On Words and Business

When I write, I think I’m fairly adept at writing examples of whatever it is that needs to be illustrated. But when I’m speaking, for some reason, all bets are off.

Last night at a networking event, I proved, yet again, that I just can’t give examples extemporaneously in a conversation. Or, more accurately, I can’t give good, clear, enlightening examples. I saw that look that my conversation partner’s face; and I knew I’d just confused the heck out of him. I hate that feeling.

When talking about my business, I’ve got examples in my back pocket, ready to go. Just so I don’t have to worry about coming up with one of my wonderfully obscure and perplexing examples. But other kinds of conversations can trap me.

Have you found some sort of challenge, or something that makes you cringe, in your networking or conversations? It’s not possible that I’m the only one who’s got a bugbear like this!

Let’s talk about books for the moment…

Writers write to be read.

If you watch the film version of a book, even one that follows the book closely, you didn’t read the book.

But if you listen to a book on tape (let’s say unabridged), can you say read it? If someone reads the book to you, can you say you read it?

So…what do you call it when you listened to a book (that someone read to you, or you got on CD, or listened to as a podcast, for example), but you never actually picked up the book and looked at the words on the page?

As media evolves and the nature of intaking and absorbing information changes, will this become a larger question? And what effect might this have on literacy?

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about success in business and rejection.

I’ve been rejected outright several times this week. I write for magazines and that means sending in a lot of ideas to editors, who may or may not need or like them. And getting lots of emails saying “No, thanks.”

Yet the rejection really doesn’t bother me. Of course I prefer when an editor buys a story, but all the no’s just mean I’m that much closer to a yes, that much closer to success.

Yesterday I found this quote, attributed to Mickey Mantle, that really hit home (pardon the pun). “During my 18 years in baseball, I came to bat almost 9,000 times. I struck out over 1,700 times and walked over 1,800 times. That means I played seven years in the major leagues without even hitting a baseball.”

It surprised me at first to discover that I wasn’t bothered by all the rejection, and could take it as part of the game, just part of doing business. It isn’t always cut and dried in business as it is in a game like baseball…sometimes rejections aren’t obvious, sometimes the stakes are incredibly high, and sometimes it all falls into place and works out.

When I’m feeling frustrated by business or a particular rejection, I just remind myself of what Edison said about genius, which is the same, I believe, for success in business: that it’s 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

What inspires you when the stress of business or the specter of rejection gets you down?

This article on favorite marketing acronyms got me thinking about the topic, and a quick search revealed an online acronym dictionary: The acronym finder.

It turns out that my initials are also the acronym for things like the Military Sealift Command, Montana State College, and the Mulch and Soil Council.

What about your initials? Anything fun or frightening?

The writer’s strike* is over! It’s great that the writers will finally be compensated for shows and movies on the internet. There’s obviously money to be made there, and it’s only fair to share it with the folks responsible for writing the content.

On a completely selfish note, I’m happy it’s over. I’ve never been a big fan of reality t.v. and over these past weeks I’ve had a chance to really think about why. It’s simple: I prefer my entertainment to be scripted, written by someone thinking about plot, character development, backstory, mood. These are complexities that can’t be found in reality t.v.

Of course reality shows, like real life, are complex and filled with drama, amazing characters, and interesting stories. And I enjoy people watching in real life. But when it’s time to sit down on my couch or at the theater to be entertained, I want to be told a story, transported somewhere else, taken away from real life.

For my money, the two best written shows on t.v. right now: The Big Bang Theory and Lost. Check ‘em out if you can (although with Lost, if you didnt’ start at the beginning, it’ll take a while to catch up!).

* I’m not a member of the Writers Guild of America

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of hearing the U.S. Ambassador to Poland speak at a luncheon. He discussed U.S.-Poland relations as well as the business climate there. The ultimate purpose was to entice companies to do business in Poland. A member of the mission sat at each table, so everyone got a chance to meet someone up close and personal. I sat with a former Minister of Finance and learned a lot about Poland and business there.

It started me thinking…as a small business (the smallest out there, a one-person shop) could I ever expand internationally? Could I ever offer my services abroad? I’m a writer and I have a few ideas about how I might be able to do this, but they need much more fleshing out.

So I was pleased to find on MarketingProfs an article about global trends for small businesses. It’s all part of an interesting package that I’m starting to explore. With the copious free time that all you small business owners and solo practioners out there know I have!

Anyone else out there spreading their small business beyond your own national borders? How’s it going?!