”

Figure out how to merge
your business and personal lives.

One of my buddies
is on a tight writing deadline.
She is also on a diet.
And she’s trying
to cut expenses.
All at the same time.

On paper,
this looks doable.
She’s writing more.
This should mean
she has less time to eat.
And eating less should
decrease her food budget.

The reality is…
she can only do one of these things
(which is the writing deadline).
This takes all of the willpower she has.

As Kelly McGonigal,
author of
The Willpower Instinct
shares

“Trying to control your temper,
stick to a budget
or refuse seconds
all tap into the same source of strength.

And because every act of willpower
depletes willpower,
using self control can lead to
losing self-control …
if you do turn down that tempting tiramisu,
you may find it more difficult
to focus
when you’re back at your desk.””

Use your self-control
for your most important task.

One thing that is common
with great leaders
is their ability to be truly present.

A loved one met Bill Clinton.
This loved one isn’t anyone super important
but the former President
made him feel as though
he was the most important person in the room.
He gave my loved one 100% of his attention.
He didn’t look at his phone.
He didn’t scan the room
for more interesting people to talk to.
He was totally focused on
the person he was talking to.

As
Terry Starbucker shares

“Being Truly “Present”
This was always a hard one;
there are SO many distractions
that can pull you away
from what is happening right in front of you.
The best example in this digital age
is the ability to keep away
from the smartphone
and/or computer
during a conversation or a meeting.
That was one of my big pet peeves
when I was in the board and meeting rooms,
and it still is today.”

Be present.
When you’re attending a meeting,
ATTEND the meeting
100%.

Stress is a killer.
It is a joy killer,
a partnership killer
(who wants to work
with a stressed out person?),
and
a body killer.

It is also part of building a business.
We have a zillion decisions to make,
as many deadlines.
We WILL experience stress.
We have to learn how to deal with it.

Aprille Janes
recommends

“Take a deep breath.

Actually, take three.
Studies have proven that
three deep belly breaths send a signal
to your autonomic nervous system
that you can relax.
The message is
“No danger here”.
Stress and all the nasty things
it does to you get reduced.
You even think more clearly.”

When I deep breathe
before going to sleep,
I sleep better
and often wake up
with solutions to problems.

Take a deep breath.

Steve Shapiro
is running an experiment
in which he only works
one hour on his business.
Yes, you read that right
one hour.

His theory is that
if 20% of the work
yields 80% of the profit,
why do the other 80% of the work?

Not ready to take this drastic step?
He suggests

“Even if you don’t believe working
only 60 minutes a day
is possible,
give the thought process a try.

Use the “hour a day” mantra
as a mental exercise.
Determine what you might do
if you only had an hour.

Even if it ends up taking you four hours,
it’s still better than the 10
you were previously investing.”

What would you do
if you only had one hour
to work on your business?
Get those tasks done.