I’ve never liked working with people I don’t like. I remember this one guy from back in my academia days. He had an arrogant attitude, loved interrupting people and thought he was better than everyone else. I couldn’t stand him. He was a motivating reason for why I left academia…Why would I want to work with someone like that all the time? He wasn’t the only reason, but he’s still someone I use as a object lesson in the importance of not working with people you don’t like. They make you miserable.

I like and even love the people I have as clients. All of them are unique, exciting people who have something wonderful to share with the world. I feel privileged to work with them. My liking of them is part of what motivates me in my business. When you like the people you work with or for, you care. You want to give your best effort, because you want them to succeed.

I’ve occasionally had clients who I didn’t care for. The relationship usually faded away or ended in short order. We knew we weren’t good fits for each other and we parted ways. I do hope they are successful. I just know that I am not a key ingredient to their success.

Be honest with yourself about how you feel about your clients. You’ll be doing yourself and them a favor and you’ll either be motivated even more to do what you do, or you’ll know you need to start findings clients you like. Either way, its always better to work with people you like.

When you own a business and its a small one, its a reflection of your personality. Truth to tell, my choice to buy vests and wear them with my business attire was my own way of speaking about and to my eccentric and colorful personality. That and my black hat, with the multi-colored feather in it. I had a person tell me once that I should ditch the hat…that it made some people question my seriousness. I told him it was part of my brand and if they had those kind of questions, they wouldn’t be a good fit. I didn’t go into business to fit into other people’s expectations about who I am or what I should wear, or how I should present myself.

I still dress and act professionally, but I also realize that I can and should let my hair down (both figuratively and literally). People work with me because of my expertise, but also because there is a good personality fit.

Look at your business and ask: “Does this business allow me to authentically be myself while doing what I love?” If the answer is no, its time to change the business to better reflect your authentic self. You’ll be happier, and you’ll actually get more customers as a result. I know this because choosing to do this rebranding has already gotten me new clients and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.

I think transitioning is harder than just starting a business. When you start a business, the challenge is defining your niche and what you do, so people get to know you, but when you transition into a new direction the challenge is educating people about the fact that you’ve changed your business focus. It likely doesn’t help that I still want to continue doing some work in what I’ve been known for. The challenge is to get clear on the rebranding and then get the rebranding done on everything you have available. At the same time you want to get clear on what you are doing with this new direction. I’m actually taking my time with this because I don’t want to rush without having thought through what I’m going to tell people.

You do want to be wary of sounding too similar to other people who are doing what you want to do. This means you need to find a way to make your message unique enough that it represents you without stepping on their toes in a way that could be cause for legal action. It also means that you want to consider what really makes you unique from those same people. Why would someone choose you over this person they’ve known about for a while?

I’ll keep you all updated on my journey to transition my business into a new direction. I’m excited overall. It’s a challenge, but its one that will lead me to a happier place.

Business development is best viewed as an ongoing meta-process, which encapsulates a variety of processes that are all used as activities to develop your business. Doing your bookkeeping is a business process. Going to a networking event is a business process. Putting on a class is a business process. All of these processes are done with a goal in mind, which is business development.

Business development isn’t just about getting new clients. It involves retaining current clients, staying in touch with previous clients, and actively sharing information with prospects, power partners, and even competition. It involves tracking your numbers, keeping your finances accurate, keeping your marketing material updated and relevant, and making sure you continue your education so you can offer the best possible services and products to your clients.

The business owner who understands that business development is a never-ending process is a business owner who is prepared and willing to work that process. S/he understands that it isn’t about getting to a specific end, but rather its about continuing to develop the business and also continuing to develop him/her self.

It’s taken for granted that once you know a problem and have a solution everything is solved. Unless we consider the expectations that a client has and account for them we can’t really know if we’ve solved the problem.

The best way to approach this issue of expectations is to talk about it at the very beginning of the relationship with the client. By bringing up expectations at the beginning you can start to establish rapport and insure that your activities actually meet the expectations the client has for you. You show the client that their trust in you is justified when you understand what their expectations are.

When you can show how a given activity is fulfilling an expectation that the client has told you, then you have measurable proof that results are occurring. It is that measurable proof that determines if you are really dong what you’ve been paid for. People pay for results and as business owners we have to understand that and recognize that its not time that’s being paid for, but those results that get the client what s/he wants.

Following your own advice is the true test of determining if it has real value. If it has real value it will produce results for you. I say that because as someone who coaches people on their business, I recognize that what I really have to do is help people recognize their own authority and gifts. If I offer advice, I recognize that I’m presenting myself as an authority by proffering such advice.

If you want people to see your authority, you need to show them that you do what you would ask them to do. This means not just saying something, but executing and implementing it in your life or business (or both)

I want you to first write a statement of desire. For example, one statement might be: “I want to grow my business.” This statement is a bit vague, as it doesn’t specify how you’ll grow your business, but you can make it more specific if you want to. For the purposes of this example, we’ll just stick with the statement of I want to grow my business.

Now get rid of all the repeating letters in your statement. If we do that with our sample statement we are left with: wagrmybu It’s basically a nonsense phrase. But what you do next is take all those letters and turn them into a symbol that represents your statement. See the picture below for an example symbol. You can use color pens and pencils or paints if you want to.

Now take your symbol and put it on your wall above your desk. Every time you feel fear about your business success, or frustration, visualize the emotions going into the symbol, and being recycled into positive energy for your business, that will help you achieve the stated desire. I’ve found this to be useful for helping me focus any feelings of fear I might have into achieving a positive outcome. Best of all your subconscious mind will understand what the symbol means and consequently will impress on you the need to achieve that goal.

Even if you feel skeptical, give this one try and see what happens. You might just be surprised by the outcome.

Knowing why people choose to do what they do can tell you a lot about what they are doing and how they are implementing it. When I observe a business, I look for the underlying strategy, as well as the actions. Some businesses don’t have anything in place. You can tell, because the person is trying to do everything, and not really getting anywhere with what s/he is doing.

A person with a plan takes a different approach. S/he has short and long term goals and focuses on getting goals done in specific order. S/he knows that its better to follow the plan then let him/herself get distracted by trying to do everything. It might take a while to accomplish a specific goal, but s/he will stick to it, because the payoff is worth the focused effort.

Which kind of business do you run? What could you learn from observing other businesses?

For example, watching the character of John Cage talk to the jurors, he’ll get them to repeat what he said, and in that process imprint his argument on the jurors. I actually decided to try this technique at a recent talk and the feedback I received afterwards was that the people felt more engaged because they ended up participating in the presentation. It made enough of an impression that I had several people come and talk with me afterwards, wanting to set up meetings, to discuss further business possibilities.

I love pop culture and I’ve used it to inspire me in many different directions. It makes sense to apply it to business, sometimes, because there will be things you can learn and apply to your business. Adapting some speaking techniques that I’ve seen on a show has helped me improve my speaking, because even though I realized it was a show, the modeled behavior made sense to me. Trying it out confirmed my suspicions that it could work.

It’s important to be open to inspiration, no matter from what sources. I’ve always maintained this for all aspects of my life and it has served me well in helping me see what it is I can do because I’ve allowed myself to be inspired by the unconventional. What about you. What unconventional sources do you draw on to inspire you?