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- Sep 06 2007
- 105 Comments
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Local TV news programs often follow a very simple directive:
“If it bleeds, it leads.”That’s why crime stories and negative news regularly top the daily newscasts. “Bad news” almost always steals our attention.
The “good news” about the church that raised $100,000 for a blind orphan comes much later in the newscast – if it makes the news at all.
Frustrating, isn’t it? Why do the negatives often grab the spotlight from the positives? Why is our attention drawn to negative thoughts and events?Blame it on the “attention hogs.”
Sept. 11, 2001. It got our attention. Evil terrorist attacks on the United States and the resulting, ongoing war on terrorism. It’s held our attention.
But while fear and bad news often grab the headlines, our “good news” – perhaps your own marketing message – suffers as a consequence of dastardly “attention hogs.” By capturing and holding attention, these hogs leave little room for other more attention-worthy news.
Just who are these attention hogs?
The list is long and it grows longer by the day…
Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, the late Anna Nicole Smith and Princess Diana. They join the ranks of Monica Lewinsky, Barry Bonds, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, global warming, Hurricane Katrina, Harry Potter, and the Apple iPhone on our impromptu list.
They are all persons or entities that have won our attention, for better or worse, in the Attention Age.
Not all will hold a treasured place in our memories. In fact, many may be fading as we speak, but they still receive attention. At least for a moment – usually more – and just long enough for us to emotionally brand our brains.
Our attention is a scarce resource, and so is the attention of the marketplace. How we allocate our own attention really matters.
But there are those “attention hogs” among us who are trying to steal more bandwidth. They want real estate in our brains, and with the help of technology and mass media, many have left their mark forever.
Attention hogs not only suck your attention, but they make it more difficult for your own marketing to be successful. In essence, we are all competing with Paris Hilton and the terrorists for attention.
When people are paying attention to them, they’re not paying attention to you and your products.
Terrorism is clearly an instrument of attention-getting cowardice. Osama bin Laden is known worldwide as a terrorist mastermind. His name and face are synonymous with terrorism. Bin Laden’s acts of terror have made an emotional connection in our brain. He captures that much of our attention, as we hope to capture him.
Far from the only evil “hog” in this Attention Age, Bin Laden is joined by the Virginia Tech killer – no name is necessary – as having successfully seared his image and actions in our brain. The tragic events at Virginia Tech in 2007 and the 33 people killed will long be remembered, even if the name of the killer is soon forgotten.
Why do we know or care about Paris Hilton? How do we know about Lindsay Lohan’s progress in rehab? What about Anna Nicole Smith or the intimate details and tragic turns in Princess Diana’s life and death?
All are celebrity-driven drains on our attention, with two receiving more attention in death than the considerable attention they had already received in life.
Why? Because we allow them to take hold of our attention and keep a piece of it for themselves.
Barry Bonds sets a home run record, but we pay more attention to rumors of “performance-enhancement drugs.” Monica Lewinsky becomes infamous for an adulterous affair with President Bill Clinton. Her last name becomes a slang term for oral sex. Now, that’s attention.
Hurricane Katrina is a metaphor for natural disaster, hope and recovery. Global warming straddles the line between hoax and reality. Oprah is Oprah. Harry Potter is a book-selling, movie-making wizard. And the iPhone becomes the “next big thing.”
All claim attention, all are attention hogs. They hold themselves up as “winners” in the Attention Age.
The losers? Anyone who pays too much attention to any one or all of these winners. They are not all worthy of that much attention, but they get it just the same.
Remember: What we give them in attention, we can never reclaim as our own.
So let me ask you this: What are you receiving from all of the attention you freely give?
In other words… What is your “return on attention” – your personal ROA – from the attention you so willingly pay to the attention hogs?
Create a list of the “good” and “bad” attention hogs in your life.
Tell us what you demand in return from each attention hog and how you will make them earn your attention in the future.
Let’s discover new ways to channel our attention, fight off the hogs, and help our businesses grow.
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105 Comments to “Age of the Attention Hog”
Here’s my list:
My wife.. have to try finding more time for attention. I know this has great ROA.
My blog- have to quit looking at it after I post. I’m impatient and want traffic. No ROA here.
My adwords and adsense. Only returns ROA if I cut back on it to once a week.
My autoresponders.. need a new system- it gets too much attention for an auto system
Myself- no attention, probably a good ROA
That’s it.
Hi Rich -
I read the attention age and thought it was right on. I think you may appreciate the following quote if you haven’t already used it:
“In a world where attention is a major scare resource, information may be an expensive luxury, for it may turn our attention from what is important to what is unimportant.”
-Herbert Simon, 1978 Nobel Winner
Keep up the great work.
-Karl
Rich,
Reading email just as soon as it comes in too often grabs my attention. This is a good reminder to set it aside as a 2nd priority.
Colin
1. The likes of Rich Schefren, Jay Abraham, Bob Bly, Cindy Comaford-Lynch: I open their email, read their books, etc…often in an unplanned interrupted manner. I expect and have received high ROA, but the cost is anxiety on other immediate attention needs.
2. News and magazines relating to new business ideas (business 2.0, FastCompany, Inc. etc). I get personal enjoyment from these, yet again since I like these I divert attentio nto them as soon as new info is available - even when it is not the best time to give them attention. moderate ROA expected since it is pleasurable, however it spurns my creative juices.
3. My mind and those damn creative juices. I can and do easily get going on thinking through all aspects of a new business concept (to make it run itself as Rich mandates); this consumes about 1 hour every day. ROA high since this is where I expect to move to an 8 figure annual income.
4. my wife and children. They do not get as much as they should…but when in their presence, they quickly and sporadically get attention. low ROA expected since love in itself is the reward. The ROA here is rather on their part in that they likely (as I do as the recipient) feel better having gotten the attention.
5. Sweet ass Maseratis and Ferraris. Now having bought my first Maserati, I get easily distracted when I see another one on the street. low ROA expected
6. Fellow teammates walking into my office: High ROA since I boot them out if its not about business.
My list consists of:
Clients and agents who call determined that their point of view is the only point of view and expect me to spend my time soothing their egos or listening to them gripe about things they nor I can change.
Chaterria: My granddaughter who at 5 already shows the determination and drive that will make her a success.
My daughters who believe that nothing must be done until mother has been updated.
My husband: Wants more attention than I can possibly give him due to the other attention seekers in my life.
As for the attention getters on the news - I chose not to watch the news and if I do want any updates I choose my topics off the internet and speed read only the portion I’m seeking an answer for. Cuts down on the bombardment of useless and uninteresting information that journalist think we want to know. After all they have a job to do.
Hi Rich,
My biggest attention hogger is definitely reading and studying the works of successful internet marketers and bloggers. Hence this post!
The ROA is to improve my own writings and become better at what I do.
The ‘sports channel’ is a great big hog and the ROA is usually minimal, when watching England play football!
Peter
Subscribing to every marketer’s mailing list, looking for the “slight edge” and then having to continually purge the list after realising there’s not much value being delivered!
Forums suck up a lot of attention too.
Today is my birthday so I want all the attention I can get. My wife and kids will always capture my attention. As for all your points on who steals are attention, you are absolutely correct. What is important however is what of all the attention grabbers spur us to activity. Sports, celebrities and entertainment rarely bring me to act upon what I’m reading or seeing. Human need is an attention grabber and one I don’t dismiss easily. All the other stuff are habits that can easily be replaced.
I need a generic internet marketing system that allows me to perform data base marketing online.
Do you know of a system or software that will capture opt in email addresses that will allow me to perform demographic marketing….
Thanks for your assistance…
Keith
Hi Rich,
I long ago realized that there is trash that is unworthy of my attention. On that list is the “nightly news”, the likes of Anna Nichole Smith, Bill Clinton’s exploits and total hoaxes such as “global warming”. A note on the last one. We have had the technology to measure weather trends for just over 100 years. That is less than half a galactic heart beat. Any time someone pushes something as hard as “global warming” has been pushed, start looking for the money trail. But, if we are wise, we can follow the tactics used by the Henny Pennys to gain the attention for our own cause. It is worthy of note that starting about 30 or 40 years ago, we started to emerge from a mini ice age that lasted several hundred years, based on what has been determined from such studies as tree ring growth, glaciers cores and so on.
On my list of good ROA investments are of course my source of all that is good, my Heavenly Father, my family, the best attention investment on earth, sources of learning (some times takes a while to determine the ROA), my efforts at IM, etc.
I very much consider your e-mails (and blog entries) one of my better investments of attention for learning purposes. I also regularly invest in such as Jim Rohn, Bob Proctor, Zig, Denis Waitely, well you get the idea.
Thanks for your contribution. You do well.
Ken
Sometimes I forget to invest more in myself and my faith walk FIRST which enables me to help others better. Remembering that one thing can put even this most derailed consultant back on track when needed. Everything else just seems to start falling into place piece by piece.
Hey Rich,
I don’t think I’ve seen or heard a commercial in two years because of Tivo and satelite radio - maybe the Super Bowl commercials to see how stupid major brands can be to spend that kind of money for a crap shoot.
My point… I get my news from entertainment…Howard Stern, Bill Maher and John Stewart because I CHOOSE where to pay attention…
Years ago - maybe five - I did a “media cleanse”. Where for 30 days I did not watch tv, listen to the radio or read any daily publications. Everyone in America should do this… you will be amazed at how much cleaner your mind becomes…because 99% of the stuff from mainstream media is pure garbage… this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be informed…but this inundated lifestyle of crap has me conciously choosing who gets my attention…
I truly appreciate the attention you are putting on this conversation about how we can gain the attention of our target market… I believe more than ever we have to build our businesses one person at a time…what I mean by that is…quality and service…creating the feeling of being a part of something… Apple does this the best… in fact, if you ever speak to a Person who uses a Mac they are committed and loyal to the brand because of how Apple serves them…and the quality of the products.
I believe for my businesses it’s about serving up REAL quality and service and removing the BS of perceived value…perceived value is like cotton candy…it doesn’t sustain…it evaporates and dissapoints - quality and service will keep the attention…I believe that’s why I spend my time with Strategic Profits…I remain because…so far I receive quality and service…keep it up and I’ll be around for years.
Thank you,
Alan
Hurricane Rita has hogged my attention for 2 years. She did so much damage to my farm and has cost me so much time and money for repairs and I am not finished yet. She did clarify my goals though.
The insurance company which did not give me what I consider a fair settlement occupied considerable time. I fought them tooth and nail and I am one of the lucky ones. Some elderly people who paid premiums for years will die without getting what they paid for.
My farm takes most of my time and is my driving passion. Once I decided to repair and continue I knew it was going to be tough but worth my best shot.
The time hog I resent the most is communication media such as computers, internet, customer services, phones, automated menus, etc.. I have no intention of being held hostage by modern tech. so, as much as possible, I am working on ways to reduce my dependence. One thing Hurricane Rita made obvious…when push comes to shove, I can only rely on myself, so I had better prepare myself.
BB
I stopped watching tv 6 years ago, and still find myself being suck-in by the headlines on the internet. But, my #1 attention hog is daydreaming, i am still overwhelm by the amount of info and programs on the net, so i find myself daydreaming about what i’am going to do instead of doing-it. Fear is another attention hog _ it took me 30 minutes to write this and another 15 to hit the submit button.
I like what and how you are doing, but i don’t think it’s simple enough to help the under-educated earn online.
…and thats where i stand…
God Bless
BlueHoss
by far, checking to see if my work is working, and studying how to make stuff work. my attention hog is process itself.
UyOU HIT HTE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!
Attention-stealers in my case:
* Forums
* Writing assignments that don’t pertain to my books
* TV shows (mainly Military Channel and Discovery, at least, so not 100% waste-of-time)
* Telephone voice menus. Even my doctor has one now. ARGH!
* Email. Good Lord, yes. I get upwards of 100 mails a day.
* Needed maintenance to my yard and house. (it distracts from my key thing after my belief in and work for the Heavenly Father, which is my writing)
* My blogs. I’ve been tempted to delete them (have abandoned one entirely, have three others.)
* Website creation and maintenance.
I struggle with this situation daily. I agree with nearly everyone about the ones I didn’t list, too.
Rich,
All of the people involved in Internet marketing are long on promises and short on delivery. The number of people who are being tagged as frauds are growing.
It is definately a buyer beware purchasing anything from anyone who holds themselves out to be an expert in marketing anything on or off line.
Those are the facts. I have followed a large number of the experts for over three years so I have the experience of a long period of observation and I guess too much education
ROD
BS Acc MBA CPA
Thanks Rich,
Obviously I see a ROA by reading your mails, and you know there are many others who send emails that warrant my attention as well.
The REAL problem is in weeding out all the “canned” content and advertising, and discovering the true nuggets of wisdom.
Some very well known marketers that I used to get ROA from have now been relegated to the quick delete, simply for the fact that they’ve followed the “hot promotions train” too often and they’ve lost my respect. (but I guess I got some ROA in that too knowing what NOT to be reading
But overall, with umpteen accounts and membership on apparently EVERYONE’S list (how many times have I won that lottery now??) pound for pound I can categorically say I get my LOWEST ROA from email.
I’m not alone, and this raises the question, how ever will we effectively communicate with mass numbers of people without it?
Best regards all,
Making a mistake when entering my url is another poor ROA!
Hi Rich,
In my opinion, the “Information Age” is over…now is the time for the age of “Wisdom.” Is there any out there? What are we going to DO with all that previously assimilated info?
The attention hog is all around me. My brain was getting fried trying to keep up and then, there it was, the answer to my dilemna and you gave it to me last year. You said; “What’s your time worth”, and now I had to go figure what was productive time and what was wasted time. I got rid of the TV in my office, I only check email 3 times per day, (I used to check it every time a new email came in), I schedule time slots for different tasks and set a goal for each day. My biggest ROA is prioritizing my day the night before. Thanks Rich, I now have an organized day. Now the only thing that needs to be down is to increase my profits. I’m still working on that.
My attention has all been on the project I am working on- a series of free teleseminars with Mark Joyner, Michael Morgan, Tom Justin, Jason Henderson, and 4 others at http://www.wealthvirus.com. I expect the ROA to be high from all the things I will learn from them over the next 8 weeks of interviews.
This has been a dream of mine for over 2 years, and when I finally started giving it my full attention, things started happening. It has taken a lot more time and energy than I expected, but I’ve already gotten so much back and the interviews haven’t even started yet!
Once the series starts I will turn more attention back to my family. They have been a great support during the long days of setup on this project, and share my excitement.
Tania
Wealth Virus expert
Here’s my list:
1. George Bush, and his administration. Gotta pay attention to him. Expect high ROA from that. Expect more loss of freedoms if you don’t.
2. Congress… although it’s quite boring, as they don’t seem to be doing anything!
3. China - if we don’t pay attention now, we most certainly will have to pay attention in Chinese class later!
4. My email - really low ROA from that - mostly junk, with occasional gems (like your emails).
5. My niche empire. Time to outsource a lot of it like Tim Ferris suggests - but I’ll still need to spend SOME time paying attention!
I’d like to talk about getting the attention of allgurus and investigate the stream of income available to them with the business I do on line. All you need to do is pay attention to this website http://www.1000aday.biz for the rest of the story.
1. According to Gallup: the average high school spends 6
1/2 hours daily watching TV, Videos, Games, listening
to music and using messaging to communicate.
2. Recent neuroscientific research at the U of N.C.
indicates students are day dreaming 30% of their beta
cps consciousness.
Do adults and in pacticular executives, use their 16
hours of consciousness better? Did you know Executives
(college graduates)read just one book annually according
to the Association of Book Publishers in 2006.
Boring,
Hal
———————————————————
Hi turn off the T.V and get a new life it’s great MIKE
Here is a paradigm,
My attention is spread to thin. I am in the military therefore,
-my daughter lives with her mom, not in the same state
-I need to re-enlist to pay bills (should be done for my country but realized the military is more corprate everyday. THEY will PAY but you have to do WHAT you are told no negotiations for orders. (period)
-I want an online business I can be proud of
-I have removed a TV from my place, only a cell phone, no stereo or anything else. I have a couch and bed, that is it
-I don’t do many social events, just work or online stuff.
-I have no pets, no family nearby (my brother but he is those EOD guys you here about difusing IED’S in Iraq)
-I do dip (use smokeless tobacco, gross I know, but helps with stress.?
-I am gone all the time on military functions.
-How do I manage my time for all of this?
Rich:
Paris Hilton and the like get zero per cent of my attention.
On the other hand when emails from Ken Evoy, Jimmy D. Brown, Dan Kennedy, Perry Marshall, Ross Goldberg, and Mark Hendricks come in they receive my immediate attention.
Oh yeah, your on that list, too, Rich. (LOL)
Robert
My email - have to STOP constantly checking it, worst ROA a person can have
My Stats and Analytics software, if I spend as much time driving traffic as I do analyzing its source I could easily triple my ROA.
Cheers!
Alex
All you so called Gurus who keep taking my attention by sending me useless emails and things like this. see, you have done it again you have got my attention when I should be doing something useful. As for getting the Gurus attention just trying sending them an email asking for their help and they NEVER reply and that includes you Rich.
Hi Rich,
My attention hogs:
1. Email. Particularly automated newsletters. Terrible ROA.
2. Books. Professional development, coaching, business-building books. Good ROA.
3. Maintenance activities. Need to outsource much more of this. Very time-consuming, not very rewarding.
4. Family - very high ROA.
5. Marketing activities. Spotting those that are successful should improve ROA, but I do too much of it in person.
Interesting thought, Rich. I know I really thought the world must be mad to pay so much attention (news in particular) to celebrities - particularly the bad actors.
Laura Huckabee-Jennings
Transcending Your Barriers
http://www.transcendllc.biz
I’m going to be contrary here. I don’t think we’re living in an age of attention. Lack of attention in todays age is only a side-effect, for the overwhelming amount of information available that is of no importance to us.
I feel the trend is moving from an information age to an age of meaning.
What makes us choose to read, buy or focus any of our attention on something, is its importance in our life.
What makes people buy “green” product over non-green products is its meaning and importance to us.
What do you think?
Hi Rich
You are responsible for bringing this attention attitude to my view.
I have recently shut off my Bell Vu 300 channel for one month now. It great. I find that I have more time to focus on what is important to me. Learning to direct myself where I want to go. Love it! Thanks
My greatest time hog is tweaking my sites to get them to read better, be simpler, be clearer be more focused be, be bee you get the trend
I must confess i am also a forum and blog fan. Just love reading other peoples entries and trying to figure out how they think
Hi Rich…Do I Really have your attention…?
Probably Not!
You’re probably working on one profitable projects that going to take you closer to your goal. or…
Consulting with a business person who building a business without distraction.
I ask myself a lot lately, what does the “Singing Bee”, “Last Comic Standing”, “20/20″ and other television programs has to do with building my list, and creating ways to monetize and bring value to my market place…?
It does nothing but waste valuable time!
Thanks Rich!
-Scott Y
http://www.MLMSponsoringPro.com
My own insecurity is my worst enemy. It pulls in email newsletters and guru promises like a black hole.
Now I know a little more, I’ve begun to apply what I know more effectively. I’ve started to focus on what works. Now it’s about persistence.
I’m a Brit living in Denmark - who the hell is Paris Hilton? Second thoughts, don’t answer that. I’ve lived happily enough to now without knowing that.
I guess that’s what this age of attention rant is all about. Isn’t it?
Right now, my daughter is my biggest attention hog. I willingly give it to her…I won’t get this time with her back (she’s a bit over two years old), but I do wish now and then I could get some heads-down time in more than twenty minute increments!
Biggest attention getters:
1. Sleep.
2. My coaching site for mortgage brokers at http://www.battlecall.com
3. Anything Rich Shrefren has to say.
4. The Internet.
Ok, confessions of the ADD…
1. Spider Solitaire: I play it in between my work priorities and while on “some” phone calls. I think I should remove it from my computer.
2. Emails from other internet marketers. Like many have said, they may have great info but the time used is unplanned, and there is too much of it. And… each email has a link to the great “offer” that takes on a whole new life and generates an additional distraction.
3. Home renovations/improvements/gardening. Always something to do there. I would be better to block time to focus on it and be done!
4. TV: With all good intentions of being in bed earlier, another episode of CSI comes on and I am drawn into it, then it’s late, morning comes too soon… less romance energy and time for my Hubby…
Getting control back is a simple matter of choice each time an attention stealer comes along.
It really feels good to focus, without interruptions, and accomplish my objectives!
Hi Rich,
I am your devoted reader and follower since July 2006. I read all your works, watched all your videos and read the majority of your blog postings…
You are my favorite “Good Hog”, and I feel grateful to God that I share the same time and the same side of the Planet with you…:)
I was so happy to find out the other day that you and I arrived to the same logical conclusion…That the ‘Starbucks formula’ is one of the most successful systems these days, in the Attention Age.
Because of that, I am starting a new business venture right now, and I decided to structure it like a Club - an Exclusive Society where everyone would be welcome…:)
Thank you for giving me your full Attention today.
As to me - I give you my full Attention EVERY DAY of my life…Why? Because Peter Drucker is no more - that’s why!:)
But if I lived in HIS Day & Age - I would give HIM my full attention - believe you me!
Let’s see
1. My dog (sheesh, I wish I got half as much attention)
2. My cell phone (why do I have so many friends?!)
3. My iPod (nuff said)
4. My Ass (is it getting bigger?!)
5. My E-mail (too many gurus)
6. My Desktop (I have a fetish for widescreen wallpapers like those at http://freewidescreenwallpapers.blogspot.com )
7. My Adsense account (why won’t people click the ads?!)
I find one of the rudest set of attention hogs are internet marketers who feel that I want to hear from them every other day whether they have anything valuable to say or not. I recently have started unsubscribing to any lists that send an annoying amount of email OR where I have not received anything of real value despite listening to them for a number of months.
Since I came to this post based on an email from you, you are staying below the stop-bugging-me threshold and also qualify as having produced documents that are meaningful enough for me to want the option of reading more.
Only thing I see missing from this post is — how do you compete in such an ADD society!
Hi, Rich.
I’m a glutton for information. Thus, it’s hard for me to sort out info with low ROA. You see, I was born in a place where you can go to jail for saying something politically incorrect, and many people have been executed for opposing the government line. You can imagine my joy in being able to learn about anything I wish, and to express myself without the fear of being sent to the slammer. Although my rights end where my neighbor’s begin, and we all should respect others, including their valuable time by avoiding saying anything, if we have nothing good to say.
My wife complains all the time because there are so many food choices that she does not know what to buy to cook. I tell her that I’m going to send her to Cuba, where people have nothing to eat. They have to scramble for every meal. Soon, she would be able to appreciate the freedom of choice that she has.
The same can be said about the amount of information that we get from the Internet. We even get E-mails from people in Nigeria who would like to empty our bank accounts, if we are greedy and naive enough to allow them to do so.
Our position in our society is the sum total of the choices that we have made in life. And, information is one of those choices. It all depends on how we use it. What is “garbage” for some people can be “diamond” for others. The trick is to be able to associate any information with a positive “learning experience”. For example, if you know about Internet scammers, you can use that information to protect yourself.
I came into this country without a penny in my pocket, with no friends or relatives, and without knowing the English language. Yet, I was able to attend four major universities, earning more credits (in various fields) than a Ph.D. I worked hard and became financially independent.
I said the above not to brag about myself, but to remind you of the fact that you live in the greatest country on earth, and that you can achieve anything you want, if you focus on your goals, and do it!
Keep in mind that 99.99% of the genes in human DNA are the same. Thus, we are only .01% different from each other. How you apply that .01% diffence is the key to succeed or to fail.
Best of luck to everyone,
Fred.
I attend to the Elusive Obvious like:
1) The simple process of releasing and welcoming a quiet breath… it is so obvious that few folks see its vital importance - without this life as you know it will cease to be.
2) Creating a Yoga Nidra CD that will be available in Oct-Nov. This is a waking form of Yogic Sleep that provides the healing and age reversing benefits of Deep Sleep in less than 30 minutes - it is a meditative journey that gives attention to Space and Flow whereby that Health and Well-Being flow-er naturally.
Namaste’
James Traverse
http://beingyoga.com
The last seminar in Delray was amazing!
Shawn Powell
I don’t even know who those people are in your list of attention hogs (well, I’ve heard of Oprah).
My attention hogs are: the love of my life (but he goes to work), alternative news about the economy and looming catastrophes, my elderly mother with cancer, and then my studies in internet marketing.
I don’t think you can put a ROA number on most of these. You could be like Dr. Phil and ask “How’s that working for you?”.
what comes on top of my head right now.
good attention:
===============
- Oprah Winfrey–I see myself in her
- X-president Clinton –very pro peace
- Angelina Julie–humanitarian and crazy
- Jay Leno–Great entertainer
- John Carlton–his teaching approach makes complicated things easy
- a smart man who accepts me as I am, respects me for who I am, no matter where I’m coming from or what believes I have:black or white, short or tall, thin or fat, Muslim, Christian or Jewish.
Bad Attention:
==============
- President Bush–very pro war
- Ben Laden and his likes–ruined the Muslim’s civilized image all over the world
- Pritney Spears –used to like her but not any more. She’s becoming trashy and there is a BIG difference between being sexy and being trashy.
- a man so smart but makes me responsible for the world crimes even though I’m a person who never got involved in any negative act and always contribute to charities owned by different religions for different causes to help have a better world! Even though I don’t follow most of those religions.
==============
I think we all suffer from information over load. What grabs your attention and requires the most of your time
is where your heart lays… what gets your attention.
How is your heart news?
Hey good and bad can be a perception thing especially with attention getting:
for example
Good:
==================================
email
news
woman (laughing out loud)
websites good content ( http://www.thecircleofmoney.com)
Bad
==================================
email
news
woman (laughing out loud again)
websites bad content( No commentary here )
Hi Rich,
I agree with you to a point,about the Va.Tech killer.I feel sorry for that young man.Can you halfway imagine what torment he went through for years needing medical help to the point that it should have been forced to help him.He is not the only one to blame for what happened.There is a line of people along the way who should have helped him.
The media seems to publish something bad until they “run
it into the ground”.
You do a good job.
I agree that we are attacked daily by attention hogs. I have to admit that I get a lot from your materials and blog, BUT…
You are adding to the information overload by sending multiple emails a day. Especially since I’m trying to only read email 4 times daily. I have to quickly weed through the all the junk. I want to read your emails, but more than one a day about the blog is overkill. I don’t get a chance to talk to my wife as often (LOL). Please make the email’s value added and one daily would be nice.
Dear Rich,
I’m Kristina Ivanova from beautiful town of Bourgas -Seaport on Black Sea, Bulgaria-EU.I don’t know why but i feel you like my friends.Around a year i received from you your messages. I realized and i know i can not work for you because i not live in USA, but every time/every day/ I’ m looking for your massage because I’m feeling you like a friend who send me every day massage like “have a nice day” - Thank you.
Even I know nobody real person will read my e-mail only machine.
Sincerely yours,
Kristina Ivanova
after 3 years online i am still looking to the business that can make me fly .i made some money but i am not satisfied specially because i had to work more than off line and low earnings for a lot of work.What i need to understand is if the “only “good business” is sell to others the science to become rich or there is something else that can run smooth
Attention hogs Where do I start? Remember school?
that is where for me anyway it started
You know that it didnt matter how well you did, The teachers pet always did better, you could tell they enjoyed that Attention. The same thing applies in Network Marketing, As A Newbie at this new business which has just started, yes you guessed it Teachers Pets has risen again. It made me mad then & it makes me mad now.
My Mother-In-Law It does not matter what ever we do her fav son has done better (ARGH).
I’m not mentioning Celebs, Cos they need to be attention Hogs, Its their bread & butter
Humanitarians & their like KEEP IT UP.
Enviromentalists Keep it up.
I’m sick of hearing Don Fallia being part of our business he is an attention hog. I would never say the man does not deserve his fame & money he has probably worked hard to get where he is. I could never get as many people In as he will.
All the Do-Gooders KEEP it up.
Rich you are an attention hog, I love getting your e-mails KEEP IT UP.
Im still looking for the day that i could say ROA in traffic and in sale’s on the internet,its been almost 5years and all i hear is this one make’s money the other one made 5 thousand a week but never seen no proof but the same old thing with the copy check,anyway my biggest ROA is to my daugther for getting promoted to the 6 grade
and getting into a JHS Prep for Law thats Amaizing.
I think that recently, I’ve been getting better at paying attention to building a good online business. In the Past, I tried to divide my time between several business opportunities. However, now I am focusing on just one, and I feel that I’m BUILDING a business, not just OPERATING one!
As for other distractions, I just feel that I have been using my spare time (away from my J.O.B.), for purposes that will help build this business
First and foremost, I want to thank you for the good post. You touched very serious question. Unfortunately, my Lithuanian-English (writing with the vocabulary) may harden the expression of my thoughts on the place of the attention in our well-being. In other words, I’m sorry for the way of my talking.
You ask: What are we receiving from all of the attention we freely give?
While painting I totally identify myself with the beauty of the light
I enjoy and try to reflect on my canvases – I give all my attention to it then and that rewards incredibly. While painting I don’t think about market at all, but dive into the gratitude that uplifts. I say Hi, not for gaining something, but because I recognize myself in the eyes of the passersby. The strangers disappear and one and only profit becomes the sharing.
I would say that the attention we freely give makes us the humans. Is it bad or good depends on whom do we give our attention in the concrete and why do we do that.
You have mentioned the terrorists… they may be identified as the shadows in the language of the art colors. However, what does the shadow mean? Is it something dirty?
Sunlight enlightens our path by revealing the shadows for the shadows could reflect the sun.
Have a look for yourself. The DVD of my artwork was put on a website at http://candleday.wordpress.com
Lots of my pictures are longing for you in the archives of all my blogs.
You are welcomed on Captain’s bridge. Just click on the link http://captains-bridge.blogspot.com I hope to get your feedback there. Thank you.
Most assuredly, our attention(media-wise)has been spent on matters that should’ve been occupied with the least amount of time, but are pushed on us, as we, the video/tv/media observers, become confused about the major issues that, WE DO NEED to take care of each day.
Certain powers-that-be know this, and use distractions to detract our attention from the hidden agendas that should be a focus of all citizens attention, as then we could handle our nation’s problems directly, and resolve them more quickly, thus economically. And not always behind the scenes, as that often provides a chosen few to gain advantage and allow possible corruption that may indeed hinder the advancement and development of us all.
Point in question, a noted but skirting remark made just yesterday of the fact that, there’s been a 76% increase in the suicidal completions and attempts of our young pre-teen and early teenage girls. This should be as much a warning and importance as global-warming is.
And what if I were to tell you, that the Virginia Tech massacre (as well as other horrendous events) could have been recognized, possibly prevented, if some key factors were observed and easy methods of prevention put into proper perspective. For that matter, many of our past tragedies and hardships could have been avoided/relieved with these simple observations and true communications.
We now have the capability for all of our citizens to learn of the most pressing issues of the moment and will soon become operable, software and organizationally, to inform political leaders of EXACTLY what the majority of the populace would want to have accomplished…
That is what many of the so-called leaders have begun to realize and in fact, may even be trying to stifle that capability as it would then be wholly true, we would be actually in control of our government, and they would not be able to manipulate or negoiate deals that would make only those in privileged positions to prosper, but that all of our citizens would be rendered more equally.
My project has been my recognition for over 30 years in research plus the research of 1000s, actually 100,000s, truly for more over a period that is indiscernible. Likely before the times that the pyramids were designed, recognized and built to use as tools for observing God’s heavens given to us. Someone had to know quite a bit to be able to build such structures. They knew what they were doing, but then others didn’t like the idea and destroyed the libraries, and those who had the knowledge.
Please learn more of what I propose to do on my website.. As we must do this under the radar, person-to-person, with an open and unbiased mind and heart. No BS.
The Megacosmic realm affects the macrocosmic realm through the microcosmic realm.. Our Supreme Of Being passes to us, mankind, what we need by quantum physics.
A book, “The Genie in Your Genes,” a must read to heed.
Will Lovsmith
My students are not hogs. They deserve more of my attention than I give them. Very high ROA.
The administration of my workplace (a university): They require that I pay attention to things that have no relevance to anything useful. They pay my salary, so ROA is not zero, but close.
Junk Mail: It takes time to sift through a list and delete. No ROA.
Emails from Internet Marketing Experts, and other sales letters: (I have come to equate the two.) Once a week, one of the dozens of celebrated “gurus” will send something that actually has benefit. The email that got me here was this week’s winner.
My businesses/websites: way high on the list of things that occupy my mind almost 24/7. Expected ROA - high. Experienced ROA - very low.
I will join those who mention events in the world as attention hogs: The ridiculous and absurd words and actions of the world’s current leaders (misleaders) - George W. Bush being only one of the prominently least competent - has taken my attention away from things I used to think were more important. The corruption, the inane loyalties to friends at the expense of everybody else in the land, the unneeded and unwanted wars that politicians have eagerly sent my friends and relatives into - and which their companies and corporations benefit from maintaining, the leaders’ total lack of regard for the rights and integrity of the people of this world, are definitely bringing this world down at an accelerated pace. And if we don’t pay more attention - and most people probably don’t pay enough - I see life deteriorating to a very low quality. Individually, we all get no ROA from allowing the politicians’ words and behaviors to occupy our minds. On the other hand the ROA could be very high if enough concerned people paid attention and took action (such as removing deadwood from oval offices worldwide, and replacing it with real leaders with real abilities to make positive changes. In this I am not being partisan at all. To replace a Republican incompetent with a Democratic incompetent does not accomplish anything.)
Whether Global Warming is a hoax or not, climate change is real and deserves our attention. It is obvious, without scientists’ studies, that humans have contributed greatly to the deterioration of the quality of air and water, and to the destruction of forests and rainforests, and we continue to do so. The changes that humans have inflicted on our environment have contributed to the further destruction of communities by recent floods and mudslides. Whether or not it can be shown that the damage we’ve caused to our environment also has contributed to climate change, we owe it to ourselves, to the generations after us, and to The Creator Who gave us this world, to try to maintain it better. ROA is dependent upon how much time and energy we invest in being constructive and not destructive.
Distractions and deceptions of every kind are the worst attention hogs of all. Most of what any politician in any country says is complete hogwash. Most of what we hear on news reports, no matter which media we choose, is peppered with bias and/or misinformation. (If you watch Fox News or CNN Headlines, you can change that to 100% bias and/or superfluous information.) Advertisements have become so deceptive it is nearly impossible to believe any of them.
The deception continues in the entertainment field, where we allow celebrities to tell us what is true, or what is important - but they, themselves have no clue.
The deception continues in the educational institutes where we spend years to teach what we could teach in a matter of months, and where we cause everyone to believe that tests are true measures of a person’s abilities (they’re not.) and that grades are the most important thing in life.
And the deception continues on to blogposts such as this, where by posting a comment I expect great things to happen. BUT, here my ROA is not low. For just by writing and reading, I have clarified a few things in my mind. But you may not get much from this.
Keep a smile on your face and a dance in your feet.
Hi Rich,
The news is primarily all lies to keep us focused on rubbish! The assassination of Princess Diana will always be an Attention Hog and 9/11, most everything else is hot air to reprogram the masses. I am currently struggling to stay afloat and thats my focus.
Hello Rick!
My son ould like to ask your help what is the best home business, how much and how to do the set up.He would like to make $250thousand a year. Thank’s
Seagull Associates - They come in, squawk about nothing, make a lot of noise, crap all over everything, then leave. Very low ROA.
This is why I formed my own marketing/consulting firm, which is growing modestly, writing a blog, etc. Much higher ROA.
I love the “Free Agent Nation” concept, which increases personal responsibility and rewards those who work hard and focus on the most productive activities.
Great blog post!! I’ve been thinking a great deal about the Attention Age concept and very much appreciate the time (and attention) you’ve been giving it!!
Teleseminars
E-Mails
Needy friends and relatives
My business requirements
Way too much information on the internet. I don’t watch the news or news on tv anymore. That is way too much stressful information.
My Family and home management needs
Charities that need volunteers or money
I have your attention? People nickname me Calamity because I am an expert marks-woman. So I am going to shoot and hope to make an indentation on your heart. I want $5000 for hogging your time.
Cathy
I have two jobs - my one as an employee and the other is my fledgling efforts to give creativity a bigger outlet through web design and one day maybe a book on experiences through depression and childhood sexual abuse and out into a bigger brighter world. The biggest attention hoggers in both cases are emotional/ego.
Actually I have other “jobs” as wife, mother, gardener, fried and so on, but I am happy with investment and ROA in those areas so don’t need to elaborate.
In my regular job I do business analysis and project management and the biggest attention hogger is other people’s emotional/ego needs to have me sooth and pander with unnecessarily large amounts of time and attention before they will give me the small but key bits of information that they have (why I need to talk to them) so that we can together (there’s my emotional need) make some forward progress on the task at hand. ROA would be huge if I had the courage/guts to get their ego/stroking needs out of the picture so we could just concentrate on task. In return for me investing my time on that ego stroking, then I in turn ask my boss to acknowledge slower progress but high effort to achieve what HAS been achieved, which in turn becomes an attention hogger for him.
In my personal projects it is my emotional factors of courage to charge a fair rate for my work, need for approval and to be liked, that lead me to be hesitant to go out and pursue what I am sure will be success when I eventually do it. I have confidence in my abilities, but a kernel of doubt about my right to succeed…..I know!
I am very good at filtering what I do and do not want to act on from your daily messages, and consider it a high ROA to at least skim headlines/soundbytes from your emails.
So - Thanks for asking!
Hi Rich,
I love what you mentioned in your
email and guess what?
“It got my attention”
What we all need is a special
audio recording from you on
how to drive more attention
to our publications.
It is good to learn from
such an inspiring individual
from you about the real business
way of doing things.
I’m hitting six figure soon
Cheers,
Vern
Hi Rich,
I decided several years ago to quit watching TV and listening to radio news. As you say most of the attention grabbing media is bad news.
Its amazing how much happier I am not getting caught up in all the day to day rubbish that goes on.
I find that if there is anything really important I hear about it anyway!
My challenge is to remain focussed on what I am doing and not letting all the emails grab my attention. I’m getting much better at doing a quick scan and deleting!
Cheers
Janet
hiya this is fun hahah
my biggest attention hog is
spending too much time tryng
to deal with the long list
of things that hog my attention
hahaah oh and how do i questions over
the chitty chat areas msn phone yada yada
oh big one my health which has been pretty
uurgh oh and
oh and hahahhahahha see i am doing it again hahah
take care
Ron
Hi Rich, Excellent observations. I’ve stopped watched the nightly news due to the extreme negativity of the content. Instead, I limit myself to weekly news magazines. This week I’ve been focusing my attention on my brand new blog, TameYourStress.com/blog which I started on September 6, 2007. I encourage everyone to learn more about stress management and share their thoughts with me. Thanks. Del
#1 hog - email!
#2 alternate news sites - cannot believe the commercial news, all they want is scared and passive consumers anyway
#3 Movies
#4 Blogging
#5 Forums
As one gets older, panic sets in when reviews on what got done happen. I guess I don’t watch as much telly or read as much news. I now just scan what’s most popular on digg.
As I’m just starting out, my attention is squarely focused on product development and rolling it out ASAP even if it’s just ONE module. The only time I look for info is when I’m stuck.
Looking to help as many people as I can and waiting for one massive ROA to happen.
Thanks for the great info.
Laurence
Hi Rich,
I feel really lucky as I have few attention hogs.
No TV, No stereo, minimal emails read, except the important ones that will add value to my business. ( there’s damn few of them and you can count yourself as one of them )
My biggest ROA is the time I spend on honing my systems, planning, marketing etc.
Miller time is in there somewhere.
Gotta go… things to do.
Michael
My lowest ROA is the day-in and day-out experience of pain in my body. Trying to stay above it is my greatest input of energy. I say, “If you are able-bodied and have your mind about you to be able to do this job well, you should count yourselves blessed.”
I do hope someday to see my email reduced by the system realizing that I don’t have to have a product or service jammed down my throat 30 times in order for my “dummy” mind to understand what’s good for me. A much lighter dose of profanity or gross humor would change this form of commerce back to the respected character I understood it to have when I came in. Most people have put down the various forms of media, but they do have restrictions on language, even though content is lacking. I never cease to be amazed at the never-ending flow of gurus that tout their money-making abilities, but cannot spell or grammatically construct a decent ad. It didn’t take me long to lose respect for quite a few that claim their top-dog distinctions. I have a way of dealing with those - a mouse-click and it’s gone.
E- mail 20%, Serious Reading 15%, News 3%,sleep 25%,travel sights or individuals met 10%,Counseling clients 17% and family 10% That about sums up my attention grabbers. Experience has taught me that a periodical review of your priorities , at least once in three months allows you to go on Auto Pilot and cruise along reasonably. Attention goes only where you allow it to go.You can always snatch it back from whosoever is trying to grab it , Once again track record shows that the actual amount of time lost in recognising an attention grabber outside your choice range is also an investment. For example, you can escape being branded as “out of this world” by quoting those fleeting glimpses of whatever was a distraction for you.
We most certainly live in an age of attention seeking enlightenment Rich. I gave up on news long time ago too depressing.I watch happy and funny movies in my free time i work like anyone else the thing which brings me to reality is my illness i have epilepsy and has taken a large attention of my life , half of it in fact.I surround myself with positive people , positive thoughts i dont like negativety despite what other choose to flamboyantly throw around.
I have my goals and i am accomplishing them .Emails well i leave them till end of day makes more time for my work and my art.
i won’t leave to much now all ican say is media plays an important part in peoples lives because they cling on to it as they cling onto a job they have no independence hence they feel the need to be able to know everything.I once use to think that way until i met people whom opened my eyes and found you guys cant thank you enough sorry if annoyed anyone at that .
I feel that your attention can only be hogged when you allow it to be. Which doesn’t mean that mine doesn’t get snagged. I need to consciously divorce myself from screaming news headlines (I live in South Africa so the headlines can be really mind boggling), mindless TV programmes and intimate details about people I don’t know and probably wouldn’t choose to know in any case.
Attention is given to those that deserve attention as we desire we create Hogs daily We put them on a stool and watch them preform when they act badly we are quick to make judgment and riducle and gossip about there action We are lost for real attention in our lives .The words that say Thank you and mean it. The I appreciate you for you are, The I love you, and you are worthy Of Life. We are so focused on the Hogs and the technology there is no time to get past the stress the everyday routine it is easy to have Hilton ,Bond, Bush to trash or build up.Then to say are you paying attention ,are you listening to what I’m saying, are you hearing how I feel, Thank you for listening, Thank you for your time are you understanding what I’m saying? We can stop feeding the Hogs!! Tell someone today you appreciate them watch what happens
Excellent topic and well presented. Keep up the good work.
Kishore Dharmarajan
Author of EIGHTSTORM: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers
Good Work Rich!
You can see the same principles at:
http://www.super2up.com
Than