Some of you read that subject line and thought, “Yeah, right! You don’t know my business!” But hang with me for a minute. Your business is a set of systems. You may have more (or fewer) systems – but you aren’t doing everything from scratch like you were on your first day of business. You…
The Signs of Overconfidence and How to Combat It A good leader is confident in themselves and what they do. They take risks and lead by example. They inspire and influence. Confident leaders are more likely to be successful. But it is important to know where to draw the line. Are you letting your confidence…
7 Simple Strategies to Motivate Exceptional Feedback Getting feedback from customers is arguably one of the most important aspects of being an owner of a creative agency. Feedback from clients can help you to understand your business’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s the best way to know what your clients prefer and dislike about a service…
Do you ever feel like you’re lost, like you’re off the path, not successful – things need to change now! What if that’s not true? For about 4 years, I pursued creating a resource library and community site for small business owners called Enmast.com. I poured time and attention into it, taking focus away from…
I used to believe that there were no do-overs in business. You only get one chance to make a first impression. You’ve got to nail it; get it right the first time. At least that’s what I believed! What if that’s wrong! But there are many times that I have a critical call with a…
“All businesses are loosely functioning disasters” ~Brent Beshore You spend all day looking at everything that’s wrong with your business… …and I spend all day seeing that everyone has a ton of things wrong with their business! (Seriously, no one’s business on the inside looks like it does on their website!) What are you doing…
For some, work is just a way to earn a living and build up savings until they retire. For others, ones who have found their life’s work, they don’t want to retire. Instead, they look for ways to keep working, keep making a difference, even past “retirement age.” If you are in the latter category,…
No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit. – Andrew Carnegie I remember my first day as General Manager of M&S Systems. I called all my direct reports in for a staff meeting to try to understand the business. I immediately noticed that I…
Articles on Strategic Planning Uniting Your Team, Charting your Future As a leader, it’s your job to define your agency’s future. To do that, you need a point of view about what’s happening in the market you serve. What threats are out there? What are the opportunities? You need to be able to predict the…
Improve your Sales Process REDUCING UNCERTAINTY, SOLVING PROBLEMS Selling creative services is not like selling widgets. When you’re selling creative services, you’re never really sure what your client is buying, and they’re never really sure what you’re selling. In short, there’s a lot of uncertainty. Your sales process should be focused on reducing uncertainty and…