Category: New Business Development

In Romanceland,
as soon as a book is successful
or a marketing campaign works,
there are hundreds,
perhaps thousands
of copycats the next day.

The innovating writer
normally maintains her breakout sales lead.
The copycat sales are usually average.

If a writer wants to break out,
she has to do something different.
She can’t simply copy the success.

Peter Thiel
shares

“The next Bill Gates
will not build an operating system.
The next Larry Page
or Sergey Brin
won’t make a search engine.
And the next Mark Zuckerberg
won’t create a social network.

If you are copying these guys,
you aren’t learning from them.”

Innovate.
Don’t copy.

I never publicly say anything negative
about anyone.
And in this connected world,
almost everything is public.

The friend you might think is unconnected
to anyone at your workplace
could be Facebook friends with your boss
or she could post your info with your name attached
and any fool with Google then sees your complaints.

I have a couple of people
I b*tch and complain to.
These people don’t gossip.
They aren’t addicted to social media.
They believe in privacy.
Even with these buddies,
I often don’t use names
or get into gritty specifics.

As
Ben Carpenter
shares

“The lesson is …
always follow the Golden Rule
and never say anything negative
about anybody in your company.
To do otherwise is unprofessional,
unnecessary, and
more often than not
will come back to haunt you.”

When I first joined corporate,
I knew I wanted to be the boss
(either of that organization or my own).
The issue was…
my coworkers all had being the boss
as their expressed goals also.

Sh*t.
I had a lot of competition.
I felt intimidated,
struggled to stick to my plans,
knowing only one of us could be the boss,
only one of us would be successful.

Then I realized
I was one of the few people staying late
on Friday nights.
I was the one of the rare few
volunteering for the high risk extra assignments.

According to a CareerBuilder survey,
only “about a third of workers
wish to be leaders,
and
just 7% are interested
in joining the C-suite.”

This has been my observation also.
Almost everyone will claim publicly
that they want to be the boss.
Few people truly want this.

This is true of
writing a book
or starting a business.
Tell a stranger you’re starting a business
and you’ll hear
his plans to start a business.

This isn’t potential competition.
This is dreaming
and often just talk.

Very few will follow through
on their words
with action.
Don’t be intimidated by talk.

I become frustrated
when talking to
established million dollar earning writers.
They don’t remember
what it is like
to have no readers.
Their marketing advice
always revolves around
marketing to their existing readers.

Talking to midlist and building writers
tends to be more helpful.
They remember
how it was
to start from zero readers.

Christian Shelton
of
Geekatoo
shares

“It’s very good getting lessons
from people who are
10 to 20 percent ahead of you
because the advice is a lot more real.”
“You can feel great
talking to someone who’s extremely successful,
but a lot of times
those lessons are really not relatable
to your situation.”

Consider finding mentors
who are merely a couple steps
ahead of you.

Yesterday,
we talked about crowdfunding,
the sourcing of small dollar amounts
from a large number of people,
usually through the internet.

As with any financing,
entrepreneurs should have,
at least, a rough business plan in place.
The pitch is usually done
via video.
The copy should be tight.

And as Gord Woodward,
in the
September/October
The Costco Connection
shares

“It’s a matter of marketing.
Word has to be spread.
Your circle of contacts has to be tapped
(experts suggest 25 to 30 percent
of the goal has to come
from people you know).
And you must be prepared
to answer questions
and provide more information
to potential donors.”

Each site usually has its requirements
and, as always,
it is recommended that you study
the pitches of successful projects
on these sites.

Do your research
before you ask for funds.

What is crowdfunding?

According to Wikipedia,

“Crowdfunding is the practice of
funding a project or venture
by raising monetary contributions
from a large number of people,
typically via the Internet.

One early-stage equity expert
described it as
‘the practice of raising funds
from two or more people
over the internet
towards a common Service, Project,
Product, Investment, Cause,
and Experience or SPPICE.'”

Crowdfunding could,
not only provide funding,
but also feedback on projects.

In the September/October
Costco Connection,
successful crowdfunding entrepreneur
Tom Korzeniowski
of Design Directive,
shares

“It provides quick access to capital
and, more importantly,
customer validation
before significant resources
are committed to projects.”

When exploring funding possibilities,
include crowdfunding as an alternative.

When I have an issue
with one of my romance novel plots,
the first person
I talk about it with
is my husband.

He’s not a writer.
He’s not even a reader.
He definitely doesn’t read romance novels.

I’m not looking for input
(though he gives it
and I listen).
By talking through the problem,
I usually find my own solution.

Whom I talk it over with
doesn’t change this solution
but it DOES change my relationship
with this person.

My husband feels included.
He feels important
in the loop,
involved.

One of my buddies
talks through (child appropriate) business issues
with her children.
She’s been doing this
since they were babies.
Her children feel like
they’re an important part
of their mommy’s business.

Whom you talk problems through with
matters.
Make these talks count.

You and I are doers.
We get things done.

That usually means
we have a sh*tload of tasks
on our to-do list.

It is tempting to do
the easy tasks first
but these easy tasks
often don’t make a difference.
We’ll reach the end of the day
and have been busy
but not feel as though
we have accomplished anything.

In the September/October
Costco Connection,
Leaders Who Care’s
Chief Inspirational Officer
Pauline Fleming
shares

“Ask yourself daily,
‘What one inspired action
can I take
that will make the biggest difference?'”

I force myself to tackle
that inspired action first.
At the end of the day,
when I wonder what I’ve accomplished,
I can point to that task
and feel good about my progress.

Take that one inspired action
every day.

A romance blogger
requested my participation
in an experiment.

She told me
that ALL it would cost me
was time,
as though that is a trivial cost.

It isn’t.

For a writer,
time and money is the same thing.
If I donate time,
this means I’m not writing,
not producing goods to sell.

Time is also THE most important asset we have.
A skilled person can make more money.
She can’t make more time.

When someone trivializes
the value of time,
I can almost guarantee
she’ll waste my precious minutes, hours.

Give time the high value
it deserves.

I don’t use my tablet
without my keyboard very often.

Why?

Because it is rare
that I’m simply reading
or watching something.
When I read/watch,
I usually comment on
what I’m reading/watching.
When I read a business eBook,
I’m making notes for clientk.
When I read a romance novel,
I’m making notes about the story,
phrases, word choice, etc.

Seth Godin shares

“When the masses only connect to the net
without a keyboard,
who will be left to change the world?

It is possible but unlikely
that someone will write a great novel
on a tablet.

You can’t create the spreadsheet
that changes an industry
on a smart phone.

And professional programmers don’t sit down
to do their programming
with a swipe.”

If you want to change the world,
use tools
that enable you to do this.