My In-House Ban on Television

Well, I'm finally taking the advice of nearly every successful person I've met when it comes to television.  Okay, at least a step in that direction. 

Now I don't think I'm as bad a TV-holic as some people, and at least a good portion of my viewing includes stuff from the History Channel, Discovery Channel, Science Channel and a few others that don't typically count as the "junk food" of TV-land (reality TV, sitcoms, etc). 

That said, I was thinking about the past year and realized I had no idea what the storyline was for that episode of Family Guy that I watched one year ago.  Nor did it have any significant impact on me reaching my goals or adding any meaningful value to my life (although you have to admit, that show is pretty funny). 

If I had read some profound book, visited some really cool place in downtown DC (only 20 minutes away) or done just about anything else, the chances are a lot better that it would have had more of an impact than that TV show.  Of course, the book could have sucked, the place downtown could have ended up being horrible and so on, but that's not really the point now is it?

I'm not saying I'm totally getting rid of TV.  But it's going to trimmed down quite a bit and batched like everything else…probably left for Sunday which is my day to relax anyway (gotta' love TIVO).  Like I said, not getting rid of everything, but I did go through my TIVO and whack just about every sitcom and other junkie program.  Stuff that's still on the list:

• The Universe (I love space stuff)
• Human Weapon (yes, I should go take a martial arts class in lieu of this show)
• CSI, Law and Order (because I'm weak and can't give those up yet… )
• Dogfights (goes back to my Air Force roots…yea, I could take flying lessons instead…already did that though)
• A few travel shows, for inspiration and ideas
• High Net Worth (CNBC show that everyone should watch to balance out all this doom and gloom about the so-called market)
• A handful of others…

Other things to fill the time void include:

• Exploring the nation's capital
• Road trips to places nearby
• Reading / listening to audio books (literally infoproducts at a fraction of the typical cost.  I recommend Audible.com)
• Learning how to cook (sorta' know already but could be better and it's an excuse for me to buy a new grill)
• Some other stuff…I have a list around here somewhere

Note that none of the things on that second list are things that are done at the computer…because of course, that's not the goal.

I guess you could call this an "experiment in lifestyle design" like what Tim Ferris talks about over at the 4 Hour Work Week blog.  He also recommends Audible.com in that link, plus more great gifts if you're still looking.  Sheesh, you're still not done shopping for the holidays!  (Me either…)

Anyway, that's one of my personal plans for 2008.  I'll let you know how it goes.

(Note: I find it funny that when I've told most of my family and friends about this idea, the first response I've usually gotten is, "Why?".  Must be on to something)

 

 

Popularity: 94% [?]

Another Great Reason to Have Your Own Products

The other day I got a really cool gift from someone I don't even know (yet).  It's the best kind of gift too, a totally unexpected surprise.  It was from Richard Lee, a fellow internet business blogger who I've mentioned a couple of times on this site.  Anyway, it was pretty cool to get that in the mail, though I've been lazy about getting over to the UPS store and it's been sitting there for almost three weeks - and he was probably thinking I was an ungrateful SOB for not at least saying thanks (again, sorry about that Richard and my sincerest thanks for the CD).

Okay, so a couple of points.

First, here's the link to the CD:

Motivation and Distraction Management  (goes straight to the order page, not an affiliate link)

So why do I think you should drop everything and go get a copy of this CD pronto?  Because whenever you get a room full of entrepreneurs or wanna-be entrepreneurs together in a room and ask them what their toughest challenges are, staying focused and actually GETTING THINGS DONE are two things that almost always show up on the list. 

My thinking is that anything that can help you knock those off the "what's-holding-you-back" list is a good thing.  In fact, I got several good ideas I'm going to use when it's time to write the next batch of articles to promote one of my products.  If you do the same, you'll more than make up the cost of the product, making that factor irrelevant.  Of course, that assumes that you have your own product…

You DO have your own product, right?

Well if not, this little story is yet another reason for why you should.  You see, by creating your own product, you now have something of value.  Normally your goal is to exchange that value for money.  But what about offering certain products as bonuses, or even giving something away for free (with good reason, not just willy nilly)?  What about trading your product for someone else's?  I know for a fact this is done, though usually behind the scenes. 

Really the sky's the limit but I want to keep this post short.  The point is that if you're just an affiliate or just building AdSense sites, you don't really have much to offer your peers in the way of a "value exchange".  Not to mention the difference in profit potential. 

Something to think about.

Popularity: 98% [?]

Can You Really Make Money Showing People "How To"?

I had a talk with a family member the other day.  I'm not sure how we got on the subject of business because I try to avoid talking about my business when I know it's going to involve lots of explaining to others, but that's where the conversation led.  He commented that he just didn't understand how you can make money showing someone "how to" - in this case, how to make money online but it really could have been any topic.  Do you have that same blind spot?

Let's consider an example and I'll let you do the math and be the judge.

Say you're a real estate investor in the Washington, DC area.  You've been at it for awhile and know how to find great deals, have a network of other investors to turn to for support if needed.  Let's say you just fix them up and sell them to landlords, so you have a bunch of landlords that are willing and able to buy whatever projects you finish.  It's all systemized, more or less, and after banging your head against a wall for a few years, you have it all documented in a course - actually just a PDF file and a few MP3's on your computer.

The short-sighted view would be that you shouldn't "go public" with your info because you'll just be creating a bunch of competitors.  Short-sighted, scarcity-minded thinking.  First of all, those students will probably become partners and even if not, who cares?  There are plenty of deals out there.  Second, and most importantly, the implementation of what you've learned will be the most important aspect, not just the words on paper.  Whoever ends up buying your course probably won't have access to the same network of investors, certainly not with the solid relationship you've built.  The same goes for the contractors doing the repairs for you…you simply can't "package" that, which means people will still have to go fill those gaps on their own.

That being said, there's still ENORMOUS value in what you've put into your course.  You have scripts that tell you exactly what to say when someone calls in response to one of your ads, signs or postcards.  You have quick analysis sheets that people can use to evaluate deals.  You even had your contractors scope out the estimated repair costs for the most common items and have it tailored to your part of the country (since parts and labor vary from place to place).  You have a website, phone system, email follow-up system and marketing system all integrated so people don't have to figure out which vendors are the best (or find out later on that one of them is a dud).

Based on the chat with my family member, you'd be a fool to let the cat out of the bag on this one, right?  But what if…

• …it led to an infoproduct that sold for $497?  How about a volume 2?  Or volume 3?
• …and a monthly newsletter that was $360/year ($30/month) covering the latest goings-on in your area?
• …and a monthly teleseminar/CD at $47/month where you and a partner talked about strategies people can use for improving your business, and things you're doing right now that are working in your own business?
• …a coaching program, either email or in person @ 300/month?
• …and you could get affiliates selling the course for you, making your marketing costs nearly zero?
• …and it was mostly on autopilot thanks to sharp outsourced workers and automated systems?
• …and you had 200 people active in each of the above (keep in mind there are millions of people in town, 200 ain't exactly a stretch!)

Could this happen?  Yes?

Overnight?  No.

But a good friend of mine has a business similar to this (though I don't know, nor would I publish, his exact numbers).  In addition, he's still an active investor.

The point is that valuable information has VALUE!

And showing someone how to do something can be quite a valuable thing if it's something people want to know. 

I just bought 3 DVDs about video editing from a guy for over $100.  It was a quick start for me, rather than reading through some 400-page book.  And it was a good day for him because at that rate of one sale like that per day, he's at $3,000 per month.  Win-Win.

Don't think for a second that you can't make money showing people "how to".
Don't think for a second that what you have is so "super secret" that no one else is teaching it.
They're gonna' learn it from someone - may as well be from you. 

 

Popularity: 100% [?]

The Most Bang for Your Buck Tasks

Here's another post about time, or more importantly, doing the most with the time you have.

I was thinking about my business and some of the things I have planned for next year.  I wanted to come up with a list of "Bang for Your Buck" tasks - those things that give me the most results and which should be my primary focus.  I'm not sure if all of these fall into the "I-should-do-it" category, but here's what I came up with so far (feel free to swipe, use, adapt or throw spears as you see fit):

Product Creation

• Actual creation of new products (not research, planning, or other excuses)

Traffic Generation

• Blog posts for communicating with subscribers, customers, etc.
• Article writing and submission for traffic to sales sites/blog
• Networking with others in my same markets
• Testing alternate traffic sources (because you never know)

Conversion Improvement

• Creating, analyzing, refining split tests for all sales sites
• Split testing Adwords and other PPC ads (if used)

Freedom Tasks

• Taking all of the above (plus other necessary tasks), then creating and implementing new procedures for each

I'm sure there might be more.  And I'm sure this list will vary slightly for different business models.  But I think it's a good start.

What did I miss (or include that doesn't really fit?)

Just post a comment and let me know what you think.

Popularity: 93% [?]

Another Way to Stop Wasting Time on Mundane Tasks

Okay, this post might seem a bit off topic, but it's really not.  It's all about TIME…or more importantly, using it most effectively.

One of my personal pet peeves is grocery shopping.  I don't know why, but for some reason I just don't enjoy it.  Maybe it's the long lines, the time it takes to load everything up in the cart, haul it home, unpack it, etc.  Or the fact that now I even have to "clock in" and bag up my own stuff.  Kinda' nice how they added those self-serve checkout lines, have fewer people at the other registers, yet the prices are the same.  Hmmm…

Anyway, being the good little online business owner that I am, I decided to bypass all of that this time and just order it all online.  Actually, this is something I've done in the past, but as we roll into 2008, I'm more serious about guarding my time - may as well start a month early.

So that's one of the things I did this past weekend.  In fact, I wrote the draft for this post right after I the delivery guy left and I put away my stuff (no, they don't do that for you).  I have to tell you, this is the best idea ever.  Well, maybe not ever.  Maybe that was just hunger talking. But it's still a pretty good idea.  First of all, the delivery guy was super nice, a missing ingredient these days most places I go (how about you?).  Everything came nicely packaged/bagged, probably better than I would have done myself. 

The ordering process was incredibly simple.  One of the larger grocery stores here in Maryland offers online ordering and delivery.  You just login, choose a delivery date, add your stuff to the cart and checkout.  Yup, just like ordering on Amazon or elsewhere except instead of categories like books, DVDs, or electronics you choose from deli, breads, frozen foods and so on. 

But here's the kicker.  Say you need bottled water or some other item where cost per unit volume is more important than brand.  It's easy to do.  Just sort by cost/pound, cost/ounce, etc and go down the list 'till you find the one you want.  Imagine being able to search all the different versions of "whatever" in some particular isle at the brick-and-mortar store in order to find the one that's the best value - and to be able to do so in SECONDS.  Hey, not that I'm a cheapskate, but no sense in paying more than necessary for some stuff either, right? 

You can also save everything to a list so the next time, re-ordering only takes a couple of clicks and you're done.  NICE!  Oh, and yes you can still use coupons, discount cards and all that stuff too…if you were wondering.

So you're probably wondering how much extra did it cost me?  How much did the gouge me in order to have my stuff picked out by their own crew of personal shoppers, then delivered by their delivery guy?  And my gosh, what about gas prices…or tipping the delivery guy?

Looking at my invoice:

Delivery fee:        $6.95
Fuel surcharge:   $0.58
Total extra cost: $7.53 + optional tip (of course I tipped him! )
Total time saved: At least an hour and a half, possibly a bit more

That was for about $140 worth of stuff.  I think they have a $50 minimum.  But who doesn't spends at least 50 bucks on groceries?

So the question is this - Are there things like this you can implement in your life to take back more of your time.  Other things that could be on this list include cleaning house, laundry, most car stuff, lawn maintenance, snow removal and so on…things that need to get done but probably, HOPEFULLY, not by YOU.  Some of my friends would think I'm nuts for having FOOD delivered, but to me it's a simple matter of putting a higher value on my time.  In the hour+ that I saved, I took care of a few orders that came in via my online store and wrote a sales letter for a new product. 

Good trade off?  You tell me…

Popularity: 87% [?]

Next Page »