“If it’s FREE, how come you’re calling it “complimentary?”
Good question – and that’s what our topic is today. The most eye-catching, heart-pounding, “What are they giving me?” word in the English language is FREE.

Free is a four-letter word. It’s bold. It’s catchy. It’s memorable.
Free snags attention and helps us remember your offer.

Our ears perk up when we hear the announcer shout, “It’s Free!”
And so do our eyes: We want free gifts. Free time. A life free of hardship.

Free is also statistically proven to drive action.
That’s why the word gets used time and time again.

Free is not a silly, low-brow word…so how come it falls prey to “complimentary?”

The Case Against Complimentary:
It has 13 characters and five syllables. That makes it one of the longer words in everyday language. Swap it out for its synonym (free!) and your writing will flow smoothly.

It doesn’t pass the say it/write it test: We don’t go around telling potential customers that we offer a complimentary consultation – we tell them it’s FREE.  Rhythmic writing reads like the spoken word.

It’s easy to misspell: Swap the “i” out for an “e” and you could be talking about contrasting colors that, when blended, become neutral. Spell-check won’t catch that error, but your reader might.

Complimentary is a visual mouthful. You’ll never, ever see it in a headline…so why use it at all?

Not convinced? Check out the definition of the word:
Complimentary: Given free as a courtesy or favor.

More Tips for reluctant writers

Entrepreneurs are often a quirky lot; independent minded souls who like to do things your own way and in your own time. You’re risk takers and initiators. All those are wonderful traits that can support your success, but like any qualities they also have challenging sides.

You might be so used to going for it, and making decisions yourself, that when you’re faced with a larger challenge you just step on the gas and do more of what you’ve already been doing. More isn’t always better, and in fact,  it can sometimes be worse.

Let’s say you’ve spent a wad of money on advertising and get no results, so you decide to spend another wad and then another. Still no results. You begin to get a clue that there’s a problem. By now you’ve spent way too much money, so you’re also feeling a bit stressed and worried.

Is this a time to get help? Yes, but it would have been even better to get help before you spent the second wad of dough. However the very best time would have been at the beginning.  With the right support you could have analyzed your business and developed a marketing plan based on  logic with a system that works.

Why do entrepreneurs not get help at the beginning? They’re independent types and think they can do it themselves. The truth is that:

1. Most successful business owners ask for help.

2. Someone you trust will get you to think past your own limiting thoughts.

3. Operating from a plan is way better than throwing darts.

4. Every obstacle has a solution.

5. The most successful entrepreneurs will do whatever it takes!

The most important and essential trait of a successful entrepreneur is the ability to face problems.  You might think, “well, this doesn’t sound like much fun.”  You’re right. Dealing with problems is not much fun but there isn’t a day goes by that there aren’t multiple issues to deal with and problems to overcome.  It’s part of being a business owner.

My business has been like a full-time professional growth seminar. I am forced to look at my fears and insecurities everyday and face the demons inside. It would be so much easier to just have a job and collect a pay check, however we are a different stock of people. We thrive on the challenge of solving problems. A really successful entrepreneur says, “Bring them on!”

When a particularly hard problem comes up sometimes it can feel like just too much to deal with. Money stress is my biggest demon. I can handle everything else much easier. When that one hits I feel like I’m being pulled into a vortex and can lose my equilibrium.  There are actually three choices when faced with this level of challenge.

1. You can quit. No one says you have to stay in business. You have free choice to sell out or close up shop and get a job.

2. Climb in bed and pull down the shades.  Do nothing and avoid the issue. Not a great choice but we all do this every so often.

3. Take action and do whatever it takes to face the challenge, overcome the problem and be the success you are meant to be.

Remembering these three choices makes it easier. My committment is to choose number three and do whatever it takes, get up, make a plan and overcoming whatever obstacle seems to be in my way.

I came very close to canceling my subscription to the newspaper this past week. Too many stories of fear and failure and not enough about people who are doing well. Not sure what makes the public enjoy reading all those hard luck stories but people do seem to be attracted to it.  Maybe people keep their own fears shoved down somewhere and  so reading about someone else losing their job or becoming homeless makes them feel relieved that it’s not them.  I don’t know, but it isn’t inspiring that’s for sure. My favorite part of the paper is Stone Soup and the crossword puzzle and I am not willing to give up either of those yet!

The truth is that some business owners are doing very well these days. What makes one business do well and another go belly up? There can be many reasons but here are a few thoughts on this mysterious question.

1.  Some businesses get attached to their products or services  and keep trying to figure out how to sell them even when it seems apparent that people don’t want them. They may be really good and amazing but that doesn’t mean people will reach their hand into their wallet and buy. The key is to have a variety of wares and not put all your eggs in one basket. Be willing to change your offering and/or add embellishments to attract more attention.

2.  Investing in your own business will keep it fresh and alive. I read an article recently about a woman who owns a little bookshop and made herself distinctive by having live music on Saturday nights. As soon as her sales began to drop she cut out the Saturday night music. This was a mistake because it was one thing that was working. Constricting and cutting too much can cut the heart out of your business. Investing in getting help, re-freshing and taking risks in  your own behalf is one thing that can make your business do well even in so called hard times.

3. Strengthen the weakest part of your business. It could be that you are focusing all your attention on  the areas you feel comfortable with and you are ignoring the areas you don’t enjoy. A web builder I worked with recently was spending all of her time on learning new skills and polishing her technical expertise. Her office was a mess, however, and her invoices were scattered. Once she tidied her office and put in organizational systems  that she could follow, her whole business began to pick up and she got so busy she had to hire an assistant.

Those are a few of my ideas.  All good businesses have strong vision and goals but it also is important to know how to overcome obstacles.  Maybe you have some of your own ideas that you could share.

Picture this story. It’s Saturday morning. Your plan was to get up early and clean up your office and deal with all the left over stuff from the week.

Those piles of business cards you collected from networking events, miscellaneous papers that need filing, etc.  I suppose if you are an anal organizing type this won’t be your picture, but  I think most of you can relate.

You can imagine that good feeling of having everything wrapped up, tidied and completed before the new week begins. And then a wrench gets thrown in.

You wake up and just don’t feel inspired. You end up on your computer checking Facebook updates, reading Tweets, checking Craigslist for that perfect condo at the beach and your mess is still there. You look out the window and see a small square of sun and you think, “ok, as soon as I get everything done I’ll go out.” It reminds me a bit of being a kid and wanting to go out and play and mom saying, “after you clean your room.”  You try to convince her that you’ll clean it later after playing but she’s not convinced.

Ah, but you are the grown-up now and this means you can make your own rules. If you want to eat apple pie for dinner you can. So here are a few tips for breaking out of the Saturday morning slump.

1. First recognize that it is Saturday and if you’ve worked hard all week so give yourself a break.

2. Go out and do something fun first. When you come back you will feel much more energized.

3. Make a list of everything that you want to accomplish before Monday. Don’t make it too big as this is the weekend remember!

4. Visualize your office tidied up and all the little jobs done. Breath in that feeling and smile.

5. Have a nice cup of your favorite hot drink and write down everything you are grateful for. Feeling grateful will help you to change your attitude faster than anything.