Entries fromDecember 2007

Three years ago, PBS Frontline produced The Persuaders, a 90 minute documentary which examines how the cultures of marketing and advertising not only influence what Americans buy but the way they view themselves and the world.

Giant corporations spend billions of dollars by employing an army of copywriters, consultants, linguists, anthropologists and ad gurus, all in a bid to influence what the average citizen thinks.

Their end goal is simple: to craft messages which persuade people towards a favorable course of action. They not only want you to do what is most beneficial for their goals (trust me/buy my product) but also to believe that you’re doing the best thing for yourself under all circumstances. And they’re actually succeeding.

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately. My time this week was mostly spent on researching business ideas and connecting with other people. I soon came to a realization: what you do away from your site is even more important than what you do on it.

Everything adds up in the end. Peripheral activities contribute to the core. All relevant actions are causes which lead to relevant results.

It’s very common for business owners to focus too much on their niche audience and hence, fail to consistently pull in new customers/readers. In the same way, it’s easy to overlook the importance of knowledge acquisition and transferable assets when it comes to making money online.

Perfectionism is the belief that one should strive towards perfection, the best possible state in every material or spiritual endeavor.

In its pathological form, perfectionism may result in an obsessive-compulsive attention to details, high sensitivity to criticism, long term anxiety, stubbornness, insular thinking and procrastination, the biggest obstacle to success.

When it comes to generating income online or marketing your business, the strive for perfection can cripple your ability to achieve objectives. The desire to create the best product, website or content in your niche is a worthy goal to hold in mind but sometimes, the need to be perfect leads to a lot of unnecessary obstacles.

One surefire way to attract new customers and readers is to go outside of your existing niche boundaries. While some individuals are exclusively interested in one or two topics, there are many who have broad interests and will be receptive to your content.

Your website will probably appeal to more visitors than you imagine. Avoid falling into the trap of over-focusing on your niche audience.

For example, if you run a Yoga blog you want to target every imaginable demographic and not just people with a visible or expressed interest (This includes people who use search engines and Yoga forums to access your site.)

It is late afternoon and the sun is setting. Professor Oldman is quitting his job in a University and has invited a group of fellow colleagues for a farewell gathering at a cabin in the remote woods.

They engage in polite talk and try to probe the reasons behind Oldman’s sudden departure. The truth soon emerges when Oldman makes a shocking confession: he is an immortal man who has lived on earth for the past 14,000 years.