Category: New Business Development

Is Your Product Still Relevant?

I’ve read numerous articles
about how day planners
in physical form
are no longer being used.

The writers of these articles
blame the decrease
on everyone going digital.

I LOVE day planners.
I would buy four of them
every year.

IF they were relevant.

But they aren’t relevant
because, as I mentioned yesterday,
the designers of day planners
often assume
our weekends are less busy
than our weekdays.

That might have been
the case in the past
(for men in office jobs).

It isn’t the case now.
I need a full page
for a Saturday or a Sunday
in my day planners.
And that’s difficult to find.

So I don’t buy
any of them.
I use notebooks
instead of day planners.

Are your products
still relevant?

Have they been updated
in the past few years?

Do they reflect
our current world
and lifestyles?

Saturdays And Sundays Aren’t Half Days

I received a beautiful
day planner
as a gift.

I love it.
I’m grateful
to receive it.

But there is one major issue
with it
– While every Monday to Friday
is allocated a full page
each,
Saturdays and Sundays
share pages.

What the actual f*ck?

Who has FEWER activities
to attend
and FEWER tasks
to complete
on the weekends?

Not any entrepreneur
or writer
or mom
or…well…anyone
I know.

If you’re buying
a day planner
for an entrepreneur,
ensure Saturdays
and Sundays
are allocated full pages.

They aren’t half days
for us
(or for many other people).

Get One Small Task Done

Yesterday, I was feeling sad.
I had very little energy.
I didn’t want to do anything
yet I was unhappy
I wasn’t getting anything done.

So I hung a painting.

That task took about 10 minutes.
Yet my mood immediately improved.
I had accomplished something
and it was a highly visible something.
I could see the results.

Most business builders
are doers.

Getting things done
is when we’re happiest.

If you’re struggling emotionally,
as many of us do
this time of year,
complete one small
preferably highly visible task.

Hang a painting.
Clear off your desk.
Sort your pens.

Then admire your accomplishment.

YOU did that.
YOU changed the world
a little bit.

Get one small task done.

Releasing Products During The Holidays

It is tempting to release
products
close to Christmas.

The product will be new
and exciting
at a time
when many people are most looking
for new and exciting
gifts to give.

The issue with this is…
stores, both physical and virtual,
are under a lot of strain
for resources during this time.

The world’s biggest bookseller,
for example,
has been deleting or not loading
new book listings.
They are THAT strained
for resources.

When that happens,
we lose TWO sets of customers
– the customers
we’d attract with a new release
and
the holiday customers.

Having a new release
at an earlier date
ensures we capture
the new release customers.

Then we can market the product
like it is a new release
during the holiday season.

Consider not releasing
new products
close to the holidays.

The Truth Teller

The no-topic-meeting-setting manager
I talked about yesterday
either
1) didn’t know
the trauma he was inflicting
on his employees
or
2) was deliberately
inflicting trauma
on his employees.

In both cases,
he would have benefited
from someone
who telling him
he was f*cking up,
someone
who would have pointed out
he was being
a sh*tty human.

We all need a truth teller,
someone we respect
and listen to
who will inform us
when we’re f*cking up.

And we ALL f*ck up
from time to time.

The truth teller is an essential part
of successful people’s teams.
We NEED to do better.
We NEED to stop making
costly mistakes.

When you find a truth teller,
protect them
from others
but mostly from yourself.

Rant into the empty sky
about their feedback later.
Shut up
and listen to them
when you’re face-to-face.

Find your truth teller.
Then protect them.

Excitement Is An Adult Emotion Also

A loved one
was telling me
about her holiday plans.
She overflowed with happiness and excitement
and it makes me smile
merely thinking about that conversation.

At the end of it,
she apologized
for ‘acting like a child.’
She ‘knew’
she was long past
the age
where she should be excited about
the holidays
but she couldn’t help it.
This year has been hell for her
and…
she gave me several other excuses.

What horrid cruel person
told her
excitement was childish?

We SHOULD be excited
about things.
Excitement is a valid adult emotion.

It gives us the energy
and the push to complete tasks.

I have NEVER met
a successful business builder
who wasn’t excited
about the business
they were building.

NEVER.

Excitement is necessary
for success.

If we’re excited
about meeting up
with business partners or mentors,
for example,
we’re more likely to prepare for that meeting
and treat those people
to the warm welcome they deserve
and they will FEEL this.

That rush of excitement
we get when we think of a new idea
should be savored.
It propels us from
the mere thinking-about-it realm
into taking action.

Excitement isn’t a childish emotion.
It is a human experience.
And we should never grow
out of it.

Relish your excitement.

The Pandemic WILL End

I heard some rumors
that vaccines with the ability
to block COVID completely
are in exciting stages
of development.

Right now, COVID vaccines
mostly just decrease
the severity of COVID.
We still suffer organ damage.
We still risk Long COVID.
We still infect other people.

These new vaccines
will address all those issues.

Which means…
the pandemic WILL end
sometime in the future
(I’d say within a year)
for the vaccinated.

Take that into account
when negotiating supply deals
for things like
masks for your employees.

And please support
mask wearing.

We likely only have
a year of this left.

Let’s ensure
everyone stays alive
and healthy.

Are They The Right Partner For You?

One of my friends
is dating someone she really likes.

She got sick.
He disappeared.
He didn’t see her once
during her illness.
He didn’t send her soup.
He didn’t even respond
to her texts.

Many people react that way
during mini (or major) ‘disasters’
– they disappear.

Thankfully, my friend
learned about his reaction
to ‘disasters’ now.

Based on my experience,
there are 3 types of reactions
during emergencies
– 1) the person is helpful,
2) the person disappears,
or
3) the person adds stress/work
to the situation.

One of my friends,
for example,
is a 3.
My world could be falling apart
and she’ll ask me
to do the tasks for her
I usually tackle in better times.

My husband is a 1.
When I’m dealing with
a mini disaster
regarding the Romance Novel Business,
he takes on as many
of my non-business tasks as possible
(completing them
in his own unique way).
I can count on that help.

When things are going right,
we’re often surrounded
by friends and loved ones.

We most need partners
when things go wrong.

Watch how perspective partners
(in life, business, or other areas)
react when ‘disasters’ strike.

Assume they will react
similarly whenever ANYTHING
goes wrong.

Is that a partnership
worth having?

You Have Time To Make Your Dreams A Reality

When I tell people
I’m a writer,
the most common response
I receive
is…
“I plan to write a book too
…when I have time.”

Everyone has time
to write a book.

If we write 1 page a day,
we’ll complete
2 short novels
or
1 long novel
in a year.

Or we could take
that same time committment
and start a business.

If we complete 1 business building task
a day,
I suspect most of us
would have a business up and running
in a year or less.

We have time to make
our dreams a reality.
Start today.

Dreams Vs Reality

Yesterday’s post
about kids and COVID
was admittedly a downer.
It didn’t contain
great news.

But it contained
helpful news.

And yes,
sometimes reality
f*cks with our dreams.

I doubt many of us
dream of developing products
for a massive wave
of permanently ill kids.

That’s our reality, however.

If we can tweak
our dream products
to fit into this harsher reality,
we’ll be more successful,
more relevant
and we’ll help more people.

Mesh your dreams
with reality
and
make a difference
in the world
we actually live in.