We’re all wondering how we can be more involved. How can we write the rules? How can we affect change? How can we be the one they turn to? How can we increase our standing? How can we be more valuable to everyone else in our industry? Well, things rarely happen just because we want them to. Sitting back and …

Whether we run a small business or not, we’re all the proprietor of our own company: the company of ourself. We’re the boss; we make the calls; we run the show. Whatever happens to our company, ultimately, we’re the one who’s responsible for getting us there. We should all take a step back and look at our company. How do …

We’ve all got our weak points, be they technology, personal interaction, or detailed knowledge of our jobs. The weak points are there, helping to keep us from getting ahead. The trick is to be dedicated enough to improve, and not let our fears stand in the way of getting better. We can be thankful that we’re much luckier than anyone …

We’re all too nice. We’re hard-wired to want to please other people, so we often end up saying yes to too many things. Requests of our time. Items that land in our inbox. Small jobs that eat up way too much time for too little gain. Can you do me a favor, this one little thing, would you do this …

Just because someone out there has a microphone, a channel, a stage, or a platform doesn’t mean that we’ve got to listen. They may know what they’re talking about, but odds are that they won’t. That doesn’t mean some of us won’t still listen. It’s up to us to do the research. Ask questions. Check their sources. Follow up on …

There are plenty of things wrong in this world, and many of these things directly affect our lives. When we were young, things appeared so much simpler. Most of our perceived problems could be solved with a snap of the fingers: boom; done; finished; all better. Too bad it doesn’t work that way anymore. The sad truth is that most …

It used to be hard to get something up and running; to start a new business. You had to have an in. You had to know someone. You had to be picked in order to gain widespread distribution, to get the word out, to become a household name. But the rules have changed. Now, anyone with a computer or a …

Why is it that customers choose us over our competition? Unless we’re the low-priced leader (and if you are, it’s quite unlikely that you’re reading this anyway), there’s always a good reason. We’re better at one part of our business than our competitors. Our clients found something about us to be irresistible and chose us over those they found to …

When we start a new venture, it’s tempting to do all our homework first: to try to figure out exactly what it is that everyone wants, asking questions, taking polls, sending out surveys, conducting interviews. Over and over again, round and round we go, doing the dance and gathering the data. While the importance of knowing our customers can’t be …

In business, like life, there’s always a hard part. The thing we dread. The obstacle we don’t feel like tackling right now. The detail that needs to be worked out before we can move on. The linchpin upon which all other success rests. But it’s hard, so we put it off. We’ll work on this other thing instead. It’s easier. …