Rich's current Twitter status:here in delray beach with brad fallon planning how our two companies best come together to provide the best services to our clients

• Nov 08 2007
• 58 Comments

  Simple But Powerful Attention Age Mindmap & Diagram Download

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog

•  

  Guess what?

  In my race to put the finishing touches on The Attention Age Doctrine II… I completely spaced on a gift I put aside for you.

  So, here I am in the office after hours - setting things right. 

  But first a question:

  How much of the Attention Age Doctrine do you remember?

  Continue reading Simple But Powerful Attention Age Mindmap & Diagram Download

• Oct 25 2007
• 56 Comments

  I Don’t Think We Can Be Friends Anymore

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Market Attention, Blog

• 
  A little over a year ago I left an internet marketing seminar feeling disheartened, disillusioned, and disappointed by what I saw. In fact, I was so disturbed I wrote a warning, a prescription for change, a call to arms for entrepreneurs online - The Internet Business Manifesto.

  That’s why it’s rather ironic that I am writing this post from my hotel balcony in Sydney, Australia, once again disappointed, depressed, and disturbed by what I witnessed yesterday at an internet marketing event I participated in.
  

  There were 16 speakers, many of whom were clients of mine. It was an impressive lineup of self made entrepreneurs who got to their current position by learning, thinking, working hard, and marketing even harder.
  

  Yet table rush after table rush were for so-called "short-cuts" like Private Label Rights Products, Push Button Software, And you just sit at home and get rich while my company does all the hard work for you type products.
  

  Not one person speaking from the stage got to their current position by any of these methods. You would think that the audience would see that. But if you did, you would be wrong.
  

  Continue reading I Don’t Think We Can Be Friends Anymore

• Oct 13 2007
• 51 Comments

  Mal Halperin Owner Of Great Bear Automotive Displays What’s Wrong With Business Today

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog

• I have never used this blog to attack anyone personally, that is… until now.

  You see, yesterday, I had a unique experience that I want to share with you. I think it illustrates perfectly a key mistake that many business owners (both online and offline) make.

  Here’s the background…

  Continue reading Mal Halperin Owner Of Great Bear Automotive Displays What’s Wrong With Business Today

• Oct 03 2007
• 10 Comments

  There’s An Empty Chair At My Table With Your Name On It!

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, News

• So we had this meeting recently at Strategic Profits, and I was looking around the room at my team. What a collection of All-Stars we have…

  - There’s Brian, Mr. Harvard Business School himself, my right hand man…
  - Anna, the Jamaican Wonder, whose attention to detail makes my events shine…
  - Dwain, our marketing guy and resident Canadian who eats and sleeps hockey…
  - Artie, our software developer who leads our team of overseas developers…
  - Lauren, our graphic design expert and our cookie queen…
  - Ken, our whiz at content creation, online marketing, and music trivia…
  - Matt, our writer who researches the blogs and social media landscape…
  - Christina, fresh out of college, eager to write, and brand new to the Florida lifestyle…
  - Ricardo, our finance guy, who makes sure the money keeps flowing where it should…
  - Carlton, our customer service pro, whose smooth voice makes problems disappear…

  As well as the rest of my superstar team in Florida and at productive locations overseas.

  These are my colleagues… my teammates… my friends. And I cherish each and every one of them. 

  Continue reading There’s An Empty Chair At My Table With Your Name On It!

• Oct 02 2007
• 18 Comments

  Multitask Like an Octopus on Crack

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• 

  Do you ALWAYS follow the bouncing ball?
  

  Congratulations… Like me, you may already have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

  … And you may be on your way to becoming an Internet Millionaire!

  I’ve coached thousands of entrepreneurs. Many of them have been diagnosed with ADD, but many more have not… they just think they have it. And they are using ADD as an excuse for why they haven’t succeeded in their chosen careers.

  That’s a cop out. 

  There’s a reason why 76 percent of the successful Internet business gurus I have coached all have ADD. (That’s 15 times the national average).

  People with ADD are exceptionally suited to excel as online entrepreneurs because of — not in spite of — our so-called “affliction.” You should think of it as an advantage. Learn from people who are using ADD to grow their businesses.

  Here’s why:
  (Hat tip to Peter Quily, author of “Top Ten Advantages of ADD in a High Tech Career”)

  Hyperfocus Rules! Who says people with ADD can’t focus? Sometimes, that’s all we do. You know how to get in the zone and stay there. Sometimes for 14 hours at a time. Make it productive. While others are sleeping, you’ll be making money.

  Use Your Rapid Fire and Ferocious Mind. Your brain is a cheetah. The next great idea is a rabbit. Yummy, yummy. Enough said.

  Multitask Like an Octopus on Crack.  How many browsers can you keep open on your monitor and still stay productive? Push the limits and find the best research in less time.

  Experience a Super High Energy Level. Is Adrenaline a vegetable? If not, I’m declaring caffeine and sugar as fruits. Vroom! Vroom! Let’s get healthy and wealthy!

  Get Highly Creative. Do you look at Dalmatians and see dice with legs? Ever find a business solution at the bottom of your smoothie? You don’t just think outside the box – you play in it and turn it into a multi-family dwelling when you’re done. Rock on, origami boy!

  All Hail the Quick Learner. ADDers pay attention to things that interest us. If something bores you, move on. There’s plenty more to do and discover with your supercharged mind. Mix in some creativity and create a cocktail for success.

  Welcome to Stimulation Nation. Your brain craves stimulation. The Web gives it a home. Turn your distraction into discovery and keep your brain juiced with something amazing.

  Leave X-Ray Vision to Superman. He only used it to check out Lois Lane, anyway. You have the super ability to see what others don’t see. Find business opportunities while your competitors find despair.

  You’re a Crisis Champion. You don’t just like to mix it up, you are sometimes guilty of being the instigator. You thrive on chaos and change, and you don’t shrink from intense situations. Create an environment in which you thrive that will drive your competitors crazy.

  No Risk, No Reward. Take some chances, then move onto the next adventure. You have ADD. While others are still reading the directions, you’ve already made two trips around the game board. Learn as you go, but keep going… and going… and going…

  Forget about making lemonade from lemons … You have ADD … Go make your millions while others are still wondering how you get everything done.

  Remember, ADD is a disorder, not a cop out. It’s a physiological problem, not a psychological one. You can’t fake ADD, and you shouldn’t try.

  There are good traits with ADD as you can see, but there are some bad ones, too. I know because I struggle with them everyday.

  Don’t use ADD as an excuse for your fears and failures. Rather, you should be inspired by people who really struggle with ADD and have turned perceived weaknesses into business strengths.

  I know because I’m one of them… but I won’t change who I am or make excuses because of it.

  Simple message: Be comfortable with who you are… but be more productive.

  Share your thoughts…

• Sep 28 2007
• 8 Comments

  Do You Have A Favicon?

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Tools, Blog

• Did you notice?

  We installed a favicon.

  It’s just one more detail that scores you a few extra points in the credibility index (Can I trust you?)

  Do you know what I am talking about?

  It’s the little logo you see in the address bar. It’s also shows up  in bookmarks (yep, social ones too!), which means you need to get one right now!

  Fortunately you can have one in a few minutes for free:

  here’s a copy of ours:

   

   

   

  You can create one too! It’s easy… Here’s how:

  Go to: favicongenerator 

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

• Sep 27 2007
• 13 Comments

  Keyword Research - A Tool You Never Thought Of

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Tools, Blog

• 

  Keyword Research

  Whether you are an online marketing veteran or a raw rookie, you’ve done your share of keyword research.

  Odds are you think you’ve probably seen everything under the sun by now. Maybe you have, but maybe you haven’t thought of this…

  Wednesdays are special days for me. It’s the one day a week where I spend between two-to-four hours answering questions from business coaching clients live on the phone.  We usually get a few hundred callers with about 30 to 40 questions.

  There’s a lot of great tactics shared in those calls, and it’s an easy way to make sure clients who are confused, challenged or especially motivated are only a phone call away from getting me to focus on their business and their action steps.

  On today’s call we got on the topic of offers, and how to tap into what the market was craving. I listed many of the methods I use to determine what’s on the market’s mind, and everyone could see the logic in what I shared, except…

  Using Google Trends

  What I found fascinating is I took for granted that everyone understood the power of this tool. Apparently not.

  It should be no big secret that I’ll be releasing The Attention Age Doctrine Part 2 in a matter of weeks now. One of the areas where I’ll be sharing some incredibly killer tactics is in the social marketing realm.  So I decided to share two screenshots that highlight just one of the uses of Google Trends.

  Above and below are graphs of the overall search volume (top) and the news reference volume (below) for the three keywords: (1) social bookmarking, (2) social networking, and (3) blogging.

  Do you see what I see?

  Well, if you’ve noticed that the trend on the red line (social networking) is really gaining momentum, then you’re paying attention.

  This has profound implications if you think about it…

  It means if you’re thinking about creating a product in an area that’s hot and growing hotter - social networking is your baby.

  or… 

  It means if you are going to an SEO program to sell your Web 2.0 course, it would be wise to work on social networking and it’s long tail offspring.

  or…

  It means a great upsell, bonus, or follow-up offer on an Internet marketing product would be social networking.

  I could go on and on, and if it wasn’t late and I wasn’t tired I probably would. But then again I’ve recently been accused of being a little too wordy, so I’ll keep the rest of my examples to myself, and press on.

  If you’ve never used Google Trends you can check it out here

  Then tell us what you think.

  If you’ve used Google Trends before and got information that helped you in your business, please share with us how it helped you.

  Time to hit the sack…

• Sep 26 2007
• 9 Comments

  Microsoft Predicts Demographics Of Your Blog or Website

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Tools, Blog

• Website visitors…

  No matter how many you’ve got, you want more.  To get more you must know your market, your visitors, and your customers cold.

  Sadly, most online entrepreneurs know more about their favorite sitcom characters than they do their customers or visitors.

  Here’s a painless way to make immediate progress in knowing your site, your visitors, and your market slightly better than you do now.

  Last night while surfing, I stumbled onto this nifty little demographics predictor from Microsoft. All you have to do is type in your URL or keyword. (sure beats analyzing analytics - but unfortunately it’s not a replacement.)

  Anyway, once you hit "go" immediately you’re greeted with a predicted male-female distribution of your site visitors, and a breakdown by age group.

  I wasn’t really shocked by my results, let me know if you are.

  You can use the tool here: Microsoft Demographics Predictor 

  Also, if you are interested in small little tidbits like this, let me know. My bookmarks are overflowing with lots of cool stuff like this and better.

• Sep 25 2007
• 9 Comments

  Nokia Is Stalking My Wife

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Market Attention, Blog

• Take a good look at your telephone. I mean, really look at it.

  Now think about how important that phone is to the growth of your online business. More on that later…

  If you are like many people in the Attention Age, your cell phone is probably your primary telephone. It may also be the most important social connection tool you’ll ever own.

  Whether you carry it on your belt or in a purse, your cell phone is always with you, always there. You’re never more than “just a phone call away” from anyone in the world from anywhere in your world.

  

  This is a monumental development that has only occurred in the past few years. And it’s worthy of our attention… because things are changing in a hurry.

  It seems that the companies that manufacture our cell phones are not content with merely providing us with cool and colorful little gadgets.

  Phone manufacturers want more – much more – of your attention and your business.

  That’s why I think that Nokia is stalking my wife… and she doesn’t even know it.

  My wife has developed quite an ability to send text messages on her phone. She is constantly tapping away on that phone like a woodpecker in search of a juicy meal.

  What’s more remarkable is knowing that her friends are doing the same thing, at the same time, wherever they may be as they continue conversations that “just have to happen” right now.

  And phone companies such as Nokia are loving it.

  AdWeek reports that Nokia recently purchased Enpocket as part of a larger strategy to challenge MySpace as a social networking giant.

  Nokia sells about a million phones a day worldwide. The company has 850 million phone users. That’s a lot of people available for immediate social connection.

  Nokia has developed something called MOSH – short for “mobilize and share” – which will allow consumers to swap photos, videos and audio files via cell phone.

  Just imagine what my wife can do with this service. And she’s not alone…

  Since its Aug. 9 launch, MOSH has registered more than 100,000 new users a day. The ability to connect people through voice, texting, photo images, and wireless Internet is astounding.

  This brings me back to your business:

  • What impact can this type of social networking have on your online business?
  • If you could connect this easily with customers all over the world through their cell phones, what kind of success might you claim?
  • How would you become a major player in the marketplace?

  But before you get carried away, really look at your phone and be honest with yourself:

  You don’t have any idea how to work this thing, do you?

  I mean, beyond the basics of “phone rings, I answer it.” Many of our phones now have texting features, video capabilities, MP3 music enhancements, Internet connections… it’s crazy.

  Yet how often do you really use the phone for making connections that will help your business grow?

  I ask this important question as it relates to growing and marketing your online business.

  When I started my business, it all began with phone calls to the people I thought could help me the most. I called Jay Abraham. I called John Carlton. I called John Reese. I called many of the top Internet marketing, copyrighting and business minds I knew and picked their brains for ideas on success.

  I set up interviews. I met them in person. I built my business on the relationships I developed, and I learned from their experiences.

  My success began by overcoming my fears and picking up the phone.

  So many online entrepreneurs have great ideas, but don’t have the gumption to put them into action. Perhaps you fall into this category. If so, it’s time to re-evaluate your goals.

  If your ideas are so great, why can’t you pick up the phone and call someone about them? What’s holding you back? If you don’t take the risk, you won’t see the reward.

  If you want to develop and market your online business, you’d better learn about social networking and get involved in some of the most influential circles that can make your business take off.

  The Attention Age waits for no one. It certainly won’t wait for you to decide when you’re ready to jump into the water and start swimming for more successful shores. Whether this means making a simple phone call or commenting on the blogs of the most influential people in the blogosphere, you have to get started now. Don’t delay your success.

  You have to take action yourself before your competitors do.

  And if you are thinking about asking my wife to do it for you, you can forget that now… She’s already too busy texting her friends.

  The Nokia social networking news should be encouraging and empowering for your online business. And it serves as a helpful reminder for us all.

  Take advantage of the technology tools around you, but let your own inner drive for achievement be the greatest spark for your business.

  Ask yourself: Are you helping your business through social networking? What’s your favorite tool?

  “Success begins two days after the day before yesterday.” Are you ready?
  
  

  Click to comment... 

• Sep 20 2007
• 66 Comments

  Respect or Attention? Take Your Pick

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Market Attention, Blog

• Remember Rodney Dangerfield? He was the great nightclub comedian who “can’t get no respect.”

  Dangerfield built a persona – and a lucrative career – on self-putdowns about his looks, his weight, his wife, his sex-life, his career… you name it:
  

  “My mother had morning sickness after I was born…”

  
  “I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio…”

  
  “With my dog I get no respect. He keeps barking at the front door. He doesn’t want to go out. He wants me to leave…”

  Dangerfield made it funny and profitable to get no respect. And what he didn’t receive in respect, he earned in our attention… and our laughter.

  He was lucky.

  Many writers and artists display great talents and earn “critical acclaim” (respect) from their peers, but little in the way of global attention or income. They dedicate their lives to “the arts” while foregoing the attention necessary to make them rich and famous.

  Not a bad path, if you choose to take it. But is that really what you want from your online business?

  Does your business command respect? And if so, is the respect it receives paying off in attention? Or are you running a Rodney Dangerfield business that gets no respect at all?

  Is your business, like so much artwork, created solely for you and your benefit, but not for capturing the attention, respect and sales of a wide audience?

  Of course, I ask these questions within the framework of our discussions about the Attention Age.

  We tend to give attention to those who have our respect: Teachers, world leaders, famous athletes and Hollywood celebrities just to name a few. They all have our attention – and many hold it – because we respect who they are or what they represent – sometimes both.

  For every Princess Diana, Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey there are countless other people who excel in their particular fields, but who receive far less attention. Some even have less respect because they haven’t achieved the heights of “stardom” as some of their counterparts.

  Is this fair? No. But who ever said business or life was supposed to be fair?

  When it comes to building a business, especially an Internet-based business, earning respect and earning attention are vastly different things.

  Think about how much attention we pay to goofy YouTube videos.

  More than 100 million YouTube videos are viewed each day by nearly 72 million individual visitors each month.

  We may not respect what people are doing in these videos, but if they are outrageous and humorous enough, they earn our attention.

  The attention paid to YouTube certainly caught the attention of Google.  The search engine giant acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion in stock.

  That’s a number that will certainly earn some respect… and attention.

  The success of YouTube was based purely on marketing and attention.

  The viral nature of the videos and the social networking aspect of the community interaction became an explosive combination that was hard to ignore.

  Sometimes marketing makes all the difference between obscurity and in-your-face success. How are you marketing your business – for greater respect or attention?
  

  “Don’t Tase Me, Bro!”

  YouTube captured our attention early and often and still hasn’t let go.

  Just this week Andrew Meyer, a University of Florida student, gained attention during a speaking event with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. After pressing Kerry on the topic of the war in Iraq and badgering the senator on other issues, Meyer was asked to quiet down. He refused and was forced to the ground by campus security and hit with a taser.

  During the scuffle Meyer uttered an infamous phrase – "Don’t tase me, bro!" – which was seen and heard on videotape splashed on YouTube and all over the Internet.

  Within 24 hours, several versions of "taser" were among the top viral videos on YouTube and other social media sites. The student’s phrase “Don’t tase me, bro!” appeared almost instantly on T-shirts and other online merchandise. Maybe Meyers didn’t earn our respect, but he sure got our attention. And savvy Internet marketers were able to pounce on the opportunity to cash in on the incident because they were ready.

  YouTube has grown from a place to upload "frat boy" gag videos to becoming a co-host for U.S. presidential primary debates. Along the way, we’ve come to respect YouTube as a major media force in the Attention Age. It’s a Web 2.0 success story that has paid off "big time" for its creators and continues to pay off for its fans.

  Respect for YouTube came after the attention. But that’s not always the case…

  There is our infamous attention hog, Paris Hilton. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who respects her, yet she holds the attention of a celebrity-driven media and society. We’re still not sure why…

  So how does all of this apply to your online business? I’ll let you decide by considering this question.

  In the absence of having both, would you rather have respect or attention?

  I encourage you to give the question serious thought and share your comments with my blog readers. Respect and attention are not mutually exclusive, but if given the choice, which one would you prefer for yourself and your business?

  As you think about that, I’ll leave you with another joke from Rodney Dangerfield, who died in 2004.

  "My fan club broke up. The guy died."

  Who knows, with more respect and greater attention, that "fan club" may still be alive…

  So what would you do if 100,000 prospects turned their attention to your online business today?
  

  Would they still respect you in the morning?
  

  Better yet, could you convince them to become your customers?

  comment 

• Sep 18 2007
• 35 Comments

  Under the Influence of Attention

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Market Attention, Blog

• How influential are you? 

  Tough question, isn’t it? I encourage you to give it serious thought.

  First, let’s define the term to avoid confusion.

  Influence is the ability to become a compelling force on others. It is an ingredient of persuasion.

  Influence spreads quickly and easily among an audience.

  Don’t confuse this with influenza… That’s something altogether different.

  Influence can bring greater attention to the influencer as ideas and emotions are spread.

  Other times, influence escapes our visible attention. Instead, it is felt -  a silent emotion. It is a feeling that pushes us or pulls us in one direction or another.

  What is the greatest influence in your life? Perhaps that’s where you should place your most attention.

  Our parents warned us in our childhood about bad influences. They are the kinds that lurk in the alleyways and in the deep recesses of our mind.

  Now we are grown and accountable for our actions. We seek good influences, the kind that will propel our business and enrich our lives.

  But who or what is providing influence on you right now? Is this influence for the good or is it steering you away from your goals?

  Perhaps that’s not so easy to determine, but determine it you must.

  Many people think of influence as something that comes with power or money. We see it on display in politics and celebrity culture. We often give attention to those we perceive to have great influence. This is not always wise, but it is quite common.

  When we ourselves have influence on others it comes bundled with responsibility. You may feel this as a mother or father. You may know this as the owner of a business or leader of a community group.

  As you create and develop your online business, think about the influence you have and what you intend to do with it.

  If you have the ability to influence others, how will this realization shape your online business?

  Who will you reach with your messages? How will you improve their lives?

  As a business owner, each day you stand at the edge of a cliff. The cliff represents opportunity. From your vantage point, you overlook the marketplace. If you could just influence this market, you will find success.

  But you are on the edge of that cliff for a reason. You know rewards do not come without risks. If you take a misstep, you will fall from the cliff. Such are the perils of entrepreneurship.

  So, what will influence you to take the proper steps toward success? What is the source of influence that allows you to move forward with confidence?

  Imagine me as an entrepreneurial traffic cop. I’m approaching your vehicle with this question: Is your business driving under the influence (DUI)? If so, where are you driving your business?

  -  Is your goal to influence buying decisions among the marketplace?
  -  Do you hope to influence others with your wisdom?
  -  Are you intent on using your business influence to improve living conditions in your home and in your community?

  In the Attention Age, everyone is an influencer. What makes this age special is that now all of those influencers are becoming networked.

  Consider this: Just by writing a blog, I have influence. People see my name; they recognize it and give weight to my ideas and opinions, for better or worse.

  By reading a blog and sharing a message with others, you have influence. By linking to this blog and encouraging others to do the same, you help spread the messages that influenced you. You are building a network of influence.

  Your comments on my blog have influence, too. I read them, and so do many others. By providing us with comments, you help influence the decisions of online entrepreneurs just like you whom you may never meet.

  Your words provide inspiration. Your insights deliver clarity and give others a sense of purpose.

  I know they do for me.

  So I’ll ask you a simple and direct question to spark some comments:

  Who are the greatest influences in your life?

  There may be one or there may be 100. Let me know by sharing your comments on my blog.

  By becoming a source of information for others, you exhibit influence. That influence may develop into a profitable business for you. It could provide the basis of future friendships. Or, you just may be content in being a trusted conduit of attention for influential information.
  

  Give influence your attention.

  Understand its power and impact on your daily decisions.

  Commit to positive influences that lead to greater rewards. Your business deserves your utmost attention.  Let the influence on your business be one that promotes growth and brings happiness.

  Post your comment here… 

• Sep 12 2007
• 59 Comments

  What Are You Trying to Accomplish Today?

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• Some days, you wake up to challenges…

  The alarm clock didn’t go off. The modem isn’t working. The milk has spoiled.

  And yet, there are opportunities…

  You awake to the feeling of sunshine streaming through a window. You read a newspaper instead of scanning news online. You drink your coffee black.

  Each day brings new challenges and opportunities. But what if you could turn those challenges into opportunities for greater productivity?

  It’s possible, because I do it every day.

  Here’s the secret: Focus attention on the tasks that will lead to success.

  Before you make your coffee… Before you butter your toast… Before you drop the kids off at school or complete any part of your morning ritual, ask yourself this question about your business day:

  What am I trying to accomplish today? It’s a short question, but it packs a big punch.
  Many of my coaching clients, most of whom are online entrepreneurs, are blinded by the prospect of making lots of money without spending much upfront.

  The potential of having a successful online business is enormously attractive. Not only does it sound cool to say “entrepreneur,” but it’s even better when you can define the term by saying “look at me.”

  Yet, the same low-cost barriers to entry can bring a low probability of profit if you can’t address the question: What am I really trying to accomplish?

  You need to spend some quality time figuring out what your objective is and how you need to focus your attention to accomplish and exceed that objective.

  - Do you want to become the best Internet business coach?
  - Are you hoping to sell self-help books online?
  - Have you discovered a way to feed the masses and end world hunger?

  Whatever your goals, whatever your talents, you have to give this your full attention. Anything less will lead you in the wrong direction – closer to frustration and further from your goals.

  So, ask yourself again: What am I trying to accomplish today? And continue to ask this question every day, several times a day, to maintain your focus on achievement.

  I know from asking several of my coaching clients that many people struggle with this question.

  It’s not because they lack confidence. It’s not because they are trying to be evasive. It’s simply because – no matter how long they have been thinking about building an online business – they just haven’t given the question sufficient, serious thought.

  What are you trying to accomplish with your online business?

  I am asking this question within the framework of our discussions about attention and, more specifically, our anticipated return on attention.

  If you choose to give your attention to something that will become your livelihood, you should certainly know what you hope to accomplish with all of this attention, right?

  Remember the examples in previous posts about Starbucks and Apple. Their corporate and critical success is about passion, customer service and paying attention to the right things.

  You have to find those same magic seeds and spread them among your customers.

  Without a well-researched and well-executed plan for growth, you stand little chance of succeeding against a world of competitors as an online entrepreneur.

  Yes, I said an entire world of online entrepreneurs.

  Remember, the Internet is not located on a street corner; it’s located on the World Wide Web. Your competitors may be found anywhere on the globe. Are you ready to compete with them and win?

  So, ask yourself again: What are you trying to accomplish today?

  How will your focused attention translate into higher profits for your business?

  If you’re struggling for an answer, it’s time to maximize your attention on the subject. Here are some tips:

  - Prioritize. Gain the ability to organize your tasks in a way that aligns with your goals.
  - Determine really clear short-term goals. Long-term goals are great, but the short-term goals provide a “scorecard” to make sure you are completing the most important things that will keep you moving forward.
  - Upgrade your ability to deal with information. Take a speed reading course. Discover new methods of research and study. Become informationally efficient.

  I’ll have more tips on how you can accomplish these attention goals in Part 2 of The Attention Age Doctrine, which will be released later this month.

  But in the meantime, I want to hear from you.

  What are you trying to accomplish with your online business?

  Besides trying to make lots of money…

  No one knows better than you about your passion and goals. Share some of them here and build a community of fans who will cheer for you as you exceed your own business expectations.

  You have my attention… Now, start accomplishing your goals.

  Show me how it’s done.

  Post your comment: 

• Sep 08 2007
• 31 Comments

  Finding Treasure Among the Trash

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• Man, I love this blog.

  I enjoy the give-and-take of this group as we hammer-out the challenges and issues in the Attention Age.

  Your comments provide great material for Part 2 of The Attention Age Doctrine, which will be ready later this month. Thanks for your contributions and your patience. I promise, it’s going to be great!

  As you may realize, one of the best attention-holding features of blogging is the opportunity to keep conversations alive. I do it here as often as I can.

  While each blog post may survive on its own merit, it is also possible - and encouraged - to carry thoughts from one post to another as a viral thread.

  After all, this is how some of the best ideas are spread.

  That said, let’s return to the topic of Return on Attention (ROA).

  Return on attention is the performance metric by which we measure the value of the attention we "pay" to other people and ideas.

  You’ll remember from a previous post that I asked about the return you are receiving from the attention you freely give to others. Thanks for your comments on this topic and keep them coming. You’ll see in a moment why I asked for them in the first place.

  Think of ROA as a financial transaction.

  When you pay for a product or service, you expect something of value in return:

  - Pay for milk. Bring milk home and drink it.

  - Pay for housecleaning services. Come home to a clean house.

  - Pay for business coaching. Get Rich Schefren.

  The return should always be of great value, otherwise, there’s no point in making the purchase.

  Yet, as I’ve noted earlier, we tend to give our attention away to many things, asking little or nothing in return. Seems strange, especially if you are trying to succeed as an online entrepreneur.

  Since attention is such a scarce resource, we should recognize its value and only exchange it for something of equal worth.

  It’s like bartering diamonds for gold pieces. The value of each must be measured accordingly.

  Yet each day, we let our mind and our attention wander away from our own business goals. We squander our intellectual capital and waste our energies on lesser subjects and ideas.

  By doing so, we take our eyes off the ball with regard to our own business goals. We divide and subdivide our own attention to our detriment, diminishing our power to achieve.

  Re-read that last sentence out loud. See if it applies to your own online business situation.

  Giving away attention devalues its impact. It dulls the force of our competitive nature.

  It’s like giving up diamonds for rubber bands. You probably wouldn’t do it if you were of sound mind - unless you received a helluva lot of rubber bands - so why do we constantly give away our valuable attention?

  ROA often comes in the form of knowledge. It’s what we receive as a benefit for having paid attention to a customer, a client, a motivational speaker, or anything else.

  What we derive from that experience should have its own reward for us, either in the form of financial gain, wisdom increase or future benefit.

  Our goal, as always, is to convert that knowledge into wisdom.

  Entrepreneurs are the alchemists of the online world. We are innovative enough to make gold out of straw. But we can’t afford to give away our well-earned wealth - in the form of attention - without receiving greater value for our efforts.

  Global business strategist and author John Hagel III has his own take on ROA. He says it is "driven by the proliferation of options available to us in all domains of our life, increasing the relative scarcity of an increasingly valuable resource - our attention."

  I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I didn’t. That’s why I’m giving him full credit.

  Hagel suggests that virtual communities, such as this blog, can be powerful conduits in delivering ROA by enhancing good fortune.
  
  In other words, you’ll become "lucky" just by paying attention to my blog. I completely agree.

  Don’t you get a rush of excitement when you "accidentally" discover a valuable, relevant resource of information that you didn’t even know existed?That’s what the StumbleUpon.com web site is all about. It creates value from other sites that we "stumble upon" as we navigate our way around the Web.

  As a former baseball executive said a long time ago, "luck is the residue of design." You’ll be amazed at how lucky you’ll feel when you do things with real purpose - not just out of habit - like searching for knowledge to grow your business.

  The challenge is to harness the power of these valuable resources and derive a healthy return on the attention we give during our quest.

  How can you connect with others to grow? How can you take advantage of your skills for finding relevant "treasure among the trash" and use the materials as key building blocks for your success?

  Your attention becomes an investment in that success. You have to mine the gems before you realize their value.

  Let’s put it to the test on this blog.

  Think like a big shot banker… Where will your attention receive the greatest "bang for the buck?"

  Share your attention wealth with my blog readers.

  Tell me your top three goals for getting a great return on your attention.

  It is possible to find treasure in the trash, if you know how to pay attention.

  Let’s see if we can turn that attention into business gold.

  Please leave your comment… 

• Sep 06 2007
• 105 Comments

  Age of the Attention Hog

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• 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.

  Post here…

• Sep 05 2007
• 74 Comments

  Gourmet Coffee and Apple Sauce - Got Your Attention?

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• What captures your attention? A pretty face? A televised car chase? The smell of cookies wafting through the room?

  What holds your attention? Satellite images of a hurricane bearing down on your town? A cancer diagnosis? Watching your children play on a lazy Sunday?

  We soon realize that the things that capture our attention are often not enough to hold our attention.

  Capturing attention is far easier than holding attention.

  Getting attention the wrong way is even easier: Just yell “Fire!” and someone will look your way. But that won’t do you any good if you want to hold their attention in the future, especially if there is no fire nearby.

  Attention-driven advertisements can make you look, but they won’t necessarily make you buy. Just ask the companies that gamble each year on Super Bowl TV ads. Often we remember the advertisement, but we can’t remember the product being pitched.

  Yet the attention is addicting, and companies spend millions of dollars on the lure of Super Bowl ads – in part because of the “free media” attention those ads are sure to attract.

  No purchases are guaranteed, but the attention the ads will receive is enough for many.

  Attention is the catalyst that makes future purchases possible. Without it, there is no hope.

  That’s why attention drives our economy.

  In the Attention Age, “interesting” is not enough. Valuable information must be exciting, fun, immediate, compelling, useful, and relevant.

  In order for your message to receive attention, it first must be interesting enough to warrant attention. And once you realize it is interesting, it had better be something more.

  The secret to holding attention is to make the message appealing to your target audience. Make the “story” personal.  It’s the personal story that carries the greatest impact.

  A hurricane could hurt YOUR family, YOUR neighbors, and YOUR friends. A cancer diagnosis affects YOU and YOUR loved ones. YOU have an emotional investment in YOUR children. Anything that affects them matters to YOU.

  The message that draws our attention must have a direct emotional connection to our lives, or our attention just won’t last.

  I know what you’re thinking. “Paris Hilton gets a lot of attention, and she has nothing to do with me?” She doesn’t? Then why are you watching? Why do you care? How did she get into your head, and more importantly, who is allowing her to stay there?

  There’s something going on here. You just may not want to admit it.

  Successful communication hits its mark when it involves the target. Communication must be about the audience, not about you, your company or your product. People pay attention to what affects their lives, not your own.

  If you can convey your message in a way that tailors information to the emotional needs of your audience, you will get their attention and succeed in the Attention Age.

  Consider Starbucks. They didn’t invent coffee; they just made coffee culture “cool.”

  Starbucks founder Howard Shultz doesn’t want people to enjoy his coffee. He wants them to experience coffee culture – the sights, the smells, the sounds, the ambiance and the emotions that come with the Starbucks coffee experience.

  Shultz envisioned Starbucks as a “people place,” not as a coffee shop. It’s a place where we can go for coffee where “tall” means “small,” where “grande” means “medium” and “venti” means “large.” There is a coolness to the lexicon that lets us feel like we are members of a club, with club locations seemingly on every city street corner.

  It’s a marketing paradox: An “exclusive” club where everyone is welcome.

  Starbucks captures our attention and holds it whether we drink coffee or not. Customers may learn to like – even love – the beverage, but they come back to Starbucks for the culture. It’s an Attention Age success story.

  Apple is another successful attention-getter with a passionate following. Apple has what I like to call the “T-shirt factor.” People are so enthusiastic about the company and its products that they want to put the Apple logo on their T-shirts, their computers, their cars … you name it. It’s a brand that invokes loyalty and action because Apple makes their consumers feel like part of a winning team.

  Think about it: Have you ever been around an Apple enthusiast for five minutes without hearing them mention that they are, indeed, an Apple enthusiast?

  There’s a consistent message coming through that iPod: It’s passion, and it gets our attention.

  The most successful companies, like Starbucks and Apple, develop an innovative culture that serves as a basis for a real connection with consumers. The company, its products and people become an attention conduit for clients and consumers. Attention is served over and over again to great success.

  Online entrepreneurs can do it, too.

  How can you develop your own Starbucks experience with your online business? How can you replicate the passion of Apple’s fan base?

  If 100,000 potential customers were brought to the “doorstep” of your Web site – right now – how would you capture and hold their attention?

  Let me know. Pour yourself a venti, fire up the Mac.

  Show me how it’s done.

  Share your thoughts with my blog readers. You have their attention.

  Consider this your challenge to keep it.

  Post your comment here (one attention grabbing web link allowed)

• Sep 04 2007
• 56 Comments

  Creating An Attention Bubble

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• So, the second part of the Attention Age doctrine is coming out very soon. 

  I hope you’re as excited to discover my secret solutions, as I am to give them to you.

  I promise these secrets will change the way you live, work and think - so you can breathe… relax… smile… and make more money, while also enjoying the great gift of life.

  But in order for you to really grasp, absorb, and - more importantly - apply the solutions that I’m going to give you, you need to truly understand "The Attention Age” and why we are in it.

  I explained the Attention Age (AA) in the first part of the doctrine, but in hindsight I really would’ve liked to have said more.  The purpose of this post, and a few more to come, is to explore and dissect the AA itself. To give you a tour of the “ADD-World” we now live in.

  Three concepts discussed in part one of the doctrine:  Information Overload, Interruption Overload, and the Paradox of Choice.

  These are the three main characteristics of the Attention Age—we are so connected, we are disconnected. We are so frequently interrupted, we are becoming less intelligent. And we have too many choices and options that we tend to make poor decisions.

  The world we live in today provides endless content sources of information, and it is more than likely that you will be interrupted during anytime of the day - whether you’re in the office, having dinner, at your first born’s christening, or even while you’re using the bathroom.

  Not only are we bombarded with information, but we are also competing for everyone’s undivided attention.

  Think about this:  

  We are depleting attention at one end, and demanding it at the other - from cell phones, text messages, e-mail, you name it.

  So our attention is our most scarce and valuable resource. It’s more important than intelligence in many cases, and is considered to be one of the (if not the) prime factors in determining how successful you are in your career.

  Optimizing your attention, and focusing on the correct people and objects in life, can truly make or break you. It really defines who you are and indicates what you will accomplish in life.

  As Herbert Simon once wrote,

  “In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a death of something else:  a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious:  it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.”

  I would simply add information overload, interruptions, too many choices, clutter, maxed-out bandwidth, psychic ram, and fear of missing out on new opportunities—all consumes our attention.

  Now you can see why I deem this period of our life… The ATTENTION AGE.

  With this said, what if we didn’t experience these negative effects of Information Overload, Interruption Overload and the Paradox of Choice? What if we were never distracted? What would we get done? What could we really accomplish?

  Think about it for a few minutes.

  In fact, try this little exercise: 

  Take a sheet of paper. Divide it into two columns; have one column be your common attention-drains during your day, and next to it, how much time those attention-drainers cost you. Add up all the time-costs.  Then, in the second column list all the things you would do if you were sitting in an invisible-isolated bubble. Make it a bright, colored, invisible bubble if you would like. Once you’ve filled out both sheets of paper, look at your “color-bubble” list. Ah, what a dream it would be to get all those things done in one work day….

  Here’s a secret:

  If you’ve ever wondered or been in awe of how much successful entrepreneurs get done - it’s that they spend most of their time in that “colored bubble.”

  Now, take a look at your attention-drainers and time (they cost you) list - don’t you just want to scream! What if all those annoying drainers didn’t have to take place? What if you could make that entire left column disappear, so you could act on everything you listed in your right column?

  How nice it would be to return to your happy bubble…

  And that, my friend, is what the second part of the doctrine is all about.

  Secrets to reclaim your own attention, so you can be the productive person you’ve always wanted to be (and are when you’re in your bubble!) And how to capture and hold on to your market’s attention and skyrocket your business (hint: It’s the steps I used to take Strategic Profits from a standstill to 7.5 million in 12 months.)

  So, tell me and the other readers: 

  What are your biggest attention drains? And what are they preventing you from accomplishing?

  Post your comments here… 

  I’ll review (as I always do) your comments and do my best to customize my solutions to your situation(s).

   

• Aug 31 2007
• 15 Comments

  Open Thread - Attention Age Doctrine

  Published by Rich Schefren, in General

• As I toil away on research into Part 2 of the Attention Age Doctrine, a creative idea came to mind.

  How about having an “open thread” on my blog that invites comments from you – my readers – about what you’d like to see in Part 2.
   
  What are some the concerns you have about focusing attention on your business?

  What are some of the top challenges you face when dealing with interruptions to your work flow?

  What challenges have you come up against in getting the attention of your market?
   
  I’ve made a commitment to have fun this weekend as well, so that may have something to do with this request. But don’t let that discourage you. If you can find time in your fun activities to give this blog some attention, I’d greatly appreciate it – and so would your fellow readers.
   
  So, consider this an open thread… What’s on your mind regarding attention?

  What kind of solutions would you like to see included in Part 2 of The Attention Age Doctrine?
   
  Let me know and have a great weekend.

  I’m anxious to see your ideas.
   
  To Higher Profits,
  Rich Schefren

   

  Click here to provide your comment 

• Aug 23 2007
• 70 Comments

  We Interrupt This Message…

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• 

  "Interruptions are in the eye of the interrupted."

  This was a key point in The Attention Age Doctrine, and one that really struck a nerve with many of my readers.

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

  Trouble is, you won’t realize whether or not the information is important until you’ve given it your attention.

  Since the release of The Attention Age Doctrine, I’ve received countless e-mails and blog comments about the distinction between an "interruption" and a "distraction" as it relates to business efficiency. While there are "dictionary differences" between the two, I’ll just give you my quick analysis.

  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 [I’ll share the research that supports this notion, and how you can re-condition your attention, in Part 2 of the Attention Age Doctrine, coming out next month.]

  Look, 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.

  My coaching clients often ask: How can I avoid the interruptions that are distracting me from my work?

  An easy answer is to work in solitary confinement, but that has its own downside. A better answer comes from asking a better question: Why am I allowing myself 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.

  Two days ago I attended a networking event in Texas that will most likely go down in history as one of the biggest gatherings of influential men and women in business and marketing.  It was hosted by my good friend Stephen Pierce. Some of the powerful people in attendance were T Harv Eker, Jay Abraham, John Reese, and Jeff Walker; Tim Ferris, Armand Morin, Russell Brunson, and John Carlton; Mike Filsaime, Tom Beal, Jerry Clark, and Shawn Casey; Eben Pegan, Mike Litman, and Dave Lakhani; Janet Switzer, Yanik Silver, and Lori Morgan Ferraro.

  At the event I had a great conversation with Internet Marketing legend John Reese. Besides getting some great marketing advice from him regarding our upcoming seminar in February, we also compared our approaches to getting our work done. And we both had a similar approach.

  We both think about the goal we are trying to accomplish and list all the steps we need to do in order to accomplish it. Then, we get to work. John said (and I agreed) that often people get sidetracked or procrastinate because they haven’t taken the time to layout all the steps they need to take to accomplish their goals.

  The list of steps helps grab and focus their attention.

  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)

  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!

   

  Post a comment about this article 

• Aug 20 2007
• 69 Comments

  Start Each Day With the F-Word

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• I was startled out of sleep the other morning by my 5-year-old daughter Ava. It was 6 a.m. and still dark as she ran into our bedroom screaming the ‘F’ word.

  The word flew out of her mouth as if it was launched by NASA.

  

   

  "FRIDAY! Today Is Friday!!!!"

  What a great word… Friday.

  Do you remember back when you were in school, how happy you were to finally get to Friday?

  Unfortunately, for far too many entrepreneurs, the word has lost all its power. Even worse, that special "Friday-feeling" has also disappeared from our busy lives.

  Yet, for self-described cubicle slaves and school kids alike, no matter how heavy the burden or workload, there is always Friday. For them it’s more than just a day; it’s an attitude.

  • Friday is freedom from worry.
  • Friday is fun, which should be part of every day.
  • Friday moves us forward.
  • Friday feels fantastic.

  Any day can be Friday. It’s a landmark event that signifies triumph: It’s time to race to the FINISH (another favorite ‘F’ word) and begin the process of recovery from a batch of productive work.

  I’m sure you’ve used the ‘F’ word on more than one occasion as your grow your business. Sometimes just one word like that can determine your attitude for the entire day.

  In my coaching practice I’ve noticed that most entrepreneurs have completely lost the special feeling that comes from the anticipation of downtime after completing a task or project. It’s as if running their business has become a never-ending marathon with no finish line whatsoever.

  If you don’t have a finish line, how will you know when the race is won?

  So, what about you? How many ‘Friday’ moments have you experienced as an online entrepreneur?

  What other words trigger action and emotion as you sprint to complete your projects and achieve your business goals?

  I’m no wordsmith, but I’m beginning to pay more attention to language. I give my kids credit for this gift as they teach their dad a thing or two about ‘nice words’ and "bad words."

  Watching my daughters learn new vocabulary words, and form their speech patterns, I marvel at the way their minds work. There’s a lot going on inside the brain of a 2-year-old when she tries to say “hippopotamus” for the first time. But the result of her accomplishment, however tortured the pronunciation, is a joy to behold.

  I’ve also learned the power of words – their meaning and the images they project.

  Some words hurt, others bring smiles. At times, simple words, and the rhythms they create in our minds when spoken, can be quite soothing.

  Here are some examples:

  Relax…
  
  Replenish…
  
  Recharge…

  Feels kind of nice, doesn’t it? Now, think about the meaning of those words and the images they place in our minds.

  

  Relax… slow down, lie down, kick up your feet. Feel the ocean breeze and the warmth of the sun on your skin.

  Replenish… cool water on a hot summer day, a refreshing dip in the pool after a long day at work. The feeling of nourishment we get after downing a fruit smoothie.
  

  Recharge… the kick of an espresso to start your morning, the turn of an ignition key and the roar of a supercharged engine. You’re built for speed, baby, and ready for action.

  Make it a point to incorporate these kinds of words into your business day today.

  I know I’ve been talking a lot about information overload recently, but it’s important for you to realize how it will feel when you declare victory over it.

  Where once there was information anxiety, now there is recovery.

  Recovery is a very important word for all of us. And I am not talking about the type of recovery you get from a 12-step program either (Sorry, Lindsay Lohan fans).

  Instead, I am talking about a time where you actually recharge well enough so you can come back with even more energy than before.

  When you stop and think about it – and I strongly encourage you to do so - stress followed by recovery stimulates growth. Without recovery, continual stress leads to burnout or breakdown.

  If you’ve ever been interested in weight lifting, you know what I mean. When you work out at the gym, you take your muscles past the point of failure. Then you must give your muscles enough time to recover so that they can rebuild and be better prepared for similar stress.

  When training your body, if you don’t fully recover you’ll end up overtraining it. The net result is you get weaker instead of stronger: The exact opposite of your original goal.

  This happens emotionally, too. Think about the traumatic events that were once devastating, but that you now recognize as empowering: Family crisis, the death of a loved one, the break-up of a relationship, the failing of a business venture, the loss of a job, etc.

  The reason for this renewed strength is that you have fully recovered from the trauma and are now better prepared to handle similar stressful situations. But this time, you’ll handle them much better.

  If you don’t allow for recovery, and you get hit with another crisis, it can be demoralizing for you, your family, friends and business.

  If you’ve read the biographies of as many successful entrepreneurs as I have, then you’ve definitely seen this pattern of trauma, recovery, and victory in their lives. So many successful people go through some horrible reversal, but they recover, and later they’re stronger because of it.

  Often, many battles are lost before winning the war.

  That’s why the concept of recovery is vital to our growth. And you should strive to incorporate it in all that you do.

  So how does this translate into your own life?

  It means for every 14-hour workday filled with adrenaline and the promise of financial success, there must be rest and recovery if you want to be at your best.

  It also means if you are struggling with information anxiety you’ll never get to experience recovery (and its resulting growth) because there’s no finish line – no end in sight. The race or pace just never lets up.

  That’s why a “Just in Time” approach to information is superior to “Just in Case” methodology. By acting upon information as we need it, rather than hoarding information just in case we may need it, we train ourselves to be more efficient and successful. Because there is a finish line, there is a tangible goal by which to measure our growth.

  Remember those soothing words: relax, replenish and recharge.

  I’ll add another: RESPOND to this blog post and share your entrepreneurial challenges.

  Let me know how your “recovery” stories have helped sharpen your business focus.

  Some of the toughest times in our lives become the most inspirational. Some of our “lowest lows” provide our greatest life lessons.

  Remember, Friday is a metaphor for recovery. With information overload, there is no real recovery, but there can be relief. And with no recovery comes burnout or breakdown. Relief brings its own reward.

  As you experience “Friday” every day, let me know how your Friday moments are fueling your business growth.

  Your attitude may be your greatest asset as you move forward.

  post a comment

• Aug 17 2007
• 24 Comments

  When Is Enough, Enough?

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Blog, Effectiveness

• 
  Most online entrepreneurs just like you either suffer from too little or way too much information: There simply is no in-between.

  Where do you stand? How do you figure out which amount of information is “just right?”

  Today, we’ll continue the conversation on information overload that we started in an earlier blog post. And, boy, is there a lot of material to cover …

  Let’s begin with one of the biggest issues.

  I’m often asked by nervous entrepreneurs:

  When is “enough” information really enough?

  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this question from clients – “newbie” business owners and veteran business leaders alike.

  So many smart people are convincing themselves that they are just not smart enough. Stop doing this to yourself and your business.

  As we mentioned in an Aug. 15 posting on this blog about information overload, you can’t possibly know everything, so don’t even try. You just need to recognize what you don’t know and fill in the gaps along the way.

  One of our blog readers, Dan Scott, put this urgency in perspective: “Often we keep acquiring more information so we can put off pulling the trigger … at some point, you’ve got sufficient information and should just act.”

  Excellent point, Dan.

  Think about it:

  It’s great to have an impressive vocabulary, but you don’t need to memorize an entire dictionary in order to enjoy a good book. If you don’t understand a new word, simply look it up. It’s that easy to do.

  You just have to trust yourself – and your brain. After all, even Albert Einstein couldn’t remember his own telephone number. He reasoned, quite accurately, that he didn’t need to memorize his phone number because he knew where to find it in the phone book.

  Einstein didn’t question his knowledge of the unknown, even for little things like remembering a phone number. You shouldn’t either.

  Sometimes knowing how to access information is more important than the information itself. Remember that – I’m sure it will become more and more important to you as your business grows.

  There’s another puzzling question I hear a lot, and this one is funny when you say it out loud:

  How do I know that I’ll know what I need to know when I need to know it?

  Questions like these reveal a disturbing unease about strategic business process – and a lack of confidence among business owners. The questions don’t lead to business solutions; they just heighten our anxieties and pick at the scab of uncertainty that irritates us all.

  “What if I can’t keep up with my competitors?” …

  “What if I don’t buy every business book, read every e-mail, and scan every RSS feed?” …

  “What if I miss the one bit of information that could truly set my business on fire?”

  “What if …”

  This kind of paranoia freezes growth opportunity.

  It discourages risk-taking and leads to indecision, inefficiency, and ultimately, paralysis.

  This is no way to run a successful business.

  Information anxiety plagues many good business people. But the great ones are able to sort through the clutter of information and inaction and get to the part that really matters – the information that leads you to take action.

  Again, knowing how to access and interpret information is sometimes more important than the information itself.

  Think about this example. What turns the lights on in your house? Simple answer: A light switch.

  You don’t need to know about volts, ohms and amperes in order to turn on the lights. You just need the lights to work so you can see what is in front of you.

  The ability to see what is in front of you: This is what so many of us seem to have lost.

  Instead, we block our own view, and distort our business vision, with needless stacks of irrelevant information. The “stacks” don’t have to be physical. Even a virtual impediment is a blockade to creativity and productive thought.

  Oh yeah, one more thing …

  Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You’ll still make them, no matter how much information you have in your memory and at your fingertips.

  Let me share a secret with you.

  If you’ve done anything at all – not just business – then you have valuable experiences locked inside you that are just waiting to be rediscovered

  You know what has worked and what hasn’t in certain situations. This will ALWAYS provide the best information you need to succeed. It is personal to you and it is timely: Two strong reasons why it’s more valuable to you than most information you’ll come across.

  Most likely, no other business guru has ever shared this secret with you ­– because, if they did, it would be bad for business.

  But I’m willing to do this for you because I believe you really must understand this. I’ve had some of the best mentors in the world – Jay Abraham, Michael Masterson, etc. – but even with that star-quality guidance, I needed something more.

  The most important, impactful and relevant information I ever received that has helped me be successful has come directly from my own experiences – good and bad.

  You are the best source of information for your business.

  You know what works best and what doesn’t. You’ve thrown yourself into the fire and perhaps you’ve been burned by a few failed business decisions.

  So what? That’s nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it may be just what you need to assure success in the future.

  Your experiences, your passions, your successes and failures, all come into play as you move forward in any business venture. Each bit of experience you have gained along the way becomes a pebble on the path toward future growth.

  Don’t turn that pebble into a boulder by blocking your ability to move forward with confidence.

  Often, clients tell me that watching me make a mistake, rebound and leverage it for future growth has inspired them to really change their way of thinking. They are no longer timid with fear of failure. Instead, they are ready to pounce on opportunity, even if it is born of error.

  While you may be tempted to ingest all sorts of information from outside sources, and many of these sources may prove remarkably helpful, the ultimate business decisions are made by you.

  It is essential that you take control of that decision-making function.

  And no matter what, do not discount what you know already or make your own knowledge any less important than anyone else’s. It is your wisdom that has value because you are living with it.

  Last year, in a Sept. 8 blog posting, I offered tips on how to attack information overload and the resulting anxiety it causes.

  In it, I asked my readers to overcome “the single biggest obstacle to achieving lasting success online and offline.” That obstacle, for many, is their own personal craving for more and more information.

  You may be an information junkie, but don’t let information anxiety turn your business into junk.

  What’s causing you to delay action in favor of more research? What impulses are preventing you from “pulling the trigger” on action-oriented solutions?

  Your responses on information overload have been illuminating, and I’m learning from all that I receive and read.

  Share your secrets to “getting going” on new tasks. Do you have a certain ritual you follow? A certain method you use to kick-start your productivity? How do you know when enough is enough?

  Let me know how you do it … There are a lot of people hungry for your ideas.

  To Higher Profits,

  Rich Schefren

• Aug 15 2007
• 2 Comments

  Personal Development List Challenge

  Published by Rich Schefren, in Quotes

• Priscilla Palmer’s Personal Development List is a very interesting experiment. It’s generating a ton of reciprocal links and is sweeping the blogoshere.

  I would like to challenge every site on this list to add whomever might be missing and then to post it.

  THE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT LIST!!

  Lilifixt at Feel Happy
  Sophiagurl at Life is just around the corner…
  Secret Simon at The Secret of Life
  Jackie at The Painted Veil
  Tricia at Loving Farewells

  Aaron Potts at Today is That Day
  Adam Alexander at Adam’s Peace
  Adam Kayce at Monk at Work
  Adam Khoo at Adam Khoo’s Philosophies and Investing Insights
  AgentSully at Life Learning Today
  April Groves at Making Life Work For You
  Argancel at C’eclair (for those who speak french)
  Ash aka Mr. Biggs at One Powerful Word
  Al at 7pproductions.com
  Alan Torres at Made to Be Great
  Alex Shalman at AlexShalman.com
  Alexander Kjerulf at The Chief Happiness Officer
  Alexys Fairfield at Unraveling The Spiritual Mystique
  Albert Foong at urbanmonk.net
  Amber at Random Mangus
  Amie Ragan at Psychology of Clutter
  Amy Hedin at There is no Maximum to Human Potential
  Andrea Learned at Learned on Women
  Andrea J. Lee at Money, Meaning, and Beyond
  Andy Wibbels at AndyWibbels.com
  Anita Pathik Law at Power of four Way
  Anmol Mehta at AnmolMetha.com
  Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand
  Antonio Thornton at AntonioThornton.com
  Ariane Benefit at Neat & Simple Living
  Ask Lucid at Ask Lucid Spiritual Development
  Barbara Sliter at Creatorship
  Belle Wong at Abundance Journal
  Bill Perry at Lucid Blog
  Billy Smith at The Organic Leadership Blog
  Blogfuse at LifeDev
  Brad Isaac at Achieve It
  Brian Clark at Copyblogger
  Brian Kim at briankim.net
  Brian Lee at geniustypes.com
  Brooke at Plain Advice
  Bob at everyeveryminute
  Cam Beck at ChaosScenario
  Cara Lumen at The Success Magnets With Cara Luman and Your Second Wind Blog
  Carlon Haas at Possess Less Exist More
  Chris Cree at SuccessCREEations
  Chris Marshall at Martial Development
  Chris Owen at Pink Apple
  Christine Kane at ChristineKane.com
  Christine Valters Painter at Abbey of the Arts
  Clyde at Feeling Good
  Colin Beavan at No Impact Man
  Conceive, Believe, Achieve at Conceive, Believe, Achieve
  Craig Harper at Motivational Speaker
  Curt Rosengren at Occupational Adventure
  Cyres at Cyres Matters
  Damian Carr at Soul Terminal
  Daniel Sitter at Idea Sellers
  Darren Rowse at Problogger.net
  Dave Schawbel at The Personal Branding Blog
  Dave Schoof at Engaging the Disquiet
  Davers at Language Trainers Blog
  David Allen at The David Allen Company
  David Bohl at Reflections on Balance
  David Finch at David Finch.com
  David Richeson at 360 Degree Success
  David Rogers at How to Have Great Self Confidence
  David Seah at David Seah.com
  David Zinger at Slacker Manager
  Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
  Dean Lacono at Law of Attraction for Beginners
  Debbie Call at Spirit In Gear
  Debbie LaChusa at 10 Step Marketing Collection
  Debra Moorhead at Debra Moorhead.com
  Denise Mosawi at Destineering.com
  Des Walsh at Thinking Home Business
  Devlyn Steele at Tools To Life Guide
  Dick Richards at Come Gather Round
  Dominic Tay at Personal Development for Winners
  Don Simkovich at Hey Don
  Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer
  Donna Karlin at