SLF: Life of a Serial Entrepreneur

September 10, 2008 (Computerworld) Today’s successful test run of a massive particle collider is being called “one of the great engineering milestones of mankind.”

On Wednesday morning, just outside of Geneva, scientists shot a particle beam fully around a 17-mile loop in the world’s most powerful particle accelerator — the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Twenty years after development of the collider began, a particle beam made the full journey around the accelerator for the first time.

Amazing. My birthday was yesterday and I thought it might be my last. Whew! I’m still here. Of course, I can’t say the same for everyone in France (I’m not there). If you’re in France, look around… is everyone still there? Let me know.

Now don’t start a panic. I haven’t heard anyone actually say that people are missing in France or that France itself is missing, I just haven’t heard otherwise. The Large Hadron Collider also goes under part of Switzerland, so if you are in Switzerland do a quick body part check and make sure you are all there. Also look for extra parts… you never know what particle colliders might actually do. Missing walls in your house are also a bad sign.

I’m fairly confidant that Germany is safe… for awhile anyway. Just a thought, if you’re in Germany and you see a lot of bewildered looking French people you may need to worry. Particularly if they are glowing. DO NOT APPROACH GLOWING FRENCH PEOPLE. As a general rule, particle colliders aside, I never approach glowing French people. It’s just common sense.

So I’m still here, you’re still there (you must be if you are reading this) and I didn’t write this in French so we really don’t know about France. The Swiss are neutral, so they should be okay.

Just remember, I haven’t confirmed any of this so don’t go selling off your French stocks. Same goes for United Airlines stock. However, if you happened to be on a United Airline flight flying over France… well you might have a problem.

Also, this was just a test run. If the Collider is still there, then when they start really smashing atoms together at speeds close to that of light, we may see some real fireworks… or not, as the case may be.

My advice… don’t live in France, take your money out of Swiss banks, don’t approach glowing French people anywhere. It’s just common sense.

I guess right now the American public would rather discuss lipstick and pigs than real issues. I came across this reply on another blog and thought it was great.

For your enjoyment, thank you Chris:

Posted by: Chris in PA

Politicians are hypocrites. Any party. By nature, politicians or anyone involved in politics, are hypocrites. Take the latest political news of Governor Palin, Alaska, and her recently announced pregnant 17 year old daughter. I just read on CNN “Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news.” From the article:

By Monday afternoon, evangelical leaders were circling the wagons. “The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a ‘hypocrite,’ but all it really means is that she and her family are human,” Dobson said. “They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans.”

and,

“We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.

“Being a Christian does not mean you’re perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I’ve been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I’m sure the Palins have,” Dobson said.

I actually have no disagreement with any of this, but what would the news be if it were a Democrat politician’s family with this same situation (including keeping the child)? We all know the reaction would be one of moral outrage that the girl had become pregnant. The issue of pro-life would be shunted to the side and the issue they would focus on would be family values.

I’m daily astounded at how the general population can be so easily manipulated by politicians. The issue in this presidential election is not whether or not Palin’s daughter is pregnant! There are much greater problems facing this government. Issues that affect all our daily lives. Issues that affect our livelihoods, our homes, our children and our futures. It doesn’t matter to me whether you are for McCain or Obama, whether you are Republican or Democrat. What matters is that you give the larger issues your attention and vote accordingly.

Which party, which candidate will solve these problems and improve our lives. Improve them NOW, not fifty years from now.

Don’t be manipulated by the politicians. Don’t listen to your religious leaders. Don’t listen to labor leaders. Don’t listen to ANY special interest groups. NONE of these groups have YOUR best interests at heart. Look at your own life and ask, who is going to improve MY life? Who is going to improve our country? Who is going to protect our future? Answer those questions for yourself and vote accordingly. That’s what democracy is really about.

Earth4Energy - Is It A Scam?
Is Earth4Energy Ripoff?
Earth4energy Review
Earth4Energy - Sucks
Earth4Energy - Read Honest Review

Do a Google search on Earth4Energy and the above titles are all in paid ads on the right-hand side of the page. There are pages and pages of, hundreds of entries, listed in the results that all appear to be websites made by the same people, the same people who sell the Earth4Energy information.

They sell a product and they also have hundreds of websites and blogs that they write their own favorable reviews of that same product. Knowing that some people will be skeptical they even write titles like “Is it a Scam?”

Honestly? I haven’t bought or seen the information. I try not to be so gullible. So I can’t give you an honest review, but I can say that their marketing makes it look very much like a rip-off. I know a little bit about wind and solar power. I’ve built small systems and used them. It’s not hard. There are plenty of books and magazine articles on the subject. Look at Mother Earth News for one reputable source. What I’m saying is that there is plenty of free or low-cost information available. But now if you do a Google search for information, the results are flooded with these marketing websites.

I really hate these “books” that are spreading on the Internet. The information is usually common knowledge that has been poorly repackaged into a download-able ebook or PDF. The websites that sell these all look alike. Flashy, lots of talk, but little actual information. Many promises, lots of fantastic claims, and, of course, testimonials from supposed “happy customers”.

It’s not so much that the information is wrong or bad, it’s simply over priced, over hyped, and never will live up to it’s promises. It’s always available elsewhere for free or much less and usually presented in other places in a much better way.

Take the Earth4Energy site, it appears to promise that you can build your own solar or wind power system to power your whole house for under $200. If you read carefully, it does not actually promise that, but it does imply it. What you can build for under $200 is a small solar system that will power a few lights or a small portable television. Once you start checking on prices of solar panels you will find that a system built to power a whole house and be able to tie into the power grid will cost you thousands of dollars, perhaps tens of thousands.

Probably nothing websites like this say is an outright lie, but they mislead you plenty. When you see an website ad like these think of the carnival showman barking about his miracle cure or the old Western snake oil salesman. This is the modern age equivalent.

There is an old saying that “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck!”

These people quack big time.

Recommended Reading:

Solar Power Your Home For Dummies (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

Rik DeGunther. For Dummies 2007, Paperback, 384 pages, $8.72

Basics of Energy Efficient Living

Lonnie Wibberding. Big Fish Publishing Inc 2006, Paperback, 104 pages, $5.33

Got Sun? Go Solar

Rex A. Ewing; Doug Pratt. PixyJack Press, LLC 2005, Paperback, 160 pages, $11.69

I haven’t posted for awhile, but I’ve been very busy… gambling in Las Vegas! Okay, so I didn’t win big, no surprise. However, I did break even, which in Vegas is not bad.

But this is not about Vegas. Just an announcement that I buy out online book, DVD and other media businesses selling online. Amazon booksellers, Alibris, Abebooks, etc. If you sell online and want or need to sell your business, I’m buying inventory. Shoot me an email and let me know what you have. I’m also interested in buying online content oriented websites that produce revenue with Adsense.

So, to reiterate, I’m buying out Amazon booksellers, online book or DVD businesses, content website with Adsense. Let me know what you have.

400 Trees and Shrubs for Small Spaces

Author: Diana M. Miller

Trees and shrubs are a valuable asset to a garden bringing structure, shade, year-round interest and the all-important vertical dimension. However, choosing the right ones for small gardens is a fine art, and it’s all too easy to end up with heavyweight shrubs overtaking the border, dysfunctional climbers, or trees outgrowing their designated spaces. In this practical reference, woody-plant expert Diana Miller takes the anguish out of the process by recommending plants and cultivation techniques that excel in small garden spaces.

Small gardens require careful planting, and the book starts by considering plants that fulfill a particular design function, such as trees that provide the right levels of shade for an underplanting of choice bulbs, columnar or weeping trees for very restricted spaces, and specimen shrubs that provide an effective foil for herbaceous perennials in a mixed border. Pruning, coppicing, topiary and container-planting restrict growth and are helpful techniques in the small garden armory. Useful too are scaled-down versions of favorite trees, such as Prunus ‘Amanogawa’, that take up less space, and create less shade, than other cherry trees. At the heart of this book is a comprehensive plant directory that provides detailed descriptions, including full cultivation advice for over 400 top-performing trees and shrubs. Further advice on pruning, information on planting to encourage wildlife and handy lists that allow readers to search by color, height and other characteristics are invaluable.

Color photographs complement the plant descriptions, aid identification and complete this practical plant reference.

An excerpt from this book:

It is worth considering a number of factors which should influence the selection of plants for a smaller garden, some of which need serious thought, whereas others will be obvious and automatically encompassed or dismissed without further reflection. It is easier to choose plants suitable for the garden than to try to adapt the garden conditions to suit the requirements of the plant. There is really no more point in trying to grow lime-hating plants such as rhododendrons on chalk than planting lavenders in a shaded corner in heavy clay soil. In our busy modern lives, time for the garden may be limited, so it is important to ask how, why, when and by whom is the garden to be used …

About the author, Diana Miller

Diana Miller has been a horticultural botanist whose work with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) spans three decades. From 1979 she was Keeper of RHS Herbarium, where she developed and maintained the world’s only herbarium dedicated to cultivated plants

Book Stats:

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 224 pp.

Book dimensions: 7.63 x 9.25 in (195 x 235 mm)

Illustrations: 153 color photos, 21 b/w diagrams, 2 maps

ISBN-13: 9780881928754

400 Trees and Shrubs for Small Spaces

Diana Miller. Timber Press 2008, Hardcover, 216 pages, $17.68

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When I was finishing up high school and getting ready for college my Dad was facing a late-in-life career decision. His trade was a dying technology in the printing business. He was the last person practicing his craft in San Diego, CA, but the shop he worked for was closing up. The only other positions left in this trade on the West Coast were in Los Angeles. He really didn’t want to move.

His hobby had always been gardening. It occurred to him that perhaps he could stay in San Diego and work as a gardener in his own business. So, he bought a landscape maintenance route and became self-employed. His new business flourished and soon he needed help. This is the part of the story where I came in. I needed a part-time job, as most teenagers do.

Soon I was learning about landscape maintenance. At first I just pushed the mower and edger. When I started we didn’t have line trimmers so that work was done with hand clippers (I LOVE the guy who invented the line trimmer). Then I learned the other basics of trimming and plant care.

Part-time jobs come and go and this one was no different. My Dad sold the business after a few years and ended up moving to LA after all. I continued on with college.

Years later, I found myself at a crossroad. I was doing well in a management career, but was unhappy in the field I was working. What to do? I felt a bit trapped. Once you have experience in one field it’s difficult to convince employers how that will translate into another field.

My position then was mostly night shifts, starting in the late afternoon and working until after midnight. I thought about that and realized that I could start a landscape maintenance business in my daytime hours and build it up until I was making enough to quit my job. I had the idea, now I just needed to execute it.

Read the complete article on Landscape-Contractor.net

Quick tip for online booksellers or anyone selling online. From feedback comments it seems that the single most important aspect, after purchase price, of the online sale is shipping. People are looking for well packaged, fast shipping. As the seller we have no control over shipping time once it’s in the hands of the Post Office, UPS, or other shipper. However, you can control how long it takes you to pack it and get to the shipper. The faster, the better.

Use quality packing materials. I know everyone wants to save money, but often using used materials presents a less than professional image when your package arrives. This may not seem like much, but first impressions count and the first impression your customer has of you is your package.

Enclose a packing slip with the details of the sale. In particular make sure the book or item description as presented online is included. When people rely on memory mistakes are made. They may remember the book as being described as “Like New”, when you actually wrote “Very Good”. Giving your customer the details prevents misconceptions.

Go one step further and include a personal message (pre-printed is fine) with details of your guarantee and return procedure. Provide contact information, name, address, email, and phone number. Give your customer the choice they prefer for contacting you. It inspires confidence in you as the seller.

Treat your customers like gold because they ARE your gold.

Recommended Reading:

The Home-Based Bookstore

Steve Weber. Weber Books 2005, Paperback, 168 pages, $14.00

Online Bookselling

Michael E. Mould. Aardvark Publishing Company L.L.C. 2006, Paperback, 228 pages, $34.79

Selling Used Books Online

Stephen Windwalker. Harvard Perspective Pr 2002, Paperback, 176 pages, $29.99

“To do a common thing, uncommonly well, brings success.”

- Henry John Heinz

Many people who want to start their own business spend a lot of time looking for the next great thing. The new iPod, the Internet, the never-been-done-before. If you can do it, that’s great, but your chances of success are slim. It’s similar to trying to be a movie super-star. For every Tom Cruise there are thousands of actors waiting on tables while they wait for the “big break”. It only happens for a few.

A much better chance for success lies in the more mundane. Take an existing, successful idea, and do it well. Before Home Depot their were thousands of hardware stores. Home Depot did it better. Henry John Heinz made sense, run your business uncommonly well and you will be successful.

Produce an excellent product. Provide excellent service. Make your customers want to come back again and again. Seems simple. Everyone really knows this. Very few really do it.

When I was a landscape contractor our bread and butter were residentiall maintenance accounts. I would go out every day making sales calls in response to people calling on our ads. I almost always got the job. Number one common complaint was that the others they called either didn’t answer their phone (why advertise?) or didn’t show up for the appointment (why advertise?). Number two complaint was that the person showing up looked scary, unreliable, or otherwise undesirable. In other words, they weren’t professional.

Usually the only complaint I received was that I was too expensive, but that was easy to counter considering my competition. Do a job well and charge what you are worth. Always satisfy the customer and you will go far.

Now days I sell online. Most online venues like eBay or Amazon have customer rating systems, feedback. Feedback in an online system will make or break you. Read some of the feedback on these systems. A customer will leave an unfavorable feedback showing their displeasure with the service. Often the seller’s response is an indignant trirade against the “stupid” customer. As a customer, this will send me running.

Retail’s golden rule is that the customer is always right. Well I don’t believe that the customer is always right, but I don’t say that. My policy is that the customer is always right, even when they are wrong. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. No matter what the reason, we refund or replace a product if the customer is unhappy in any way. Even if they didn’t read the description properly and they are clearly wrong. Not only do we refund the money we pay for the return shipping

Most people are good and contact us first if there is a problem. Sometimes they are angry and simply fire off a negative feedback. Either way, we handle it the same with a full refund. On Amazon customers can remove feedback. We don’t ask, but most offer it after we have resolved their problem promptly.

All this pays off. On Amazon we have a 99% rating. On eBay we have a 99.7%. A higher rating means higher customer confidence which means you can charge slightly higher prices than the other guy. You will also make many more sales in the long run.

Henry John Heinz knew the path to success. Now you do to.

Recommended Reading:

Exceptional Customer Service

Lisa Ford. Adams Media 2001, Paperback, 216 pages, $1.70

Customer Service Training 101

Renee Evenson. AMACOM 2005, Paperback, 224 pages, $12.99