Lessons From A Dot-Bomb CEO

The best "mistake" of my life taught me a lot about how not to run a business. You see, I have a confession to make: I'm a Dot-Bomb CEO. Here's the story of Midwestern Cybertising, and the lessons I've learned:

Prior to 1994, the Internet existed as pages and pages of text, with hyperlink shortcuts that brought you to other pages of text or to new sections on the same page of text. Text, text, text. Not bad if you like to read, but people today would hardly recognize it as "the Internet". Then, a little program called "Netscape" changed everything by making the Internet a visual, multimedia experience. That moved it from the world of computer nerds and placed it firmly into the hands of businesses and consumers alike.

Enter Midwestern Cybertising. Some friends and I realized that this could be the new media for customer service and advertising, and jumped right into creating our own web development company. It was the classic garage biz -- all of our HTML and graphic design was completed in my bedroom at my parent's house! Our monthly server fee of about $15 comprised our entire operating budget.

One thing that I am proud of to this day is that my friends and I were YEARS ahead of the curve. If you can believe it, our biggest obstacle was trying to convince businesses that it would be valuable to have a web page! Our entire company consisted of three people -- two of us planned to return to college at the end of summer break -- unless, of course, our company made us phenomenally rich.

Unfortunately, our company did not make us phenomenally rich. By the end of summer, we had sold only one account (for $500, which we were never able to collect), and had one additional prospect that we were unable to close on. Eventually, we lost interest in our company and moved on to pursue other interests.

Here is what I learned from our adventure:

You are not in business to make money. You are in business to help other people or businesses -- just don't do it for free. Being clear about what your business does and how it benefits your clients makes it a lot easier for you to sell your services and products. My friends and I constantly had trouble explaining why it was necessary for businesses to have web pages as a matter of customer service. We saw only a money river and jumped in. It never occurred to us that we'd have to explain to people how badly they needed our services. We figured they knew.

Marketing is a start-up business's most important activity. When we started our business, the first thing we did was incorporate. That used up almost all of our start-up money, and in hindsight did nothing for us. We were three college kids who had nothing; if we were to lose everything we had in our business, we wouldn't have lost anything. In the end, our business imploded because nobody knew who we were or what we did.

Plan to fail or plan to succeed, but have a plan. Planning is a critical step in starting a business. By the time you've invested your first dollar in your business, you should already have a clear idea of what your business's primary product or service is, how much you plan to charge for those products and services, who your ideal clients are, where you expect to find those ideal clients, how you plan to contact those clients, how much goods or services you must sell this month (and next month and the month after), and how many prospects you need to contact to make that happen. Time is critical for a start-up business. By doing detailed planning before you begin, you can hit the ground running. My friends and I did our planning all summer long -- as much as 90 days after investing in our business. By the time we had worked out the details, we had to return to school...which brings us to the next item:

Give it your all, or don't give it anything. Don't have something to fall back on. If a business is worth starting, it's worth giving it all you've got. My friends and I approached our business as a hobby for the most part, thinking it would be neat if we made a lot of money at it. We never seriously considered dropping out of school to build our business. But, if our business had actually grown as well as we thought it would, quitting school would have been necessary. So before we'd even begun, the business lost out to our education.

Ability isn't enough. I don't want to brag, but my friends and I were truly cutting-edge. We utilized all the latest technology, had beautifully designed pages, and were utilizing search-engine optimization (SEO) before it was even being talked about. If ability was what makes a successful business, you would have read about us in Time magazine. However, it is sales and marketing that bring in the clients. After all, what good is it to be the best if nobody knows about it? Ability brings satisfied customers back, but sales and marketing brings them in the first time.

One final lesson I would offer is this: If you learn from everything you do, nothing you do is in vain. I have never started another business, and may never again. But I've never regretted my experience with Midwestern Cybertising. I learned a lot from the experience, and not only what not to do. I have also learned a lot about the right things to do, too -- in business as well as in life.

Image Streaming: Here Goes!

The Other Voice In Your Head

You are familiar with the language of the left brain. That's the voice in the back of your head saying you can do it or you'll never win, and it never seems to shut up. The right brain, however, is more cryptic. It chooses to speak in pictures. Much like the left brain, the right brain is always "on", and it is always "talking" to you.

The Right Brain Speaks In Pictures

This is important, for it is through the right brain that you have direct access to your subconscious (the logical left brain actively ignores the subconscious). And it is often the subconscious that is credited with breakthroughs in science and thought! By tapping into the stream of images offered by your right brain, you tap into a deep reservoir of remarkable intelligence and intuition. This is called "image streaming".

Image streaming is a major focus of the book "The Einstein Factor" by Win Wenger. By closing your eyes and allowing yourself to see the images that are already there, you begin to see a world of strange and new possibilities. But perhaps the most difficult part of image streaming is interpreting the images in the first place. It's like learning a new langage: right-brainese. Rarely are the images literal. They are usually symbolic, and with a symbolism that is unique to you. Spiders, for instance, might represent abject terror to one person, while they might represent an ancient wisdom to another.

Yes, Even You Can Visualize

And if you claim to be somebody who "can't visualize", don't worry. You've been visualizing for years and just aren't aware of it. If you were a child, there was almost certainly a time when you daydreamed. That's visualization. Still don't believe me? Try this exercise:

1. Read this sentence: Sally ran home crying because she spilled her ice cream cone on the sidewalk.
2. Now, look away from the screen.
3. Without looking at the screen, try to recall what you have read.
4. Congratulations, you just completed a visualization!

When you recalled what you read, you were not trying to recall the words on the screen but the images they describe. In fact, even if you were only able to recall the words, you were visualizing -- because you weren't seeing them with your eyes, but with your mind. In fact, any memory that you have is a visualization.

A Look At My Own Image Stream

To satisfy my own curiosity and for the benefit of those of you who may read this, I thought I would try it out:

I'm standing in a field, the grass is waving back and forth in the wind. I hear the shriek of an eagle, and look up to see that it is swooping down on me as though to catch me in its talons. I duck, covering my head for protection, and the eagle circles back up into the sky. As I look down, I see a field mouse in the grass. It wasn't me that the eagle was attacking after all, it was this mouse. I feel indignant, because this mouse is utterly helpless and the eagle is frighteningly powerful. I take it upon myself to defend this mouse, and I stand firm as the eagle circles around for a new attack. I have no way to defend myself or the mouse. I look down at my hand, see that my hand is flat, rigid like a knife. As the eagle swoops down, I stab my hand at the center of the eagle's chest and it drops out of the sky. I am relieved for the mouse, but saddened for the eagle.

But What Does It Mean?

Strange, huh? I'd tell you what I think it means, but why don't you give it a try? Or try doing a visualization of your own. For best results, write down your image streams or record them into a voice recorder. That way, you will have a record of what they actually were, as opposed to what you remember them to be.

Fun With Truisms

Use Contrasts To Discover Wisdom

This world is woven together by surprising contrasts and parallells. One interesting side effect is that it becomes very easy to create remarkably deep insights simply by twisting phrases around contrasting or parallell themes. For example: To be a friend to all...you must be all to a friend.

Simple. Rearranging the first clause creates a truism -- a sentiment that is easily dismissed because it is so pithy. But when you peer into it more deeply, profound truth bursts forth. This simple statement addresses many searching questions: How do you make friends? How do you keep friends? What is a good friend? The answer is simple, but its meaning is great.

Use Wordplay To Discover The Secrets Of The Universe

If you enjoy wordplay, consider creating trusisms. You might even discover the soul of the universe along the way! Here are some more...

1. To be "successful", you must "be" successful.
2. When you are talking, you aren't listening.
3. To understand your neighbor, seek to understand yourself.
4. To get what you want, give what others need.
5. Kindness is a selfless act. Cruelty is a selfish act.
6. To discover wisdom, uncover your folly.
7. To spend more tomorrow, spend less today.
8. If you dream of success, succeed at your dreams.
9. Thought creates nothing. Action creates everything.
10. Giving hearts give more than giving hands.
11. Evil thoughts and evil acts have the same victim.
12. Hate begins with a thought. Love begins with an action.
13. Light is the presence of light, but darkness is not the presence of darkness.
14. To shower your family with presents, shower them with your presence.
15. If you want only what you need, you need never be in want.
16. Hate finds faults. Love accepts faults.
17. Action builds hope. Sloth builds anguish.
18. Busy bodies don't have time to be busybodies.
19. Physical limits constrain the body. The mind constrains itself.
20. Today won't be the same as yesterday. Tomorrow won't be the same as today.
21. Praising me makes me happy. Praising you makes us happy.
22. Sometimes people that seem to have money only seem to have money.
23. Lies require a host of proof. Truth requires none.
24. Better questions lead to better answers.
25. Rules lead the masses. Ideals lead the leaders.

3 Things: Time Management For Scatterbrains

The Planning Trap

There are several books about time management, and millions of people have been able to use the information in those books to organize their lives and to schedule time for success.

But for some of us, organization and schedules are as clumsy as a goose wearing rollerskates. For some of us, implementing a new time management process represents not merely a change in habits or attitudes, but a change to the very essence of our being.

Getting Things Done Without Over-Organizing

What is a genetically unorganized person to do? I've struggled with many systems, tips and tricks over the years. Some of them actually worked beautifully for the very short time that I remembered to implement them. But I have discovered one method that works to keep me consistently on top of my to-do list and always working toward my goals. That method is the "3-Things" method.

The beauty of the 3-Things method is in its simplicity. At the beginning of the day (or week, or month), you decide what three things are the most important things you need to do. That's it!

Start The Day Off Right By Committing To 3 Things

By taking a moment each day to review what you most want to accomplish, you can easily make time for them. Even as you are determining your three things for the, you become aware of the perfect times to do them.

Make Sure Your 3 Things Are Important

But I should offer a warning: the effectiveness of this method depends entirely on your ability to properly assess what three things are in fact the most important things you need to do. Therefore, it is vital that you are clear about what makes an action item "important".

This is where it can be very handy to have goals that matter to you. For example, if you have three major goals that you want to accomplish, then choosing your three most important tasks for the day is simple: choose tasks that will move you closer to those goals.

So, what are the three most important things you must accomplish today?

SET: More Fun Than Reading The Directions

Reading The Directions Only Tells Part Of The Story

This has to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard of, I thought to myself. Why did I even buy this? And I hadn't even finished reading the directions yet! Fortunately, reading the directions and playing the game are entirely different matters.

Reading the instructions for SET is a strange experience -- the premise of the game is so simple that it doesn't even sound challenging: Each card has a number of shapes on it with different colors and patterns. Your job is to find a group of three cards that are all similar or different in each characteristic.

That's it.

Well I learned shapes, colors and matching in pre-school, so I was afraid I must have accidentally bought a game to pass the time rather than stretch the mind.

One Twist That Makes All The Difference

But I was wrong! The tiny little element of the game that I overlooked while reading the directions was this: everybody else at the table is playing at the same time. And let me tell you, that simple twist changes everything. Not only do you have to match groups of cards based on four different characteristics, but you have to find it before somebody else does!

Perfection In Simplicity

The genius of SET is its simplicity. It's very easy to teach other people how to play, and the actual games take very little time. Depending on the group you're playing with, you can complete the deck in 15-30 minutes -- faster, if you are playing with some pros.

It can even be played with younger children in the family as long as they understand the concept (the instructions even have a learning format that can be used with new or young players). SET is an excellent family game and I heartily recommend it.

Toastmasters -- Doorway to Success

Toastmasters, you think, that's public speaking, right? Well, yes. But that's like saying a computer is an electronic filing cabinet.

Building Skills For All Forms Of Communication

Toastmasters focuses on helping its members improve their communication skills overall. Learning to be a better public speaker is a part of that, but you become a better communicator along the way -- whether speaking to a stadium full of people, to your co-workers or to your children.

Real World Practice Without The Real World Dangers

If you are like most people, you want to be a better person tomorrow than you were today. Unfortunately, you can get some wicked bumps and bruises when you try out a new skill in the "real world". Toastmasters provides an encouraging environment where your fellow club members help you learn from your mistakes in a positive and encouraging way. That gives you the courage to persevere and before you know it, you've mastered the skill -- without suffering the negative effects of the real world's learning curve.

Learn Skills With Immediate, Practical Benefits Beyond Public Speaking

You learn how to develop effective speeches by working through a series of workbooks and projects. Advanced members, however, continue on to learn things far beyond the realm of public speaking. Public speaking may have limits in scope, but "communication" covers nearly every aspect of living. Want to learn negotiation skills? Toastmasters teaches that. Want to prevent discussions with your spouse from escalating into the next big argument? Toastmasters can help you build those skills. Want to share memorable and engaging stories that will be passed on from your children to your grandchildren? Toastmasters shows you how.

Big Changes Through Small Successes

Most importantly, by building on many small successes, you develop greater self confidence. Toastmasters encourages you to reach out of your "comfort zone", and by doing so you discover that there really is nothing you can't do. Your new self confidence opens your eyes to the vast world of opportunity that awaits you. And your improved communications skills give you tools you need to make it happen.