I’ve been enjoying Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of Success. I’m not a fanatic reader of non-fiction business books – although I do read quite a few business magazines and business fiction – but I’ve been captivated by Malcom Gladwell’s unveiling of what actually contributes to noticeable success.
I’m not going to do a book review here, per se, rather I want to share with you off the top of my head in bullet point fashion what has impacted in reading this book thus far. (I’m about 3/4 of the way through)
- Outlying success is largely a product of practice – 10,000 hours or so
- What appears to be intrinsic talent leading to success rarely turns out to be anything more than practice combined with timing and circumstances.
- One’s environment growing up greatly contributes to one’s success regardless of innate intelligence or talent.
- Sheer determination counts and reaps rewards.
- Success follows a predictable course. It is not the brightest who succeed.
I’m not doing justice to the book by any means, but these are some of the key points you may come away with as well.
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by Mark on March 12, 2009
I don’t have tens of thousands of subscribers to Vacant Desk but I have enough to say, “Sorry I haven’t posted more often.”
I’m very passionate about this idea of getting out of the office, living life, not being defined by our work – yet making a killing anyways.
I know this is a very Tim Ferrissian sentiment but I don’t care. I’ve been working my whole life to achieve this. And by some measures, I have. (From time to time) [click to continue…]
by Mark on January 14, 2009
There’s a huge difference between having a business and having a business that is systematic. A systematic business will reproduce its success over and over again while any other type will require repeated and unique effort for every profit generating event. The best conceived business systems will thrive whether you’re managing it every day or not.
Why do you want a systematic business?
If you own a company that is creating profits day in day out that performs independently of your own daily efforts you can enjoy life more while not sacrificing your income. It’s a simple concept but it doesn’t happen automatically. You have to plan and be persistent until you get it right. [click to continue…]
by Mark on December 31, 2008
I’m not exactly sure when GoToMeeting web conferencing started to work with Macs. All I know is that it has been amazingly useful for my mobile lifestyle.
I’ve been traveling for the last month and I have another couple weeks to go. In the time I’ve been away from my desk I’ve launch two websites and performed training for the customer using GoToMeeting. I also held a performance review for one of my internet marketing clients where I was able to log into her advertising accounts and go over the numbers.
Here’s what I like about using software of this type. Especially GoToMeeting:
1. It’s actually a better experience for demonstrating software and online work than being face to face. I know this may seem counter intuitive. It works though. Rather than crowding around a screen each participant can sit in front of their own computer comfortably and fully participate.
2. You can have multiple presenters and the hand off is super simple. With one of our meetings I had three presenters going over the areas that they were responsible for. To switch to their screens and give them total control all I had to do was choose their name from a simple drop down and instruct GoToMeeting to make them the presenter. You also can opt just to give them control of the keyboard and mouse while staying as the presenter.
3. It makes your clients feel good. Yes, it gives them the “warm fuzzies”. Or, at least, I’m assuming it does. A lot of your clients/customers/partners may have not had a web conferencing or webinar experience before. It’s a high-tech communication experience for them that gets the job done.
4. You can provide support easily. If a client needs help setting up a piece of software, needs training on a web tool, or needs you to look at something on their computer, it’s super simple to switch the present and have control of their mouse and keyboard. This has been very useful to me more times than I can count.
Check it out. They have a free trial period that includes all the features and functionality. Let me know how you like it (or don’t) in your comments below.
GoToMeeting: Free Trial + $10 Off.
by Mark on October 21, 2008
I was reading a travel magazine today and started to feel euphoric. I realized that I’m really motivated by travel. It’s a big reason why I build businesses and push through, at times, unbearable impending failure.
Travel removes you from your current situation and your circumstances. It allows you to stand back and evaluate your world from a distance. It’s the great perspective machine as far as I’m concerned and everyone should do it. There’s, of course, the upside of digging your toes into the white sandy beaches of Mexico with a Corona in your hand or cruising the volcanic plateau of Santorini, Greece on your rented scooter. No matter your destination travel refines, relaxes and releases you from your cares.
Of course we’re big on the tools of travel but what’s the point of being able to connect from anywhere if you don’t have anywhere to go? So here’s what we’re going to start doing on the Vacant Desk blog. We’re going to start highlighting locations, accommodations, and the associated costs with escaping there.
Let’s start with one of my all time favorite destinations: Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
I used to live in Guadalajara while going to Spanish language school back in 1998. PV was a scant four hour bus ride to the coast. We’d stay in a partially completed hotel called La Paloma. (I think that was its name) We didn’t care if it wasn’t completed. We just wanted to hang out on the Malecon and the beach. Ahhh the carefree days!
You can still find some incredible deals in this pristine and historical coastal town of Mexico. I dug one up off of Craigslist in a cool part of town. It’s not on the beach but it’s got awesome views. Check it out.
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8,000 pesos is about $630 US. Not bad for a month in a very beautiful and restful place. For about $1,000 – $1,500 per month you could have a great time in Puerto Vallarta. Throw in the abundance of wifi connected coffee shops and restaurants and no one will know you’ve left!
Here’s a link to the property’s booking website.
Norm Brodsky wrote his monthly editorial in Inc Magazine this month with a title, “Get lost: Taking more vacations increased the value of my company. How cool is that?”
…Now, I will admit that I haven’t always been as strong a believer in the importance of taking time off as I am today. For eight or nine years after starting my first business, I took breaks only when my wife, Elaine, forced me to. She would go to Florida, where we had a second home, and I would join her on the weekend — maybe. If the technology had been available, I would probably have been one of those poor souls sitting on the beach with a BlackBerry in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and a computer on my lap. Or I would have been doing deals while riding a ski lift up the side of a mountain. It took a long and painful trip through Chapter 11 to make me realize the dangers of becoming consumed by the business. Looking back, I could see that I had gotten in trouble in part because I had lost perspective. My business obsession had clouded my judgment and kept me from asking important questions about what I was doing and where I was going…
A couple of salient points from the article worth taking note of:
- He’s been more successful the more vacation he took
- It took a chapter 11 to help him realize the dangers or being consumed by his business
- The business ran just as smooth (or smoother) when he was gone
- Not taking vacations is dumb
- Your business needs to up and running, cash-flowing, and largely succeeding before you can start vacationing aggresively
Anyways, it’s an article worth checking out. Find it here…
Ok. I’m going to tip my hand here. Where am I personally headed with this whole Vacant Desk thing? Not just the blog but the pursuit of the location independent lifestyle? Well, I realize that it’s not just about the amount of money I make, it’s about the time I create. It’s also not just about being free from a particular location – a cubicle or whatever the equivalent may be.
It’s a combination of the above. But what’s, possibly, the best industry to be in? Here’s what I believe it is…you ready? It’s…
…Affiliate Marketing
(Bells, whistles, applause. Raucous noise making.) [click to continue…]
I took a few minutes today to put up a Squidoo lens. It seems like a great way to leverage a great community and get some more eyeballs on what we do. We’ll try not to bastardize the use of it though. It seems like a lot of Squidoo lenses don’t do anything other than overtly promote and don’t have any decent additional content.
If anyone wants to school me on the proper (and highest) use of Squidoo please do so in the comment section.
Check out our Squidoo page here
Here’s a nod to one of the better nomadic lifestyle/work from anywhere/break free from the desk blogs out there. It’s called “Location Independent Living” and they’ve got some great content. The blog is edited by Lea & Jonathan Woodward and they’re, well, location independent.[ad]
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The Nerdy Nomad (Kirsty) is currently on a working hiatus. I’m not sure she’d describe it that way but she definitely far from home and she’s definitely making money. She earned over $2,500 in April from her internet based money making activities. [click to continue…]
