Tuesday, March 24, 2009. It’s been a great week so far.  From the end of October until March is when I have to do the magazines back to back, with not much time in between.  That’s to accomodate the holiday printing and delivery schedule of my printer.  As often as possible, I try to piggyback onto the delivery of another publication on the same truck, to decrease my delivery cost.  Even if it means a little more work for me, I like doing this.  And it’s not all that hard to do since (1) it’s a job I love to do, (2) since I love my job, I find it easy to do, and (3) I’m a workaholic, so working 24/7 is my path of least resistance.

I like the idea of combining jobs to be more efficient.  I like the idea of anything that allows more to get done while requiring the least amount of work on my part.  That’s why I give multi-ad discounts with Horizons and that’s why I often offer combo-type discounts for some jobs I do, like my astrology reports.  Usually $22 each, in the summer I offer two charts for $30.  That’s not just out of the goodness of my heart, and I’m not trying to sell you a chart here.  The fact is, once I open my astrology program, it’s as easy to do two reports as it is to do one.

“But why ever give a discount“, a friend asks me, “when your prices are already so low?” And the answer is “Because I can.  Because it’s nice to surprise someone with a lower price for something they are going to buy anyway.  Because it’s no extra work for me to do it.  And, more importantly in these economic times, because I know the value of pruning as it relates to the growth process.”

I’ve had an orchid tree since 1997 when spiritual brother Doug Cobb planted it for me, along with the stand of bamboo in my east yard.  The first few years it grew well, then it seemed to stop growing.  Five + years passed and it stayed the same size.  I finally decided to prune it way back since it was not growing anyway, and 3 months later, new growth shot out all over!  It rapidly grew twice as big within six months.  I had forgotten that the plants really respond to pruning, something I am just discovering anew the last few years.

And I find it’s the same way with business as well.  If I am standing talking to two friends and one of them asks for an astro report, I’ll offer them the discount for two.  Even if I don’t have to do it “to make the sale.”  Just because I know the pruning I am doing by offering the discount, will repay me in new $$ growth down the road.

I have lots of friends who are business entrepreneurs.  Some have “real” jobs as well, but many don’t.  Some have mates or parents who support them, but most don’t.  And we’ve been talking about this notion of pruning back in order to encourage new growth.

Pruning back doesn’t mean you stop spending.  Pruning back means you give someone more for their money than they pay you for.  Pruning back means you find areas where you can give extra without it depleting you, and you’ll find that it replenishes you.

So, I guess you could say that’s my social security.

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