Strategies: Seven New Year's resolutions for my business

— -- This time every year, people draw up lists of New Year's resolutions: lose weight, exercise, quit smoking. New Year offers us a sort of "restart" button. Sure, we're not cleaning out our mental or physical hard drives entirely. None of us change ourselves completely. But we can use this time to "reboot" — take a pause and, hopefully, perform somewhat better going forward.

That's why in business, too, it's a good idea to commit to New Year's resolutions. So here are mine for 2009. Feel free to add any of these to your own list.

1. Listen more. This is my No. 1 business — and personal — New Year's resolution because listening is a critical skill for both business and personal success. Listening — really listening and not just thinking about what you're going to say next — enables you to understand others, empathize, build relationships. That's critical whether you're interacting with customers, employees, suppliers, or your family members and friends.

I owe my business success to listening. I had only been in business a couple months when I got a call to meet with a big prospective client. My younger sister, Janice, had gone through sales training, so I asked her how to handle the pitch.

"Listen" was her advice. Don't be quick to start talking about myself. Instead, ask questions, find out about what the prospect needs, why they need it, what motivates them.

I landed the client — and they paid me enough to sustain me my entire first year.

2. Embrace change. Frankly, embracing change is something I'm pretty good at, but this year, there's going to be an abundance of change, much of it undesirable.

For instance, I don't just expect a shake-up in the retail landscape, I expect an earthquake. Some major retailers will shut their doors, some shopping malls will become ghost towns. I get a hefty portion of my income from the retail channel, so this has dramatic implications for my own business. That's why I've been in the process of strengthening other distribution channels. This takes time and money. It also takes courage — leading me to my next resolution ...