New Business Development – Page 28

Don’t Insist People Work Sick

Okay.
I get it.
Due to COVID,
people’s immune systems are sh*t
and
that means they’re sick
much more often.

You are trying
to run a business.
You need employees.

So you’re considering
insisting
employees come into work
while they’re sick.

Don’t insist on that.
That’s cruel
and it is a lawsuit
waiting to happen.

If that employee dies
or suffers extreme harm
while working ill,
their families will
sue your a$$.

No one has the time
or the money
for that.

A better solution
is having extra staff
on call.

Train and ‘hire’ more people
than you need.

The constant illness
is our new normal.
Plan for it.

We All Had Help

Anyone who is successful
(any definition of successful)
has had help.

They might not acknowledge
that help.
Heck, they might not
KNOW about the help
they were given.

But it was there.

Someone helped them.
Usually numerous someones
numerous times.

I, for example,
a couple days ago,
suggested another writer’s book
for a Best Of 2024 Award.
I didn’t tell that writer.
I just did it.

And if she wins
or is nominated,
I will be happy for her
and I will continue to be silent
about my part
in that success.

Everyone has had help.

Help others.

Hope others help you.

When you’ve achieved success,
realize that someone DID help you.

What You Don’t Track WILL Kill You

Governments stopped tracking
COVID infection numbers
hoping
no one will blame them
for the pandemic escalating.

That decision
is killing people.

People think COVID went away.
They’re not taking precautions.
And they’re dying from COVID.

This type of
if-we-don’t-track-it
it-doesn’t-exist
thinking is being applied
to climate change
and other problems.

And the results have been
equally disastrous.

You might be tempted
to apply this thinking
to your own business.
Sales are bad,
for example,
so you are considering
stopping tracking sales.

This will kill your business.
We have to address problems,
not ignore them.

Continue tracking key numbers
even or especially
when those numbers are bad.

Trendy Business Names

One of the hot new words
is rizz,
short for charisma.

I saw a new company
with that reference
in its name.

That’s cute now.
It might gain them
a few extra clicks.

It won’t be cute
a year from now.

It will be dated.

The trendy people,
the fashionable people
won’t then want to be linked
to it.

Other people will be
a bit embarrassed
mentioning the company.

Stay away
from trendy business names.

Document Your Daily Routine

You track your daily routine
in your head.

And that’s working for you.

Today.

But what happens
if you get ill?

What happens
if you have to travel
at the last minute?

What happens
if an emergency situation
happens
that involves all of your attention?

You won’t have the ability
to tell a replacement
about all the little yet necessary tasks
you complete in a day.

Document them.
Now.

This could be as easy
as recording (voice and/or video)
your entire work day
from start to finish.

Document the tasks
you complete every day.

Who Has The Advantage – New Companies Or Established Companies?

In the Romance Novel industry,
in the past,
established writers
had an advantage over
newer writers.

They had,
like I do now,
100s of books in their backlist
and every one of those books
was a possible discovery point
for them
with new-to-them readers.

Today,
due to changes in algorithms
at the biggest online bookstore,
that advantage is now gone.

Backlist is d@mn difficult
for readers to find on the site
and aren’t been promoted
or suggested.

The backlist stories
are being hidden.

Which means
every writer is only as visible
as their most recent release.

As first books are usually more edgy
and prompt more buzz,
newer writers now have
the advantage
finding new-to-them readers.

In that way,
it is EASIER now
to launch a romance novel business.

When evaluating businesses to start,
consider businesses in industries
that favor newcomers.

That will increase
your probability of success.

Make It As Easy As Possible

One of the reasons
I’ve posted here
on clientk
(and before that RoadToForbes)
for decades
is…

it is dang easy.

I don’t have graphics
to search for.
I don’t have thousands
of words
to write.

I drop a thought,
likely linked
to some research
I have already done
for another project
and I’m done.

When setting up a task
or a process
or a system
or, heck, a business,
make it as easy as possible
to do, to use, to maintain.

That will increase
the probability
it will continue
to exist.

Take Action On Your 2024 Goals

It is 9 days
into 2024.

If you haven’t yet
taken action
on at least one of your goals,
do that today.

If it is a smaller goal,
consider
completing it.

If it is a larger goal,
take the first step.

You set these goals
because they are important
to you.

Even if they are fun goals,
they are fun goals
you want to reach.

Take action on at least
one of those goals
today.

The Benefit Of Seeing It Everyday

I’m often asked
why I use print calendars
to track some project tasks.

I use print calendars
because most of my tasks
are done on the screen
and it takes additional minutes
to switch
between screens.

It also gives me
a quick visual
of how that project
is progressing.

I always have the information
on the printed calendar
in front of me.

It is like putting
a post-it note
on the edge of my screen.
It is a constant reminder,
one I see every day.

That’s powerful.

Never underestimate
the power
of seeing something everyday.

Know The Different Uses For Your Product

I use wall calendars
to track to-do lists
for many of my projects.

I fold them
in half
so only the calendar part
is visible.

The calendars I received
from loved ones
for 2024
all have the month and year
printed
on the image part
of the calendar.

Which means
I had to write the month
and the year
on every page
of the calendar part.

Because some dumba$$
didn’t know
a significant portion
of their target customers
use their calendars this way.

Know the different uses
for your products.

Ensure your product design
serves those uses.