How to Enjoy the Benefits of Contrary Thinking... Without Turning Into a Grumpy Old Bastard
By Michael Masterson
If you are (as I am) a contrary person, you may find yourself finding fault with every conventional idea you hear. When this becomes a habit, several good things will happen: - You will develop an above-average ability to predict impending disaster.
- You will become skilled at solving problems.
- You will seldom be taken for a fool.
But several bad things will happen too: - Some people will not like you at all.
- Most people will regard you as interesting but difficult.
- At times, you won't like yourself.
Here's a good way to enjoy the benefits of contrary thinking without the drawbacks... Before you voice your opinion (i.e., state your radical idea), ask yourself: "Do I like the person I am speaking with?" If so, muffle the clever comment and ask a few questions instead. Say, "That's very interesting. What brings you to that conclusion?" After your interlocutor has given you his reasons, you can gently deconstruct them. And then say, "I have an idea you might find amusing -- considering your perspective." Then state your idea. This way, you get the fun of being contrary without the collateral damage. (By the way, I don't actually do this. I have a friend who does. But it is something I am trying to learn how to do.) -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended ----------------------------------------------------- Our Thanksgiving Gift to ETR Readers: Cash in Your Pocket! Last year at about this time, ETR reader Julie B. said goodbye forever to her "day job." With ETR's help, she started an online real estate business. "I earned $500 my first month, $2,000 my second month, and $5,000 my third month," says Julie. Today, she's bringing in thousands of dollars each month. Then there's Matt. He used a little known Internet cash-producer to bring in $332,252. Using that same secret, another friend of ETR says he brings in "probably a hundred to a few hundred a month" and as much as $600 a month. "You know, it depends on the month," he says.
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"Economy is in itself a great source of revenue." Seneca My friend RP, a licensed building contractor, helped me build some shelves in my garage. Had I done it myself, I'd have fitted the shelves to the exact space of 16 feet, 9 inches. But RP said wood comes in 8-foot lengths. And by making the shelves 16 feet long, I would save money, eliminate waste, and cut down on the time it would take. "We're not building a piano," she said. "Just use standard sizes." This got me thinking. A majority (and I really do mean more than 90 percent) of people who start an Internet business believe that their idea is so unique that every aspect of it needs to be customized. That includes paying someone to create a website logo and design, and having a programmer write new software. Programmers love this trend among Internet entrepreneurs, especially if the client has only a vague idea of what they want. Whether it be a website, content-management system, shopping cart, e-mailing system, or some whizz-bang application to send text messages to your customers... you can get it customized and programmed. But you'll pay through the nose, to be sure. Every week, I hear of people spending money on custom programming. And, for the most part, they don't need to. If you are just starting out, you definitely don't need to. What can you use instead? Off-the-shelf solutions! Are You a Custom Snob? We'd all love to believe that our business idea is so special that it needs to be developed from scratch. But, basically, your online business is pretty much like everyone else's. It boils down to winning and retaining customers. ETR's parent company, Agora Inc., got to $20+ million in online sales before they even thought about customizing their order system. And it was not until they got to $100+ million in online sales that they took the next step in their software evolution. So focus on marketing, use what's out there, and stop wasting time. Custom software, by the way, suffers from a major weakness. It's written for you. So only you and your people can test it. And with only a few people testing it, the chances of failure are greatly increased. And keep in mind that most things that we think matter in business really don't. A logo, for example, is something most Internet businesspeople deem a must. But (without looking) can you remember the Early to Rise logo? Do you like it? Does it factor into your purchasing decisions? I can hear you scoffing at what I'm saying here, because your idea really is unique. It's a new type of travel booking service aimed at CEOs who play golf in Scotland, then ski in Italy, and then go salmon fishing in Norway. There's nothing else like it. Yes, but... it's your marketing that will differentiate your service from all the others out there and make it work, not your software. I'll bet the most widely used travel software platform out there has 90 percent of what you need. And 90 percent of what you need when you are starting out is very good. So use that, and focus on getting 100 percent of your marketing right. $20 to Start Your Online Business You can start your online business for almost nothing. Other than spending a few bucks for Web hosting (less than $10/month) and $10 a year for a domain name, you are good to go. Most Web hosting companies allow you to install a free, powerful content-management system, like Wordpress or Drupal. (You can do it with just a few clicks.) Then skip hiring a Web designer and go with one of the free or low-cost (less than $100) theme templates for Wordpress or Drupal. It may take you a couple of days the first time you do it, but it can give you a kick-ass, custom look and feel website... for a fraction of the price. (Using these systems, I can now set up a great website in less then four hours.) Setting up a shopping cart can be confusing, even for experienced e-commerce folk. But when you're just starting out, you can "rent" one for $35 to $100 a month from companies like 1ShoppingCart.com, Volusion.com, or Yahoo Commerce. And you can use Paypal's shopping cart for free -- and start selling online immediately. For $20 or less a month, you can have an e-mail autoresponder system (core to many online businesses) with a service like Get Response, AWeber, or Constant Contact. And if you wish to run list-management software on your own server, there are two great free programs: Subscribe Me or PHPList. One reason people give for going with custom programming is that they want to be able to have a "membership" website, integrating usernames and passwords. But even that is something that can be automated inexpensively by using software such as AMember, Membergate, Visiongate, Memberstar, or EasyMemberPro. Why Starting a Business on a Shoestring Is a Good Thing Some years back, before the Internet was around, I consulted with a nonprofit organization that never had any money for marketing. So I had to use PR and other free and extremely low-cost techniques. What a fantastic learning experience that was -- figuring out how to build a business with nothing! When you're starting out online, you don't need to fork over a king's ransom for software or programming -- and you shouldn't. For one thing, you've no idea whether your idea is going to work. If you spend money on custom features, only to discover that you have no customers, that money is down the drain. Second, I know of many websites that bring in upward of $500,000 a year, but almost to nothing to produce or maintain. And, finally, using prebuilt software will have you up and running in a fraction of the time. Free and dirt-cheap software is out there. Start using it. [Ed. Note: Using off-the-shelf software is just one of the many tips, strategies, and techniques David Cross shares each week in his Internet Rant newsletter. For even more off-the-cuff advice from this expert Internet consultant, go here.] -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended ----------------------------------------------------- $2.3 Trillion Floats by You Every Year - Billions of dollars flow right by you every month. These are real dollars -- cash that you can tap into. But the problem is, they are invisible. You've seen all the products and ads. But you don't know which are working and which are not. The profit opportunities in this $2.3 trillion industry are enormous. Here's how to tap into them starting immediately:
Management Tip: Track the Performance of Your Workers... and Publish the Results
By Michael Masterson
In my experience, nothing motivates people more than tracking their productivity and posting the results for all to see. And technology is readily available to track the performance of customer-service reps, data-input operators, salespeople, and the like. You don't want to surprise them, of course. That would do more harm than good. Tell them that the productivity reports will be published and when. The rest -- their motivation and hard work -- will happen automatically. The people at the top will be motivated to stay at the top. Most of the people at lower levels will work harder to succeed. Some will be demoralized by the process. Give them a chance to improve. If they don't, sayonara. Good sleep is essential for good health and personal productivity. But when you travel between time zones (as I often do), it is difficult to get. If jet travel knocks you out, here are some of the things I do that I'd recommend: - Don't drink alcohol on the plane. Eat light. And don't watch TV or a movie.
- Take melatonin (in spray form, if you can get it) an hour before you want to fall asleep on the plane -- which should be as soon as you possibly can.
- Take a nap when you arrive, but don't sleep for more than two or three hours. That is more than enough to give you enough energy to be productive throughout the rest of the local workday, yet not so much that it prevents you from being tired enough to go to sleep on local time.
- Don't smoke or have caffeine (cola, coffee, chocolate) less than six hours before you want to go to sleep.
- An hour before bedtime, take some more melatonin. Pull the blinds so the room will be nice and dark for as long as you want to sleep in the morning.
- Set an alarm clock and back it up with a wake-up call so you don't lose sleep worrying about whether you'll wake up at the right time.
What to Do When You Lose Your Creative Mojo
By Michael Masterson
All creative people get stuck now and then. Writers have writer's block. Painters have painter's block. Even marketers and CEOs will admit that they sometimes "haven't got a clue." And if your financial future depends on generating ideas, this can be downright scary. I used to have mornings when I'd sit down to write an ETR essay and realize that I had nothing to say. The thought that half a million people were waiting to hear something from me made it worse. My instinct was to close my laptop and come back to it another day. But I can't do that. So I've developed a routine, of sorts, that might work for you. First, I try to stimulate my mind by reading bits and pieces of stuff I've clipped and saved. Sometimes, I simply read quotations. If that doesn't work, I get up and walk around my writing studio or do some calisthenics. And if that doesn't work, I sit my butt back down and start to write – even if the writing feels lame. What I get for my persistence is not usually great stuff. But it's something. So then I take another break and think about what I'm doing. I ask two questions: - What is the core idea I'm trying to express?
- What is the best way to introduce that idea? With a story? A fact? A statement?
This almost always helps me zero in on something worth writing. The process of pushing through becomes a habit that gets more effective with each passing day. I can't remember the last time I was blocked completely. Try it. Let me know if this works for you.
Latest News - So it's the day after Thanksgiving. Are you hitting the mall? Or are you doing a lot of shopping online? If so, you're not alone. According to a survey from MarketLive, 55 percent of shoppers plan to do their holiday shopping online this year. That's up from 49 percent last year. And 26 percent of shoppers plan to purchase more gifts via the Internet, compared to 21 percent in 2008.
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"Michael, "I wanted to tell you that my wife Rosie and I learned several things at ETR's Bootcamp that we will be implementing in our business. And that there are a couple of ideas we will need some help with in order to implement those things. But I'm sure the staff at ETR will be able to answer all our questions. "I look forward to meeting you again and possibly working on something in the future." Gilbert Flores
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The Language Perfectionist: A Gallimaufry of Gaffes
By Don Hauptman
Below, another batch of interesting mistakes, all found recently in major newspapers: - A Pentagon spokesman on unneeded planes: "We've always frowned upon earmarks and additives that are above and beyond what we ask for."
An additive is a substance, usually a chemical, that's combined with another substance. The right word here is addition. - "Are we telling young adults it is alright to waste half their lives in a drug stupor and somehow it will magically work out?"
Notwithstanding the widespread use of alright in popular culture (The Kids Are Alright), the correct expression is all right. It's two words, not one. Notes Garner's Modern American Usage, an excellent style guide: "Alright for all right has never been accepted as standard in American English." - "Demi Lovato... and Selena Gomez... are paired together for this comedy."
This is a classic redundancy. The word paired tells us that the actresses are co-stars, so together should be omitted. - "Mr. Bowman, 47, appears to have crossed some unspoken line with his $400,000 in student debt and penalties, accumulated over many years."
The problem here is a misused metaphor. The line the writer figuratively cites isn't "spoken," but rather is like a line on a map or one drawn in the sand. - "Sadly, there is a ton of good country music, but it is not being played on radio stations."
This writer is guilty of a misplaced modifier that contradicts his meaning. The mistake is easily repaired by moving the adjective: "There is a ton of good country music but, sadly, it is not being played on radio stations." [Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]
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