One of the number one reasons small businesses fail is because the owner waits too long. S/he keeps waiting for permission to do things, like get their ass out there and network, or create that new program, or pick up the phone and call someone and ask for business.

When I had my latest essay published in the Boston Globe, I took that essay and sent it to several libraries and got writing gigs there. Poof. Just like that.

It took me many years to get comfortable being “forward,” “aggressive,” or whatever other negative term people choose to dissuade people from taking action.

Today, just picking up the phone and contacting someone is taking action since so many are afraid to do that. Why are we afraid to contact someone? When I worked at a corporation, I had people call me up and ask for work. It took a few tries, but after several conversations, I’d invite those people in and often I did choose them as the vendor.

If they had not called, I wouldn’t have known they existed. I became friends with one person who “cold called me” until he died. He helped me get my first logo design job when I opened my own business.

People should not be afraid of talking to people on the phone they do not know when it comes to promoting their businesses. (more…)