A wrong decision is better than indecision – Tony Soprano

This is a tricky market to look for a job or start a business. The economy is volatile, so employers and customers are fickle. You might put in a lot of work only to lose out on an offer or project. A lot of my clients are hesitant when we start a big push: Will this work out? What if I am going down the wrong path? Movement, however small and in whatever direction, is preferable to doing nothing. A wrong decision is better than indecision.

At the very least, you’ll find out what’s not working or what you don’t like, and you can use that to move in a different direction. You’ll get a sense for what employers or customers think of you, and you can use that feedback to better position yourself. It’s easier to respond to something than to create from scratch.

Pick a company to research. Pick a customer to pitch to. Decisions aren’t forever, so you can always refine and adjust. But at least make one decision to get started.

What Is The Better Metric: Feelings Or Numbers

What gets measured gets managed – Peter Drucker

I’m with Drucker on this one so I track things quantitatively:

revenues by client;
revenues by date (lots of businesses have seasons);
revenues by type of offering (sometimes ideas don’t do as well as you think they will!);
revenues by historical comparison (it’s helpful to understand exactly how you’re growing);
costs – whether recurring or one-time;
costs – whether fixed or variable.

On the personal side, I track my spending and my time (so I know whether or not I exercise as much as I intend to!).

…people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou

That said, sometimes feelings are the better metric. I’m not as good at this one, so I think of this quote often. If you prove a point but at the expense of the other person’s feelings, you probably still won’t get anywhere.

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. — Albert Einstein

Einstein has it exactly right. There is no one suitable metric for everything. You have to run the numbers and understand your data. But not everything can be boiled down to numbers, nor should it.

What do you measure in your business and in your personal life? How do you measure it?

Favorite Takeaways From The Inside Edge Small Business Conference

I had the good fortune of attending a fascinating business conference organized by The Corporate Agent. Inside Edge 2013 (April 17-20) focused on how small businesses could effectively pitch and win business with big corporations. There is too much to summarize from the 4-day event but here were some of my favorite takeaways:

As entrepreneurs we aren’t reward on our efforts. Our results are our rewards. – Angelique Rewers, The Corporate Agent

Sometimes improving your results is not about what you need to do; it’s what you need to STOP doing – Angelique Rewers, The Corporate Agent

The only person who can stop, limit or restrict your success is you – Angelique Rewers, The Corporate Agent

Knowledge not acted on is useless trivia – Larry Broughton

Representation, Observation, Interaction = ROI of LinkedIn – JD Gershbein, Owlish Communications

Be flexible about how you do things, but be inflexible about why you do things – Scott Robley, Infusionsoft

Successful businesses quit survival marketing – Scott Robley, Infusionsoft

Branding is not a logo, tagline, name, design, message, marketing, social media, or website. Branding is a desired perception. – Re Perez, Branding For The People

You don’t own your brand; you shape it – Re Perez, Branding For The People

Great marketers don’t make stuff. They make meaning – Seth Godin

People buy people. Who you are is always more important than what you do – Eiji Morishita, Genius Marketing Academy

Make the pie bigger. Be the tide that lifts all boats – Eiji Morishita, Genius Marketing Academy

Don’t confuse business with charity. Serve clients who can afford you. Give to those who can’t – Eiji Morishita, Genius Marketing Academy

Content isn’t King. Insight is King – Angelique Rewers, The Corporate Agent

It was so nice getting away from the daily grind of the business to think more broadly, get inspired, and meet new people. An added bonus was staying in an ultra-luxurious resort (and yes, I made time for a spa treatment). There was the requisite swag bag, including a treat from one of my favorite boutiques, Pink Olive.

While I’m climbing my way back after four days away, it’s a worthwhile investment. What investment or conference do you have on tap to forward your business in 2013?

7 Blogging Lessons From Social Media Expert Lori Greene

I had the privilege of hearing a talk by social media expert, Lori Greene, sponsored by New York Women In Communications. Greene has devised content strategies with venerable brands, including BBC, History Channel and The World Business Forum and teaches social media and content strategies at NYU. Here are my 7 favorite takeaways:

1) 22% of Fortune 500 companies blog v. 45% of Inc 500 and 80% of non-profits

I was surprised by the stat, and of course, it merits further probing before jumping to conclusions. But as a blogger who writes to build my own business, does this mean that the biggest companies didn’t need blogs? As a blogger who also writes for pay for other sites, does this signal a business opportunity to go after the 78%? Perhaps, it’s both, but those stats blew me away.

2) Content strategy = what is your unique value proposition + what people will come to you for

Greene shared the example of how she grew BBC America’s traffic over 100% (and won Cable Website of the Year) by focusing not just on how BBC had content around all things British (its unique value proposition), but also how BBC already had brand awareness among people of being the British channel (so people would already be familiar). This is a great exercise for even the solo writer – most of us know our expertise but what will people EXPECT from us? WHY do your readers COME to you?

3) Launch off of current themes (so be fast)

BBC hired a dedicated Royal Wedding blogger. International Women’s Day is coming up on March 8, so Greene is recommending a piggyback off that holiday for a client whose target demo is women. How can you set our editorial calendar to take advantage of upcoming events? The Oscars are on Sunday, St. Easter is early this year, the tax deadline is coming up…

4) Test a lot (and follow the numbers)

Greene advocates experimentation and then actually using the numbers (traffic, comments, forwards) as a guide for future posts and subjects. This means doing more of what audiences flock to, but also dropping categories that aren’t resonating. What ideas should you say NO to?

5) Openness + transparency = criticism (so prepare)

Greene recommends watching comments and proactively responding to reader feedback. This includes negative feedback, such as when a Dell computer malfunctioned and Dell posted the story on its own blogging page, responding to it, and engaging in the discussion rather than squashing it. How can you better engage with our detractors?

6) New ideas spread best

Greene stressed the importance of entertaining content that offers an original spin or point of view. How can you entertain? What is new about what you want to say?

7) Number 7 works best for lists

Greene has found that Top 10 lists work but lists of 7 are also very effective. I’ve been guilty of breaking my posts into lessons of 3 or 5! I know 7 as a final digit has been found to work well with pricing, so this seems reasonable. So I’ll stop the lessons here, at number 7, as a toast to a great workshop.

Business Lessons From Shark Tank Judge Barbara Corcoran

I was excited to get a free ticket to an all-day seminar on entrepreneurship, sponsored by the World of Business Ideas, featuring Shark Tank judge and real estate entrepreneur Barbara Corcoran, along with other diverse thought leaders such as Alexandra Wilkis Wilson of Gilt Groupe, Will Pearson of Mental Floss, and Slava Rubin of Indiegogo. Here were some key takeaways from the day:

Be great at failure.

Barbara shared how she was fired several times over 20+ jobs before coming into real estate and selling her company for $66 MM.

Know how to work the press.

Barbara was able to compete with the big firms by issuing a regular report on the state of the real estate market, which gave her credibility and a platform for sharing her work. She also was ready with quick sound bites to keep the press interested. Finally, she nurtured celebrity relationships to attract publicity.

Put pressure on yourself.

Barbara always rented double the office space that she needed to use the pressure of the empty desks and the fixed costs involved to spur on the growth.

Hire people who complement you.

Barbara talked about two types of personalities, Expanders and Containers (the dreamers and the detailed). She was an Expander, so she partnered with a Container to mind the details. I found it particularly interesting that she offered her partner 1% equity per year over 10 years, so 10% total when she sold. A partnership does not have to be even close to 50/50 to work!

Get ready to fire poor performers.

Barbara had a systematic way of ranking her staff and firing the bottom quarter. She did give regular reviews and offered three months to turn things around, but she was ready to fire if her clear performance benchmarks weren’t met. Barbara also didn’t tolerate complainers, “thieves of emotional energy.”

Take care of superstars.

Barbara offered manicures, massages, parties and offsites to the rest of her staff at a cost that could have supported more runway for poor performers. Instead, she deliberately chose to invest her money in the winners. She also focused on fun, outrageous party themes (e.g., a cross-dressing party!) to build culture and team spirit. Barbara justified her preference for the bizarre because it is the “kissing cousin of innovation.”

Barbara shared a story of her top real estate broker, Carrie Chiang, who made $18 MM in commissions (at an average 6%, that’s $300 MM in sales!) by becoming a specialist in the Taiwan market. When the Taiwan economy collapsed, Carrie didn’t miss a beat, immediately hiring two Japanese assistants to break into that booming market and had an even more successful year after losing her key client base.

Don’t dwell on bad conditions. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Your own choices and actions trump market conditions. How can you pull a Carrie Chiang in your business? Which lesson from Barbara Corcoran will you implement today?