Category: New Business Development

My most successful pen name
is four years old this month
and yet-to-be-published writers
often tell me
“I wish I was as established
as you are.”

That’s funny
because sometimes I wish
I was just starting up again.

When we start up a brand,
that brand can mean ANYTHING.
Anything is possible.
There’s no history,
no expectations,
no must-do’s.
I can produce (write) any product (story)
I want to produce (write).

Today, my brand is established.
My customers (readers) expect
a certain tone, look, type of product (story).
I’m producing (writing) a product (story) today
because it is the third product (story)
in a line extension (series)
and customers (readers) are waiting for it.
Yes, I have an established sales base
but there’s a cost to that.

Enjoy EVERY stage
of building your business.

The best gift you can give
this holiday season
is to show your support
of your loved one’s dreams.

One of my sisters
is looking for her first home.
I’m giving her a kit
with everything
a home buyer should have.

Back when I was dreaming
of being published,
a loved one gave me
a membership to
Romance Writers Of America.
It told me clearly
that he believed in me.

A buddy who had
always dreamed of
having her own bakery
was given a set of business cards
with her name, contact information,
and ‘Baker and Founder’
as her job title.
She still uses that title today
in her cupcake shop.

Hope is the best gift.
Always

One thing that really became clear to me
when I started my street team
is that people want to help me.
They truly do.

And they want to help you too.
They’re merely waiting for you
to ask them,
to suggest HOW they can help you.

As Bruna Martinuzzi
shares

“We often hesitate to ask
because we don’t believe
we can get what we’re asking for.
Yet it’s surprising how generous most people are.
Often the busiest and most unlikely people
will respond to a request
from a total stranger.
It’s astounding how often
people in your network,
who you’ve only met virtually,
will respond with a request
for an introduction or for information.”

Ask for help.
Be specific about the help you need.
Make it easy for them to help.
But ASK.

Many marketers talk about
targeting
the twenty-something sweet spot.

That may be the AVERAGE sweet spot
but it might not be YOUR sweet spot.

Elizabeth Arden’s sweet spot
is the older woman.

Scott Beattie,
CEO of Elizabeth Arden,
shares

“Frankly,
if you look around the world,
the most attractive demographic
to sell to
is that woman between 45 and 70.
They had control of a disproportionate
amount of the world’s disposable income.
And, in fact,
they have a lot more wealth
than many of the younger generations.
And they’re living longer.
They care more about their appearance.
They’re investing more in things
like anti-aging and make-up
that brings anti-aging kind
of characteristics.”

“They’re much more in tune
with understanding the product.
They’re less in tune
to celebrity endorsement
or fancy ad campaigns.
If they find a product that really works
and they believe in,
they’re much more loyal customers
as well.
And that would apply
around the world,
not just in North America.”

Don’t forget about the older woman
as a possible target market.

Every great project manager
has a solid understanding
of critical path.
She plots out the steps
of a project
and determines
the order the steps
must be taken in.

Unfortunately,
not everyone in the organization
realizes how important
the critical path is.

Seth Godin
has a great method
for showing people visually
the importance.

“We did some critical path analysis
and pretty quickly identified
the groups of people
that others would be waiting on
as each stage of the project developed.
It’s a relay race,
and right now,
these four people are carrying the baton.

I went out and got some buttons
–green and red.
The deal was simple:
If you were on the critical path,
you wore a green button.
Everyone else wore red.
When a red button meets a green button,
the simple question is asked,
“how can I help?”
The president will get coffee
for the illustrator
if it saves the illustrator
three minutes.
In other words,
the red button people
never (ever) get to pull rank
or interrupt a green button person.
Not if you care about critical path,
not if you care about shipping.”

The critical path incorporates
the word ‘critical’ for a reason.
Communicate how important it is.

Marc Gordon,
in the November/December edition
of
The Costco Connection,
shares
this tip for working at home

“Have a designated work area.
Forget the kitchen table
– have a room with a door
to call your own.
Train your family to know
you are unavailable
when the door is closed.”

I share a home
with one other person, an adult,
and he understands
that when I’m working,
I’m working,
but I still find the dedicated space helpful.

Why?

Because when I sit down
in this office,
I know it is time to work.
I switch to business mode.

Have a dedicated work space.

No one does everything right
when starting up a company/brand.

Learning how to handle
failure is a big part of the success
of any entrepreneur.

In Carmine Gallo’s newsletter,
Scott Adams,
creator of Dilbert,
shares
“Success is entirely accessible,
even if you happen to be a huge screwup
95 percent of the time.”

“If you have a choice,
success is better than failure.”
“But life is messy
and things don’t always work.
It’s better to pick tasks and challenges,
that no matter what happens,
you’re going to come out
with some skills you didn’t have.
Maybe you’ll meet some people
or you’ve acquired resources.
I try to make sure
all my failures have that quality
so I can at least pick their pocket
before they die.”

Try to ensure
that
even when you fail,
you gain.

Rieva Lesonsky
shares

“Are you a worrier?
If you’re a woman business owner,
the answer is likely “yes,”
according to a recent report
and white paper from CDR Assessment Group.
The study, which focused on executives
and why women have trouble
breaking the glass ceiling,
found that 65 percent of women leaders
tend to be “worriers” under stress.
In contrast, stressed out male leaders
are more likely to fall into categories
such as “egotists,” “rule breakers”
and “upstagers.””

Excessive worrying costs
entrepreneurs money.
How?
Because they miss out on opportunities.
They don’t make decisions
quickly enough.

I’m partnered with a worrier.
He (yes, he – women aren’t the only worriers)
worries about everything
and this prevents him from making decisions.
I’m the opposite.
I’ll try something and see if it works.
I push him to make decisions.
He pushes me to think about my decisions.
We balance each other.

Worrying DOES have a cost.
Learn how to handle it.

The day is only so long.
We can’t do everything.
We can’t respond
to every customer’s demands
immediately.
We have to make choices.

I have four publishers
and there’s no way
I can write enough stories
to keep all of these publishers happy.

So I prioritize.
I have a spreadsheet showing me
earnings per word count
for each story, each publisher.
I know where I make my money
and I write stories for these publishers first.

I also track the sales
of the publisher’s top earnings.
This shows me sales potential.

Rieva Lesonsky
shares

“If there’s any chance
you’ll drop the ball
with one of your clients,
you’ve got to get brutally honest
with your priorities.

Choose your method,
then dig in:
You may want to prioritize
based on revenue
(the best-paying job gets top priority),
client relationships
(your biggest client,
your oldest client
or the new client you want to impress
gets your time and attention first),
or some other factor
that makes sense to you.

For instance,
if you have a client
who pays you a lot
but only uses your services occasionally,
they may fall lower on the priority scale
than someone who pays less
but is a regular customer.”

If you could make
only one customer happy,
which customer would that be?

There’s a time in an artist’s
or an entrepreneur’s life
when she’s too busy
to hold a second job
yet she’s not making enough money
to live off her business.

THIS is when patrons are most important.
In the business world,
these patrons might be investors.
These individuals or groups
allow artists or entrepreneurs
to survive this income gap.

As Seth Godin states
patrons are “hard to find”.
Patrons, however, don’t have to be wealthy.

My Great Aunt Ethel was my first patron.
I had a gift for art
but was too poor to explore this gift.
Aunt Ethel sent me $100 every year
to buy art supplies.
As a thank you,
I gave her my best works.
This $100 annual investment
made a huge difference in my life.

Yesterday, I gave $100 to another artist.
This $100 made the difference
between having to work a second job
or concentrating on the novel she’s writing.

You don’t need to be a millionaire
to change someone’s life.