HerWork

Just finished a great book: Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. The ideas in this book resonated with me because I’m an avid networker. In my freelance business, networking has been the key to a growing bottom line. And Ferrazzi has crystallized how and why this works.

Some passages that especially rang true for me:

The great myth of “networking” is that you start reaching out to others only when you need something like a job. In reality, people who have the largest circle of contacts, mentors, and friends know that you must reach out to others long before you need anything at all.

Power, today, comes from sharing information, not withholding it. … We’re an open-source society, and that calls for open-source behavior. … [T]he truth is everyone has something in common with every other person. And you won’t find those similarities if you don’t open up and expose your interests and concerns, allowing others to do likewise.

Quoting Tom Peters: “I’m sick to death of hearing, ‘I’d like to, but they won’t let me.’ Be the CEO of your own life. Raise hell. Let the chips fall where they may.”

And, Ferrazzi’s sections on “pinging” and “Balance is B.S.” are nothing short of revolutionary. I’ll probably write more on these later.

It’s in the last chapter, “Welcome to the Connected Age,” that Ferrazzi reveals how he came to this way of life. He explored a spiritual path that took him to the meditation tradition of Vipassana, which he says contributed a level of clarity that allowed him to embrace joy every moment. I find in every one of these cool career or management books I read, there’s a spiritual underpinning. It’s everywhere!

Ferrazzi concludes the book with these thoughts:

Remember that love, reciprocity, and knowledge are not like bank accounts that grow smaller as you use them. Creativity begets more creativity, money begets more money, knowledge begets more knowledge, more friends begets more friends, success begets even more success. Most important, giving begets giving. At no time in history has this law of abundance been more apparent than in this connected age where the world increasingly functions in accord with networking principles.

The “law of abundance” is something I believe in. I’d like to understand it better, that’s for sure, but I know it’s real. I’m on the lookout for it today.

// posted by Laura @ 5:27 AM 0 comments

My business is fairly new, and I’m just learning the ropes. One of the most aggravating aspects is when clients don’t pay me.

I’m always flummoxed by folks who want me to do some work, ask me my rates, agree to them, then take the work and don’t pay. And it’s never the big clients. It’s always the ones where it’s really just a few dollars. In fact, my very first client, who I was thrilled to get because I was sure it was a sign of great things to come, never paid me. My quote even included a new-client discount. I’d given her several hours of conscientious hard work, and then nothing.

Perhaps I’m sensitive on the issue. More recently, a friend referred a client to me, and I’m afraid I quickly pegged her as one who wanted my services but didn’t want to pay. Maybe it was because when I went to deliver the material, she first tried to talk me down in price and then wouldn’t write the check. She wanted to take what I’d done and “show it around.”

I left in a huff, only giving her a non-copy-able printout of her flyer and not the CD with the printable file. I figured it was a complete loss anyway.

Weeks went by and I sort of forgot about it. But then she called me and wanted me to do some more for her. I said, “Well, you never paid me. Send me the check for what you owe me, and we’ll talk.” So she sent me the check—hallelujah!—along with instructions for the next round.

It then turned out she wanted me to do work that I’m not qualified for—it was more design than writing. So, trying to be ethical, I called her to say I thought she needed to find a designer who could do a better job for her.

Well, she went off on me! Told me I was cheating her, that I’d cashed the check and wouldn’t finish the project. Man o man!

As we’re yelling at each other, I finally realized this whole thing wasn’t right. I couldn’t hope to succeed with my business if I couldn’t make things work in difficult situations. So right then while this yelling match was ensuing, I tried to collect my thoughts.

I realized that it was a frankly bad business tactic to indulge in thinking poorly of my clients. I had to see *everyone* as a child of light, as a creation of Spirit, not just those who behaved as I thought they should. I had to work from the basis of genuinely loving my clients and their businesses.

This slight change in perspective on my part brought the instant insight that she had a point of view, too. After all, she had already paid me, and all she had to show for it was a black and white printout. Usually I wait until I hear that the client is happy before I even invoice. Maybe I hadn’t handled this situation as well as I could have. Maybe I’d thought poorly about someone who hadn’t deserved it.

So, in mid-yell, I decided to change from thinking of her as someone who tried to cheat me to thinking of her as honest businessperson just trying to get by.

As I opened my thought to seeing her in a new way (all this happened in a flash), I suddenly had the words to say. I apologized, tried to explain that I had been worried about being paid, and expressed my earnest desire to make her a happy client. I agreed to finish the project even though it was outside of my normal skill set. (Let’s hear it for Microsoft Publisher templates!) And I inwardly decided not to charge her any extra for this work and instead to think of it as part of the original bid.

This just felt better. We got off the phone, and I finished the project. I think I did a pretty good job for her after all. And now there was peace where there had been resentment.

I learned a lesson that day—ya gotta love your clients. Actually love them. Love their businesses, love the idea of helping them succeed, love making their prosperity an absolute priority. And you know, they’ll feel the love. They’ll love working with you, and hey, then they’ll pay you.

So I’ve made love a part of my business plan. And receipts are up.

// posted by Laura @ 1:07 PM 1 comments