Wednesday July 4th, 2007: Issue #819
Over half of Kickstart’s subscribers are American and will no doubt be far more interested in parades and fireworks than in reading Kickstart today! If you are one of them, enjoy your day off!
For the rest of us, it’s business as usual.
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When my great grandparents were photographed standing outside their sweet shop in the early 1920s they knew that short of a fire, flood or lack of interest, that picture would survive for as many generations as there were people who cared to look at it. Nearly 90 years on I have a framed copy and so do several members of my family.
When my dad bought a Super-8 movie camera 50 years ago and made shaky home movies of our little family he knew, or at least hoped that the movies would be around for anyone to watch for decades to come. I still have all his movies in a box in my loft and they have hardly degraded at all.
When my late uncle started a lifetime of correspondence with an American pen-friend over 60 years ago he kept carbon copies of all his own letters and filed them with his friend’s replies. After my uncle died, two filing cabinets were found with complete records of a fascinating lifetime’s correspondence between two men who each became famous magicians.
Contrast that with the first family history research I did, a mere 20 years ago, that is now forever lost on unreadable 8-inch floppy discs.
Or the short stories I lovingly wrote and stored for posterity on 3.5-inch floppies that, even if I still had a computer that could read floppy discs, have become corrupted.
And forget the medium - if you ’saved’ a document on an early version of Word running under an early version of Windows, even if the disc it is on is still legible, the file format is probably not.
The sad fact is that digital information is more transient and fragile than any information in history.
Will my home movies survive for my grandchildren? I doubt it. Most of them are on a mini version of VHS cassettes that even I can’t play on anything any more.
Will the millions of digital photographs we take every day be around for our great grandchildren to proudly frame? What do you think?
Archivists all over the world are at last waking up to the fact that they are losing more data than they can even count because file formats change so often and the media they are stored on becomes obsolete so incredibly quickly.
We like to think that we live in the age of information, but the reality is that we live in the age of disposability. Unless we are very careful, even with all of our technology we may end up being a black hole in history as all the millions of terabytes of data we store every day become a swarm of lost electrons.
So don’t leave it to chance. Don’t assume that your children’s children will have a magical box that can read your obsolete camera memory card or will even know what a CD is. Don’t leave it to chance that your precious memories, your creative outpourings, your family treasures will be decipherable in five years, let alone 50.
If it is precious and you want to protect it, print it out.
Or you can carry on trusting your life’s history to the latest memory sticks, the highest-tech blue-ray DVDs, the latest and greatest portable hard discs - and quickly become part of the 21st-century’s forgotten generation.
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Following recommendations from my good friend Phil Wiley I bought a bunch of new stuff on Monday.
A couple of the things I’m still evaluating. If they pan out I’ll tell you about them later.
One of my purchases was the new version of ‘Blogging to the Bank’ by Rob Benwell.
The first edition of BTTB didn’t do much for me. It had some black hat ideas in it that I really didn’t like much and the rest of the book left me a bit cool about the whole thing. To a great extent, that all put me off of Rob Benwell too - and as a result I didn’t pay much attention to what he was up to.
That foolish attitude changed when I went to Yanik Silver’s Underground Seminar and Rob Benwell was one of the featured speakers.
He hadn’t spoken in public before and was clearly very nervous, but I think everyone in the audience was impressed with the information he imparted. What made him stand out in particular was that unlike virtually all the other speakers, who used the opportunity to sell expensive products and mentoring programs from the stage, Rob just gave everything away. He gave everyone there copies of his books and software. He was by far the most generous speaker of all, and the audience greatly appreciated him.
I had a brief chance to chat with him and got the impression that he is an honest, straightforward young man who is really doing what so many people simply talk about. In other words, he is the genuine article.
So considering all that I didn’t bother to email him and ask for a review copy of his new book, I bought it.
‘Blogging to the Bank 2′ is a good book for people who are new to the world of blogging. It will show you how to set up your blogs the right way, how to create or find content for them, how to uncover niches to blog about, and most importantly, how to make money from them.
If you have never built a blog before, or if you have made one or two but have never managed to make them pay, then I strongly recommend ‘Blogging to the Bank 2′. It will start you out in the right direction without any silly gimmicks that will go out of fashion or get you banned.
If you are already experienced in blogging though, Rob Benwell’s book is probably not for you. You will certainly find one or two ideas that you can use, but overall the book is intended for the less experienced.
I have several blogs, but don’t consider myself a blogging expert. I’m certainly not as experienced in the subject as some of my friends. As a result, I found ‘Blogging to the Bank 2′ to be a useful addition to my virtual bookshelf - and yes, I have printed it out for posterity!
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Today’s power thought is an article that wrote some years ago. It is a simple set of suggestions to help you be more successful by being more liked.
Reading it over this morning, I expected to have to revise some of the ideas and edit others, but I didn’t have to change a word. Everything in there works. It is just up to you to make them part of your way of doing things to make them work for you.
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Writing Kickstart has its rewards. Not just financial ones that come when you buy products I’ve created or recommend - much deeper rewards than that.
Every now and again I get an email that makes me really understand why I sit here for several hours three times a week, and why every moment is worthwhile. To me, at least.
After send out Monday’s Kickstart with its short article on overcoming self-limiting beliefs, I received this email that lifted my spirits considerably. It needs no further comment:
“Thank you, Martin. After a series of recent setbacks, I found myself in that place of self limiting doubts and disbeliefs. I have Think and Grow Rich, and will dust it off to re-read today. However, it wasn’t Mr. Hill providing “the secret”, it was you instead. An “aha” moment at 11.00pm this evening whilst reading Kickstart 818. Quoting you,
“When you let go of your ‘I can’t do that’ attitudes for a moment what floods in to their place is a very different emotion: curiosity. You’ll feel ‘let’s see what happens’.”
Bingo! How incredibly simple! I have always allowed fear to enter, never curiosity. Fear simply rushed right in leaving no room for anything else. You’ve shed a new light on things. I can’t wait to see what happens. Thank you again.”
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Another Kickstart reader, Garry Zancanaro, emailed me after Monday’s issue to comment on the words I wrote about Napoleon Hill’s book ‘Think and Grow Rich’.
Garry has an excellent website at http://www.selfimprovementdirectory.com/ and is giving an ebook version of Think and Grow Rich away as a gift to anyone who signs up for his newsletter. If you don’t already have the book, this is a great way to grab a copy.
Thanks Garry.
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An Inspirational Thought
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Have you ever blown up a balloon and then let the air out again?
It never goes back to the same size again, does it. Once you’ve filled it with air, the rubber stretches and the balloon is forever changed.
Our brains are like rubber balloons. Every time we fill them with new ideas, thoughts, concepts and knowledge, the edges are expanded a little and nothing we can do can unexpand them again.
Real inspiration comes from allowing our minds to stretch a little further than we are normally comfortable with. That simple act of widening the window in our mind lets so much more light in that all kinds of dark places become forever illuminated.
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Who do you know who would love Kickstart Today?
Don’t keep it to yourself - send them to
http://www.kickstartdaily.com today!
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The Quote of the Day
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Sam Ewing said,
“It’s not he hours you put into your work that count, it is the work you put into your hours.”
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Today’s Power Thought
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Seven Ways to Win Friends in Business.
Choosing a name for this article was difficult because every one I came up with paled into insignificance beside the greatest title ever devised:
“How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
Dale Carnegie literally wrote the book on networking long before the skill even had a name.
That wonderful book has deservedly sold millions of copies worldwide, yet the skill of effective networking is still vastly underestimated.
There are seven magic words that every person in business should engrave on their hearts:
‘People do business with people they like.’
Networking, as it has come to be understood, is a two-part equation:
1. Expand your list of contacts.
2. Make each of your contacts your friend.
There is simply no point in knowing someone who hates you, or even has no opinion of you. You must have a positive connection. Nothing else will do.
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To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon. — Chinese Proverb
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There are hundreds of little ways that you can be friendly and positive towards people. I have selected seven which I have proved time and again make a big difference.
1. Call someone up just to say hello.
We are all inundated with calls and emails from people who want something from us. It is the nature of this busy world we live in.
But sometimes it is wonderful to get a call from someone who just wants to say hello and asks how you are. Be that somebody. Make a point of NOT wanting anything.
2. Be the first to offer help.
Downsizing, redundancy and job loss is a fact of life. But how we react to other people’s misfortune makes a world of difference.
When you hear that someone you know, however slightly, is out of work, call them up and offer to help.
I was ‘downsized’ some years ago (it hurt) and I will never forget a man who called me up the very next morning and offered me a desk and a phone in his office any time I needed it, as a base for job hunting. I barely knew this guy, and I didn’t take him up on it, but his generous offer made him a hero in my eyes.
There are lots of ways you can offer people support - and one day they will be riding high again.
3. If you want a meeting, suggest coffee.
Or cakes, or cookies. There is something about informal eating that bonds people.
One of the most successful salespeople I have ever known often took a box of homemade cakes to her meetings. It broke the ice, showed she cared and made her very memorable - they were great cakes.
Business people don’t always want the formality or rigidity of lunch - especially with a new contact. But the idea of a 15 minute meeting in the local Starbucks is often an unthreatening and welcome alternative.
4. Personalize your business card.
We all give out and receive business cards, but how often do we really notice them?
Instead of just handing it out, pause, get out a good quality ink pen (image is important), and say something like “Let me save you the effort of fighting through switchboard and answering machines - I’ll write my cell phone number down so you can get hold of me easily.”
Or you can recommend a book or a movie and write it down on the back of your card.
It is personal, thoughtful and friendly.
5. Try to do two favors a week.
At least. Get into the habit of thinking how you can do favors for other people. If you know someone who is unhappy in their job, log that information in the back of your mind. When you hear that another company is looking for staff, put them together.
If you think of a simple way that two people you know can be mutually beneficial, act as middle man.
Don’t ask for, or expect, any reward - that will come in time. But, both parties will be grateful and will remember your generous help.
6. Send greetings cards.
However important a person might be, they still find themselves fascinating. So show them that you do too. It has never been easier to remember birthdays, anniversaries, and all the dozens of personal times.
Don’t be afraid to ask someone when their birthday is. Write it down. Diarize it. And then make sure you send them a card. Or make it really simple, an e-card.
This tiny act of goodwill really pays dividends in the long run.
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If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair. — Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
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7. Keep in regular contact
Have a regular DIARIZED networking hour each week to make phone calls and send emails to your growing network. This is the time for the ‘hello how are you’ calls.
Naturally you don’t want to call everybody at the same fixed time each week - that would be too obvious. Rotate people around, but make sure you cover everybody at least once a month.
These ideas are not rules, but they are workable examples of some of the many ways you can ensure that when someone says ‘I do business with people I like’, they mean you.
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Fascinating Facts
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I’m in a New York state of mind today. Where did I get that line from? 
Did you know that there are more people in New York City than in the entire states of Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Hawaii, Delaware and New Mexico - combined!
Or that more Irish people live in New York City than in Dublin, more Italians live there than in Rome and more Jews than in Tel Aviv.
A study of people who run the New York marathon found that they were twice as likely to get divorced as the general population.
There are more than 80 different languages spoken in New York - English and Spanish are numbers 1 and 2.
The Bronx, in New York City is named after the Bronx River. But the river itself is named after the first European settler in the area, Scandinavian Jonas Bronck who set up home there in 1639.