fiverr

Friday, July 17, 2015

From Farmer to Hunter: Here's How


The big business ideas of the world come from a group of people Gutsche calls Hunters.  Most people are Farmers--not in the agricultural sense, but in mindset.  Here is a brief outline of the 3 Farmer traps and the contrasting Hunter instincts:

  1. Complacency Trap: Farmers want stable job security--which hardly exists in the 21st century.  The Hunter instinct that counters this trap is insatiability.  Hunters are always looking for the next meal, taking nothing for granted.
  2. Repetition Trap: Farmers value duty and responsibility.  Hunters, while they shouldn't be irresponsible, are curious and will rebel/innovate when it seems advantageous.
  3. Protectiveness Trap: Farmers erect fences (physical, organizational, or psychological) to protect the status quo.  The Hunter instinct is a willingness to destroy--to question the status quo and adapt to new conditions.

There is much more to this book, but you will need to read it for yourself.

I received a free review copy through Blogging for Books.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Next Book I'm Reading--For Free


I will be sure to leave a review here once I finish the book. I just downloaded it.  If you don't have a Kindle or Nook or Kobo reader, you are missing the fun and convenience of downloading more free books than you can ever read in a lifetime.  You can download your own copy by clicking the banner below.




Review: The e-booklet is the plan Jon Olsen used to work his way out of a pizza job and into a full-time career as an internet entrepreneur.  He spent a small amount for advertising each month and tells exactly which programs he used (or would have used--he updated the book to include new programs that didn't exist when he began.)

It's free and it's quick to read, so even if you only use one idea you will come out ahead for a small investment of time.

Monday, July 13, 2015

My +1 Journey Begins



I enjoyed reading Jon's simple formula for success: just do one more thing every day.  Seems simple enough, right?  Here are examples of the +1s I have done so far:

  • Add a photo to one of my splash pages.  A splash page is a quick-loading ad that gets attention and leads the reader to more detailed information. Many programs supply splash pages, but adding a photo lets people know they are being asked to do business with or read an article by a real person--not an emoticon or a kitten or a cartoon.
  • Send personalized tweets about the free +1 book as well as one of my own books.
  • Send an email offering to teach a class at a co-op. (BINGO!)
  • Clean out one more overstuffed idea file.
None of these things took more than a few minutes, but any one of them could set in motion something much bigger--a sale, a downline member, an idea for a great new story.....

The journey continues.  There is always one more thing you can do (Col. Hal Moore in We Were Soldiers...)

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Reading about Extreme Cognitive Gifts--Part 2


IQ is a Controversial Topic to Some

This third book is included because it is controversial, and I firmly believe people should be exposed to controversial ideas. It is good exercise for the mind! Doctors Herrnstein and Murray provide loads of data and footnotes to back up their observations and conclusions.
Whether or not one likes the authors' conclusions, this is a book that raised important questions people were (and still are) afraid to ask. Many Americans think we must pretend everybody is the same in order to maintain equality under the law. In fact, our system of equality under the law is to ensure that all of us, while different in abilities, interests, religion--and intelligence--can get along with one another. Full of footnotes, this book is worth reading whether you like it or not.

How Gifted Students Challenge the System

Today's professional educator/bureaucrat (as opposed to the actual classroom teacher) wants all children to learn in a straight line, in a prescribed sequence, at the same rate. Gifted children can't help challenging this system. Many of them learned to read with no formal instruction before any educator had a chance at them (I was one of those children, as was a son of mine.) They arrive in kindergarten and are told they can't read their chapter book because it is time to sit on a rug and look at state-approved basal readers--boring!
Gifted students ask too many questions, especially those of the "Why?" variety. Their thirst for knowledge can seem unquenchable, especially for the modern classroom teacher who has a room full of students that range from several grade levels below grade to several levels above. What is he/she supposed to do in those circumstances? The obvious solution, promoting gifted students a grade or two, is rejected by bureaucrats for vague "socialization" reasons. Pull-out programs are just some token add-ons to the unchallenging (for the gifted student) curriculum rather than an appropriate program for their actual academic level. Parents need the resources to fight for their child--or to create an appropriate educational program themselves.
Gifted students also challenge systems created for typical children because of their asynchronous (out of the usual time) development, e.g. their emotional growth may lag behind their math ability and their fine motor skills may lag behind their reading skills. Thus even a classroom full of gifted students would present some difficulties for a teacher. Understanding the challenges is the first step to meeting them, so read these books and learn.
Gifted children grow up being told they are "too (fill-in-the-blank)" and wonder what is wrong with them. If your child is "too curious", "too active", or "too everything" you need this book. You can't force a child to not be intense, but you can teach them to channel the intensity appropriately. Intensity is a gift, not a disease!

Book 2 in Magicae Mathematica Series is Here


Jim West continues his fantasy series for children with another math-inspired episode.  The students of Archimedes journey to find Pythagoras and help their teacher solve an equation that could stop a mysterious man who threatens their city.  Can they stop the power of the circlet with perpetual power?  Is pi the key?

This book is good, clean fun for all ages.  I hope the fun continues for many more volumes!

Thursday, July 9, 2015

The Greatest Generation: Driving Grandpa


John Redstand's Grandpa saved the world from Japanese imperialism.  Then in his old age he evaded scheming relatives trying to put him in a retirement community, saving an abandoned dog, and teaching a neighborhood kid not to break into his house.  Those are only a handful of the many adventures John has as he tries to keep up with his delightful, indomitable, stubborn, and altogether awesome Grandpa.

Driving Grandpa brought back so many memories of my own relatives.  The saved the world, then humbly returned to their frugal, hardworking lives after the War.  In a world where college kids are demanding "safe rooms" and being "offended" and "triggered all the time, it's so good to have some of the Greatest Generation around to keep things real!  I hope some of them live to be 200 so our great grandchildren's generation can learn from them and laugh with them.

Well done, John Redstand.  And well done, Grandpa!

Business Resource for Developing Successful Habits

+1 Success by Jon Olsen



I downloaded this free pdf and am impressed with how Jon Olsen simply states a basic idea: Just do one more thing than you did yesterday.  Most people have dreams, but when they don't achieve them in a grand way in a short time they simply give up.  Successful people take one day at a time, one task at a time, with each step moving them a little closer to their goals.  Even a failure is a tep toward the goal--you learned something!

Take the time to read this short e-book and, more importantly, practice what it preaches.  Let me know what happens by leaving a comment, please!