Quotes From the Book of Excellence That Are Just Write

The Book of Excellence is a short little book full of wisdom from super sales executive Byrd Baggett. While a lot of what the book contains is oriented towards sales folk, there is a lot that applies to us freelance writers.

Here are some of the best quips from the book and how they apply to writing:

• Excellence is not optional – This one kind of says it all. Whatever you write needs to be your best. I recently found a book I was considering for purchase on Amazon. It was one of those 99 cent Kindle editions and I went to read the reviews and many of them complained about the sloppy writing, grammar, spelling and editing. The author actually responded and said that the $2.99 version had a much better editing job. Are you kidding me? Why on earth would a writer put something out there that was less than their best?
• Success at the expense of family really is failure – I’ve written on several occasions about the importance of balance in life. This little quote is right on the money. If your family goes by the wayside, the writing ain’t worth it folks.
• Develop a sense of urgency to your work and pay attention to the details – Your job as a writer is to be detail oriented. Second rate grammar and research skills will not take you very far in this field. Details, the little things are important. A sense of urgency helps cement this concept in place.
• Don’t put all your eggs into one client’s basket – For freelance writers, this is a big one. Like your portfolio, you need to diversify. One bad turn and that client could go away. THEN what are you going to do?
• Customers will find a way to buy from you if they like you. They will also find a way not to buy from you if they don’t like you. – Do yourself a favor and be likeable. For some of us, it comes natural. Those lucky folks have saved themselves a lot of heartache. If you are not naturally friendly, work on this. The rewards are more than you can fathom.
• Never be too busy to follow up on the little things. – Something that may be insignificant to you may be a big deal to a client. Never assume that the little things don’t matter. If a client has a concern, no matter how trivial, follow up on it, handle it, get it done.
• Arrogance is deadly – This goes along the lines of being likeable. No one likes arrogance. It’s not a very good impression to give to new clients. Confidence is one thing, arrogance is annoying. You ain’t all that and a bag of chips. Trust me.
• Each day you get better or worse. It’s your choice. – You can choose to learn from your clients and blend the positive takeaways into your psyche or you can be eternally pissed off about everyone and everything. I’ll take the former, thank you very much.

I hope you got as much out of these quips as I have. If you get the chance to purchase this book, I think you’ll be impressed with the wisdom it contains.