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I’ve repurposed this from Smart Hustle but full disclaimer (!), I authored the article. I think it raises some good points. Do you? Are you a morning person? Are you “up-and-at-em”? You know, the kind of person that springs out of bed when it is still dark outside and are ready to take on the world by 5 AM? Full confession: I am that person. Except for my teenage years, when rising before 1 PM seemed impossible, I have always been the person that greets the early morning with enthusiasm and energy. My alarm is set for 5, and there definitely isn’t a snooze! I’m in some good company too. There’s a rather large group of “overachievers” that welcome the dawn with open arms. Here’s why I start my day early: The Early Hours Are Perfect to Clean Up Email and Get a Head Start on the Day As you know, once the workday begins at 8 AM or so, the email floodgates open, phone calls and meetings begin, and it is run as fast as you can just to keep up. The early morning allows me time to relax with a cup of coffee and have “leisure” time to peruse email, read the newspaper, and send out a few touch points before the rest of the world rises. Do you ever find yourself mid-morning trying to play catch up on the emails and messages that came in overnight, all the while fighting to stay ahead of everything else that is happening in real-time? The extra hour in the morning sets up a much more calm and productive day. Early Morning is the Best Time for Creative Thinking While some people are most productive late at night, I find that the early morning hours are when I can be the most creative. My mind is relatively unfettered with the types of issues that arise throughout the day. With the early morning clarity comes an enhanced problem-solving capability, allowing me to be a more creative thinker and, in general, to produce some of my best work of the day. Personal Enrichment Can Best be Accomplished Before the Regular Workday I’ve always been an avid reader. When I get to read for 30 minutes each morning, I am much more relaxed and at peace during the day. Even if you love your work (I do) and tend not to think it as work (I don’t), it’s important to read or watch videos on topics, places, and people that can open and expand your mind in new directions. Guess What? The Gym is Empty! Have you ever spent time at the gym just waiting to get on a machine? Alternatively, have you ever found yourself elbow to elbow with people in that 7:30 PM class? If you like to fight your way through your exercise routine, by all means, show up anytime after 7 PM; but if you like to get your workout done in peace and quiet, I suggest a pre-dawn visit to the gym. I know that there are some readers shaking their heads in amazement and thinking there is no way that a 5 AM wakeup is possible, but you’d be surprised. Set the alarm 15 minutes earlier each week, go to sleep 15 minutes earlier, and in a short amount of time you may very well find yourself joining us morning risers. Give it a try. There’s no telling what you might accomplish!

When I started my own business almost 30 years ago I was psyched about the opportunity to spend my time doing all of the things that I loved to do. I would train, consult and become a trusted advisor to my clients. I saw myself adding value and becoming instrumental in my clients’ business growth, saving them from years of flat sales and diminished profits. What I didn’t take into account was that along with the things that I loved to do I was now tasked with responsibilities that I disliked and at which I wasn’t very good. Things like bookkeeping, record keeping, and various administrative duties were now included in the list of things that fell to me, and as a recent escapee from the corporate world and now the owner of a fledgling business, I had little experience doing these things. I also had very little money to hire staff and because this was 30 years ago, I didn’t have access to services like Thumbtack and Upwork, nor were there “virtual assistants” for hire. I recruited my Mom to do my bookkeeping and even though she was a trained and professional bookkeeper she had trouble making sense of my less than stellar record keeping. She forged ahead with the bookkeeping and I continued to do what I did best and ignored many of those tasks and responsibilities that hence remained undone. Until the day when my mom fired me. That’s right, she fired me. She had gone along for a few years and finally had it with the mess that I referred to as “my books” and so she fired me as a client. Faced with piles of receipts and an unbalanced checkbook, I realized that I needed to get help. All of us have things in our business that we hate to do – prospect for new clients, attend to administrative tasks, bookkeeping, content development, marketing – the list goes on and on but the good news is that there is a solution for entrepreneurs everywhere…we don’t HAVE to do it all! We have options! Once you realize that certain parts of your business aren’t working as well as they should or are being ignored altogether it is time to find resources to pick up the slack. Depending upon your circumstances you can bring in full or part-time staff, work with either a virtual assistant or find professional freelancers that offer their services through various online providers. The key is to take action fast before too much time elapses and you find that you have wasted time attending to things that other resources could have done better. As for me, I know that I wasted time and also experienced much stress when I fumbled around working on things that were neither mission critical nor fueled my entrepreneurial passion. Now I do the things that get my juices flowing and excite me and make me remember why I went into business for myself in the first place.

When I first started my own business, I underestimated just how lonely the entrepreneurial life could be. I had abandoned a familiar office environment where I could make small talk at the water cooler, share some good-natured gossip at lunch, and even get a happy hour drink (or two) with colleagues when the workday was over. Some of my coworkers even became good friends. When I ventured out on my own, I quickly learned that while I missed the natural camaraderie of the workplace there was something else missing. What do you think I missed the most? Feedback. Guidance. Suggestions. That’s right, I missed having a Manager and interested coworkers to review my work, question my assumptions, call me out on my pricing, and make valuable recommendations to help clarify my thought process. I missed being part of a team that worked together for a common purpose. For a short while after I started my business, my work suffered. Even though I was able to land clients, I continually and annoyingly second-guessed myself, reading and then rereading what I submitted, never feeling really confident that I had “nailed it.” I must admit to you: it’s not a good feeling, especially when you are deeply committed to building a successful, sustainable business. (It’s important to remember that I launched my business almost thirty years ago, long before technology kept people connected—through email, project management software, Dropbox accounts, Google docs, and more.) I struggled and found myself a bit discouraged, yet I soldiered on until a light bulb went off and it became clear what I needed to do. I am sharing these ideas because I think many of today’s budding entrepreneurs suffer despite the proliferation of collaboration tools. Maybe these will work for you too: I reached out to a group of people and asked them if they would review my work and make constructive critiques as needed. The group included friends working in similar industries and businesspeople whom I respected and were willing to take a bit of time to provide their expertise and guidance. In return, I scheduled quarterly dinners with each of them to uncover new information about their own business pursuits and how I might be able to assist them too. I took courses so that I could both increase my knowledge and skills and meet like-minded entrepreneurs with whom I could brainstorm and share ideas. Most of the professional development opportunities were continuing education classes; in addition, I continued to pursue a Master’s degree. (Again, consider there were no “online courses” of any type.) I started attending networking events and becoming a member of various industry groups. Networking wasn’t as common when I opened by business; sure there were groups but nowhere near as many as exist today. I quickly found these connections and relationships were extremely instrumental in helping to grow my business. I made introductions and grew leads and created an informal “board of advisors” that I could reach out to in the same way my former coworkers were a support system at my old company. Still, perhaps the most important thing that I did was learn to ask for help. People aren’t mind readers and won’t know when you need a guiding hand. I learned that when I asked, help was readily available and my sense of having to “go it alone” began to dissipate. Don’t get me wrong. Occasionally I still second guess my decisions and can find myself at my desk late at night feeling very alone. That feeling can be very discomforting if you don’t know how to get past it. My advice – start to build your “people” now.

. You are making the perfect connection or so you think. There are excellent synergies and it seems clear (to you anyway) that these two people can be very helpful to one another. You make a cyber introduction and as far as you can tell both individuals will be able to see the benefits of this connection. Or will they? I've given introductions in which one or both of the individuals didn’t follow-up with each other. I've also been on the receiving end of an introduction and despite my timely follow up the other person was unresponsive, even after the person that made the introduction reached out to them. What's up? Networking is like an intricate dance. There’s room for some improvisation but make no mistake about it, there are some steps that MUST be followed. Like following-up. There’s absolutely no excuse for ignoring an introduction EVEN if on the surface you don’t think that there is much potential. It’s rude and disrespectful to the person that took the time and effort to make the introduction and it is certainly unacceptable to brush off the person to whom you’ve been introduced without any sort of response. It’s easy enough to send a quick email note to explain the situation; the other person will take your cues. But as someone that’s been networking effectively for 30 years let me remind you of the old cliché, “you can’t tell a book by its cover.” After all you don’t know much about this person other than their company and what they have shared on LinkedIn. You don’t know about the bigger picture – their past clients and contacts, their relatives and friends, their extended circle of referral sources all of whom might be extremely beneficial for you and your business. With that in mind do you really want to ignore that introduction? And if you’re the person that made an introduction and one or both individuals weren’t responsive then you can simply cross them off your list of people to connect in the future. After all, our networking world is so very vast there are bound to be others that would welcome your introductions.

Here is the plain truth - if you don't have clients you don't have a business. I attend lots of networking meetings and conferences and meet many business resources that are involved with helping brand new business entities get started. They're helping entrepreneurs to launch IT firms, health and wellness consultancies, web design and PR firms and the list goes on. It hardly matters the type of business because the facts remain the same - without clients there is no business. You have an idea for a business, perhaps a fantastic idea but not a business...not yet. Most entrepreneurs that start a business are quick to work with a lawyer and draw up the necessary legal papers, find a banker and an accountant to deal with their financials (once the money kicks in of course) and get their marketing materials and website in order. All of this is good but I can tell you what is better. Having clients. The lawyer, CPA, banker and even those marketing materials and website don't substitute for having a sales process and sales strategy to bring in clients. Prospects just don't come knocking at your door. What I am suggesting here is that everyone that is involved in helping new business to get off the ground; yes, the lawyers,CPAs and web developers too, should make it a point of asking their clients about their plans for bringing in business. Who are their prospects? Where will they find them? What makes them different in the marketplace? What is their lead generation strategy? Are they comfortable with cold calling and networking? Can they sell? Can they close? The list of questions goes on and on. We do our clients a disservice if we don't proactively make introductions to other professionals that would add value to their company. If they choose to work with your introduction then great, if not then so be it, you've done your best. Here another fact. That company you once helped with their legal work, crafted their website or opened their bank account well, without clients, in a year or so you can bet they're going to be out of business altogether. Why? It's not because they don't have a terrific product or service it's because they don't know how to sell it!

Most people would characterize me as an optimistic, happy person with energy and enthusiasm to spare. I’d say they’re absolutely right, at least for MOST of the time. Like any human, however, there are those moments when I’m troubled with self-doubt and unhappiness. Feeling “down-in-the-dumps” can happen to anyone, no matter how overwhelmingly positive their life may be. I don’t like staying in this dark place for very long, and I’ll make every effort to get out my funk almost as soon as I fall into it. This isn’t an article about clinical depression — a condition that should be addressed by medical professionals — and how to move past it. Rather, it is an anecdotal look at how this entrepreneur handles life when the bad and the ugly far outweigh the good. I vent to friends, family, or trusted business contacts Never one to keep it all bottled up inside, I find myself reaching out to others and asking for feedback, advice, or simply a few minutes for me to vent. I find that in the retelling of the situation I will often find the answer or the humor in what has been causing me grief. I participate in a Facebook “Gratitude Group” to keep me focused I belong to a Facebook Group called 90 Days of Gratitude. Each morning one of the first things that I do is reach for my phone and share five things for which I am grateful. It’s amazing how this daily habit keeps me positive, provides much-needed perspective, and helps to sooth the crankiness of even my darkest days. I do something nice for myself Treating myself is incredibly easy and often helps to shift my mood. Flowers, a massage or facial, a great book or tickets to a play—it doesn’t much matter what is the treat, because all of them will lift my spirits and move me past what was originally bringing me down. I find a solution The most important method I know of treating my blue is to come up with a solution as to what exactly is bugging me in the first place. I arrive at this point pretty quickly, and once I land on the answer to my problem I get to work and make it happen. Once again I’m not a stress management professional or a psychologist. I know that these work for me but sometimes you just have to ride the wave and give yourself the freedom to feel bad while recognizing that the tough times will pass.

I've been navigating the entrepreneurial life for about 30 years now, with four businesses and a fifth about to be launched. This entrepreneurial life continues to be fun, exciting, exhausting, scary, and overwhelming, all at the same time. There are times when a "normal" 9-5 job seems awfully good, but those moments are fleeting, and so quickly I'm once again caught up in the excitement of my 10-, 12-, even 15-hour workdays. Over the years I've developed more than a few life hacks that help me keep multiple plates spinning while allowing me to maintain a healthy work-life balance. In spite of all the entrepreneurial obligations, I'm able to seize these life hacks to make balancing it all possible. Here are a few that work for me: Life Hack #1: I wake up early and stick to a routine. My internal alarm clock may not always have been set for 5AM, but nowadays it sure is. I wake up early so I can enjoy the hours of the morning when most of the world around me is quiet, when emails are not flying back and forth and I have time to stay focused on a single important task. By 7AM most of the other "early birds" are getting their day started while I've spent two productive hours working in undisturbed comfort. Life Hack #2 It's better to do something than nothing. This may not sit well with all people, but waiting for the "perfect moment" to take action is just not my style. Work or play, I tend be action-driven and take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself. I find that early response leads to decisive action. Life Hack #3 Carve out time for friends and family. Being an entrepreneur may involve long hours, irregular schedules, and impromptu obligations, and it may require extra effort to find time to spend with the important people in your life. Be creative and seize the moments when you can. For example, when my children were very young I used to take them on select business trips. Some may find this impossible or unwise; in hindsight, it was a much better idea than leaving them behind for a week at a time. Arranging for childcare was pretty simple when compared with missing them for an entire week. Life Hack #4 Be organized and stay organized. I don't mean that your desk is kept spotless and your email inbox completely empty. I'm referring to a more practical, realistic sense of organization, such as how to keep a schedule or how to accomplish a To-Do list. I keep copious notes, use two calendars (manual and electronic), and review both multiple times per day. If my way doesn't work for you, you should develop an organizational system that suits your personal style. Life Hack #5 Take vacations when you need them. It's important to be able to clear your day and give yourself an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. You don't have to go to an exotic, faraway destination; you can have a "staycation" in which you remove yourself from the day-to-day responsibilities of your job and occupy a more relaxed reality for a short period of time. Consider applying these life hacks to your own entrepreneurial life. They've worked for me and could ensure you a 30+ year career.

You never know do you? You network like crazy, go to meetings and events, engage in conversations, exchange cards and then ... what happens? Sometimes nothing! Sometimes the networking ball goes into play and there is ongoing dialogue, perhaps a few phone calls or in-person meetings and at some point when understanding, trust and respect are earned introductions might start to flow. But then there are all of the other times when the networking ball is dropped and follow-up seems to stall. There's radio silence and after one or two attempts to break through you simply back off. I don't understand it. As a business owner for the past 30 years I strongly believe in the power of networking. It has been one of the key components in my sales efforts and business development and has helped me to thrive and grow over all of these years. With that being said I find it totally confusing when people take the time and trouble to engage in networking endeavors and then participate in little or no follow-up. Let's face it: nothing really happens at networking meetings or events. You share a sound bite, a bit of information to whet the whistle of the person to whom you are speaking. You plant a seed, create an impression and what happens next is where the real networking begins. Leads and introductions are exchanged ONLY when there is trust and trust is not born in a 30-second sound bite. So here are my suggestions: Attend as many networking events and meetings as makes sense for your schedule and business goals BUT only if you plan to follow-up and follow-through afterwards. Don't play "hard to get." Timing counts. Don't wait for weeks to go by before reaching out or being responsive to networking introductions. People's memories get hazy very quickly and besides, taking quick action can help you to make a good first impression. You don't have to follow-up with "everyone" that you meet at an event or a meeting but remember just because a person doesn't "seem like" they will be a good contact doesn't mean that there isn't any gold to be mined. You don't know their contacts, clients, friends or family and your most important prospect might just be their best friend.

As a child I had all sorts of collections: stamps, keychains, milk caps ("pogs"), coins, and ice hockey pucks. As an adult I still have all sorts of collections: rocks and minerals, photographs, books, and museum maps. And sure enough, as I get older, I will likely amass new collections with as much enthusiasm and passion as in my youth. In many ways, these various collections represent fleeting interests or a fixation with some popular object of the time. Perhaps a few of my former collections were only marginally related to my interests -- I was awful at Yo-Yos and hated them, yet I owned no fewer than a dozen -- however, the fact that I maintained and stored them so intently signifies their powerful hold on me. The more I had of an object, the better the collection. It was as if I collected these "things" so that others could appreciate them for me. To all the collectors out there, I know you understand this feeling, too! Specimens from my rock and mineral collection (Photo: Nicholas Merkelson) Assembling, preserving, and displaying objects -- the method of collecting, if you will -- is somewhat of a basic human activity. We collect multiple varied objects with the intention of forming "a collection," a specific series of items deemed important because of their assemblage in a group. It is their accumulation as a whole set rather than a single object's individualized use-value that makes a collection. In contrast to compulsive hoarding, collecting is a totally self-aware activity, a conscious performance of human-object relations played out by the collector and his/her collection. Collections and the act of collecting is not homogenous, though; there are different motivations for gathering and arranging. No two collections are exactly the same either, as each one was put together with unique perspectives and processes. For this reason, even where there are noticeable gaps and empty spaces, every collection should be seen as constituting its own meaningful whole. From the Library of Alexandria to the shoebox of trading cards under the bed, collections are created for any number of reasons. Here are just a few (please submit others!): 1) Collections are repositories of knowledge and ideas. 2) Collections celebrate the objects and evidence of their creation. 3) Collections allow us to make sense of our world. 4) Collections map our social world, e.g. we visit, we trade, we purchase. 5) Collections help identify ourselves and our worth in relation to others. 6) Collections represent the Public/nation-states. 7) Collections contextualize our place in time and space. An article ("Down the Hatch and Straight Into Medical History," January 10) published in the New York Times Health section brilliantly captures the (sometimes) idiosyncratic nature of collecting. Dr. Chevalier Jackson, a laryngologist who worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, specialized in removing objects that people had swallowed or inhaled. Operating with little or no anesthesia, Jackson rescued from his patients' upper torsos nails and bolts, miniature binoculars, a toy goat, a beaded crucifix, and countless safety pins, among other unusual objects. Despite many surgery-related deaths in those days, it is believed that Jackson's patients had a 95% survival rate. Jackson might otherwise be lost to history if not for his curious collection of over 2,000 objects he removed from patients, and soon to be on exhibit (February 18) at the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Mary Cappello, co-curator of the exhibit, discusses Jackson's peculiar obsession in her book, Swallow. She says, "He was a fetishist, no question. If Jackson could tell us how he wished to be remembered, I'm certain he would do so by assemblage, or meaningful collage." The medical pioneer who once refused to return a quarter after removing it from a patient sought collecting as a means of displaying his clinical talents as well as teaching a lesson to people. "[Jackson] was an early and outspoken safety advocate, particularly when it came to children. As one of his assistant put it, his quest was to make the public and the medical profession 'foreign-body-conscious' about swallowing." When Jackson's collection goes on display next month, be sure to remember the identifiable purpose for saving all of those inedible things, just as there is an epistemological purpose behind the culture of collecting in general. Sources: Macdonald, S., 2006. Collecting practices. In: Sharon Macdonald (ed.), A Companion to Museum Studies. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 81-97.

People often tell me I'm someone who "knows everyone." I'm flattered to hear this, of course, but it isn't true. Not even close. Sometimes I even think this is an excuse to avoid introducing me to others, an easy escape since I know everyone and there are no more introductions or connections to make. It used to make me feel bad-let's be honest, I still want and need connections to stay in business!-but I've accepted the situation and use it as motivation to remain my usual self: an eager, proactive networker. What does it mean to be a "proactive" networker? It's pretty straightforward. First and foremost, I take action, especially when it involves putting people together. For example, I don't wait for folks to ask me, "Do you know a (fill in the blank)?" Rather, I choose to make introductions and connections because I can see the potential for a mutually beneficial relationship. This type of proactive networking may involve two (or more) individuals who: * Have different types of businesses yet work with the same type of clients. They are not necessarily in direct competition; therefore they can likely make introductions for each other, not just to prospective clients but also referral sources that can increase their contact base. * Have similar businesses but would benefit from some cooperative efforts. Collaboration between competing businesses need not be self-destructive; in fact, it can lead to sharing of ideas and may expand their scope of services. * Have a shared interest or hobby that could be the foundation of a strong business relationship. Many networkers don't have such a proactive outlook. They wait for someone to ask to make an introduction, which isn't really networking, nor is it maximally effective. Proactive networking at its finest is taking the initiative to help a fellow businessperson, to recognize possible synergies and act on a networker's intuition. Let me ask you: do you want to engage in proactive networking? Do you want to be acknowledged by others as someone who "knows everyone?" Here are a few suggestions: * Make it a part of your daily activities. Set aside 15 minutes during which you think about your recent and existing contacts and consider who you can put together because they meet some of the above criteria. * After you attend a networking meeting, make 2 or 3 email introductions to others who were the meeting. It will take just a few minutes, and it's more likely to be done if it is top of mind. * Think about initiating a smaller, more intimate networking circle. You may find it easier to engage a group of 5 or 6 people who are committed to making one introduction for each person in the group. Most importantly, make your networking time count. There are not enough hours in a day to sit back and let connections come to you. Be proactive

Here at Wordswork Copywriting we're experts in sales and business building, not just writing your stuff. When you try selling your prospect on the idea that you or your product is "better," you're likely to make him or her defensive. They don't want to seem dumb about what they're already doing! Also, it's hard to prove something is really "better." That's why it's much better to distinguish your products or services as "different," both in written copy and oral communications. Watch my 2-minute video for details.

Adrian Miller Video Training Podcast Okay, so how many times have you sat through some very dreary sales training? Listening with half an ear, and counting down the minutes till you could make your escape. Well worse, you were sitting there but totally tuned out, and engaging in such mental exercises, as deciding what you're going to have for lunch, or maybe dinner, or maybe which movie you're going to see. Well you get the point, right? That's not what we're going to do here, right now. You're invited now to listen to the Blatant Truth. It's in your face, highly usable, take-it-to-the-bank, kinds of tactics that I think you can put to work immediately and get started, or keep going with your sales success. Click on Photo to Get a Free Copy of The Book So number one, stay on the prospect's radar screen. How many of you have lost prospects simply because you've fallen off the grid? The answer is probably way too many of you listening out there right now. How bad is that actually? After you've invested time, invested money, in developing this prospect in the first place. I call this, losing out on your share of ROT, which is return on time. How do you make certain that you don't fall off the grid. Frankly it's pretty easy, and I'm going to give you a couple of quick tips right now. The first is to develop an ongoing prospect touchpoint management program. This is not calling in to check-in or touch base. Because that's what we do with our parents, or we do with our school-aged children at 3 o'clock. Our prospects don't want us to check in. They don't want us to touch base. A couple of those calls and they going to find that they don't pick up the phone, or they click delete on your messages. What we need to do is have a carefully crafted plan of maintaining your prospects' mindshare. Here are couple of quick things that you can do to be able to do that. The first is, your email communication shouldn't just be, "Hi, I'm checking in." It should be value-added. Because by the time you've developed this prospect, you do know what they're interested in. And so you can send them links to information, to websites that they might consider of value. Doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be a website or information about a work related issue. Could even be personal. Because if you're at a networking event, and you meet with someone, and you talk to them about their kid's soccer game, a link to some information about a soccer team in Argentina might be of value, and of some interest to them. So make sure your email communication is the kind that they're not going to feel comfortable deleting. Because it just doesn't have anything but self-serving, self-promotional information in it. The next is be a people connector. How cool would it be if you introduced your prospects to some of your clients, some of your other prospects, maybe some of your vendors. Think of yourself as a people connector. As someone who when you give them a call will say to them, "Hey you know what, I know somebody you should meet. They're not a client of mine yet, but I think that you two have some synergies that should be shared. How about if I do an introduction by email, or we all go to breakfast together