I have been reading over the last few days many articles on success, and a few on failure. In business, only a few will succeed, and it’s not always the individual with the best idea. For example, Starbucks succeeded in building a massive empire, but there are thousands of small coffee shops that did not [...]
This is #8 on Chris Brogan’s list of 100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write. First of all, I have skipped #6, and, not having used Flickr yet, will not be writing about that at this point in time. To me, there are two types of bad times at conferences. First, the conference may turn [...]
If you are an entrepreneur, then you have likely come across the question in the title more than once when you presented your idea to someone. The question is valid, but, unfortunately, often difficult to answer. I was reading today in the National Post about how due diligence on the show Dragons’ Den failed to [...]
I have my first business proposal sometime next week. I’m meeting with someone who is a potential client AND a potential investor to describe my idea, the research I have already done into it, and to get buy-in from them. I’m actually not trying to get any money from them at this point, but I’m [...]
I learned something new today about marketing. May be simple to others who have worked in this area for a while, but it was new to me. When trying to sell a product or service, your selling line should not be “This product will save you money” or something of the like. You open yourself [...]
I have a satisfied customer. That’s not unusual, or even noteworthy, for most businesses. However, how I got a satisfied customer is worthy of a post. I had been writing a bunch of scripts for this client over the course of the last 9 months. There have been ups and downs during the work, and [...]
I had a discussion this week with one of my client’s regarding the quality of my work. The client liked the guarantee I put on my work, and is now one of my advocates. He has already sent me business, which I would not have been able to get without him. That client, as well, [...]
I had an interesting set of interactions with one of my clients over the past couple of days. I had written a program to do some data analysis against a set of standards, which they provided. The client (or more precisely, one of the client’s employees) sent me the data I needed, I sent back [...]
When applying to work at a company, take care to write your cover letter carefully. This is not the time to demonstrate your eloquence, it is the time to get them to give you a call. Unless, of course, you are applying for a position as a writer, in which case my statement makes no [...]
As a consultant with several clients, it is of utmost importance that each of my clients feels that he or she is getting the top treatment from me. I rely heavily on recommendations from my clients to fuel my business, and this in turn requires that I treat my clients well. Part of this is [...]
