How many ideas have you started working on and keep talking about finishing. Finishing is as important as anything. Even if it isn't successful, once you've finished you know and can move on. If you are always working on it, you never really make it happen. Follow through on what you say. Don't always find something else to take the place of moving forward.

A neighbor of mine always talks about all the things he is going to do. Week after week I ask about the specific tasks he said he was going to do the previous week. Something always comes up. To him, I am sure he believes I don't understand. He spends more time each week thinking about things he should get done along with adding new tasks, that he never completes any task. If he spent less time puttering on things that don't matter in his overall plan, and started focusing on getting each task done, he would be a much happier and a more successful businessman. Quit dreaming and start doing

Never enough time

Most days I wish there were 26 hours in a day. I always start with good intentions but never seem to get it all done. Or at least I never get as much done as I would like. Mostly I seem to get interrupted by worthless sales calls or people asking for something. I've gotten better over the years but some days I go home and wonder what I did that day. Early in the morning and just before I go home are my most productive times.

I have found that keeping a list helps me stay focused. When everything seems overwhelming, go down the list and just start checking off things one by one.

My bad

I receive eMails on a daily basis from places all over the world telling me that they have seen my products and they would like me to reply so they can purchase. They go on to say that their method of payment is by credit card. Without going into details, this is a complete scam. It has been going on for several years now and I immediately delete them. Several days ago, I received a voicemail from a foreign country. The person spoke perfect English requesting that I return the call or reply by eMail. They were interested in a product of ours. Skeptical, I returned the call. Turns out it was a buyer from a U.S. military base and they said they had eMailed me several times and decided to give it one last try with a telephone call.

To make a long boring story short... they made a very nice purchase today. It is hard with so much fraud to make good decisions on selling but this time it worked out in my favor. It still is important that you aren't deceived into making a bad decision because you are blinded by the hopes of that big sale.

Work on your selling technique

A door-to-door saleswoman came into my office. She opened the door, walked up to my desk and inquired if I was with a client. A little confused I replied that I was not. She then took her huge beat-up purse, plopped it down on the desk and immediately started her pitch. There was a local woman's nail salon & spa that had opened up and they were providing discounts for local businesses. She rattled off all the services one would receive for the highly discounted price. I decline the offer.

It is hard to walk in cold to a business. But don't waste your time or my time on something I am clearly not the audience for. At the very least start by finding some common ground before going right into your pitch and don't assume that because you believe your idea is a bargain that someone else will believe it is of some value to them.

Practice your presentation and get comfortable finding how your idea will be of benefit to your potential customer.

A professional parenting tip

We visited a local specialty college several weeks ago. The facilities were beautiful and the initial presentations were impressive. As they started the classroom tour, the first stop was a class in progress. They were working on an outstanding project but when we inquired, the students didn't show any passion. The second class was made up of students that were weeks away from graduation and I decided to introduce myself to one of the students that had a particularly interesting project. He was shy and barely shook hands. I was taken back. I thought here is a student with obvious talent and little knowledge of how to articulate it.

The college asked for our opinions so I suggested they have a mandatory "presentation of yourself" class. How to make a great first impression. I think people forget how important that is.

As a parent I remember when my kids were young. Every day I would shake their hand and tell them to squeeze my hand as hard as they could, look me in the eyes and say "nice to meet you." It became a game but I wouldn't let them off the hook until they did it. At the time, I don't know that they thought anything of it, however, a few months ago on a family trip both kids brought that up. They said that they always receive comments about their first impression. People were impressed that they looked the person in the eye and gave a firm handshake.

It is the simple things that make a difference. It is not just the idea... you are also selling yourself!

Keep your customers, investors and staff informed

A big mistake we all make is assuming that others know what we know. We are working so closely with our idea that we forget to share our progress and setbacks. Or we run into a snag and procrastinate about informing customers or investors in the hope that maybe it will go away.

We all run into these issues. What sets you apart is how we handle it. Here is the problem and this is how we would are going to resolve it. And don't wait until the last minute or the day they are expecting delivery to inform them. Remember they may have made commitments on your commitment.

Do what you say you are going to do. When that isn't possible, keeps everyone involved informed.

Don't leave for tomorrow what you can complete today

It is so easy to think that you always have tomorrow to complete a task. The problem with that thinking is that when tomorrow comes and you are completing the task, you are not available to work on a new task. If your idea is based on service, you need to always be available for the next opportunity.

Get it done now.