A loved one has taken action
on his life long dream to make a movie.
When he simply talked about it,
he got a lot of head nodding
but no offers of help.
As he moves towards his goal,
he receives help from more and more people.
Why?
Because doers like to hang with doers
and that group of people is surprisingly small.
When we see a project coming to life,
we all pitch in.
The best way to get help
realizing YOUR dream
is to take action.
I get nervous before every big event.
I can’t eat before job interviews
(even though I’ve done hundreds of them).
I pace before presentations.
I doodle during high stress meetings.
I do the job
but the nerves are always there.
Tiger Woods shares
“The day I’m not nervous is the day I quit.
To me, nerves are great.
That means you care.
I care about what I do and
I take great pride in what I do.”
Don’t ever let nerves stop you.
As a new product developer,
I laugh when I hear folks moan
about the lack of opportunity today.
I know for every product I launch,
there are hundreds I can’t.
Why?
Because my resources only stretch so far.
That’s why,
although there is some sadness
when a concept test fails,
it isn’t the end of the world.
I have more products in the wings,
waiting for their chance.
Steve Yastrow reminds us
“All of us are sitting on
mountains of opportunity.”
“You have left many opportunities
unrealized for years.
It’s only natural; after all,
we can’t chase everything
that it’s possible to chase.”
So go out
and grab one of those opportunities.
There are typos in Invisible.
Big, glaring (to me) typos.
Has it hurt sales?
Not much.
Has it hurt buzz?
Nope.
Because the rest of the product
is great enough
that readers forgive the typos.
Your product doesn’t have to be perfect
and
it likely will never be perfect.
All it has to be is great.
If it IS great,
stop tweaking and launch it.
Remember the hours, days, months,
you spent drafting your
business start up plan?
Double that (at least)
for drafting your business exit plan.
In Existing Your Business, Protecting Your Wealth,
author John M. Leonetti estimates
that 85% of owner-operated business owners
only have one chance at a business exit.
One chance.
You blow it,
those hard years of business building
will be for nothing.
Think selling your business
is the ‘easy’ way out?
Leonetti shares that the average sale
(if successful – as few are)
takes 9 to 24 months.
2 years!
So research, plan, build your team,
cautiously execute,
and reap the rewards.
My first novel, Breach Of Trust,
was recently awarded
Runner Up for
LRC’s Best Contemporary Romance Of 2008.
Breach Of Trust is a great novel,
I wouldn’t have had it published
otherwise,
but it is no where near THE BEST.
What it is
is the best (in this case, 3rd best) novel
that the reviewers have heard of.
There is a HUGE difference
between being the best
and being perceived as the best.
Having a great product is very important
but
if you don’t market, sell, or otherwise promote it,
the product doesn’t truly exist.
What are all the ‘cool’ (i.e. selling) artists reading
this season?
Color Marketing Group’s hot color trends
for 2009
As Barney Davey states
“If you aren’t painting for the museums,
you are most likely painting
for homes and offices.
Nothing wrong with that approach.
Let’s face it.
There are far more of the latter two categories
than museums,
which makes being wisely informed
about future trends important.”
BTW….
Be prepared for a flood of purple.
It will be THE hottest color of the year.
My purple loving niece will be thrilled.
Prince announced he will release
not 1, not 2, but 3 albums in 2009.
Regardless of how great the songs are,
I doubt these albums will do well.
It isn’t about the 3 albums.
Authors release 3 books a year.
Successfully.
It is about the timing.
Authors don’t try to promote or release
all 3 products at the same time.
They focus on one.
The publisher focuses on one.
The reviewers focus on one.
The fans focus on one.
There is no choice required.
No splitting of effort.
Time your product launches correctly.
With my February release,
Invisible,
I had a ‘lucky accident’.
The heroine had a certain mannerism
and then in the last few chapters of writing,
I found out why.
It wasn’t planned.
It simply happened
and it was magic.
Product development is like that.
Think of the 3-M Post-it note legend.
Heck, think of most great products.
There’s a lot of work and thinking and then…
bam!
Something unplanned and ‘lucky’ happens
to make it work.
Robert Altman has a technique
for increasing the possibility of lucky accidents.
“We normally shoot a few takes,
even if the first one is terrific,
because what I’m really hoping for is a ‘mistake.’
I think that most of the really great moments
in my films were not planned.
They were things that naturally occurred
and we said,
‘Wow, look at that—
that’s something we want to keep.’
That’s when you hit the truth button
with the audience.”
I see it all the time in investing.
An analyst says buy
and a junior jammer investor buys.
The issue is…
she then doesn’t know when to sell.
That is how it is with new product development.
An industry leader comes out with a product,
a response to changing consumer demand.
Competitors see the leader making sales
and follow suit.
But if they don’t truly understand
WHY consumers are buying the product,
these companies are doomed
to always follow.
And sometimes
following too slowly leads to disaster.
If you’re going to have me-too products,
make sure you have a me-too knowledge base.