No Limits Ladies.com

Okay, I must be the last person on the planet to read this book. I'm perverse. When everyone tells me to do something, I flip them the bird. Everyone was saying 'read this book.' I replied 'over my dead body.' Well, you're looking at a corpse because I read it. In one sitting.

I laughed (love the man's sense of humor) and I learned some stuff.

I could directly relate to the sections about not waiting to live life and working on my own terms. That's why I write for 4 months and take business gigs for 8 months. My corporate pals thought I was crazy at the time. Not anymore.

I SO felt the chapters about retirement stress. I went through the lack of meaning, the feeling of isolation, and I couldn't take it (why I take the business gigs). I tell everyone I failed at retirement.

What did I apply from The 4-Hour Workweek?

I only respond to emails (well, the business ones) once a day. That's it. I DO read them as they come in (looking for urgent stuff - it has been a week and nothing urgent thus far). Waiting to reply saves a LOT of time. Y'all know I'm horrible at moderating comments. I do that once a week. I don't want to build a community of chatters. I want to build a community of doers.

I gotta seriously looking at automating more. I'm still not sure what I'm doing with my blogs (including this one). They take so much time but I do enjoy them.

I also stopped advertising (via Adwords) my writing site with the headline Free Romance Reads. Ferriss says that attracts freeloading deadbeats and I can attest to that. I don't think I sold a single novel to an Adwords clicker.

I only wish I wasn't so perverse and had read this book a few months ago. It would have made my summer easier.

Whenever I send out a piece of mail, I stick a couple of business cards (with my cover and website on it) inside and seal the envelope with a sticker of my cover (with website).

Whenever I go to the bookstore or the book section of Target/Wal-Mart, I bring my business cards and stuff a few in related books. It doesn't damage the book (I've tested it). I could buy an insert in these books but my budget only allows me to make my own.

When I donate a book or magazine (or leave them on buses and subway trains), I put a sticker of my cover art (with website) on the inside cover or back of the magazine.

Does this boost sales? I don't know but I do know it costs pennies to do and can't really hurt. It also makes me feel good to, as the hubby calls it, ABM or always be marketing. You see, when you get in the habit of ABM, it is only one short step to ABS (Always Be Selling). Both are crucial to building businesses.

In my market, I was part of a team to first bring character based marketing to the juice box segment. They were fruit characters with a number of occupations, a rock star apple, a soccer playing orange, a video game playing grape. Yes, we could have used a real rock star, a real soccer play, a real video gamer, but we wanted to build a timeless trio. We were also wary of linking our kid based brand to real people with real problems (everyone has problems).

There were some lessons learned from the test markets. The biggest one is that while girls may buy boy or girl characters, boys will only buy boy characters. The woman in me might have riled at how sexist that was but the businesswoman knew in order to maximize profits, we had to launch all male characters.

Why did we decide upon fruit? Well, that was an easy choice. The fruit characters represented the juice flavors. We also lucked out because fruit is a variety of primary colors (kids love primary colors – I don't know why so many parents paint kid bedrooms in pastels).

If you're thinking of creating a character to represent your company, there was a great article in Entrepreneur talking more about it.

One of my loves is new product development. Now, you would think new product development is all about the future. That's why it is called new. Au contraire. Successful product developers have a healthy knowledge of the past. They know why some products worked and why some products didn't. Knowing all this ups the (very slim) odds of the new product working.

The best book I've ever read on the history of product development (especially consumer product goods) is What Were They Thinking? from Robert M. McMath. This was first published a decade ago but all the lessons still apply today (plus it is a history book – history books don't often become dated). McMath studied over 80,000 new products, both the wins and losses.

One of the many gems? People usually don't buy products that remind them of their shortcomings. An example? Baby boomers and older don't want to be reminded they are older. They prefer to buy youth creams rather than anti-aging formulas. Anti-aging reminds boomers they are aging. Exactly what they don’t want. Overweight people want to buy slimming pills, not fat reducing pills. A small difference in wording makes a big difference in sales.

Another? Don't sell 'ice cubes to cocker spaniels.' McMath talks about smokeless cigarettes. Smokeless cigarettes make non-smokers happy. The problem is… non-smokers don't buy cigarettes. It sounds simple but why then are there hybrid Escalades? The average person buying an Escalade isn't interested in saving the environment. They revel in the decadence of an Escalade.

When managing my personal expenses, I prefer paying costs once rather than paying for each transaction. I'll buy a car, rather than lease it. As a heavy internet user, I'll pay a monthly charge rather than a by minute charge. I'll own rather than rent. It almost always ends up lowering costs.

For business, it is exactly the opposite.

I prefer my expenses to be variable with my revenue. I choose Adword's pay-per-click over banner ads. I outsource activities rather than pay a salaried employee. I rent office space rather than buy a building. Even though it can sometimes end up as more expensive. Why? Because in slow times (like right now), these expenses are either naturally reduced or can be easily shed.

Another plus is flexibility. A big advantage small business has is being able to react quicker to changing environments. That means our expenses have to be able to change also. We can't be using an obsolete or irrelevant fixed asset just because we already paid for it.

Go variable, not fixed with expenses.

After a month of delays, I finally secured a start date on the new contract for this Friday (why Friday instead of Monday? I have no idea but I'm not going to argue with it). Finding this out yesterday after the free-falling on the markets made reactions to my news quite interesting.

No, I'm not going back to work because of the losses in my portfolio (and yes, I had losses, I don’t know many investors who didn't). And it isn't even because I'm scrambling for more cash to invest (there are some real deals out there, REITs selling for less than their liquidation prices) though that was a nice perk.

I'm going back to work because after 4.5 months at home, I'm going buggy. I should be writing my third novel (actually it is a novella) but haven't any interest in it. I want to get back to business. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm currently organizing a promotion for one of my writing blogs. I'm contacting 61 authors, asking for holiday themed excerpts. These 61 authors run the range from an author with her first book out at a small press (like me) to a household name New York Times Bestselling author.

You know what?

The NYT Bestselling authors were easier to deal with. They respond with a yes or no immediately. They forward their information in a timely basis with no need for follow up. They are professional and pleasant. They care for their fans.

While I almost had to beg the smaller authors to respond, the bestselling authors volunteered extras such books to give away.

I attended a round table with Sean Parker (Founder Of Facebook), Jimmy Wales (Founder of Wikipedia), and Seth Godin (marketing guru) in January. All three agreed that customers value having a direct relationship with companies. Email allows them to do this easily, and as Parker pointed out, they are "so happy to get a response."

Small companies can do this and often can do this better than large companies. Their email responses can be chatty and personal, unique to that customer, putting a human face on the company. It is a big advantage we have. Don't squander it.

There was a brilliant article about business succession planning in the October issue of MoneySense. It revolved around Thomas Deans' new book Every Family's Business. Deans is a fourth generation family business owner. The difference is… each generation started their own businesses.

We all know the dismal stats behind family businesses. Only 30% pass successfully to the second generation and 10% to the third. Deans' family figured 'why fight those odds?' They practice the start and sell philosophy. They build businesses with the goal to sell them upon the founder's retirement.

That doesn't mean the second generation can't buy the business. It merely means that they will have to buy it at fair market value (i.e. want it enough to pay full pop). Of course, because they can be booted out of the business at any time, family members have to ensure their own skills and talents remain marketable (SO important, I've talked a bit in the past about this).

Does this create more tension between generations? No, actually it creates less. Siblings aren't trying to compete against each other in order to 'win' the business. They know whoever gets it, will pay full price.

Deans reminds us that "the family business should never become more important to the family."

I completely agree.

I was reading the April 28th edition of BusinessWeek in the library last week. Yes, it was free to do but that isn't what this post is all about. (Grinning) Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, had been interviewed. Although his company is WAY past the bootstrapping stage (light years past), he still pushes back hard on expenses.

Why?

He says "I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out."

I completely agree. Growing up on a farm dirt poor and being Irish, I watched my mother do things with potatoes I never knew possible. Did you know you can make bread with potatoes? My mom did and it was delicious (so very moist).

I spent four months eating nothing but Cheez Whiz and sliced bread. I toasted it and then put the spread on. I toasted it, put the spread on, then grilled it. I ate it cold on untoasted bread. I warmed it up in the microwave. I made grilled cheese sandwiches. I must have invented a dozen ways of eating it.

One of the things that concerns me about this generation of kids is that they don't want for anything. They aren't given the opportunity to be creative, to invent. Without that skill, it is challenging to be successful.

Being a marketing gal, new launches excite me. So when I heard my publisher Champagne Books was starting up an erotic imprint, I jumped on the chance to dig deeper into the how's and why's. I was especially interested in why Champagne Books decided on a new imprint, rather than publishing the genre under the Champagne name. The classic brand extenstion vs new brand debate.

Founder and Publisher of Champagne Books and the brand new Carnal Passions, J. Ellen Smith sat down (virtually) to answer my questions.

What was the inspiration behind Carnal Passions?

I never planned to create an erotic imprint when I first opened Champagne's doors, in fact, we specifically set out to create a house where erotica wasn't the focus. However, the market demand is there and has only increased since that time, so it was time to rethink our initial start up ideology. Since we continue to receive numerous erotic romance submissions, we decided that instead of continually turning them away, it was in our best interest to take a second look. I'm glad we did. So far, the one we've signed is very well written and a fun story too!

Why did you choose to launch the erotic line under its own imprint, rather than extending the Champagne Books brand?

Champagne Books is nearing its fourth year now, and our readers know that they will not find erotica gracing our shelves. To suddenly throw explicit material into the mix would be detrimental to the brand we've created.
Our readers do not expect to find stories filled with buzz words and explicit sex and in doing so, would alienate the very people that have made Champagne a success. I respect our readership enough that I won't allow that to happen.

And besides the obvious differences in marketing (erotic romance has a VERY different focus than traditional titles), Champagne Books eventually plans to have Young Adult (YA) titles. To have explicit material on the same website and under the same imprint as an erotic piece is just asking for trouble.

3. What are the efficiencies you project the two imprints to realize?

I do expect that there will be a certain amount of crossover between the two sites, which will be good for both imprints, and authors alike. Just because someone reads erotic romance does not mean they don't enjoy a good mystery or fantasy novel from time to time. In the same breath, someone who may like a traditional historical romance may also want something spicier now and again. With the two imprints, we can provide both.

We're very excited about this new venture and look forward to seeing where it takes us.
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Carnal Passions.

For more information on
Carnal Passions visit http://www.carnalpassions.com/
and
Champagne Books visit http://www.champagnebooks.com/

The starving artist is a label some wear with pride. Painters, musicians, writers feel the less saleable their art is, the more pure it is.

Here's the thing about saleable. Saleable means someone values an item enough to pay for it. The more valuable a patron feels your art is, the more they'll pay to own it. In contrast, if you can't sell your art, it usually means no one wants it. Who wants to produce something no one wants? Why would that be something to be proud of?

But… But… But… true artists don't "sell out", you argue.

Really?

Do you consider Blues Legend B.B. King a true artist? Well, by this narrow (and broke a$$) definition, he'd be a sell out.

In an interview with Spirit Magazine, he says

"In my early teens, I would sit on the street corners and play gospel songs. People would listen, applaud, pat me on the head, and tell me, "You'll be good one day." But they never tipped. When I played a blues song, though, they always tipped. Always. That's when I knew I wanted to play the blues."

Why did they tip? I'm guessing because the music moved them. They valued the experience enough to voluntarily pay for it.

Photo Taken By Jack O'Diamonds. See Link for copyright information.

I like to buy quality and that extends to food containers. Sure, I reuse margarine tubs, those are free and destined to the landfill otherwise, but when it comes to buying containers, I prefer Tupperware over the less pricey brands. Why? Because of the lifetime guarantee. If it breaks, peels, chips, etc, the company will replace the container.

No matter how old it is or where you bought it from.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. When I found this out, I thought the same thing. I ALWAYS scoop up any Tupperware found at yard sales. Not only are the older pieces collectable and usually better quality, but they can be exchanged if dented or scratched for new.

Please, please, please tell your loved ones about this guarantee. My mother threw out her old (brown – remember that line?) Tupperware. I groaned when I heard that. Don't let that happen to you. This is heirloom stuff, it should be passed from generation to generation.

My mom tells me that as a child, I was ugly as sin (my dark hair would fall out in patches for some reason) but I was always smiling and laughing so folks would comment on how cute I was. I was happy even during the dirt poor, not eating every day years and I'm still a happy person today.

An article by Daren Fonda shares that the wealthier are happier (due to the freedom money brings) and healthier than the average person.

I firmly believe happy people are happy people and miserable people are miserable people no matter what the wealth level.

However, having more money means when disasters strike, there is a faster rebound to happy.

Look at the dear folks in New Orleans (one of my favorite cities in the world). When Gustav was only a baby storm, the wealthy flew out of town and had the luxury of staying at hotels or other homes without worrying about the expense. They worried for a couple minutes, spent money to solve that worry, and returned to their happy state.

The low net worth folks had no transportation options other than the buses supplied right before the storm hit. They had to weigh staying and risking death against leaving and incurring bills they couldn't pay for. Even when they were safe from Gustav, they worried. They worry today.

I have a loved one thinking about returning to work after a medical crisis because he can't afford to stay home. He shouldn't be working. He should be recovering. Lack of money will mean he'll be ill longer.

Does money buy happiness? No. But it removes some of the barriers to happiness.

Gerry Myers has a great article on how to negotiate with women. I especially love the section 'If you want my money, don't call me honey.'

Now, I don't mind endearments. I use them myself. You can even use them in a professional capacity. I know many executive assistants who call everyone dear. HOWEVER, and this is a big however (hence the caps – grinning), they call everyone that. Male or female.

If you would (and do) use the same endearment with a male colleague (and use them with the male colleagues in front of me before using them with me), then go for it. But if you're only using it with me (and especially in that condescending little woman tone), don't. Whether you are male or female. Doesn't matter.

IF you want to get our business. I'm building an elite club of advanced readers for my romance novels. I deliberately make my email approaches casual. If recipients get insulted, they're not good candidates for the club. Yeah, I'm screening them. I want people with a sense of humor. No grumpy grumps in this club.

Of course, once you build up trust and a relationship, almost anything goes. Well, when you're alone. When you're with other less familiar business associates, it is back to formal.