Three rules of alignment as a small business owner

If you have your own agency – PR firm, marketing consultancy, graphic design agency, career coach, etc.) – there are three practices that must be in alignment. Before I tell you what my best practices are, think about what’s most important in your
business and let’s see if we are on the same page.

Photo by Liz Cezat. Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, Mich.

In my practice, I have determined that these are the most important trio of traits: discipline, focus and making connections. Talent is a given. If you didn’t have talent, you wouldn’t be pursuing a small agency model because no one would hire you.

Here’s a rundown of the trio.

1. Discipline. If you have your ducks in a row – business plan is set, client base is steady, office systems are up and running – attend to client work first. Whether you do it yourself or assign it to a partner, associate or freelancer – get the project in the works and manage it. Take care to produce the results that the client has specified. No surprises. Fulfill the need – on time, within budget and meet expectations.

2. Focus. There are so many distractions in a day. If you are focused on what you do best, then you shouldn’t have a problem getting the work done. Focus can make the hours seem like minutes. Work on your most challenging client projects at prime time. Are you most productive at 7 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. or 5 p.m.? Know your cycle. Once you can accomplish your client work in a focused manner, try to use that strategy for the work that you don’t like to do. Establish a specific time to do billing, make prospecting calls, and organize your projects, and then focus solely on that. It then becomes routine.

3. Connections. Set aside time daily, weekly and monthly to fortify your connections and meet new people. How can this be readily achieved? Reach out on social media – that can be a daily practice. Attend one to two meetings a week to get the word out about your business and forge new partnerships. Make calls – no robocalls please – or send personalized e-mails. Attend meetings that your clients and prospective clients attend. Learn what matters to them and what they want from your company. Follow up with a LinkedIn invite or ‘nice to meet you’ note. Then, stay engaged. Be pleasantly persistent.

Set up appointments based on interest and the need to see clients face-to-face before they sign up for your services. If you can build trust via your brand (website, white papers, blog, collateral marketing pieces), a phone call or e-mails, a meeting may not be needed.

Follow this triad of business practices and your agency or solo practice will be humming along.

Time for a grammar tune-up?

I’m dismayed at the number of blogs, news articles and reviews that contain bad grammar. It’s not rocket science, yet many educated people (yes, even those with Master’s degrees and PhDs) often get tangled up in the proper use of the English language. Here is a quick primer:

Their (refers to people) vs. there (refers to a place)

They’re (contraction for “they are”) vs. there, which refers to a place (noted above)

It’s (means “it is”) vs. its,  a pronoun that shows possession (e.g.: its passage)
Proper usage: It’s cold outside. Let’s see if we can find its master. (referring to a dog’s owner)

Here’s a quick test to check if contractions are used correctly. Use the real words to see if the sentence still makes sense. For example, in the above sentence, it doesn’t make sense to say, “it’s master,” which translates to “it is master.”

To clarify, a contraction substitutes an apostrophe (‘) for part of the word. Why? Perhaps to save space. Maybe it was an early adaptation of texting – condensing two words into one.

Moving on then…

To (expressing motion or direction toward a point, person, place) vs. too (means excessive: too many, too much). Improper usage: “I had to much to eat.” (first “to” should be “too”; second “to” is correct)

When you see a red or green squiggly line under copy, something is wrong. Do a spell-check in Word or cut and paste the word into Dictionary.com to verify the spelling and/or usage.

Even Hollywood knows the importance of good communication. You may recall a classic line from the cops and robbers’ movie “Heat” set in L.A. in the ‘90s. Police lieutenant Vincent Hanna (played by Al Pacino) was a superb communicator. Early on, he was arguing with his wife Justine, played by the amazing Diane Venora, over how much he worked.*

He intoned, “I say what I mean and do what I say.”

Diane did not exactly melt at the statement but she took notice. Vincent's credibility was ratcheted up among viewers, who could see that he was a man of his word. I know this line wasn’t original to Mr. Pacino but he gets credit for making it stick. He did a great service to English teachers and consultants who work tirelessly to communicate well and help others do so.

If your associates or employees need more in-depth help than this blog can provide, contact me about conducting an on-site seminar. I will discuss common mistakes made in writing; how to shorten and clarify e-mails; the need to proof and reread copy (reports, articles, e-mails) before submitting; and how to become a better communicator through effective writing. Check it out here: http://www.cezatcreative.com/expertise.html (Click on the PDF “presentations” attachment at the bottom of the Expertise page.)

I much prefer writing to editing, but need to share my pet peeves in the hope that these mistakes will never occur again!

Please report back on your success of changing bad grammar as well as glaring errors that you’ve seen. Measurement is a critical component of success.

*This is how I remembered it, without re-watching the movie.

Image: Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net