How to Get Fear Off Your Business's Back
You want to know a secret? My clients and class participants all trust me to hold confidentiality with the most intimate details of their business, but I’m going to go public with one detail I know. I’m going to tell you the straight-up fact, the one that no one tells anyone else. They all get […]
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 […]
Great Work Sucks, and Feels Miserable, Too
I was reading what my friend Michael Bungay Stanier wrote on the Feeling of Great Work, and I totally agree. Totally. Every time. Every single time, without exception. I do something new that’s important to me, that I feel is really Worth It… and I feel miserable. Scared. Nervous. Like hiding under the covers. I’m […]
Where Discipline Counts the Most
Monday was the start of Ramadan, which means that for anyone who observes this Islamic month of fasting, there’s no food, water, gossip or sex between sunup and sundown. Most spiritual paths have something similar, whether it’s a month, a week, a day, or some other ascetic practice. Have you fasted before? If you haven’t, […]
Almost Took On Too Many Projects
Last week I wrote about why you should never have more than three projects. And then, yesterday morning, in our Heart of Business Team Meeting (I love writing that, just cause after years of doing this nearly solo, we now have a team!), we nearly did it to ourselves. So, half-way through the meeting, we […]
Too Many Projects (Does Your Project Have A Soul?)
This past Monday my wife Holly, myself, and our assistant Kate had a long meeting. And why? So we can put a bunch of absolutely amazing and wonderful ideas on the back burner, and do nothing about them. It’s probably not such a surprising idea for you, that you’re supposed to prioritize your projects, and […]
Bad-Mood Marketing
Once upon a time, someone called me up wanting to talk to me about my services. He asked me how I was. I thought for a second, and I told him: “I’m in a bad mood. I’m feeling a little off, and unsettled.” I even went into details. Smooth move, eh? I had just executed […]
When to Change Your Friends
My co-blogger Arianna Huffington (I loved writing that, even though I’m a bottom-rung blogger for her gig… ;-)) quoted what President Charles DeGaulle’s said to his aide Jacques Soustelle when Jacques complained that all of his friends were bitterly opposed to the government’s policies. “Changez vos amis.” (“Change your friends.”) The context here was Arianna’s […]
The Art and Science of Business
I was just reading an interview with Wendell Berry in this month’s issue of The Sun Magazine, and he was quoted as saying: “Art is a way of making, and science is a way of knowing. You’re never going to escape the need for either one; you’ve got to have a certain amount of knowledge, […]
Discipline versus Flow in Your Business
It’s Wednesday morning, and a stack of to-do’s in your business await you. You need to get on your marketing, you need to deal with the bookkeeping, and those pesky clients keep needing things from you. ;-)And you don’t feel like doing any of it. Instead, you want to just read a book. So, what […]