Category: New Business Development

I have a buddy
who posts constantly
about issues in
the UK, Canada, the EU, etc.

She’s American.

Yet she doesn’t post
about issues in the US
and, wow,
there have been
quite a few issues
in her home country
over the past few years.

I asked her once
why she posted
about issues
in other countries.
She wasn’t an expert
in these countries
(not at ALL
– most of her posts were sh*t views).
Why did she focus
on them?

She said
someone had to do that.

Sweetheart,
plenty of people
are doing that.

What she was doing
was deflecting,
distracting herself
from taking any action
on her home country’s issues.

Focus on your own business
first.
THEN try to save
everyone else.

Everyone with a computer
or smart phone
and some time on their hands
can start a business
without any additional resources.

The information
to guide us
is all online.
Searching for other things we need
often results in free suggestions.

The only thing stopping us
is…
the will to do the work.

Seth Godin
shares

““It’s too expensive,”
or
“I can’t get access to it,”
used to be
really good excuses.
But they obscured
the truth:
“It’s too much work.””

Do the work.
Start that business.

I try my best
to be agreeable
(as long as the person
I’m encountering
isn’t being offensive).

This is VERY different
from agreeing
with someone.

Seth Godin
shares

“You can be agreeable
without agreeing.

In fact,
most of the time,
we’d rather spend time
with people who have
a different point of view
but are willing
to be agreeable
nonetheless.
It’s far better
than the alternative.”

I rarely agree fully
with the person
I’m speaking with.

As a writer and a business babe
and someone who has seen
a lot of sh*t
and has learned even more
sh*t,
I have an admittedly unique
view of the world.

But I’m curious
and the best way
to learn more
is to be agreeable.

I supply answers like…
“I’ve never thought of it
that way.”
or
“That’s interesting.
How did you come
to that realization?”
or
other non-committal responses.

The other person happily talks.
I learn more about them
and about people
who think like them.

We’re both happy.

We can be agreeable
without agreeing.

I’m NOT a morning person.
If I could keep
to my own schedule,
I would sleep until noon
and work until 3 am.

But partners, customers,
loved ones
expect me
to be available
from 9 to 5.

I have to wake
around that time
(or someone will wake me)
so I’ve trained myself
to immediately get out of bed
and face the day
…semi-cheerfully.

That isn’t natural for me.
It is a learned skill.

Seth Godin
shares

“Once you realize that
you can improve,
amplify and refine
the things that
other people call
attitudes,
you may realize that
they are skills.

Which is great news,
because becoming better
at a skill
is something
we’re able to do.”

If your attitude
toward an event/task
isn’t working for you,
change it.

Many business builders
have a portfolio of projects
we’re working on
– whether these are
marketing pushes,
product releases,
or even new businesses.

The projects I love the most
are the ones
that help each other.

For example.
I have two groups of stories
(products).
They have different readerships
yet they are connected.
They share the same world.

If one of them does well,
it increases the likelihood
the other does well.

If one of them flops,
it still serves
as additional content
for the other one.

Seth Godin
shares

“The best portfolios are
persistent
(because patience is
a rare skill),
they’re generous
(so others root for you
to succeed)
and
they build on each other
(because then,
even the ones
that don’t work
increase your chances
for the next one
to work out).”

Put some thought
and planning
into your portfolio
of projects.
That will help you
succeed.

In 2021,
I am releasing a new story
every 3 months,
instead of every 2 months.

Originally, I planned
to travel during that extra month.
Due to the pandemic,
that isn’t happening.

So I’m using
that extra month
to build and fix systems,
to set up my business
for future growth
and success.

And, f*ck,
that is improving the business
and my life
SO very much.
I now have even MORE time
every month
to focus on other things.

Consider creating
a list of system changes
or additions
you’d like to make.

Then use any slack time
or resources
to implement
these system modifications.

Set yourself and your business
up for future success.

Many of my relatives
don’t have smart phones.
They don’t have
the excess funds
for data.

Many of
the new sites
and programs,
however,
like online banking
or social media
(Instagram)
or business building
sites
are built
assuming everyone
has smart phones.

These sites and programs
provide great value
…for some people.

Other people,
often the people
who would benefit the most
from them,
can’t even access them.

Seth Godin
shares

“As we race
to create value,
it’s easy to forget
that it’s unevenly distributed.
A safety net isn’t perfect,
but it’s better
than no net at all.”

If you’re assuming
everyone will benefit
from something,
ensure,
at the very least,
everyone has access
to that something.

Yesterday,
I posted about
how if we’ve purchased
something
to assist in our success,
we should use that object/service.

If we want great value
from that object/service,
that’s easy to achieve.
We merely have to use it
MORE.

I purchased
a 12 month subscription
to a book promo program.
It cost $146.

If I use it once a day,
that program costs me
40 cents an image.

If I use it twice a day,
that program costs me
20 cents an image.

Currently,
I use it four times a day.
The program costs me
10 cents an image
…which is far less than
the price of one stock photo.

And that doesn’t
factor the sales I make
from using the program
into the equation.

If you want to derive
value from a product/service,
use it more.

In January,
many of us
buy things
to help us
achieve our version of success
during the rest of the year.

I bought,
for example,
a 12 month subscription
to a program
that easily creates
promo graphics
for folks
in the publishing industry.

It cost $146,
which is a great deal
IF it is used.

At first,
many writers use it.
They’re excited about it.
It is a new toy.

Three months later,
around this time of year,
some of those writers
have stopped using the program.

That program was a bargain
for the writer who used it.
It was a waste of resources
for the writer who didn’t use it.

I suspect
you have bought something similar
recently.
It could have been a gym
or stock photo
or Costco membership.
Or maybe it was
a 3D printer
or a peloton
or a discount program
or something else.

Are you getting full use
of it?
Are you STILL using it?
Can you think of
MORE ways to use it?

If you bought it,
use it.
Get the most value
out of every investment.

There are thousands
of niches within
the Romance Novel Industry
and these niches
have different types of readers.

In Contemporary Romance,
for example,
the readers tend to only read
new releases.
They want books set
in today’s world,
a world they know
and don’t have to imagine.

In Paranormal Romance,
as another example,
books are set in
an imaginary world.
Those books can be read
and enjoyed
decades from now.

Paranormal Romance Readers,
as a result,
are happy to buy
an older book.

As you can imagine,
the lifespan of a Contemporary Romance
is MUCH shorter
than
the lifespan of a Paranormal Romance.

There is very little passive income
for Contemporary Romance writers,
especially compared to
the impressive passive income
Paranormal Romance writers
enjoy.

With Contemporary Romance,
writers have to make
a big splash with a new release
right away
or it won’t make a splash
at all.

The lifespan of a product/service
will impact almost everything
– from design
to pricing
to promotion.

Know what your product’s/service’s
lifespan is
and what that means
to your business.