November 2007

Sometimes you think the world is ending.

Ten Things A Beginner Has Learned From Wordpress

Not too long ago, I decided that WordPress was the way to go to make a constantly refreshed website; I knew Drupal and Joomla seemed more fucntional, but for dead simple ease of use and speed, Wordpress felt right. I haven’t looked back. I have earned money because of my website.

1.) Presume what you want to do can be done. If you start with that bias–that you’re not attempting something so novel that nobody has wanted to do it, a Google or wordpress.org serach will come up with solutions, even if they are workarounds. I’ve found great plug ins because of this bias; from subscribe2, to slashdiglicious.

2.) Push the content out, then edit. Friday, my first post took off; it was a little riff about Starbucks. The initial iteration had some mistakes and flaws, but it was published. It was imperfect, to be sure, but then people I love to read, like Scott, Seth, Athol (ooh, a real link Athol), and Darren. (Oh, by the way, Darren’s post today is absolute required reading.) Be “on the clock,” and don’t spend too much time per post, get it done, don’t get it perfect.

3.) Messing with the code isn’t that horrible. One of WP’s greatest features is the code editors that it has; you can modify plugins, and you can modify themes. I’m using a slightly modified version of wrath, by Small Potato. I didn’t like the picture and the nav bar that the original had, so I changed it. I changed a query to a couple of static links. It wasn’t horribly difficult.
4.) EVERYTHING is customizable–but content is king. There’s a point where “good enough,” is all that matters. I don’t know where it is, but the thing that will keep people coming back is content. In a world of RSS Feeds, content can overcome everything. At the margins, pay attention to what you’re saying.

5.) FTP & Plugins makes things (much) easier. The modular and intuitive way that WP was designed means that the learning curve is negligible; you can instantly produce meaningful content, and then surround it with context.

6.) Maiahost rules the world (honest referral, no affiliate bonus). I saw an ad for maiahost, and read a blog post about them. And they are great. They do EVERYTHING for you, have tech support that offered to do such basic things, and they have fast enough servers. They are doing a fabulous job.

7.) People WANT to help you make lots of money. In the couple of months since I ditched Livejournal for the world of feeds, tons of people have pushed out fabulous content that has given me the confidence to join the conversation.

8.) Sharing in the discussion–authentically–gains traffic and more. I have seen people I’ve enjoyed; from Green Apron Stories, to Ryan Holiday; both of these people have shared information with me, and

9.) You learn a lot via periphiral vision. (OH, By the way). By searching for specific functionality enhancements, I’ve learned that other functionality exists in WP. From Google Analytics, to FeedBurner, I’ve learned, baby. And learning

10.) Absolutely every small business should be on WP–it’s going to power more, not less, of the web, as time passes. Or Joomla or Drupal, or whatever. But you need to have a CMS system that works correctly, and easily.

There’s more that I’m going to share. Check back every monday for Channel Monday, the ten things I’ve learned each week. Hopefully, I’ll have a major epiphany. If not, I’ll post on things I’ve learned about project management.

Dear Starbucks shareholders, Howard Schultz, and anyone else who may be listening (This means you, Pat Nerr)

I love the idea that you represent. That you can go nearly anywhere in the country, and for about 2 bucks, you can get a piping hot cup of delicious coffee, a pleasing environment, and light banter with intelligent, caring and friendly people. I love the idea of sitting in store typing doing some work, listening to music, talking, or reading.

That is what is special about your company, and worth keeping. I am a FAN of the standards that you have represented, and I think that the $2-5 bucks that you charge is a value for the feelings that you sell.

The experience is eroding quickly, and it may be too late to go back.

Nobody likes to be sold, nobody likes to be monetized. If you want to suggest and share music (or even books, or even movies) with me, that’s welcome. I enjoyed your “Bob Dylan” live at the gaslight series, and was glad to see it (even though the recording was somewhat of a disappointment). I’ve even enjoyed your “The way I see it” on your cups.

What I haven’t enjoyed is the fact that your stores are feeling more and more like a cross between Target and Ruby Tuesdays. Crap everywhere.  That’s nobody’s third place.

Your employees have grown increasingly unfocused and listless, and the standards they uphold are nowhere near where they were 2 or 3 years ago, sore to store.  A few things have happened recently:

• I went through the drive through, ordered bold, got mild (and no explanation), and I came into the store to ask, I was treated as if I was an idiot for coming in, and treated like all I wanted was a coupon (which i got).
• Someone slid my change across the counter. I had a pithy remark (don’t try too hard), and I got: “What, you expect me to be perky,” in a serious voice. “I don’t pay $2.50 for a coffee to be treated rudely, that’s for sure.” Not an atypical experience.
• I stopped going in to Starbucks, and started making coffee at home. I had a 4 times a week Starbucks habit. 3 out of the last 4 times, you didn’t have coffee ready. How can Starbucks have this problem? It’s easily solvable; weigh the coffee, when it’s low, have an alarm ding. Tim Horton’s seems to manage.
• Your I-tunes promotion (and why I won’t be back for a while): I went in, was asked if I like music.

“Yes, Why”

“Here’s a free Itunes card, it’s by KT Tunsall”

“No thanks, I don’t use Itunes,”

“Oh, you should take it and try it–it’s a free song.”

“I’m not going to get to it, and I don’t need the clutter.”

“Oh, well you don’t have to be snotty, you should try a new experience once and a while.”

None of this is atypical, and none of it stands out anymore, it’s about the experience people have. Starbucks has gone from friendly to Elitist and arrogant. The only things that is saving you now is your location, and our nation’s caffeine addiction because “Getting a Starbucks” is now far from magical–or even pleasant–experience.

Would I choose a third place that is cluttered full of merchandise?

Would I tolerate someone selling me something–aggressively–in my third place?

I do not think so. Have some humility and honor the novel creation that you’ve made–the third place. Honor it, as if it’s sacred, and treat yourself as a host, hoping to make a good experience for people, not as the purveyors of culture.

Things that you must change and do:

There is some hope for you, you have great locations, and good memories. I’ll be back, I’m sure, in six months, and I’m sure that there are many people like me.

• Coffee, dammit. A Starbucks must ooze coffee. It should smell like coffee, it should look like coffee, feel like coffee. Don’t worry about branching out, don’t worry about expanding (read: diluting) the brand. Be proud to sell coffee.
• De clutter. Less is more, and don’t insist on selling non useful items. If you want to share music, great. If you want to share gadgets, great, but remember…this is MY third place…and I won’t tolerate being monetized.
• Protect the third place on behalf of the customers. Always remember it is OURS and not YOURS. You have been honored by us to be included in our day, and it’s something that we can exclude (as I have done).
• Uphold the standards of authentic friendliness. Having people that are excited about the opportunity to honor people by knowing their drink, and seeing them off with a smile is the most important thing. This has to be practiced EVERYWHERE in your company.
• Focus on number of repeat customers in a week; most of us pay by credit card, those that don’t could have some type of unobtrusive rewards card. Measure how much we’re coming, measure if we stop coming, figure out why.
• Sell stuff online, not in store. Create a community online–have a reason to go, and if you must sell us crap, do it there.
• Figure out what the super users like, want and use, and cater to them (formerly us). The rest will be evangelized.
• Charge more for coffee. I’d be more inclined to pay $3 bucks for a perfect cup of drip coffee than I would be inclined to tolerate being sold to. Best Buy wrecks the experience by hawking an extended warranty. Don’t you be like them.
• Engage more with the community. Have more of a community bulletin board, welcome meetings in the community, and have some fun.

I know that you’ll see this eventually, and I sincerely hope it’s not too late to save the brand. End whatever commitments with the other brands that want to monetize your customers. Turn the volume down, and reconnect with the millions that still love you. Begin to earn the honored place that you enjoy, and begin to approach it with a sense of humility.

Best Regards,

Chris Johnson

Some work remains, but the guts of what I’m trying to is up. I’ll fill it in on a regularly scheduled basis, and I have a lot of adaptable content from this site. What’s funny to me is that my writing from 2003-present shares a lot of similar qualities. There are some really sharp things I thought and put down–even then–and there are some really mushy thinking–even now.

tendayteam.com is my play to shorten my work week considerably. Next year I want to roughly double what I did this year while having time to spend with Jack…and then take a year off or more as I watch the industry burn.

So every single second I spend in what’s left of the mortgage industry had better return dollars to me–and in a short, short, short amount of time. Understand that in 18-24 months the laws will come down that will make it hard to transact business in our industry. (Oh, and be biggest wettest sloppy kiss on the lips of the banking industry since Check 21.)

It’s time to get me some leverage, and the way to do that is business to business. I have an awesome assistant, and we’ve got processes that are ever improving.

4:30 comes early, so I’m going to crash.

I want 15 readers by the end of next week. So recommend me already.

Wow.

I hope that this service lasts, baby.  Just wow.

I’ve learned more by accident–by a long shot, than I’ve ever learned on purpose.

I when people see what I do (this site, the knowledge I have to fix tech issues) I often get the comment: you have a lot of time on your hands.   I rarely hear it from someone more successful than I am, and it always mildly irritates me.   Why?  Because it’s almost always referencing a skill I have that the other person has yet to develop.    And it’s almost always an insult.  I’m okay with that now, more able to ignore idiots as irrelevant to me than ever before.

I’ve learned what I know two ways: deliberately  (seeking out information, engaging people I respect, taking classes, joining groups), and accidentally (stumbling upon stuff, fixing problems, reading stuff in a sidebar).

I’m sure that I’ve gained more knowledge inadvertently than on purpose.   And usually, it’s in the course of seeking connections or seeking information that I’ve learned stuff.  When I was on LiveJournal, I found “Scott Ginsberg” through another link.  From there, I found Julia Cameron, and I have been permanently and profoundly impacted by The Artists Way.   I wasn’t seeking to become more creative, or become “unblocked.”  I read an interesting article Scott wrote (that I no longer remember), added Scott to my reader to try out, he recommended Julia…

…or when I was into the horrible Robert Kiyosaki, he recommended the fantastic Body For Life stuff.

There are countless other examples of finding great information.  But it comes because I have a bias towards curiosity, towards knowing stuff, and towards improving my product.  There are others who–through more limited exposure-have gained way more knowledge than me in different topics.

So this week, I’m thinking about these questions:

1.) How can I make gaining knowledge more efficient?

2.) How can I filter out more crap?

3.) How can I organize what I’m trying to learn?

4.) How do I evaluate periphrial learning?

Are you willing to martyr yourself to the industry?   Right now, it’s Real Estate/Mortgage.  But it could be insurance, or anything else.  Don’t be a commodity, people.  (I think Athol is to thank for this).

Scott Ginsberg on 43 reasons to make a list for EVERYTHING.  (A good starting point to get to know Scott.

Ryan Clark Holiday  on Cicero, and on Google Numbers for yor Blog.   Get over the fact that he’s young, he’s already ready.  Oh, and his reading list is infuriating.  Between him and Scott, I gotta read like 150 pages a day to keep up.

Kelly, on yet another reason why pen and paper should be part of your clothing.   (some GTD ruthlessness).

……..and that’s it for me.

From your 110 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 2,788 items, starred 29 items, shared 22 items, and emailed 41 items.

(And I’m spending 30 minutes a day on Reader, a carefully filtered and picked seleciton.   Take out lifehacker and techcrunch, and we’re down to 1900 something; take out my 4 spreadsheets that I track, and we’re right around 1500 or 50 things a day.  I’ve got room in my head for more, baby.)

Some of the highlights for next year’s goals:

I want to work 30 or fewer hours per week as a mortgage guy.  Next year may be the “last good year” that we have in the mortgage industry.

My Marketing Plan (outline only) v. 1.0

Let’s rock this town, OK?

First, read/skim this: He wants to buy, she wants to wait.

One couple on the thread is in relationship counseling and one couple has even split — yes, divorced — over similar issues.

I’m gonna tell you all what Trent beats into your head every single day. Spending coin is for suckers. Do not let your posessions own you. Honor your marital vows.

Every time Heather and I have fought, it’s been about us being selfish; we don’t want to give up an idea or principle, or subbordinate it to (a) our values or (b) our marriage. Nothing should be so important that it causes us to…want to divorce, but I can see how it mental breakdowns…happen.

#1.) It happens when you elevate the importance of an event beyond where it should be. Happiness is not found “after” you graduate, or after you get the new BMW. It’s found in the present, in the little things and the journey. I’m not bashing decisions that people like www.cleverdude.com make regarding “stuff” but “stuff” is never a panacea.

#2.) It happens when you stop being grateful for what you have (entitlement mentality is an unbeatable bitch). Every time a gadget or object becomes important to me, I realize…I’m married to a great wife, I’ve still got a relationship with my parents, and I have a kid that EVERYONE says is more than a little special.

#3.) It happens when you are not in love with your goals. Stopping to think about what we’re really after, and what we’re doing is VITAL. If you want to get “stuff” for the purposes of keeping up, or because (hey, ipod) you feel like you need it…that stress can distort your mind, and make you elevate idiotic stuff to “panacea” status….

I guess I’ll say I’m thankful that my wifey is reasonable, kind, and sensible enough to come around eventually to subordinate most things to the betterment of our family.