Liz and I just had a conversation that I had to write about. We were commenting how people sometimes sabotage their own efforts running after short term gains. There are obviously unethical things people do to get ahead. Things like spamming. Shady black hat tactics. Affiliate cookie stuffing. Tricks. Attacks. Then there are the less obvious things. Running after awards. Jumping on popularity contests and ranking lists. Begging for links. Digg baiting. Why do all these things not only … [Read more...]
Forget About Perfection, Just Do It
Three times yesterday I gave the same advice. Two of those times were to consulting clients with absolutely brilliant ideas for blogs. I wish I could tell you what those ideas are, I just know a ton of you would sign up right away. What was the problem? What was my advice? The problem is the same for both, their ideas are so good they want their designs or content to be absolutely perfect at launch. I can understand the need to get things "just so". But all three people I spoke to were … [Read more...]
Are You Working Too Hard?
Andy has a thought-provoking post over at his Tropical SEO blogThe great entrepreneur-CEO is, at his/her core, smart and lazy.Could you be working too hard? Yes have commitment, energy, drive, ambition, but do not confuse those with "hard work". Think of the old cliché "work smarter not harder". Many of the best programmers I have met have been lazy. They make good programmers because rather than do manual, tedious, grunt work they would rather get the computer to do it. Also because … [Read more...]
Turning Limitations Into Advantages
People seem to have a magnified view of their own limitations. Recently I have been putting together a blogging course and coaching program which has put me in discussions with a lot of beginning bloggers. It has also put me in touch with a bunch of people who think they couldn't blog no matter what encouragement I give. I'm too young I'm too old I can't write I am not interesting My niche is not interesting Nobody will listen to what I have to say I have no credibility I will … [Read more...]
Breaking bad habits and forming healthy ones
Another day, another memes (I invited anyone to tag me with a meme in return for a link and a free copy of my forthcoming ebook). Don't worry, I am not going to tell my life story like yesterday, this one will be about you rather than me :) Success is partly about good habits. Good habits help you get stuff done and fixing the bad habits removes self-constraining behaviour. All good, but how? David asks "How do you make changes?" if you wanted to improve your life by changing a habit - … [Read more...]
My Productivity Secret – The Joy of Flow State
What is your productivity secret? Adam "monkatwork" Kayce has tagged me for the Ultimate Guide to Productivity Group Writing Project. It's a difficult question to answer.On the one hand, I do get a lot done. People often say to me that they wish they could also do this or that but they don't have time. Where do I find the time? That's the thing, much of what people do to make them productive is subconscious.My secret I think is "flow".Have you heard of that before? You almost certainly will have … [Read more...]
My Twitter Experiment Is Over
I tried Twitter. I really did give it a go. More than I anticipated I would. But it's not for me.Don't get me wrong, I won't be pulling my account, just won't be using Twitterific and apart from once or twice a day will not be checking messages.While it is fun, I don't know how anyone can get any work done while it is on. Far too distracting. For those who say it is the next big thing? Not convinced. I haven't seen a single worthwhile message, not a single scoop, not any content of note that I … [Read more...]
Commentful Firefox Comment Tracking Tool Review
Commentful is a web service and Firefox plugin that helps you keep track of blog comment conversations. I have been using it for the last few days and it seems to work pretty well.Commentful is a service that watches comments/follow-ups on Blog posts, Digg submissions, Flickr pictures, and many other types of content. When ever there is an update, such as a new follow-up or comment, Commentful notifies you instantly.First you have to sign up to the web service. When you have an account you go … [Read more...]
Business Personality Types: Fear vs Thrill
One way to get more productivity out of yourself and your team is to understand what motivates them and supply more of it. Seth Godin says many companies are full of two types of people I now firmly believe that there are two polar opposites at work: Thrill seekers and Fear avoidersI can see that but I am happier with the types expressed as TowardsAway fromSeths thrill-seeker is a "Towards"; they go-after, want to achieve, acquire, they visualise their goals, the prize in their hands. As he … [Read more...]
Good Habits … Do I Even Have Any?
Aaron Potts Tagged me with his "Simply Successful Secrets" meme. *Sigh*. Memes. I love reading them, find it hard to do them. This one could be interesting though. Here are the rules. Compose a new blog post listing the top 5 to 10 things that you do almost every day that help you to be successful. They can be anything at all, but they have to be things that you do at least 4 or 5 times every week. Anything less than that may be a hobby that helps you out, but we are after the real day in and … [Read more...]
Hi, I’m Chris Garrett: I work with business owners and entrepreneurs to help them build lasting and profitable relationships with audiences who grow to know, like and trust them
