A huge part of running a successful business is being proactive—responding to e-mails as soon as possible, returning phone calls within the same business day, presenting new ideas for clients to consider, finishing projects ahead of ...READ»
Not long ago, any business that functioned primarily over the Internet was looked at with suspicion, even straight-up mistrust; many times, rightfully so. But these days, the Internet has given legitimate businesses a virtually ...READ»
Is it a coincidence that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt (a.k.a. the founder of Google) are all avid chess players? Probably not. Building a brilliant brand is a game of strategy—a game that these men have mastered with ...READ»
Have you ever thought about what the cover of your published book would look like? Of course you have. Just like you’ve thought very carefully about (and described) what your characters look like, what the setting reveals—all the ...READ»
When it comes to money, most creatives entering into business make the mistake of selling themselves short. They worry about competing with the cheapest guys out there instead of pricing their work at a point that is both fair and ...READ»
When you work in a creative field, your work speaks for itself. In fact, it’s the only thing that can speak for it. No amount of clever marketing, self-promotion, or even outstanding recommendations can take the place of a portfolio ...READ»
Another great call with Annie Hart this morning. This past week, I had one of my favorite writers draw up a small section of the screenplay version of my story. It was fascinating to read my thoughts in someone else’s ...READ»
In the beginning of setting up a creative business, quantity is pretty tempting. Quantity as in more clients and more output. Because that can only lead to more money and more success, right? Not necessarily.Chasing every lead you ...READ»
So
this week on my story adventure I felt way out of sorts and really bad
that I have had little to no time to devote to my story. Annie and I
brainstormed and came up with an exploratory solution. What I do ...READ»
This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Without customers paying for the product or service you provide, you’re not a businessperson; you’re a hobbyist. Yet many creatives have the most trouble seeing their work ...READ»
Well, the why is easy: You won’t make any money and will be stuck in a dead-end day job forever while you toil away for your art in obscurity.Harsh? Yes. True? Hell, yes.See, we creatives—writers, painters, illustrators, actors, ...READ»
Many people are under the impression that with creating always comes joy. Wrong! Most of the time, the emotional journey of creating starts with agony. Agony at not getting it right, at not finishing on time, at not remembering every ...READ»
Here’s the rudest, cruelest awakening to telling your story in
writing: Most of the time, you will feel like you’re failing. Like what
you’re spewing out onto paper (or screen) is the lamest, most cliché,
least ...READ»
The crux of writing a successful (interesting, moving, powerful, life-changing) memoir is, of course, being able to remember the experiences that shaped a certain period of your life. But you have to do more than simply recall those ...READ»
It’s like the girl from Kansas said: There’s no place like home… that is, to evoke hundreds of memories, stories, and emotions that you can use for writing your memoir. (The second part of the sentence, Dorothy did not say.)When ...READ»
There’s a lot of memoir-writing advice out there. Some of it is good, some is completely obvious (and therefore unhelpful), and some crosses the line into stupid and potentially harmful to your story. A few choice examples of the ...READ»
The short answer: as hard as it takes for those boundaries to break.I’ve said often that if you’re not turning someone off, you’re not turning someone on. You can’t please everyone with creative work. And, in fact, you ...READ»
All right, seems like a vague question. So first I’ll explain my idea of creativity. To me, being creative means presenting something unique and powerful to the world—a fresh perspective on what can be a deadened landscape; a ...READ»
In a recent interview about his new book (a novel, mind
you), James Frey was asked what hour of the day inspiration most
strikes. His answer, which I’m paraphrasing, was a scoffing,
“Inspiration is for chumps. I work from ...READ»
Okay—so you’ve got a brilliant, innovative product or service. So
what? If no one knows about it, no one cares about it; it may as well
not exist. The only solution, everyone seems to agree, is PR. But the
best ...READ»
Neighbor/competitor/family member/friend/postman: “So, how’s work been lately?”
You (business-owner): “Oh, you know. Keeping busy.”
Sound familiar? For business-owners, “keeping ...READ»
How many times a day do you hear a radio or TV ad with rueful,
obvious acknowledgement of the recession? You know, the ones with
over-earnest voice-overs that begin something like this: “These days,
we’re all cutting back on ...READ»
What sets your business apart from the competition? Really—think
about it. It’s easy to spew out generic answers like “customer service”
or “attention to detail,” but don’t you think your competitors are
claiming ...READ»
Let’s face it. Your customers don’t want to hear that deep, echoey
radio voice holler at them to get to your car dealership TODAY, TODAY,
TODAY! There are better ways to get your message across.
There are authentic ways ...READ»
