It’s easy to say “make business development a game,” but it’s way more complicated than that, right?

Rule #1 of the new Business Development Game…have fewer rules!

Isn’t life already bogged down with an awful lot of rules? Surely some of them aren’t necessary. How about trying this instead:

1. Make a list of your clients
2. Grade each with 1-3 stars based on how much you enjoyed working with them, the more stars the better
3. Cross off all the clients with only one star
4. Add an extra star to the remaining clients who are profitable to your business
5. List why you like the clients with 3 and 4 stars and look for commonalities like industry, type of work, age, gender, etc.
6. Start marketing to more of the clients who fit the bill for enjoyment and profitability.

That’s it. Yes, really!

Quit making up complicated rules that don’t actually exist and just start where you are right now with what’s already working. Do more of what works, less of what doesn’t.

And have some fun out there.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

If I told you that in order to grow your business you’d have to crawl around on the ground on your hands and knees, looking for leads in assorted cracks and crevices, and likely getting your new dress dirty in the process, I’m guessing you’d hesitate. Procrastinate. Avoid.

With that description, who wouldn’t?!

I’ve just described the traditional Easter egg hunt, originally a pagan ritual later adopted by Christendom to celebrate birth and growth. But in this version, kids hunt down coloured eggs or egg-shaped candies that have been hidden throughout the house or yard. It’s a game kids love and adults delight in orchestrating.

How might your attitude toward the dreaded Business Development be changed if you were to change your perspective and view it as a game. A game where you are rewarded each time you find a prize.

Chocolate, anyone?!

Hunting up opportunity, i.e. business development can be fun. You just need to relax and turn it into a pleasurable game.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

pas·sion [say pash-uhn]¹
n:  Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.

Most of us think of our passion as the thing we love, the thing that makes us supremely happy. But passion is actually anything we have a strong compelling devotion toward, which can also include the negative.

At a morning Coffee Talk recently, I asked the women in the group how many of them spent time criticizing themselves.

“How often do you go over and over past events in your mind, or with your friends, wishing you’d done this or that differently, beating yourself up about how you handled a situation, or criticizing yourself for a decision you’ve made?”

Sadly, the answer around the table was a unanimous, “All the time.”

When you spend time doggedly agonizing over the past and all the ways you screwed up, the ugly side of passion has reared its head.

Stop and think about how much time you spend criticizing yourself. It’s sobering to realize that your devotion — your passion — has become focused on passing judgment on yourself instead of acknowledging and embracing The Amazing You™. The evidence is in how regularly you find fault in who you are.

Yikes! Would you let someone speak that critically about your friends?! I’ll bet not.

Stop focusing your energy on shredding yourself to bits! Instead, channel the beautiful side of passion. Re-direct all that energy and power toward unearthing and appreciating the things that make you wonderful and unique.

————-
Okay, admit it. What makes YOU wonderful? Come on, it’s practically anonymous on the Internet, you can tell us. You know you don’t hesitate to advertise a weakness (that’s such a girl thing, just quit it!)

Take a moment to share what makes you The Amazing You™!

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

¹Source: Dictionary.com

Okay, wait a second. Maybe it’s not that easy to find your passion. Maybe you have been looking for the thing that’s going to ignite your passion in business for a while, but it hasn’t made itself obvious. Now what?

I was in a waiting room today, flipping through a magazine, and came across one of those 3D print ads that were popular about 20+ years ago. On paper it just looks like a repeating pattern of nonsense colour and lines, but if you look right at it, with your eyes out of focus, and gradually bring your eyes back into focus, you suddenly see a 3D image that wasn’t there before, hidden amidst the pattern.

I don’t know what that process is called (leave me a comment if you do, I’d love to know) or how it works (the geek in me really wants to know!), but it is WICKED. Do you know that the image on paper will actually move as you move the page? Trippy. And I tried it a second time, just to see if I could bring up the image again — trick my eyes and brain — and the image was slightly different the second time.

Hmmm, so what does that have to do with passion. Well, when we’re staring straight at it, sometimes the answer isn’t readily seen. Even when it’s right there. It’s worth it to take the time to relax, lighten up your gaze, and be open to something new and alive making an appearance where you’re not expecting it.

Work is so much easier when you’re doing stuff you love and tapping into what comes naturally. It’s worth it to take the time to find out what that is for YOU.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Feb 19, 2010
PS: They’re called 3D stereo images, and I found one online… 

For most of us, figuring out what we care about — our passion — isn’t the hard part. The hard part is aligning that with a business that’s going to pay the rent (and shoes, etc.).

Earlier this week I met a woman who has the skills to be an architect, a furniture maker and a fashion designer. She likes them all and can’t decide which one she should sink her heart into. I suggested she try another tack. How about looking for something new and different, maybe an non-traditional approach, that combines what she loves about each of those industries.

Maybe she creates furniture designs that are reminiscent of architectural lines, or designs homes using principles of fashion. Whatever she comes up with, it’s not about picking the right industry, it’s about combining the elements that jazz her about each type of work in ways that create something new and unique.

For example, it’s not sitting behind the computer all day that she loves about architecture. It’s actually the problem-solving and concrete results. There are a couple of clues to help define what kind of work she will gravitate toward, and what she’d be better off to avoid.

Being in business for yourself is hard work, it’s a good idea to be doing something you love to do.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Old Rule: Eat or get eaten. Suck it up, Buttercup, it’s the circle of life.
New Rule: Collaborators finish first.

One of the many ways women rock in business is that they naturally look for ways to connect.

I read something recently (the source eludes me), about a possible evolutionary basis for women having this ability to connect. As the article described it, back in the day of the hunter and gatherer, men could get up and go when danger or difficulties arose. Women, however, had babies and children to consider, so they had to stick around, work together, and work it out.

Whether or not that’s true, isn’t so much the point. What is, is the acknowledgement that women are tuned in and perhaps innately suited to communication, negotiation and working together.

The traditional model of business says that in order to succeed, someone else has to fail. We’re supposed to climb the ladder, get to the top, become the top dog, in order to succeed.

In fact, women are busting that theory out of the water and have been for years. Instead, they look for ways to work with not against, and create strong relationships that build both their business and their community.

What Not To Do
I met a woman who chatted with me about her unique business until I mentioned that I’d once spoken on the phone to her “competitor.” Now every time we cross paths she gets all suspicious and makes comments about me checking her out for the competition. It’s really weird. And very old school. Not to mention paranoid and completely inaccurate. She’s actually not moving her business ahead, because she’s too busy looking over her shoulder.

A Better Choice
On the other side of the coin, one of my colleagues is a business coach who has banded together with a couple of other coaches. Together they can now offer a wider range of services, go after larger contracts, and market their services more widely with fewer resources because they are all out there in front of prospects. It’s working well for them and all of their businesses are growing.

Don’t fight your natural inclination to connect, or get caught up in the mistaken belief that you’re better off on your own. Success can be a win/win, no ladder climbing required.

- Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Old Rule: There’s only one right way to do business.
New Rule: Do business your way.

Ladies, we are going to break some rules this year. We’re going to rock the boat. We’re going to quit apologizing and just be ourselves, thank you very much. And, we’re going to challenge some ideas about business and how it gets done.

Historically, industrialized commerce has been a masculine world run in a focused, linear, analytical manner, with no need for emotion or feeling. It was created by men for men, so it has suited them just fine.

News flash! Women are fully entrenched in the workforce and starting businesses at 2-3 times the rate of men. Trouble is, the structure hasn’t changed. We hit a glass ceiling or try to build business in a framework that doesn’t come naturally, and it can be tough going. Like being left-handed in a right-handed world.

But that’s just the way it is. I mean, the “old boys” are dying off, but they won’t ever be completely gone. What’s a gal to do? Well, toss out the old rules for a start. How about this, instead:

We may do business with men,
but we don’t have to do business like men.

Hey, I like men. They are lovely creatures. Some of my best friends are men. But I’m not one. I don’t want to be one. So why would I act like one in business?

News flash! Gentleman, Art of War as an approach to business is soooo last century! There’s a new game in town and here’s how it’s played. Money is a tool, not a scorecard of value or success. We don’t need to crush anyone in order to be successful. We can care more about the community than money and still make lots of money – which we then use as a tool, not a scorecard.

Don’t get me wrong ladies, we may still need to make some concessions when we work with men, just like you would make adjustments to accommodate someone who is, say, hard of hearing. Understanding their communication style, slowing things down, sticking to a single goal-oriented topic…all of these efforts just make things run more smoothly.

But I am a woman in business, so I’m going to act like a woman.

• I will work with people I like and respect and whose values I can support.
• I will be in business with my heart and soul, not just my mind.
• I will be collaborative with no need to outdo my colleagues.
• I will utilize my feelings and emotions to help me make better decisions.
• I will talk about my clothes, my nails, my shoes…and then get down to business and negotiate like a pro.

Ladies, we don’t need to fight the existing business paradigm. We just need to disengage, respect our values, do things our own way, and build strong companies that together create a new model of how the business community can operate.

THAT is some serious rule breaking.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Old Rule: Play it safe.
New Rule: Don’t be a chicken. Literally!

Forget quote of the day, here’s an idea to take with you through the year. Seth Godin answers the question, “How do we rise above the grip of resistance-addicted lizard brain into unleashed, energized, full tilt mojo and artistic moxy?”

Answer:

“The lizard is the prehistoric brain stem, the amygdala, the part of our brain responsible for anger, revenge, sex and safety. It’s what a chicken has, all that a chicken has.

The lizard is mistaken.

The lizard successfully believed, for a really long time, that safety was good. Avoid saber-tooth tigers. Duck your head. Don’t raise your hand. That = survival.

Now, of course, that equals burger-flipping and Wal-Mart greeting. Safety is a recipe for food stamps.

What the lizard ought to be doing is pushing you to do art, pushing you to stand out, pushing you to do work that matters and to make a difference. So, you rise above by seducing and quieting the lizard, and then, when it’s snoozing, do exactly the opposite of what it wants you to do.”

I’ve never wanted fear to be the thing that stops me from being what I was put on this planet to be, or doing what I was put on this planet to do. I mean, fear is just a thought, right? Who’s boss of me anyway, me or my amygdala?!

- Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Old Rule: You’ll need to change if you want to succeed.
New Rule: Be exactly yourself.

I’ve worked with and spoken with many women in business, the majority of whom believe on some level that they need to be a different person in order to succeed. More educated, more competitive, less confrontational, tougher, more flashy, less aggressive, more aggressive, more hard-nosed, more accommodating, more structured, more flexible, less giving…

Good grief, hold it already!

What if instead of not enough, you are just right the way you are? What if no matter what anyone else has said — including the nasty, persistent, critical voice in your head — you are actually all that you need to be, right now?

What if the things we have come to believe are a problem, a character flaw, an “issue” are actually our greatest strengths? Well, like being stubborn, for example.

Hmmm. Let’s consider. Being stubborn isn’t cool. It’s not sexy. It certainly isn’t always convenient for those around us. Yup, it’s definitely a problem.

But wait. Being stubborn is the mark of all successful inventors, entrepreneurs, visionaries, and world-changers everywhere.

Oh, no one actually calls it stubborn. They call it pretty names. Like determined, steadfast, devoted, courageous, dedicated, committed… But it’s still just being stubborn. Holding on and not letting go no matter what anyone else says.

I worked with a fellow once who landed his job not in spite of being bossy, fastidious and, in his own words, anal retentive. He got the job because he was those things. He was office manager for a large, international law firm that took up several floors of a downtown office tower. They needed someone who could be counted on never to run out of anything. It did mean putting up with a tirade here and there when someone foolishly left one of the supply rooms a mess. He was bossy, took guff from no one, and ran a tight ship. He was perfect for the job (and actually a lot of fun when you didn’t mess things up).

It’s high time we start looking at the things we’ve come to believe are flaws, start viewing them as strengths, and begin exploring how to make them work for us.

Do what my friend Tracy and I did, we made a pact. The Goldilocks Pact. We decided we’re not Too Much or Too Little of anything. We’re just right. And so are you. This year, break the rules and be exactly yourself, don’t change a thing.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

If the boat ain’t rockin’, the boat ain’t movin’.

Old Rule: Good girls don’t rock the boat.
New Rule: Rock the boat.

One of the reasons being self-employed works so well for me is that I like doing things my way. This from the former 5 year old who reminded her older brother, “You’re not the boss of me!” Go figure.

When I was a kid, I was encouraged not to be so “stubborn” and “not so” a lot of other things. At home, at school, within my social environment, and via the culture that surrounded me, there were so many, many message about how a girl was expected to be. Blend in, don’t make waves, consider everyone else’s feelings first, don’t speak your mind, it’s not polite…

Any of these sound familiar?

One of my favourites was the very seriously delivered criticism, “You just want to do what you want to do.” Also known as: selfishness!

Read the comment again. Does it make you laugh out loud, too? Frankly, it made – and still makes – perfect sense to me. Of course I would, what the heck else would I want to do?!

I’m more outspoken than many, so I didn’t think I had internalized the “be nice and blend in” story. But then not too long ago I had a chat with that kid I used to be. She had a lot of spunk, that girl. Plenty of “piss and vinegar,” as my Brit friend used to say.*

I like that kid! And this year I’m going to take a lesson from her book. If rocking the boat a little has gotten me this far, I’m going to break the Don’t Rock the Boat rule a whole lot more and see where it takes me.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

^{*Piss and vinegar: Rowdy, boisterous, full of youthful energy. Source: The Phrase Finder}