Saturday, January 07, 2006
The Problem With Zero-Gravity Pens
I came across a great anecdote today. It seems that NASA had a problem with its first space flights. There were things the astronauts needed to write down, but their pens wouldn't work in zero gravity because pens rely on gravity to draw the ink down to the tip. So NASA spent millions of dollars to come up with special pens that would work in zero gravity.
The Russians had the same problem with their first space flights, too. But they solved the problem much sooner and much. They just used pencils.
The story reminds me of how we as business people often do the same thing. Faced with a problem, how often don't we go through the same efforts to find a complicated solution to a simple problem.
Always look for the straightest path to your solutions and you can save yourself lots of time and money.
Jeff
I came across a great anecdote today. It seems that NASA had a problem with its first space flights. There were things the astronauts needed to write down, but their pens wouldn't work in zero gravity because pens rely on gravity to draw the ink down to the tip. So NASA spent millions of dollars to come up with special pens that would work in zero gravity.
The Russians had the same problem with their first space flights, too. But they solved the problem much sooner and much. They just used pencils.
The story reminds me of how we as business people often do the same thing. Faced with a problem, how often don't we go through the same efforts to find a complicated solution to a simple problem.
Always look for the straightest path to your solutions and you can save yourself lots of time and money.
Jeff
Friday, January 06, 2006
Getting Organized
I came into this day with deep dread. It wasn't that anything unpleasant was on the horizon; I was just feeling overwhelmed. I finally got that monster update done and uploaded last night. What I had originally expected to get done in one or two days had stretched into a full week as one fix dominoed into another and another and another.
But getting done with something that had so consumed a week's worth of time and attention left me feeling a little lost. Sure, lots of things had piled up on me throughout the week, but what to do first? I just felt overwhelmed.
So I did none of them.
I've learned that the worst time for me to make good decisions is when I feel overwhelmed. So I took most of the day to simply sort through everything I needed to do and start prioritizing things again.
There are plenty of things on my to-do list that there more to satisfy my desire to have things orderly than because they are essential to meeting my goals. And without taking time to step away and refocus on what I was doing, guess which types of tasks would have exerted the greatest pull on me.
That's right, the compulsive orderliness ones. But I feel calmer already for having taken a good, hard look at what I need to do and taking control of it all again.
Sometimes, you just have to waste a little time to avoid wasting a lot of time.
Jeff
I came into this day with deep dread. It wasn't that anything unpleasant was on the horizon; I was just feeling overwhelmed. I finally got that monster update done and uploaded last night. What I had originally expected to get done in one or two days had stretched into a full week as one fix dominoed into another and another and another.
But getting done with something that had so consumed a week's worth of time and attention left me feeling a little lost. Sure, lots of things had piled up on me throughout the week, but what to do first? I just felt overwhelmed.
So I did none of them.
I've learned that the worst time for me to make good decisions is when I feel overwhelmed. So I took most of the day to simply sort through everything I needed to do and start prioritizing things again.
There are plenty of things on my to-do list that there more to satisfy my desire to have things orderly than because they are essential to meeting my goals. And without taking time to step away and refocus on what I was doing, guess which types of tasks would have exerted the greatest pull on me.
That's right, the compulsive orderliness ones. But I feel calmer already for having taken a good, hard look at what I need to do and taking control of it all again.
Sometimes, you just have to waste a little time to avoid wasting a lot of time.
Jeff
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Everything Communicates
I got an email from my daughter. She wanted to bounce some ideas about her business off of me. She runs a growing business that offers acting workshops to children. And one of the things she asked my opinion on was a possible logo change.
She currently uses the traditional drama masks as part of her logo, and has commissioned a more contemporary version of them as a new logo. As I compared the two, it suddenly dawned on me that neither one communicated what her workshops are about.
The drama masks communicate traditional, classical theatre. Her workshops are filled with innovative theatre games that are as much about fostering experimentation and growth as they are about learning to act. And some of the new workshop series that she's developing go even farther into the realm of personal growth.
I suggested she look in another direction for her logo, one that better communicates the idea of exploration and personal growth along with the idea of theatre. I'm not sure what direction she'll go, but my reaction to her logos got me thinking about how easy it is to lose your direction in business when you get yourself married to a particular pet idea.
All of us are vulnerable to these pet ideas. I've had to root out lots of them as I've built my business. They're usually some of the first ideas we come up with that then simply get stuck in our minds. We move forward with them, never questioning them. They become the foundation of our other ideas. And then, suddenly, comes that moment of discovery where we realize, "What was I thinking? That doesn't work at all!"
At least we realize it if we remain open to constantly reevaluating and reassessing everything about our business. Keep a critical eye constantly on your business. Look for better ways to communicate your message in everything you do. Nothing should ever be set in stone. Keep it growing; keep it alive.
Jeff
I got an email from my daughter. She wanted to bounce some ideas about her business off of me. She runs a growing business that offers acting workshops to children. And one of the things she asked my opinion on was a possible logo change.
She currently uses the traditional drama masks as part of her logo, and has commissioned a more contemporary version of them as a new logo. As I compared the two, it suddenly dawned on me that neither one communicated what her workshops are about.
The drama masks communicate traditional, classical theatre. Her workshops are filled with innovative theatre games that are as much about fostering experimentation and growth as they are about learning to act. And some of the new workshop series that she's developing go even farther into the realm of personal growth.
I suggested she look in another direction for her logo, one that better communicates the idea of exploration and personal growth along with the idea of theatre. I'm not sure what direction she'll go, but my reaction to her logos got me thinking about how easy it is to lose your direction in business when you get yourself married to a particular pet idea.
All of us are vulnerable to these pet ideas. I've had to root out lots of them as I've built my business. They're usually some of the first ideas we come up with that then simply get stuck in our minds. We move forward with them, never questioning them. They become the foundation of our other ideas. And then, suddenly, comes that moment of discovery where we realize, "What was I thinking? That doesn't work at all!"
At least we realize it if we remain open to constantly reevaluating and reassessing everything about our business. Keep a critical eye constantly on your business. Look for better ways to communicate your message in everything you do. Nothing should ever be set in stone. Keep it growing; keep it alive.
Jeff
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Ignoring the "Rules"
I sat in on a teleconference with direct marketing mastermind Vincent James tonight and he had one comment that struck home. He described the tricks he uses to choose profitable mailing lists to send his sales letters to and compared it to the way that most unsuccessful direct marketers do it.
The information he bases his decisions on is readily available to anyone and the way he uses it is strictly common sense. But he says that it never dawns on most people to do what he does and check the history of a list to see how many use it repeatedly (suggesting a profitable list) and how many people use that list only once (suggesting an unprofitable one).
He said that most people go no farther than what they've been told. They've been told to rent a mailing list, so they do exactly that, without putting any thought into the results they want to accomplish. They assume that any list that relates in any way to their product will automatically make them a lot of money, so they burn through their money, list after worthless list for names and addresses that have a history of being unproductive.
Eventually, they give up, concluding that all direct marketing is just a worthless money pit.
I've noticed the same thing with many new Internet marketers. They take the first step into marketing, then get stuck on thinking that some magic "rule" that someone told them is all they have to do to succeed. They try the same rule again and again and again without thinking what they're doing through, without trying to find a more effective way.
And when their repeated effort to redo the same failed step keeps failing, they blame Internet marketing as being something that no one but the insiders who refuse to let anyone in on the "real rules" have any chance to succeed in.
But starting a business online has little to do with rules. Yes, there are techniques you can learn and use, but there's nothing one-size-fits-all about them. They're dynamic. You have to think, to learn, to grow as a person in order to find your way to success.
Success isn't just handed out as a reward for taking some basic, one-size-fits-all actions and then sitting back and waiting for success to be handed out. It comes from understanding what the ultimate goal of business is—to help your customers find a solution to some need—and then finding a way to bring them that solution. And that takes more than just some simple rules.
Jeff
I sat in on a teleconference with direct marketing mastermind Vincent James tonight and he had one comment that struck home. He described the tricks he uses to choose profitable mailing lists to send his sales letters to and compared it to the way that most unsuccessful direct marketers do it.
The information he bases his decisions on is readily available to anyone and the way he uses it is strictly common sense. But he says that it never dawns on most people to do what he does and check the history of a list to see how many use it repeatedly (suggesting a profitable list) and how many people use that list only once (suggesting an unprofitable one).
He said that most people go no farther than what they've been told. They've been told to rent a mailing list, so they do exactly that, without putting any thought into the results they want to accomplish. They assume that any list that relates in any way to their product will automatically make them a lot of money, so they burn through their money, list after worthless list for names and addresses that have a history of being unproductive.
Eventually, they give up, concluding that all direct marketing is just a worthless money pit.
I've noticed the same thing with many new Internet marketers. They take the first step into marketing, then get stuck on thinking that some magic "rule" that someone told them is all they have to do to succeed. They try the same rule again and again and again without thinking what they're doing through, without trying to find a more effective way.
And when their repeated effort to redo the same failed step keeps failing, they blame Internet marketing as being something that no one but the insiders who refuse to let anyone in on the "real rules" have any chance to succeed in.
But starting a business online has little to do with rules. Yes, there are techniques you can learn and use, but there's nothing one-size-fits-all about them. They're dynamic. You have to think, to learn, to grow as a person in order to find your way to success.
Success isn't just handed out as a reward for taking some basic, one-size-fits-all actions and then sitting back and waiting for success to be handed out. It comes from understanding what the ultimate goal of business is—to help your customers find a solution to some need—and then finding a way to bring them that solution. And that takes more than just some simple rules.
Jeff
Monday, January 02, 2006
Moving Forward With Changes
My long-standing upgrade of parts of One Stop Web Support continues to fall just short of completion. I nearly finished today the first two articles of what I hope will grow into an important part of the site, a series of articles that examine the different business models that a new online business can choose from.
Since I already reference those two articles in a recent review I prepared, I planned for these two articles to be the last pieces in this particular puzzle before doing the large upload. That will probably still come tomorrow, although I found yet more I'd like to add.
I came across a great source for some excellent free ebooks that I want to add to the free ebook section of the site. I'll likely do that as a separate phase of updating the site. I'm really pleased with the changes I'm on the verge of completing and want to get them up to see how people react to them.
Then I can work on the nine new ebook reports without delaying the revisions yet again.
Jeff
My long-standing upgrade of parts of One Stop Web Support continues to fall just short of completion. I nearly finished today the first two articles of what I hope will grow into an important part of the site, a series of articles that examine the different business models that a new online business can choose from.
Since I already reference those two articles in a recent review I prepared, I planned for these two articles to be the last pieces in this particular puzzle before doing the large upload. That will probably still come tomorrow, although I found yet more I'd like to add.
I came across a great source for some excellent free ebooks that I want to add to the free ebook section of the site. I'll likely do that as a separate phase of updating the site. I'm really pleased with the changes I'm on the verge of completing and want to get them up to see how people react to them.
Then I can work on the nine new ebook reports without delaying the revisions yet again.
Jeff
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Wow, 2006 Already!
A blessed New Year to you all! It's hard to believe that it's already 2006. I'm still wondering where 2002 went, much less 2005.
Today turned into a big family day today with the remaining (grown) children who still are here for Christmas. So the return to my Sunday series on how to use SearchIt! free research tool will be delayed for yet another week.
May your 2006 be a prosperous one! I look forward to sharing your small business adventure with you this year.
Jeff
A blessed New Year to you all! It's hard to believe that it's already 2006. I'm still wondering where 2002 went, much less 2005.
Today turned into a big family day today with the remaining (grown) children who still are here for Christmas. So the return to my Sunday series on how to use SearchIt! free research tool will be delayed for yet another week.
May your 2006 be a prosperous one! I look forward to sharing your small business adventure with you this year.
Jeff
One Stop Web Support Newsletter #20 Coming January 1
Issue #20 of the One Stop Web Support Internet Marketing Newsletter is due out on New Year's Day.
This one features the following articles:
http://www.onestopwebsupport.com/newsletter-signup.htm
Jeff
Issue #20 of the One Stop Web Support Internet Marketing Newsletter is due out on New Year's Day.
This one features the following articles:
- Top Online Business Prediction for 2006
- Review of Keyword Research Guide
- Review of Start Your Internet Business Right
- Special guest article by Jim Edwards—"Web Surfers Revolt Against 'Pushy' Advertising
- Success quote by Albert Einstein
http://www.onestopwebsupport.com/newsletter-signup.htm
Jeff
© 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Jeff Baas, One Stop Web Support
