What Does It All Mean?

Have you ever stopped for a moment and thought about the progression of information technology (namely, The Internet and Computing)?

If anyone has any doubts about where the future of their business lies, just watch this:

 

 

Comments?  Would love to hear what you think. Click the comment link below the Social Bookmark links and sound off.

Until next time!

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Ed

 

Interruptions: Are You a Victim?

“Interruptions are in the eye of the interrupted.”

 

Information that you think is important to your business, may simply be an interruption to your business goals.

 

An interruption is external. It’s a break in continuity, something unexpected that “pops up” and causes you to divert your attention.  Examples: Someone calling your name, an e-mail alert on your computer, a ringing phone, a raindrop falling on your head, a bowling bowl dropped in your lap.  Interruptions grab our attention by diverting our focus.

A distraction is internal.  It’s an emotional disturbance that requires our own compliance.  It’s your mind thinking about lunch options while you are in an important business meeting.  It’s a gaze out the window to watch the birds fly by or the feeling that you left your iron on in the laundry room.  There’s an underlying cause for distractions that divides our attention in a subtle way.  Distractions may seem like harmless “white noise,” but they can be quite, well, distracting.

 

Workplace interruptions and distractions serve one disturbing purpose: They take us off course.  Every time we “follow the bouncing ball,” our business goals get pushed aside.

By taking your focus off the “big task” of what your business needs (more on this in a sec…), your vision becomes clouded, your message muddled, your decisions diluted and delayed.

 

What’s even worse is that it becomes a habit. You end up conditioning your brain to respond in a similar fashion in the future.  In essence, you are re-wiring your brain to work against you.

 

There’s a real reason why many racehorses run with blinders on. It’s so they’ll stay focused on the task at hand – winning.

 

So why is it so difficult for entrepreneurs to do the same? Why don’t we work with blinders on, avoiding interruptions so we can focus on growing our business and achieving our goals?

 

Maybe it’s because you love being in the race more than you love achieving the results. You enjoy the “busyness” of your business, but are unwilling to get serious about doing what it takes to succeed. You’re allowing distractions and interruptions to pull you away from your business goals.

 

How can you avoid the interruptions that are distracting you from your work?

 

An easy answer is to work in solitary confinement, but that has its own downside, and is a bit unrealistic.  A better answer comes from asking a better question:  Why are you allowing yourself to be so easily distracted?

 

No one makes us answer e-mails.  There is no law, under penalty of death, to respond immediately to instant messages or a ringing telephone.

 

We can avoid interruptions and distractions if we want to do so. So why do we allow this to happen?

 

It’s always easier to blame an outside source for our troubles – a computer, a colleague, a PDA – rather than take that terrifying look inside ourselves to see what is lurking among the cobwebs.

 

Are we are our own worst enemy when it comes to distraction?  Are we the cause of our own interruptions that take us off the path to success and down a spiraling path toward procrastination and diminished productivity?

 

Think about it for a moment.  Each time you sit down in front of the computer you should do so with an ultimate goal: task completion.  But getting from Point A to Point B in your business is rarely a direct line of progression – at least, that’s what you’ve been telling yourself.

 

The demands on our attention are infinite, but our attention is finite. So we have to keep focused on the goal of winning.

 

Every time we turn our attention away from our purpose – task completion – and toward something else (i.e., reading e-mail, mindlessly surfing the Web, chasing butterflies, chatting on the phone), we imperil our business goals and do our customers a great disservice.

 

We can choose to blame technology, our neighbors, family and friends, but really the blame is our own.  It is our own refusal – note, I did not say “inability” – to eliminate the interruptions and distractions that cause frustration and prevent us from achieving ultimate success.

 

By allowing interruptions to sidetrack us – by giving in to the pull of distraction – we simply delay our primary gratification: the knowledge and pride in a job well done and the financial reward that comes with it.

 

Instead of doing what your business needs you to do, you end up doing what you want to do.

 

Let’s put that in perspective. You may not want to change diapers, but your children need you to do it. You may not want to pay taxes, but it’s probably a good idea to complete them on time each year.  In both cases, you just have to hold your nose and get it done.

 

Successful entrepreneurs (in the right business) love their businesses.  They shouldn’t “have to” do the job; they should “want to” do what is best for business development and ultimate reward.

 

This creates another immediate concern:

 

Do you know what your business really needs of you?

 

If not, all of the time you waste through “distraction” may really be the fault of your own “indecision.” You must decide what your business needs from you (in a step-by-step list of tasks) and eliminate the interruptions and distractions so you can get it done.

 

Early radio and television programs used to be interrupted by breathless announcers with a familiar refrain: “We interrupt this message to bring you a special announcement…” The message grabbed your attention and wouldn’t let go until you absorbed it, at which time you were “returned to your regularly scheduled programming.”

 

It’s time to get clear about what you need to do, focus your attention and “get with the program” of working on what matters.

 

So, why are you not achieving your business goals faster?

 

Do you have an interruption problem, a distraction problem, or an indecision problem? (Share your thoughts on this here by leaving a comment)

 

Sometimes introspection can be a painful journey of discovery, but one we all must take.

 

So do it right now, right here… Then get back to work!

 

Have a great weekend!!

 

Ed

 

 

Great News Today!

You all know what an advocate I am against SPAM!

 

Please join me today as we celebrate the capture of what authorities believe is the “Spam King”. 🙂

 

Robert Soloway, a 27-year-old Seattle resident dubbed the “Spam King” by federal authorities and exasperated Web users (myself included!), allegedly ran his business from his apartment.

 

Soloway is accused of violating the federal CAN-SPAM Act, which criminalizes large, commercial e-mail messages sent using an unauthorized computer or with the intent to hide the e-mail’s original source. The allegations could put Soloway in prison for decades.

 

Federal prosecutors are also seeking $772,998 from Soloway, which represents the proceeds of his activity.

 

Authorities said Soloway, in an apparent effort to hide his true identity online, constantly shifted domains, including registering with Chinese Internet service providers.

 

Additionally, he used slave computers, called “botnets,” to send spam that advertised his corporate Web sites, which contained false headers to obscure their true origins.

 

I’d love to think I had something to do with Soloway’s demise… but no way to be sure.  I have taken a VERY active stance against spammers in the past six months, forwarding  hundreds of identifiable spam messages to federal authorities.  The FBI would neither confirm nor deny that any of my tips led to his arrest.  Oh well… at least they caught the sucker!!!!

 

Here’s the complete story from CNN if you care to read it:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/31/technology/spam_king/index.htm?section=money_topstories

 

Have a great week!

 

Ed

 

Secret to Success (and More Leads?)

As we near the end of another year… it never ceases to amaze me the number of folks who start crying the blues to me about how slow things are.. or how bad lead flow is.. or how far down sales are this year versus last, etc., etc.

 

Just like you, I’m constantly seeing advice on how to be successful. Usually it has to do with buying new technology, getting a new attitude, or learning new tricks of the trade. But over the years I’ve noticed something much simpler that almost always leads to success. I’m sure you’ve noticed it too: just keep moving!

 

No matter how little money you have, how little you know, or what your personal problems might be, you can eventually achieve success if you JUST KEEP TRYING.

 

Life seems to award the spoils to those who show up day after day. In most businesses, the real key to success is just being there.

 

Lately I’m seeing a lot of successful Internet and real estate businesses that started out in the late 90s with no money and little idea of what they were doing. How did they climb to the top? They didn’t give up! They just kept going, putting one foot in front of the other day after day, refusing to throw in the towel.

 

Nowhere in business is this more true than in marketing and advertising. I can just about guarantee your first ad won’t sell much. It’s your sixth, seventh, 101st ads that will deliver the goods.

 

You’ll have days that don’t go right, and times when quitting seem like the smart thing to do. But keep moving. Eventually your refusal to give up will create momentum for you and your project…and that always seems to lead to lucky breaks and better times.

 

This advice holds ESPECIALLY true when it comes to your advertising. Seems that when things slow down a bit.. the human tendancy is to pull back on that advertising. “No one is responding to the ads.. so let’s cut back right now until things pick back up.”

 

WORST THING YOU CAN DO FOLKS!!

 

As we enter this new year in just a couple of days… let me encourage you not to become frustrated with an ad that isn’t pulling what it once did. Don’t give up on a plan. If it was good enough to be a plan to begin with… STICK WITH IT! See it through!

 

I cannot tell you how much I have had to tell myself this over the past weeks. And so it is my year-end advice to each of you!

 

Stick with your marketing, even during slow times, it will carry you through and when times are good again, you’ll be GLAD you did!
Most of all… go in to 2007 with a clear vision as to where you want to be at this time next year! Plan your attack, and work your plan. If you don’t… next year at this time, you will be looking to 2008 in the exact same spot you are in now.

 

I simply love the line I know you’ve all seen at the bottom of my signature file, and I leave you with that today:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

Albert Einstein

 

Happy New Year everyone! I look forward to an exciting year in 2007!!
 

 

Ed