There is a lesson in my course, The Golden Blueprint, that I call Guiding Light. This lesson is done the very first week of the course because it is meant to be just that, a guiding light.
I read today that people spend more time planning a vacation than they do their lives. So while most people will write down lists of places to visit and restaurants to try and then plan how to make them happen and how to get there, very few people actually do that with their lives.
Read MoreI'm continuing the series on Strategic Planning with creating a business plan. Now, wait, before I lose you, this isn't going to be a super complicated multi-page plan that no one will ever see.
The new business plans are focused and can help you get clear in just a page to what your plan is.
I'll be going deeper into these topics over the next few months. But get your juices flowing and get something on your paper will help you and your business.
Read MoreHow transparent are you in business? Stop and think about that for a minute.
Here is another question: Have you had any client issues that could have been avoided by greater transparency?
Transparency is behaving with openness, free communication, and accountability. Transparency is information clarity and strongly related to integrity.
Read MoreOne of the ways that I practice radical transparency is by displaying my purchase cost on the client invoice. This separates the cost of the item from the design fees or markup. By doing this you are clear about the cost of the item and your design fees. I don’t think that lumping them together is good for business anymore. This practice is common, but I think it is becoming harder and harder for the lump-sum designers because clients are checking prices and are savvier than they ever have been. I recently read a post on a Facebook about a designer that had a client that was purchasing fine art. The designer had spent dozens of hours searching for the right pieces
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