Category: New Business Development

Release days
for new books
(new products)
always follow the same
drill.

The first messages
from readers
(customers)
are about issues,
perceived or real,
with the story.

Many of these readers,
once I address their issues,
tell me
they love the book.

But the first messages
relayed only the problems.

This is the way
it is
in all industries.
We hear about problems first.

Expect this.
Don’t allow that first rush
of issues
to dissuade you
from
releasing more products,
promoting the new product,
pushing for success.

The kudos
and compliments
will come later.

Keep the faith.

I write in a niche.
I release a book
every 3 months
in that niche.
My readers often
read a book a day.

In the past year,
there haven’t been
many other writers
releasing books in that niche.

Niche readers have been forced
to explore other niches
to get their reading fix.

Some of them leave the niche
and they never return.

The decrease in competitors
has decreased my readership
and my sales.
It is costing ME
money.

Many of our businesses
NEED competitors.

We can’t supply
the entire world
with books
or orange juice
or restaurant meals.

We require help
to keep our niches
and our businesses healthy.

Competitors are often
also our allies.
Consider supporting them,
working with them.

I’m a big believer
in listening to our ‘guts.’
I believe our gut feelings
are truly our brains
picking up clues
it can’t yet clearly communicate.

I especially believe
in listening to our guts
in the spur of the moment.

Why?

Seth Godin
shares

“Who benefits?
If it’s you,
if it’s us,
then fashion is working for us.
On the other hand,
if it leads to
negative outcomes,
disappointment
and
disconnection,
it’s worth asking
if it’s something
we want to keep doing,
even (especially)
if it feels right in the moment.
Because everything we do
feels right in the moment.”

We are inclined
to approve
of whatever we’re doing
right now.

If our guts
say
what we’re doing
feels wrong,
immediately stop
and
reevaluate it.

Because there’s a good chance
that action is very, VERY
wrong.

I receive quite a few requests.
If they are easy
and there is no cost to me,
other than a couple minutes
of my time,
I usually do them.

IF I can do them
in my own way
on my own schedule.

The more exact
the request,
the less likely I am
to do them.

As Seth Godin
shares

“The first favor
is when
you ask a friend
or colleague
to do something for you.

The second favor
is when
you ask them to do it
precisely the way
you would do it.

They’re not related.
And the second one
costs more.”

The more flexible
you are
about the favor
you’re requesting,
the more likely
others are
to grant you
that favor.

If I don’t doubt
a decision
at all,
I take a close
second look
at that decision.

Why?

Because all decisions
contain a bit of uncertainty.
LIFE contains
a bit of uncertainty.

Not doubting a decision
usually means
I’m missing
an important component
of it
or
I’m brain washed.
I’ve been swept
into a cult of thinking.
That’s extremely dangerous.

As Seth Godin
shares

The hallmark
of the true believer
is that
there’s no room
for judgment.
For everyone else,
misgivings are a sign
that you’re carefully
considering
the problem at hand.”

It is healthy
to have doubts.

Proceed carefully
if you DON’T
have any doubts.

Before I create,
I place my phone
in another room
and I turn off
all notifications
on my computer
(or whatever device
I’m creating on).

Seth Godin
explains why.

“A friend left
her phone
near me.
Over the next half hour,
it pinged and chirped.

I felt myself
getting anxious
and a little antsy…”

Anxious and antsy
isn’t conducive
to creating.

Phones, social media,
devices
are now designed
to grab our attention,
attention that could
be used
for creating.

Their noises are crafted
to draw us out
of our happy little bubbles.

Consider neutralizing them
before you start
the creation process.

I receive thousands of messages
from readers, writers, partners
a day.

New tasks are given to me.
Some of them
are urgent.

They have the ability
to erase my plans
to complete other
equally urgent tasks.

I’ve solved this issue
by crafting
a Have-To-Do List
for myself
before my day starts.

This isn’t a To-Do List.
It doesn’t have
every little thing
I might wish to do
that day
on it.

All the items on this list
HAVE to be done
that day.

There’s no negotiating
with it.
My day isn’t done
until every item
on that list
is completed
either by myself
or by someone else.

Some days,
that is ALL I get done.

And that is okay.
I did what I had to do.

Some days,
I do more.
I get ahead a little bit.

And that’s great also.

Consider crafting
a Have-To-Do List.

I shared my first writing pen name
(brand)
with everyone I knew.

Some people gave me
encouragement.

Quite a few people,
however,
critiqued everything
about my business.

And only about five
of those hundreds,
possibly thousands
of people
bought one
of my $2.99 books
(products).

They weren’t
my target audience.

When I launched
my second pen name
(brand),
I kept it quiet.

There are no unwanted critiques
from non-writing friends and family.
I get encouragement
from other writers
and sales
from readers
who don’t know me
as anyone other than
their favorite writer.

I am SO much happier.

You don’t have
to tell friends and family members
about the business
you’re building.

You can wait to tell them
until you feel secure
about the business
or until you find success.

Or you can not tell them
…ever.

Do what makes
YOU
happy.

Every woman I’ve talked to,
within the applicable age group,
has had their monthly cycle
messed up
after being vaccinated.
EVERY woman.

I’m included in that group.
My period is like clockwork.
It is very much the same
every month.
After being vaccinated,
it came early
and it was a strange one.
It was…challenging.
I was glad to be working
from home
during it.

Unusual menstruation
or super periods,
as many women are calling them,
isn’t on the list
of side effects.
It is still being ‘studied,’
hasn’t been ‘proven,’
is rarely talked about.

Muscle pain, in contrast,
is on the list.
That, I suspect, hasn’t been
‘proven’ either
The difference is…
males get muscle pain also.
Their observations
are believed.

Believe women.
And plan for
what they are relaying.

They might need a few more sick days
some time in the month or so
after being vaccinated.
They might be dealing with
extra stressors.

Note: If you’re a guy
and you feel uncomfortable
with this post,
get the f*ck over it.

Half the population
has a period
every single month.
If you can’t,
at the minimum,
hear about
this major women’s issue,
a defining issue for us,
how do you expect to manage women?

You don’t need to talk about it
(although that openness COULD save lives)
but, at the very least,
you should know about it.