First Word

Have you ever had a client who is such a major PITA you want to run for the hills every time you see his/her name pop up on your cell phone or in your in-box? PITA clients are the type who cannot be satisfied. No matter how much hand-holding, time and effort you put into them the tagline "satisfaction guaranteed" just never applies. You could jump 200 hoops and "how high" -- and this client would still complain about or criticize your efforts. Want the solution? Fire them! Yes, I said the magnificent two-word solution. Don't gasp. Don't cry out: "But I can't afford it." Here is the truth you're right. You can't afford it. You can't afford to have all of your time, effort and resources sucked into a vacuous hole of dissatisfaction. When your time and attention is mired in a PITA you are not open to other possibilities. You are spinning your wheels and most important spending all of your time on the insufferable demands of a PITA....

My friend and I discuss our mutually earned lifestyle that involves a simple commute to the home office. We both love the freedom. Not everyone can work from home and be successful. I thought I would compile a list of reasons why you are or are not a candidate to work at home where too many freedoms can be too luring for some. #1 -- The TV stays off ... or don't try this at home . The TV is an unfortunate lure for those who are not disciplined to keep their fingers off the remote power button. You cannot work from your home office if you can't keep the TV off. Now those of you muttering, "But I can work and watch TV ..." I am here to whack you on the head. No, George you can't. The very distraction of the TV will make you lose productivity. Have you ever tried NOT to stare at a TV in the room. The very movement on screen catches your eye, and pretty soon you're what? Watching it! So, no TV! #2 -- No, it's not laundry time ! Not to suggest that I've...

One of the most important focuses any business should be customer service. Never undervalue or under-rate customer service. Focus on superior customer service and reap the rewards, which are repeat business, referrals, and essentially more business. And when it comes to customer service, here are some suggested policies and ideas you should adopt: Consistent, on-time and on deadline -- if you promise to do something you honor it. You deliver whatever it is you said you were going to deliver. If it's a project and you say you're going to get it done by a certain time, honor it and make it happen. If it's a meeting and you say you're going to be there, you show up. It doesn't matter what it is, be consistent, be on-time and meet the deadline. 24-hour response time -- at 3L Publishing it's our standard policy to always respond to a client with 24 hours. We might not always be able to take the phone call on the spot, but we will do our best to ensure we call ...

I finally after resisting it had to break down and text people. It's an interesting floodgate. Once I started doing it, all of my clients and friends must have picked up on the text vibe ... she's texting now let's text her . So, now everyone is texting. Texting has even taken on a form of courtship (among other things). I recently got a surprise text from a male associate out of nowhere. I was surprised to even hear from him. And the texts weren't about work. He was asking me how I was doing and that sort of thing. Pretty soon the texts got a little "flirty" (not really a word) and it dawned on me, this is the new form of the "phone call." Men don't call women anymore. They text them. Think about it. It's almost safer, right? You don't have to face rejection with an actual voice. I also noticed texts are a great way to avoid real conversations, period. Need to talk about something difficult, let's text and that really limits the conv...