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It took a long time to get my second college degree. I looked forward to the start of every semester. The day the new term’s class schedule came out was like a high holy day. What new & interesting things would be offered?  What piece(s) of my degree puzzle could I snap into place, moving me closer to graduation? And this is what it looked like: First, I'd look at my work calendar, with big ...
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When folks see me on video conferences or workshops, they often assume I’m an extrovert. That’s far from the truth. Away from the public eye, I prefer to be alone, deep into a book about Pablo Neruda, in the garden harassing the weeds, or out in the woods with my cheek pressed against a ponderosa pine. (Did you know they smell like vanilla?) I know and love many clients who are also introverted. Our way ...
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When you work for yourself, ideas are the life blood of your business. We need to keep on learning, keep on growing, and keep on aligning our work with the life we want for ourselves. A steady flow of ideas and inspiration allows all of that to happen. We all find ourselves with inspiration and ideas popping up in weird or inconvenient places. At the grocery store, you might see a particular color combination that ...
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There are three stories that drive my whole business. Every part of it, from website content, to the classes I offer, all the way to organizing my computer and even remembering to do my accounting (seriously!) hinges on these three stories. Over my 20 years of doing this, I've noticed that the people who've taken time to articulate these stories—even just in their journals—tend to steadily grow, stay on track, and suffer less frustration in ...
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I had called Kaiser to make a future appointment with dermatology (keeping an eye on that skin cancer stuff) and had been on hold for, literally, a half hour when I started doodling a postcard to me from my Future Me. She told me it was a great idea I was thinking about taking better care of my body, and finally making some use of that health insurance I pay so much for every month ...
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What does your ideal week look like?  What are its elements, and how much of each? It seems like a pie-in-the-sky thing, I know. But I began taking it seriously a few years ago when I found myself getting to the end of every week feeling vaguely disappointed with myself and what I'd been able to accomplish with my waking minutes. The lookback at the end of the week was pretty dismal. I might have ...
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I’m often contacted by lovely people who are worried. Their small business isn’t taking off the way they’d hoped. They’ve listened to all the business gurus’ podcasts, they’ve “followed their bliss” in creating their business, they’ve taken all the right 30 day challenges and ‘free’ webinars, and still, they can’t seem to get enough clients. (Or, sometimes, any.) My very first client came to me as a bit of good luck: She knew of me ...
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Most of us self-employed types are on a continuous learning path, gathering knowledge and skills and using them to create a better business. It's a great way to live, but lately, I've been seeing that the path isn't a line, but a loop: My business doesn't just earn income and/or help people: It helps me to do a better job of living in this strange world. There's a great bit of Buddhist advice I see ...
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Do we, as super-small businesses, actually have “competitors”? Debate still simmers over this in some circles. Let's chat. Traditional business-guru advice warned us for decades that we needed to strive for a clear advantage over our competitors. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, they warned (and where EVER did that expression come from btw???) and we needed to invest a lot of time, energy and brainpower into ‘beating out the competition.’ Things have changed, and ...
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The word "potential" keeps finding its way into my email inbox and social media feeds these days. For me, it generally shows up in the sales pitches from thought leaders and mentors and counselors of various kinds. You'll often see some variant of this: "If you're not fully living up to your potential in your (business, work, life, knitting, etc.) I can get you there." It's benevolent shorthand for any of the following:

• You're ...
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Image courtesy of OpenRoadPR via Pixabay Going into Spring from a weary mental space isn’t my idea of a good time. I want to be excited by that first warm breeze of the year, that first time I notice that there’s light coming through the windows when I wake in the morning. But because of, well, Life, I find I've been guilty lately of something I also notice in my coaching clients: A crush of ...
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"Be a mission with a company, not a company with a mission." Early this year, I stumbled over this quote and it gave me pause. As in, a loooong pause, not just a blink's worth. What exactly did this mean? First, it's easy to see how, for some, the word "mission" can be touchy. I rarely use the word "mission," as it can sometimes seem like something lofty and out of reach. I prefer the ...
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Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not achieve peace. —Buddha* It's not every day I find myself in disagreement with the Buddha. Today's one of those days. I'm okay with it. We've all felt those twinges of envy at one time or another, right? ...Envy of those who are doing better financially than we are with their businesses, despite how hard we're working. ...Envy of those ...
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This post is especially for those who are always trying to improve their business: Improve sales, improve productivity/processes, or just improve the energy you have to do it. You know the advice, right?  "Work ON your business, not IN your business." Always have an eye on building & adjusting & improving whenever possible and as much as possible. I absolutely do agree that's a great plan— Until it isn't. I think it was the morning ...
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How much do you genuinely care about your audience members as real, live, flesh-and-blood people? How much do they care about you? Recently, in her delicious Friday newsletter, coach/author/friend Judith Morgan put her finger squarely on something I consider a key aspect of truly healthy, nutritious relationships with clients and customers: I care about my clients' dreams but here's the important bit, they care about mine too. They care about me. It is reciprocal. ...
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“The tiny cost of failure is dwarfed by the huge cost of not trying.” Seth Godin, www.seths.blog, The Tiny Cost of Failure I admit that I haven’t jumped into the “Word of the Year” movement for a couple of years now, but this year I am. You know about that thing, right? Where we’re advised by the self-help gurus to choose a special word each year to be our mantra or rallying cry or guiding principle ...
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By the time you read this, I will be back online, in the so-called "normal" world. This was written from a quieter space, one that I hope you'll consider gifting yourself in the coming year in some way: All solo small businesses and practices can benefit from taking a little time each year—measured in days, not hours—to quiet down, disconnect, and get clear.  For a big chunk of December and January of every year, if ...
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Life tosses us around sometimes, doesn't it? Take time, for example. Sometimes we seem to have more than enough to "get it all done" and sometimes we're struggling for 5 minutes to get our shoes on and get out the door. News, politics, and current events stress us. Family members need our help when we can't even find the energy to help ourselves. It's a universal truth in self-employment: Some days, weeks, months, it's hard ...
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“Show us your process, not just your perfection." —CJ Casciotta This mandate hitting my ears was just one of dozens of eyes-wide moments at last week’s STORY 2018 conference in Nashville—an annual conference that’s been called “TED for Creatives.” It will take me a while to type up the pages and pages of notes I brought home from this immersive, two-day gathering for artists, creators, and storytellers. I brought colored pencils and markers with me ...
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I normally would go to great lengths to connect a piece of prose or poetry to some pithy business concept before publishing it on this blog, so as to not go all la-la on you. But sometimes it doesn't seem necessary. So here you go, and I'll leave it to you to connect it to work/business if and how you wish. Note: This is one of several translations of the piece "The Valuable Time of ...
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To fully immerse myself in the new world/work that is MargaretRode.com, since mid-July 2018 I've been writing 30 blog posts in 30 days. (You can read the whole sequence at https://margaretrode.com/blog.) The 30-in-30 is one of the most useful exercises I can suggest for someone starting a new business, changing up their existing business, or just needing refocusing. It's also a powerful way to fire up any new offering or habit you want to truly internalize ...
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Self-employed people often have a favorite book or books they keep on their nightstand. Usually, it seems like it's a business book, something teaching core wisdom. Or it's an inspirational tome by Michael Gerber, Tim Ferriss, or Seth Godin, or a dog-eared copy of Think and Grow Rich or The War of Art. Anyone sneaking a look at my book stack these days would be disappointed to see that, of all the books that have come and ...
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“Forget about the microphone. Just speak to me. As a friend.” —Lionel Logue to King George VI, The King's Speech I have any number of strange mathematical fantasies waltzing through my head at any given time. Here's just one of them: I would like to have a special bank into which I could somehow locate, harvest, and deposit all the wasted time in the world. (I know. But it doesn't have to make sense.) For ...
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“Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me.”
—Carl Sandburg Make sure you set aside a little time and space in your calendar today . . . for no reason in particular. Inspiration and magical coincidences can't thrive in the three-minute spaces you allow between obligations on your almighty Calendar.  ...
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We all know about the importance of starting with our "Why," right? I've been talking with local businesses lately, and it's reminded me how prevalent it still is, as we promote our work, to start with "What," move to "How," and buried somewhere there may be a "Why." Here's an unfortunate example of that: What: X has a restaurant where she serves top-quality farm-to-table food. How: She sources all of her ingredients locally and organically ...
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(standing on my head and looking at Part 1) Another view, from the brilliant Seth Godin: "Sometimes, we're so eager to have an opinion that we skip the step of working to understand. Why is it the way it is? Why do they believe what they believe? We skip reading the whole thing, because it's easier to jump to what we assume the writer meant. We skip engaging with customers . . . because it's quicker ...
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My friend Dick used to have this as his email signoff: "Things can become complicated when you actually try to understand them." I've always loved that because it's so uncomfortably true, and because it's true across the full spectrum of our life and work. It's ESPECIALLY true for those of us who are on the path of working for ourselves, doing our heart's work. And nowadays, with so many people rushing to air their snap ...
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I know many, many solo businesspeople who start out with only one product (or possibly two). It's a workshop for $500, or consulting packages for $2000, or a multi-month coaching program for $5000, or a massive piece of art that's even more. It pains me sometimes to watch them waiting for people to show up to work with them. It hurts to hear about cashflow problems and hear them speculate whether they are going to have ...
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Derek Sivers woke us up nearly a decade ago with the revelation that decision-making can be a binary process: "Use this rule if you’re often over-committed or too scattered. If you’re not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, say 'no'." The concept here? It's this: When you start saying "no" more, it frees time for those things that come along which make your spirit and your heart snap to attention and say, "hell yes." (Think opportunities, ...
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I ask myself these questions all the time. In fact, I once made a desktop screensaver for my laptop, so I'd be guaranteed to see them at least 50 times each day...how's that for crazy? I just wanted to be sure I internalized them thoroughly, and that they're not lost in the crush of day-to-day obligations. Why did you choose the area of work you currently do, rather than something else? What are you finding ...
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Many may not know that when I'm not at a keyboard I’m outside growing a mountain of organic food every year. When I’m not helping people with their online marketing stuff, for a big part of the year I can be found in my 30′ x 40′ patch out back, monkeying with the tomatoes and garlic and kale and pumpkins. We have a very short growing season here at 7300 feet elevation — about 3 ...
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Last year I wrote a book called Storytelling for Small Business: Creating and Growing an Authentic Business Through the Power of Story. (It's a cool little bite-sized book, or so they tell me. Check it out if you're interested in that topic.) What most folks who've read it don't know is that the subtitle of the book was originally slated to be Building a Business That Matters Through the Power of Story. But someone in my ...
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Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. Mother Teresa (paraphrased by many) When we work for ourselves, we can be doing big things or small things. Big things might include creating an offering that reaches and enhances the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. Starting a foundation. Quitting your job and devoting your life to building schools in Africa. Beautiful stuff. And then there ...
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Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.
—A quote often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are.
—An actual quote by Theodore Roosevelt I was in a "pithy sayings" mood today, and bumped into both of these, all memed up and posted all over the internet. They are both wise, but Mr. Roosevelt only said one of them.  That part doesn't really matter ...
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The title of this post comes from a catchy chapter heading from a book I read more than a decade ago. It was one of those "how to attract abundance" books that intrigued me back then, as I explored my relationship with money. Confession? I didn't make all the way through the book. I'm not cut out for those chatty books written by entrepreneurs who fall into the category I think of as "extraverts-with-a-capital-E who ...
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Oh, I know, there's supposed to be a rigid formula you follow when you start any sort of business:

• A concept, tested by research and proven viable
• A set of offerings - product, services, knowledge, etc.
• Knowing your ideal client - the person your offerings are best suited for
• Setting up your business "stuff" and hanging out your shingle
• Doing marketing according to all the formulas available online
• Networking like a maniac, even if ...
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The problem with reading good books is that there's never just ONE great, soul-opening quote, there are always several. I can't get this one out of my head either, from the introduction to this book: "...I hope the story of our company can serve as a little light that will shine into people's hearts...so that many more of us will actively transform the world, day by day, with meaningful work that allows us all to ...
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Sometimes my mantra for the day comes to me early. Sometimes later. Sometimes right before bed. Today, I was fortunate to find this thought upon which to meditate almost immediately after opening my eyes in the morning. "All business vocations should strive for greatness (excellence/quality) and goodness (heart). All business vocations should have a harmony between profit and the desire to do good work for the world. How do you do this? By pursuing both ...
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I've never been very interested in relying on a GPS device in my car to get where I'm going. I'm one of those crazies who loves maps, and I want to know where I'm going by seeing it on a map. I like knowing what's on the way, just off the route. I like knowing whether I'm going east or west, and what landmarks exist that can help me to orient myself. I like to see ...
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I don't get enough sleep. I know that. There are several reasons for that, none of them easily remedied, but there is one fringe benefit to it: I'm learning a lot. Around 3:00am, my body decides it would prefer to get up, move around, drink water, and stare out at the Moon (and lately, Mars). When I can coax it into laying back down, I try to keep it entertained by listening to podcasts. Generally, the podcasts ...
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“My actions are the ground on which I stand.” —Thich Nhat Hanh I've been living in the world of words lately. As I try to grow this budding new "business" of mine (though that doesn't seem a good description of it) I spend hours and hours writing, researching, listening to words of wisdom, and exploring. I was talking with a client the other day who has been working on trying to build his business for ...
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Oh no! Not another blog post about having a morning routine! Okay, I get that. But I am looking out at all of you and I see that fourteen of you don't yet have a morning ritual of your own, seven of you have one that you never remember to do, and three more are saying, "What is she talking about?"  I'll refer to you as the Don't Haves, the Avoiders, and the WTH tribes ...
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Once, while sitting at Denver International Airport waiting for a crowded flight, the only empty seat to sit down was at the end of one of the many moving walkways that whisk people quickly to their gates. The tinny little electronic voice—a pleasant woman-robot's voice—droned on and on, "Moving walkway is nearing its end. Please watch your step." "Moving walkway is nearing its end. Please watch your step." "Moving walkway is nearing its end. Please watch ...
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"Marketing should magnify the truth, not manipulate a message. Our job isn’t to get everyone to believe us. It’s to give the right people something to believe in." Bernadette Jiwa, Story Driven: You don't need to compete when you know who you are How's that for something to wake up to? I've long had a problem with marketing, at least marketing the way it's largely been done over time. Having come out of that business, ...
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It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. Copyright ©1983 by Wendell Berry, from Standing by Words. A friend sent this to me over the weekend, in response to something ...
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I had an exciting idea pop into my head in 2010, like an excited 5-year-old bursting into the kitchen and then trying to get my attention. Mom. Hey mom. Mommm. Mom. Mommyyyyyyy. The idea? What if I started writing books as part of what my business offered. My child-thought sold it this way: Look, people have all different incomes and needs, right? So you should offer helpful things in all price ranges so that everyone can see ...
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“The only way to learn it is to do it.” Archimedes in "The Sword in the Stone" This month I'm writing 30 blog posts in 30 days—an exercise I sometimes do in order to completely immerse myself in some new learning or new way of working. Day 3, and already I have writer's block. Not a good sign. But I know, as Atticus Finch says, "it's not time to worry yet." Proof in the pudding: ...
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"It's about what we can offer, yes, but fundamentally
it's about who we become in the process, isn't it?" I was on Zoom having a virtual cup of tea with a friend the other day, the wonderful mentor Fiona Moore. Just before we signed off, she dropped that bombshell quote on me. I believe, at the time, I was running off at the mouth about all the benefits of working for one's self in times like ...
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I was 20, and we were having one of those fidgety father-daughter conversations at the kitchen table. The Lions pregame was on in the next room. Between sentences, my dad's face would swivel to the TV, then back to me. TV. Me. I was between jobs and was trying to extract some support from him about doing something different with my life (first mistake). I said what I really wanted was to work for myself, ...
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