Posts by Early To Rise
Put It In Writing
A very common question among businessmen: Is it necessary to “paper” deals? During the 25 years I’ve been in business, more than 90% of the deals I’ve made have been oral. Usually, the process is some version of this: I’m talking with a colleague/competitor about what I’m doing/he’s doing and some common interest pops up.…
Read MoreWhen Are You Going to Start? Tomorow? Next Week?
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” – Don Marquis If you asked me what the most common reason for failure is, I’d say procrastination. Most of us know this. Yet, we often fail to recognize how often we make this mistake. Because we are busy with the quotidian pressures of making…
Read MoreI Wouldn’t Want To Do Business With Him
Do you know someone who will never tell you what he is thinking? Someone who is circumspect when discussing business? Someone who avoids any conversation about personal feelings? I do. In fact, I can think of several as I write this. They are parsimonious in their language and their speech. What you get from them…
Read MoreWho Is It That Reads ETR, Anyway?
You know how bad I think most small-business periodicals are. Fortune Small Business might be the worst. Staffed by a boatload of (I’m sure) very smart and capable (mostly) young women, it is full of feel-good stories and equal opportunity reporting. There is also an inexcusable level of innocence when it comes to commentary and…
Read MoreTwo Ways to Innovate
“Continual improvement is an unending journey.” – Lloyd Dobens and Clare Crawford-Mason (“Thinking About Quality”) Consider the two most basic options companies have when they seek to grow their businesses: They can try to increase their market shares by sustaining innovations — by continually improving a product everyone is using — or they can…
Read MoreThe Three Big Mistakes Direct Marketers Make
In an interview reprinted in The Golden Thread (the American Writers & Artists Institute student newsletter), well-known direct-response graphic designer Ted Kikoler makes the following useful points about putting together a direct-mail package: * The biggest mistake direct marketers make is leaving the letter out of the mailing. Even if you are sending out a…
Read MoreHow To Restore A Sense of Confidence When You Have Suddenly Lost It
Maybe it’s because you say something that gets a negative reaction. Maybe it’s because you begin to say things you don’t really believe or start making an argument that is beyond your depth. Usually, it happens when you are talking with people you respect and/or fear. Here’s what you do: The moment you feel you…
Read MoreUse These 4 “P’s” To Sell Your Ideas
There are four “P’s” that will help you get people to buy into any big idea you have — say, for example, an idea for a new product or a strategy to improve your business. They are: 1. Problem 2. Promise 3. Picture 4. Pitch 1. Describe the PROBLEM. Start by presenting the problem —…
Read MoreHandling Difficult Problems: Is It Better To Do It Now Or Later?
When you have an unpleasant job to do, do it right away. My tendency is to put it off and hope it disappears. There are situations for which this kind of head-in-the-sand approach works best. Conflicts between subordinates, for example. They want you to solve their problem. When you try, things get messier. My…
Read MoreAre You Pampering Your Best Customers? Really?
As the world becomes more of a giant supermarket (propelled forward by the likes of Costco and the Internet), privileged treatment will become more and more rare. Most businesses, having for the first time access to the larger markets, will appeal to the least common denominator by lowering prices and reducing services. This is great…
Read MorePsychologist Are Waking Up to What Makes People Happy
“It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly.” – Epicurus (third century B.C.) Happy are those who spend the least amount of time alone, says Martin E.P. Seligman, author of “Authentic Happiness,” in…
Read MoreGood Reasons Why You Should Have a Hobby
“There is no better deliverance from the world than through art; and a man can form no surer bond with it than through art.” – Goethe (Elective Affinities, 1809) Winston Churchill, a very busy man, was a big fan of hobbies. “To be really happy,” he said, “one ought to have at least two…
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