Category: New Business Development

Under one of my pen names,
I write only short stories and novellas.
In October,
I’m hosting a spotlight on short romantic fiction
for my writing chapter.
I’m contacting the
best writers, editors, publishers
for their tips on how to write short.

Yes, I’ll be giving back
but I’ll also be learning.
I plan to walk in their footsteps
and achieve my own success.

As Doug Smith shares

“In my time spent with successful leaders,
I have learned that what Brian Tracy says is true,
“Success leaves tracks.”
If someone has become successful in life,
it did not happen by accident.
It happened on purpose.
If you will take the time
to spend time with these people,
they can literally walk you
through step by step
what they did to become successful.”

Learn from a successful person
and find your own success.

Last night,
I watched an infomercial
for a new type of string trimmer.
This trimmer’s string doesn’t break.
The infomercial demonstrated
how the trimmer could cut through metal.

As a string trimmer user,
this scares the shit out of me.

I remember when the string trimmers first launched.
There were demonstrations
on how the trimmers wouldn’t hurt users
because the string broke off.

Having a trimmer with an unbreakable string
isn’t an improvement for me.
It is a step backward in product development.

I hope the product developer
is targeting the extreme string trimmer crowd.
Unfortunately,
I suspect the product pitch
echoed the infomercial,
positioning it as a replacement trimmer
with the general public as the target.

More isn’t always better.
An improvement
doesn’t always appeal
to all of the current users.

Most of us
like to make other people happy.
We take actions,
launch products,
lead projects,
that we think will please people.

Unfortunately, we can’t please everyone.
That’s impossible.
We’re all different.
What I like,
another people dislikes.

And we shouldn’t try to please everyone.
As Seth Godin shares
“Trying to please everyone
will water down your efforts,
frustrate your forward motion
and ultimately fail.”

So realize
when you create something,
do something important,
you’ll piss someone off.
Someone will hate it.
It is the price of doing great work.

Running your own business
is tough.
It can be grueling and tiring.
Sometimes you wonder why you do it.

So remind yourself.

Tom Harnish suggests

“Put on a pair of pantyhose
or a necktie (or both)
and try to get a “real job.”
It’ll remind you
why you started your business
to begin with,
and why it’s so much better than
“working for the man.””

One of my former bosses
called these look-see’s.
You look at jobs,
go on interviews
and see if you’re still employable.

For entrepreneurs,
look-see’s remind us
why we’re working on OUR dreams
rather than assisting
someone else with their dream.

Regain your entrepreneurial mojo
by reminding yourself
why you don’t want to be an employee.

When I first started writing,
I’d talk about MY stories,
MY business,
MY branding.

This isolated me.
I was a team of one.
Editors would edit
and that was all.
My husband wasn’t emotionally involved
in what I was trying to achieve,
even though I was trying to achieve it
for both of us.

Then I changed my pronouns.
I’d refer to the stories
as our stories.
I’d send editors the positive reviews.
I cc’d them on the cover art.

When my husband came home,
I’d talk about our successes,
our challenges,
our covers,
our sales.
He’d comment more,
suggest more,
help more.

I was no longer alone.
I was part of a team.

Pronouns are VERY powerful.
They are the difference
between exclusion
and inclusion.

Change your pronouns
and you’ll change your life.

We have all heard
the stories about the folks
who feel qualified
to open a restaurant
because
they “like to eat”
or only slightly better
they are “great cooks.”

These would-be entrepreneurs
haven’t done any research
and that lack of research hurts them.

There’s a new breed of
would-be entrepreneurs,
the folks who have watched
reality shows set in their target industry.
They consider this
all the research they need to do.

Ummm… no.

Reality shows are entertainment first
and reality second.
This entertainment is targeted
to the average person,
not an entrepreneur.

There are tricks
that industry professionals
don’t want their customers to know.
There are tricks
that are too boring to be good TV.
There are realities
that contradict
the customer’s romantic view of the industry.

Some of these tricks
are key to survival
and if you don’t know them,
you’re at a disadvantage.

Do more research
than watching reality shows.

Oh, and if you want to be a writer
and want the straight scoop on writing,
the good, the bad, and the downright scary,
share this desire with any writer
you’re using for research.

I always knew
I would run my own business.
I didn’t know
what business it would be
but I knew
I’d be an entrepreneur.

So I prepared for it decades
before I launched.

How?

I lived on a fraction
of my income
to prepare for
those financially lean building years.
When the hubby and I got married,
we decided we’d live
on one salary.

I worked hard
taking courses, working multiple jobs,
trying out different business ideas.
14 hour days were normal for me.
Working weekends was normal.

I’d always be selling.
I’d go to the bookstore
and talk other browsers
into buying books by my favorite authors.
I’d train myself
to naturally shake hands
and make small talk.

I looked at other ways
my life would change
when I became a full-time entrepreneur
and I made those changes.

When I DID make the leap,
the leap wasn’t that shocking.
Those months of earning nothing
didn’t hurt
because we never lived on my earnings.
Working until midnight every night
wasn’t much of a stretch
because I was already working hard.
Selling mode was natural for me
except now I was selling my own products.

Very few entrepreneurs wake up
one morning
and ‘become’ entrepreneurs.
We prepare for it.

People go to the movies
to relax
and be entertained.

The tragedy in Colorado
has not only taken lives
but it threatens to deliver
a serious blow to the movie business.

The industry responded quickly.
They’re organized
and frankly impressive as hell.

Theaters have hired police and security
to visibly reassure movie goers.
Stars are making heart-wrenching speeches
about going to the movies
and not letting the bad guys win.
Studios are all holding hands
and agreeing not to release box office numbers.
There’s even a reel circulating
with the most beautiful moments in film
(not best – these moments don’t contain violence).

All industries,
all businesses
should be taking notes
because unfortunately something like this
could happen to any industry.

I’m watching
and learning.

You have a to do list.
You have your daily goals.

But these aren’t worth shit
if you don’t stay on task.

As Jessica Edmondson shares

“To give yourself the best chance
at accomplishing your daily goals,
you have to learn
to remove interruptions
from your work time.

If you let little distractions dictate
how you spend your day,
you’ll be surprised
how much time will be wasted.”

Make a list.
Stick to the list.
Get things done.

I always thought my Amazon sales
were solid.
They weren’t fantastic
but they chugged along.

Then one of my publishers announced
that over half of their book sales
came from Amazon.

I looked at my sales numbers.
Well, hell,
half of MY book sales
didn’t come from Amazon.
I must be doing something wrong.

I asked other writers
and yes, I WAS doing something wrong.
I wasn’t using the promotion vehicles
that drove Amazon sales.

THIS is why
businesses need benchmarks.
If you don’t know
expectations,
you don’t know
if you need to take corrective action.

Set benchmarks
and then track your results
to that benchmark.