Across the Desk

Today the focus was on obstacles to our goals and how we overcome them. We roundtabled and came up with quite a list of obstacles and avoidance techniques we all have used at one time or another while working on our business. 1. Cooking and domestic duties 2. Paralysis by analysis - overplanning and getting too caught up in detail to move forward. 3. Social media 4. Office chatter 5. Dabbling in a...

Celebrities can create some interesting opportunities for themselves but it's not all easy peasy. They fall in to some traps where they might rely on their name to push a crappy product just for the sake of pushing a product. (Kardashian's anyone?)Or they aren't taken seriously even though the product IS worthwhile because they're a celebrity. That isn't fair either. Then there are the celebrities...

A little while ago I was searching for the hashtag #cancer on Instagram. It was that time of year and I wanted to see what conversations and images people were sharing. What came up? A lot of crap. A lot of unrelated, trivial, full on crap that should never have come up at all. And it made me angry. Why angry? Well, I take communications seriously. For many personal reasons, I take cancer seriousl...

Building your business is hard. Long days. Lots of grey hair. Maybe that's just me. But what I do know is what money I do earn with my business has been because of my hard work and hustle so when I go to spend it? I want to make sure I get the most bang for my buck. Take tradeshows. If you've never done one before then I'm here to tell you something: there is NOTHING worse than putting in the time...

Does your gut every give you a message? Run? Don't trust that person? Some signal that you sometimes ignore? Don't. Trust is something that requires honesty on both sides. Honesty for you listening to your gut and what it's telling you to do and honesty from the person trying to connect with you. If you live in a head space where being a schmuck is the only way to operate, you have a different tak...

Why Now Is the Time To Crush It is a question most entrepreneurs ask themselves in various ways. I think to both talk themselves in to the adventure and when they are having complete WTF moments about why they started in the first place. Crush It - Cash in on Your Passion is a book that I will be re-reading and soon. Not only did it provide solid advice for how to engage and grow your business but...

You know that feeling right before you stand up in a meeting? Or walk in to an event? Or have to go networking? Or do anything that is outside your comfort zone? Do you normally describe it as nervous or excited? Turns out it makes a difference. That important distinction was made for me 21 years ago on the day of my wedding. I had butterflies and felt nervous. Or so I thought. The more I thought...

This week was an eye opener for all the great members of Ballsy. Not in a shocking way but in a learning way. This was one of the reasons I decided to change the Ballsy Women in Business podcast theme to be Wonder Woman based. We are freaking awesome. The group of women coming out to Ballsy continue to impress and amaze me as to what we've accomplished and what we continue to build. We focused a l...

Something I've come to realize after reading 30 or more business books, is that everything new is old again. That the vast majority of the current day guru's are standing on the shoulders of giants like Dale Carnegie. With each advent of technology, someone devises a new way to improve organizations, develop leadership and support change. But they use ideas developed 70 years ago to do it. It's tr...

Have you ever had a friend that you can go years without talking to but when you pick up the phone it's like no time has passed? What if they asked you to help them move? Still feeling chatty? Me either. That's what can happen if you don't communicate with your customers on a regular basis. When you have something to sell or an event for them to come to and you send out that invite? Chances are, t...

Do you let your life or business happen to you? I used to. And for the most part I've been ok. But I've never been able to set goals and couldn't understand why. Now I know. Part of it was I didn't know what I wanted to do or achieve. I couldn't see a clear path. Since starting my business (which was also an accident), especially this year, now the path is clear. I'm sharing with you some of the t...

Have you ever seen an ad with a celebrity endorsement? Especially a celebrity who you admire and trust? Well, as much as you can trust someone you don't actually know. Has that influenced your decision about the product or service to buy or use and then it's turned out to be junk? Are you tired of all the questions? The reason for all the questions is to get you thinking about the social proof tha...

Have you ever thought about your story? Would you know what to say? Until recently I didn't know. Ironic for a writer / communicator who is also a Gemini (Yes, I believe in astrology. Don't judge me. It's my story.) When you've had some challenges in your life, they can become your story. I've had a few. More than a few. As they happened so close together, they became more of my story than I reali...

What's the first thing you think of when it comes to sales? For me, it's every BAD sales person I've had to deal with. From car sales to timeshares to cell phone plans - I've dealt with some doozies. The problem when you are the one selling is that everybody you meet has had the same run-ins. Snakeoil techniques. Schmoozing. Telling you what you want to hear. Blech. I think I just threw up a littl...

Say. Act. Do. It's that simple. Congruency is our topic today in the 6 Principles of Influence. What does that mean? In the simplest of terms and the easiest of explanations is that if you want to convey and build trust, you have to be consistent in everything you do. For example - if you make an appointment with someone, taking up their valuable time, to make a pitch and you show up late or don't...

Has it been one of those years for you? Or couple of years? When you're an entrepreneur it can feel like you've survived a year vs celebrating the beginning of another. Especially at a time of year where reflection and goal setting is forced upon us. But as an entrepreneur maybe it's worth taking another look at the value of reflection. Maybe that needs to be a goal for the whole year. Why the gir...

If you're in business, you're going to need help. As much as we'd all like to be able to solve our problems ourselves, we can't do it all. And we shouldn't. The worst thing you can do for your business is labor under the delusion that you've got all the answers to all the questions. From me to you: get over yourself. You don't. Nobody does. Sounds ballsy right? Well this week during our Ballsy Wom...

When you are dealing with a mental health issue, trying to navigate the healthcare system can be stressful. Heck - it's stressful no matter what. Once you are in the system, one of the keys to success for your treatment is developing trust with your health care team. That can put you in a tricky position to provide honest feedback that is positive or negative. Imagine an app that can help you solv...

Return on investment. That's the key for most business people but when you are building a business, keeping the ROI in line with the PITA is key to success. Why? Well, sometimes social media can have a high PITA factor with low ROI. Before you think we're talking about sandwiches and dietary advice, I mean the pain in the ass factor. For some businesses, I recommend you lower the PITA factor by NO...

Has there ever been a time where you've made a decision to buy something or work with someone based on the opinion of others? Have you noticed that when someone does you a favor or provides a freebie you feel obligated to help them out next time? Maybe you've noticed that someone has a lot in common with you and when it's suggested you work on a project together, the decision is easy. All of these...

I hope that all businesses try to keep their corporate social responsibility plan to of mind all year. For such a long title, I sometimes wonder if creating a CSR plan is more a tool to look good than actually do good. Cynical? Maybe. But once you chat with Monica Graves, you'll see what putting your money where your jewels are really means. Cancer is another cause where I think people can lose fo...

How is it possible that one book can contain so many seemingly disparate items? Happiness + business + science + motivation + action items + inspiration It's insane. Yet that's exactly what Shawn Achor manages to do in his 2010 book The Happiness Advantage. For a research geek like me, who isn't a huge fan of talking about feelings, this book was like divine intervention. Science backed recommenda...

I think there is a very thin line between eccentric and eclectic. Both refer to the possibility of seemingly unrelated ideas coming together in ways people might not have considered before. Stepping over the line from eclectic to eccentric? Well that's when you try to put peanut butter and tuna fish together. Not a great idea. The benefits of being described as or acting like either eccentric or e...

Do you hate wasting time? I do. I even go so far as to plan out my driving route for errands so that I minimize travel time wasted. If I have to backtrack? That drives me bananas. So believe me - I don't waste time on books that will be bad for my business or get in the way of me achieve my goals faster. Gary Vaynerchuk has written three books specifically geared at helping business owners at all...

Have you ever lost your wallet? Or had it stolen? That sucks right?! This weekend I got the chance to make it suck less for someone. How? Social media. In this day and age of mobile phones and mobile people, it can be hard to track someone down the traditional way. But thanks to social media, all we need to do is follow the breadcrumbs that get left online. My husband found the wallet in downtown...