The Evolution Of An Opportunity

Recently I was offered a monthly post
on an up and coming romance review site.

Why did I get offered this opportunity?
Because of this blog.

3 years ago I started blogging here
(or rather on the former RoadToForbes.com site).
2 years ago,
because of this blog,
I got offered a blog partnership at NoLimitsLadies.
1 year ago,
because of those two blogs,
I got offered a post every 2 months
at the high profile RomancingTheBlog.
This year… the much coveted review post.

Each opportunity built on the previous.
That’s how connections are made and
opportunities present themselves.

Richard Branson And The MavHERick Mind

When Liz Pabon in her book
The MavHERick Mind
defined a leader as
“someone that is willing to do what other won’t
and do so with empathy and understanding,”
I thought of Richard Branson’s first airline seat sale.

He and many other passengers
were stranded after a flight got cancelled.
Instead of waiting for someone else
to figure out how to get him to his destination,
Richard Branson took the lead,
chartering a plane and
selling the extra seats.

Everyone on that flight could have done the same.
They didn’t.
Only Richard Branson did
and, I would venture,
he is the only one now a billionaire.

The Encyclopedia Of Life

When I first heard about
The Encyclopedia Of Life,
a wikipedia for biodiversity,
I thought “hasn’t this been done already?”

Actually no.
Not on the internet nor in print.
There is no single reference
containing every species on Earth.
In fact, the 1.8 million species number
people throw around
is just an educated guess.
No one knows how many species there are.
Because no one has a comprehensive list.

So next time,
you think everything needed
is already supplied,
think again.

Arguing

When I was young,
I would argue a fact I knew rock solid
until the other person conceded
or walked away.

Today, I’m the one walking away.
I state my case,
why I’m qualified to have an opinion,
and then stop talking.

Why?
Because in all the years of arguing,
I’ve never changed a made up mind.
I simply wasted my time
and got myself irritated.

Neither is conducive to success.

DPI, Image Quality, And Promotion

With the advertising for my upcoming book launch,
I’ve collected a folder full of cover art images.

Why?
Because that folder is needed.
Every advertising venue has a different size requirement
and these sizes have to be exact
or the advertiser will be charged a penalty or worse, rejected entirely.

There is also an image quality requirement.
90 DPI (dots per inch) is the standard
for web/e-publishing
as the average screen can’t resolve higher.
Print, though, print requires a higher quality.
300 DPI is the minimum and usually standard
but the requirement can reach over 1200 DPI.

So when designing images or artwork or logos,
start at a high DPI.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Proprietary Systems And Mass Market Adoption

Entrepreneurs are naturally protective of ideas.
We prefer to own everything associated with our product
including the entire product chain and
all spin off products.

But as venture capitalist Andrew Waitman says
“as long as systems are proprietary and not inter-operable,
cost will prevent mass market adoption.”

In other words,
we simply don’t have the resources to cover the world,
to do everything.
So we cheat.
We partner
and we give away information,
gambling that these small allowances
will allow for bigger gains.

Preparation For The Road Ahead

Many of us feel that if we make “it”
(it being whatever destination we’re moving towards),
our troubles will be over.

Thus far, I haven’t seen that happen…
for anyone.

As our goals are reached,
we set new goals,
more challenging goals.

Today’s troubles are there
to prepare us for tomorrow’s greater ones.

As award winning author Ciara Gold was told,
“all the rejection letters you receive
help you prepare for dealing with tough reviews.”

So enjoy each stage of the game.

Be Happy, But Not Too Happy

A study by
the University of Virginia,
the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign,
and Michigan State
shows that people who are moderately happy
earn more than both
the extremely happy and
the extremely unhappy.

That makes sense.
Optimism is needed to overcome challenges
but hunger is needed to push forward.
The ideal is having a mix of both.

Good Friday, The Panic Of 1907, And The Power Of Story

Salesmen know stories sell.
Even on number driven Wall Street.

The New York Stock Exchange,
during its 144 years plus of history,
has only been open 3 Good Friday’s.
1898, 1906 and 1907.

Why?
Legend has it that,
despite protest by Irish-Catholic traders,
the markets opened on Good Friday, 1907
and that this “caused” the Panic of 1907.

Logic, facts, prove otherwise
but the legend persists.

A good story lives forever.

Published
Categorized as Sales