In the last week, life has been handing me a lot of lessons on the dangers of making assumptions about people. This person isn’t really serious about her business.  I have nothing in common with that person.  And the one over there? Way too intimidating for me to try to connect with.  I’m glad and grateful that [...]

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It’s a traditional sales-meeting rant:  “Let’s make it happen!”  It’s a charity fundraising chant:  “We’re gonna make it happen!” It’s something my clients say to me:  “I have to make this happen!” But you cannot “make” anything happen. There may be a few small things in your immediate vicinity that you have that much control [...]

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The temptation to be cute and clever – to use clever wording, cute analogies and metaphors, clever design techniques – can be overwhelming. There’s just one problem. Cute and clever tend to create confusion on the part of your audience. And a confused audience is a vanishing audience.  A confused audience leaves your website, walks past your [...]

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I know one person who searched for her tagline for over a decade. Other people seem to change their taglines as often as they change their socks. And still others are like terriers:  no matter how much they recognize that they need to drop it and walk away for a while, they remain stuck, worrying at their tagline, [...]

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“Not enough time” is a reason for not doing an enormous number of things. I’m convinced it’s 99% untrue.  Seems to me … we do what we really want to do. So don’t tell me what you don’t have time for. Tell me what you do have time for.

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No one wants to look dumb.  Everyone wants to have an answer.   Preferably, of course, the right answer – but at least an answer. I see it all the time.  People rushing wildly towards an answer.  There’s a classic story of how NASA developed an extremely expensive pen that would allow astronauts to write in the [...]

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One of the first things I heard when I started my own business was a lot of advice about being disciplined. It seems that – despite all my past highly responsible, not to say workaholic, behavior as an employee – everyone, including complete strangers, felt terribly worried that I’d sit around all day with my feet up, [...]

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In recent posts, I’ve talked about the good things that happen when you have clarity and focus.  I’ve described how one small business owner realized inspired action from her clarity and focus – and I’ve drawn parallels between Cirque du Soleil (masters at clarity, focus, and inspiration) and your business.  But what happens when there’s failure [...]

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I am a geek.  About everything.  Whether it’s food and cooking, gardening, working with clients, computers, spirituality, writing, cats, knitting/spinning/weaving, marketing, understanding people, business and management, teaching … I could go on; I’ll spare you.  A geek.  Me.  Yes. And you know what?  It’s fun.  I don’t know why I thought it was something to [...]

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I write this with the belief that some readers may find it weird or egotistical. That is, of course, my insecurity talking. And I’m writing it anyway (take that, insecurity!), because it’s something that deeply wants to be expressed.  And because I’ve learned not to listen to the voices of insecurity and criticism.  Most of [...]

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