Category: New Business Development

One of the myths
about creative people
is they have to be alone to creative.
Writers are depicted
pounding on typewriters
in lonely attics,
needing their solitude.

That’s bullshit.

Innovators,
including artists,
get creatively stuck.
Often.
So often
that if I don’t hear
from my four closest writing buddies
in a day,
I email them and ask them
if they’re writing.
They usually aren’t.

You’ll get stuck too.
And the best way to get unstuck
is to bounce ideas off
someone else.

As
Richard Sheridan,
Menlo Innovations,
shares

“Creatively, we just innovate better
when there’s someone to bounce ideas off of.
When we’re trying to create
something new and interesting,
we often get stuck
and stay stuck much longer
than we need to.
At Menlo, if I’m pairing with someone
and I’m stuck,
my pair partner might say,
“Hey, what about this?”
and voila! we’re moving forward again.””

If you’re stuck creatively,
ask for ideas.

Some people will tell you
to never be in a bad mood at work.
Bad moods don’t benefit anyone.
Learn how to snap out of it.

I’m not some people.

Bad moods happen.
(hopefully, not too often
but they happen)
To expect to be in a good mood
24/7 is unrealistic.

Bad moods are also beneficial.
When I’m in a bad mood,
I’m super-critical
of everyone and everything,
including my own writing.
My best revisions and edits
have been completed
while I’ve been in bad moods.

The key is
a) to know when you’re in a bad mood
b) to know what you do best
while in a bad mood
and
c) to know what NOT to do
while in a bad mood
(deal with customers, employees, etc)

You’re human.
Cut yourself some slack.
Bad moods happen.

Last year,
there were
over 10,000 romance novels
published
(I suspect it was WELL over
– perhaps even double this number).
There are 1,000’s of romance writers.

New writers entering the market
see it as saturated.
They claim everything has been done
and they try to be identical
to one of the successful writers.

That’s bullshit thinking.

Yes, there are 1,000’s of romance writers.
100’s of SciFi romance writers.
But there is only 1 romance writer
who specializes in shorter stories
– Me.

And reader/consumer preferences change.
10 years ago,
there wasn’t a market for short romance stories.
Today, there’s a huge demand.

This is how I landed my 12 novella deal
with a major New York Publisher.
I’ve captured a growing niche,
allowing me to building readers (customers)
in a saturated market.

Seena Sharp,
author of Competitive Intelligence Advantage,
shares

“New companies often recognize
the gaps that established businesses don’t.
If they’re correct,
they gain customers and grow.”
“The challenge is not to become
like the established businesses
who think they know better
than the customer.”

There IS room for your business
in a saturated market.

Ben Kaufman,
Founder and CEO
of
Quirky,
spoke at the
American Express Open Booth
this year at the Consumer Electronics Show.

When asked how he scaled Quirky
so quickly,
he replied
“Partners.
The way Quirky drove scale quickly
was by finding partners
to help us get there.”
“I think companies are stubbornly introverted.”
“People are usually afraid of partnerships.”

Partnership is the way
I’ve built my readership so quickly.
The publishers I’ve partnered with
have a core base of readers.
Yes, I give up some of the margin per sale
but my sales volume has greatly increased.

Consider strategic partnerships
to scale quickly.

I talked with
Body Glove Vice President
Billy Meistrell
during the Consumer Electronics Show.
I’ve spoken with many
executives and co-founders
over the years
and Billy is, hands down,
one of the most passionate
about his product and about his target
(the surfing community).

He’s taken to heart,
the co-founders’ slogan of
“Do What You Love
And Love What You Do.”

And it is telling that one of the insights
he shared was
“They never chased the dollar.”

As he says
“Everything I do,
I do with a bounce in my step.
It is all about passion.”

Building a business often takes long hours.
Love what you do
during these long hours.

It is SO easy to push off tasks,
especially tough, challenging tasks
we don’t really want to do,
until tomorrow.

For entrepreneurs,
this procrastination can be costly.
We don’t get paid
if we don’t do.

Timothy Pychl,
in the January issue of spirit,
advises
to be specific
about WHEN we’ll tackle tasks
by associating the timing
with another action.

“Vague intentions,
like ‘I’ll do it this weekend,’
lack the power to move us to act.
Instead, be precise
when setting goals.
Research has shown that
connecting tasks to actions
is most effective.
For example, tell yourself:
‘As soon as I finish my coffee Saturday morning,
I’m going to…'”

Link the timing of a task
to another action
and get ‘er done!

When I moved
from accounting
into new business development,
I also moved desks.
I no longer sat in Finance,
even though I still officially reported
to the V-P of Finance.
I sat between sales and marketing
and spent much of my time
in the beverage plants,
talking to manufacturing.

Mixing with all of the departments
was key to seeing and evaluating
new business opportunities.

Stuart R. Levine
in
Cut To The Chase
shares

“Take a cue from Mike Bloomberg,
a master at getting results.
When he set up the Bloomberg L.P. offices,
he deliberately had the space designed
so that employees would regularly bump
into each other.
Every employee enters
through the fifteenth-floor reception area,
where they gain access to other floors
via a spiral staircase
that’s always filled with people
moving from one place to another.
Employees are encouraged
to interact with colleagues
in the large, centrally located snack bars
that are well stocked
with complimentary food.
To further demonstrate
his belief in the electricity of ideas,
instead of an office,
Bloomberg simply set up
a desk for himself
in one corner
of the Bloomberg broadcast newsroom.”

Encourage people
to mix within your company.

I’m known in Romanceland
for celebrating everything.
I celebrate
whenever I finish a story,
contract a story,
a story releases,
I land a review or reader mail,
etc. etc.

Building a business is hard work.
There are always problems
and these problems can grind us down
if we don’t celebrate the small wins.

Brian Moran
advises

“Celebrate the wins.
If you land a new account,
large or small,
take time to acknowledge the moment.
Too often we don’t give ourselves
enough credit for the hard work
that went into getting
someone to pay us
for our products and services.
One option is to have
a monthly team recognition
breakfast or lunch
to celebrate your wins.”

Celebrate every win.
You fought for that win.
Enjoy it.

Yesterday,
we hired the neighbor’s kid
to shovel our walk and driveway.
We agreed to pay him monthly
AND
we offered to be his first reference.
His snow shoveling mini business
will be the first line on his resume.

Yes, we could have hired
a more experienced person,
someone less likely to break windows
with the end of his shovel,
but I remember
how difficult it was
to land that first job.
I remember the feeling
of leaving the experience part
of the resume blank,
of having NO work references.

And I have a weakness
for budding entrepreneurs.
I’m flattered to be
his very first customer.
No matter what happens
in his life,
how successful he becomes,
this won’t ever change.

Consider being
someone’s very first work reference.