Mannequin Monday – You Make the Rules

You decide what the mannequin wears. You dress the blank form. Your words. Your vision. Your rules.

Advice from a business writer and from a poet. You make the rules.

I mark one year of these Mannequin Monday posts today.

And I offer a brief story of my own. Enjoy your week.

What I’m Reading

This week marks post #52 in the Mannequin Monday blog series. I believe what so many say: 80% of success is showing up. And thanks to you for showing up to read my thoughts. You are always welcome here.

Yesterday I received a weekly newsletter from B2B writer Ed Gandia. Ed runs his own copywriting business. In this issue he offers advice about determining deposit amounts you can ask of a client. Ed says:

“Most good prospects are willing to comply with what YOU want. And once you understand this, you’ll get more confidence to make other improvements in your business standards.

Remember: YOU make the rules.

There’s no board of governors deciding what you must do. There’s no union. No upper management from which to get approval.

It’s up to you. You have full reign over how you operate your business.”

A good piece of advice I can see working in other walks of life. You make the rules. Segue! This reminds me of Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem The Art of Disappearing. Here are a few lines. You can read the entire poem here.

When they say Don’t I know you?/ say no.

If they say We should get together/ say why?

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