The other day, I was asked by a friend of mine, how I was able to stay motivated and organized with all the different ideas I have on a regular basis. The mere fact that I actually came across to someone as being motivated and organized in the first place made me feel pretty successful in an of itself. I don’t always feel that way. What I do always feel, however, is busy.
The truth is, I really do have quite a lot of ideas, and they come at me all the time. Sometimes they come when I’m looking for them, but more often when I’m concentrating on something else entirely. In order to keep all these ideas from slipping away and lying idol along the dusty walls of the back of my mind, I’ve learned how to bottle, catalog, and shelf them for later use. You might think of them as “pickled epiphanies.”
My first Tyed Art Tip is to keep a RUNNING LOG OF IDEAS. You can call this log anything you want, but the concept is universal. I call my running log of ideas, my BrainVomit book. I call it that for semi-obvious reasons. More often then not, my ideas come in a very random order and often at very inopportune times – kind of like when you get sick and launch your lunch – it’s not exactly planned or convenient. The difference between the regurgitation of food and that of the mind, however, is that I love it when my brain vomits ideas. It happens often enough these days, that I’ve learned how to always be ready for it. I learned a long time ago to trust my unconscious mind. I've also learned that my mind never shuts down. Whether my conscious mind is occupied with something challenging & intense, or peacefully sleeping, my unconscious mind is constantly brewing up something valuable. This is why catching these ideas when they chose to manifest themselves is so important. I never know when they’ll come, but I always know they’ll fascinate me, and I never want to forget them.
When I’m near a computer, I have a digital version of my BrainVomit book that consists of nothing more than a single Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that is 100% dedicated to these random thoughts, ideas, and epiphanies. The file is made up of many different tabs. Each tab represents a new idea, and within each tab, the idea is expressed and explored. When I write in here, I rarely concern myself with things like plausibility, grammar, or spelling. This is free-flowing environment where anything goes. Many ideas go undeveloped and even half-written. The point is to record something and bookmark the concept for later visitation. That's it. I keep all my ideas in one file so that I can keep track of them all. When I’m not close to a computer, I have a notebook version of BrainVomit that I carry with me wherever I go. Things written here eventually get transcribed to the computer version for simplicity.
My second tip is to create a LUNCHTIME POWER-HOUR for yourself. My “day job” (Booooooo)required its employees to take a mandatory hour-long lunch break from 12:00pm to 1:00pm every day. I’ve never like mandatory breaks. I’m the kind of person that would actually prefer to just work through lunch. Yes, I eat, but because of the type of work that I do in my “day job,” I can do that while I’m working at my desk.
Interestingly, over the years I’ve observed that most people spend this mandatory hour of “non-working” time actually NOT working. Meaning, that in this lunch hour, many of my colleagues play games on the internet, read magazines, socialize, and “go out” for lunch. I find this very interesting because of its contrast to my way of thinking. Let me explain. Just because I’m required to NOT work on “day job” tasks, does not mean that this hour should be spent lazily.
I decided years ago that, for me, this lunch hour could be much better spent eagerly investing in myself. This investment of time could be better spent developing my ideas, furthering my education, pursuing my interests and exploring my hobbies. Here’s the way I think about it;
With every work week, this single hour represents a total of 5 hours, right? I can easily spend 5 hours creating a Tyed Art Word Design that sells for about $300. Each pay period, this hour adds up to 10 hours, or the equivalent of 2 word designs. That’s roughly $600 of value. Every month, this time can accumulate to 20 hours, or about $1,200 worth of product work. In a nutshell, by the end of just one working year this otherwise wasted lunch hour has amassed to about 250 potentially productive hours (give or take holidays and days off)!! That’s the equivalent of nearly 10 full days of project productivity, or about $15,000 of potential Tyed Art income!! Power Hour indeed!
Now, of course I’m not always going to have a Word Design order to work on, but because I’ve got my BrainVomit Excel file, I’ve ALWAYS got something productive that I can work on. It could be a new book idea, developing an idea for an invention, a software product like LittleLDS, website improvements or marketing, or perhaps just simple business system ideas and organization. The best part of the lunchtime Power-Hour is that it is totally MINE! Just think….I’m “trapped” at work, with a computer and the internet at my uninterrupted disposal. I may as well use it to work on strategies to get me out of the proverbial “rat race.”
Simply put, when planned and spent properly, this one hour of each day could be the most important hour of my day. Call it overstatement, but it could even end up being worth more to me in the long run than the other 8 hours surrounding it, for which I actually get an hourly pay!
Try it…see if you don’t even “eventually” accomplish one of those long-term tasks!! Read book for that hour. Write in a journal. Do SOMETHING beside playing internet games and chatting! You’ll be glad you did.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The art of “Free Seminar Crashing”
Ever seen Wedding Crashers? Me neither....it's rated R. But you know the premise, right? It’s based on these two guys who, as a hobby, go to the wedding receptions of people they don't know to hook up with girls, eat free food, and make new contacts. Well, between my 18th and 19th birthdays, my friends and I were the Rated-PG equivalent to the wedding crashers. Only we didn't crash wedding receptions, we crashed missionary farewells. I know, I know....shameless. But MAN was it fun!! We use to go in there to meet cute girls, eat free food and then bail before the prospective missionary-of-honor "DIDN'T" recognize us and kick us out! Well, now days, I'm doing something similar, but a little less unethical. Now, I'm a "free seminar crasher." My friend told me the other day that people like me - people who go to seminars, tradeshows, and conventions for the free goodies, give aways, and information are called "Plate-lickers." Hmmm.... I'm not sure how I feel about that...but I digress.
Anyway, you know what free seminars I'm talking about, right? The ones that you get invited to all the time through the mail? You know, the ones that promise to give you a free gift and a complimentary lunch or dinner just for attending? They’re usually about some sort of packaged real estate, marketing, or motivational deal that they’re trying to sell you. The way they promote them is really pretty annoying, I have to admit. They seem to try to make you feel like you’ve been specially hand-selected from an elite handful of A-listed professionals and executives to attend some secret meeting that no one else in your industry has the right to attend. Psssshhhhh…please. We all know better. Because we know better, most people HATE those things. Well, I’ve got a little secret. I LOVE those things!! I’m not kidding either. I go to almost all of them that I get invited to.
Last Friday I attended a one that was put on by StoresOnline Incorporated. It was considered a “preview” (I later found out) to what would soon be a “great opportunity”. After work at 6:00pm I attended the seminar with my buddy "Think-tank". This is the guy I go to when I need to bounce an idea off of someone. He’s the kind of guy who won’t just say, “mm-hhmmm” like most other people do. He’ll jump right in there and conceptualize with me. He’s probably just humoring me, actually, but that’s valuable to me. If I ever really do achieve my big break through, this is the guy that’s going to claim the assist. Like me, he’s always got a new idea or two floating around, and needs a good sounding board and/or devil’s advocate perspective.
So anyway, “Think-tank” and I went to this thing and enjoyed the presentation. Now, just for the record, I very rarely go to these things to buy into what is being sold. Yes, I know that there will ALWAYS be something for sell. However, I typically go for the free information that is being packaged around the products that are for sell. The free give-aways are nice too, but even they are really just a novelty fringe benefit that ends up getting discarded. For instance, a few months ago, I attended a seminar by a guy named Randy Crane. What a fascinating dude. He’s a very successful and very good presenter of information, and quite approachable. His deal was real estate. Yes, he was selling products and services, but that isn’t what I went in for, nor is it what I left with. I left with a free give-away (CD by Robert Kiyosaki - one of my long-time motivational mentors), some mints (you can never have too many mints), and some information about the mortgage industry that I had never heard before. This was my first introduction to MMA’s (Merge Market Accounts), and about how negative amortization loans work. I learned how to buy homes that are in foreclosure, how to keep from going into foreclosure and I learned about bit more about what other types of investments there are out there. That was a VERY valuable education to me. Being a people-person, I also walked away with a better understanding about how to make a good presentation, how to keep the interest of the audience, and how useful a good PowerPoint presentation is. It was a well-spent 90 minutes.
Well, at the end of Friday’s seminar, “Think-tank” and I discussed what we liked and disliked about the presentation. Did the guy maintain a good level of attention from the audience? Did he use good slides and other visual aids? Was he compelling enough to close the deal with his audience? And so on… The free dinner was okay (but FREE), the give-away (a planner/calculator/address book) was crap, and the internet marketing information was actually pretty good. The best part was that I actually wanted to know MORE about this company’s internet marketing strategies by the time the presentation was over. At $20 for two people, it was a no-brainer. So, for just $20, we signed up to participate in their ALL-DAY internet marketing workshop. My logic; in the worst case scenario, I’d just get up and walk out of the workshop at a cost of $20, and go back to work. “Think-tank” was in too, so at least I would have someone there to commiserate with and cut the cost in half since we could BOTH attend for that price.
Monday morning I came in and put in for a day off on Wednesday the 29th. So, yesterday, I got to sleep in until 7:30 (and hour an a half extra) and got into my usual business casual attire, and headed out for the Red Rock Hotel & Casino, prepared to learn a new thing or two about the great world of internet marketing. As an owner and administrator of 2 websites, I was definitely NOT disappointed! This ended up being one of the best spent $20 I’ve had in very long time! They’re not kidding when they say that investing in your education is the best way to go!
The workshop started out slowly and typically enough. First things first, they wasted the first hour or so reviewing stuff we had been told about StoresOnline last Friday at the “preview”. More about the “deal” they were offering. Then, finally, their equivalent to a keynote speaker was introduced. The guys name was Victor Gonzales. This guy was GREAT. He was funny, insightful, educational, engaging and NOT pompous (a relief after listening to some of the StoresOnline staff). He wasn’t an employee of StoresOnline, but was invited by them to speak as a successful StoresOnline software end-user client. I have to admit that as the day went on, I found myself REALLY wanting the StoresOnline software. It seems all-inclusive, extremely intuitive, and very useful. Unfortunately it would cost me more than I was willing to part with (for now). I already HAVE two websites, e-commerce capability, and enough curiosity and drive to learn on my own how to find other needed resources. Nevertheless, the software looks AWESOME. Not $2,700 per year and $30 per month awesome, but awesome nonetheless.
The non-biased and generic internet marketing information Victor taught throughout the day was invaluable to me! I learned a TON of new marketing strategies that I’m VERY excited to try out on my own websites. Lunch was provided as a part of the $20 is cost me to attend (yes, it cost me $20 and not just $10 because “Think-tank” was unable to attend). Lunch was definitely a secondary thought when this whole thing was planned. Ugh… I wasn’t even sure chicken (if, in fact, that’s what it was) could come in that shape. Oh well... it wasn’t extra and I didn’t starve. It may, however, have contributed to the major migraine I ended up going to bed with last night.
In hind sight, I would gladly have paid $100 to attend that workshop for all the valuable information I came away with. Here are just a select few of the strategies that were covered in great deal over the 8 hours I attended;
Anyway, you know what free seminars I'm talking about, right? The ones that you get invited to all the time through the mail? You know, the ones that promise to give you a free gift and a complimentary lunch or dinner just for attending? They’re usually about some sort of packaged real estate, marketing, or motivational deal that they’re trying to sell you. The way they promote them is really pretty annoying, I have to admit. They seem to try to make you feel like you’ve been specially hand-selected from an elite handful of A-listed professionals and executives to attend some secret meeting that no one else in your industry has the right to attend. Psssshhhhh…please. We all know better. Because we know better, most people HATE those things. Well, I’ve got a little secret. I LOVE those things!! I’m not kidding either. I go to almost all of them that I get invited to.
Last Friday I attended a one that was put on by StoresOnline Incorporated. It was considered a “preview” (I later found out) to what would soon be a “great opportunity”. After work at 6:00pm I attended the seminar with my buddy "Think-tank". This is the guy I go to when I need to bounce an idea off of someone. He’s the kind of guy who won’t just say, “mm-hhmmm” like most other people do. He’ll jump right in there and conceptualize with me. He’s probably just humoring me, actually, but that’s valuable to me. If I ever really do achieve my big break through, this is the guy that’s going to claim the assist. Like me, he’s always got a new idea or two floating around, and needs a good sounding board and/or devil’s advocate perspective.
So anyway, “Think-tank” and I went to this thing and enjoyed the presentation. Now, just for the record, I very rarely go to these things to buy into what is being sold. Yes, I know that there will ALWAYS be something for sell. However, I typically go for the free information that is being packaged around the products that are for sell. The free give-aways are nice too, but even they are really just a novelty fringe benefit that ends up getting discarded. For instance, a few months ago, I attended a seminar by a guy named Randy Crane. What a fascinating dude. He’s a very successful and very good presenter of information, and quite approachable. His deal was real estate. Yes, he was selling products and services, but that isn’t what I went in for, nor is it what I left with. I left with a free give-away (CD by Robert Kiyosaki - one of my long-time motivational mentors), some mints (you can never have too many mints), and some information about the mortgage industry that I had never heard before. This was my first introduction to MMA’s (Merge Market Accounts), and about how negative amortization loans work. I learned how to buy homes that are in foreclosure, how to keep from going into foreclosure and I learned about bit more about what other types of investments there are out there. That was a VERY valuable education to me. Being a people-person, I also walked away with a better understanding about how to make a good presentation, how to keep the interest of the audience, and how useful a good PowerPoint presentation is. It was a well-spent 90 minutes.
Well, at the end of Friday’s seminar, “Think-tank” and I discussed what we liked and disliked about the presentation. Did the guy maintain a good level of attention from the audience? Did he use good slides and other visual aids? Was he compelling enough to close the deal with his audience? And so on… The free dinner was okay (but FREE), the give-away (a planner/calculator/address book) was crap, and the internet marketing information was actually pretty good. The best part was that I actually wanted to know MORE about this company’s internet marketing strategies by the time the presentation was over. At $20 for two people, it was a no-brainer. So, for just $20, we signed up to participate in their ALL-DAY internet marketing workshop. My logic; in the worst case scenario, I’d just get up and walk out of the workshop at a cost of $20, and go back to work. “Think-tank” was in too, so at least I would have someone there to commiserate with and cut the cost in half since we could BOTH attend for that price.
Monday morning I came in and put in for a day off on Wednesday the 29th. So, yesterday, I got to sleep in until 7:30 (and hour an a half extra) and got into my usual business casual attire, and headed out for the Red Rock Hotel & Casino, prepared to learn a new thing or two about the great world of internet marketing. As an owner and administrator of 2 websites, I was definitely NOT disappointed! This ended up being one of the best spent $20 I’ve had in very long time! They’re not kidding when they say that investing in your education is the best way to go!
The workshop started out slowly and typically enough. First things first, they wasted the first hour or so reviewing stuff we had been told about StoresOnline last Friday at the “preview”. More about the “deal” they were offering. Then, finally, their equivalent to a keynote speaker was introduced. The guys name was Victor Gonzales. This guy was GREAT. He was funny, insightful, educational, engaging and NOT pompous (a relief after listening to some of the StoresOnline staff). He wasn’t an employee of StoresOnline, but was invited by them to speak as a successful StoresOnline software end-user client. I have to admit that as the day went on, I found myself REALLY wanting the StoresOnline software. It seems all-inclusive, extremely intuitive, and very useful. Unfortunately it would cost me more than I was willing to part with (for now). I already HAVE two websites, e-commerce capability, and enough curiosity and drive to learn on my own how to find other needed resources. Nevertheless, the software looks AWESOME. Not $2,700 per year and $30 per month awesome, but awesome nonetheless.
The non-biased and generic internet marketing information Victor taught throughout the day was invaluable to me! I learned a TON of new marketing strategies that I’m VERY excited to try out on my own websites. Lunch was provided as a part of the $20 is cost me to attend (yes, it cost me $20 and not just $10 because “Think-tank” was unable to attend). Lunch was definitely a secondary thought when this whole thing was planned. Ugh… I wasn’t even sure chicken (if, in fact, that’s what it was) could come in that shape. Oh well... it wasn’t extra and I didn’t starve. It may, however, have contributed to the major migraine I ended up going to bed with last night.
In hind sight, I would gladly have paid $100 to attend that workshop for all the valuable information I came away with. Here are just a select few of the strategies that were covered in great deal over the 8 hours I attended;
- Drop Shipping (a way to earn money with relatively no overhead in a win/win relationship
- What a Conversion Rate (CR) is and how it can affect my business
- What Value Per Visitor (VIV) is and how I can use it
- The 8 critical website features (LOL…I’m currently only employing 3 of them…Oops!!)
- The 3 most commonly made internet marketing mistakes (I’m making 2 of them…Ugh!!)
- Definition of a “Shadow Site”
- The value of a Reverse Search Engine
- How to effectively target specific demographics
- The 2-Step Distribution method
- The correct process to new website creation and research
- How search engines function
- How to optimize a website to be highly ranked by search engines
- The definition and use of Geo-targeting
- The differences between vertical and horizontal portals and how to use them effectively
- The definition and uses of Affiliate programs and Link Trading
Overall, the workshop was WELL worth my time and $20. Was it worth taking a day off from work? ABSOLUTELY!
I've learned: that not being on the first page of a search engine is like putting a billboard up in the middle of a forest.
I'm glad: That I now have some tools that have been proven to improve internet marketing success
I wish: that I would have had this information before I built my websites initially!
I will: spend some much needed time refining my websites and building more based on this new information.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
