Is Television Really Bad for the Mind?

At a recent networking meeting, the presenter included bullet items of methods they used to enhance their business lead generation on their slide presentation. One of the items on the list was to watch TV. This is a tactic they use to become part of the social conversation.

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, watching television during prime time hours is not strictly a waste of productive time. Your prospects and customers watch TV. While they are going about their daily lives, they chat with others about what they’ve seen. Some even look up information on the internet during or following a program. Why not leverage these facts to build your business?

Established companies in all vertical markets are able to invest in television advertising and those ads can give budding entrepreneurs great information about consumer interests, and possibly new ideas for how they might create a product for their own business. Most of us are aware that prime time advertising comes at a premium price. If you have already identified your niche market, tune in when those programs are airing to find out what is being advertised and how those campaigns are structured. If you haven’t identified your niche, sample prime time programs on various stations to gain an understanding about what is being marketed to various segments.

Let’s take some obvious examples. Identity theft is perceived as a huge problem with the expansion of the internet for shopping and record keeping. Banks and credit unions advertise their security while also promoting their ease of use. Credit repair affects younger people. The clever ads with the minstrels at the Renaissance Fair, on a roller coaster, or leaving the car lot in a clunker make this crystal clear. With the growing population of Baby Boomers in their 50s, who are trying to avoid aging or pain, advertisements for potions and pills which answer these concerns are prevalent during dramas and documentaries.

To become part of “the conversation” for your market niche, your content could leverage titles for popular television shows, either in your product name or articles you are publishing. About a year ago, this theory was validated by writing an article about Big Foot when the creature was a hot topic in the news. It works.

Maybe you really hate the thought of watching television. If so, you can visit your local magazine rack and buy periodicals targeting various niches to see what is advertised within. From inserts to smaller text ads, clues about the interests of that niche will come clearer. You can also take a stab at finding websites which target market segments but the relevance of Google Ads is based upon on page content and not actually a good predictor of visitor interests, especially if the content is free.

The upshot of this post is no revelation to some but it may be the missing puzzle piece the causes things to come together for another. As always, I conclude with a friendly remainder to perform due diligence on any business decision you make and, if this bears out, have some sort of market plan to guide your movement forward into the fast lane.

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Flash Forward with Business

Flash forwards are used in movies to interrupt the continuity of the story line through the narration or portrayal of some future episode.  If we liken our mental gymnastics to a movie or play, our daydreams are nothing other than flash forwards.

Similar to the great new TV series on ABC, some of our imagined scripts are pleasant and some are less so.  Either way, the film director in our minds has set the stage and played out events that are expected, projected or imagined to occur in the future.  The polar opposite of a flash forward is a flashback, which are the stories that have occurred in our pasts that we use to guide our judgments.

Finding success takes much more than positive thinking and watching training videos.  All that we take in is supposed to be applied.  Measuring our success against another person’s can cause us to stall in our forward progress.  For example, if one of our colleagues has tried out a program and made good income in a minimal amount of time and our attempts do not produce a similar or greater amount as quickly using their same methods, we can easily talk ourselves out of proceeding with our plans.  That doesn’t mean it didn’t work.  It means that those methods used by your colleague do not work for you.

In the movie Hitch, perseverance is defined as continuing with a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition, or previous disappointment.  Man!  Does that ever describe the mindset needed to effect change in your business or in your life but let’s stick to business.  Like kissing frogs to find a prince, programs that we try can manifest what we are looking for … or not.  Using the proverbial “cup is half full” viewpoint, we must be adaptable and take things in stride, fully aware that each one has taught us something that we can leverage down the road.  Eventually one will be “the answer” or spark a brand new idea that cannot be quashed by anyone or anything.

So what if your idea isn’t unique?  If the information or product isn’t readily available for free, you have found something you can monetize.  Pining over worries that your new idea will not be as popular as a similar one you have heard of or tried is a flash forward can keep you from innovating something even better.  Clairfy your thoughts, jot down your idea, conduct your market research and, if the results of your findings reveal a niche market that you can go after and hope to dominate, continue by defining your market strategy and business plan.  Once you know where you’re going and how you will get there, it is full steam ahead!

Frequently, our ideas are born from personal needs.  As the old adage goes, necessity is the mother of invention.  It is the truth that there were no wheels, once upon a time.  There are literally millions of examples just like that in your everyday life, once you stop to think about them.  Each of those inventors and entrepreneurs may have sounded like lunatics when their ideas were new but they didn’t let that stop them, thank goodness.

Brilliance is everyone’s birthright, isn’t it?  Whether or not we made the Dean’s List at school, we all come up with amazing ideas which seem mundane to us and others view as being strokes of genius.  You will know when you have latched onto one of these.  When your light bulb moment consumes your waking thoughts and is exciting enough to keep you from hitting the snooze button in the morning, promote it to a passion.  You know it is right, you know people need it, and you must do what is necessary to bring it to them.

Your Flash Forward doesn’t have to be a flash in the pan.  You know what you must do.  Quit thinking and talking about it and get to work!

The Most Successful Entrepreneur

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of my new life in the place that I’ve always wanted to live … San Diego, California.  This transition would not have been possible if I had not decided to become an internet entrepreneur and learned what it takes to get income online.

The year has been personally exciting.  It was delightful to experience a winter without sub-zero temperatures, far too much snow, and long, dark, gray days.  Enjoying bright and sunny 80 degree days for the Holidays, without the temperature being an anomaly, put a smile on my face too.  I haven’t tired of driving through the marvelous mountains while traveling around the area on business and roaming along the shores of the Pacific Ocean whenever I choose to is nothing other than magical.

From a business perspective, San Diego has opened new doors of opportunity.  For example, I was privileged to attend a local chapter meeting of Glazer-Kennedy’s Insider Circle this evening.  After some power networking and a few business card trades, I gazed around the room to see what sorts of people were also interested in moving their business beyond mediocrity.  Attendees came from all walks of life.  There were lawyers, doctors, building contractors, mechanics, holistic practitioners, artists, and, of course, non-pretentious internet millionaires in baseball caps.  What was most important was one common thread.  Each person in that room was there because they knew that there is always something more to learn.

Equally interesting to me was one of the motivational posters taped to the wall which read:

The most successful entrepreneur is the loneliest person in the world

I’ve experienced some entrepreneurial success and I totally  understand that statement from personal experience…

It isn’t that entrepreneurs are aloof or choose to walk alone but the road we are on is certainly a road less traveled.  When the scent which will lead to success is found, it requires fastidious and incisive intellect to hone in upon the source and follow the trail.

Sometimes discovery leads to changing strategies or tactics but the rewards are great when things begin to come together.  The path might not be straight forward and seeing around the bend requires occasional leaps of faith, at times.  One of the most important skills you must have is to stay the course and believe in your vision.

Strategic Analysis – An Entrepreneur’s Best Friend

When you are disappointed by anything, what are your tactics for overcoming that feeling? Not so long ago, my grandson answered that random question in this way:

“Oh … I just look out the window and take some action.”

My curiosity was satisfied through further inquiry. The action that this astute 6-year old boy takes is to imagine that he has gotten what he wanted to have. Without thinking too hard, he knows how to do something that many people have paid money and invested many hours to learn. My grandson mentally rewrites the story so it ends in a way that he can feel happy. He shifts his mindset!

Whether this is intuition or instinct remains a curiosity but there is no doubt that my grandson’s method works. Envisioning a desired outcome enables you to see, hear, and feel it in such a way that it can become real. It is the basis of the popular Law of Attraction philosophy.

Envisioning what you want to go after is only the beginning, however. After you’ve imagined it, you need to perform some soul-searching that measures your personal readiness to operate in that niche, as well as performing due diligence about the future you have envisioned.

Two models are used for strategic analysis in business; PEST and SWOT.

A PEST analysis should always occur first. It measures a market, including competitors, against four external factors; Political, Economic, Social, and Technological. When conducting this phase of due diligence, it is critical to be crystal clear about the market aspect you are addressing so you can observe the external factors from any of the following standpoints:

• a company looking at its market
• a product looking at its market
• a brand in relation to its market
• a local business unit
• a strategic option, such as entering a new market
• a potential acquisition
• a potential partnership
• an investment opportunity

Within each of the aspects of a PEST analysis, there are several details that need to be evaluated. This analysis may seem more useful and relevant for larger propositions, but very small businesses can use it to locate significant issues that might otherwise be overlooked.

A SWOT Analysis evaluates the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This tool measures a proposition or idea, including competitors, and assists with understanding and decision-making for many business situations. Here are some examples of what a SWOT analysis can help you assess:

• a company (its market position, commercial viability, etc.)
• a sales distribution method
• a product or brand
• a business idea
• a strategic option, such as entering a new market or launching a new product
• an acquisition
• a potential partnership
• supplier changes
• outsourcing services, activities or resources
• an investment opportunity

Strategic Planning may not seem essential but, even if you are the only one at the party, careful evaluation of any business action prior to making an investment is prudent. In a small way and somewhat unconsciously, we perform these analyses every time we go to the grocery store so it makes perfect sense to do so when considering a business, doesn’t it?

At internet speed, the pressure to act quickly is always a factor when deciding whether or not to pursue something. Whether the decision involves $5 or $5,000, the result is the same if that business doesn’t pan out and there is no one to blame but yourself if you have taken no time to investigate it.

Using PEST and SWOT templates to evaluate your plans will force you to think through all the aspects of whatever you are investigating.  The internet is a remarkable asset in this research but it should not be your only resource. And, if your research reveals that your idea is not all that you had originally envisioned, young children also teach us something else. When they are interested in what they’re doing, a fall rarely causes them to stop playing the game.

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Occam’s razor and internet marketing

The other night, while watching a movie entitled “Contact”, the dialogue referenced a principle called Occam’s Razor. Call me crazed, but I’m always pondering the aspects of internet marketing that I hear people complain about most frequently. When I considered Occam’s Razor, I suddenly realized that this principle covers most of those complaints quite handily.

Wikipedia describes Occam’s Razor in this way:

“The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory.”

Now, let’s test this principle against some complaints I’ve heard recently, for the sake of making my point.

Complaint #1 seems to be; “I don’t have time for fill-in-the-blank.”

Let’s assume that all of us have about one third of our day to spend on business building activities, which leaves 8 hours for working, if one has a job, and 8 hours for sleeping. If you are inspired to create an online income with a product or business opportunity, you must break down the tasks related to your vision that need to be completed so you can do this into manageable chunks and prioritize them to reach your goal.

Consider your time to be like a household budget. There is only so much time that you have to spend. Sometimes, we begin by tracking how we are currently spending our finite resources. This study can reveal unnecessary “expenses” and provide insights as to how to stretch our constrained resources.

It doesn’t matter if the study is about money or time; the principle that leads to correct action is the same. If you are spending your “free time” on things that do not further your financial goals, you need to make better choices about how much of your time you are investing on those things.

If you honestly evaluate your time, I’m sure you will find that the only thing standing between you and success is yourself.

Complaint #2 seems to be; “This is a scam.”

I’m sure many of you have heard the quote, “There is a sucker born every minute.” As an aside, you may be interested in the history of this quote according to History Buff’s website. For all intent and purpose, the story told here perfectly describes some of what I’ve witnessed with some internet marketing opportunities.

Having learned quite a bit about internet marketing, SEO, and keyword research, I am better armed for checking out any online offer. The first thing that I always do is to find out how many people are offering the same thing to find out if the market is saturated. This can be done quite easily using Google. If this passes my scrutiny, I will invest time in evaluating how I might better monetize the same offer.

Applying the principles of Occam’s Razor, however, the simplest truth is that there are no scams and it is up to us, as consumers, to perform due diligence on any business opportunity, product offering, or other proposal that we choose to accept and pay money for. I’m not necessarily an advocate who claims you must work hard to earn money but hype marketing messages that suggest vast earnings with NO involvement or personal effort always fail the sniff test for me. On the other hand, some free things that claimed to be helpful have really been free and also provided significant benefit.

Complaint #3 seems to be; “I can’t stay focused!”

We are bombarded daily by Skype and Email offers so it is very hard to not get distracted. Although a little rambleitis can be fun and lead us to exciting new ideas we hadn’t previously imagined, it is up to us to ensure that the business opportunities that we choose to join dovetail with our personal or business passions and interests.

Do you have Internet Marketing Attention Deficit Disorder? Are you crazily pursing everything that comes to your attention with the hopes that one of them will be the one that finally works? If you are involved with a dozen different business opportunities that have nothing to do with each other, creating a scenario where you cannot leverage either time or content, how in the world do you expect to maintain focus?

I recommend that you ask yourself these questions about every new idea that is presented:

1) Does the business model make sense?
2) Does this opportunity agree with my needs, passions or interests?
3) Will it be possible to leverage content or knowledge from anything else I’m involved in so I can economize on my time spent building the business?

Complaint #4, my personal favorite, is; “I can’t seem to get anything done!”

Here is where we really can rely on the principle of Occam’s Razor! If we are not getting anything done, there can only be one of two causes:

1) What we think we need to do isn’t important enough to do
2) We aren’t doing what we must to finish it.

The bottom line is, the decision to succeed is ours to make everyday.

Speaking of not getting anything done, I must get back to my work. Thanks for stopping by!

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