What I’ve learned about humans from publishing many word games

June 6, 2024

My favorite side-hustles are the ones that start as whims. The New York Times launched Connections puzzles about a year ago. I thought they were great — fun,...

Telling them what they don't want to hear

February 28, 2024

Sometimes, people are wrong. Nobody likes to be wrong. Wrongologist Kathryn Schulz gives a great TED Talk where she asks the audience what it feels like to...

The importance of going unscripted

February 1, 2024

I was on a call with a sales coaching client this week, and I was asked about my biggest sales tips. I hit on several of the topics you'd expect, topics I've...

On getting paid

$ · January 11, 2024

Hey, paying subscribers. You look nice today. Sometimes, clients pay late. Sometimes, we're a little shy about how to approach them. We shouldn't be. I'm...

Let's talk about prospecting. You're probably doing it wrong.

January 9, 2024

A not-so-fun fact I learned after one year as a full-time consultant is that January is when some consulting clients cut back their hours as they revise...

A quick note to paying subscribers

$ · January 4, 2024

Hey, thanks for being a paid supporter of Your Intermittent Lex. I really, really appreciate it. Even though I moved from Substack to Buttondown, you're...

Too small to fail: On embracing change, because why not?

January 4, 2024

I love the magicians Penn & Teller. In their first book, Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends, Teller describes their rule of "No Permanent Damage": P&T are willing...

Take a break, or keep working — if that works for you

December 22, 2023

I have a mishmash of thoughts to share before we all take well-earned holiday breaks. There are memes that go around this time of year, encouraging you to...

Eschew obfuscation

November 16, 2023

I had a sweatshirt that said “eschew obfuscation” when I was a kid. I was very cool. “Eschew Obfuscation” means “avoid making things unclear.” The phrase is...

Real prospects don't ghost — even if they have objections

November 1, 2023

You’ve pitched. You saw real interest. It’s time to talk numbers. This is a crucial step in a sale — and it’s one so many people get wrong. We get in our...

When to fire, when to quit

$ · October 11, 2023

If a client tells me they’re considering firing an employee — or even a customer — and they’re debating the pros and cons, I know the advice I’ll give...

Be carefully annoying

October 6, 2023

Over the summer, The New York Times started offering Connections puzzles — a grid of 16 words that you group into four sets of four, with each quartet...

Work emergencies

September 15, 2023

It was 2009. I worked for an Internet company based in Los Angeles, though by that point I already lived in New Jersey. An old high school buddy who I hadn't...

Dealing with the know-it-all prospect

August 25, 2023

“Oh, you’re recording this Zoom? I was just on another call where people were recording, and the one before that had a note-taking app installed. I think...

Resist the urge to force people onto your mailing list

$ · August 22, 2023

If someone opts into your mailing list, by all means, yes — they want those messages. They’ve said so. But if I email you, human to human, to say hello, set...

The late followup email

August 16, 2023

A buddy of mine emailed me for advice recently. He’d had a great meeting with a potential client, felt good about it, but then neither he nor the prospect...

Expanding on the kindly brontosaurus

$ · July 28, 2023

Most of Your Intermittent Lex is available for free to everyone. Some folks choose to become paid subscribers, which is of course incredibly kind. A small...

Trust me

July 25, 2023

Some of us were those kids in school who hated group projects, and would rather work alone. We know if we did the work ourselves, it would be up to our...

A trick for staying top of mind

July 7, 2023

I was working with a client recently who sells a premium service. Sometimes, even seemingly hot-to-trot prospects start ghosting — or at least get very…...

Okay, but sometimes, don't be Mr. Rogers

$ · June 22, 2023

This post is exclusively for premium subscribers to Your Intermittent Lex. A month ago, I wrote about channeling your inner Mr. Rogers. I stand by that...

Woo vs. Yeahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

June 21, 2023

My 14-year-old Sierra graduated from eighth grade today. She’s awesome. The ceremony included the recitation of all 600 graduates’ names, with each kid...

Talking rates isn't sleazy

June 14, 2023

A couple days ago, I was asked how to avoid feeling sleazy when it’s time to talk about rates and pricing. I’ve written previously about how sales isn’t...

Shaping your life outlook

June 6, 2023

A couple weeks back, I shared that I was auditioning for the puppet-heavy musical Avenue Q. I talked about how I was nervous, but that I did what was...

Channel your inner Mr. Rogers

May 22, 2023

Being nice isn’t the same as being weak. Showing kindness to colleagues or to folks you’re doing deals with is hugely important — and it drives significant...

Nervousness and confidence and the power of being you

$ · May 14, 2023

First, a quick housekeeping note: Most posts on Your Intermittent Lex are free. There are sometimes posts just for paying subscribers. Most paid posts don’t...

Keeping your own attention in meetings with notes

May 9, 2023

I remember the era of “no laptop” meetings. You’d ask everyone to close their computers so that we could all focus on the discussion at end with our full...

Drawing insights from fear

April 25, 2023

I recently gave a talk to a company that’s about a year into a big acquisition it made. After a lot of work, they’re finally launching an integration that...

Lextra Credit: Practicing how you handle fear

$ · April 25, 2023

Earlier today, I published a free post about fear. Read that piece first, and then come back here and read some ideas on practicing how to get more...

A poll for paying subscribers

$ · April 21, 2023

I want to know what content Your Intermittent Lex’s paying subscribers most hope to see. Can you tell me? There are stringent caps on Substack poll answer...

More thoughts on directness — including support, protection, and sexism

April 19, 2023

Last week’s post on the importance and power of being direct blew up. I talked about how being direct saves time, shows the team that you’re working to cut...

The skill and value of being direct

April 12, 2023

I’ve written before about the power of decisiveness: Endless hemming and hawing and wishy-washiness in meetings makes everyone crazy, hinders productivity,...

You should stop procrastinating

April 3, 2023

By the way, paying subscribers can get this post as a video instead; that’s here. Maybe you were a crammer in school. Or you finished your papers with just...

Video: You should stop procrastinating

$ · April 3, 2023

Hey, friends. Here’s the video version of a free post I made today about procrastination. Maybe you were a crammer in school. Or you finished your papers...

Just say no sometimes

March 28, 2023

I absolutely believe you should make time to meet with folks, even if they won’t directly generate business for you. That’s putting goodness into the world,...

Negotiation is a conversation

March 21, 2023

I’ve been wrestling with my starting sentence for this piece. Because what I want to say is “Everyone has an opinion on how to start a negotiation,” but I’m...

You deserve to be treated better

$ · March 21, 2023

Note: I’ll be publishing an article for all subscribers later today! As you know, most content on Your Intermittent Lex is free. Occasional posts are limited...

Decisiveness is incredibly important — and greatly appreciated

March 15, 2023

I’ve written before about making great decisions, and shared some thoughts on the Amazon mentality of “one-way door” and “two-way door” decision making. It’s...

Pricing is really hard.

March 8, 2023

I’m self-employed. As a full-time consultant, I have to price access to myself, which sometimes feels crazy, but is in fact totally reasonable: Employers pay...

On hot goss and spilling the tea

$ · March 3, 2023

Most posts to Your Intermittent Lex are free. A couple each month are for paying subscribers only. This is one of those posts. We’re humans. We like gossip....

Thank you. Seriously.

February 28, 2023

I recently wrote about the power of saying “I don’t know.” Read the whole thing, but the summary is simply that telling a client (or potential one!) “I don’t...

My email with a 100% response rate

$ · February 22, 2023

I use this site to share thoughts, advice, tips, and tricks on doing better in business and life. And the vast majority of posts here on Your Intermittent...

“I don’t know” is more powerful than you think

February 21, 2023

I’m a podcast listener. One show I love is Judge John Hodgman, where John — most famously known as the PC in those “Hello, I’m a Mac” ads with Justin Long —...

The customer is always something: On dealing with difficult customers

February 15, 2023

If you have customers, you will sometimes have difficult customers; this is a reality of life as much as business: Sometimes, people are difficult....

Be generous with yourself, too

February 8, 2023

Last week, for the first time, I was hit with COVID. Hard. It sucked. I got exposed on a Saturday. Started having symptoms Monday night, got even worse...

Be generous with your time

January 31, 2023

My work life is broken down into hours. Whether I’m doing project-based work or ongoing retainer-based engagements, I look at my work calendar as a series of...

Calendar etiquette

January 26, 2023

You need to do well at your meetings themselves, of course. But doing a good job with your meetings starts before the meeting. It starts when you send the...

A funny story about being the customer

$ · January 25, 2023

I’m doing something risky. I’m describing a story as funny before you’ve heard it. You’ll be the judge of whether it’s actually funny. I think it is. This...

How to prioritize important tasks

January 23, 2023

No matter where you work, no matter what you do, your business has priorities. And almost certainly, it even has competing priorities. Essentially, there are...

The magic of a good opener

January 17, 2023

When you’re writing, it’s not worth stressing about your opener. Just start writing. You can figure out your intro later, before you click Send. But when...

The power of awesomeness

January 13, 2023

I started this Substack in November. Now we’re nearly halfway through January (!), and it’s still going strong. I’m proud of that. More generally, though,...