On Words and Business

Taking the cue from Seth Godin (and who better to take a cue from?) and his random travel thoughts from a few days ago, here are some of my random travel thoughts.

If cell phones are supposed to be so dangerous (and according to Mythbusters they aren’t really), how come no one in the cockpit knows when one is left on?  Like I accidentally did when I got a stand-by seat on an earlier flight and didn’t go through my regular preflight routine.

How come I have to take off my shoes while the woman in the micro-mini skirt in front of me is not asked to remove her thigh high stiletto heeled boots? Okay, I think I know the answer to that one. But if shoes are so dangerous, everyone’s shoes should be considered equally dangerous, n’est-ce pas?

Why don’t hotels that give you a clock radio ever provide a list of call numbers and formats of local radio stations?

Why can’t all customs agent be like the one who greeted me in Mexico City? When she read on my form that I’m a writer she said: “You are the second writer I’ve had today. That is so cool! Welcome to Mexico City. Have a great time.”

And lastly…don’t you just love coming back home and having the U.S. customs agent say “Welcome home”?

Have you ever had one of these moments…

You’re talking to a client or a prospect and you toss out an example or a throwaway remark. Something, anyway, that doesn’t have much relevance to the main point, but you added to put a little color into the conversation. And that’s the thing they hear and glom onto and want to question you about and get details or clarification.

Sometimes a new direction for the conversation is perfectly acceptable. But sometimes that little sidetrack just mucks up the works. Especially if the client misunderstood what you said.

My natural inclination is to correct the misunderstanding and move the conversation back on track. But that’s not always the best response.

What do you do when a client or prospect focuses on the “wrong” part of what you said? How do you deal with that type of misunderstanding? How do you bring the conversation back?

If you haven’t seen Michael Stelzner’s Top 10 Blogs for Writers, I encourage you to do so. It’s the hot topic right now.

I found a couple of new blogs that I’m now enjoying, including Remarkable Communication, which took the number 7 spot.

To paraphrase Henry Ford: If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

Good to remember as we are bombarded with bad economic news these days.

Ed Gandia’s Profitable Freelancer newsletter today discuss this topic in light of freelancers getting work. It’s out there. And “attitude matters…more than you might think.”

“Fact is, you attract what you dwell on. If you dwell on economic panic and financial strife, you will get more of that. But if you choose to approach each day with confident expectation and a joyful attitude, you will start attracting more positive outcomes to your life.”

This is true in life and in business, if those are somehow separate.

So turn off the news shows and RSS feeds and get focusing on your business, your talent, and believing in it all.

Just when I think I’ve finally gotten a handle on a technology, it morphs into something new. On which I do not have a handle. This isn’t anything too new (not bleeding edge, this), but optimizing website for mobile devices is getting to be more important.

iMedia asks Is your website ready for a handheld world? Good question. What I’m curious to know about is the size of the market. Cell phones are big sellers no doubt. What percentage have internet access capabilities? What percentage access the internet via cell phone?

I’m not doubting this market is important. Just looking to understand how size of the pie.

A while ago, new client contacted me to do some writing for them.  I didn’t totally understand their compensation system, but I thought I’d do one job with them to give it a try. Maybe, I thought, it’s good pay but I just don’t see it because it’s a bit complicated. Maybe it’ll work out.

Of course it didn’t. In the end, I made along the lines of $3 an hour for the work. Not a living wage.

It was a great learning experience, confirming what I suspected…if I can’t understand how I’m going to be paid (the criteria, how they get the numbers they’re talking about, etc.) it won’t be decent money.  Just say no.

Yesteday, a link to this video reappeared in my inbox: Harlan Ellison on writers getting paid for their work. If you haven’t seen it, take a look!