Month: December 2013

Right now,
your team is likely stressed
about the holidays.
They’re busy and a bit grumpy.
Some things,
maybe many things,
aren’t going right for them.

Right now,
is the perfect time
to send your team a little treat,
a thank you card,
a reminder that they’re appreciated.
It is perfect time
to give them their holiday gift
or to offer help.

I’ve given my street team
their holiday gifts already.
It was extra special
because they weren’t expecting it.
My gift wasn’t one of dozens
under a tree.
My street team used these gifts
(gift cards)
to buy presents for themselves
and for others.

The cost to me was the same.
The benefit to my team
was increased.

Consider giving gifts
or thanking your team now.

Entrepreneurs have families also
(yes, that surprised me too)
and many of us are struggling
to juggle the demands
of our growing businesses
with the desires of our families,
especially during the holiday season.

One of my buddies
had a meltdown yesterday
because she wanted her family
to have the ‘perfect’ Christmas.

I asked her
“Do you want them to have
a perfect Christmas
or to have a happy Christmas?”

Because there’s a difference.

Perfection doesn’t create happiness.
Think of the happy moments
in your life.
I bet they weren’t perfect.

That symphony you loved
had at least one wrong note.
That book you loved
had at least one typo.
The supposedly perfect sunset
wasn’t symmetrical.

Happiness is messy.
It is mussed hair
and icy-covered faces
and sticky fingers.
It is crooked snowmen
and sloppy kisses
from overzealous puppies.

So ask yourself
what kind of holiday memories
you want to create
– happy memories
or perfect memories.
And give yourself a break.

I have over 60 releases.
I’ve worked as a book reviewer.
I judge contests
and critique other people’s writing,
yet I can’t judge for myself
whether or not a story work.

As Aprille Janes
shares
in her most recent newsletter

“You can’t be objective
about your own stuff.
I’m a certified coach
but I have my own coach
for that reason.
You may get off the ground
under your own power
but if you want to break into orbit,
you are going to need help.”

I have editors who judge
my work objectively.
I trust these editors.
They have experience
crafting selling stories.
They know what readers want.

If you want an objective opinion,
ask someone other than yourself.

When I told some writers
about my opportunity
with the New York Publisher
(omitting the details),
almost every midlist writer
told me to reconsider the deal.
However, almost every bestselling writer
told me to run with this opportunity.

The bestselling writers know
that to make the jump
from midlist to bestselling,
you have to take some risks.
(If this risk pays off,
writers will call this luck, not risk)

Many writers won’t take these risks.
They’ll stay midlist,
which is okay.
Writers can make a living in midlist
if they publish enough stories.
But some of these writers
won’t be okay with being midlist
yet they won’t take the risks
needed to be a best selling writer.

Entrepreneurs are faced
with the same decisions.
As you’re building your business,
you’ll be faced with opportunities.
These opportunities could explode your sales
or they could explode your company.

Think about whether or not
you’d risk your company
to take it to the next level of growth.

The big New York publisher
I write with
has hundreds, if not thousands, of writers.
They approached me yesterday
with a very lush opportunity
(one that will either
make me a bestselling author
or not work at all).

Why did they approach me?

1) I write quickly.
They have this impression
because I always turn my stories in
before the deadline.
This is unique
because writers have reputations
for missing deadlines.

and

2) I’m flexible about what I write.
I had an 80,000 word idea.
My editor asked me to make it
45,000 words.
I made it 45,000 words.
This is unique
because writers are known
for ‘being true to their vision.’

That’s it.
These two small differences
are why the publisher chose me
for this plum assignment.

Your company doesn’t have to be
completely different
to be successful.
It merely has to be different
in one or two areas.

Being a writer,
working online
with a growing and very friendly
customer (reader) base,
I receive over 1,000 emails a day.

My best tip
for dealing with this amount of email
is to have different email accounts.

I have an email account
that only my publisher, editors and agent use.
I have a personal account
for friends and family
(because, as entrepreneurs,
personal often mixes with business).
I have an account for customer (readers)
and anyone else contacting me
through my website, blog, social media, etc.
I have an industry account
with all of my newsletter subscriptions.

When I’m busy,
I might only check certain email inboxes.
I should check my publisher emails
at least once a day
(they expect a 2 day turn around time).
I should check reader emails
at least once a week.
My industry account
doesn’t have to be checked.

Anita Campbell
shares

“Use special purpose addresses.
Ever need to download a white paper
or do some other one-time activity
that requires inputting your email?
Then you get tons of spam
from that company.
Set up an email address
you never check and
use it for these types of things.”

Email addresses are free.
Set up different email addresses
for different priorities.

My most successful pen name
is four years old this month
and yet-to-be-published writers
often tell me
“I wish I was as established
as you are.”

That’s funny
because sometimes I wish
I was just starting up again.

When we start up a brand,
that brand can mean ANYTHING.
Anything is possible.
There’s no history,
no expectations,
no must-do’s.
I can produce (write) any product (story)
I want to produce (write).

Today, my brand is established.
My customers (readers) expect
a certain tone, look, type of product (story).
I’m producing (writing) a product (story) today
because it is the third product (story)
in a line extension (series)
and customers (readers) are waiting for it.
Yes, I have an established sales base
but there’s a cost to that.

Enjoy EVERY stage
of building your business.