“You can construct a life that is not yours if you’re not careful enough to learn who you really are.”Remarkable ideas from LAURA BROWN

This Readitfor.me Remarkable

Business // Remarkable Life

interview is with Laura Brown.

She’s a New York based author

and writing coach who has

taught writing to just about

everyone from corporate

executives to high school

students. She has over 25 years

experience providing customized

training and business writing

and consulting on business

writing projects.

?What are your top

three pieces of advice for building a

remarkable business

Ask your customers what they need, don't tell them.1

It’s good to know what your strengths are, but where you really start to connect and have success is when you start meeting the needs of your customers.

Make your service memorable, by being more of yourself.2

People like to do business with people that they like. You can do it in all kinds of ways. I think in general whatever you are doing, give them more than they expect and they will remember it and they will remember you.

Imagine you are 80 years old looking back over your career - what did your business bring you more than money? If your answer is nothing, change your business.

3

More money is great, but making a difference in the world and in other peoples lives is much greater. As entrepreneurs we have an opportunity to steer our careers in directions that are meaningful in addition, to being lucrative.

If you believe in what you are doing, if you care about what you are doing, if you’re passionate about it, you’re going to do a better job.

?what are your top

three pieces of advice for leading a

remarkable life

1Learn who you are, not who other people want you to be.

We all grow up with expectations from other people. If you never stop and question those at the end of the day, you are betraying yourself.

You really need to pay attention to yourself especially when you are young — it is very hard to tease out what makes you feel good, different from what satisfies your parents, or makes them proud of you.

You can construct a life that is not yours if you’re not careful enough to learn who you really are. It takes time. You grow and you study yourself and you respect yourself. I think that is the key to a happy life.

It's your duty to use the gift and talents you've been given.2

You’re probably perfectly able to sit in your job and push pieces of paper and respond to emails. If you have a gift and a passion that’s just sitting there I think it is a terrible shame to go through your life and never explore it.

I think a lot of people have a glimmer of the sense that they do have these gifts. A way to explore that is to become attuned to yourself and notice what you enjoy.

Make a commitment to serve others, every single day.3

If we’re working for ourselves we get absorbed in ourselves. We have a lot of problems to solve on a daily basis. If you are running your own business you are pulled in a million different directions.

I have check-ins with myself every day. Every morning I get up and I’ve usually made a list the night before of the things that I need to do for my business so I check that list. That’s something that I remind myself, every morning do something for someone else.

Learn more about LAURA BROWN:

howtowriteanything.com laurabrowncommunications.com Twitter: @ToWriteAnything

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