Writer, Entrepreneur and Life Coach offers

This could be a lesson for life in general, but it is just as valuable for interaction with potential clients and readers for your website / blog.

Speak softly: 

In today’s society our use of language has taken a turn for the crude, the often obnoxious and frequently obscene. Dirty talk has become almost a norm for many people, rather then an exception. In so many areas it appears as if you can not even have a normal conversation anymore with folks of the opposite gender without it being taken into a “flirtatious” arena.

 This might be all fine and good if you are dealing with this away from business related matters, but unless you are involved in the adult industry and that is your job, it is hardly appropriate in business interaction. Am I being prudish here? To some of you I might be, but there are still some old fashioned business people out there, who will not take you serious if you think you can “flirt” your way through your business day.

Yes, of course we all know those who have slept their way to the top. It is part of the dark side of business, along with over paid CEO’s and their mega bonuses. Just as bribes into the right pockets have paved many business ventures for bigger corporations. Yet one thing remains the same, you often fall a lot faster then you have risen, if you do it in shady ways.

 When you address someone unknown to you, you are not aware of their sensibilities. You have no idea of what their personal moral code might be like. So often we as human beings make the assumption that just because something does not offend us, it is perfectly alright to push it on others. Nothing could be further from the truth.  When it comes to business, you need to keep your mind firmly on the bottom line. Which is make a good impression, get the deal in as fair a manner to both parties as possible, and follow through with your agreement to the successful conclusion of the business deal at hand.

 So many seem to think, that a one time great deal is enough! If you feel that way, you are setting yourself up for failure. You as a wise business owner need to think ahead! To me a blogger or writer, a website owner who makes their income from those ventures is a business owner as well. With that in mind, anything that generates you an income needs to be handled with a business mind and attitude.

Let me return to the setting yourself up for failure statement. Each time you approach someone about a business deal you are marketing a product so few of us think about. You are marketing yourself. Yes you might not be selling yourself, but you are selling your knowledge, your credibility, and your honor. You are the spokes person for your company, your product and for those whom you represent. If you come off like a street person about to make a shady deal, or someone begging for a couple of dollars, those on the other side of that table are not going to look at you with the respect and interest in dealing with you as you desire. The same goes for each time you write another blog post, or add yet another page to your website. YOU are the one who controls in the end how others perceive you. Never just look for the one time deal, but work hard on building a great rapport between you and your clients or readers. Look for the continuing return and give them a reason to do so. Leave the party attitude and talk at the door, unless it is part of your business. In that case forget what I said and enjoy.

Tread easy: 

Tread easy to me represents the “honest offer”! What do I mean by that? Don’t make promises you can not hold. Do not claim to know more then you actually do. Remember that there is always someone who knows just a little bit more on a subject then you do. You may or you may not be called upon your lack of knowledge, but those who think they can pretend their way through life in the end will fail. There is not shame in admitting you don’t know something. I try to learn something new daily. In the big picture I am just a tiny little fish in a big pond. My advice is not backed up by multimillion dollar market research, but it is my honest opinion and a lot of common sense. I pass along to you what I have learned by doing – both right and wrong – and by paying attention to what those around me have done.

I am an Entrepreneur, but I am not a big shot money guru. You won’t see me writing any books titled “How to make a million dollars in 10 hours or less!” Simply because the only way I can see that would work is off the poor suckers who are sending in the $59.99 per sign up to learn the trick of the trade. So can you make the large amounts of money in a short time? Sure if you are the one that convincingly sells the dream.

I have understood over many years of doing now, that in the end it takes honesty and effort to get somewhere. It might be a long road and it might take some time, but in the end you can be honest and still make a great income even these days on the internet. It is simply called building a loyal clientele and that you can only do by giving them something worth having.

 Tread easy with your promises and claims. Don’t open your mouth so wide that the BS falls out. Be sure that what you offer can live up to the claims you are making. You may take a little bit longer to get to the rainbow, but once you are there you have the satisfaction of knowing you have done it the right way. Success is your right; you don’t need to feel guilty about it. There is plenty of it available out there for everyone! You do not need to feel dirty about being successful, but you have to allow yourself to have it and do it the honorable way.  This includes working for it, keeping at it when times get tough, and doing what it takes without trying to walk over someone else along the way.

Think hard:

Last but not least is thinking before you act and speak. Take some time to think ahead, before jumping to action or conclusions. Don’t over analyze things either; you will never know all the facts. You need to find a good and solid middle ground in that process. Not enough thought can cost you great opportunities and a lot of money. Thinking so much that you never get around to taking actions can do the same.

 Make yourself familiar with human behavior and psychology a little. There are many areas of being where we humans react very similar in the same situations. Make certain you do not by your behavior or choice of words, trigger a negative response in those you are trying to deal with on a daily bases. Again you are the one that will in the end be responsible for the outcome if you have been simply too blind, thoughtless or lazy to think ahead.

 Over the years I have dealt with many people who had the attitude: It is my way or the highway. I personally have found that those with this particular attitude will lose out on a lot of wonderful opportunities, people and ways to grow in business and personally. There have to be some standards, that is a given, but when you become so close minded that you are not willing to listen to anyone but yourself any more it is time to just pack your bags and move to Mars.

 I know that at times my thinking and trained in attitudes (and yes folks all of our attitudes have been trained into us by circumstances and life lessons) can be faulty. I am always willing to listen to what someone else has to tell me, but then it is up to me to either see it as my personal truth or disregard it. Quiet often I have found that I can gain a little grain of wisdom and knowledge from even the simplest suggestion or opinion someone else has voiced. Sometimes that is enough to kick me into a new way of thinking and now growth has begun. As I grow and evolve, so does my business. As I learn new things, I can pass my new found knowledge in simple language on to someone else who is still looking for it.

 Think hard before you reject someone else’s knowledge, thoughts and words out of hand. They might just have been the missing piece you needed to move that extra step forward. Even if it was something you could not agree with, it still gave you an opportunity to think deeper about the subject at hand.

 Think hard before closing a door in someone’s face. I see that out there so much in both relationships and business. Just because this individual is not exactly what you wanted, might not be as easy to deal with as you might have liked and you are finding yourself a little bit challenged now, you should still think hard about what positive trades they bring to the table. Quiet frequently you get rejected as a novice writer, because you do not have the long and impressive portfolio that other established authors have. Quiet frequently companies do not want to hire someone with little or no experience, because they do not feel that this would be to their best interest. In my opinion there are two problems with this soft of action.

 #1 How is someone suppose to gain experience or that impressive portfolio if nobody is willing to give them a chance in the first place? You had to start out somewhere as well, didn’t you? So why are you so against giving someone else a hand up?

 #2 This new writer or untrained person might just be the fresh voice and outlook you need in your company to push it forward. Sometimes we get so stagnated that this little bit of fresh air can bring out engines to run a lot smoother again.

 Will they make mistakes at first? Certainly, count on it. Didn’t you make mistakes when you first started out? Don’t you still make mistakes from time to time? So what is the difference? Again think hard, before rejecting anything out of hand.

 Think hard before you make any new associations. Ask some questions about this new person or company. Ask them some questions which are not on the cheat sheet you have always in front of you. See how they behave in a normal setting. Don’t try to trap them, but don’t allow them to feed into your ego either. How many times have you seen this little song and dance? “Oh you are so amazing, you are just so talented! I think your company is one of the best and that is why I want to work for you.”

 Personally every time I hear the over the top compliments from someone who barely knows me, my warning flags go up high. I prefer honesty, and I don’t particular fancy false compliments and fluttery eye lashes. I guess you could say I look for something other then “make me feel important” from people.

 Those I have treasured the most in my past are the ones that are comfortable enough with me and think me intelligent enough to hold an honest conversation with me. Who will disagree with me, when they see I am doing something wrong. Who will tell me truthfully when they think I am being a knucklehead horses behind. I may not like what they are saying, I might even feel slightly upset at first, but once I have had time to think about it then I can see that this was the true value of someone I want to associate with.

 Kissing someone’s fluffy cheeks all the time or brown nosing is for those who need it because they can’t see their own worth. It isn’t for someone confident enough in themselves and in their business who wants to advance themselves.

Think hard before you want to surround yourself with nothing but ass kissers and fair weather friends.

 As I said this post was a good guideline as I see it for both business and real life. You can take it on both spectrums of the universe. I hope it made you think if nothing else. You don’t need to agree with me, and you can feel free to even think I am being ….

 What I would like is to hear some of your personal thoughts and opinions on that. I would love to hear from business owners out there as well as fellow bloggers/ writers and more.

As always 

Regina S.