Successful Blog

Critical Skill 6B: 5+1 Ways to a Best-Fit Niche for YOU & the Market

by

Finding that Ellusive Niche

Future Skills

Everyone talks about finding their niche, but I haven’t heard much about how to do it. How do you do a niche that fits? Finding a niche is Critical Skill 6 in what I call The 10 Skills Most Critical to Your Future. Once you can find hidden assumptions, you’re on your way to finding hidden niches.

Finding a niche that fits you and the market takes involvement, patience, and self-awareness — you need to know all points of view to get the perfect fit, and nothing less will do.

That best-fit niche is a tiny space where you’ll live, work, and relate to people. You’re going to have to like it there, but so are folks who don’t even know you. How do you find the niche that works for you and attracts an audience? [Read more…]

Critical Skill 6A: Five Tools for Finding Faulty Assumptions

by

What Is the Premise Behind your Thinking?

Future Skills

At the time I was an Executive Editor. The project was simple. Build a binder of about 300 pages. I’d probably built four times that many books already. For a rush job, this one should be a piece of cake.

We made the bookmap. We went through the usual steps. We got the pages. Got the binders. Got everything ready for assembly. That’s when we faced our hidden assumption.

We’d assumed that Binders go together exactly like books do.

They do except in one important way. Books don’t have those tab dividers. Our tiny assumption caused a major, stressful, and immediate problem. The first divider belonged between pages 23 and 24. So? [Read more…]

Bad Boys: You’re a Fraud, a Fake, a Phony

by

New Job, New Career, Finally On Your Own

badboys of business logo

We land a new position, change careers, or finally take the plunge and start that business of our own that we’ve always thought about and for the first few weeks, few months we’re sailing. Enthusiastic beginner they call it. Even though we’re not beginners. It’s the newness. Everything’s shiny. Then, it’s not.

A Bad Boy roars into our thnking. Bad Boys are negative messages, bad tape recordings, in our heads. They’re things we tell ourselves that undercut our success and productivity.

The bad boy here is “You’re a Fraud, a Fake, a Phony.”

Sound outrageous? I’ve seen it happen. I’ve predicted it. I’ve even done it myself. [Read more…]

NEW POWER WRITING FEATURE: An Editorial Makeover

by

Why Powerful Writing Is Important

Power Writing Series Logo

One of the ways I work with clients is to help them improve their writing. It might not be fair or accurate, but people judge our ability to reason by how we express ourselves in writing.

Thinking . . . writing . . . business . . . thinking . . . we can’t separate them.

business thinking writing

Together they determine our place in society. Whether you blog, write for business, or only email, writing is critical to your future.

New Feature: An Editorial Makeover

I’m introducing a new feature — An Editorial Makeover. It’s a Content Edit — a Before and After — where you can look over my shoulder. Every editor edits differently. You won’t agree with all of my choices. That could make for great conversation.

I’m starting with a paragraph from my own work Bad Boys of Business: That’s Not “Real” Work.

Turn the page to see the first Editorial Makeover. [Read more…]

Kala, a Reader, from Sprint/Nextel Cares

by

Thank you, Kala

Customer Think Logo

This morning, Kala left a comment to the post I wrote July 11 about Sprint/Nextel.

Hello. I read your blog and am very eager to assist you. I work for Sprint Nextel and would love the opportunity to resolve this matter for you. Please e-mail me with your contact information.

I sent her the emails I had received since I’d made that post public, and within minutes I had a phone call from her.

What a charming lady! She’s not only charming, she’s also in a position to change things. Kala fixed my problem in a few seconds and acknowledged that the system was broken.

How refreshing! I’ve met a telco representative who listens and she makes good things happen for customers. Her name is Kala.

Sprint/Nextel has no idea of her value to their brand.

Thank you, Kala, for your help. Thank you, too, for being a reader.

Smiles,
Liz

Bad Boys of Business: That’s Not “Real” Work

by

It’s a Bad Boys Convention

badboys of business logo

Look who came riding in behind the Bad Boys of Writing. It’s the Bad Boys of Business. They’re just as seductive as their counterparts, and like their writing friends, they do damage. Get these con guys in your head and they can blow your productivity.

Meet their point man, Bad Boy 1: That’s Not Real Work. You’re wasting time.

[Read more…]