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The Speck

September 28, 2010 in Business, Creativity, E-Commerce, Internet Marketing, Life, Success, The Speck with 17 Comments

The speck is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

When I found myself stuck in a dead-end office job five years ago, I quickly realized that trying to come up with the next Google or Facebook, in my spare time, was probably not going to happen. It looked as if I would continue working in the dead-end office job.

That’s when the idea of the speck came to me.

The idea was simple.

With close to a billion people using the Internet, I only needed to find 300 people, who shared my interests, were interested in what I had to offer, that would be willing to pay me $30 bucks a month, and I could find myself an office with a window.

My own office.

Only 300 people out of a billion. A teeny-tiny, yet extremely powerful, particle of dust. This is what I call the speck.

With a simple concept, like the speck, and a concrete goal on paper (300 x $30), I was off to the races.

I hit that target within a couple of weeks and left my job less than six months later. I haven’t been back to the windowless office in over five years.

Seth Godin talks about Tribes and the importance of finding your tribe. When I heard Seth speaking live last week in Chicago, he spoke about musicians and their ability to harness the power of the Internet to find their tribe and build a successful career at the same time.

The old model worked something like this: Write the music, take a loan out and record your demo, hope to be discovered by a record label, and keep hoping.

We could dive deeper into this old broken model, but your chances of being discovered and actually making money were next to none.

The new model: As Seth suggested, find 3000 fans who dig your music from that ever-growing pool of over a billion people. But find the 3000 who’d be willing to buy your new music for $30 bucks a year, and you’ve made it.

You’re done! Keep producing your art. Keep doing what you love, and earn a solid living at the same time.

$90,000 bucks a year is nothing to scoff at.

Some might argue that as the overall size of the group grows, it becomes harder and more complicated to find your speck.

3000 out of a billion.

300 out of a billion.

100 out of a billion.

In Tribes, Seth stressed that in many cases, the tribes have already been formed and they’re simply looking for a leader. “We need you to lead us”, the book’s tagline read.

I see it like this. You can find your speck faster than ever before. Your speck might even find you. There’s a good chance people on line are looking for you, or someone just like you. They’re ready to cling to you like dust mites on your Grandmother’s dining room table.

Finding 3000 people who like your music out of a billion may be easier then you think.

Finding 300 people to pay you $30 bucks a month for a service or product that you’ve poured your heart and soul into, and created just for them, is easier than you think.

Who knows, maybe your speck is even smaller. Maybe you only need a hundred people, or you may need more.

It doesn’t really matter. The whole point is this - in the big scheme of things, all you probably need to achieve success, beyond your wildest dreams, is nothing more than a tiny speck of people.

Back in 2005, I found a speck, organized them, and signed them up within two weeks. Done.

Five years later, the two weeks it took me to connect a speck of people can potentially happen a heck of a lot faster today. Maybe even overnight. All it takes is one good sneeze.

The speck is a small but insanely powerful concept for mapping your plan for success. As the size of the number of connected Internet users grows, your chances of actually finding your speck increases tremendously.

It worked for me, it can work for you.

My Daily Workout

August 27, 2010 in Creativity, Life with 2 Comments

For the past few years, I’ve been following Crossfit and doing the daily workouts. I’ve spoken of this on a few occasions here and here. It’s been life changing, but it’s also been a lot of hard work.

That’s what I do for my physical exercise.

There’s another type of exercise that holds the same importance in my daily routine, if not more. It’s a mental exercise.

There’s a few ways I accomplish that, but one of the best and most important ways is with this blog.

This blog has acted as my personal diary, so-to-speak, over the past few months. It’s allowed me to clarify my thoughts and document my thinking. It’s also allowed me to focus on my future life and where I want to go – my ideal life situation.

But like my physical exercise, this mental exercise is hard work. It’s training my mental muscles and allowing them to grow and expand. This, in turn, is expanding my mental fitness and the benefits are showing up on a daily basis.

Here’s the thing. Doing something similar in your own life could have the most amazing and profound effects. I’m not saying you need to start a blog.

I’m saying, the act of writing and expressing your thoughts in some manner (publicly or privately) could potentially change your life. Just like the physical stuff, it’s a good idea to exercise your mind.

Here’s something I’ve said again and again and again, and I keep saying it again and again for a reason…so take note.

Take some time and write what your ideal life situation looks like. Next year, or the year after that, and maybe even ten years down the road.

Feel free to be specific. Write about your lifestyle, your relationships, your possessions, and just about everything else.

Give yourself a good solid mental workout. I want you to work up a sweat.

If you’re creating your own path, you might as well have an idea of where you want to go instead of just walking aimlessly.

Unremarkable, Lackluster, Middle-Of-The-Road, Unexciting, Boring

July 5, 2010 in Art, Creativity, Linchpin with 3 Comments

The words used in the title of this post are all words that came from my thesaurus for the word “mediocre.”

mediocre |ˌmēdēˈōkər|
adjective
of only moderate quality; not very good: a mediocre actor

It makes me wonder if this is the way my English teachers would have explained my skills to my parents during my early years of school.

Mom: How’s Noah doing in creative writing this year?

Teacher: Noah’s only writing at a moderate level of quality. If I was to be perfectly honest with you, he’s just not that good at it.

Looking back now at my blog, specifically between the years of 2006-2009, and questioning the reasons I chose not to blog more often, I may have been mistaken in the reasons why I never actually wrote more.

I usually attributed the lack of posting to “no time.” But now I’m wondering if I was simply scared of mediocrity. The fear of mediocrity is just as strong as the dreaded, and evil, fear of failure. How can we overcome such an opponent?

I read hundreds and hundreds of blogs on a weekly basis. Many of the writers are simply brilliant. The creators of the content inspire me daily.

Bloggers like; Derek Sivers, Ben Coe, Quoteflections, Seth Godin, Hugh MacLeod, Caitlin McCabe , Jason Seiden, Liz Danzico, Chris Guillebeau. Jonathan Fields,  to name just a few.

The fear of mediocrity bubbles up from within. It’s easier to do nothing, than it is to appear mediocre to others, or so we think. We allow that fear to debilitate us and then nothing happens. Fear of this kind can cause our blogs to sit empty and dormant for years.

It’s been pounded into us for years that perfection is the ultimate goal. Is it really worth doing if you can’t do it right?

I mean, if you can’t write as well as the millions of other great bloggers out there, is it really worth the time and effort to spend every day putting fingers to the keyboard? (That’s our internal fear talking, or lizard brain, or the resistance, or whatever we want to call it….)

Here’s the thing, It’s worth it.

The task doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether the task is writing a blog post, or starting a new business, or finishing an essay, or writing an outrageous advertisement, or creating a piece of art, or building a piece of furniture, or developing a website, or rewriting your resume, or telling a story at a campfire, or calling an old friend, or drawing a cartoon, or recording some music in your basement, or expressing your intention to start a diet and exercise.

It will never be “perfect.”

This form of resistance will rear its ugly head to try to convince you it’s not worth it at every step of the way. It will get stronger, and stronger, and stronger until the very last moment when you  get close to the end. Close to the moment of actually finishing it, it will make one last-ditch effort to try to stop you. It will do it’s best to convince you that what you’ve created is nothing more than a big steamy pile of mediocrity.

For me, that moment is right now.

And then I hit publish.

Snakes and Ladders

June 24, 2010 in Creativity, Life, Success with 0 Comments

Snakes and Ladders originated in India as a game based on morality called Vaikuntapaali or Paramapada Sopanam (the ladder to salvation) (wikipedia)

snakes.gif

You’re right at the top.

You’re almost there.

Only a few steps to go.

And then you hit that damn snake, and you’re knocked all the way down to the bottom.

As a kid, it was just a fun game. But when I think about it now, I realize just how close it resembles real life.

Occasionally we hit a ladder, of good luck or fortune, and up we go.

Occasionally, we hit a snake of bad luck or misfortune, and we experience a setback.

The problem now is that each and every day, we hear about more and more people near the finish line and then suddenly, out-of-nowhere, they hit that big mother of a snake. You know the one I’m talking about, the one that knocks you right back almost to the beginning.

You might as well start over, or give up entirely. You can’t catchup.

It seems to me, though, the actual game board has changed. There are more snakes than ever before, especially in that last row. There might be the odd spot here and there with an opening, and if you make the perfect roll of the dice, you might just make it. If you roll anything but a 4, you’re screwed.

It’s pretty risky to place everything on the roll of the dice, don’t ya think?

The new option is to just not play the game anymore. I’m not.

Bury it Alive

May 7, 2010 in Business, Career & Work, Creativity, Getting Things Done, Linchpin with 3 Comments

I had this idea for a local mashup of an offline/online web business a few years ago. It was a killer idea. I had seen startups in bigger cities offering a similar type of service with amazing success.

I dumped a ton of sweat, tears, and money into this business.

I spent days working on the code and modifying things until they were perfect. Everyday, I’d pay a coder to work with me and make all the desired little tweaks and changes that were required.

Every month I paid expensive hosting bills to keep the pending service a float.

I had business cards designed and printed.

I created window stickers and had them printed at the local print shop. When I arrived, weeks later to pick them up, the colors were all messed up and they looked like crap. So, I called a bigger and much more expensive company in Toronto and had them done right.

I worked with some very talented and pricey copywriters who helped me tweak the copy and helped me with sales information to promote the service.

I worked endlessly on developing a targeted list of potential contacts and businesses that could use the service.

I paid a boat load of money to print and prepare all the  letters and sales information I would mail to the businesses.

I hand delivered the letters to the post office and paid the postal fees.

I had dreams of grandeur that my phone would ring off the hook for the next two weeks.

I Shipped.

The phone never rang. Actually, it rang a couple of times, but people either didn’t get what I was offering or they simply weren’t interested.

I followed up with many and explained that I didn’t want their money. They could use the service for FREE. They still didn’t get it. Many claimed that their customers didn’t use the Internet…

None of the businesses knew how hard I had worked or how much money I’d spent preparing this service.

None of them knew how many late nights were spent slaving over this idea.

Nobody cared.

I was in a state of denial for a few months afterward.
I kept pushing the service and trying new things. I believed my idea would work and could help businesses grow.

Maybe my offer was no good. Maybe I used the wrong type of font in my sales letters. Maybe I needed an army of sales gurus.

But then one day, something clicked.

I realized that I had shipped.

It was a total flop. The letters were mailed. The site was finished. The work was done.

My next move was easy.

I went to my closet and tossed out 1000 business cards.

I threw away 5000 expensive double sided stickers.

I emptied over 500 glossy brochures into our recycling bin.

I allowed the website hosting bill to come and go without being paid.

I buried that sucker alive while it was still gasping for air. After that I went for a long walk outside and enjoyed the fresh air.

As Stephen Pressfield says in The War of Art, Rest in peace, mother&#^er.

The 2010 Resume

March 11, 2010 in Creativity with 10 Comments

Yesterday I was having a discussion with my cousin Adam about resumes. Adam is finishing up college and starting to look for employment amongst thousands of other eager students.

It was interesting because he was explaining all the ways a resume is required to be written and prepared, according to his college. (Much hasn’t changed since the last time I wrote a resume).

It made me think of something Mitch Joel said about the resume at last weeks Art of Marketing Conference in Toronto.

Mitch said, and I’m paraphrasing as I don’t remember exactly, “The resume is dead, your new resume is what the first page of Google says about you.” It’s interesting and I believe that’s where we’re heading, but  it’s not entirely accurate yet. There are many companies living in the pre-2004 era that still require the traditional boring resume.

Back to Adam.

Adam’s resume will be blasted to every business and, possibly, every opportunity he sees. Think about that and think about the last time you applied for a job. Did you do the same thing? I know I did. So what does that mean for our resumes? In one sense, our resumes have become a simple form of tangible spam. You’re spamming companies and hoping someone bites. Is that any different from the Nigerian prince who just died and left you $500,000,000 in cash? Not really.

In once sense, we gotta give the email scammers credit. At least their stories are getting better every year.

So if hundreds of people are spamming for the same position, and everyone is writing a  resume, as it’s supposed to be written, we’re stuck competing against against each other and a big pile of stinky spam.

Which brings me back to the ‘good ole Purple Cow.’

If I had to write a resume again, I think I’d print it on purple construction paper with white polka dots. Or maybe I’d print it on a giant piece of Bristol board. Or maybe I’d create a video.

I’m not sure.

But if I was an employer and I just received 100 pieces of white 8.5 x 11 paper, all printed the same required way, all properly groomed and filled with the same exaggerated hyperbole, I know which one I’d grab first; the purple one, of course.

Adam wants to be police officer. My suggestion to Adam was that he create a fun video of himself on a stake out. He could be eating burgers, drinking a chocolate milkshake and having a discussion about his prior experiences. Maybe he could cut to some mock arrests where he shows his knowledge of the criminal code. Maybe he could show off his physical training and conduct a few take-downs. He could even include interviews with his references.

I’d not only watch it, and probably post it on YouTube, but I’d also hire Adam.

Of course it would need to be done right…. Dragnet style.

Adam responded and said he thought it was a cool idea, but he wanted to see someone else do it first. He wants to see if it works before he takes that risk.

Ahh, of course we want to see it done first, but then it’s not cool anymore. Then it’s not original anymore. Then it’s not a risky anymore. Then it’s nothing more than just a new kind of white paper.

Therefore, Adam decided the safe bet is the white piece of paper that’s identical to the thousands of other white pieces of paper.

The point isn’t really about creating a purple resume. The point is creating a resume that shows how remarkable you are.

Everyone else’s resumes are filled with the same impeccable education and life experience B.S. Everyone’s resume has the most amazing set of references. If everyone’s the same, then chances are, there is someone with a better education, better experiences, and better references then you.

What makes you different?

Sit Down and Shut Up: Become a Robot

February 17, 2010 in Creativity, Life, Success with 3 Comments

I read a quote from Hugh MacLeod on GapingVoid.com, where he said,

“Everyone is born creative, everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.”

I agree. Yet somewhere along the way, most of us seem to lose that creative spark.

Who’s to blame?

Do we blame schools and education? Do we blame our parents? Our Teachers? Society itself?

Eventually, most of us were told to put the crayons down. In kindergarten, we were given the crayons and told to be creative and express ourselves. They said, “colour outside the lines, it’s perfectly acceptable!” They shouted, “be free young one, and express your creativity!”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moriza/53283937/

A few years later we were told that crayons were childish, and we were big kids now. Big kids don’t play with crayons.

We were told that going outside the lines wasn’t acceptable anymore. Big boys and big girls stay inside the lines.

Then things got a little nuts. We were told to put our heads down, shut the hell up, and study hard for the next twenty-some years.

We were told that the only route to security and happiness in life was to stay inside the lines. We were told we had to follow the status quo.

And what else did the status quo say?

  • It said that understanding the difference between a stratified sample and a random sample was more important than creative expression.
  • It said that knowing the difference between a parallelogram, trapezoid, and rhombus, was worth six weeks of our lives.

I’ve been out of school for a while now, and I’m still waiting for the moment either of those skills are required.

Were we tricked?

This was the start of it.

When we were told it was no longer acceptable to colour outside the lines, the indoctrination had already begun. Conforming meant staying inside the lines.

Smart kids; good kids; well-behaved kids, coloured inside the lines.
Smart kids became robots.

Today, the most successful people I know are the ones who could never colour inside the lines.

The thing I’m starting to realize is this, it wasn’t because they were too dumb or not smart enough, it was because they were already challenging the system.

The power of the “staying inside the lines” metaphor and the impact it’s having on all of our lives is huge! We’re only starting to see the ramifications of it now.

The system is no longer rewarding the people who stayed inside the lines and shut-up without a fight. Instead, the system is backfiring! We’re seeing our friends lose their jobs and being laid off. We’re seeing people lose their pensions, (the one promise of security and safety for years of colouring within the lines).

It’s a pretty grim situation, especially if you’ve stayed inside the lines your whole life.

However, there is good news for all of us! “It’s never too late to pick up a box of crayons.”