Category Archives: Business

Rap Genius and fear of getting caught

I used to fear the police. When I was underage, I had reason to. I didn’t follow the rules (drinking, curfew, etc.)

I can’t imagine, anymore, living in fear of getting caught. Knowingly doing the wrong thing, fearing getting caught, is no way to live.

The Rap Genius guys don’t have to fear getting caught anymore. They just got caught by Google. Now they’re screwed.

I can’t wait for the spammy clowns manipulating Vitamix Promotion Code search results to get caught. (Echem, Matt Cutts, did you get my linkspam report?)

If you’re living in fear of getting caught, you have two choices:

  1. Stop breaking the rules
  2. Be stopped breaking the rules

Both eliminate the fear of getting caught. Choice one gets it done a lot faster.

Quality endures

Another reason expecting quality is best in the long run.

Facebook announced an update to their News Feed algorithm this week to focus on high quality content. They aim to serve you more news and less “meme photos.”

That’s good news for publishers, like lifeisnoyoke (wink), that have always believed in quality. What’s more, articles from the past will now resurface in News Feeds to “keep the conversation going” for longer.

Moral of the story? Expect better content on your Facebook News Feed. And expect better quality of yourself.

Visualize the summit

The people who attempt to climb Mount Everest are all alike. Nuts. And one more thing. They all know the power of visualization.

These people visualize the entire journey. From planning in their living room to hanging on to life in a frigid, rocky, and oxygen-deprived base camp tent, they visualize themselves at the summit.

Because if these guys focused on the pains incurred during the climb, most wouldn’t even begin. And if they did, they’d be less likely to reach the top. And if they did reach the top, it would be a lot less sweet.

Visualize the summit.

The Grateful Dead Channel

On Sirius XM is hardly a radio station.

There’s no variety. No commercials. No zany DJ’s.  It’s just the Grateful Dead.

There are other stations that play The Dead. But they also play Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, and U2. So if you want to hear some Grateful Dead, and you don’t want to risk having to flip away from, say, the Eagles, where do you go? Station 23. The Grateful Dead channel.

There, you’ll also find a great example of how to build loyalty, longevity and trust in your business and personal relationships. Better to be The Grateful Dead channel than Classic Rewind.

Miss D

If you closed up shop, would your customers miss you?

If you stopped being an elementary school teacher and became an administrator, would your students miss you?

If you left your sweet sales job, would your clients miss you?

If you stopped writing your daily blog, would your readers miss you?

If your TV show switched time slots, would your viewers miss you?

If a role-player on your team left, would she miss you?

Ask this of yourself. Will you be missed?

The answer maybe no despite your current success (material or otherwise).

But longevity and truly valuable impact require the answer to be yes. Will you be missed?

For when you google yourself

Do you have a Google problem? Bad reviews? Compromising pictures from Facebook? Or maybe your name is Rick Santorum? Now there are services to fix that.  Reputation guards.

For a low monthly rate, you can have your reputation guarded by professionals. Never worry again about losing money, relationships or opportunity because Google is making you seem like a giant douche.

In related news, I’m also offering a reputation guarding service. It’s free. It’s called “Do good things you’d be proud of for when google publishes them to the world forever.” For more information, visit lifeisnoyoke.com.

Would you miss it?

A simple phrase to make you more productive, efficient and stress-free.  Oh, and it will do the same for your family, friends and customers. The phrase is a question, actually. “Would you miss it?”

“Would you miss it?” is good for spring cleaning. Pick up a blouse and ask yourself.

“Would you miss it?” is good for small businesses. Just ask the question of your customers. It especially works when considering any business purchase. Will my customers come back to buy because they miss this lamp I’m considering purchasing? “Will they miss it?”

“Would you miss it?” is especially good for software developers and consultants. Clients of these folks, too. Will Windows users miss the Start Button? Or, will the extra piece of functionality be so good that it will be missed if left-out? Or, will it over-complicate the system as a whole resulting in nobody ever saying, “I miss that awesome software, or website or store.”

Ask yourself, “Would you miss it?” If the answer is yes, you’re on the right track. If the answer is no, chances are you have a cluttered closet, a staggering business, or healthcare.gov.

My “Where you want to be”

This job? That job? This project? That project? This marketing tactic or that one?

No worries about that “how I’m going to get there” stuff. I’ve figured out where I want to be.

I want to be an influential leader in the American Health and Wellness Advocacy community.

That’s it.

Notice there’s no “doing verbs” like change or sell or build. That’s all “how you’re going to get there” stuff. That’s all stuff I’m doing, but most of it is getting me “where I want to be.” Anything not getting where I want to be should and will stop.

Want the formula? Fill in the blank: “I want to be a ________ (adjective and title/impact) in the _______ (specific community/niche).”

Some more examples:

  • I want to be a well-respected trial lawyer for personal injury plaintiffs in Illinois.
  • I want to be an innovator for the women’s apparel business in the Midwest.  (Hi, Mom.)
  • I want to be an active, present, and retired grandfather to my family.

Your “where you want to be” can and will change. For a while, mine was a “calculated risk-taking entrepreneur in the road-warrior consultant world.”  Now, it’s “an influential leader in the American Health and Wellness Advocacy community.” Later, it will be different.

But, I like where my “where you want to be” is now.

How about you with yours?