This may surprise you, coming from someone who’s constantly haranguing everyone to discover and declare their uniqueness – but there is actually a time when uniqueness is a mistake, and being part of the crowd is your best bet.  A time when being unique doesn’t make you more visible – it actually makes you invisible. It’s a very [...]

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I have a confession to make. I’ve never clicked on Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. Why?  Because I don’t know what it will do.  When I’m searching for something on Google, I don’t want to waste my time going somewhere that doesn’t get me closer to my goal. Several years ago, I worked with a [...]

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Talking with a potential client about the price I was quoting for his writing project, I heard these words: “But I provide all the content!  I give you all the content, you just write it!”  The implication was clear:  he’s doing all the work, so I should charge less. That’s like telling a master jeweller that – [...]

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Recently I’ve noticed how some people are using generosity as a promotional tool. If reading that made you feel an internal “eww,” “ick,” or “ugh,” welcome to the club.  Being the recipient of that type of generosity creates those reactions for me, plus a strong urge to vacate the premises (whether that be website, mailing list, or [...]

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I got an email from American Express on Thursday.  Seems my account had been compromised and there were fraudulent charges on my card. Theft, in other words. But this isn’t a story about theft, or even about my overwhelming curiosity about how in the world did they know those charges aren’t mine?  (Kind of creepy, really, even though it’s nice [...]

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I grew up understanding that mistakes were very bad and to be avoided at any cost.  (Literally, at any cost.  Which is a very high price to pay.) No surprise, then, that I grew up to be a detail-oriented, people-pleasing perfectionist with a deep aversion – okay, a deep fear – of vulnerability.  I’m not [...]

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Claim your autonomy. Don’t give other people – no matter how expert they may be – the power to control what you do in your business. I know that’s scary.  For the first few years (maybe more) that I was in business, I chased the experts.  I downloaded endless free reports, e-books, training materials.  I [...]

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A client gave me a gift today - a gift that, as a word nerd, I absolutely love. It’s a new word:  site-itis. We were talking about how some sites have relevant, powerful content … but the design makes it so difficult to read that visitors can’t recognize or take advantage of the value.  And the flip side of the coin:  [...]

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If you’re in business for yourself – really in business for yourself, rather than exploring a hobby or (as I wrote in my last post) developing a support network for yourself - then yes:  you’re a leader. You’re a leader for your clients and customers, whether they’re buying nine-dollar e-books, thousand-dollar coaching packages, or ten-thousand-dollar consulting engagements [...]

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Blogging about your struggles with marketing – tweeting about not having enough clients – describing the loneliness of being self-employed … all that bleeding and struggling and suffering in public is really, really bad for your business. Being in business can feel difficult and lonely.  Been there, done that, and I’ll undoubtedly be there and do it again, over and over.  We all [...]

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