J J Abrams, creator of Lost, talking about the impact of the design and usability of his Apple Powerbook.
It asks me "What are you going to write - worthy of me?"
It asks me "What are you going to write - worthy of me?"
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Power Of The Blog.
As with 300, a movie review on this blog leads to box office gold. Tiny little Juno is just the latest of my picks to top the US box office. The causality is undeniable.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Take Enthusiastic Action
Yesterday I talked about the importance of gathering information and how important that is to getting a fast start.
The time and money you invest in gaining the knowledge you will need gives you the inspiration and confidence to move on to step two.
…And it also saves you time and helps you avoid the stress and frustration of trial and error! As they say, “Education isn’t cheap but it costs a heck of a lot less than failure!”
Today I’m going to talk about what to do with all your new found knowledge… After all what good is gaining knowledge if you don’t know what to do with it?
Step #2: Take Enthusiastic Action: Procrastination is the enemy of enthusiasm!
If you find yourself procrastinating about starting your painting business it may be because you don’t think you have what it takes to succeed or that there is too much to learn before you can get started.
This type of thinking will keep you stuck in your comfort zone! One thing I am constantly telling painting business owners is “Don’t over think things.”
It is easy to think of one reason after another why what you want to do won’t work… It simply doesn’t make sense to try to figure out what step two, three and four will be before you have taken the FIRST step.
When you begin by taking action on the first step and you do it with enthusiasm you quickly see how all that changes. You get a spark of excitement; you realize that it is not so scary after all and that you DO indeed have what it takes to make it happen!
So step #2 is to simply put what you learned during your information gathering phase into action, one step at a time.
Whether you choose to use Painting for Profits or some other home study course it comes down to what you do with that information (the actions you take) that will produce results.
Even the best information is worthless unless you put it into action. Once you begin to take action the next step is evaluating your outcome and using what worked to create momentum!
More on Step #3 Creating Momentum tomorrow!
For example if Google is your homepage just click the link that says "Google Reader or Homepage" and follow the directions it gives you.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Painting Business Success ~ Fast! A Simple 3 Step Process
There is nothing wrong with fast success! In fact it is quite easy to get off to a fast start even if you are just getting started…
Here is the first step in a simple proven three step process for getting your painting business off to the fastest start possible. (Or sparking new life into your existing painting business that may be just limping along.)
- Step # 1 – The Information Gathering Phase: Knowledge gives you Power!
Arguably the first and most important step in starting or growing ANY business is the information gathering phase.
Unfortunately, it is also the most overlooked… If you want to succeed at anything, the first thing to do is find people who are already successful and duplicate their actions.
For example: It is really easy for me to teach house painters how to start and grow a successful painting business because I have done it myself, but when I decided to create Painting for Profits and make it available online I had no idea how to do it.
The first thing I did was research and gather information about what it takes to successfully market my book online.
I spent hours sifting through course after course and I invested Thousands of dollars purchasing and applying systems taught by people who were already successful as online marketers.
Needless to say because I took this first step, “Gather Information” I saved myself an untold amount of time and frustration trying to figure it out on my own.
It is no different for house painters who want to start their own business. Sure you know how to paint (Or you know someone who does) but do you know how to locate and bring in a consistent flow of jobs?
Do you know how to bid and estimate the jobs to ensure a high close rate and higher than average profits?
What about hiring employees or keeping good records? There is a lot of knowledge to gain before you just jump right in.
Investing a few hours and a few hundred dollars in the beginning will put you way ahead of the competition and give you the confidence to take action, knowing that the actions you take are going to produce predictable profits.
I will reveal step 2 tomorrow!
Champagne, Roses and Marmite?
Last year, around St. Patrick's Day, I picked up a jar of limited edition Guinness flavoured Marmite at the supermarket. Needless to say, it remains unopened and not just because of the stories at the time that you could sell it on e-Bay for twice what you paid. Today, I hear that they are trying a similar trick for St. Valentine's Day by producing 600,000 jars of Marmite with, wait for it, a hint of champagne.
Yes, they'll earn a lot of media coverage and yes there'll be some extra sales, but I can't help but think that this is a social object that will be talked about because of itself but is too removed both from the original product and from the actual event (who toasts their true love with Marmite anyway?).
It makes perfect sense to associate your wine with Valentine's Day but the sociality of a savoury spread surely lies somewhere else.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Keep Gaining Knowledge...
The one MAJOR lesson I took from 2007 was to always keep learning, listening and growing… No kidding all the really successful business owners I spoke to made it a point to keep gaining the knowledge they needed to stay ahead of the crowd.
…and there is no more critical time to gather the needed information than when you are just getting started!
I have just finished updating and expanding Painting for Profits and my goal was to create the absolute best source of information available anywhere on the process of starting and growing a profitable painting business.
I will do everything I can to help you reach your painting business goals this year.
That process starts with creating dialog… This blog will educate, challenge and keep you informed about the “Business Side” of the Painting Business.
If at any time you have a specific question please feel free to email me and I will do my very best to help. I don’t claim to have all the answers but I do have access to some of the most respected people in our industry and I am confident that I can point you in the right direction.
Remember - the first step in accomplishing your goals starts with gaining the knowledge you need about what it takes to achieve the success you desire.
Like I said, I have just finished Updating and Expanding Painting for Profits for 2008 and I’ve got to tell you, it is bigger and better in every way! My plan is to release the updated version on January 28 and everyone who purchases the e-Book download between now and then will receive a
Oh, I forgot to mention I will be raising the price for the updated 2008 edition to $167 but it you purchase your copy before January 28 you can get yours for the original price of just $97
This is not a sales pitch just a heads up!
Go Tell New Hampshire.
When I first saw a spreadsheet automatically update, I immediately wondered how businesses had ever been able to test scenarios or assess data without one. Of course, since then number-crunching has grown exponentially, but as New Hampshire Democrats showed the prevalence of data is a double-edged sword.
Twenty-four hour news coverage led to a proliferation of polls that non-statisticians conflated into average findings and interpreted on the fly without paying attention to the large margins of errors that quick data collection must allow. Accordingly Clinton's victory was seemingly a big surprise though not such a big one if you had looked quizically at the soundings and kept in mind the bigger picture and data that had gone before.
Measurement in marketing is increasingly important and rightly so, but perceived preferences can oscillate rapidly, so make sure you understand what you're measuring and how and why it has been measured. It's easy to get more data, it's not so easy to unplace your marketing bets.
Twenty-four hour news coverage led to a proliferation of polls that non-statisticians conflated into average findings and interpreted on the fly without paying attention to the large margins of errors that quick data collection must allow. Accordingly Clinton's victory was seemingly a big surprise though not such a big one if you had looked quizically at the soundings and kept in mind the bigger picture and data that had gone before.
Measurement in marketing is increasingly important and rightly so, but perceived preferences can oscillate rapidly, so make sure you understand what you're measuring and how and why it has been measured. It's easy to get more data, it's not so easy to unplace your marketing bets.
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