A quick tip you won't find in most business books: Act a little happier than you feel. Whether you are talking to a client or prospect, sending an email to your boss, or attending a networking event, make your disposition a little cheerier than you normally would. Smile a little more, be a little more animated, and when someone asks you how you're doing, say "Great! Thanks for asking." Attitude Has Impact Two things I want to point out. I'm saying act a little happier. I'm not saying that you should be inauthentic and Pollyannaish. But if you are having a bad day, it doesn't mean you have to be completely gloomy and whiny. How … [Read more...]
Technology Can’t Solve Any Business Problems Alone
Today, as you go through your work day, your goal is to solve as many problems as you can. For most of us, that is actually what our work consists of: solving challenges that pop up consistently through the day. Luckily, since our society has advanced a bit, the problems that we face aren't the dire ones that faced our ancestors, like mystery blights destroying our crops or hordes of marauding barbarians. For us, it might be finding prospective clients, balancing the books, or managing different personalities on a project. Technology is Just a Tool Just like our ancestors, we consistently look to technology to solve our problems. They … [Read more...]
The Quick and Dirty Way to Plan Effective Meetings
In the modern business world, meetings are a necessary (and ubiquitous) evil. There are sales meetings, planning meetings, marketing meetings, debriefing meetings, quarterly meetings, project meetings, committee meetings, meetings to set up other meetings... you got the idea. For all of the meetings that you go to, you've probably found that many are ineffective. Or to put it bluntly, a waste of time. It's why meetings have a bad rep. They often devolve into unfocused conversations about topics that aren't important that finally end without anything being solved or a clear course of action. How to Plan a Great Meeting I can't save … [Read more...]
Non-Linear Growth for Entrepreneurs
There's a question that comes up a lot when working with clients who are struggling to build their businesses: What causes entrepreneurs to fail? Even new business owners who are doing well often feel that they are close to the edge of insolvency. They get frustrated by how quickly (or rather, how slowly) their businesses are growing. Obviously, starting and growing a new enterprise is challenging, or everyone would be doing it. By where does that challenge come from? Aside from the many logistical obstacles (capital, training, economic viability, etc.), one of the main struggles is psychological. This is an area that most new … [Read more...]
The 7-Minute Personal Business Plan for Next Year
With the end of the year here, everyone is putting the finishing touches on (or scrambling to start) their plans for 2013. Whether it's for yourself, your family, or your company, putting some thought into what you want to accomplish in the new year is an incredibly useful exercise. Most of us, though, struggle to find the time to take a time-out and plan. It can be especially difficult to find time for our personal goals (because, let's face it, if no one is expecting it from us, it's easy to push it off). So here's a way to create a useful business plan to help guide your career next year. It ill only take you 7 minutes to complete … [Read more...]
Leaving a Business Voicemail the Right Way
With our headlong rush into social media and email, it seems that it's become rarer and rarer for us to actually speak to others on the phone. This has definitely led to a decrease in phone skills, and unfortunately for many professionals it's destroyed their ability to leave a good voicemail message. This problem is compounded by the fact that, since we're leaving less voicemail messages, when we do find ourselves needing to leave a voicemail it's important and we get performance anxiety. Create Clear Communication By the way, I'm not talking about creating a perfectly-crafted sales message to get a cold call victim to call you back. … [Read more...]