First Word

Business lesson numeral uno: Always focus on marketing and sales -- especially when sales go down. Take a lesson straight out of The Secret . If you're struggling for any reason in business, DO NOT FOCUS ON DEBT! Focus exclusively on HOW TO MAKE MONEY. If you focus on making money vs not making money, you will succeed!

Success in business isn't arbitrary, airy-fairy stuff. No magic-wand waving and poof! You have a successful and profitable business. I see people make it. I see people try to make it. I see people who want to make it. What I know with absolute certainty is that success and making a business work takes tenacity to overcome and plow through. Wear-with-all to hold up under fire. And a whole of persistence to make it work even when it clearly looks unworkable. You maintain your passion and dream, but also be open to retool and rework and reinvent when things don't go your way. I've had my moments to be sure when I watched my often shaky house of cards get a little shakier, but I've also been open to trying something different -- something with a fresh twist on an old model. Sometimes you just have to sit back and re-evaluate the what's next. And here is something super important: Be prepared to move your fixed thoughts out of the way. Sometimes those fixed thoughts may ...

Hello First Word Friend-Os. And you are a Friend-O if you're reading my blog. I know you maybe surprised to find an entirely new blog after reading the M-Com blog, but "it's new day, it's a new start, and I'm feeling fine," to quote a famous song. 3L Publishing has an old face with a new CEO. Michele Smith has stepped down, and I am now 100-percent owner of the company I helped found. This experience while not on the top of my list of things I intended to do, is a positive for the company overall. If you review our catalog, you will notice I am the editor or contributing writer to every single one. So, nothing is going to change in terms of our look and feel and our exciting product line. Our books have always been hand-picked by me and influenced by me. So, our audience will notice very little change in the coming weeks. Most of the change involves transition and settling down. We have a bright year ahead, and we've already accomplished our highest sales...