What to Do When You Feel Like Doing Nothing
07/03/16 Uncategorized

What to Do When You Feel Like Doing Nothing

You’ve recently lost a big client or account.

Sales have slowed or stalled completely.

You launched a program or a product and results were disappointing.

You’re reaching out to your audience daily, but there’s little or no feedback.

You’re discouraged or you’ve lost confidence…

 

And here’s what begins to happen:

 

At first it’s a subtle slowing down – and then it becomes avoidance all together.

The work that once inspired you becomes a burden.

You feel guilty and afraid.

You’re not sure what to do, so you do nothing at all.

And things come to an ugly, grinding halt.

You’re not longer in the flow. You’re on the couch.

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26 responses
Tell Me All About Your Business. In a Single Sentence.
06/02/16 Uncategorized

Tell Me All About Your Business. In a Single Sentence.

“Just do it.”

“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”

“It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”

“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs.”

“It’s the real thing.”

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63 responses
Old Broad, New Tricks? Oh, yeah.
14/01/16 Personal Juju , Uncategorized # , , ,

Old Broad, New Tricks? Oh, yeah.

I was a sophomore at the University of San Diego when I decided to declare my major as English with an Emphasis on Writing. I knew my dad, who was paying my tuition, wouldn’t be completely thrilled. His idea of “career” and mine were two different things.

 

When I told him about my choice, he said this:

 

“Writing? That’s great honey. Why don’t you come on down to the dealership and learn the Finance Department… just in case you’re not Hemingway?” (My dad had a way with words.)

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2 responses
The Devil is in the Discount. Why You Should NEVER Lower Your Rate.
11/01/16 How to Brand Your Juju , Uncategorized # , , , ,

The Devil is in the Discount. Why You Should NEVER Lower Your Rate.

In the late 90’s, I was managing a premium brand for Jacuzzi and we had a giant web project up for bid. It was a complicated project, requiring the development and management of standardized websites for franchise hot tub dealers in 63 countries.

 

I had a brilliant young woman submit a proposal for the job, and I knew I wanted to hire her. She was sharp and determined and her solutions were creative and well-strategized.

 

But her proposal was out of my budget range.

 

I asked her to come to my office to discuss the proposal – to see if there was a way we could work together within my budget. I knew in my gut that she was the best solution for our issue at hand, and I intended to hire her. I was fully prepared to give up some of the services in the proposal – to minimize the bells and whistles – in exchange for the peace of mind I would receive in working with a true professional who was highly motivated to do the job.

 

She wanted the job.

 

I wanted her work.

 

When we sat down at the table and I presented my budget limitations, her automatic reply was:

 

“I can give you a 25% discount. I’d really like to work with you.”

 

In a split second, it changed the way I felt about her. I wondered – if she would give up so easily on her hourly rate – whether or not she really had other clients, and why she was clamoring for work.

 

I wondered if I’d misjudged her value.

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67 responses
The Art of Recommitment
05/01/16 Uncategorized

The Art of Recommitment

I have a single, driving goal in life: to experience joy.

 

I’ve discovered, through decades of trial and error, that there are certain practices that lead me to that end goal.

 

I’ve also found that when I lose sight of the end goal, I become burdened by the practices.

 

Are you burdened by a practice?

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14 responses
How To Brand Yourself as an Expert
28/12/15 Uncategorized

How To Brand Yourself as an Expert

You’ve just finished that course, quit your day job, or opened your new business, and you’ve decided to take the expert position. You know you need to sell yourself as someone who has the goods. As the real deal. As all that, and a bag of chips.

 

And then the nagging voices in your head begin:

 

How can I be an expert? I’ve only just begun.

There are tons of people out there already doing this.

Why would anyone listen to me?

I’m not educated enough.

When people find out I’m a fraud, it will all be over.

 

OK… enough.

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8 responses
What’s In a Word? Just About Everything.
24/12/15 Uncategorized # , , , , ,

What’s In a Word? Just About Everything.

As of late, I’ve been overcome by the power of words.

 

The current political environment and the division of our country are driven by words.

The holiday shopping season and the frenzy that ensues is created with words.

The rise of the sale of Internet products: words.

The coaching and consulting that has become so prevalent in our society: more words.

Performance reviews, TED Talks, sales pages, op eds, podcasts, elevator speeches, LinkedIn profiles, Tweets, emails, stand-up comedy, and angry rants in the comment section of news blogs: all words.

 

Most of us have told our children at some point or another that words are just words. “Sticks and stones” and all of that.

 

But I’m of a different mindset.

 

I’ve always been moved by the power of the perfectly precise word. Or the carelessly chosen one.

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2 responses
How to Begin Again… and Again.  Seven Tips for Serial Beginners and Chaos-Seekers
10/12/15 Personal Juju , Uncategorized # , , , ,

How to Begin Again… and Again. Seven Tips for Serial Beginners and Chaos-Seekers

Tell me if you’ve ever felt like this: you begin a new project and it’s an absolute rush. You see it unfold before your eyes and each day you awake, powered by possibility and anticipation. You are rocking it.

 

And then, the beginning becomes the middle, and your daily activities turn from novel to commonplace. Your rush has become a push. And it’s tough to hang. The thrill has gone, my friend, and you’re left cleaning up the party residue.

 

It’s the day after the big launch. The week after the trade show. The month after the honeymoon. The year after you opened the new business…

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19 responses
Why You Have to Eat a Frog to Really Make It
05/10/15 Uncategorized

Why You Have to Eat a Frog to Really Make It

Online marketing tools are incredibly dynamic and alluring. Especially for small business owners who recognize potential in every new trick. Each day I see a shiny new tactic – a new platform – for yelling an offer out into the world. I watch business owners jump from one new thing to the next, always in search of the one gadget or secret weapon that will take them to the next level.

 

But I know a secret. It’s one that most people don’t like to hear. But it’s the truth.

 

If you want to develop a business model and a brand that make money over the long haul, you have to eat a frog.

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2 responses
What Can I Do? I Can Connect.
19/06/15 Personal Juju , Uncategorized

What Can I Do? I Can Connect.

This morning I blog with a heavy, bewildered, exhausted heart, as the country discusses nine people shot at close range in a church in South Carolina. My first thought was to leave it alone. This is a business blog, isn’t it? This is a page about branding. I was prepared to skip a day and walk away.

 

I could not. Continue reading

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