Are they offering you “promises” in exchange for changing your policies and procedures? If so, what are the promises offered? Are they telling you they cannot pay you your usual and customary rate but the “opportunity” of being able to work on this project and the “exposure” that will come from it will make up for any income lost? Run from this buffalo as fast as you can, as it is diseased and likely very delusional. When someone has a genuine opportunity, they do not use it as leverage to get free work from others. Continue Reading
riffs & rants blog
Category Archives: executive
You (and Your Business) Need the Dissenters and Non-Believers
On the surface, shunning the non-believers might seem like great advice, but it’s not. It’s terrible advice, especially for entrepreneurs. In fact, tuning out the voices of dissenters and detractors is probably the best way to guarantee that your idea will tank. Continue Reading
The Myth of “Sure-Fire” Solutions
You have to be willing to take the plunge, and you have to be willing to do it without a net. That’s what it means to be an artisan: to give your love to your work, to commit yourself with no guarantee of your love being reciprocated, to take the leap of faith. Continue Reading
Carpetbomb Marketing
Carpetbombing, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: 1)to drop large numbers of bombs so as to cause uniform devastation over a given area. 2) to bombard repeatedly, widely, or excessively. Although I’ve fortunately never been a victim of carpetbombing in the combat sense, I find myself carpetbombed on a daily basis on the internet, particularly… Continue Reading
Addicted to the Red Line
Being in business is often exhilarating, the rush of creating something new, managing risk, dealing with uncertainty. The downside to exhilaration is that it is very easy to become addicted to it and you may find yourself creating crises in your day-to-day tasks in order to recreate that rush. When you have your own business,… Continue Reading
Think Big. Succeed Small.
In recent years, the “think big” movement hit fever pitch. Fueled by motivational speakers, easy-to-obtain credit and “law of attraction” practitioners, the idea that one needs to “think big” in order to succeed morphed into the feel-good monster that it is today. As with most movements that morph into monsters that cannot be controlled, the… Continue Reading
Business Behavioral: Habits that Stall You Out
One of the best parts about being in business is that we get to bring our full selves to the table. Our businesses are a reflection of who we are in the world, and it’s easy to get over-identified with them. When things are going well, the good habits we have help push us further… Continue Reading
Convergence Is Kinda Cool
This one’s for newbies and those of us leveling up into new heights… There once was a time when creative and technical and executive were not supposed to co-mingle in a business. Art in business? Artisan business? Hell, co-mingle? They weren’t even supposed to inhabit the same place. That far away time was… today. No,… Continue Reading
WTF is Business Behavioral?
In our inaugural article about Business Behavioral issues, Jackie, Jerry, and Michael riff about archetypes and challenges familiar to most folks trying to keep their heads on fairly straight while running their businesses. Read through these and see if any have ever applied to you or someone you know. Love to hear what you’ve got… Continue Reading