If you look around, there’s money to be made everywhere.
Everything, literally, has trade value. Even trash.
Point in case: there’s this guy in town who collects discarded furniture and household appliances.
He drives it to his warehouse, sees if it works, and once a month a Moroccan guy comes by with a van to give him a few thousand Euros. He loads it all up and takes it to Morocco to sell there.
Free money. Just from picking up what others no longer want.
My first ever client years ago was a pretty nice guy, and he seemed pretty smart. At first.
He had built his own language learning system, and it was actually quite good.
WAY better than either Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur.
But his site, which served the learning system to his clients, was crap.
It wasn’t pretty, the navigation lacked logic, and tracking your progress was a bloody hassle.
At some point on a Skype call, I told him that since sales were up a bit, fixing the site would be a great investment.
“Why?”
Read moreHe Said: "User Experience, Schmoozer Experience" – and It Went Downhill From There
“Stick your fingers in that hole to your right. Trust your legs!”
I reach out, grab a ridge just deep enough for my fingertips, and heave myself up to a standing position.
My instructor shouts: “Good! How are you doing?”
Looking down, I answer: “I’m fine. I’m not having any fun though!”
Read moreBecause That's Just How Athletic I Am. Not – I Just Push On and So Should You
I’d tailor in the morning…
I’d tailor in the evening…
All over this a-land…
I still have my whole workshop: machines, dummies and all.
It’s tucked away untidily in a room I rarely enter, and it’s all been doing a stellar job at collecting dust for many years now.
Still, if I had the opportunity I would love to start something.
Especially now that I know how to sell – something I had no idea of ten years ago.
Which is part of the reasons I burnt through my $150.000 inheritance.
Before I have my laptop out, Jose is by my side, ready to take my order.
“A beer and um… some deep-fried calamares please.”
He trundles off and returns promptly with a cold tall one.
I look at the winter-empty beach, take in the sea air, and draw my coat closer around me against the breeze.
Then I switch my screen to white-on-black so I can read in the sun, and I get to work.
A bit later he puts the calamares down, and I instantly see: I can’t eat that.
Last year I started playing bass and singing backing vocals with some English musicians here in town.
At first it all went well: we clicked, we grooved, we harmonised.
We did one short gig which went fairly alright: the audience was happy, which is always a good start.
But after a few weeks I was told that they’d rather continue as a duo.
“Your singing is fine, your playing is good too, but…”
Thought I’d share some tips that I pulled out of some of the mentorship reviews I’ve been writing lately.
To explain: I number each line in my students’ copy, and then analyse line by line, commenting where necessary.
Each of the points below refers to one particular line in the submitted copy.
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When I was 18 I started a training to in the end become a psychiatric nurse.
It was a four-year course while working on a psychiatric ward, preceded by 6 months of classroom schooling.
After those 6 months, I dropped out.
Read moreWhy Inspirational Videos of Superhuman Feats Wreck Your Self-Confidence
I go into the bend just a little too fast, so I lift my foot off the accelarator.
It’s no use: this old and battered jalopy with its worn tires and leaking suspension doesn’t obey and veers to the edge of the tarmac.
The right front wheel runs off the edge into the gravel – I correct to the left.
Instantly, the entire front of the car starts bobbing wildly, driving us chaotically to the left side of the road.
There’s a 5 meter cliff and no guardrail on that side.
Read moreThe Day My Father Saved My Life – and Why You NEED Ninja Skills
Just had a Skype call with a subscriber, an artist/writer/translator in The Netherlands.
She’s a clever cookie.
But she’s also a fine example of that weird ‘sales are evil’ mindset.
And yet, over the last few months I’ve been observing her progress, and I must say she’s doing very interesting things.
She’s learning a lot about marketing, and she’s figuring out how to do it in her own way, without feeling sleazy.
Implementing lessons, putting her name out.
Even writing calls to action.
And, she’s getting in more clients for her translation business.
Read moreOn Focus, Efficiency, Learning and Art. Oh Yeah, and Smart Questions
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