When the Client Overruns the Schedule
When the client tramples your schedule and deadlines, what do you do? Pull all-nighters to finish on time? Stress out your team? I have other ideas.
Laughable Contract Clauses
Corporate legal departments aren’t writing a contract with your small biz best interest in mind. They assume you’re so thirsty you’ll sign without reading closely.
Your Scale and Sustain Seven
Everyone needs a board of advisors. Mindelyn Anderson shares her seven advisory roles and the questions she asks each of them.
Schedule a Photo Shoot
That blurry shot of you with your friends’ faces cropped out? Not gonna cut it. You need to schedule a photo shoot to up your branding. Here’s your prep list.
Quality Control
Consistent high-quality work is a result of quality control measures. What do yours look like?…
👯‍♀️ Calendar + To Do List 👯‍♀️
This is simple math but incredibly hard to pull off: your calendar and your to do list have to equal each other.
My Office Set Up
While money can’t buy happiness, it does help. For example, my new office desk and chair are making me actually want to spend time at work.
Give Yourself Two Years
It takes a minimum of two years to evolve something new. You go further faster with a coach, a plan, consistency, and patience.
Success is Lonely
60% of women said their sense of isolation increased as their career progressed. My remedy: Gang up with other entrepreneurs, building the plane as they fly it.
How I Knew I Needed To Start My Own Business
I had clear signs I should start my own business. You too? Here’s to no one ever telling you your coffee break was two minutes longer than allowed.
You’ve Gotta MarketÂ
I swear, it’s easier to market than you think. Good marketing starts by building relationships with people long before they’re ready to cut you a check.
Guerilla Marketing
Guerilla marketing is bold, but this might just be the thing you need to stand out from the competition. Do you have the courage to try undercover marketing?…
When Fools Rush In
Fools thinks when you start your own business you’ll be doing work you love full time. Those who don’t make it two years aren’t starting with eyes wide open.
YOLO
This is a story about my favorite drink at my favorite bar and what it can teach you about getting max mileage out of the efforts you put in to your biz. #yolo…
I Have an Arch Nemesis
Despite my therapist’s suggestions to let it go, I keep my arch nemesis in a sequined box in the back of my closet. Not in sight but easy to find when needed.
Where to Focus When You’re Getting Started
When a seasoned entrepreneur is willing to start their hindsight about getting started, you know you need to pull up a chair and take some notes.
40 Hours. Every Week?
I don’t see a way to live a healthy life and also work 40 hours a week. The math aint mathin. Something gives, because something’s gotta give.
A Halloween Horror Story
This will send chills down your entrepreneurial spine. Learn a lesson from my mistake about how to negotiate a better contract and price yourself appropriately.
What Makes Work Meaningful
We, the self-employed, advance our own careers and set our own work hours. We don’t rely on the benevolent boss to deem us worthy. We are worthy. All of us.
Solving Real Problems
What could you do instead that aligns with your brand, solves real problems, and makes people smile? This is a story where Heineken is the hero. Yes, Heineken.
Saying Yes with Ama Nyame-Mensah
Now that she’s been burned a few times, Ama knows to look for positive signs that someone (or an organization) will be a good partner, so she can say yes.
Credit Where It’s Due
It’s a particularly American story to be self-sufficient, self-made, reliant on no one. It’s also bullshit. Here’s how to share credit, for creators and CEOs.
Ethical Riders
What good is having a name-drop-worthy client if you’re so embarrassed by them, you’d never drop the name? I wished I had ethical riders in the contract.
You Don’t Have to Be Passionate
I know this sounds impossible, but hear me out: You don’t have to be passionate about the product you sell. Let me tell you about an entrepreneur I know.
No Bar, No Pizza
Your best path forward: Get clear on your boundaries & communicate them early on so potential customers can self-select out if their needs don’t match.