True gifts bring people closer together. An unconditional gift, one given with nothing expected in return, can change everything. It creates conversations and spreads ideas. It opens doors and creates forward motion. Seth Godin When starting something new, whether it’s our own entrepreneurial journey, a job working for someone else, a personal or professional relationship, or any situation where we’re …

Starting a new business is hard. We all want hundreds of clients right off the bat. Many, many people to pay us for our product, our expertise, and our passion. The problem is that we can’t effectively market to many, many people when we’re just starting out; when we’re a nobody. So, what’s our alternative? How about marketing to just …

Most of us are open to trying new things. Especially in our businesses, we’ll do something new in order to improve our bottom line. We’ve just got to make sure that it’s already working for someone else. We want that certainty factor; the knowledge that someone is already doing it and they’re seeing success. Hardly any of us want to …

No matter who we are, entrepreneur, small business owner, corporate executive, or just a regular Joe, we all experience adversity, and it often comes our way courtesy of our friends, family, and customers. Whenever we’re faced with these problems, it’s all too easy to go on the offensive, belligerently defending our position. The problem with becoming so defensive is that …

Back when we were in school, our math teachers were constantly telling us that we had to “show our work.” At the time, it was nothing but an aggravation to us. We thought “what difference does it make, as long as I put down the answer?” Now, we realize that they wanted to make sure we understood the underlying concept, …

People respond to value. Provide it, and they will reward us. The tricky part is that most of us perceive value differently. It may be a fair price to one client, a thorough job to another, a warm, inviting tone to a third, or a product that’s beauty rivals a Renaissance painting to someone else. Value is in the eye …

One way or another, we’re all reliant on someone (or something) else for our business. In the case of home inspectors, we get referrals from real estate agents, previous clients, or marketing online or through social media. It’s all part of the game. But, just like us, the targets of our marketing have busy lives and are easily distracted. They …

We all seek what’s best for us in the moment. We’d love to live a continuously pleasant and serene life. But, we know that’s not reality. Our problems surround us on all sides, pressing in like the oppressive heat of a cloudless summer day in the tropics. We’d prefer if we could make our lives easier, but we know that …

Years ago, in order to be successful, we had to figure out how to get past the gatekeepers. Whether that was having someone “on the inside,” bribing someone for their influence, or simply badgering them until we finally wore them down and they helped us just to be rid of us, there was no success without being picked. Even though …

Big Brain Syndrome. We all suffer from it at one point or another. It causes us to think that we know everything. We think that just because we thought of something, it must be the right thing to do. I don’t need input from anyone else, I know what I’m doing! Then we’re puzzled when our great idea doesn’t pan …