Addicted to Breakthroughs
Three people died after participating in a sweat lodge at a nine thousand dollar “spiritual warrior” retreat led by James Arthur Ray, a self-appointed motivational speaker, who appeared in the law of attraction movie, “The Secret.” The allegations are that a culture of pressure from the leader to “break through limitations” coupled with a poorly […]
An Ode to Diapers: Finding What You’re Truly Passionate About
I opened the diaper, but I already knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. I had just rolled the inside of Sam’s shirt up so that I as I peeled it off him his head would remain cleaner than his bottom. Suffice it to say that the clean-up took a little while, and involved a […]
How to Actually Get Clients from a Business Talk
Let’s just start with an obvious truth: giving a free talk is a great way to get the word out about your business. You can present at the local library, which may host a series of free talks related to your business. Or a company may invite you in to present at a lunch meeting. […]
How to Handle Getting Slammed By Clients
There you are, putting your heart and soul into your work. Loving it, getting great feedback from folks, basically on top of the world. And then, thawang! Upside the head. Someone lets you know that, ahem, you suck eggs. That what you do sucks eggs. That something just didn’t work for them, and they are […]
How Many People Do You Really Need to Reach?
In my recent journeys on Twitter I’ve seen the extremes from “Get 20,000 followers in 30 days” to “it doesn’t matter how many people you have, what matters is the quality of the connection.” No, I don’t want to sleazily grab 20,000 people on Twitter, my blog, or email list. Yet it’s totally untrue that […]
Is Tithing the Road to Abundance or New Age Nonsense?
You may be familiar with the principle of tithing–giving a certain percentage of your earnings to those in need. You may have also heard that what you give will come back to you twice-over, three-times over, seven-fold, or ten-fold. Different traditions have different formulas. Some people swear by it. Others just end up swearing as […]
The True Measure of Money in Your Business
Shiny new cars. Big mansions. The good life. Even if you’re not a particularly material person, it’s easy to be caught by those images and to wonder, “Why don’t I have that? Is there something wrong with me?” It has become especially popular to equate material wealth with spiritual attainment. If you do good, and […]
My Grandfather’s Legacy: Planting Your Flag
Note: This article was originally published to my ezine list in November, 2004. I’m adding it to my blog now because, with the birth of our twin sons, one of whom was named after my grandfather, and the full-on blast of retail holiday season, I’m thinking of him, and thinking of 2009. I want to […]
The Wackiness of Resonant Pricing
Havi, one of our friends, posted about resonant pricing, and how she had adapted our Your Right Price exercise to her and Naomi’s own ends. It’s an amazing little exercise, and in the spirit of generosity, I thought I’d post the pdf for anyone to download. Your Right Price pdf. The design of the pdf is […]
Whether or Not to Publish Your Prices
In The Business Oasis, an earlier incarnation of our business Community, one of the members wrote: “I am unsure if it’s a good idea to include my fees in my brochure and on my website.” Good question: do you or don’t you include your price? If you don’t include pricing, are you being coy and […]