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aching and peer support we each carry a lot of weight that family friends employees and clients often cannot understand and then there s the paperwork don t get me started on that topic by the way you might want to check out what mbo partners has to offer on that front i really wonder how many promising businesses we lose to isolation burnout so what s the solution i m not sure there s a single solution but the starting point is this just as cash flow is vital to your ongoing success so is peer relational flow whether you find your support network locally virtually or by a combination of the two make it a priority to de isolate independence is a good thing but cultivating a level of interdependence may be the key to remaining sane we all need fuel and we all need to fuel others periodic breakfasts with people like brian moran regular lunches with some of my pharma clients partners brainstorming meetings with joe cascio skype sessions with far flung people in my network these are all ways that help keep me energized doing the work i love fulfills me but in the downtimes in the business development efforts in the reversals it can get discouraging but maybe there s something else that we can get better at doing let s look at our twitter streams and see the many connections that we know are solo maybe we need to more purposefully reach out and ask folks how they re doing how they re really doing we tend to assume that everyone else is doing just great but if you re ready to throw in the towel today because of loneliness and isolation then it s a safe bet that 5 other people you know are just trying to keep up a brave front while crumbling inside too i m happy to be a solopreneur i love the freedom to chart my own course but let s not be in denial there can be a downside as well so how are you doing really doing let s keep each other company on the journey photo credit brian auer via photopin cc filed under consulting entrepreneur tagged with entrepreneur isolation loneliness small business social network solopreneur one sentence marketing advice from a physics genius march 15 2013 by steve woodruff 1 comment it takes clarity of thought and expression to be a brilliant physicist no less so to be an effective marketer and or business owner if einstein were a marketer i think he d advise you to de fog your business image source filed under clarity therapy marketing tagged with albert einstein clarity clarity therapy marketing when your market says to pivot march 14 2013 by steve woodruff 2 comments i m all for a well thought out go to market strategy but i ve often advised consultants and other small businesses to leave your directional map at about 80 and let the market inform you about the remaining 20 why because you will pivot to some extent and your customers will show you where and how a recent example from my experience i ve been doing clarity therapy sessions for a variety of individuals and companies for a couple of years now typically these are one day intensive sessions with a few months of minor follow up i did not however anticipate performing any kind of ongoing business coaching i saw clarity therapy as an event not a long term process until clients starting asking for more a lot more and a wealth of helpful lessons from past experience began to come to the surface turns out that being an outside voice giving perspective on overall business structure specific creative offerings client account management and staffing plus identifying resources via networking is a much bigger need than i realized the most interesting revelation of all how lonely it is to be a small business owner or solo consultant i mean i knew that right i am one but it didn t really occur to me how important it is for us to have an outlet a peer a mentor a friend who can come alongside for the long term and help get a business to a new level there are short term and one shot needs but clients are saying to also think about the deeper longer haul bonus that approach actually suits me quite well i prefer those kind of business relationships truth is there s a lot of stuff we just can t say to customers employees colleagues even family members it s frustrating and the lack of a healthy outlet and fresh perspective clogs our mind and heart so i now find myself offering business coaching for people and businesses seeking to grow and needing outside advice and encouragement it s not really a change of direction just a natural extension that i didn t anticipate how about you how have your customers caused you to pivot i ve seen a number of my social media people evolve over time and it s pretty fascinating what s your story image freedigitalphotos net filed under career clarity therapy tagged with branding career clarity clarity therapy coaching consultant entrepreneur marketing pivot the one indispensable ingredient for success march 7 2013 by steve woodruff 2 comments initiative show me a person with limited abilities and experience but the willingness and drive to take prolonged action and i ll show you an eventual success on the other hand show me someone with immense talent stellar education and little initiative and i ll show you a coulda been initiative is the great un equalizer initiative isn t the only thing you need but without it you re adrift make it happen filed under career entrepreneur one great idea march 1 2013 by steve woodruff 2 comments all you need is one great idea well maybe that s not all you need you need to be able to execute on that idea and you need a network of resources and supporters to help you along the way but if you want to be a successful entrepreneur it starts with a great idea a way to meet an unaddressed need a product nobody s produced yet a role as a new intermediary and you don t have to be a fountain of dozens of business ideas you just need one an idea courage a great network is a wonderful formula for success what s your idea photo credit diegodiazphotography via photopin cc filed under creativity entrepreneur tagged with entrepreneur idea startup meaningless marketing february 27 2013 by steve woodruff 1 comment note i am now blogging at my brand spanking new site stevewoodruff com just click here to subscribe to the new feed bonus you can also sign up at the same time for my astonishingly brief yet brilliant e newsletter clarity blend see sample and when you sign up you ll get a free download of my helpful new e book make yourself clear six steps to de fogging your direction and your message if your company name and tagline could mean a whole bunch of different things to a whole bunch of different people it s meaningless global technical solutions where technology drives customer value meaningless dwilgoq it s on meaningless the robert higgins group we mean business meaningless take a stand you can t do everything for everyone so define your niche and project a clear message get out of the fog i do realize that it is a challenge in this url crowded era to find a unique name but at least try to have a descriptor a verbal business card that tells us what you re about i interacted this week with marc pitman his title the fundraising coach the summary he gives of himself on google committed to making it ridiculously easy for people to find fundraising training bingo i know exactly where to put marc in the universe of suppliers but if instead his title was the business coach well then i d be unable to place him in memory if his verbal business card was i help people find what they need to succeed despite the cute rhyme he d be another mbe m eaningless b usiness e ntity it may help you in business to have your mba but if you re working on your mbe you re making life far more difficult than it should be for your customers and ultimately for you you need to claim your market place if you think you ve got a case of mbe let s talk maybe a dose of clarity therapy is just what you need to get more meaning ful ping me at steve at stevewoodruff dot com photo credit vinothchandar via photopin cc filed under branding clarity therapy marketing tagged with branding clarity marketing tagline ros return on sobcon february 26 2013 by steve woodruff 3 comments i ll be chicago again this may to attend my fourth sobcon conference if you haven t gone before and if you re a high quality collaborative smart pay it forward person i hope you ll join us why the italics above because that s what i think about when i contemplate sobcon the incredible people i ve met people who ve become long term friends and collaborators people like lisa petrilli with whom i co launched leadershipchat after we met at sobcon and began our years of brainstorming and collaborating she is a dear friend sean mcginnis with whom i had lunch and immediately built a deep bond that continues to this day justin mccullough a spur of the moment branding discussion including drew mclellan during a sobcon social gathering led to valuable ongoing back and forth over recent years carol roth who greeted me with a bright smile at the evening event kicking off the meeting and has remained a valued colleague ever since congrats on the big news this week carol anthony iannarino a rock of friendship and encouragement since the day we met in the room at sobcon several years back yes the content and discussions at sobcon are valuable but what stands out to me is the people who come together to learn and grow and challenge one another people i now interact with on a regular basis such as lisa diomede becky mccray sheila scarborough shashi bellamkonda amber cleveland molly cantrell kraig marla schulman justin levy darrell derochier phil gerbyshak liz marshall sarah robinson brian moran jesse petersen chris brogan jon swanson alli worthington angela maiers lou imbriano judy martin geoff livingston tim sanders darrell derochier fred mcclimans danielle smith chris garrett and undoubtedly others i m failing to bring to mind at the moment special thanks of course to terry starbucker st marie and liz strauss for putting on this labor of love each year they are the heart and soul of sobcon you want return on investment just look a the list above all high quality collaborative smart pay it forward people sobcon is not merely a conference it s like a family of networking professionals if you ve not had a chance to go put it on your calendar filed under conference networking tagged with sobcon the lazy social networker february 25 2013 by steve woodruff 2 comments note i am now blogging at my brand spanking new site stevewoodruff com just click here to subscribe to the new feed bonus you can also sign up at the same time for my astonishingly brief yet brilliant e newsletter clarity blend see sample and when you sign up you ll get a free download of my helpful new e book make yourself clear six steps to de fogging your direction and your message the lazy social networker opens a twitter account throws up a few inspirational tweets and a bunch of rts and expects the world to roll out a red carpet and hand over an oscar for best performance this year the lazy social networker buys into the notion that more hashtags will mean more followers which will mean a bigger reputation which will somehow lead to more fame and riches quickly the lazy social networker follows all the advice about writing blogs with top 10 lists and newsjacking topics contributing to the tsunami of noise without producing any valuable signal the lazy social networker then gives up when it doesn t work little effort did not produce the anticipated big return be prepared to spread a lot of useful seed in the form of thoughtful content be prepared to water that effort with purposeful and caring relationship cultivation be prepared to rinse and repeat for the long haul and experience the outflow of a lot of effort with perhaps a good bit less return than you ever anticipated in other words be prepared to work just like every other worthy endeavor there may be a lot of effort with little return for a season that s how agriculture works that s how business works that s how life works the lazy social networker will fade off as for you be in it for the long haul you re building relationships and adding value not grasping at some cheap short term applause you re growing an orchard not inflating a balloon the fruit comes in abundance over time filed under blogging networking social media tagged with apple best performance blog lazy oscar social media social networking twitter work the now and the not yet february 23 2013 by steve woodruff 1 comment one of the great mysteries in this drama called life is the tension between the now and the not yet there are times when we need to act now and delay means a loss of opportunity it may even display cowardice yet there are other aspects of our life that are on long simmer we re made for this but not yet it s tricky on a given day month year or decade to know what is now and what is not yet when do we seize the day and when do we need more seasoning in our own character and experience as parents we yearn for our kids to get their act together and be gold medal human beings by the time they reach 20 but people especially young people don t often seem to follow our script the long haul of the not yet is the constant sometimes painful companion of everyone who joins the adventure of shaping a new generation several things are coalescing in my life right now that lead me to believe that it s time for instance i ve known since my late teens that i was destined to write books yet only now in my 50 s do i feel like i ve developed the message and the voice and the direction and the platform to start long form writing that doesn t mean i haven t been thinking and writing and learning all along i have but there was a not yet doorstop in my soul for decades as i slowly developed some however end up successfully launching businesses or books or speaking careers or multimedia fame in their 20 s the now came early how can you program or predict all that you can t but sometimes we can help other people decide between the now and the not yet by providing an objective voice don t underestimate the importance of a pointed encouragement forward or a cautious word of wisdom to wait i ve got no answers just that we have to be ready for now each day and be patient about the not yet even when it seems to make no sense to wait how do you live with this tension filed under musings training to communicate february 22 2013 by steve woodruff 3 comments anyone that knows me well knows that i have a passion for writing in fact it s really a passion for all things communication including speaking video social media etc as a blogger i traffic in a lot of written material much of what i see is quite frankly pretty amateurish writing clearly and succinctly is crucial to work effectiveness and it s a rarely trained skill it doesn t matter what position people occupy in their profession everyone from the newly hired...