Is It Possible to Do Financial Harm to a Client?
Awhile ago I wrote Why Selling Into a Crowd Can Feel So Gross, where I delved into the unconscious group dynamics that happen when you are a presenter selling your product to an audience. And since then, a kind of unwritten, almost unconscious policy I’ve had for years has become both more conscious and more […]
What Heart-Centered Isn’t
A friend of mine, Diana, who is also a spiritual teacher, used to get into gross-out story contests with me. She would drudge up things she’d seen growing up, or traveling, that were, in all honesty, pretty gross. I could always, always, without exception, top her stories. Which leads me to the first rule of […]
Five Inexpensive Must-Do’s When You’re Just Starting (And Four More Expensive Must-Do’s for Later)
“I’m just starting out. I have no money, and I’m wondering what are five things I can do to get my business started.” There it is, glistening on the monitor. The most fundamental of business questions in the most usual of situations. You can hear the pain in it, can’t you? And the inspiration and […]
Chocolates, Harry Potter, and Marketing for Artists and Other Inspirational Types
Melissa Berry makes chocolates. And not just any chocolates, these are extraordinary truffles in mind-blowing flavors. I stood next to her booth at the farmer’s market the other week and watched as a woman bit into one of Melissa’s truffles and stopped. Her chin went up, her eyes rolled back, and she took a deep, […]
Two Routes to Business Healing
When I first started working with clients back in the late 1990s, I quickly realized two things. First, that I seemed to know more than I thought about business and marketing, and clients started to do well. Secondly, that information only got people so far. Many clients seemed to get stuck, even with good information […]
Yo! Do Me a Solid! The Sin of Carefulness
In July we relaunched our website, which included a new make-over, including a new webhost. Why change webhosts? I wasn’t too attached either way, our current host was fine, except the interface was a little clunky. Our developer, Tzaddi Gordon recommended DreamHost, so we went with them. Why not? I don’t know why it took […]
The Myth of the Big Rescue
I’ll say it for the record: I’ve been on Oprah. In the mid-1990’s I was running a non-profit magazine, and one of her producers called us to see if we could recommend someone for a show. When I suggested me, and my wife, they said “Yes.” and off we flew to Chicago. We still have […]
Beyond Just Getting Administrative Help
The last three years or so have been a rough, steep learning curve for me. And I’m not just talking about parenting twins (they turn three in November.) About four or five years ago things were going very smoothly here at Heart of Business. I had a virtual assistant, Susan, the same one we have […]
When to Avoid Spending Big Cash on Business Tools
My laptop is a MacBook. Not a MacBook Pro, just a MacBook. I bought it probably close to four years ago. Considering I do most of my work on my laptop, and how quickly computers evolve, that’s a long time. Similarly, our car is a 1986 Volvo sedan, which we paid all cash for. It’s […]
The Evolution of a Tag Line
Since we launched our new website in the beginning of July I’ve heard from so many people about our new tagline: “Every act of business can be an act of love.” Most persistently we’ve heard from clients who protest, “I love it! And it doesn’t follow the structure you teach! What gives?” Mmm… It’s true, […]