New Business Development – Page 31

Look For The Similarities

Change is very hard
on everyone.
Not many people deal
with it well.

One of the tactics
I find helpful
is
to look for the parts
that stay the same.

Everything might feel
like it is changing.
But it isn’t.

There are pockets of similar.
We merely have to look
for them.

For example,
our household got its first
new-to-us electric vehicle
this month.

The car we bought
is very different
from the cars we’ve been driving.

There is a lot of change.

But plugging it in every night
reminds me
of how we’d plug in our cars
with block heaters
every night during the winters
when we lived in a cold, snowy place.

That similarity is comforting.
We know how to do that.
It isn’t a ‘change’ for us.

During times of extreme change,
look for the similarities.

Making Changes In December

Almost every digital service
I use
has changed their layouts
this month.

Buttons are in different spots.
Information has moved.
Sites have different looks.

It is…tiring.
And frustrating.
And makes me reconsider
paying for those services.

Yes, I know.
We all want to set up
our products, our companies,
our lives
for the brand new year.

But December is
EXTREMELY stressful
for the average person.

Making changes
adds more stress.

Stressed people don’t buy products.
They don’t renew subscriptions.
They try to avoid
the source of their stress
which might be your company.

Try not to make changes
in December.

Do that earlier
in November at the latest.
Or later
in January at the earliest.

Keep everything
the same in December.

Thank People

Every year, I craft
a short story
as a thank you gift
for readers.

This short story
costs me about $1,000 US
to craft
and takes 1 month of work.

I give it away for free.

This year’s story has
over 1,000 downloads.

But I haven’t received
any thank yous from readers.
Not one.
There is complete silence.

Which causes me to think
they no longer appreciate
these free short stories.

So next year,
I won’t be crafting one.

Thanking someone
makes a difference.

If you enjoy or appreciate
something,
thank the person
or the company
supplying it.

Tell People You’re Proud Of Them

I’ve recently posted
about this
but,
with the clip of Catherine O’Hara
telling Macaulay Culkin
she was proud of him
going viral,
I felt we might need to hear it
again.

Tell people you’re proud
of them.

That’s all you have to say.
“I’m proud of you.”

Those four words
are super powerful.

How powerful are they?

They’re so powerful
hearing them said
to another person
can make people happy.

One of my online buddies
told me she replays the Catherine O’Hara clip
at least once a day
and she imagines Catherine O’Hara
is saying those words to HER.

Tell people you’re proud of them.
It will change their lives
for the better.

Following Up Is Necessary

A loved one
was told he would receive
a refund on a purchase.

The refund never came.
It took him three additional contacts
to receive the refund.

This is happening
for a lot of people
with a lot of companies
in a lot of instances.

It happens with orders.
It happens with refunds.
It happens with project management.

It could be a result of COVID.
It could be a result of
corporate policies.
It could be a result
of people simply not caring anymore.

Whatever is causing this,
it is happening.

Following up
is absolutely necessary now
if you want anything done.

Factor that into your timelines.

Change Your Holiday Music

You have a good compilation
of holiday music.
It is long enough
that the average customer
won’t listen
to the same song twice.

Why do you need
a better selection than that?

Because your employees
are listening
to the same d@mn songs
every f*cking day.

That is grinding down
their morale.

And that is impacting
their interactions
with your customers.

Change your holiday music.

Your employees
will thank you for it.

And your customers
will be happier.

Your 2023 Resolutions

We’re almost at that time of year
when we talk with our buddies
about our
2023 resolutions
and we craft some new resolutions
for 2024.

If you’ve reviewed
your 2023 resolutions
and you discovered
you hadn’t completed or kept
any of them,
there’s good news!

There’s still time
to complete them.

2023 isn’t over.
Not yet.
We have over 20 days
left in the year.

That’s definitely
enough time to tackle
or start to tackle
one of your resolutions
for the year.

Make the most of 2023.
Complete a resolution
or goal.

A Hobby Vs A Business

When I tell people
I’m closing the Romance Novel Business
in two years,
they look at me stunned
and usually say something like
“You won’t be writing anymore?”

Oh. I’ll be writing.
Writing is pure joy for me.

I simply won’t be publishing
that writing.

I won’t be worrying about typoes
or rounds of edits
or covers
or marketing
or any of that stuff.

I won’t be spending
all that extra time
on each story
and I won’t be incurring
all that expense.

(For reference,
it costs me about
$1,000 US
to publish a story
and MUCH more than that
to promote it.)

I will be writing
for me alone.

The writing will be a hobby.
It will no longer be
a business.

There’s a HUGE difference
between these two statuses.

Remember that
when you’re thinking about
creating a business
based on one of your hobbies.

Make Decisions Based On Reality

I told a COVID-safe buddy
that I bought
another personal air purifier
to take with me
when I eat in restaurants
or attend events.

She told me
if the restaurants improved
their ventilation,
I wouldn’t need that air purifier.

Sure, but that isn’t reality.
I have to make decisions
based on reality,
not the best case scenario.

Right now,
I suspect we all want to base
a decision
on a best case scenario.
(I am definitely included in this.)

Like…

Everyone who bought
product 1
will buy product 2.

One of our posts
will go viral
and thousands of people
will discover our business.

That big problem with our product
will no longer be seen
as a problem
with prospects and customers.

These best case scenarios
COULD happen.
I could also win the lottery
tomorrow.

But the odds are against that.

Base your decision making
on reality.

How To React When You Hear A Business Is Closing

I told a loved one
I was closing
my Romance Novel Business
due to decreasing sales.

He came up
with a gazillion things
I could ‘try’
to increase sales
and he argued with me
about my decision.

This reaction
just makes a tough decision
tougher.

All those things
he thought I could try?

I’ve tried them.

That decision I made?

It was one of the toughest decisions
a business builder can make.
It is a public admission
that my business failed.

You can be d@mn certain
I struggled with it.

When someone says
they’re closing their business,
sympathize,
maybe ask how you can make
the process easier.

Don’t question their decision.
They’ve already done that
a million times.