Pay attention to your writing-based business. It is this practice of paying attention that will make the difference between your success and failure as a business person.

In today’s business marketplace, the quality of your work is a given. It is almost not something you can market-the public expects you to offer only.

Pay Attention to Your Business

Many writers erroneously believe that a writing business is different somehow from other businesses and is subject to its own rules. It is as if, for a hundred years (at least), people had not been studying business practices, as if there were not what are called “best practices” that have been honed over the years.

“But, a writing business is different,” people will continue to insist.

Yes, there are differences. Our content is certainly different. To a large extent, we ourselves are our content. Our business is a personal one. Relationships are primary. But, here’s the news: relationships in some form or other are primary in every business. Have you ever bought a car from a salesman who hadn’t established a personal relationship from you?

Writing and memoir work are dependent on the clear definition of mission, on effective marketing, on efficient delivery services-and on so much more.

No business practice is the result of clear science. That’s why we say: “It’s not rocket science.” Instead, all businesses are a combination of implementing best practices and of intuition based on paying attention.

Paying attention means we look at the bottom line regularly to ascertain that we are profitable. We check out to see where the income is coming from and where it is likely to come from in the future.

Paying attention means that we notice which of our products are underperforming and we either alter some features to test if the lackluster product can become more profitable or we eliminate it from our list. Paying attention also means we notice the costs of doing business-general administration costs, and marketing costs, and handling costs.

This can be a long process, but it is a necessary one if you are to stay in business.

If you are like me, and you probably are, running your business will always have a big intuitive factor, but more and more it must depend on a thought-through approach.