Client Management Revisited

December 14, 2018

If you have a process, believe in the specificity of that process and are uncompromising in that belief, you are going to get punched in the mouth.  To paraphrase Mike Tyson, what happens then? Will you bend to those challenging your process, your clients, production partners, colleagues, even employees? Will you dig in without justification? Will […]

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Cancer

November 29, 2018

Cancer is an awful disease. My stepfather endured ten years of agonizing treatments for tumors that would never leave his body.  As with most cancers, it is not the actual cancer that kills you, it is the other diseases (infections and the like) that move in to take a depleted body. To overstate the obvious, […]

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Synchronicity

November 21, 2018

After spending time last week in Tampa presenting to the attendees of ABC’s Annual Conferenceand in New York City talking to interior designers for The Business of Home(both fantastic experiences), I was traveling back to Northern California on the early flight and thought I would get a few hours of sleep before getting home. In […]

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The Distance Yet To Go

November 14, 2018

We only have $25,000 for our project, will that work?  So sorry, no, to do what you are asking would be at least ten times that. Oh ok, let’s do it.  In the end, they spent $850,000.  High fives and smiles all around. When anyone asks me what is wrong with creative business today, this […]

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The Stories We Tell

November 8, 2018

In many areas of our lives, we make decisions based on emotion, tribalism, community and intuition, anything other than logic. Often, we make illogical, irrational, counterintuitive decisions because we are, well, human. 63% of North Dakotans voted for Donald Trump. North Dakota is solidly Republican. Yet, because of his trade policy (war?) with China, North […]

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Scope Creep

November 1, 2018

When I was a teenager, I used to visit my grandparents in Florida for Spring Break. We would go out to dinner frequently and my grandmother would bring an extra large bag.  She would put rolls, crackers, breadsticks in the bag every time. Each restaurant would see it and then just refill the basket without […]

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Who Would Buy Your Creative Business And Why?

October 23, 2018

Most creative business owners do not ever consider who might buy their businesses. Most consider themselves and their artistry (or artistic vision) the very lifeblood of the business.  Without them, there would be nothing is how that thinking goes. On the one hand, I very much understand the sentiment.  Your creative business is the very […]

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Metrics Of Success

October 18, 2018

You order a pizza from the local place for dinner as you have many times before.  You have never talked about how long it should take but it usually takes 25 minutes. Today, the delivery takes 35 minutes.  You call to complain.  The restaurant says they try to make it within 30 minutes but are […]

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How Do We Decide How To Shape Tomorrow?

October 10, 2018

Polarized. Divided. Angry. Distrustful. Depressed. Motivated. Sad. Scared. These are just a few words to describe how most of us in the United States feel these days.  And no matter which side you fall on, these words certainly apply.  In the mix is that somehow we have lost, or at least forsaken, our ability to […]

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What Problem Are You Solving?

October 4, 2018

You are not your job description.  Your creative business is not its industry category.  If the problem you solve is only being the source for the need, you are lost.  I need a florist for my wedding, a designer to help with my kitchen renovation, a graphic designer with my website.  A need is not […]

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