The Secret to Success In [whatever]
January 2, 2009 in Happy Links, Happy Quotes, Killer Advice
Chase Jarvis, if you haven't heard of him, is a very successful (by most any measure) commercial photographer. He's also a true mensch -- and as such -- the object of great admiration by many serious photographers.
He is frequently asked the secret to success in photography. I think his answer applies 100% to whatever you're trying to find success in. His answer?
- Be undeniably good (quoting Steve Martin).
- Dedicate at least 10,000 hours (quoting Malcom Gladwell from his new book Outliers: The Story of Success.)
Google's SEO Starter Guide
November 13, 2008 in Happy Links
A quick guide to SEO best practices (i.e. things you should do on your site to be viewed favorably by Google such that you show up high in their organic search listings), only this one is put out by Google proper. Nothing too revolutionary here, but it's worth a careful review given the source. It's a nicely put-together 22 page PDF.
Happy Link
October 26, 2008 in Happy Links
Inside the Entrepreneurial Mind: Great little collection of videos with the ever-wise Seth Godin and Tom Peters. With genius responses like this one from Seth on "is social networking good for small business?", plus some commentary on the current economic turmoil and (US) national election cycle, there are some real gems here. You can bang through them all in about 30min.
Lessons from the fall Ex-CEOs from JetBlue, Starbucks, and Motorola discuss what they learned when they lost their jobs.
I said, "Mom, how are you?" And she goes, "Great. Why are you calling me at ten in the morning?" I just said, "Hey, I just want to tell you, I'm not with Starbucks anymore, but everything is fine."
Happy Links - Ecommerce Best Practices Edition
April 8, 2008 in Happy LinksI struck gold finding this blog packed with great information for those in online retail. (via)
A few examples:
- Welcome Email Usability Tips for Online Retailers
An excellent and thorough analysis of the subscription practices of 118 of the largest etailers. (42% used HTML layouts, 15% offered incentives like free shipping on next order). - Registration Usability - 87 Registration Forms Tested
This report discusses common fields requested during registration and how often they are used (e.g. Required First / Last Name - 54%, Required Birthday - 7%), discusses the ideal registration form length (as simple as possible, natch, but be creative if you need a lot of info), and ends with 13 registration form usability tips (e.g. Avoid hiding important information in graphics that look like ads or buttons that can be overlooked). - Losing Customers at the Register: 12 Checkout Blunders
Examples, dead-end receipt pages, and upselling at checkout. - Registration Usability - Permission Email Dos and Donts
In summary, don't send marketing emails to folks who sign up with you, unless they specifically request it. Otherwise you erode trust and lower open rates. She takes a few companies to task, then offers an 8 step checklist (Don’t pre-check the boxes for subscriptions).
Happy Links - Best of Jakob Nielson
February 26, 2008 in Happy Links
Taking Jakob Nielson seriously is difficult when he has his glamour shots done by Deb. But, this perennial curmudgeon manages to stay relevant and important when it comes to researched findings on web usability. Here are a few of his recent gems.
- Amazon: No Longer the Role Model for E-Commerce Design
Many design elements work for Amazon.com mainly because of its status as the world's largest and most established e-commerce site. Normal sites should not copy Amazon's design. - Web 2.0 Can Be Dangerous...
AJAX, rich Internet UIs, mashups, communities, and user-generated content often add more complexity than they're worth. They also divert design resources and prove (once again) that what's hyped is rarely what's most profitable. - Top-10 Application-Design Mistakes
Application usability is enhanced when users know how to operate the UI and it guides them through the workflow. Violating common guidelines prevents both. - Usability ROI Declining, But Still Strong
The average business metrics improvement after a usability redesign is now 83%. This is substantially less than 6 years ago, but ROI remains high because usability is still cheap relative to gains.
Happy Links - best of Seth Godin edition
December 4, 2007 in Happy Links
The Scarcity Shortage
Thought provoking piece pointing out that we're running out of scarcity, which traditionally has been the cornerstone of our economy. He offers some ideas on what to do about it... and what not to do about it "the worst strategy is whining--about copyright laws and fair trade and how hard you've worked to get to where you are. Whining is rarely a successful response to anything. Instead, start by acknowledging that most of the profit from your business is going to disappear soon."- How to make a PowerPoint chart
As a master presenter himself, Seth took on Power Point years go with Really Bad Powerpoint and now offers this updated installment. "Sooner or later, you're going to be tempted to use actual data in a presentation. Powerpoint makes it easy, and it also tempts you to do it completely wrong. Here are some ideas to help." - How to create a great website
Yes, surprisingly, most of us still don't get it. And it's still a good reminder for the rest of you.
"1. Fire the committee. No great website in history has been conceived of by more than three people. Not one. This is a dealbreaker." Ten principles in all. - The caricature of your brand
No really, it can be a good thing. Killer marketing advice. - The opposite
Do you know who your opposite is?
Happy Links: Retirement accounts for the self employed
October 19, 2007 in Expert Advice, Happy Links(For those in the U.S.)
In addition to the faithful ROTH and Traditional IRAs, here's a nice overview of various other retirement options, by Nicole McInerney:
- Simplified Employee Pension IRA (SEP-IRA)
You qualify if you do a Schedule C or F or guaranteed payments from a partnership. You can set one up with the same folks who do ROTH or traditional IRAs, and you can contribute 20% of your net earnings minus self employment tax or $45,000 (for 2007), whichever is less. - The Solo 401K
You qualify only if you have no employees. Finding a broker that offers it might be tricky (try Fidelity or T. Rowe Price), but you can contribute up to $15,500 plus 20% of your business income, with a maximum contribution of $45,000 in 2007. - The Simple IRA - this one is for your employees too.
You can offer it if you have less than 100 employees and you don't have another retirement plan (403(b) or SEP). You can contribute up to $21K for yourself.
- The Keogh
This one is a mess, good grief. But - you can put in up to $180,000 if you structure it right.
And finally - a nice matrix to help you compare, sort it all out and find your best option.
Happy Links
July 30, 2007 in Happy LinksRandom Edition
- Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret. No, seriously. I doubted too. It's not revolutionary, but it's a darn good idea. I've been thinking about this a lot since reading it last week.
- In Champagne Moments, Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) unfolds that familiar not-quite-satisfied progression toward success. "And so it went, in ant-sized steps forward. Every pat on the back came with a kick in the nuts."
- When To Dump That Great Idea. This one hurt to read -- but as I reflect back, ditching the stinkers for something better is essential. This article outlines the signs it is time to drop your current plans for world domination and replace them with something new.
- What it takes to be rich. Have you ever wanted to knock on the door of some huge beautiful house and ask them what they do for a living? This guy traveled to America's wealthiest zip codes and did just that.
Happy Links
June 26, 2007 in Happy LinksRandom Gems:
- No Plan, No Capital, No Model...No Problem. Guy Kawasaki moderates a discussion with 5 no-VC-needed startups including our buddy Markus Frind. Great stuff all around. The standout was James Hong of HotorNot.com with his stories of making it happen, not just without VC funding, but without any money of any kind.
- Guy interviews Jeffrey Kalmikoff of Threadless. Another group of untrained guys who followed their gut and are now a ridiculous success (selling 80-90K tee shirts/month).
- Seth tells us how to make a million dollars. It's not $1 from a million people (too hard to reach that many) but more like $10K from 100 organizations, push though "the dip" and dominate through excellence.
- The Ebb and Flow of Social Networking is an insightful little observation for those of you (us) fixing to make hay with the social networking phenomena. (That site distorts the graph, see it clearly here).
