🖐 Happy ‘it starts with ‘W’ day!’

Issue #57 is a 3.0-minute read.

3 nasty client sinkholes to avoid

It’s 1:16 pm, and the marketing wiz who told you to “please book an online chat” is a no-show for your 1 o’clock Zoom call.

When the camera finally goes on, the wiz is cleaning hot sauce off his Dave Matthews t-shirt and feeding a beef burrito to his cat, who is wearing a bib that reads, “CEO.”

Three days later, the proposal that he promised is still lost in the email dryer rather than folded nicely in the inbox.

Face one of those events, and it’s a level 3 headache.

Face all 3 and it’s a level 9 migraine.

Face all 3 from the same business, and, baby, there’s not enough Tylenol at Costco to cure that pain.

That happened to me last week.

Let’s make it simple.

If you want an ‘A’ in Client Conversion 101, start with the basics.

• Be on time

• Dress like you care

• Deliver on your promise

I know, I know.

You’re different. You never fall into the sinkholes of time, dress, or follow-through.

…and yet it happens all too often that we start to take the little things for granted.

We show up 8 minutes late.

We dress for a meeting like we’re cleaning the garage.

We miss that deadline by a day or two.

No biggie, right?

Except that it’s a SUPER-SIZED BIGGIE with hot sauce, extra onions, and melted Havarti cheese in the eyes of the client.

On the rush-hour freeway we call running a business, clients can pull over at any rest stop for copywriting, websites, and marketing help.

If your clean, award-winning rest stop is the one they choose, the last thing you want is for them to think you’re not ready for them.

If my recent, new client headache is any clue, you can take the 4 train uptown express to Happy Client Town if you nail the basics.

• Be on time

• Dress like you care

• Deliver on your promise

Building a brand that shines takes time.

You can get a big head start today if you watch the clock, put the Dave Matthews t-shirt in the drawer, and tell the cat to please keep all burritos off the keyboard.

1 big story: Nike Tells their CEO to Get a New Act

When a CEO fails to win over clients, investors, and the cool kids, it’s a sign that something is amiss.

When that CEO is John Donahoe and the company is Nike, it’s a big, flashing neon sign with a swoosh that reads “EXIT.”

After 4 years of losing it’s mojo and making the employees hopping mad, Nike bid farewell to Donahoe and chose to bring back a retired Nike veteran, Elliott Hill. ⁽¹⁾

Sometimes even the big companies swing and miss on key leaders and have to fire them.

Why it matters: When you run a 1 or 2-person business, you don’t have the luxury to fire the CEO since, well, that’s YOU.

The big issue: It’s fun to ride your cruiser bike on the DIY-CEO path and tell yourself you can do it all in your business.

When ‘do it all’ means bringing your best to your bullseye of talent, then, ABSOLUTELY!

You should do it all.

When it means looking at the numbers, legal issues, website language, contracts, insurance, and copywrite rules, then “NO!”

You should give those darts to an expert who can ‘Ted Lasso’ that baby right in the middle.

Your takeaway: Saving money when you start a business is smart.

Learning how to do new things when you run a business is fun.

Finding out too late that you don’t have the right license, contract, insurance, disclaimer, or financing to make your business hum is a giant pissed-off WASP sting to your bank account and reputation.

John Donahoe has enough money and Nike stock to hang out and watch the show until he finds a new act.

Most of us don’t.

Be smart. Hire experts to help you juggle all the flying objects in your business.

🔑 For those of you reading today’s issue in Iowa below, take in the open sky and smile.

Let me know where you read Solopreneur Doorway, and we’ll celebrate your location.

Stay curious and keep opening doors.

-Erik

Hitting $50,000 in annual sales is a huge milestone.

If you’re there, congrats!

Going from $50,000 to $150,000 is a bit harder.

When you’re ready, let’s get you to $150,000.

Your custom, 90-minute consulting session brings you there. Faster.

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Andrew Ross Sorkin, Ravi Mattu, Bernhard Warner, Sarah Kessler, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch, Ephrat Livni and Anita Raghavan, The New York Times, September 20, 2024, last viewed September 22, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/20/business/dealbook/nike-ceo-donahoe.html