If They Know Nothing About Your Target Market…

Yesterday,
I talked about
a young, female business builder
who was criticized
by not-so-young random males
about her outfit.

These males likely
knew NOTHING
about her target market.
Yet they were telling her
what to wear
to appeal to that target market.

I suspect
she’ll ignore them.

But this happens
ALL the time.
And some business builders
make the mistake of
listening to this bad advice.

For example,
I am often told
by random male writers
that people would take my romance novels
more seriously
if I didn’t have man chest
on my covers.

Those man chest covers
sell VERY well.
My target market loves them.

F*ck those random male writers
and the non-romance-buying people
they believe
I should try to impress.

If the person doesn’t know
your target market,
think twice
about taking their advice.

If You’re Different…

A business builder
announced she was appointed
to a high profile role.
She is a 20-something,
is attractive,
is female
and
she was wearing an outfit
20-somethings would wear
in the celebratory photo.

Some people told her
in the comments
that she’d be taken
more seriously
if she wore a traditional
business suit.

That’s bullsh*t.

The people who don’t
take her seriously now,
despite her amazing successes,
because she’s wearing
a shorter skirt,
STILL won’t take her seriously
when she wears
a business suit.

She will still be
young
and attractive
and female.

She will still
be different.

This business builder might as well
wear what HER generation
expects
and respects.

If we’re different
in one standout way,
being the same
in all other ways
won’t gain us
acceptance
from the people who hate
that we are different
in that one way.

Don’t change
for those people.

No Complaints Doesn’t Mean Everything Is Good

A manager told me
yesterday
she was shocked
when a great employee
put in their notice
last week.

That employee
had never complained
about their job.

I asked the manager
if she had asked
the employee
what the company could improve.

The manager
hadn’t asked that question.
She assumed no complaints
meant
no issues.

That’s a common misconception.

But some employees,
often the extremely experienced
or skilled employees,
don’t EVER complain
about their jobs.

They don’t think
complaining adds value
or pushes change.

They merely change jobs.
They move to a company
where their current job’s main problem
has already been solved.

Touch base
with your employees.
Ask them
what they would change.

Because that could be why
they’re considering
leaving your company.

Thanking Others

I spent the weekend
with two loved ones
– an older loved one
and the younger loved one
who voluntarily takes care of her.

The extremely bitter
older loved one
didn’t say thank you
to the younger loved one
at all,
not once
during the entire weekend.

I was shocked
by the lack of gratitude.
And I told her that.

She said
if she said thank you
every time
he did something for her,
she’d be saying thank you
all the time.

I told her
yes, that’s what
she SHOULD be doing.
If he takes the time
to help her,
she should at least
take the time
to say two words in return.

Saying thank you
does a number of things.

It makes the other person
feel appreciated.
That alone is worth
uttering those two words.

But it also reminds us
that the other person
didn’t have to take
that action.
They could have ignored us
and walked away.
That’s ALWAYS an option.

It builds gratitude
within us
and gratitude
is the key to happiness.

Yep, we often increase our own joy
by thanking others,
by uttering those two short words.

Say thank you..
for the other person
and for yourself.

When You’re Busy

People are perverse.

If we tell people
we’re busy,
they are more likely
to ask us
to do something for them
than
take tasks off
our to-do lists
or leave us
the f*ck
alone.

My trick is…
I ask people
to do things for me.

Because most people are also lazy.
They don’t want to do more.
So they are
likely to avoid me
until they actually get around
to completing the task.

That gives me
alone time
(usually about a week)
to get things done.

Be Of Service

I think there’s nothing
more confirming
of the sh*tstorm we are in
than
scientists switching from
trying to stop climate change
to
trying to make these
‘last years’
comfortable for
the inhabitants of the world.

Being of service,
as many scientists are saying,
is a good motto
for all of us,
especially for business builders.

Our products or services
should add value
to the world.
They should make lives easier
or happier
or better in some way.
They should serve
their target markets.

Yes, make a profit
(if that is your goal)
but also
be of service.

Preparing For The Busy Season

This month,
I’m preparing the vegetable garden
for next year’s planting.

I’m clearing the bed.
I’m spreading compost.
I’m covering it
with a thick layer of leaf mulch.

These are all tasks
I COULD do in the spring.

Except the spring
is the busy time
for gardening.
There’s planting
and transplanting
and turning the bed
and a gazillion other things
to do
at that time.

By completing some tasks now,
I’ll make the busy season
less busy.

We’re ramping into
the busy season
for retail sales.

The holiday season
will, hopefully,
be hectic
for stores.

If you can complete
some tasks now,
you’ll decrease your stress
during that busy season.

System Breakdowns Aren’t Linear

I’ve witnessed
many system breakdowns
of various kinds.
I’ve studied
thousands more system breakdowns.

I’ve never encountered
one that was linear.

Linear system breakdowns
are only seen on models.

It is d@mn difficult
to model
cascading system breakdowns.
It is nearly impossible,
at this point of time,
to show how a failure
in one part
of the system
will cause multiple failures
in other parts
of the system
and how these failures
will compound
until the entire system
collapses.

Most models don’t have
the complexity
to reflect that reality.

So we model linear
which is easy to do
and easy for people
to understand.

But that’s not reality.
Collapse will be faster,
more complex,
impacting more of
the system.

Remember that
when we see modeling
for pandemics,
climate change,
economics.

Linear models
are best case scenarios
and they aren’t reality.

System breakdowns
cascade.

Choices After The Decision Has Been Made

A loved one asked us
to find a used car
for him.

We spent weeks
finding and evaluating cars.
(The market is TIGHT.)
We finally found one
we thought was suitable.
We told him about it.
He agreed we should buy it
for him.

Then hours later,
he sent us
several listings for cars
he was interested in.

We had already bought
the car
(as mentioned,
the market is fierce).

But he knew that.
And he knew
what he was doing
when he sent those listings.

He was setting
the situation up
so if anything went wrong
with the purchased car,
he could point to those other listings
and say he knew
we should have bought
one of THOSE cars.

He was abdicating all responsibility
for the purchase.

I recognized this
because it happens
with almost every decision.

There’s always
some jacka$$
who waits
until the decision is made
or almost made
to offer alternatives.

They don’t really want
us to choose those alternatives.
If we did that,
they would responsible for the results
and they DON’T want that.
But they also don’t want
to be responsible
for any other choice.

Ignore those people
and ignore their ‘alternatives.’

They are noise
and they weren’t planning
to ever fully support
your decision anyway.

Take Action Today

I haven’t posted
one of these reminders
in a while
but it is needed more
today
than on any other day
in the past.

Take action NOW.
Stop reading this post
and
go.
Do something immediately
to make
your dreams,
your goals
more of a reality.

I’m serious.
Do it right now.

It doesn’t have
to be a big action.

It could be
writing down the first line
of the novel
you’ve been wanting to write
or
choosing the cap color
on the new beverage
you want to develop.

Take SOME sort of action.

The world is completely
f*cked up
and it will become
more and more
f*cked up
with each passing day.

We don’t have time
to f*ck around.

Live a life
with no regrets.

Take action today.

Push your dreams
closer to reality.