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The Stop Doing Strategic Review

I am swamped.
Up to my ears in opportunities.
When I reach this point,
I set aside some of that valuable time
and see what projects I can cull
or delegate.

I must not be the only one
with more opps than resources.
Tom Peters is suggesting
we all launch
a ‘Stop Doing Strategic Review’
putting eliminating non-value adding working
as a priority.

What can you stop doing today?

Oh, and if you’re thinking
‘What opps?’
take a deeper look
at the changes around us.
THIS is a great time
to achieve!

Delivering

Want to be above average?

Keep your word.
Do that
and you’ll always have people
willing to
work with you,
give you contracts,
set you up with projects.

A loved one volunteered
to be part of a 24 hour relay.
The day of the relay,
it rained heavily…
the entire 24 hours.

Most people canceled on the organizer.
My loved one didn’t.
Sure, he went
because he keeps his own word
but he also wanted to know
who else kept theirs.

THOSE are the people
he wants on his project teams.

How To Matter

My philosophy is
if I can make one life
a tiny bit better
then I’ve done my job.

I don’t publish for money or fame
(have enough of one,
don’t want the other).

I publish my novels for
that single reader email
I get.
You know the one.
The one that says
“I read your book
and I felt better about…”

Seth Godin has a brilliant post
on making your life matter.

Make it matter.
If you do nothing else,
make your life matter.

Learning From Other Industries

When I was on the development team
for a kid targeted juice,
we looked to lessons learned
in kiddie cereal
and toys
and trading cards.

It was more relevant to us
than the adult beverage industry.

When you’re bringing innovation
to your industry,
you often benefit more
from looking outside your industry.

Take eBook publishers.
Should they be looking
at the print book business
(their own industry)
or the music business
for their business model?

JA Konrath and many others
think
eBooks should be sold
like iTunes,
inexpensively and protection free.

Why?

Because they will be,
either legally or pirated.

Signs Of A Recovery

If you’re waiting for an economic recovery
to make a move
(why? I don’t know)
then make a move.

I saw my first big indicator yesterday.
An entrepreneur looking for financing
called me
to put together a business plan.

I don’t deliberately look
for these opportunities.
I don’t advertise.
I don’t ask for them.

Why was I called?

It was a referral.
The business plan preparer
had a backlog so large
he knew he’d never
fill this new request.
He flipped it to me.

Makes you wonder
what these entrepreneurs know
that you don’t,
doesn’t it?

Being Aggressive

Being too aggressive
is a common fear,
especially amongst women.

We want people to like us.
People don’t like aggressive people.

Bullsh**

People don’t like people who aren’t nice.
You can be aggressive
and still be ‘nice.’
You can be aggressive
and be polite,
good natured, kind, giving.

I am an aggressive person.
Some people don’t like me
because I’m aggressive
but then,
some people don’t like me
because I write romance novels
or because I wear suits
or because I’m a woman.

Being afraid of someone not liking you
is a silly reason
to let your dreams die.

Darren Hardy has a post
on how you lose 1 out of 5 sales
if you’re too aggressive
(but you land the other 4).

Meeting Confirmations

Every month,
I meet with my financial advisor
and every month,
prior to the meeting,
I send a meeting confirmation email.

Why?

Because my time is valuable.
I can’t afford to waste it
on a meeting that no one attends.

It irks me that I’m the one
sending it.
The person who sends the meeting confirmation
is usually the person
who most wants the meeting to happen.
Every time I send the confirmation,
I think ‘my advisor doesn’t want to advise me.’
A dangerous thought
in a competitive environment.

If you have a meeting
with a customer you value,
be the one to send the confirmation.
Sending the confirmation
sends a strong signal.

Out Of The Loop

I need to get this current manuscript
completed by the end of June.
To do this,
I put my head down,
ignored everything else
and focused.

Good, right?

No.
Because I forgot to ask
someone active in the ‘loop’
to keep me posted
on significant changes.

I almost missed the changed entry deadline
for an award I’m very interested
in Invisible winning.
Being out of the loop
could have been a costly mistake.

As you think about
heading to the cottage
or on that summer road trip
or cutting yourself off from the world
to finish that project,
put a trusted someone
in charge of notifying you
when big changes happen.
Take that person’s calls/emails/letters.

She will be your connection to the loop.
Don’t cut yourself off completely.

Pick Your Fights

I listened to a buddy
vent about a certain ‘wrong.’
I sympathized with him
but when asked
what I was going to do about it,
I said ‘nothing.’

His reply to that?
‘To just stand there and watch…
How can anyone justify that?’

Easy…
There are larger wrongs
that I have more power to right
and I’d like to concentrate my energy there.

We can’t possibly right all the wrongs in the world.
We can’t launch all the products needed.
We can’t write all the stories needed to be written.

Concentrate on one or two fights.
When that fight is over
(successful or not),
THEN move onto the next one.

Viral Direct Mail

Is there such a thing
as viral direct mail?
Of course.

DEWALT Tools Canada
recently ran a very successful referral campaign.

Recipients of an opt-in direct marketing campaign
were given a coupon book
to hand out to friends.

Customers gained points
towards a prize
every time a friend redeemed a coupon.

Cosmo Mariano
from Lift
explains
“Once people recognized
we were tracking the coupons
they gave to their buddies,
they knew it was credible
and it went gangbusters.

We had over a 50 percent response rate
and thousands and thousands of referrals.

The viral component alone
generated more than enough revenue
to pay for the campaign.”

* Source: Canadian Business, March 30, 2009