Unmarketing, ebooks, ebook readers, book reports, WOW!

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I just read a really cool post by author/speaker extraordinaire Scott Stratten THE AWESOMENESS OF BEING A 2.0 AUTHOR. The title didn’t grab me and at first I wasn’t going to read the post but I’m glad I took a few minutes to get hooked.

WOW! Read the post.

Lots of great stuff there, but here’s one thing I didn’t know about… the ability to track what Kindle users highlight (see Scott’s point #3).

I checked out the top books highlighted and here’s what I found… check out each of these links if you want to see what other people highlighted from various top/popular books:

Here are Scott Stratten’s highlights: UnMarketing.

Is this cool or what?  See the front page of this feature here.

Return Fraud – a telling tale of today’s thinking

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I was listening to the news a few nights ago and was disgusted at a story about return fraud. I had never heard of it but was shocked at how easy it is to do.

More shocking was the amount of money retailers say is lost because of return fraud: $14billion.

That is a LOT of money.

In this post it says it is between $9.6 billion and $16 billion.

Of course, we are paying for that in higher prices on what we buy, the cost of more security, audits, consultants, etc.

But how sad is it that there is this underground industry to steal from stores (and from people who shop there)?

Sad… of course, and not uncommon.

But $14B?

That is about 700,000 $20 shirts.  Or 350,000 $40 pairs of jeans.

What a disgusting story that tells.  This type of thinking is exactly what will lead to the demise of any society.

The Miracle Van – Goodbye

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Almost five years ago I got laid off.  My wife was pregnant with our fourth child and we had to change from our car (Toyota Avalon, which is like harnessing heaven on four wheels!) to a minivan.

It was hard to give up the Avalon but the story of how we got our van is a very cool story, and why we call it The Miracle Van.  Even with it’s bumps and bruises, we really appreciated the van because we got it in a time of desperation, and it represented the goodness of humanity (many people where involved in helping us get it, since there was no money to pay for it at the time).

Two weeks ago I had just started a two week trip with about a dozen speaking engagements.  I was in California at the time when I got the dreaded call from my FIL:

“First, everyone is okay….”

When he said that I thought ... “okay, I think that’s not the statement I want to hear when I first answer the phone… is he going to tell me something bad happened?”

My wife was in an accident that could have been very, very bad, but fortunately she, and our two youngest kids, where okay.

An accident is not good for anyone… but events leading up to this accident where, as we recognized, tender mercies.

For example:

  • I had lost my car keys a couple of years earlier, so we only had one set (has a chip in it and we never got around to getting a spare). Days earlier, my wife found the lost key in a coat she hadn’t worn for a long time.
  • Her dad was in town on a really strange errand, right when it happened, and was able to be at the accident and help until she got home and was okay.

In memoriam, here’s a picture of the van, post-accident… note the numbers (explanations below):

  1. There used to be something here.  Now there is nothing but a void.
  2. This tire used to face a completely different direction.
  3. This is about where my wife’s legs were at the time of the accident.  Fortunately nothing happened to her body, except from bruises and bumps.  Sooooo close to something more dangerous :s
  4. This is one of two mirrors, and the only mirror that was intact.  Our other mirror had a few bouts with the side of the garage door, and was proudly bandaged up in shiny duct tape.  Never got around to fixing that.
  5. This is where our 18 month old baby was.  Thank goodness the impact was just a few feet in front of him, instead of where he was.

Shopping for a new vehicle isn’t fun, in general, but we’ve had some great experiences, which I hope to blog about on the JibberJobber blog.

Seth Ahonen: Amazing Artist

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I had a meeting in a coffee shop today and saw someone Seth Ahonen drawing.

DRAWING.

He had a picture of a baby and was recreating it with pencil (I’m sure there’s a cooler, more technical way to say that).  It really was amazing to watch (since I have no artistic ability).

Here’s his website – check out his portfolio.

I didn’t see a picture of any of the portraits that he draws (from a picture), but I found a great portfolio of his breadth – really quite fascinating. I am thinking of a picture I can send to him to have him draw it – really, really awesome.

Two Entrepreneur Words

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I recently posted my 5 favorite words, as a business owner, designer, product manager.  Here are two more words I’ve been thinking about lately.  Both have to do with marketing something… when someone wants to buy “something” from you, you have to be able to easily communicate what “it” is that you have to offer.

System: “7 steps to ___,” or “4 ___ in 4 days,” or something like that.  Think: Seven Habits of ______.  People like to know you’ve (supposedly) thought of all the angles and have come up with an amazing SYSTEM that solves their problem.

Package: Very similar concept to a “system,” but a package doesn’t have to have a system to/in it.  The package can be something like “buy 8 hours for the price of 10,” or “get a book, ebook, DVD and upgrade for ___.”  I do this here.

If you are a consultant I recommend you do this immediately – your clients expect it (even if they don’t know they expect it.

Go check out my other 5 favorite words – I didn’t realize this was going to be a series, and will probably be an ongoing series… 🙂

Politics: Funny or Reality?

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November 2.  My wife and I voted this morning.

Only 2 years ago I was quite apathetic about politics. I still don’t believe that my one single, solitary vote really counts (especially in presidential elections, with the electoral college in place). I still believe that you either vote for the Republican or the Democrat, and all votes are simply lost vote.

I was interested in the last presidential election as a social science case study.  I was disgusted in the stereotypes (once the news reporter summed up the candidates as the white guy, the black guy, the woman and the Mormon—very nice keeping the stereotypes alive and avoiding the voting issues). I hate the mudslinging that comes out.

I was disgusted when I heard that President Clinton won the vote because of the women who voted who thought he was such a good looking man, and those who voted for Mr. Change himself, Obama… now they are learning the power of a teleprompter and a smooth talker but no substance, different values and a misunderstanding of how to effect change.

But, just to lighten the mood, I’ll share two things I got in an email (both unverified)… for a laugh:

Thing 1

“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame,
two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.”  — John Adams

Thing 2

Happy November 2nd!

Mike Dooley Quote: Famous People

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First, I’m not set out to be famous (I’m definitely out to be something else, but fame is not what I’m after :)).

I got an email this morning that had this Mike Dooley quote – here’s a reference (there are many online, just google Mike Dooley):

The one thing all famous authors, world class athletes, business tycoons, singers, actors, and celebrated achievers in any field have in common is that they all began their journeys when they were none of these things.

Yet still, they began their journeys.

Mike Dooley

AMEN! I’ve been thinking about this as I speak to people who are just beginning their journey.

BEGIN THE JOURNEY!

Entrepreneur Reads from Ben Yoskovitz & Fred Wilson

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My mind is in entrepreneurial stuff as I think about wrapping up Eight Lunches (what is the definition of “good enough??).

Here are three excellent reads for entrepreneurs:

A Postmortem Analysis of Standout Jobs: Ben founded Standout Jobs and then sold it… for a net financial loss.  Too many times we put on our smiley faces when asked about our companies… and Ben could have bragged about a “successful exit,” but he is a true blogger… very transparent.  This is a MUST read.

Paying Yourself is Not a Reason to Raise Early Stage Funding: Very important read for anyone looking to raise money.  You raise money to be able to make more money, not to reduce the stress from on founders bank accounts…

What A CEO Does: I LOVE LOVE LOVE this post. It has the THREE things a CEO is responsible for (and a message about delegating the rest).

Cool stuff – worth the time to read them.

San Diego and Walking (MapMyWalk)

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I am in San Diego and went on a walk this morning.  To map out my walk so I could record the distance I did a quick search and found the amazing, awesome, just-what-I-was-looking-for map found here, on About.com’s walking page.

It is powered by MapMyWalk but I’m too busy/lazy right now to figure out how to put it on my own site…. for now I’ll use About’s page when I’m on the road (which is going to be a lot this next 6 months).

Here are some miscellaneous thoughts about my trip this time, my second time to San Diego:

  • San Diego is a beautiful place, I think.  Sunny and all that.  Except when it’s all cloudy and gloomy, which is exactly how it has been since I’ve gotten here.  That’s okay, it’s been quite sunny in Utah.
  • I love seeing surfers walking around town, barefoot and carrying their surfboards around, or driving around with surfboards on their cars.  Saw this in Malibu a lot … a fun part of the culture.
  • It’s okay for me to call people DUDE around here…. yeah 🙂
  • Had excellent Mexican food, which is what I expected coming this close to MX (even though the hotel receptionist said I had to go to MX to get the real stuff, this was pretty awesome :)).
  • Walking through downtown S.D., like any big town (granted, this isn’t big, but it is downtown) is interesting. I forgot how stinky big cities can be… lots of homeless people here (great weather – many homeless in Utah leave during the winter), and I heard things like “GETTING OFF PAROLE IS YOUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY!!” (was a phone call) and “YOU *&%% @##%$, YOU ARE ON TOO MANY DRUGS,” (that was a guy shouting to a girl on the street.  The guy was good looking, well-dressed, British accent… and very frustrated with the drugged-out girl.  All this stuff makes me feel like i don’t get out enough!
  • Parking is fun here – went to a grocery store with Susan Joyce (Job-Hunt.org) and we parked in the stores only parking lot – a somewhat open, UNDERGROUND parking lot.
  • The trees and plants are amazing.  Super cool trees, and birds of paradise plants… simply awesome.

Now, back to work.  My next trip is to D.C. in a few weeks.