Your Professional Development Sweet Spot

1. Inner compass

At the center of the wheel is your inner compass. This includes your values, sense of purpose, core personality traits, and strengths. In a world of change, these core attributes are what anchor you to yourself and inform the way you adapt to the world around you.

Consider Henry, a successful freelance consultant. Henry is an INTJ on the Meyers-Briggs and an Analytical Achiever in the StrengthsFinder. He values professional autonomy, access to nature, and time with his kids. Taken together, these make up his compass. Gaining a clearer understanding of his compass has helped Henry identify the types of client engagements in which he’ll thrive. “Now I understand why I felt such a pull towards self-employment,” he says with a smirk. “It suits me perfectly.”

Around the wheel are eight additional success levers:

2. Network

Even the weaker ties in your network can be powerful sources of information, opportunities, and deals. Henry’s network draws from his church group, old classmates, and various professional groups in his industry and in the Denver area. Last week, Henry tapped his network to help a client find a tax attorney for a complex issue. “A lot of my job as a consultant is to be a connector,” he notes.

3. Work relationships

Relationships with supervisors, direct reports, mentors and clients directly impact success. As a self-employed professional, Henry’s most important work relationships are with his top three clients and the handful of other consultants he partners with on engagements, a key source of new projects for him. Two years ago, he started sending them birthday cards and holiday baskets to nurture those relationships.

4. Skills

Skills form a core part of your personal value proposition, and adding new ones is a time-tested strategy to advance. Henry’s oldest son Caleb studied political science at Colorado State and struggled to find a job after graduating. The next fall he enrolled in a developer bootcamp and now works as a junior software engineer in Boulder.

5. Emotional well-being

Traditional career development programs frequently ignore the emotional dimension, but our home lives and sense of well-being can have a remarkable impact on performance.

“Every morning, I felt like crawling into a hole and not getting out,” Henry explained, recalling the period after wife left him. “My work suffered, my health suffered, everything suffered until I gradually scraped my way out of it.”

6. Physical energy

In The Power of Full Engagemen, the authors argue that physical energy, like emotional well-being, is essential to performing at peak state. Henry’s biggest challenge here is sleep. When he goes through periods of insomnia, he simply isn’t as productive at work, or as pleasant. Minimizing insomnia is critical to his success.

7. Side projects

Side projects are the work equivalent of extracurricular activities. These are amazing (and sometimes underrated) sources of new skills, experiences, connections, and inspiration.

Five years ago, Henry organized a youth leadership program for his church. Two years later, the experience would help him expand a contract with a client who was having a difficult time retaining Millennials.

8. Personal brand

Personal branding is about managing your reputation and telling your story, regardless of the medium. Henry mocks the concept, noting he doesn’t blog or tweet. But when I ask him how he promotes his business, he’s quick to mention speaking at industry conferences, collecting references from past clients, and updating his website and LinkedIn profile. “That’s personal branding too,” I pointed out.

9. Productivity & time management

The ability to set goals and priorities, and effectively leverage time, is where the rubber meets the road. Nothing else matters if you can't execute.

When Henry first started his consulting practice, there was little structure in his work and increasing demands at home. He quickly realized that managing his time and productivity were essential to making his business successful. He’s now outsourced things like bookkeeping and data analysis that aren’t effective uses of his time.

 

0 Startup Tips Learned the Hard Way

1. Brand with a single purpose. From day one, we branded Fueled as mobile first and only, and we’ve ridden the wave of mobile’s dominance ever since. We’re grateful to receive the bulk of our new business through client referrals and friends. We do more than mobile apps -- website design, branding, SEO, community building -- but it’s our mobile brand and expertise that gets people in the door.

2. Fire fast. If someone on your team is not working out, part ways now. It might leave the team crunched and you might have to work on Saturday and Sunday. Suck it up and do it. You’ll thank us later.

When we hire someone, we tell them up front that it’s for a three-month trial period. At two months, we have a check-in and assess the relationship from both sides. This gives them a month to improve or keep on keeping on. If major issues remain unsolved by the end of that three months, we say goodbye. When something is not working out, it’s a mutual feeling more often than not.

3. Only charge flat fees for very discrete deliverables. Hourly rates or project fees? We finally found the perfect balance: charge flat fees for a series of well-defined, discrete deliverables with clear, inelastic boundaries.

Once a project is rolling, we move to a structure with a flat fee for a set amount of work. For us, that usually means a build of an app with a certain set of features. Clients know what they’re paying, and we know what we’re delivering. If the client adds features, we layer on more deliverables and flat fees.

4. Get paid up front. Don’t start working until you get paid up front. Seriously, stop. Do something else until you get the money.

It may feel cheeky, but there’s no faster way for an agency to fold than to carry the debt of your clients’ unpaid bills. We ask our clients to pay in advance for each two-week period of work. If they don’t pay, we don’t work.

5. Avoid cheap clients. If a potential new client tries to lowball you or asks for deep discounts, shut the door.

It’s this weird, inverted ratio: the law of discounting. The deeper the discount or the more generous the favor we give, the more unrealistic clients’ demands will be. For some reason, the clients who demand discounts will never be happy with your work, and they’re hardly worth your time and aggravation.

6. Build a lean product. Bully your clients into building less, not more. Some clients are surprised when we push for a smaller contract (which means less cash for us). But experience has taught us that six-month builds of apps with 150 screens is effectively a guaranteed disaster. Focus first on what you can build in eight weeks, max. Then add and release the most compelling additional features in one- or two-week increments.

7. Have plenty of conference rooms and phone booths. Remember this ratio: one to 11. Fueled runs and houses its NYC team in The Fueled Collective, a coworking space with 150 members and 35 startups. We’ve found that the magic ratio of conference rooms to people is 1 to 11.

Spacious conference rooms for five to eight people are great, but the number-one use of conference-room time is phone calls made by one or two members, so to be efficient with space, try creating phone booths or micro-conference rooms. A few nooks for impromptu breakouts is also very useful.

8. Managing the client and managing the process are two different jobs. When we started out, we had “producers,” managers who handled both client relations, project management and the actual product. We’ve since learned that people are either really good at building product or really good at managing the client relationship, never both.

Now we have separate project managers and product managers. The tension between their different skills and priorities creates a healthy conflict that gets a quality product delivered on-time and on-budget.

9. Experience is valuable. Particularly in the tech world, the value of experience is easy to overlook. We had a bias, when we started, toward young talent rather than experience. We’ll just train them, we thought.

But we’ve since learned that experience matters massively. Bringing in seasoned talent and managers is absolutely critical to our success and happiness, and it’s been worth every extra penny.

10. Think before sleeping with your co-workers. Talented, creative human beings doing exciting work in intense environments? Love and other pangs of the heart will happen.

But think about it carefully before you give in to the longings of your loins. Just how awkward is it going to be if things don’t work out? How much time and effort are you going to spend making it right? Do you risk losing someone valuable to your company?

It might also make sense to set expectations up front, about what the consequences might be if things don’t work out. Basically, take the time to consider the consequences before hooking up with your hot colleague.

We hope these pro tips help you level-up your own agency’s game. But whatever you do, don’t stop experimenting and learning as you go. We got to where we are through constantly tweaking and iterating on how we do business.

Ultimately, our passion for experimentation and pushing the boundaries has been core to Fueled’s success.

 

8 Slow, Difficult Steps to Become a Millionaire

1. Stop obsessing about money.

While it sounds counterintuitive, maintaining a laser-like focus on how much you make distracts you from doing the things that truly contribute to building and growing wealth. So shift your perspective.

"See money not as the primary goal but as a by-product of doing the right things."

2. Start tracking how many people you help, even in a very small way.

The most successful people I know – both financially and in other ways – are shockingly helpful. They’re incredibly good at understanding other people and helping them achieve their goals. They know their success is ultimately based on the success of the people around them.

So they work hard to make other people successful: their employees, their customers, their vendors and suppliers… because they know, if they can do that, then their own success will surely follow.

And they will have built a business – or a career – they can be truly proud of.

3. Stop thinking about making a million dollars and start thinking about serving a million people.

When you only have a few customers and your goal is to make a lot of money, you’re incented to find ways to wring every last dollar out of those customers.

But when you find a way to serve a million people, many other benefits follow. The effect of word of mouth is greatly magnified. The feedback you receive is exponentially greater – and so are your opportunities to improve your products and services. You get to hire more employees and benefit from their experience, their skills, and their overall awesomeness.

And, in time, your business becomes something you never dreamed of – because your customers and your employees have taken you to places you couldn’t even imagine.

Serve a million people – and serve them incredibly well – and the money will follow.

4. See making money as a way to make more things.

Generally speaking there are two types of people.

One makes things because they want to make money; the more things they make, the more money they make. What they make doesn’t really matter that much to them – they’ll make anything as long as it pays.

The other wants to make money because it allows them to make more things. They want to improve their product. They want to extend their line. The want to create another book, another song, another movie. They love what they make and they see making money as a way to do even more of what they love. They dream of building a company that makes the best things possible … and making money is the way to fuel that dream and build that company they love.

While it is certainly possible to find that one product that everyone wants and grow rich by selling that product, most successful businesses evolve and grow and as they make money, reinvest that money in a relentless pursuit of excellence.

"We don't make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies." ~Walt Disney

5. Do one thing better.

Pick one thing you're already better at than most people.Just. One. Thing. Become maniacally focused at doing that one thing. Work. Train. Learn. Practice. Evaluate. Refine. Be ruthlessly self-critical, not in a masochistic way but to ensure you continue to work to improve every aspect of that one thing.

Financially successful people do at least one thing better than just about everyone around them. (Of course it helps if you pick something to be great at that the world also values – and will pay for.)

Excellence is its own reward, but excellence also commands higher pay – and greater respect, greater feelings of self-worth, greater fulfillment, a greater sense of achievement… all of which make you rich in non-monetary terms.

Win-win.

6. Make a list of the world’s ten best people at that one thing.

How did you pick those ten? How did you determine who was the “best”? How did you measure their “success”?

Use those criteria to track your own progress towards becoming the best.

If you're an author it could be Amazon rankings. If you’re a musician it could be iTunes downloads. If you’re a programmer, it could be the number of people that use your software. If you’re a leader it could be the number of people you train and develop who move on to bigger and better things. If you’re an online retailer it could be purchases per visitor, or on-time shipping, or conversion rate…

Don’t just admire successful people. Take a close look at what makes them successful. Then use those criteria to help create your own measures of success. And then…

7. Consistently track your progress.

We tend to become what we measure, so track your progress at least once a week against your key measures.

Maybe you’ll measure how many people you’ve helped. Maybe you’ll measure how many customers you’ve served. Maybe you’ll evaluate the key steps on your journey to becoming the world’s best at one thing.

Maybe it’s a combination of those things, and more.

8. Build routines that ensure progress.

Never forget that achieving a goal is based on creating routines. Say you want to write a 200-page book; that’s your goal. Your system to achieve that goal could be to write 4 pages a day; that’s your routine. Wishing and hoping won’t get you to a finished manuscript, but sticking faithfully to your routine ensures you reach your goal.

Or say you want to land 100 new customers through inbound marketing. That’s your goal; your routine is to create new content, new videos, new podcasts, new white papers, etc. on whatever schedule you set. Stick to that routine and meet your deadlines and if your content is great you will land those new customers.

Wishing and hoping won’t get you there – sticking faithfully to your routine will.

Set goals, create routines that support those goals, and then ruthlessly track your progress. Fix what doesn’t work. Improve and repeat what does work. Refine and revise and adapt and work hard every day to be better than you were yesterday.

Soon you’ll be good. Then you’ll be great. And one day you’ll be world-class.

And then, probably without even noticing, you’ll also be a millionaire. You know, if you like that sort of thing.

 

 

The 80/20 Rule of Sales: How to Find Your Best Customers

It is an old business adage: About 20 percent of your customers produce 80 percent of your sales. In my book 80/20 Sales & Marketing, I argue that this 80/20 principle also applies to time management, search engine marketing and far more.

The funny thing is that even with sales, business owners often ignore the 80/20 rule.

We're all tempted to waste our time trying to please all of our customers instead of the most lucrative ones.

We are all conditioned to always respond to the stimulus around us. So if you obey the 80/20 rule, you are going always to feel as though you are ignoring something -- because you are.

It will be an irritating feeling at first. And it particularly gnaws at Americans because we are prone to trying to treat people equally. The phrase is clearly written our Declaration of Independence, that all people "are created equal."

But all customers are not equal. Far from it. Some earn you an amazingly disproportionate amount of money, many make you a little bit of money, and some even waste your time. With the last group, you lose money selling anything to them at all.

Your goal should be to zero in on those 20 percent of customers who are essential for your business' prosperity.

Here are some tips on how to do just that:

Mine your customer lists. Maybe it's your email distribution list or your company's Facebook following. But I still find it amazing how many businesses don't bother to look up sales data on the customers. Apply the R-F-M rule: Check which customers on your list bought most Recently, bought more Frequently, and spent the most Money. Bingo. You've found a chunk of your 20 percent. Focus on them. Send them nicer Christmas gifts. Send them a postcard when you're on vacation.

Study your geography. Delve into your point of sale systems and find out where your money-making customers actually live. You can do it really bonehead simple with thumbtacks on a map if you want; or you can do a detailed study. Either way, odds are people or businesses from certain neighborhoods or certain cities are providing most of your business. For example, I know that most of my business consulting customers come from suburbs of technically advanced markets such as San Francisco, Dallas and Washington, D.C. This is important knowledge because you can save money on Internet advertising and other forms of marketing by narrowing it to specific geographies.

Find your customer niches. The customers who buy the most expensive products or services almost always fit a peculiar demographic. They are noticeably different than everyone else. Stay open-minded as you figure this out, too. For example, I have a client who provides publicity for authors. Overwhelmingly, his hottest buyers are middle-aged divorced women. Many are rebounding from failed marriages and feel compelled to do something significant -- like write a book. My advice to my friend is to subtly take advantage of this insight by publishing customer endorsements where the authors mention similar struggles. People who've experienced that pain can't not notice. Those stories naturally attract similar authors to the business.

Fire your problem customers. Inevitably, there is another 10-20 percent of customers who rack up support tickets and chew up phone time, and take away from you servicing your most lucrative 20 percent. If you've tried to fit a square peg into a round hole too many times with them, just stop. I've done that. I've said to customers, 'I should not be consulting for you anymore.' I've occasionally even blacklisted customers -- or at least made a point to ignore them until they go away. Be polite and gracious about it, because you don't want a bad online review. But still do it.

Pinpoint your 'Silent High-Volume Buyers.' Almost all businesses have a few of them -- especially in B-to-B companies. They send in a purchase order every two months, and it's usually a nice fat one. They truly are your highest-return customers. They require so little maintenance that you don't even notice they're there most of the time. Instead, you're chewing up time on the phone with the squeaky wheel guy who actually costs you more money to service than he makes you. Ignore the problem customers, and direct your time towards relationships with the hassle-free, big spenders. Take them out to lunch. You'll most certainly find there's a product or service you have that they don't know about.

It is so natural to want to pay attention to all of your customers. But you don't need everyone -- far from it.

Paddle away from the 20 percent of your customers who cause problems, and focus on the 20 percent who buy the most from you.

 

 

8 Essentials to Get the Most Out of Working From Home

1. Start each day like you’re going to work. That means taking a shower, getting dressed and having breakfast. Setting professional standards will put you in a productive mindset.

2. Set up your office. It is crucial that you create a dedicated space to work in that is comfortable, private and exposed to as few distractions as possible. This space is yours, so make it personal! You’re going to be spending a lot of time there. 

You should have all your tools, like your computer, phone and printer, in one place. Setting up your office also means setting up boundaries with the people (and even pets) you share your home with. Set up rules so that everyone understands when you are available and when you are not.

3. Begin your day 30 minutes earlier than you plan to start working. This time should be used in two ways: To create a plan for the day and to peruse social media. Every morning, I make a list of the things I need to achieve that day. Scratching off items will motivate you and keep you on task. 

I also read the news and check social media. It’s fun, and it prevents me from wasting too much time during the day. I also check those sites during my lunch break and at the end of the day. After all, there’s no boss looking over your shoulder -- so you must police yourself.

4. Think about when you do your best work, and plan accordingly. I’m a morning person, so I start working on the most difficult and unpleasant tasks of the day first. We all have tasks we’re not wild about, whether we’re working for ourselves or someone else. In the afternoon, I do things I enjoy, such as creative tasks.

5. Make a strict schedule, and stick to it. The knowledge that you can work whenever will tempt you, but in the long run, you will be much more productive if you follow the schedule you set for yourself. In my experience, this means keeping the same hours every day. This is work, after all. Your hours should correspond with others in your industry. Don’t vary them.

6. Stay connected. Working from home can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. Turn on Skype and get in the habit of using it. Each morning, my employees and I use Skype for our staff meeting. I always make sure to ask, “How is everyone doing?” We talk about non-business issues first.

It doesn’t take much effort to check in with the people you work with, and your relationships will benefit from it. Being on camera is an added incentive to look your best! When you’re able to see people, they don’t seem so far away.

7. Check in with your team throughout the day. I have Skype turned on all the time, and I ask my employees to do the same. I hand out assignments at the beginning of the week, but I check in much more often than that. My employees do better when I actively manage them.

Mind you, I don’t mean micromanage. But keeping people accountable -- especially those that work from home -- is important. There are a lot of potential distractions, after all. Set an example by being available to them as well.

8. Make sure to “close the door” at the end of the day. This can be very hard to do. It’s easy to keep working long after the hours you’ve set for yourself have passed. After all, your office is as easily accessible on the weekend as it is during the week. Have other hobbies.

Your business will suffer, actually, if all you do is focus obsessively on it. You will work more than 40 hours -- I’m sure of it, so give yourself a break. Make a point of getting out of the house on the weekends. This is the only way you will maintain your sanity. In the same vein, taking short breaks throughout the day can be very helpful.

Working from home can be extremely rewarding. No sitting in traffic. No more office politics. The freedom to live wherever. But there are distractions, and it can be lonely. If you focus on creating structure, you’ll be amazed how much you can accomplish.

 

 

6 Ways to Improve Your Conversations

1. Show a real interest. When you speak to someone, especially in a busy or loud environment, give him or her your full attention. If you find yourself distracted or can’t hear them well, ask to move to a quieter area. Practice empathetic listening. Put yourself in his or her shoes and try to see the situation through his or her eyes. Ask questions and encourage the other person to elaborate. Even if you haven’t experienced the same situation, try sharing a personal story about a time when you felt similarly.

2. Use the magic words: “Tell me.” Most people will cherish the opportunity to share their stories and experiences. To start a conversation, use the two most powerful words in conversation: “Tell me.” Successful conversationalists avoid questions that may be answered with a simple yes or no. Ask open-ended questions and then listen. For example, you may say, “Tell me, Joe, what prompted you to start your own business?” Or ask for their input, “I’d like to take my family on a vacation this summer. Tell me, do you have a favorite vacation spot?” When you choose a topic of conversation that demonstrates interest in the other person, the discussion will flow more smoothly.

3. Say the other person’s name. Dale Carnegie once said, “A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.” Any business acquaintance will be flattered and impressed if you remember his or her name. If you have difficulty remembering names, set out to practice as frequently as possible. When you meet someone for the first time, say the person’s name immediately. Respond with something like, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Frank.” Then use their name a couple of times throughout your conversation. When the conversation ends, say their name one last time: “I really enjoyed meeting you, Jim.”

4. Agree heartily; disagree softly. When someone agrees with you, it establishes an instant bond. Suddenly, you both have something in common. However, the strongest professional relationships exhibit mutual respect and admiration, even in disagreements. Tolerance and respect for others, especially when they disagree with you, is vital to successful networking. If you strongly disagree with someone’s opinion, softly communicate that you don’t see it the same way. Ask questions and allow the person to fully express his or her reasoning.

5. Talk less; listen more. When someone speaks to you, listen with your whole body. Nod, make eye contact, and be fully engaged in what they have to say. Attentive listening will build trust and help you establish a professional relationship. When given the opportunity, ask pertinent questions, which will help demonstrate your sincere interest. If you don’t understand, ask for specifics. You could ask a clarifying question such as, “If I hear you correctly, you’re saying…Is that right?” It’s best to confirm your assumptions rather than risk a miscommunication.

6. Don’t interrupt or change the subject. Many assertive professionals finish others’ sentences out of habit. If you jump in and interrupt someone’s sentence, you prevent him or her from fully expressing his or her thoughts. Though your intentions may be good, the other person may perceive you to be a know-it-all or in a rush. Or worse, the person may think you are trying to put words in his or her mouth. Always permit the other person enough time to finish their thought before you respond. Your patience and thoughtfulness will be appreciated.

 

 

7 Entrepreneurs You Should Start Following Now

Here are seven thought leaders (in no particular order) that are worth following.

1. Tony Hsieh. The CEO of Zappo’s is so much more than a shoe salesman. Hsieh is the model for how corporate executives can stay firmly connected to the real world. His Tweets alone are worth his reputation.

2. Travis Kalanick. OK, I admit my bias as a sold-out fan of Uber, but Kalanick’s story is quite remarkable. I will continue to follow this young genius to see how he navigates an endless stream of obstacles. Kalanick’s lessons for entrepreneurs are invaluable.

3. Marie Forleo. There are those who make things happen and those who wonder what happened. Count Forleo in the former category. The term “self-made woman” is more than appropriate for her. This energetic, brash and straight-talking success guru has fashioned an amazing company with a vast following.

4. Guy Kawasaki. I first read How to Drive Your Competition Crazy roughly 20 years ago and I have never looked at competitive positioning the same way again. The former chief evangelist for Apple is a serial entrepreneur and investor with an eye for success. His Tweets are solid gold.

5. Daniel Kahneman. This Nobel Prize-winning founder of behavioral economics won’t blow you out of the water with flashy presentations, but he will make you think about life in entirely new ways. His masterpiece book Thinking Fast and Slow took me forever to read because every page provided content that demanded I pause, reflect on the application and change my thinking accordingly. Watch his videos on YouTube, Ted Talks and Big Think.

6. Gary Vaynerchuk. You can read his books or his blog, but you really need to experience Garyvee (Google it) to get the entire, unfiltered flavor of Vaynerchuk’s brilliance. His enterprise provides a blueprint for entrepreneurial success in the digital age. Garyvee’s unending approachability has endeared him to millions.

7. Malcolm Gladwell. If Malcolm Gladwell wrote nothing but knock-knock jokes, I would read every one of them. Of course, his version would go something like, “Knock-knock. Who’s there? An observationalist with an uncanny knack for seeing things that everyone else overlooks.” Gladwell is deeply cerebral and yet easily readable -- a great combination for the ADD entrepreneur. His study of human nature is spellbinding.

 

10 Ways You Can Blow a First Impression

1. You were wearing sunglasses. It doesn’t matter that it was the middle of the day and you were looking head on into the sun, your eyes are the gateway to who you are. They illustrate your confidence, sincerity and interest in the person you’re meeting, so do yourself a favor and take them off when you’re meeting someone new -- yes, even if they left theirs on.

2. Ever hear of "dress to impress"? I live in Los Angeles, so I’m well aware of how hip it is to look like you just crawled out of bed, but seriously, did you? Here’s another adage that you should pay attention to, “perception is reality.” If you appear like you do not care about yourself enough to be even moderately presentable, you probably don’t.

3. The limp grip. Yes, this one is in every “how to” article or book ever written, but it’s one of the most important, so it must be reiterated. You can tell a lot by a person based on their handshake -- soft equals weak, firm equals strong. It’s really that simple.

4. It looked like you couldn't care less. You didn’t know what they did for a living, so clearly they weren’t important, right? Wrong. You don’t know who they are or what they’ve done and if you don’t care about meeting them, they won’t care about meeting you.

5. Couldn’t seem to focus. Have you ever had a conversation with someone that seemed like they were looking beyond you, or better yet, kept glancing away at the baseball game on TV? Clearly they weren’t interested enough in you to focus and you noticed it. You must focus in on whom you’re talking to and treat them like they’re the most important person in your life at that moment.

6. You brought your own baggage. In general, people like dealing with other happy people, but you got up on the wrong side of the bed and it showed. It really doesn’t matter that you’re in a bad mood, because you only get one chance, so put on a smile, at least until the interaction is over, then you can go back to being poopy.

7. You just couldn’t stop talking about yourself. There’s not much worse than being around someone that won’t stop talking about themselves or turning every story into one about them. It’s well known that people love the sound of their own voice, but you need to be smarter and use the opportunity to let the person you’re meeting do all of the talking. Trust me, they’ll like you for it.

8. Name dropping? Really? Nobody cares that you spent the summer sailing the Caribbean with XYZ celebrity or CEO, because it makes you look like you’re overcompensating, which you probably are. Slow it down and practice some humility, which will get you a lot further in both the short and long terms.

9. You wouldn’t put your phone away. This is a problem that has certainly come more to the forefront since the inception of the smartphone but really needs some attention. If you can’t put your phone away while you talking with someone new -- or really anyone -- it’s clear that you have absolutely no interest in them. Pretty simple.

10. You couldn’t remember their name. I know this one is a bit more difficult but is absolutely worth improvement through practice. Do you know why? Because there is only one thing people like more than talking about themselves, and that’s hearing their own name. This is one of the most valuable "first impression" tools out there -- you must try to say their name as often as reasonably possible throughout and at the end of the conversation, which they will absolutely remember you for.