I was a little slow wishing those of the Jewish faith Happy Hannukah. But don’t be put off I’m a little slow wishing Merry Christmas! (Then again I still need to pick up the last of the gifts too! And I’m hoping one of the gifts will come in on time aka early.).

So to all those celebrating Christmas … religious or secular … I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

And thank you … blogging is a lonely, frantic, bit of hard work. Knowing that you have readers that appreciate your work is very important.

……………………………..

P.S.

I’m supposed to be taking next week off for the family and myself. A time to recharge and reflect. A time to set new plans and revise old ones. To set in motion things I’ve been avoiding.

In short, I’m probably not going to blog next week. So if you check and miss me … sorry, my bad!

Tags: Building an eBiz, celebrating christmas, hannukah, happy and prosperous new year, merry christmas and a happy new year, prosperous new year

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During this bit of familial nonsense, we ended up calling the police with respect to the theft of property (remember that he was renting and that there was no in-common involved). The phone call was less than satisfactory.

Let me be clear to begin. I believe that the ultimate answer was correct and that the constable was correct. Not in the path he took but in the end place.

The point is that when we callled, we got a very disinterested voice at the other end. He asked a number of questions and then said … “This is a civil matter, we can’t get involved. You’ll have to call your lawyer.”

Now I want to be clear that if we had pursued it as a theft (which it was), then we would have ended up with a number of angry relatives. And the end result would have been worse than the theft.

The key, though is that the constable came across as unwilling to bother taking the report — in other words, do his job.

On the other hand, I had a GPS stolen from my car. Not cool. So I called the police to report the theft. The constable took the report and then explained to me that there wasn’t much point in proceeding. That they would never find the thief nor the GPS and that outside of CSI & television, cars aren’t a good base for fingerprinting (too many hands touch). Again no help but this time the reasons were given and explained so that I agreed with his reasoning.

As entrepreneurs we are going to face this situation — both with ourselves,  our partners,  our employees and our suppliers.

Of course, I’m going to encourage you to ensure that your employees and suppliers do their jobs. After all, if they don’t you won’t survive!

But, more important, is to always appear to be doing the best possible job.

There are always going to be issues where the client isn’t going to get the solution they want. Either because of laws, or ramifications or just physical impossibilities.

Be the second officer … explain why it’s a bad idea (or … or … or ….) and help the client to understand why. Sell the client on not proceeding.

That way, you’ll be perceived as doing your job — and satisfying the client — and not just as avoiding work.

As entrepreneurs we need to ensure that our employees and suppliers understand how important this attitude and behaviour is. To the company, to the client and ultimately to themselves. In effect, selling isn’t just to yes, sometimes you need to sell no.

On the other hand is ourselves and our partners … especially when we’re solo.

Not only do we need to sell our clients on no, but we also need to make sure that we do our jobs — and maybe more — when there is no one there to push us.

Sometimes that is easier said than done.

That’s a big part of why so many internet marketing gurus push the “fix yourself” button so often.  Personally, I’m not a motivation kickstart kind of guy. I’m self-motivating and generally my bulls**t meter screams when I’m in some sort of “Get Motivated” type of presentation.

But the sad truth is if we don’t do it, it won’t get done. So we need to keep motivated.

To do that means we need to know ourselves. Do you need to be externally motivated? Do you need to be helped over the rough spots? Then you better find yourself a good coach and/or motivation guru (or both). Are you self motivating until you collapse? Then you need to identify the warning signs and how you will overcome collapses — which may mean a coach and guru or a beer and wings with a friend.  In case you are wondering, I want to be clear that a coach can and should be used for more than just motivation but I’m focusing on this aspect for this discussion.  In fact, you may find you need different coaches for different aspects of your business life.

In any case, the time to discover that you need motivation is not when you are sunk in the roots of despair.

As an entrepreneur one of the risks you must manage is the risk of your demotivating … and like all the other risk events, management means a plan to avoid (or encourage), and to overcome (or exploit). The one must occur prior to the event, and the other be ready on a moment’s notice if the event occurs.

Tags: bad idea, Building an eBiz, Building an eBiz, Creating Information Products, end result, job, jobs, Lessons, ramifications, time energy, Write a "how to" book

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Up until lately, I had thought that the sense of entitlement was limited to those who were younger than me. That my generation had created this sense as part of our growing up.

I was wrong.

My wife’s aunt demonstrated that very clearly. Because that was what was at the basis of her actions. She felt that she was entitled to anything Gerry had left behind.

As entrepreneurs we need to guard ourselves against this attitude … in ourselves, in our employees and in our clients. And learn to use it ethically.

So what is the sense of entitlement? It is a belief that for whatever reason, a person is entitled to something. That they have earned it, and they deserve it. That they should have it.

The truth, of course, is different. Yes, we may have worked for something. Yes, we may have, in the eyes of a rational God have earned it. But that is no guarantee that we actually will or should have it.

An entrepreneur sees this in their own actions. After all, we all work hard to build a business. We give up our time, energy and sweat. For those foolish enough we may even give up our family and health. But that is no guarantee of success. If it were far more people would be successful. And far fewer of the people who are, would be.

Life isn’t fair.

As entrepreneurs we need to leave the sense of entitlement behind. We need to try and try and try again. Sometimes succeeding, sometimes not. Sometimes failing through our own faults and sometimes suceeding despite them.

But never letting our sense of entitlement fool us into believing that we should stop or that we’ve earned our position. Because we haven’t. We may have paid for it, but we haven’t earned it.

We see it in our treatment of our suppliers. How many times have you said to a supplier … that’s too expensive, I can’t afford it. You should work for this amount. As if it’s their problem that you haven’t earned enough to pay the price. As Dan Kennedy recently remarked, “It’s not that the price is too high, it’s that your earnings are too low for it.”

We see it in our employees (or ourselves in that role).  We see it in how they treat customers. Do the customers owe us their custom just for having the products? Do they have to buy just because we’ve gone out of our way? We’ve all seen this sense of entitlement in the poor treatment we’ve had in major department stores. Clerks who were more interested in discussing their latest date than in serving the customer.

We see it in our customers. We see them believing that we should give them free information just because we did so in the past. We see them wanting to pay rates well below fair market. We see them chasing the cheapest price without regard for the quality of the product.

This sense of entitlement is a failing we all need to fight against. Both in ourselves and in others. The truth is much less pleasant but at least we deserve the result.

Tags: attitude, basis, belief that, Building an eBiz, Building an eBiz, business, Dan Kennedy, earnings, entrepreneur, health, sense of entitlement, time, time energy, truth

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It was James M Barrie through his character Peter Pan that said “I’ll never grow up”. (Well, actually I believe it was Disney that first paraphrased him).

But there comes a time when everyone needs to grow up. And a time when everyone needs to not grow up!

From an entrepreneur’s viewpoint growing up is a two edged sword. Well, make that a triple-edged sword!

An entrepreneur must grow up enough to recognize and accept his own mistakes. After all, risk is the name of the game being played. And sometimes the other half of the risk game (impact) is in the negative when the risk bill needs to be paid.

There are two parts to the risk equation. Unfortunately, most people don’t understand the equation. An entrepreneur must understand the equation because he’s going to be playing the risk game.

What’s the equation? Risk times impact equals exposure. In every day English, risk is this bad, bad thing. We expose ourselves to risk. We’re caught by risk. He risked everything!

But risk really only means a probability not equal to one.  In short, if it isn’t certain, it’s a risk.  Good, bad, doesn’t matter. (Webster’s defines it wrong btw it has a very precise mathematical/probabilistic meaning). The good or bad is part of the risk impact (which can be good or bad). So winning the lottery has a risk associated with it (about the same as being hit by lightning) plus a good impact. So it has a net good exposure … if nearing zero can be called good! Until you buy the ticket … then it has a bad net exposure. Why? The cost of the ticket is usually higher than the exposure.

The point is that if you are going to play the game, you better grow up quick and realize you aren’t going to win all the time! That’s the other half of the game, you see. Sometimes when the impact is good (or even great) the risk just doesn’t come through. And sometimes, when the impact is bad it does. The key is to learn how to manipulate the risk so that it happens more often when the impact is good and less often when the impact is bad.

And that just because you’ve failed doesn’t mean that you did it wrong, or you’re wrong or anything else. It just means you weren’t lucky this time.

Of course, you also need to learn from what you’ve done. Which takes maturity.

The other cutting edge is emotional maturity. Learning to accept others’ failings. Learning to accept your own failings. In short, growing up emotionally.

The final cutting edge is the back edge.

Learning to NOT grow up.

Keeping that sense of wonder that opens your mind to new experiences.

Keeping that sense of exploration that what happens if … that opens your mind to constant learning.

Keeping that sense of fun, that is its own reward.

It’s this last blade that is the true cutting edge of entrepreneurial thought. The edge that cuts through the calcification that seeks to stratify those who do not understand the true entrepreneurial spirit.

Tags: Building an eBiz, business, entrepreneur, learning, nearing zero, Peter Pan, probability, risk game, triple edged sword, winning the lottery

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My birthday was on Monday (will be to me – I’m writing this on Sunday) . And I’m now officially old. Well, actually I’ve been old for some time now. These grey hairs have been well earned. Even if they did appear overnight (FYI, I got sick and almost died of a blood infection several years ago, my hair turned white as a result and has slowly (and somewhat unsuccessfully) been returning to brown. I figure I’ll have my old hair colour back somewhere around the age of 102. ‘Course I don’t think I’ll live that long but … ).

Birthdays make a great time to reflect. Both on what’s been learned, and what’s been lost and also on where you stand.

There is a tendency in our society to believe that people past that certain age (either 30 or 40 depending on your age), aren’t able to handle the new technology and the changes of modern life. In short, they’re old and ready for pasture.

It ain’t necessarily so, bucko!

Since I turned 55 (not this year btw), I’ve started three new businesses, written three books, learned two new professions, discarded one profession, resurrected one profession and read many, many books.  Right at the moment, I’m looking at innovative marketing to resurrect one profession, launching another business (copywriting and web content …. ContentCreators.ca) and writing two new books. All at the advanced level of calcification of 57.

In short, I’m not ready to be buried quite yet.

Bluntly, it’s my leg that’s calcified NOT my brain.

Getting older can mean becoming more experienced. And yes, it can mean becoming set in one’s ways. And it can mean becoming less open to change. And it can mean reduction in energy levels.

But it doesn’t have to.

We each set our own rules. We live our own lives. And we make of them exactly what we want them to be.  If that means mental calcification, then so be it. I’ve met many mentally arthritic people in my life time … some of them were even out of their teens and twenties!

Mental arthritis is a function of exercise NOT of age. Sorry, just as I’ve met 90 year olds who were able to walk long distances (my great aunt regularly walked 10 blocks at the age of 103), I’ve met twenty-somethings who could not accept that change happens.

I’ve met many people with so-called twenty years of experience who’ve actually had one year of experience repeated twenty times.

So are you getting older? Or are you becoming more experienced?

Those things you want in life will only happen if you make them happen. Do you want to work for yourself? Then open a business. Now. Today. Not tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes. Do it now. You aren’t too old. What are you afraid of?

Because the fear of change is really just a fear of something else.

Find out what you are afraid of, and manufacture, if you have to, a reason to do what you need to do. A reason that is more powerful than your fear.

Do something new. Every day. And don’t fall prey to mental arthritis.

And the next time someone says to you “He’s too old to be able to do the job”, remind them that mental arthritis is more likely to occur in those who aren’t looking for it — namely the young!

Tags: arthritis, Building an eBiz, Change, copywriting, grey hairs, innovative marketing, new businesses, new technology, professions, three books, two new books, web content

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I don’t do this too often but … check out Frank Kern & Mass Control. He has just loaded a video in which he discusses some of the current trends in internet marketing and what he sees as going down over the next year.

If you are a bricks & mortar, bricks & clicks or internet marketer — or looking to become one — check out what he has to say.

Tags: bricks, Building an eBiz, check, Control, current trends, frank kern, internet marketer, internet marketing, Kern, Mass, mass control, mortar, Trends

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As you may know if you’ve been reading my posts for awhile, my father-in-law died about two months ago. (On life and death – part 1, part 2)  We spent a week or so in Ottawa, making arrangements and cleaning up his apartment. At least as far as we were able. After all we are talking about 15 years or so in the same dark, mildewed basement.

When we finally overloaded the van, we had a whole mess load of stuff still to pack. At least a day or two of work yet to be done. Including leaving his ashes on his counter (immediate burial wasn’t possible).

Arrangements were made to return in December to finish cleaning up.

Everything was ready for our return … or so we thought.

Of course, we had some problems scheduling — resolved. And Lisa’s Aunt didn’t seem particularly happy that we were returning.  She also was angry at us for having removed “anything of value” as she put it.

Well, on Friday, we returned. We found out why she wasn’t happy.

By the way, did I mention that this hell-hole was owned by Lisa’s Aunt? (I know I mentioned the fact that she didn’t bother to tell either of her nieces that Gerry was in the hospital dieing.)

It was a long, dangerous drive up to Ottawa in the first blizzard of winter.  Okay, I exagerate. On the edge of the first blizzard. That still means that we drove by 10 car pileups from the whiteouts on the 401. For those of you not familiar with the Highway of Heroes,  the McDonald Cartier Freeway has parts of it which are frankly dangerous in the winter. Especially around Gananoque the highway ices and is subject to blowing snow (aka whiteouts).  So accidents are quite frequent.

Needless to say, I was not really able to navigate the stairs so my wife and her friend went down on their own. The scream from the basement was heart wrenching.

This woman and her friends had emptied the apartment. Photographs had been thrown out (we found some in the garbage). Tools belonging to Lisa’s grandfather had disappeared.  As had all the small appliances, expensive knives and cooking utensils and anything smaller than a desk. Even Lisa’s father’s ashes had disappeared (fortunately found later, below blankets in his bedroom). Even the freezer had disappeared (admittedly we knew about that). The only thing left was what they felt was unimportant and the garbage.

Saturday we spent showing our friend around Ottawa. We even saw the Olympic torch run. That may seem strange but it gave Lisa’s aunt some time to call her “friends” and try to get some of the stuff back. Of course, they denied that they had taken anything. And despite a call to the police, nothing was accomplished.

On Saturday evening, I drove us back to Toronto.  Staying another night was not on.

I’m writing this on Sunday (which is when I try to write my blog posts for the week).  And despite being half asleep, I’m still angry.  Or is it protective? Or is there a difference?

Kharma is a bitch … at least, I hope it will be.

But out of this mess, I have several weeks worth of comments on the sense of entitlement, willingness to do one’s job and other topics for the building your ebusiness portion of this blog. I’ll try to break them up.

But today (as in Monday when this post is published) is my birthday. So my posts this week will be on getting older and better (from an entrepreneur’s viewpoint).  Then next week, I’ll talk about entitlement and doing one’s job and one other subject yet to be determined. Which will take us up to Christmas. *BTW Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends – think of your family when you light the candles tonight and the next few nights. And be thankful.

So entrepreneurs and small business people gather round and listen to me rant. And I’ll try to make it instructive.

Get Learning and Get Earning

Glen Ford

Tags: Building an eBiz, Building an eBiz, dangerous drive, highway of heroes, life and death, point of view

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Okay, up to this point I’ve kind of kept to just how to books. After all, my book and course focus on how to books.

How to Write Your How To Book in 24 hrs or Less

… sort of obvious eh?

But what is a how to book? It’s just a particular form or media to carry learning content.

In other words, we happen to be using it to teach but we could as easily be using another format for teaching the same material.

In fact, we often want to.

Why?

Two principle reasons … other forms are easier to learn from and easier to generate. Duh? So why are we even bothering with books? The answer is twofold. First, some people need to have it in writing in order to learn (actually a small but important percentage).  But more importantly from the entrepreneur and consultant’s point of view, people value books more. Publish a book and gain instant credibility! A book needs to be one of the cornerstones of your expert marketing effort.

But that’s not the topic of this post. (Do some hunting … I’ve discussed it before and will again later.)

The point of all that is that some of the other types of learning content are like articles and blog posts. Short and quick and easy to get out. And really, really hungry for topics!

Man they just chew topics like CRAZY!

So how do you come up with topics for these topic munchers.  Now I’m not talking about the alternative forms of the material. That’s where the book is repeated in book, webinar, video and audio formats. I’m more talking about the small “articles” you’ll need around the topic for marketing purposes and blogs.

First start with your topic …. say writing how to books (self serving ain’t I?).

Then ask 7 to 9 questions about the topic that you think you’re audience might like to know.  Of course, asking your audience is the best way to create this list. And easier too! But you can create your own list by adding words and deleting words. Start your questions off with How, why, when, where, what, who. Try to concentrate on the things that would be important to your customers/audience. Things like money are always important.

So let’s say I make up the following list …

1. How do I write how to books?
2. Why should I write how to books?
3. When should I write how to books?
4. Where should I write how to books?
5. What topics should I write how to books about?
6. Who should write how to books?
7. How can I make money writing how to books?
8. How can I make a difference writing how to books?

Once you’ve got that list, you’ve should be able to pick out at least 5-7 which are suitable. By suitable I mean small and reasonably tight. After all “How do I write how to books?” kind of covers the whole topic! But doing a short summary might work.

Now take that list and come up with some related questions your audience might have about the topic.  Keep in mind Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

So for example, if I take “How do I write how to books?” and expand on that I might get

1. How do I write well
2. How do I develop topics
3. How do I determine chapters
4. How do I create a content map
5. How do I determine what my audience really wants
6. How do I make money with books
7. How do I edit books

I could go on but you get the idea. By the time you finish the second level you’ll have at least 49 topics.  Now expand on those and you’ll be somewhere in the area of 343 topics.

See … there’s lots of topics. And I haven’t even mentioned the lists (top 10,  7 ways to, the 5 things you must know).

Of course, there’s one problem with this method.

Okay, two problems; the amount of work involved, and the fact that you may or may not hit the problems your reader is interested in.

If you ask your audience – and they bother to tell you — you’ll get a much better list of the problems they’re encountering.  Address those problems and you’ll have a much better list of topics.

The key is getting audience involvement.

Hint, hint!

Tags: audience, blog, book, cornerstones, course focus, Creating Information Products, Creating Information Products, credibility, entrepreneur, expert marketing, format, how to, hunting, IM, point of view, presenting information, principle reasons, summary, theme, Themes, topic, Write, Write a "how to" book, writing, writing how to books

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Okay, this blog is as much yours as it is mine. I’m having fun writing it — even if it is a lot of work!

But I really want it to be relevant to you.

I can go looking for topics that are giving people problems but … I’d rather write about things that matter to you!

So … What would you like me to write about?

What is you biggest problem you face, writing your own how to book?

What would like to know about?

Or would you rather I switch to flogging LearningCreators.com (i.e. the book and coaching) and LearningCreators.ca (the service and consulting).

Let me know what you want … PLEASE!!!!!

Tags: Building an eBiz, Creating Information Products, Write a "how to" book

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So over the last two weeks I’ve talked about the four types of books and why the Content Mapping System works for them – or doesn’t.

While the system isn’t a panacea and it doesn’t work for all books, it does work in most cases for how to books and why to books. In short, most non-fiction.

This is true because most non-fiction books are fact based regardless of their organization. Even if they are a simple collection, they still need to be organized. If they are a how to, they still need to be organized. So it doesn’t matter if they are sequential, fact-based or collections, they are still a set of facts that need to be organized. And the best system to do that is the Content Mapping System you can find here in video form (for free) or here in book form (not free).

A minor exception to the above rule is sequential based books. With sequential or process based books you need to add pretty pictures. In other words, flow or process diagrams. But the basic Content Map system works quite well and does allow for adding this type of information. (Yes, believe it or not it is a function of the tool. We don’t talk about it very much but it is part of the proper use of the tool.)

The major exception to the above are time based books. These are histories, (auto-)biographies and fiction. Because they are time based they need a tool which is time based … in other words a time chart based system. Sorry but the Content Mapping system just isn’t the right system for those books.

A couple of final comments.

First, an historical analysis is not a time based book. It is primarily a fact based book. Having said that you may want to use a time chart to help document the  occurence of the actions which you are analysing. This leads to the second comment.

The system allows you to use pictures and diagrams when they communicate the information better than words. Don’t be afraid to use them! After all a picture is worth a thousand words. This also applies within your book. Sometimes words are not the best tools to communicate with. Sometimes pictures are. Never be afraid of diagrams. And don’t forget to use boxes … those little  quick fact summary boxes you see in some books or at the side of articles. They help to seperate the book and to emphasize key facts.

So enjoy the Content Mapping System and learn to write books in less than 24 hours. Just remember that the system doesn’t work for all books, just non-fiction. It works great for how to books!

Enjoy, learn & get earning.

Glen Ford
& the LearningCreators team

Tags: analysis, argument, based books, biographies, book, brain, brainstorming, Building an eBiz, business, collection, collections, complete system, course, Creating Information Products, Diagram, ebook, exception, fact, Fiction, fiction book, flow, form, histories, how to, internet marketers, map, Mapping, mapping system, method, non fiction books, occurence, organization, presentation, presenting information, pretty pictures, process, semantic network, sequential, set, structure, summary, system, technique, time chart, tool, Use, Write, Write a "how to" book, Write a "how to" book, writing, writing hints, writing how to books

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