Think Big or Go home. Although a big practice I largely played in college candy land, (please see future Chico State College book I am publishing – I am not telling who is authoring the book, and most importantly what I wrote) this principle addresses the need to stay out until 2:00 a.m. – and after having a baby, I sure do not miss being up at 2:00 a.m. – here is a good must-do. I cannot tell you how many clients and potential clients limit themselves and do not look at big picture items. I have lost track of how many people have told me that they are a local company when they can quite easily be national. Um … Hello … Internet?? Yes, quite the amazing invention. If you have a website and your product/service can be sold nationally, why would you want to limit yourself as local? You might as well call it a day and purchase your own lunch truck. Go big or go home – especially in this market, you should do yourself a favor and cast the net as wide as possible.
Don’t bore yourself unnecessarily. One thing I have learned in the past year is that since doing what I love, there are certain things that I grow more and more intolerant of doing … like anything that bores me. Here is a picture of my end of the month day: 1. I spend a better portion of the morning moaning and groaning to my team about doing expenses and invoicing blah, blah, blah (see, I am even boring myself writing about this.) This whole spectacle is followed by playing on ITunes and then dancing around to the favorite ones I downloaded (unfortunately, not kidding here either.) Still not wanting to do the admin to-do items, I next play on Social Media for at least an hour yet complaining again (see Facebook every month end … true info.) Then finally, succumbing to the boredom and completing the task. What a waste of time, right? The bottom line is that I realize that my time is too valuable to be spent on this. Meaning … if I hire someone, I can do more billable work? Make more money? Good plan. If you are boring yourself … just think about it … it is all I ask.
Strategic partners … sink or swim. The bottom line here is to do your research first. Do not partner with someone until they have a proven track record and you know the ins and outs of their company. At M Communications, we take this very seriously. When we partner with someone, we are 100 percent sure of all expectations and quality of product. Make smart decisions, do homework, and ask questions. And, don’t make decisions in “fire-drill” mode. The time you take at the beginning can mean not the catch-up game at the end. Furthermore, if someone wants to be your strategic partner and is really a big time suck that all they want from you is business with nothing in return. Here is a thought … not a partner … partner meaning a two-way street. Oh, and I have a really cool new project on my hands, thanks to a strategic partner on Linked In. If you are not on our mailing list … you should be. Sign up here.
