Category: New Business Development

In May’s Profit Magazine,
Greig Clark
talks about greatness.

“In business,
table stakes is understanding
what is asked for
and delivering it.
Greatness is taking it
one step beyond that,
being proactive
and what I call a “life force”
in the business.
Someone who is an “energy multiplier,”
not a drain.”

We all know these life forces.
When they leave the office,
it is like they turned
they turned off the lights.
The energy level
immediately drops.

What is the source of their energy?

Passion.
They funnel their passion
to others.

All great leaders have this passion.
They’re life sources
for their companies.

One of my buddies
writes the worst blurbs.
Every time she sends them to me,
I cringe.
I don’t say anything though.
Why?
Because she gets results
with those bad blurbs.
She sells her manuscripts
to publishers.
(They then write their own blurbs
for the readers)

I’m told
I have the world’s ugliest resume.
I haven’t bothered changing it though.
Why?
Because I get every job
I want to get.
The resume is ugly
but it works.

There are plenty of things
that don’t work
for you to fool around with.
If something works,
don’t tweak it.

Some win-at-any-cost folks
use the natural competitiveness
of children
as an excuse for their bad behavior.

Kids ARE competitive
but it isn’t a win-at-any-cost
type of competitiveness.

My 11 year old niece and I have a bet
about whether or not
she’ll be taller than I am
in two years
(the answer is likely yes).

Shoes and hats count
in this bet
so she was disappointed
that I didn’t give her a tall hat
for her birthday.
(I forgot)

When an adult pointed out
that I wouldn’t help her win,
she replied back that
I wouldn’t think that way.
I’m fair
and I would help her try to win too.

Even kids know that
a fair ‘win’ is a better win.
Compete but not at the expense
of your ethics.

My boss told me
“You know, you’re a smart person,
and
people like working with you.
If you joined in more,
you’d be hired on the spot.”

To which I replied,
“Exactly.
That’s why I don’t join in.”

He was taken aback.

“I like short term contracts,” I explained.
“My goal is to give you a great short term contract,
not to be hired full time.
If I leave you happy
that you’ve hired me,
the contract has been a success.”

One of my author buddies is a New York Times Bestseller.
People point to her as being successful,
but my buddy shared that
she never had achieving NYT Bestseller status as her goal.
Her goal,
to write and publish one hundred stories,
hasn’t yet been met
so she doesn’t consider herself a success.

You can’t judge success
without knowing a person’s goal.

I was watching the broadcasts
covering the pre-Kate and William parties
in London.

The reporter interviewed the young man
delivering the port-o-potties
for Royal watchers to use.

He beamed,
saying he was proud
and excited to be part
of such a big moment
in history.

THAT is how you inspire people.

Convince them
they’re making history
and they’ll do anything for you,
even happily deliver toilets.

(And why would you start a new company
if you didn’t believe
you were making history?)

A loved one was bellyaching
that many of his friends
have today off
and he didn’t,
so I asked him
“If you had the day off,
what would you do
and how would it make
a difference in your life
in 30 years?”

He thought I was telling him
that a day didn’t matter.

I wasn’t.

I was telling him the exact opposite.
If he used the day right,
it would matter.
That one day would lead to other things
and it would eventually change his life
forever.

Ask yourself this same question.
If the answer is…
‘the day wouldn’t make a difference’,
tweak what you do
so it DOES.

Life is too short
not to make every day count.

You likely have a goal
that other people,
average people,
will think is impossible.

When you bring this goal up
in conversation,
people will tell you you’re crazy
and it can’t be done.

One of my friends
confessed to me
that he never shares these goals
because of the negativity
and the general lack of useful advice
he receives back.

What he DOES share
is the next smaller goal
on the road to his impossible goal.

So instead of saying
he wants to retire when he’s 40,
he says he wants to take a course
on incorporating a business.
No one will argue
that taking a course is impossible
or crazy.
People will support and encourage
this smaller goal.

Yes, sharing your goals
increases the likelihood they’ll be achieved
but sometimes your biggest goals
should be kept to yourself.

This year, I released a short story
featuring a cupid hero.
Other than the cupid,
it didn’t have any other tie
to Valentine’s Day.
Unfortunately,
I put Valentine in the title.

Why unfortunately?

Because I could have linked
the story to the holiday
through my hero alone,
taking advantage of Valentine’s Day promo,
without restricting my sales
to that one holiday.

The bunnies do it right.

Every Easter,
plush bunnies sell as gifts.
They aren’t ‘Easter bunnies’
but they are associated with the holiday.

After Easter is done,
plush bunnies continue to sell
(though not as well).
They have a seasonal sales surge
yet they sell year round.

If you’re launching
a holiday-themed product,
consider if you can tweak your product
to sell it all year round.

When I start a new venture,
I always feel both doubt and fear.

Doubt and fear, when justified,
is healthy.
It tells me when something isn’t working,
and
when my proposed actions could backfire,
harming me.

Doubt and fear, however,
can also freeze me,
causing me not to take action,
or to take an action I know
has worked in the past
but isn’t right for the situation.

It is damn hard
to distinguish healthy doubt and fear
from unhealthy doubt and fear.

This is one of the reasons
I have a group of informal advisors.
I ask them
if I’m making sense.

Doubt and fear should assist you,
not hold you back.

Since unrolling my aggressive writing plan
a month and a half ago,
I’ve been working like a demon,
writting, subbing, selling, editing.

I am surrounded by doers.
All of my buddies work hard.

What I’ve noticed though
is that my buddies
are kicking it into top gear also.

They’re doubling their word counts.
They’re subbing more.
They’re making sales.

Working hard is contagious.
If you want your buddy
to get off her ass,
then work harder
on your own projects.

If you’re feeling lazy,
talk to your busiest friend.
You’ll be inspired
and yes, perhaps a bit shamed.

Lead by example
and get ‘er done.