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SMARTY.

The human side of business

Archives for 2015

Small Business

Unscripted

December 15, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

The Babylon of Customer Service: Babington House. Image from babingtonhouse.co.uk

Do you feel better when “Reservations” emails your hotel confirmation, or “Freya at Babington House“?

Do you feel better when the agent goes off script and says, “yah I hate it when that happens. Let me see what can be done,” OR, slowly, and much-too-long-windededly, says, “I’m sorry you had that inconvenience today. Let me go through the options on the menu that may help in resolving this issue. Would you mind if I placed you on hold while I review the materials (that I should already have memorized)?.” No one talks like this. Why does Customer Service?

So.
Yes I mind.
I mind that you can’t even talk to me without reading prompts.
I mind that you don’t sound like you’ve ever seen my problem before.
I mind that I can’t ask anyone there a real question without an answer that is pre-rehearsed, pre-recorded, pre-dehumanized…

Have all the policies you want – but package them with flesh and a beating heart, please.

Thank you One Fine Stay for being original. And flexible. And generous. Your policy said no. You said yes.
Thank you flight attendant Rob on the Jet Blue LAX – BOS route for being hilarious – we were patient because of you.
Thank you Tolbot Inn manager Dan who offered to call a friend at a hotel in another city to see if we could stow our bags while we toured for two hours. We didn’t need it. But you offered. And that was money in the bank.
Thanks Brittish Airways for making a miracle happen at 7am and running in heels through security.

Thanks to everyone who doesn’t act like a robot, who feels our humanity, and goes out of their way to make it better.
We’d do the same thing in your shoes, and should.
In the age of automized everything, let’s remain personal – as much as possible. As small business owners we can’t always, but we certainly can a lot.

Big Life

Novelty

December 8, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

I’m continuously fascinated by how living in a small town can lead to living a bigger life. Maybe it’s because I commute to LA and NYC often enough to feel connected to diverse worlds, but I still think no matter where you are anymore, the world is as you create it. Sometimes when I describe our relocation from Venice, CA to Manchester by the Sea, MA, I call it “when we calmed down.” I say that because I felt like I was living my life on Lincoln Boulevard or the 405, or conversely existing in non-gmo-organic-cotton-couture t-shirts and custom clogs…  in our costly but casual neighborhood …doing what people who live there do – which is buying expensive coffee and $18.00 pressed juice (still miss it), meandering our kids in $500 dollar strollers and essentially working hard at looking like we weren’t working very hard. But holy shit we were stressed! Our million dollar house was great but surrounded by drug deals and the thump of drive-by stereo base so deep it moved my home-delivered jars of almond-coconut-Mylk. Our friends with kids in school seemed pained by the process. Police lockdowns became a joke but as “funny” as they were, they bred a strange form of deep stress that we weren’t really all that safe.

I’m not really making an argument for small towns versus urban life – I love them both. But a pig roast at a friends house this weekend made me realize how much my own life has invited more novelty. There’s something about switching lives that’s kinda great. I recommend it. It has also been progressive for my professional life – which seems weird because now I have to go to my former cities to see clients – but I think I’m DOING better work, because I feel more inspired. Hmmm.
So here’s to switching it up. In the name of a new view, new circles, new problems even. Unexpected opportunities arise when you make intentional but disruptive decisions.

Small Business

No Pants.

December 1, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 9.05.17 PMWhen we’re little, people love to see us running around naked. But that gets more awkward (hopefully!) as we age, and it’s the same for our talents. People are forgiving of the raw, unselfconscious efforts of a teenager singing her first recital, or of a first blog post, or even a first recipe, but as you practice and hone your craft, the critics have more room…and justification…to analyze, judge – as well as delete, ignore, swipe. As you get better (and most people do), the bar gets higher. Expectations (from yourself and others) become built in to whatever you put out there – because if the last time was great, the next time will be greater. You begin to walk in bigger shoes, or in this case, wear big, grown up pants.

Remember when Elizabeth Gilbert wrote Eat, Pray, Love, and then did a Ted Talk about how her next effort couldn’t help but be a disappointment? This is not a comparison to a New York Times best selling author…but sometimes, when I do good work, and there’s applause (even from one), I say to myself, “How nice. But can I pull it off again?” There’s some kernel of doubt that lives in me and wonders if that was the last time, a fluke, a one-off. I’ve never been right about this, but the more I talk to other people about this fraud/fail/anomaly syndrome, the more I see that I’m not alone. I guess it’s just so fun to knock it out of the park that it becomes addictive – and we all want that impact every time. If there were a secret to killing it, always, I think we’d all buy it.

But it’s almost impossible for every project, book, product, video, post or presentation to  be a best seller. Seth Godin writes ten to twenty blogs for every one he publishes. But knowing this,  the thing we can start to understand is what does work, and why does it work, and did it do something for someone somewhere that was useful…without the pressure of epic performance. Ingredients for greatness reveal themselves when you aren’t panicked about…being great.

So calm the eff down. Eyes on the road. Do your work. Measure results. Scrap what’s mediocre. Keep the good stuff. Press play.

Then do it all again.

That’s pretty much the big secret.

 

Small Business

Solve If With What.

November 23, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

SeeingvsKnowingNo rational human welcomes the feeling of uncertainty – that uneasy sense that you can’t see around corners or don’t know where a road might lead. Of course recent events make us feel that the world is more unpredictable than ever. But when you depend on yourself for success, financial stability, reputation, life’s work – the mercurial feelings that demand clearer answers exists all the time. Will this idea work? Is this partner right? Why didn’t anyone RSVP? I don’t even know what I don’t know, which means I really don’t know enough. EEEK!

Because we can’t see the future, and because we have to do something as answers are revealed and work performed, here’s my plan (for myself) every time these feelings arise.

I’m going to give – an in giving, try to create a little bit of certainty for another human being. It gets us out of our own way. And offers the very thing we ourselves often crave; Unexpected grace. But I’m not going to just do anything for someone else. I’m going to do something specific – that only I can do. Could be a talent, a connection, a word, a way of seeing something, to someone who needs it.

Here’s what it does: it gives us a little tiny bit of knowing that we moved another human forward toward something they really, really want – with something only you have – and were meant to give to the world. It gets us out of our own way.

In honor of thanksgiving, let’s just give some small (but hugely useful) thing. To someone. Somewhere. Freely.

It’s medicinal.

Small Business

Dualité.

November 17, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Photo thank you @reyalfashion

On level one, you just want to cry and grieve and do something (anything) to help.
On level two, you have to deliver work for a client.
On level one, you want to let them know you care, that we are connected, that their tragedy is in our hearts and minds.
On level two, you have to make dinner.

What happened in Paris, and what is in the news every day, challenges us to live two lives.  In one, we go about our days, having meetings, pitching work, seeing friends, making plans, complaining about resolvable problems.

And that’s normal, right? That’s life. You have to run your business, feed your family, listen to a friend complain about traffic.

I find it really challenging to do all this, while I feel all that.
You can’t be all business.
But you can’t be all heart, either.
The only, only take-away for any of us can be that these events have a grounding, sobering affect.
Stupid sh&t just doesn’t matter. 
But a lot of other things just really do.

 I hope somehow goodness can prevail.

Small Business

Last Days

November 10, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

LastDays

Last Days on the boat. See you in nine months.

The last days of anything always feel melancholy. Sometimes it’s as simple as the season – saying goodbye to summer. Other times it’s the end of a partnership, a relationship, a business, a project. But last days have such an important role in the way we punctuate our lives – professionally and privately. Last days mean we are in deep presence and appreciation for what was – what it meant, why it happened. But so much of self-help dogma is about finding silver linings and escaping that uncomfortable edge.  Well-meaning friends say, “this is just a transition” or my favorite, “when one door closes….” etc. And we tend to agree with them. But maybe we shouldn’t re-market these themes back to ourselves. Because that’s what they are. Marketing. We are typically selling ourselves out of feeling uncomfortable. But why NOT be a little bit blue about the end? Why NOT sit in that feeling for more than a minute? And why do so many of us feel we need to tell ourselves “I didn’t want that anyway” or “maybe it worked out for the best.” Well maybe it did, but maybe it effing did NOT. Maybe you wanted it really badly but didn’t get it. It’s so easy to talk ourselves out of what’s “hard” because enduring it, being in it, seeing who you are in those dark places is brutal. But is it possible we could come out better for having not pulled the parachute too fast?

Risk can be terrifying. Unknowns can be torture. Relationships can feel unsteady. Work can have curveballs. Confidence can be shaken.

The nausea of vulnerability and change are places we don’t voluntarily dwell. But maybe we don’t have to make that go away so fast. There’s something for us in the rabbit hole, as anyone who has ever had dark, uncertain days can tell you. But we have to be there (and stay there for a minute) to find out.

Small Business

Whatchyou Sayin?

November 3, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

YTrespassingou are not for everyone, even if you think you are.
Your customers aren’t all women between the ages of 28 and 42. They’re just not.
Your pricing should be consistent, based on experience, and for certain circumstances, (gasp!) negotiable.
But some things aren’t negotiable, and you should know what they are.

So often we don’t get what we want or what we were expecting because we haven’t been clear.
Sometimes we lack confidence (but don’t want to admit it, even to ourselves.)
Sometimes we don’t know better (and don’t want to admit that either.)
Sometimes our rules, boundaries, pricing, messages, target audience…want to be all things to all people.
Our intentions are good, but not filtered.

I love this sign because it doesn’t mince words.
Could we be clearer in what we say – and what we mean?
Probably.

Might get more of what we want (or at least what we need.)

 

 

Small Business

Wanna Get Busy (With Me)?

October 25, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

WeMeanBusiness

We mean business. Do you?

The difference between working with you (a small business owner, talent, hired gun, solopreneur) is that you can move quickly and make decisions without committee. Many of the clients I write for and do brand strategy with cannot. They are heavier organisms – not light on their feet – what I do for them takes months to ultimately roll out into the world because they are multi-million dollar small businesses, or corporations. This is why I love working with you, who tend to be agile and ready to respond to information that moves your needle. I see change in what you do, and you see a change in your visibility, numbers, progress. It’s exciting. You can hustle.

Thanks for the love, you’re probably thinking, but so what? Well….I just finished three monster projects that had my schedule at capacity, but want to invite a few of you who need some spot consulting to reach out and book time. I’m here and ready to help for the next few weeks if you need it! Write me directly and tell me what you need. Let’s see what we can do in a big way before the end of 2015. Another option is to put a small group together of fellow business owners and set up some group privates, which is somewhat like FlashGroups and allows me / us to work on individual challenges for the benefit of the group. I don’t recommend more than six for this model. I will also be in Los Angeles the week of November 9th and will be setting up office hours if you’d rather do it in person.

 

Some nice changes are coming down the pike at SMARTY – can’t wait to share them with you!

 

Small Business

Professionals

October 14, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

IMG_6217I was recently tasked with interviewing Drew and Jonathan Scott – of HGTV’s Property Brothers fame – at a World Market store opening. I’ve probably interviewed in the hundreds of people at this point – whether for SMARTY panels or profiles in magazines – and there is one thing that continually distinguishes people. It’s professionalism. These brothers could have shown up to a suburban mall, in the middle of kind-of-nowhere – and phoned it all in. Sure there were hundreds of fans waiting in line to see them, and media crews everywhere, but let’s be real – it’s a job for them, on a Sunday, when they could be watching football or doing whatever they do on weekends.  Yet they brought their game. And they were on time. They were tight. They were funny. They were focused. They promoted the store perfectly. They gave soundbites. They joked with one another – even though those are probably reusable jokes – they brought it. They made my job so easy I barely felt like I worked. But that’s what professionalism is. It’s not only showing up on time with your hair brushed and a copy of the agenda, it’s knowing what you need to deliver in order for people to be happy. Some people get that and some people don’t. It doesn’t matter how small the client or how small the job. It all matters. Yes it matters to your client or fans or audience, who might actually tell you if you suck (or they might not which could be even worse), but it matters mostly because the more you do everything with your everything, the better that everything gets. It’s habitual.

Let’s not ever get in the habit of a B game. It’s not sexy, it’s not where legacy and impact live, and when given the choice, wouldn’t you rather know yourself – like that?

Small Business

Fluency

September 11, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

FluencyYou can insert competency, naturalness, authority into this if that feels better, but here’s what we talk about when we talk about fluency.
You do this work at the highest level without thinking about techniques or mechanics.
You’re comfortable enough to think through questions and answers, without panicking about what’s “right” – thanks to experience.
You can be quiet – because sometimes you don’t need to talk.
You can be brilliant, without preparing for it.
You can manage surprises without losing your place in the script.
All of this happens when you develop a fluency in a skill, a sport, a relationship, a way of being. It’s a great place to be, right? But there will always be new things you get into where you’re a beginner – you’re on the JV team (and it’s uncomfortable for a varsity player like yourself.)
When I first started moderating panel discussions I was very focused on my questions – now I hardly look at them because I take cue’s from people’s answers, and aim to drive the conversation genuinely, but in a natural direction that serves the audience and gets the most from the panelist.
On the other hand, there’s my tennis game. I was a social player until this summer when I started taking lessons. I’m in the JV phase where I think about every stroke, my leg positions, my racquet – it’s all in my head. There’s very little naturalness. But if I keep going (and who doesn’t want to wear a tennis costume legitimately) maybe I’ll gain some fluency and stop THINKINg so much.  And become good, if not fluent.
It’s important to know your fluencies, and your JV sports. Expectations change when you see the game you’re playing.
Share either of yours on our FB Forum – this is where we talk about anything there is to talk about.

 

Small Business

The Curse of Customization.

August 18, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

TheCurseofCustomizationIsn’t it amazing how each of us can now dial our lives and experiences down to the most granular, seemingly insignificant level? Not only can we be our own DJ’s and turn on the alarm for the house from 20 miles away, we can tap into podcasts and audiobooks while having our teeth cleaned, plug our menstrual cycles into apps that calculate ovulation, look at our wrists to see how many steps we took that day – and get business cards designed, printed and shipped – in two days. More and more, our lives are becoming customizable – but you know what that does to everything that ISN’T? It makes us cranky. As we get more and more accustomed to things being connected, in sync, measurable, on-demand and tuned into our every mood and preference, all of the elements of life that are out of our control – relationships, business deals, creative projects, partnerships – all of those variables that cannot be swiped, clicked or downloaded  – become incrementally more frustrating.

It’s simple, actually. We’re getting used to having our way with our worlds. But the world is still reminding us that we’re human, people are people, life is still life – and most of it is still out of our control.

So now we get to practice tolerance. Patience. Flexibility.

Funny how the technical pace of life might also be accelerating our spiritual paths. If we let it.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite customization tools.

Urban Daddy app
Where to eat? Any time, city, circumstance.Tara Brach podcast
Spiritual musings.Ovia app
When am I ovulating? Now you know.OMG I can Meditate app
Self explanatory.

Marc Maron podcast WTF
Musicians, artists, actors, writers – Q and A.

Hotel Tonight app
Last minute hotel – any city.

Astrolis Horoscope App
Silly predictions – but kinda believable.

Quora
Every question under the sun – answered.

Tiny Scan
Take a picture of a document – scanned!

 

Small Business

Is it that hard to…?

August 14, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

A question I get a lot is, “how hard is it to start a….line of toxin free tween cosmetics? A bathing suit company? A beauty blog? A sportswear brand? A water bottle company? A styling business?” 

Want to know the answer?

Yah. It’s hard.

Does that change anything? The truth is, starting the thing is pretty simple – plenty of businesses can be started without too many headaches. But it’s everything after that – biz dev, the sales, the number of clients, clicks, registrations, views… each of those have their own strategy for success. Beyond all that, it’s the noise of a marketplace that won’t tolerate average- or even good enough – anymore. It just won’t.

So ‘is it hard’ should just be an assumed and resounding yes. But the better question to ask is, can I really do something that is not only original in its essence and offering (very hard), but can I do it in a way that keeps them watching, clicking, browsing, buying, talking, sharing, referring, opening….because if you think you can, then maybe you should. But I find myself on the reluctant side of many of those questions. Here’s what I ask myself before anything else:

Do I, or anyone on my internal, BFF team, do any of the critical things it takes to make this work?

Is money a “nice” thing or an “essential” thing for the success of it?

Am I just another human putting more content or widgets into a world that already has too many?

How good is the existing average? Brilliant? Mediocre?

Average can only stay in business as long as nothing else comes along for comparison. Which it usually does. But the higher the average starts, the harder it is to leap over it. And that’s what makes it worth doing. So go for it if you’re really ready to play the game. But know there’s no shame in passing on good ideas that can’t make that leap, too.

Small Business

Misery.

August 4, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

MiseryThis past weekend I paddled around Misery Island in Manchester, MA, where I live, in a race that my husband created and directed called The Misery Challenge (what a name!). Last year at this very same time, at this very same race, I had been without a voice for 3 months, was so thin I could barely make it up a flight of stairs, and could be found on most days lying down – searching for answers about why I was so sick (misery pretty much describes it). By September I was hospitalized at Mass General in Boston, quarantined in a negative pressurized room, and diagnosed with….tuberculosis. So unlikely. So surprising. So strange. I’m still trying to put the pieces together of why and how that happened to me – but mostly I marvel at how far I’ve come and how grateful I am to be healthy, strong and able to kayak 4 miles around an island with choppy waves and the force of the Atlantic behind it! But it’s not an accident either.

I share this because my prognosis for healthy, strong lungs was not good – even though TB is usually curable. Would I ever be able to run? To walk up a hill? To dance all night? With less than 50% lung capacity toward the end of my treatment, my pulmonologist gave me a prescription – and it was to exercise daily for 45 minutes – breathlessly – no matter what.

So, I’ve been doing that. And now I see what he meant. I feel stronger and better than EVER, with a renewed perspective on my life, my work, my relationships. He knew that even though my capacity couldn’t really increase, my FUNCTIONALITY could. And I thought  – what a metaphor! Some of us can’t become bigger or more of what we already are – but we can function or perform at a higher level – which usually means more of whatever we want, and better versions of it at the same time.

A singular focus on a goal, done daily, yields results. But as he said, it’s the “100% rule. That means just that. Every. Single. Day.”

What single thing can you commit to?? Please tell me. It will encourage me to stay on the path. It can be personal or professional. Just share it. And if you’ve already committed, I’d love to know your results!

Small Business

Brave.

July 30, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

BraveWhat a great word. And what a great sentiment – since most of us aim to be brave-er, strong-er, bold-er in our embracing of life and work.

Lately I’ve been asking the “if not now, then when?” question.

Since that started, I’ve taken up African Dance (see a recent performance here!), fired a lucrative strategy client, asked a favorite client for a bigger role, and told a high ranking CEO that his messaging needed First Aid.

All this stuff feels brave. The reason is that it’s possible to lose something by doing it – whether that’s losing face, losing confidence, losing money. But brave has no time for those concerns. When you take brave and decide to connect it with the greatest possible good, productive, exciting, miraculous things happen.

What have you braved lately? Tell me. I want to know. And if you haven’t, how can I help?

Brave waits for only one thing – and that’s you.

August is a slow month….so you won’t see much SMARTY event action. Enjoy the unstructured nature of this lazy summer month!

Small Business

Blind Spots.

July 23, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

BlindSpot2I have them. You have them, too. The question is, are we willing to hear about them from other people? 

The hardest thing about a blind spot is that you just don’t know it’s there, no matter how hard you want to know. The only way you find out about it is when someone braves up and tells you – which is usually a disruptive, startling, blind-siding event – like being hit by an emotional truck. Blind spots exist in the professional universe as well as the personal, but it’s the personal that impacts the professional sense of stability, and much less the other way around.

Inevitably, we have enough relationships that go deep enough or become important enough that we become aware of these behaviors that offend, hurt, alienate, control or otherwise damper positive feelings from others – and at that point we have a choice. We can become hyper-present and hope to catch future offending trains before they leave the station, or, decide we are who we are, and change is impossible or at least improbable.

I think the more important question to ask about blind spots is this; what if, instead of the surprise punch to the gut, we actually asked our peers and friends to put us on the hot seat for blind spot reviews? Sort of a tell-me-everything kind of thing. This is totally terrifying. But it’s also potentially liberating. And much less surprising.

Can we manage and hold the nausea of that uncertainty, of that big, blank, pregnant space of “what will they say?”  long enough to get to what could be a big, juicy, gratifying, satisfying, elevating, profit-making, game-changing evolution on the other side?

Maybe we should try. Could be worth it.

Small Business

Bailing or Believing.

July 15, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Morning…

So let’s talk about collective intelligence…

As all of you who are community members know, this is something SMARTY has been touting from the beginning. IE, “the more you know, the more we all know, so let’s talk about it” kind of thing.

If this is true, then I have a question for you (one that keeps being asked of me.) Why wouldn’t I offer myself, as well as other experts in the network who have something to give, into an online group setting where individuals pay some reasonable monthly fee to have a twice a month virtual get-down on small business insights, marketing mastery, communications clarity, selling strategies – why wouldn’t I? Maybe I would. Everyone else seems to offer this model. Maybe you could tell me if you would like this – at say $200/month – two Mondays of every month – key strategies, with time for one-on-one work where needed?

Here’s my resistance (I want to be convinced otherwise, by the way)…it just feels like everyone does “group coaching” and when everyone is doing something, my first reaction is to invent and imagine something better. Do you ever feel that way? We all have our virtual models and ways of capturing customers in a way that front loads costs but rewards itself in numbers, but I can’t help this reaction – that it just feels so formulaic. There’s something unoriginal in it. But am I thinking too hard? Am I aiming too high? Maybe it’s possible to offer something that might SEEM like the average, but really be far above it?

I’m contemplating.

Let me hear from you – reply to this if you have a thought – because I want (and need) to believe!

Small Business

The Tension.

July 6, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

TheTensionThis is a feeling you’ll recognize to the degree that you’re connected to your gifts and talents. For better or for worse, the more deeply you understand your contribution to the world, the more this thing pains you.

So here’s the tension.

There’s what you know how to do in your business – your general IQ on how to build it, run it, communicate it, position it. And then there’s what you know is missing, even if you don’t know what it is. The wider this gap, the more it hurts. 99 percent of us have a limitation to the resources we want to or can spend on getting our work out into the world. We do the best we can, and fumble, and succeed, and do it all again – all in a days work. But what happens when this goes on for too long? Do you quit? Is the effort worth the rewards that feel far and few?

Living on this edge is what most of us do. We imagine that something will come along to change things, to interrupt a stagnant cycle, or to at least bring inspiration that could lead to turning something around. And those things do happen – but not usually to the point where we see big financial rewards. And that’s ultimately where we want to see the love – on the balance sheet.

There’s no question to each our gifts and skills. That’s not up for debate. But what is in question is how we deliver those to the world. One talent does not lead to another, and when it comes to marketing, it is the only packaging we can (as consumers) rely on to determine if we like you, or we don’t care. If too many people don’t care…well that math is pretty easy to do.

Identify people who get you, and can communicate for you. There’s too much incredibleness out there to be hidden in average copy, mediocre video, mainstream messages…and if you think I’m talking to you, well I am – but I’m also talking to myself as much as anyone. This applies to each of us, just in different ways.

The world needs you. Remove the static and present yourself.

Small Business

Nobody Likes The Squirrel.

June 25, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

TheSquirrelWe were given a bird feeder last year that has added immeasurable fun to our lives. We now have a parade of birds and squirrels who appear as early as 4am, and from Chickdees to bright red Cardinal, they give us daily entertainment and joy – it resembles a sanctuary in Costa Rica.

But having observed this feeding system now for months, I’m noticing that no one likes the squirrels. As obvious as it is that they cannot get into this bird feeder, they still try – in the willeyiest, most creative ways, to get a single seed into their busy little rodent paws. The birds patiently wait as the squirrel hangs from the tree, jumps to the feeder ledge, loses his grip, crawls back up, hangs upside down, and repeats – until he gives up. And while I may be projecting, I really see them as the outcasts of the whole yard ecosystem. They remind me of companies and people who will. Not. Let. Up. Even when you say no or make it clear that what you do is NOT for them. They are the sneaky, guileless, lowest-rung player in a diaspora of legitimate interactions.

Sometimes our saturated marketplace starts to feel like an assault from these squirrels. From ads on Facebook to email spam to random (but incredibly consistent) calls from Google specialists – it can send a person into an existential tizzy. Is a sale, a customers attention, a click, so hard to get that our market has resorted to THIS?!

As small business owners and service providers we can make such a different choice. We don’t have to have it all, or even one percent of it all. We just need the right mix of great stores, clients or subscribers who ARE interested, and welcome our knock at their (virtual) door.

I’m amused by the squirrel, doing what he does. So are the birds, I think.

Long live the patient, tolerant, well intentioned bird, happy to take just what he needs to be happy – and no more.

Amy

Small Business

I Just Don’t Have Time For Friends.

June 16, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

One thing I hear small business owners lament is — “I just don’t have time for my friends anymore.” I call B.S.

It may feel like that sometimes – especially in the early years, when you’re overwhelmed, and scheduling and to-do lists seem endless. But that statement isn’t really true, and even if it is, it shouldn’t be.

We all have cycles of production that are hyper-focused, meaning our heads are down and our brains are on-mission in a way that only realistically allows for work, family, a shower here and there, and more work. Everyone gets that — whether they have a 9 – 5 job or are also self-employed. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that people are only valuable if they add to your growth plan. I’ll admit that the less intimate ones may take a backseat – because prioritization takes over and maybe everyone doesn’t make the ‘cut’, as it were. But there’s another phenomenon that happens in this realm — when suddenly you’re “someone” in your field.

I think it’s safe to say we all hope to achieve a level of respect or fame in our respective disciplines – right? It’s not as though anyone expects to make headlines at the WSJ, but you hope to earn a name for yourself after decades of work. That’s reasonable.

But what happens when an old friend reaches out – maybe one who isn’t in the same arena, who doesn’t compare to your list of fans and followers, who hasn’t published a book, started a brand, taken a stage or been on the Today Show? I’ll give you a quiz – see what you answer.

A. Reach back with an opening for tea in the next month (or sincerely explain why schedules are tight).

B. Have an assistant reach back with events or class times you’ll be leading – because along with a few hundred other people – at least you’ll be in the same room!

C. Don’t reach back because you either don’t really feel like making time (or worse, you don’t see them as helpful in your ascent.)

The only good answer here is A, but unfortunately B and C happen all the time.

Let’s not be jerks just because we’ve become ‘very important people.’ It’s gross. Be the same kind of person you aim for as a business owner. Authentic. Sincere. Grounded.

There’s no point in having high ideals in entrepreneurship if they don’t apply to your soul.

Amy

Small Business

Got A Handle?

June 11, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Screen Shot 2015-10-24 at 10.42.26 PMI once visited a therapist who had two doors to her office – one that got you into the foyer, and the next that led to her inner private office. The first one had two handles and acted like a normal door. The second only had a handle on one side – her side. So you couldn’t open it from the outside (just in case you went insane from waiting while another client wiped away the tears/rage/frustration/radical truth of her session). I always saw this as an interesting metaphor.

So many times with our business we have that outer door with two handles locked down in the form of beautiful business cards, a well functioning website, great people skills, and clients who love us. But what’s missing is something really clear for our customers to buy.

If your services or offerings feel like a smorgasbord, it’s just too hard to get “in” to your business. There’s no handle. The door feels un-openable because it’s all too confusing, overwhelming, unclear, and ambiguous. So customers leave, and they’re never quite sure why. Yes it’s literal when it comes to a real door, but in a business, it just feels like something that seemed like a good idea – and then never happened.

Stand for something – it doesn’t have to be everything. Commit to highlighting it. You’ll feel a bit like “but what about this? And that? And I also do this!” Just calm down. They need to find a handle to get in and walk through the door – because if they don’t – they’ll never find the treasures of your company, services, or products in the first place.

Amy

Small Business

Earned Wisdom

May 30, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

EarnedWisdomOh the sweet power of earned wisdom. Most of us are so busy IN the day-to-day of our business, with little if any time to advise up-and-comers or intel-seekers, to even realize how smart we’ve become. But sit across the table from someone who wants to be you someday, and you quickly realize how far you’ve traveled. It’s a uniquely satisfying feeling, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

One of our biggest messages is one that will become even clearer in the coming months, and that is the power of collective intelligence. One of the reasons SMARTY even exists is to pool information in a structured yet organic way, so that each of us benefits from the others experience. There isn’t one of us who has the time to dig as deeply as ideally required on a particular channel or industry to get the information we really need. So what do we do? Depend on the kindness of vetted strangers. But who are they? They are members of a like-minded community committed to growth, collaboration and real-time support. Not the kind of “sure I’ll make that introduction!” with no follow-up. Not the “let’s DEFINITELY have coffee” with no return email. The kind that looks like this – “sure I’ll send you my proposal to that company so you can see what one looks like” or “Yes I have a ton of interior designers/ personal trainers/ food stylists/ graphic designers who would love to know about this, send me the link.”

Giving – with boundaries and a genuine motivation to serve – is more fulfilling than getting. And getting, when you’re on that fortunate end, just makes you want to give more of what you have.

Ask. Thank. Do. Repeat. It’s a great cycle if you can get in on it.

 

Amy

Small Business

The Whole ‘Have It All’ Thing. 

May 26, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

We all know the old conversation – the “how to have it all” question. It’s been at every women’s conference for the past 30 years. Of course it reinvents itself all the time with new books about happiness or leaning in, but the conversation among women has long surpassed how to “have it all”. Mostly because “all” needs to be redefined. Now, it’s much more about how can I make what I have, matter the most. To do this we ask the everyday questions; how can work be interesting, efficient, impactful- – forward-moving? How do I spend time with my child in the most stimulating, meaningful, and truthful way? How do I not just pass my partner in the hallway or ask him to pass the salt. How do I wake-up to what’s right there — to what IS in my universe? How can driving to soccer practice, a phone call with a client, a playdate, a meeting that may feel just a little too far away, feel amazingly GOOD? How to find presence in the quotidian? How to find the awe?

There’s science on this, which is kind of a relief because I think we’d all like some reassurance that “all” is whatever you have right now. And if whatever you have right now is everything, then how do you touch, feel, taste and absorb all of your everything?

 So thrilled to host author and filmmaker Betsy Chasse in LA June 1st! #theresabetterway.

Small Business

The Dip vs. The Dive

May 26, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

DipvsDiveThe Dip, which Seth Godin coined, is that momentary “low” of despair. It is the cyclical point in a relationship, business, or season that makes you question, reflect, scratch your head and ask if there’s a good reason to go on doing it. There usually is. The Dive is something else, something I use in my own life to distinguish from The Dip. The Dive is just how it sounds – a jump, head first, where there’s no turning back. The Dive is that moment in a relationship when you realize you’ve already walked out, even though your physical body is still there. Or, when a business owner becomes ‘done’ for whatever reason. She wants out and there is no argument that could change her mind.
An old friend of mine in New York, the yogi author, teacher, speaker and thought leader Elena Brower, recently closed her Manhattan studio. Why? Email. 
 
Certainly it was more than the administrative mud of too many emails, but that about says it all. She was simply tired of the business of having a brick and mortar business. We all get that, whether we traffic in bricks or clicks. The exhaustion of running something can takes its toll and it’s okay to shut it down, even when it’s healthy.
There is this overriding mantra in our minds that we have to build it, grow it, sell it –  but you don’t. You are allowed to walk away because your life mission changes, and the business no longer fist in. But first, before you do anything drastic, make sure you’re not just in a “dip”. Here’s how you tell:
1. Over and over, the back end feels overwhelmingly out of sync with the joy on the front end.
2. There’s something else (personal or professional) that continues to knock on the door of your mind – and won’t let go.
3. You can make up the income readily through another channel.
I’m all for diving. And if you do, make it a clean, beautiful, strong dive. No apologies. You’ll come up out of the water having done it with sincerity, integrity and strength, and there’s a lot of enviable entrepreneurial DNA in that.
Amy

Small Business

The Power of Disengagement

May 9, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

db268e1c-d333-4f16-bfe2-6382a91d95abFull engagement looks a little something like this:

Working side by side with your business partner, husband, staff, assistant- for months on end with little to no breaks. You work diligently on a proposal, then a project, then a wrap up- all at full speed with no stops. You write, blog, post, measure, create – for weeks and months – and then repeat. And yet again, not too many pauses. This represents all of our stories- or all of us who work hard at being great at something.

When you’re in full throttle engagement, sh!t gets done. Things move. The pieces come together and do what they’re meant to. But when engagement has no end in sight, it’s like holding a bridge pose in yoga for an indefinite length of time- with a teacher talking on her cell phone outside the room. In other words there’s no horizon- you can’t measure output because you don’t know how to manage it in service of an end point. We love when there’s someone holding the “end” for all of us – so no one has to wonder.

There is a lot of power in engagement, but there is also a lot of power in disengagement- like a vacation. I took one recently and had several epiphanies I’m normally too busy to acknowledge or explore. What’s even better was that I wasn’t busy making notes about how to make this place better, which I’m often plagued with at restaurants, on airplanes, in meetings, etc. The Auberge Resort experience took me out of my day-to-day mind. It was transportive. That counts for something when your life is big, with lots of moving parts.

Have you disengaged lately? I recommend it – not only because it’s fun and makes life interesting, but because it’s good for business, too.

 

Amy

 

Small Business

It’s good to be loved…

March 10, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

As any business owner knows, it’s always nice to be recognized for what you’re doing in the world. Laura Dunn is a blogger who writes for the Huffington Post  – currently doing a series of profiles on amazing women in business. Her articles include Q&A and features on great women to watch and learn from {and of course support too}. 

I feel so honored to be featured to talk not only about SMARTY but the great women who’ve inspired me to get where I am today.
And @lauraemilyd – thanks again, it was so great connecting with you!
-Amy

Small Business

Apple – User (and Worker) Friendly

February 7, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

We can learn a lot from looking at Apple and their business models. Not only have they made great strides with creating products and being innovators but they do something all us small business owners can use too. It’s all about a good retail hiring strategy.

We’ve all walked into one of those giant apple stores and interacted with one of the Geniuses. They all seem to meet the same qualifications, friendly, accessible, knowledgeable, smart but not cocky, happy but not annoyingly so? It seems if you were to plop them in Portland, Brooklyn, Austin… they would meet the creativity in progress requirements. Why is it that Apple has got it all together especially in the Genius department?

Although it’s a close second, skill set is not the first requirement for being hired. First they hire for culture for their store personnel.

For smaller organizations this is key. You may not be number one on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands but maybe this is why Apple is. If someone you hire doesn’t have the personality, work ethic, mission orientation, it’s not going to work – no matter how pretty their resume is!

Skills are teachable – disposition ain’t!

 

Stay Smarty People

Small Business

The Bird Theory

January 16, 2015 · By Amy Swift Crosby

Stephanie Barrymore smallI learned something about birds that was kinda interesting recently. They see best in black and white, so when you first get a feeder, the best way to let them know it’s there and ready to feast on is to put seeds that are black and white inside. Despite being a bit messier, it’s the fastest way for them to see it, and the best way to build your “bird posse”. After that, add seed that leaves fewer shells, and in any color you like.

Clients and customers are the same way. The marketplace is crowded – we have to be crystal clear with our message, our offering, our value – we have to make it black and white to even get people’s attention. If it isn’t absolutely clear, it’s a client who keeps clicking….right on past your products or service.

Once you have a client or customer, as everyone knows, it’s a lot easier to keep ’em! So how do you drive the flock? Having a sales person is one way.

Check out some of our virtual offerings coming up in the next few weeks – especially our SALES webinar with Stephanie Barrymore. She’s going to tackle some amazing questions about structuring relationships with sales people – specifically if you’re a service provider. She’ll answer:

– When is it time to hire a sales person?
– How do you structure the relationship financially?
– How do you hire the right person – based on experience or rolodex?
– How do you manage them and set metrics for success?
– When do you let them go or determine it’s not working?
– How much training do they need?
– What kind of uptick in revenue can you expect and how long will it take?

I like what Stephanie’s presenting because we so often get it for product people, but hardly ever for service professionals.

 

Amy

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About Me

photo of Amy Swift Crosby

Amy Swift Crosby is a brand strategist and copywriter who has positioned or voiced messaging across the commercial spectrum, from icons like Ford, BVLGARI, Pottery Barn, Pantene and Virgin, to boutique brands like The Wild Unknown, fitness franchise Barre3 and the rebrand of legendary metaphysical bookstore, Bodhi Tree. She has leveraged this expertise to help entrepreneurial women and small businesses owners hone their skills, mission and message, while uncovering their own “voice.” This blog explores “the human side of business,” and universal themes like uncertainty, anxiety, the tension between engagement and disconnection, personal value and most importantly, of finding - and hearing - our own voices in our everyday life.

Photo - Andrew Stiles

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SMARTY began as a thriving community in Los Angeles and Boston with weekly panel discussions and events designed to better understand the mindset and growth strategies behind successful entrepreneurs. Today, SMARTY is a weekly blog written by Amy Swift Crosby who chronicles her life as a creative, parent, entrepreneur and spiritual seeker. As an urban refugee living in a New England seaside village, she unpacks topics ranging from uncertainty and doubt to the built environment and advertising. More on Amy.

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