Recent posts below or use the links to explore by category.
There’s just so much to worry about, right? Politics, the economy, the weather, terrorism, children, education, elders, the environment, health care, and when Joel Berry II’s hand will heal so he can return to play his senior year on the National Champion UNC Men’s Basketball team. Okay, that last was for some levity amidst all the things we have to worry about, but I do think about it because I do love my Tarheels!
Read MoreImagine my surprise when Carlos Watson, CEO of Oxy.com, a digital media company, spoke on the PBS Newshour about his belief that students should learn to sell. They should also learn to read and write and do math and probably to code to get a job when they graduate. I believe that Carlos’s message is not only for students. It’s for YOU if you have a business.
Read MoreMarketing what the market will buy. I want to talk to you about a client that I talked to today. And she is really bright, and has been really working with her marketing and getting feedback – which, until we talked today, I don't think she was really able to hear. Because she had an idea of what she wanted to provide. And the market was saying, "We want something different." Which she can provide. And what she was doing – and I know, because I've done this many times – is thinking, "Well, I want to give what I want to give." And they're not buying it. So what's the problem?
Read MoreToday, I want to wrap up my series of how to stop hating marketing and sales. And so I want to offer you the next step in being a transformational entrepreneur – a step that will take you into greater service, more clients, better agility with marketing and sales, and more peace with doing marketing and sales. And getting your work out there. And that is to transform your relationship with getting your work out into the world.
Read MoreToday I want to take our conversation about authentic sales even deeper.So we've talked about our common perception that, if you get good at sales, you're going to be like Lenny the Used Car Salesman. And I'm trying to bust that myth and encourage you to take back sales; take back the definition of sales. And make it suit you. Make it suit who you are, and what you're here to do in the world.
Read MoreMany of the business owners I work with have a mission to share their work to help other people enjoy a better life. Whether it's from their own story of struggle that they have turned into a strength and then into a business or a calling to change something they thought was wrong, they have a desire to make something better.
Read MoreWhat was your response to the US Presidential Election on November 8th? Were you elated that people had voted for change? Were you shocked that Trump won? Did you feel fear, uncertainty, or anger? Whatever your response, you know that change is afoot for us all. And your response may still be reverberating through your body and spirit.
Read More“What Crystal Ball are you talking about?!?”, you say. That Crystal Ball that you consult before, during, and after you talk to someone about working with you. You know, the one that says, “She probably won’t want to work with me”, before you talk to a prospective client.
Read MoreWhen I lived in Manhattan, I adopted a “don’t mess with me” posture. I made little eye contact, kept my purse near my body, and pretended that I had on body armor so that I appeared stronger and tougher than I felt on the streets and in the subways of New York City. I usually don’t need that posture now that I live in North Carolina, but I know how to adopt it if I’m in a dark alley walking to a parking lot. I get out my mace and put on my “leave me alone armor”. I’ve been thinking about how the energy we project affects us in business.
Read MoreIt is the season of Love, and I think it’s time that we have a talk.You may not get a card or chocolates from me this Valentine's Day, but I have a much more important gift for you.
Read MoreI heard that the native peoples of Central America did not see the Spaniards coming way back in 1492. They had never seen anything like the ships that Christopher Columbus and his crew arrived on, so they could not recognize them or accept them. Many of us mission-driven entrepreneurs are like those natives. Our experience and worldview often does not include abundance, plenty, and profit for ourselves. We’ve often been the outliers, the folks who are a little weird, wired a little differently.
Read MoreLast week on a Facebook group, someone posted a link to a blog post by Mike Hrostoski called “F*** You Spiritual People for Using Gratitude as a Bypass to Your Anger”. I'll not give you the whole link because I don't want to offend anyone by cussing here, but if you want to read all of Mike’s rant, fill in the blank letters and you'll find it online here. The title shocked me so of course I checked it out. Mike really got his rant on and as I read his post, I felt a resonance with what he was saying. He expressed what had been niggling in the back of my mind, but wouldn't let myself admit.
Read MoreYou’ve had that experience when someone sold you a product, but it didn’t work the way it was promised. Or you may have felt “pressured” into buying something that you didn’t really need or want, but you did it any way to be nice or pleasing.
Read MoreIn mid-September I visited Southport, NC, a lovely coastal town that was featured in the movie Safe Haven (based on the book by Nicholas Sparks). I have been to Southport several times before because both a good friend and several of my cousins live there. This time was different. I was going to present a talk to the women’s group of the local Chamber of Commerce. I was nervous, I was excited, I was prepared.
Read MoreDo you ever feel stuck - that what you want to happen just isn’t, and you don’t know what to do about it? Your answer could be CHOICE. That’s right, making a choice. Choosing. Deciding, and then doing something about it. At a recent training on Business Leadership Mastery, Rachael Jayne Groover, the coach and trainer, began the conversation with “Where are you in your business?” Participants in Business Leadership Mastery with Rachael Jayne Groover – Denver July 2014
Read MoreI never realized what a difference having practical support at home can make until I hired Naomi a year ago. Naomi does my laundry, irons, picks up prescriptions at the drugstore, does grocery store runs as well as other errands and walks my dog when Sophie lets her. Naomi is my part-time wife.
Read MoreIn the world of small business, we are always concerned about GETTING: Getting more leads Getting more clients Getting more money Action is important in making our entrepreneurial dreams happen, but we lose something when we focus ONLY on GETTING. We lose the Art of HAVING.
Read MoreThe Chinese New Year of the Horse begins on Friday, January 31, 2014 and by all accounts, it's going to be a fast ride full of activity and good fortune. It should very different from the past two years of introspection and insights.
Read MoreEarlier in the month I had the pleasure of taking an Improv for Business class with my friend and colleague, Gina Trimarco Cligrow of Gina and Co. Gina is from Chicago and began doing improv at Second City at the age of 19. She used what she learned in improv class and from her entrepreneurial dad to become a successful marketer and business manager. Now she's using those skills to help other entrepreneurs become better at sales conversations and marketing through improvisational comedy.
Read MoreLast issue I wrote about the perils of over giving in your business and how to make a mind shift to taking yourself and your business seriously and getting paid good money for the value you deliver Today I want to talk about the shadow side of always over giving. This is a subject that I've looked at increasingly for years now as it became apparent to me that I am - gasp! - co-dependent.
Read More
