All too often, we’re overwhelmed by the amount of things we’ve got to get done in our business. No matter how much we do, we keep getting further behind. Maybe it’s time we stopped trying to do everything and focused on the one thing that matters. The more you try to do, the less you actually accomplish. from The 4 …

We all have things that have to get done. Pay the bills. Update the accounting books. Follow up on those emails. Get things lined up for the next job. Over and over again… We don’t really enjoy doing those things that have to get done, but we do them anyway. Because they have to get done. Maybe they don’t have …

We all want to be better at what it is we do. So, how do we do that? What’s the secret to success? What is it going to take for us to make the move? It’s simple, really. We need to start surrounding ourselves with people who are better at what we do than we are. If we’re the best …

Too many times we tell ourselves that we’ll get to it later. We throw together something quickly just to get it out the door, with the idea that we’ll make things right once we’ve got a bit more time. But we’re just kidding ourselves, aren’t we? We’re going to keep operating from that same jacked up program, using the same …

We’re taught to be afraid of the big one in our business. The lawsuit. The investigation by our licensing entity. Being hounded by our enemies, our competitors, or some local news organization with a camera in our face. We’re scared of those momentous, earth-shattering incidents, just like homeowners are afraid of being blasted by a life-changing, catastrophic event. In reality, …

You can’t protect an idea. If you’re worried about someone stealing your idea, stop worrying: it’s a complete waste. You think they won’t get that idea at some point? Ideas aren’t scarce: What’s scarce is doing the difficult work to bring the idea to life. Seth Godin paraphrased by Tom Morkes in Notes From Seth Godin’s Revolution Conference

Many of us strive to develop a reputation as “The Expert” in our field. Nothing wrong with that; it’s a proven strategy for building a successful business. There’s really only one drawback to this approach: you can’t scale the expert. This means that if you ever decide to have people work for your company doing the same thing that you …

It’s tough for us to admit when we’re wrong. We think it’s not cool. We’re told it’s not powerful. We believe that it makes people less confident in our abilities. We fell like it diminishes us in the eyes of our customers. (Being honest about our limitations does none of these things, by the way.) Even if we’re deathly afraid …

When we open our mouth, all too often, we don’t know when to close it back up again. Talking just to hear ourself talk, it used to be called. Sometimes we just don’t know when to shut up, and it happens a lot when we’re not 100% confident in what we’re saying. We figure if we just keep on bloviating, …

Looking for an easy way to make a client happy? Want the key to life-long business success? Need a technique to make your business stand out from the competition? Searching for your own personal, brand-building trick? It’s easy. Just listen to your clients. They’ll tell you exactly what you need to know. They are praised who please: they please who …