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Taking A Six Month Break

One of my favorite blogs
announced they were going on
a six month break.

Why announce that?

A blog on a six month break
is basically out of business.
Will a reader remember
to return in six months?

No.

Will the BLOGGERS return
in six months?

Highly unlikely.

So why lie to readers?
Call a spade a spade.
Tell readers you’re wrapping the blog up.

And yes,
before you ask,
the bloggers are female.
I suppose they didn’t want to hurt feelings
or cause anxiety.
Instead they sacrificed a bit of their integrity.

Why Are You Delaying?

When I first started blogging seriously
five years ago,
A-List bloggers wouldn’t link to you
unless you had a year of daily blogging
under your belt.

A couple years later,
that increased to three years.

Last week,
I couldn’t get into a blogger party
because I ‘only’ had 5 years experience
(and likely also because I’m a pain in the ass).

When I first got published
two years ago,
I was told not to expect a profit
for at least the first five books.

A month ago,
I was told not to expect a profit
for at least the first ten books.

What is the lesson from this?

Start now.
There is a penalty for delaying.

Quiet Launches

Considering how poorly
my first new release chat went
(what with the missing gift certificates and all),
I am happy to say it was also poorly attended.

I expected a small turn out.
I didn’t create a lot of buzz for it
because I wanted a small group
to feel my way around this new event.
I also knew things would go wrong.

It wasn’t a test chat
because it was live
and open
and had the potential to be large
but it wasn’t a noisy ‘first’ either.

Noisy launches require confidence
and a product that is set.
Quiet launches allow the product
to go live
yet still be substantially tweaked

Testing Before Going Live

I hosted a chat on Saturday.
The plan was to give away
a prize every hour.
The prize was a gift certificate
from an eBook store.

I had never worked with this store before.
The site owner recommended it.
I expected instant receipt
as usually happens with other eBook stores.

Nope.

My new account was put on hold.
I had to contact customer service.
The chat was long done
by the time I received my gift certificates.

The entire blame rests on my shoulders.
I assumed
but worst of all,
I didn’t TEST before I went live.
I deserved the embarrassment.

Always test your spiel
before you expose prospects to it.
Learn from my mistake.

Sacrifice And Leadership

One of my co-workers was seriously ill
last week.
The problem was…
it was year end.
Taking time off meant a clean year end
was an impossibility.
Staffing was so lean,
there was no one to do her job.

She felt like a fool
when she heard her boss
took the entire week off
due to a cough.

Why should she sacrifice for year end
when her boss was unwilling to?

Managers shouldn’t be martyrs.
They don’t have to sacrifice EVERYTHING.
But they,
if they expect their employees to sacrifice,
should sacrifice SOMETHING,
a token to show
that they are not asking their staff
to do something they are unwilling to do.

As a manager,
of course,
you have the luxury of choosing
the token sacrifices.
Work obscenely late on the day you wish to.
Come in with the sniffles
but keep the door shut
and the problems at bay.
Return phone calls at 2 am.
Those sorts of games.

My Prediction For 2010

Many more savvy business bloggers
have their lists of predictions posted
for 2010.

I have only one
and this prediction I guarantee
will come true…

Sometime in 2010,
maybe today or tomorrow or 11 months from now,
you’ll be presented
with at least one life changing opportunity.

I can’t predict that
you will take that opportunity
or be ready for it
or even that you will recognize it
for what it is
but I do guarantee
that this opportunity will present itself.

What you do with that opportunity
is up to you.

Have a great 2010!

Asking Questions During Presentations

As Arvee at Persuasive.net explains
asking a question
at the beginning of a presentation
is a great way to get an audience involved
(involved audiences listen,
involved audiences buy).

She suggests asking two questions,
with each yes/no question aimed
to get the majority of the audience
raising their hand to agree.
Questions like…
How many people here want more sales in 2010?
Or
How many people need more hours in the day?

Ask a question with no wrong answers.
At a past presentation I attended,
the presenter asked a question,
the majority answered ‘yes’
and he then told them they were all wrong.
Heads in the audience reared back
as though he slapped them.
Some people walked out.
Others argued.
I don’t think he made a single sale.

As you ask the question,
you raise your own hand.
This prompt drives more response.
Of course, you should practice this
as you practice your presentation.
You should also practice this
in the outfit you’ll be wearing
in front of a mirror
or with a trusted business partner.
The audience’s first impression
shouldn’t be a sweaty armpit.
(I’ve seen a few of those in my life)

If asking questions isn’t for you,
Arvee has two more classic openers.

Posting While Overly Tired

For two days in a row,
I’ve had issues posting here
at Clientk.
I wish I could say
that it was
because of system or software problems.

Nope.

The reason was 100% user (i.e. my) error.
Sleep and your health is important.
Sacrifice those
and your work will suffer.
You will make silly errors.
You will create roadblocks
on your path to success.

Take care of yourself first.
THEN take care of your goals!

Make Change A Resolution

If you’re in new business development
or marketing
or sales
or just about any career,
you’re a creative person.
You get paid for creative solutions.
Creativity is expected.

Creativity has to be nurtured.

The best way that I’ve found
to nurture creativity?

Experience new things.
Change your routine.

Every year,
change is my number one resolution.
A never missed goal
is to go to one new country,
experience one new culture,
a year.
I read new-to-me authors.
I pick up new-to-me skills.
I get off at a new bus stop.

I don’t change everything at once
and often I don’t even make
permanent changes.
I simply want enough change
around me
to force me to think in a new way.
It inspires me.

Make change a resolution for 2010.

Romance And Solitaire

The latest version of Heartwild Solitaire
has a story
I wrote specifically for the game.

I didn’t get compensated.
I don’t expect any marketing buzz
from it
(other than the marketing buzz I create).
I did it for one reason
and one reason only…

Because I was asked.

Darek at Orchid Games asked (nicely)
and I said ‘why not?’
I thought it was a cool idea
and I wanted to be a part of it.

If your idea is cool enough,
you WILL get people volunteering
their talent and labor.
If your idea isn’t cool enough,
then why are you launching it?