New Business Development – Page 76

Touch It Once

One of the things
that has saved me time
over the years
is
touching tasks only once.

For example,
I don’t open emails
until I have time to answer them.
I’ll scan my inbox for urgent messages.
Then I will save the rest of the emails
to process at a later time.

When I process those emails,
I read them,
answer them if I can,
and
forward the emails
I can’t answer.

This saves me time
because I only have to read them
once.

If I read the emails
and set them aside for ‘later’,
I’d have to read them twice.

That might not seem
like a huge time saver.
It is, however.
Because I receive thousands of emails
a day.

If you can,
arrange your work flow
so you touch tasks only once.

Predicting The Future

When I was young,
I would read my horoscope
every day.
And every day,
it would usually come true.

Because horoscopes contain
universal truths
and general predictions.
We then look for results
that will prove the predictions to be true.

“Don’t believe everything you hear today.”
You shouldn’t believe everything you hear
on ANY day.

“You will have good luck today.”
Every day we’re alive
is a fortunate day.

As Seth Godin
shares

“Voices that purport
to know the future
–whether they are psychics, astrologers,
family or the noise in our head–
are pretty effective
when it’s vague enough,
but terrible
when it comes to specifics.
That’s because when it’s vague,
we complete the story on our own,
creating our own fact patterns
after things happen.”

Scientists knew, for example, there would be
another pandemic.
They were certain about that vague prediction.

They didn’t know it would happen
in 2019.
They couldn’t predict
that specific detail.

Remember that when listening to
predictions for that future.
The more specific the prediction is,
the less likely it is
to come true.

It IS Possible

One of my writing buddies
told me
her biggest wish in life
was to write full time
and be able to pay her bills.

Many people have told her
that isn’t possible,
not in ‘today’s market’.
Whatever the f*ck
THAT means.
(eye roll)

I know it is possible
because I know hundreds of people
who are writing full time
and more than paying their bills.

I brainstormed with her
and came up with over 100 ideas
how to make that dream
a reality.

That wild dream you hold
close to your heart?
The goal that some people
don’t believe is at all possible?

It is a reality for someone else.
And it could be a reality for you.

Get inventive.
Brainstorm.
Figure out how to make your dream happen.

If It Happens Often…

A writing buddy
is trying to get out of
her publishing contract.
She claims the Korean publisher
is cheating her.

The issue is…
she has made this claim
with so many other publishers,
she has a reputation
in the industry.
North American publishers
will no longer deal with her.

The first time
this happened,
I looked at her publisher
with suspicion.

Now, I assign
the situation fully to
my writing buddy.
Either she’s a bad judge
of partners
or
she has serious trust or other issues.

If a bad situation happens to me
again and again,
it is likely caused by me,
by something I’m doing
or some skill I don’t have.

It is a me problem.
If I don’t want it to happen again,
I have to figure out a way
to fix it.

Be The Example

I went to a dinner
a few days ago
and there was a recent grad
sitting with us
at our table.
He had landed a job
at a well known company
doing something
he had no absolutely interest in doing.

Many people at the table
told him
not to f*ck that job up,
to cling to it,
to give up his ‘dreams’
of working in another industry,
at another job.
That one job
at that one company
was his future.
There was no money
in his dream industry.

At which point,
I looked the new grad straight in the eyes
and said, “I write romance novels for a living
and there is PLENTY of money in THAT industry.”

I had to then deal with the usual sneers
and the mocking from ignorant others
but the new grad had questions
and I supplied answers and suggestions
and, most importantly,
hope.

I was a much needed example
of someone doing things differently.

As you are reading this post,
I suspect
you are also doing things differently.

Be an example for others.
Supply hope.

Has Something Like This Been Done In The Past?

One of my first tasks
when crafting a new project
is to investigate
if anything like it
has ever been done
before.

If it or something similar
has been tackled
in the past
by someone
or some entity,
it usually becomes
significantly easier
for us to do,
even if it has been done
in a different industry.

Doing groundbreaking,
never been done
work
takes trial and error
and that requires significantly
more time and resources.

As Seth Godin
shares

“…if you’ve signed up
for wayfinding,
forgive yourself
if it takes a little
(or a lot)
longer.
Because if we knew
the right answer,
we would have found it already.
That’s the hard part.”

Search for similar situations
before inventing a solution
from scratch.
It will save you
time and effort.

Learning For Later

Over a decade ago,
I read a book about
human eye color and genetics.

I had no immediate use
for that information.

I had picked up the book
at a store
based on its cover.
The writers’ voices were so engaging
I bought the book and read it.

Last week, I based a romance novel premise
on the information
I remembered from that book.

(I had forgotten the book’s title
and the authors
but I had remembered that information.)

Not everything you learn
has to be used
right away.

That investment could pay off
in the future.

Learn something new today.

Work When Your Brain Is Tired

Completing a second draft
takes all of my brain.
When I’m done revising
3 chapters in 1 day,
I often have no thinking power left
for anything else.

But sometimes
I have energy left.
I can’t think
but I can’t stop working.
And I definitely can’t sleep.

When that happens,
I complete tasks
that anyone in the world
can do,
that don’t require thinking,
that experts often advise
business builders to delegate.

For example,
I schedule social media
promotional posts.

Or
I use the templates
in photo software
(like Book Brush)
and
craft promo images
for my products.

I burn off
some of my excess energy
so I can sleep.
The next morning,
my brain is rested
for tasks that require
more thought.

Consider saving
some low thinking tasks
for low thinking moments.

They might help you
accomplish tasks
that require more brain power.

Collecting Tactics

A newer writer
asked me if sending out ARCs
(advanced reading copies
aka prototypes)
to reviewers
was a good tactic.

I asked her
what her plan was.

She listed
a number of seemingly random,
sometimes contradictory
tactics.

That ISN’T a plan.

Tactics are a part of a plan.
A plan is bigger
than a collection of tactics.

A plan, for example,
includes other things
like…
a goal,
knowledge of the industry,
a list of available resources,
etc.

Have a plan.

Disconnecting

When I’m writing a second draft,
a process that usually takes
less than two weeks,
I usually disconnect from the world.

I post and run
on social media
and blogs.
I don’t watch TV shows
or movies.
I don’t read books.
I don’t watch the news.

My entire focus
is on that second draft.

And you know what?

The second draft gets written
and nothing dire happens.
(Loved ones would tell me
if something dire DID happen.)

It is okay,
is probably healthy
to disconnect from the world
for a short while.

Try it.