Gerard Boucher

Author: Gerard Boucher

  • Why we should welcome debate when working in teams

    Conventional wisdom says working in teams sucks. It doesn’t have to. Recent team experiences have taught me that teamwork can be quite beneficial – for the betterment of individual team members and their organization. The problem is that most teams and their leadership ignore what should be essential ground rules for all teams.

    Following these simple ground rules when working in teams allows you to have a healthy and productive debate, while avoiding tense, damaging relationships, and hindering the success of the team’s mission or project.

    Deal with conflict – in the open.

    Nothing hurts the short and long-term successes of teamwork like hidden, simmering conflict. I find it’s best to bring conflict out into the open, put it on the table, and try to resolve it with input from all team members. Hidden conflict leads to mistrust, and withholding of multiple opinions. It’s toxic.

    You must avoid groupthink.

    The easy way out, groupthink kills individual, innovative ideas in favor of what everyone is comfortable with. Being that teamwork should bring out new, creative ideas, groupthink must be avoided at all costs.

    Building trust

    Team members should trust each other – completely. Only then will they be able to tune out the rest of the world and focus on what’s important: the team’s mission and project. Trust helps team members work together calmly, while enjoying their team experience. Imagine that.

    Lead by example

    One of the most essential ground rules: as team leader, you must set a good example. That means a focused, results-oriented team environment. Produce exceptional work, and expect it from others. Team members will follow your lead.

    Learn from conflict

    See conflict as a learning experience. Learn from your mistakes – or those of other team members. Most importantly, don’t repeat mistakes which initially led to conflict. Conflict is inevitable, and cannot always be avoided. The best thing to do is avoid a repeat of the same old tension.

    Don’t get personal – ever

    Avoid holding a grudge against other team members. It will just make your life miserable – and put your team’s mission into jeopardy. Refer to Rule #1 -bring conflict into the open. Look at conflict through a team and project-oriented lens. Instead of worrying about one person, figure out ways to fix a given problem.

     

  • Becoming Lean

    New York City is an expensive city to start and operate a small business. My digital agency Boucher + Co. was recently reminded of this fact, after having pursued our first expansion this past June.

    We spent the better part of June searching for new, larger office space, and hiring approximately ten part and full-time team members. All sounded great – until it came time to pay for everything. Talk about sticker stock. Our overhead alone – through rent and personnel – more than tripled. Then came the headaches, second thoughts, and lots of stress.

    For the first time in a while, I didn’t love what I did every day. Our agency was in over our head – and something had to change. I decided to spend the weekend at the beach and evaluate things. That was the best decision I made in a while.

    The solution to our growing pains was simple: grow a leaner agency. One with less overhead. By the beginning of August, we had expanded our offices without greatly increasing our rent (a difficult, but possible feat in NYC), and changed our team structure once again to accommodate our employees and budget.

    Small businesses must watch their cash flow religiously. Failure to do so usually means a death sentence for the business sometime within 3-10 months. Overhead cannot consume a majority of a company’s funds. Funds must be available to make business purchases, meet payroll, or acquire vendors or partner companies. Growing a lean company ensures that it is strong, adaptive, and responsive without being expensive. Simply operating a business should not be a costly and stressful process.

    Boucher + Co. became lean, and that made all the difference in the world.

  • Should you buy a monetized website for extra income?

    When people think about ways they can make money on the Internet, they usually think of online advertising, product sales, or affiliate programs. Rarely do they think of purchasing or acquiring an already-existent website as a means of generating extra income. But purchasing a monetized website is a smart and safe option for many would-be small business owners.

    Why not online advertising?

    Online advertising is a good way to make some extra money online – but at a significant cost. It takes a really long time to see revenue rolling in. First, a website must be established and made credible before advertisers are willing to pay for ad placement. Additionally, most advertising programs offer relatively low payout rates – not enough to generate significant income.

    Why not product sales?

    A good salesperson can generate plenty of sales (and consequently, plenty of income). But you have to be a great salesperson with extensive knowledge in your particular industry or field in order to make significant money through product sales.

    Buying an existing website solves both the problems of time and expertise

    When purchasing a monetized website, there is no need to wait a long time until you see income generated from the site. This is particularly useful for those who want to use the purchase to generate extra, recurring income to supplement current income. This is in stark contrast to most advertising initiatives.

    Small business owners who purchase a monetized website may find that they can operate – and even grow – the website without much of any experience in the site’s associated field or industry. Usually, financially-successful websites are associated with robust and productive staff who handle much of the technicalities of operating such a site. That means almost anybody can buy – and continue operating – an already-monetized website.

    What should you be cautious about when buying a monetized website?

    When purchasing an already-monetized website for extra income, you should ask yourself several questions in order to become more comfortable with the purchase, and make the purchasing process bearable.

    First, can you truly commit to the venture you are about to undertake? Operating a website does cost time and money, and you should be aware of the specific requirements for doing so on a case-by-case basis.

    Next, you must be ready to financially commit to the site’s purchase. Some websites cost thousands of dollars, while others cost millions. Do you have the initial capital needed to sustain the website and its operations for at least six months? This is perhaps the most important question to ask yourself.

    Finally, once you’ve purchased a particular website, you have to devise a strategy that will help the website grow and prosper in the long-run. You have to make the site’s particular business model work well. This can sometimes be easier said – and planned – than executed.

    So, what’s the verdict – worth it or not?

    Buying a monetized website is definitely worth the investment – the financial and time cost(s) of the purchase will reward you with potentially significant income for years to come if you carefully executive a site’s operations and marketing plans.

  • 3 tips for being a better marketer and closing more deals (hint: be a salesperson, too!)

    In the new economy, marketers frequently double as salespeople. After all, they have to. Marketers without sales experience miss out on an opportunity to channel a brand or product’s message directly to the client or customer. This is true of the team at my digital agency – every team member must be competent in sales, and if they aren’t, we provide comprehensive sales training to them. Educated and empowered talent is the best investment we can make.

    Marketing and sales go hand-in-hand, and it’s important to possess both skills when looking to get your brand out there and attract new clients or customers. But mastering sales can be confusing. Not sure where to start? Read these three tips for being a better marketer and closing the deal every time.

    1. Know what your client wants – every time.

    Sit back and ask yourself what any one of your clients want to accomplish using your skills. Could you come up with one sentence that truly describes their goals, aspirations, and long-term objectives? Chances are you can’t. After all, clients are sometimes overly enigmatic and lack a clear vision.

    How will you ever get to know your client, then? The key is for you to define what your client wants to accomplish for themselves. It’s up to you to ask the tough questions, get several answers, and work with your client to narrow down these various objectives into one, long-term goal. Define for them what they can’t define themselves. Your help will be highly valued and you’ll be viewed as an asset to their business.

    2. Skip the lingo, jargon, and other BS. Tell them how you’ll make things easier and more productive.

    I mention the importance of reducing web bounce rates and draw a blank stare from my client. Talk in simple terms to avoid making your clients think too much, or worse, confusing them.

    It may seem cool to talk in technical or specialized terms, but technicality confuses most people and turns off clients. It also opens opportunities for clients to ask plenty of questions, worry too much, and derail a deal.

    Talk and write for the average person, not for your industry. Avoiding overly used technical jargon, lingo, and other tried terms greatly helps the chances of a successful deal.

    Jargon is great – for those who have hours a day to research all those confusingly different terms.

    3. Be flexible and offer a true deal. There’s no such answer as no deal.

    Absolutism won’t close any deals. Not now, not never. You must be ready and willing to compromise and be flexible on key elements of your proposal. The best place is to start is with an enticing offer.

    Think of something you can offer clients to build confidence, save time and money, and give them long-term certainty. Business hates uncertainty – it’s a fact. Sometimes a great deal is the difference between a successful or failed deal.

  • A new approach to combating email overload in 2013

    I recently did some research on how much time was wasted going through our emails every day. Turns out that email is, in fact, suspect to us losing upwards of 8 hours of otherwise productive time per month. That’s a problem – not least because over time, we are embracing and consuming more data, and consequentially, more email. We have to start finding solutions to our email overload somewhere.

    Enter 2013. A new year, and a new opportunity to adopt a manageable email strategy for the foreseeable future. I believe, like many, that the email overload challenges we face today are complex problems resulting from a decade of rapid increase in information access. As a greater amount of “interesting and engaging” content becomes available, we seize the opportunity to read and archive all of it, often at a cost to our overall daily productivity. There will need to be broader solutions to the problem that will only be solved by advances in artificial intelligence and software. In the meantime, I’ve begun taking some common sense steps to reduce email overload and increase my overall productivity.

    Deleting unnecessary emails

    Taking the most obvious step towards reducing email overload, I began deleting any emails that weren’t considered necessary for the growth and survival of my business and professional brand. These included daily digests from websites, non-critical notification emails, and recommended content emails, among others.

    Some notes: critical notification emails should remain – they’re important. Don’t worry about missing out on useful content from your favorite websites – instead of relying on an email digest, bookmark the site and browse it periodically for content. Recommended content is great, but you feel obligated to view it immediately – that distracts you.

    Pass the relevancy test: are old emails still important?

    I had emails in my inbox from last November. Emails sent then by brands, advertising or otherwise, should immediately be deleted – they’re no longer relevant, and distracting. Daily digests, newsletters, and recommended content emails that are more than a month old are irrelevant, too. I deleted, and watched in awe, as dozens of unnecessary emails that once seemed urgent disappeared from my inbox.

    Old conversations – are they necessary?

    As I browsed through my inbox, I came across a handful of conversations between my team and people or companies we no longer communicated with. That list included clients, prospects, vendors, and acquaintances of the past. It made perfect sense to delete most of those emails, as they were no longer relevant to the big picture: growing my business or professional brand. Worried that you won’t be able to reach them in the future? Don’t be – if there’s anything important to be said, they’ll reach out to you first. Instead, relax and enjoy the fact that your overcrowded inbox continues to shrink in size.

    Of course, there were some older emails that deserved to be part of my inbox – receipts, login/user information, and vital correspondence that affects the client-agency relationship are all important emails that shouldn’t be deleted. But you’ll find that the vast majority of older emails are no longer necessary.

    Important conversations that got ignored

    It happens to everyone – sometimes, important conversations that should have been answered fell through the cracks and went ignored. Have they been sitting in your inbox for six months collecting dust? Time to delete them, as they’re not considered so important anymore.

    Don’t spend hours beating yourself up over a missed opportunity for a timely response. Regularly practicing the email management tips highlighting throughout this blog post will decrease the chances that important emails are ignored in the future.

    You don’t have to keep all correspondence

    I had email correspondence between clients, vendors, friends, and others from almost three years ago in my inbox. It’s time to delete non-necessary correspondence, and make room in your inbox. As a general rule, if emails were exchanged more than a year ago, it’s okay to delete the correspondence. Some exceptions include important legal and compliance correspondence, or information that is critical to the client-agency relationship.

  • Mandatory Insurance for Gun Owners? The Gun Control Debate Roundup: Dec. 28, 2012 Edition

    It’s December 28th, the last Friday of 2012, and a cold chill has descended upon American politics once more. President Obama met with Congressional leaders in a last-ditch attempt to reach a deal averting the fiscal cliff. But do they truly want to avert the cliff before the new year? Jim O’Neill at Goldman Sachs says nope. There was late word that the Senate passed a $60 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill; the House vowed to ignore it. And work continued on a comprehensive farm bill for 2013 and beyond.

    With all those headlines, it’s easy to forget that the debate to regulate and restrict the sale of firearms has arguably moved front-and-center following the tragic shooting at Newtown, Connecticut. So, how’s that going everyone?

    Reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban

    Dianne Feinstein vowed to bring a bill reinstating the assault weapons ban to the Senate floor at the beginning of the next Congress on January 3rd.

    The Economics of Gun Control

    Brad Plumer of the Washington Post weighed in on the “economics of gun control.” Shorthand: are there societal or social costs imposed by gun owners on the rest of society? What about imposing taxes on gun sales?

    Mandatory Insurance for Gun Owners?

    The Atlantic, among others, mused about requiring first-time or “risky” gun owners to purchase insurance. Surely, a $50,000 premium on owning an assault weapon might deter the sale?

    NRA gun plan a ‘dumbass idea’

    Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter thinks the NRA’s plan for armed guards in every American school is a “dumbass idea.”

    On assault weapons

    It’s clear that assault weapons are a bad idea. Civilians don’t need them. Hunters don’t need them. Many gun owners don’t see them as necessary. Should they be banned? Maybe. I think such a ban should be decided on a state-by-state basis, as is the standard now. Renewing the federal assault weapons ban would only serve to stoke partisan tensions in Washington – and across the country – even further.

    Furthermore, a federal assault weapons ban alone wouldn’t come close to solving the problems of recurring gun massacres. Rather, politicians and policymakers should focus on restricting access to individual components of the gun ownership process. They can start with banning the sale of high-capacity (10+ rounds) magazine/ammo clips. That sends a strong message that violence cannot and will not be tolerated, while protecting the Second Amendment.

    Secondly, lawmakers should move to close the gun show loophole. You cannot walk away with any firearm without any waiting period for any reason. It’s irresponsible and absurd. They should also require background checks on every firearm purchase to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands. There’s nothing wrong with being careful.

    I certainly think there needs to be a broader discussion about violence in the media and violent culture. But there also must be a substantial discussion on the state of mental health services throughout the Republic. Everyone should have adequate to mental health services. It’s clear that we’re falling short on mental health access. Only certain healthcare plans cover these services. (Of course, you actually need healthcare to access these services – but that’s another debate)

    No matter what approach lawmakers choose to take, it’s clear the American people want to see some action taken. There cannot simply be a discussion, followed by kicking the can down the road. We’ve reached a crossroads and can and should pass common-sense solutions that Democrats and Republicans alike can support. That shouldn’t be controversial.

  • A Fiscal Cliff Deal That Works for All

    A Fiscal Cliff Deal That Works for All

    us-congress-capitol-hill
    Can they get anything done?

    I’m a registered Democrat who favors pragmatic candidates. I look for policymakers who are interesting in making the US a better for all, and put common sense before politics. Many people keep asking me why it’s so hard for Democrats and Republicans to come to an agreement on averting the fiscal cliff by the new year. Here are my thoughts.

    Why the stalemate?

    The fiscal cliff wasn’t created by accident. It was a deliberate effort by lawmakers to achieve meaningful deficit reduction before January 1, 2013. Until now, the Washington D.C. political class has eluded any deal on the deficit. Now it’s crunch time – with both parties stuck in D.C. until they come to some kind of agreement to avert the fiscal cliff.

    Both parties have their sticking points surrounding any agreement. Republicans wish to avoid raising taxes on anyone, and want serious entitlement (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) reform to reign in health care and benefit costs over the long term. Democrats, conversely, want the Bush-era tax cuts to expire on those making more than $250,000 per year, while preserving benefits for elderly and the poor.

    In the past, both sides have indicated they’re willing to compromise on core issues. The framework for a deal is beginning to take shape. John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, is willing to raise taxes on those making more than $1 million annually, and would raise the debt ceiling for up to two years. President Obama has indicated he’s serious about including entitlement reform in any deal, and would change the measure of inflation for entitlements. He’s also agreed to make permanent the Bush-era tax cuts for those with incomes up to $450,000.

    At first glance, it sounds like a deal is close to being made. So, what’s the problem? Republicans continue to balk at the potential tax increases – even only on high-income taxpayers. Additionally, they say not enough is being done on entitlement reform. Democrats, meanwhile, feel uneasy about Obama’s proposal to change the measure of inflation on entitlements, or engage in any type of entitlement reform that potentially limits health benefits.

    As a result, Obama and Boehener are at a stalemate. Make a deal now, and each risks alienating key members of his party. Democrats are not certain to agree and vote for a deal which reduces entitlement benefits for the elderly and poor. And Republicans may refuse to support and vote for an agreement that raises taxes. What are the leaders to do?

    What can we do?

    First and foremost, President Obama must continue encouraging the American public to call their elected representatives in Congress every single day until a fiscal cliff deal is reached. The public needs to reaffirm the consensus that legislators MUST govern from the political center or risk being thrown out of office during the 2014 election cycle. This consensus empowers legislators to take risky political moves that believe them strategically over the next two to four years.

    Then, I believe the formula for breaking the stalemate is relatively simple – for both parties. First, Republicans should agree to make permanent the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone making under $500,000 per year. The tax cuts must expire for everyone above that threshold. They must also agree to take Social Security reform off the table and pass a resolution pledging to achieve that reform separately, later this year.

    Democrats, on the other hand, must accept that changes need to be made to Medicare and Medicaid. The focus should be on costs and eligibility. Further means-testing must be incorporated depending on income. The medicare eligibility age must be allowed to rise to 67. They must pledge to put these entitlement programs on the road to long-term solvency and rein-in costs.

    Together – by meeting in the center – lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can achieve meaningful and lasting deficit reduction. More importantly, they can restore the strategic imperative of governing from the center. A bitterly-divided government, in which lawmakers play only the role of politician, and play only to their own base, is one that cannot function over the long-term.

    Finally, they’ll set a precedent for responsible government that lives within its means while still taking care of those in need. That’s something everyone – the political left, right, and center – can be thankful for.

  • Why Barack Obama Deserves a Second Term

    Why Barack Obama Deserves a Second Term

    Barack Obama

    In a little more than two weeks, Americans will go to the polls to vote for their President. Held every four years, presidential elections are a ritual as old as the Republic itself. The candidates stress that this is “the election of our lifetimes” and it “cannot be ignored.” This time, they may be right. Why I am supporting Barack Obama for President of the United States in 2012.

    The 2012 presidential election is more than a choice between two different candidates – it’s a choice between two fundamentally different visions for the country. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each wish to take the country in a different direction; each holding dear a different set of values. I support Barack Obama’s vision for the country, and strongly believe he is well-suited for a second term as President of the United States.

    It’s November 2008. Barack Obama has just been elected President. He promises a bright future for America – hope and change in Washington and throughout the country – while outlining many ambitious goals for his presidency. He promises more cooperation in Washington. America watches in awe – inspired, wanting more.

    On the day he is inaugurated as President, Republicans sit around a table in a DC-area restaurant, plotting their strategy for the next four years. It’s really simple: oppose everything Obama stands for – even if it comes at the expense of hard-working Americans and the middle class. Obama’s presidency had been challenged from day one.

    Mr. Obama weathered the political and economic storm remarkably well during the first year of his Presidency. He passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “stimulus”) and prevented American automakers in Detroit from going bankrupt and bleeding plenty more jobs. He also passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (which fights for equal pay for women in the workplace), among numerous other accomplishments.

    Barack Obama’s solid record of smart and balanced progress continued throughout his second term, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“health care reform”) and Wall Street Reform (“Dodd-Frank Bill“), has shown his ability to lead through changing times and new challenges.

    On foreign policy, Mr. Obama has shown time and again to be a pragmatist – using smart power to project America’s influence and protect its interests around the world. He brought the Iraq War to a close, but not before training thousands of Iraqis to provide security to their fledgling democracy. He increased America’s presence in Afghanistan through a smart surge that was sorely needed, supported new-found democracy in the Middle East during the Arab Spring, and worked with our NATO allies to provide aid and security in Libya. Most importantly, he killed Osama Bin Laden in a carefully-planned raid in Pakistan – removing one of the most well-known faces of terror and decimating the ranks of Al-Qaeda.

    Barack Obama was never going to be able to accomplish everything he set out to do in his first term, especially not with an obstructionist Republican Party opposing everything the President supported. But the important thing is that Mr. Obama has shown a burning desire to make lives better for hard-working Americans and their families, and our troops and veterans at-home and abroad. He is a champion for America, a progressive leader at a time America needs strong leadership.

    Mitt Romney has repeatedly proven himself the wrong choice for America. Mr. Romney believes that economic prosperity can be achieved by cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans even more than during the Bush years. He has proposed a 20% across-the-board tax cut for every American, while simultaneously pledging to cut the federal deficit in half. You can’t do both at the same time. It’s mathematically impossible. These Reagan-era, fairy-tale economics did not work over the past decade, and they won’t work now. Mr. Romney is the wrong man for the job.

    Mr. Romney’s foreign policy is deeply flawed and is the wrong path for America. He has proposed U.S. military intervention throughout the Middle East – troops on the ground in Syria and the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. These foreign policy challenges must be solved in a more pragmatic way. Mr. Romney is the wrong man for the job.

    Barack Obama has been far from a perfect President. There’s plenty of room for improvement. He has yet to tackle reform of our complex, outdated immigration system. He has not fully addressed the dangerous reality of climate change. And he must create many more jobs for Americans across the country who are unemployed and desperately needing to find a good-paying job.

    If he is re-elected, Mr. Obama will address a myriad of challenges, including reforming our immigration system, tackling climate change, and simplifying and reforming our byzantine tax code. He will also put America on the path to fiscal responsibility and reduce the ballooning national debt. I am confident Barack Obama will fight for Americans on these and many more issues. Mr. Romney, on the other hand, will take America back to the same failed policies that got his into this economic mess in the first place. America cannot afford that.

    Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected to a second term as President of the United States. His past record of pragmatism and smart power is a clear indicator that Mr. Obama will not go down easy, and will not stop fighting for what he believes in – a better America, a more perfect Union, and a more peaceful world.

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  • Blogging 101: Starting a Blog Takes Hard Work & Dedication

    There are tens of thousands of blogs on today’s Internet. So, doesn’t that mean it’s REALLY easy to start a blog and make it successful? In short: nope, far from it.

    Starting a blog requires a lot of time, dedication, and hard work. Most blogs fail simply because of a lack of dedication by the founder/blogger.

    Staying the course – why consistency is the key to gaining visibility and bringing traffic

    Most blogs fail because the owner becomes discouraged. Discouragement is usually the result of stagnant – or sometimes non-existent – website traffic. As many business owners know, website traffic does not appear magically. It is built up over time, often through hard work and perseverance. Over time, good website management practices and effective marketing ensure that a particular website is found and receives regular traffic.

    The same principles of hard work and perseverance apply to blogs. A blog that is under six to eight months old will likely not see much traffic without a substantive marketing effort. And because blogs are not very profitable in their infancy, bloggers do not usually dedicate a lot of time to blogging. This is a recipe for disaster, as blogs become visible and well-known as bloggers consistently keep their blog active and fresh.

    The bottom-line: don’t give up. Stay the course. KEEP POSTING REGULARLY! If you don’t see lots of traffic (“results”) immediately, that doesn’t necessarily prove you’re doing something wrong. Give it time, be patient, and evaluate your progress monthly. Don’t stop posting regularly – at least two blog posts a week.

    Timing is everything – the number of blog posts made matters big-time

    Look, it’s tempting to be lazy and make one blog post a week. “Well, at least my blog is not dead like some blogs!” the saying goes. Guess what? To many visitors, it is dead. People want several blog posts  a week, and anything less annoys them. I conducted a survey of a random sample of “plugged-in” New Yorkers last month, and found that 78% of them will ignore blogs that appear abandoned. That’s a lot of people – and it should be a wake-up call to webmasters and bloggers alike. MAKE MORE POSTS.

    We all feel lazy at one point or another, but we must get up and aggressively overcome our laziness. Failure to do so may mean we are writing off a large portion of potential website visitors who are discouraged by the lack of blog posts made. Do yourself – and your visitors – a favor by blogging at least twice a week.

    Blogging 101 is a series of blog posts that highlights the best practices for bloggers, webmasters, and marketers alike when starting or managing a blog.

  • Building a Leaner Company – Sometimes Less Really IS More

    More is better – right? Wrong.

    In today’s hyperactive consumption economy, its easy to believe that. After all, we are bombarded with ads for nearly everything. Not too long ago, I was a adamant follower of the more is better doctrine. I wanted to try everything. From a consumer standpoint, this was never necessarily a bad thing. The problem, however, was that this doctrine didn’t stop at consumerism. It was brought to the workplace.

    The idea that more is better is dangerous in the workplace. Late last year, my digital agency Boucher + Co., was preparing to move to a new office space in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. This was an exciting time for us, and we sought to expand the company in many ways simultaneously. At first glance, this did not seem like much more than daunting problem. We had the cash flow, the manpower, and the space to complete our company to-do list. We were good to go.

    Shortly after we moved into our new offices and were settled in, several team members pitched me the idea of hiring extra staff to handle what would surely be a new influx of business. All those new clients would need better servicing, they argued. I liked the idea, so we hired. Then we hired some more. Soon enough, we filled up almost every desk in our office.

    Things went well – for a week or so. After that, our entire team was overcome with too much stress. Instead of performing their stated functions, new hires tried to involve themselves with radically different tasks and overly engage other team members. This was distracting for existing team members and caused us to veer from our original mission – providing really good marketing services. I was distracted from my task of growing the company. Though we strive for a team culture each day, there is a line that should not be crossed when delegating team member functions.

    I wound up making a tough decision – to downsize the very team we had just expanded. I truly believed in our original team to deliver our mission in a timely and effective manner. And I believed that when pushed enough, compensated enough, and when under pressure, our team would deliver. They did. After downsizing our team, we expanded our output and wound up doing less with more.

    The decision to downsize our team – and “trim” the excess staff from our agency was a tough one. I took a lot of criticism from within my own team. But in the end, we downsized for the long-term. We’d rather be a (very) sustainable agency that delivers great marketing services for years to come, rather than a bigger one that loses out on its main goal.

    Sometimes, less really IS more. And sometimes, it makes all the difference.