Category: New Business Development

Whenever I try anything new,
I get scared.
Whenever I reach out to a new contact,
I fear rejection.
Whenever I launch a new project,
I fear failure.

I face fear almost every day.
And that’s a good thing.
Fear is necessary.

As Erika Napoletano
shares

“What would happen
if we were all fearless?

Well, it’s possible
we’d all end up serial killers.
Not really the career path
I envisioned for my life.

If we really followed that adage
and chose to be fearless,
some unarguably dumb
and needless results
would come about:

– We’d make a slew of bad decisions
that could endanger our lives,
our families and our livelihoods.

– We’d unwittingly put those
who share the responsibility
for our success at risk
by not taking their needs
and the effects of
our decisions on them into account.

– We’d … die.”

For me,
the feeling of fear
signals that I’m trying something new,
I’m stretching my abilities,
I’m growing as a person.

Fear is a GOOD emotion.
Embrace it.

Antiques Roadshow is entering
its 18th season.
They have 18 seasons of content.
They, of course, could have taken
the easy route
and simply replayed their previous shows
as they were recorded,
slapping a ‘Recorded On’ date
near the valuations.

Instead, they’ve decided
to show the value on the original recording date
AND the value today.
This is more challenging,
has costs associated with it
(they have to ask the experts again)
but it adds value to the viewer.

I drifted away from watching
Antiques Roadshow
but have now returned to the show
because this addition
appeals to the investor in me.

When you reuse content,
can you tweak it
so it is even MORE powerful,
adding more value to your viewers/readers?

If I do something nice for you,
you’ll do something nice for me,
right?

Not usually.

Seth Godin
shares

“Favors aren’t for trading,
they wear out,
they fade away,
they are valued differently
by the giver
and the receiver.”

I promote writing sites and writers
all the time.
It is very rare
that these sites/writers return the favor.

What DOES happen,
though,
is that other
(usually larger)
writers and sites
see that I’m helping others
and they help me.
Everyone wants to promote
good people
and helping others is a sign
of being a good person.

Don’t expect
the same person you helped
to help you.

Geraldo Rivera knows how to make news,
how to work the media,
how to make a great living
in the entertainment business.

He doesn’t know sh*t
about building a happy, lasting marriage.
He’s been married five times,
four of these times ending in divorce,
the fifth time no yet lasting long enough
to qualify as a success.

Recently, he spouted off
about what a woman brings to a marriage.

The unnerving thing is…
people listened.
Some talking heads said
we could learn from his mistakes.
He must have learned something.

Did he?
Does HE know what his mistakes are?
Do we have proof
that he’s uncovered the secret
to a long, happy marriage?
Where is the success
backing up his claims?

When weighing advice,
ALWAYS look for success
in the same field as that advice.

There are plenty of romance novels
with no sex between the pages.
I don’t write those novels.
My characters have sex.

There are some readers
who think sex is wrong
(but babies are okay???).
I’ll never appear on some talk shows,
never hang out with Oprah,
never be accepted by some writers
or win some awards.

I’m fine with this.
I’m writing stories I believe in
and there’s a huge demand for my stories.

Noel Biderman,
the founder and CEO
of Ashley Madison,
a website catering to marital infidelity,
will never be accepted by
proper society either.

When asked if his stance on infidelity
(which he, ironically, doesn’t participate in)
or the business came first,
he shares

“To be fair it was the business
– I wasn’t seeking a Nobel Prize
or trying to turn the world on its head.
People were going on dating sites
and posing as someone they weren’t,
causing collateral damage
and angering others.
So we created a site
where both people put their hands up to do it.
I saw it as a net societal win.”

That, I believe, is key
with running a taboo business.
We have to believe
we’re changing society for the better
by starting it.

The questions we ask
and the language we use
have an impact on our confidence.

Zoe Saldana,
an actress in very male SciFi field,
shares

“My balls are pretty big.
There’s a confidence that
my sisters and I were raised with.

After my dad died,
my mom moved us from Queens
back to the Dominican Republic.
A very macho sort of place.

But my mom raised us to know
that we are equal to anyone.

Whenever we went out,
if we were meeting other people,
my mom would always say,
“I hope you like them.”
Not “I hope they like you.”
We were the most important.”

The next time you catch yourself asking
“Do they like me?”,
flip this to
“Do I like them?”

When I entered the romance novel business,
I decided I wouldn’t
post my image anywhere online.
I value my privacy
and few readers recognize
their favorite writers.

Has this slowed my readership build?
A little.

I don’t attend conventions
or book signings
where I have to be physically present.

But I compensate in other ways.
I’m known for character play
(attending online events
as my heroine or hero)
and readers love this.
I share stories about my life
that create a bond with readers.
I attend and host online conventions.
I’m very active in the community.

When you’re deciding what you WILL do,
also decide what you WON’T do
and how you might compensate for this stance.

If I can’t sell a story
to readers,
I don’t submit it to publishers.

I might write the story.
Writing is both an art and a craft
and sometimes
giving the muse free reign
is a way to grow.

But I don’t send the story
to my publisher.
My publisher is running a business.
If I send them a story
they can’t sell,
I’m wasting everyone’s time.

As Seth Godin shares

“A great architect isn’t one
who draws good plans.
A great architect gets great buildings built.

Now, of course,
the same thing is true for
just about any professional.
A doctor has to persuade the patient
to live well and take the right actions.
A scientist must not only get funded
but she also has to persuade her public
that her work is well structured and useful.

It’s not enough that you’re right.
It matters if it gets built.”

Does location matter?

Rob Gentile,
the chef and founder
of Buca,
doesn’t think location is as important
as it has been in the past.

On
Chef In The City,
he shares

“Nowadays, you don’t have to be on the street.
You don’t have to have that big storefront.
You don’t have to be where
everyone can physically see you.

You just have to be known.

If you have a good reputation,
you can open a restaurant in the middle of nowhere
and people will come.
Or down an alleyway in a basement.”

If you’re not known,
location can be one method
to become known.

Location is still important
but not as important as it once was.

When anyone promises
to do me a favor,
I send them a thank you email,
reiterating exactly what they promised.

Why do I do this?

Because unless it is in writing,
it isn’t real.
No one is accountable.
It isn’t a contract.

Seth Godin shares

“Write it down.
All of it.
Everything that people expect,
everything that people promise.”

“Send a note confirming
that you wrote it down,
specifically what you heard,
what it will cost
and when they will have it
or when they promised it.”

Write it down.
Keep everyone accountable.