Contrarian: 40 Business-Related Things I Do
My Own Way

by Marcia Yudkin

For my 25th-year business anniversary in 2006, I published "Insights From 25 Years in Business." For my 30-year anniversary, I posted "My 30 Favorite Business Books." Now that I’m reaching 40 years in business, I’ve compiled a list of 40 ways in which I part company with received wisdom or common beliefs.

Part One

Mindset

1. "Bigger is better." For many coaches and success gurus, progressing in your career means nonstop growing of the business and hiring a "team" to manage it. It also dictates running large programs with minimal personal help for participants. However, the biggest learning program I’ve ever run had just 12 people in it, and this size works best for me.

I have no need or want for a "team." When my business needs something I don’t do well (like design), I delegate it to a short-term contractor. Furthermore, I feel the popular slogan "go big or go home" encourages grandiosity that serves no one and undeserved scorn for honorable small businesses.

2. "Fake it until you make it." Many coaches advise their mentorees to set their fees high right from the beginning, despite their lack of experience and know-how. Likewise, a cleverly written bio can disguise the fact that one is a novice. 

Of course you need to put your qualifications in the best possible light, but I don’t believe you should act as if you know what you’re doing when you don’t. Empty self-praise backfires by promoting self-doubt and self-sabotage. Don’t let anyone talk you into puffing yourself up in a way that is untrue and doesn’t match how you feel in your heart of hearts.

4. "Keep the peace." Some people avoid any controversy, to an extent that surprises me. I spent four years in a graduate program that mandated disagreement and reasoned argument as the route to better beliefs.

As a result, it takes me aback when someone says they won’t publish my guest blog post or my blog comment because it would spark debate or because of a supposedly aggressive tone. They prefer sappy, relentlessly supportive exchanges so it looks like everyone visiting their site thinks as they do. Don't be afraid to take a stand when you feel it's important and relevant.

5. "So-and-so screwed me!" Before you go around blaming something or somebody for a problem you’re experiencing, stop and think: How did I contribute to the situation? What did I do (or fail to do) that at least partially accounts for the result that I’m not happy about?

In discussing such issues with clients, I’ve observed that most of the time, a flashing danger signal or a standard policy of theirs was ignored. When you hunt for what you did that helped set up the unpleasantness, you can learn something that makes similar setbacks less likely in the future.

7. "Change with the times." I have clients and contacts who have followed me for 30 years, partly because I’ve stayed true to my core talents instead of chasing fads, trends or fleeting opportunities.

When I lived in Boston, I watched a few people who attended the same networking events as I did change their business identity every few months. Silicon Valley approvingly calls this a "pivot," but it seemed to make others confused and mistrustful of the chameleons.

8. "Early adopters stay out front." I’ve achieved my share of firsts, including creating the first author website for Penguin USA and being published in the first issue of a new section of the New York Times. But I never buy or do anything because it’s new and being buzzed about. Technologically, I avoid recommended upgrades as long as I can because I find them annoying and beneficial more for the companies than for users.

Productivity

9. "Perfect is the enemy of good." You will never catch me following or recommending this popular maxim, which holds that it’s better to finish something mediocrely than to take the time to do it right. On the contrary, for me professional excellence is always worth striving for.

When someone is paying me, they deserve my best effort. If something represents me, it should likewise be my best work. That’s one reason why I don’t have a blog. Where products are concerned, I don’t believe in throwing out a sloppy mess with the excuse that it’s a beta test.

10. "You must write fast to be productive." French novelist Gustave Flaubert, I once read, might spend all morning to decide to put in a comma - and in the afternoon would take it out. I’m not that poky, but I’m not sure I’ve ever written more than three pages in a day. So what? If you write consistently, day after day, pages pile up.

I talk a lot about this perspective in my audio course, "Become a More Productive Writer." Being a tortoise rather than a hare when it comes to writing has not had any negative impact on my career.

12. "Just power through and do it." When it comes to tasks I dislike, I’m a wimp. I’d much rather spend energy trying to find a way to make the task tolerable than to force myself to do it. After all, if a task comes up over and over again, like cleaning (one of my bugaboos), forcing yourself to do it can add up to a whole lot of unpleasantness.

One tactic that helps me a lot on this: Whenever I have a thought like "Yuck, I should really sweep my office floor," I’ll pick up a broom and attack the problem right then. That feels less onerous to me than looking at "clean up" on a to-do list.

Knowledge

13. "In college, learn an immediately marketable skill." I’m still grateful for my liberal arts education at Brown University, which allowed me to explore wherever my changing interests led me, with pass-fail grading for four years. Primarily I learned how to learn, how to reason, how to read critically and how to write a convincing argument.

This prepared me for life much better than if I’d pursued seemingly more practical studies. I feel sad when I see affluent parents insist on narrowly job-related majors for their kids.

14. "You already know enough." Decades after college, I’m still learning. In the past year, I’ve delighted to learn things about the English language that I did not know, such as the origin of "the royal we" or why Shakespeare is easier than some other authors to translate into other languages.

I read widely, and it often happens that I’m able to incorporate something that seems wildly far from business into a marketing piece. Someone like Pete Buttigieg, who learned Norwegian just to be able to read a certain author in the original language, wins my keen admiration.

15. "Forget that outdated stuff!" Things change so fast in today’s world, how could something published five years ago, let alone 50 years ago, teach anything valuable? Well, I learned much of what I understand about marketing by listening to decade-old conferences on audiocassettes where marketing experts shared general advice and tackled someone’s real-world challenges during so-called "hot seats."

In addition, I could name half a dozen books from the 1930’s that contain valuable perspective for any ambitious marketer with an open mind. Certain principles of persuasion haven’t changed since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Of my four best writing mentors, not one was a successful writer himself or herself. Two were magazine editors, one a radio producer and the other a college writing instructor. Many of my copywriting peers teach seminars or coach novices on the side because we enjoy it, not because we’re failures who can’t find other paying work.

Client Relations

17. "Come one, come all." Should we accept every client who wants to work with us? I’m happier being choosy. I don’t have enough patience for emotionally needy people or for situations where multiple people will be weighing in on a project.

In addition, when someone requires nagging to pay me I will rarely work with them again. On the other hand, I don’t mind it when clients have beliefs or backgrounds quite different from mine. That often turns into an interesting learning experience.

18. "Be ultra-accessible." Being interrupted sabotages creativity and productivity. So I’m never just a phone call away, even for long-term or urgent-project clients. Instead, my phone calls are pre-arranged by email. Someone who can’t make their peace with that simply isn’t a good match with me.

19. "Bend over backwards to please." While building a business, your own sanity matters. Boundaries you set up, like no last-minute assignments, weekend work crushes or all-nighters, can keep you balanced and productive. Yes, you may lose some clients with such firm boundaries, but others will respect you and plan accordingly. Remember that it’s impossible to do your best work when you’re exhausted or overstressed.

20. "Likeability is essential for success." It’s often said that people do business with people they like. I accept that. However, I do not accept that there is a quality one must have called "likeability." We all like different kinds of people! Some of us like chatty, friendly folks most. Others prefer to deal with those who can abide long silences and who speak only when they have something worth saying.

This fact gets overlooked in common advice to adopt a Ms. Popularity type of personality: someone chipper with small talk. I’m not a grump or curmudgeon, but that’s not me. And I have quite enough clients who are content with a minimum of palsy-walsy chitchat.

If you’ve enjoyed reading so far, would you do me the favor of sending a like-minded friend or two a link to this page, or posting about it on social media? Thank you.

Read Part Two, with items on marketing, communication and money.