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Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might
be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the
case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs
flourish – as kids and as adults.

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Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves - to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today. ~ Anonymous

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I discussed making mistakes on Twitter the other day.

The image above was the first tweet and the person’s responses to me. I was trying to tell the person that, while it is true that mistakes will happen, it is not “okay” to make them…and expect that to lead to success. The person linked to a Pixar video where a quote about making mistakes was taken out of context. If you look at the video, it is clearly stated in the video that Pixar removes people from the team who continually make mistakes. When the person said Jason Fried linked to the video, I realized I could talk all day long and the person would never understand making mistakes and failing is not okay. Jason talked about this extensively so it really makes no sense to me why this person would think the video is about it being okay to make mistakes.

Learning From Your Mistakes

As I said, mistakes will happen and I think people should learn from their mistakes. That does not mean that it is “okay” to make mistakes when there are options not to. If a situation is avoidable, avoid it. The people who succeed are the ones that are not trying to correct their mistakes. Instead, they focus on creating more successes.

Successes are learning experiences as well. When something worked out right, see if you can improve upon making what went right better. That is more efficient than figuring out how to make something that went wrong…right.

It’s a Frame of Mind…

Being successful business wise means being a leader in that particular field. Being a leader means that people follow you as customers, clients, readers, fans, etc. If you make mistakes, the people following you will be inconvenienced. Does that sound like good business? People who truly want to be successful and are willing to put in the effort are trying not to make mistakes.

Let’s be real a minute. Between you and me.

Want to know why people want to hold on to the idea it is okay to make mistakes? It gives them the okay to slack. It is an excuse to not be the best they can be. Most likely because they are already making mistakes…and they want that to be okay.

But Tyme…the Edison thing…

It took Edison 1000 attempts to make the electric light bulb. The person who tweeted me said, “Personally, I find it worth the effort to allow people to screw up. Like Edison said, “He also knows of 1000 ways not to make the bulb”. Putting this in a business scenario, is it okay for a business owner to mess up 1000 times trying to do one thing?

The more a company scales, the more costly it is to fix a mistake. When no one knows about a company, they can make a million mistakes and no one knows it. That gives the appearance that it is okay to make a mistake.

If your car breaks down, and you take the car to the dealership or the repairshop for repairs. When you get your car back, and you have the same problem – do you say, “Oh, that’s okay! Everyone makes mistakes!” Or do you wish they fixed the problem correctly in the first place?

If your spouse cheats on you, and you are kind enough to forgive him or her, and your spouse cheats again, is it okay because your spouse made the mistake of making the same mistake twice?

The bank did not post your deposit, causing checks on your account to bounce. The bank is fixing the problem, but you have to contact the people you wrote the check to, tell them to send it through again, make sure the bank reimburses you for the fees they charged…was that mistake really okay?

Your boss gives you a date when a project is due. Three weeks before the project is due, your boss says the project is really due in two days and it better be done. Would you be okay with that mistake?

Truth: most people wish the mistake didn’t happen in the first place.

If people do not generally like being inconvenienced by mistakes, how can someone logically say it is okay to screw up in business situations?

Perhaps, if you focused on successes, you wouldn’t make mistakes. Keep thinking it is okay to make mistakes, you will make them. Over and over again.

And when you do not have the success you want…you will know why.

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You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. ~ Albert Einstein

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Dieter Rams talks about design. Very enlightening. Looking at this made me realize that many “designers” are creators of pretty things, not creating optimal designs. 

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The other day I noticed many retweets about an article called Why a web design really takes six weeks. Curious, I clicked on one of the links to check it out. The article is really an image allegedly showing why it takes six weeks to complete a design. The retweets I saw thought the image was funny, and definitely on point with what he or she experienced. When I looked at the image my first thought was, “Oh….HELL NO!!!!“.

First, quick breakdown on what happened

Before I explain my reaction, let’s look at what happened.

• The designer accepted the job and began work on the project.
• The designer submitted a complete concept to the client, within 24 hours, requesting revision suggestions.
• Designer receives revisions from the client, which he or she does not like, attempts to convince the client not to use the suggestions.
• Designer makes the revisions, as per the request of the client, and resubmits it to the client.
• Several days later, client tells the designer he or she prefers something similar to the original submission. Client does not admit he or she was wrong and the designer was right.
• Designer makes the changes and resubmits. Client likes the new design.
• Designer begins development on the site and completes it within 24 hours.
• Designer does not have the content for the design, therefore, cannot finish the design.
• Designer waits a couple of weeks for the client to give the designer the content.
• Designer receives content from client in a format that was not easy for the designer to use. Designer complains about this.
• Client wants the site live ASAP, and a discount.

Note this is one designer finishing the project beginning to end so the designer did not need to outsource anything.

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Why did the designer start work on the project without having the content?

The designer invited this problem to happen by not having all of the important items needed to create and complete an optimal design. The design is supposed to compliment the content, not the other way around. Customers and readers are not coming to the site to see the pretty design. Why does this situation happen?

Money.

The designer will accept the job, accept a deposit, and begin work on the project. Sort of like building a house without the foundation. A car without the frame. Does a surgeon start operating before making a diagnosis? Does a good attorney walk into a courtroom unprepared? Will any of those situations work out well? Most likely not.

Designers accept jobs without the content all the time. Then will complain if the content does not fit, is not given in the proper format or worse, the content sucks. The delay with the customer giving the content to the designer is the customer’s fault.

WRONG: The designer should not have started work on the job until he or she had the content.

Let’s Talk About the REAL Issue

Many designs look good but they suck. Why? They do not solve real problems.

• They do not help convert viewers to customers.
• They do not have specific calls to actions.
• They have usability issues.
• They are not SEO friendly.

Have you ever met someone who is beautiful or handsome on the outside but his or her personality is ugly? That is the problem with building a site without the content. The design might look great but will under-perform. The internet is filled with under performing designs.

It is about time designers stepped up and addressed this issue.

Guidance

When I work with clients, and let me be clear I am not designer, I guide them through the process. When I have worked with designers, the good ones took a similar role. They guided me through the process. As an expert, for lack of another word, the inexperienced person looks for guidance from the more experienced person.

By the designer starting the project before having the content, he or she allowed the client to gain control over their time (or hassle about it later). Note the project was on the designer’s calendar for six weeks. Note that the designer worked over the weekend, to cut/paste the content into the design. Was that amount of time included in the cost of the design? If it wasn’t, is it fair to pass that on to the client? No…because….say it with me…

The designer took the job without the content and obviously did not specify how the content should be given to the designer.

Yes, I realize this is only a graphic but unfortunately, designers put themselves in this situation all the time. Sure, there are some situations when development of a project (like coding) will start without the content (ideally, the content is being created while other elements are being worked on) but this was not a large project.

The real question: once a designer experiences this type of issue, does the designer stop taking projects without the content or does the designer let the cycle continue.

What would you do?

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I read an article the other day, Never Hire an MBA. I laughed to myself as I read the article because never is a harsh word to use. The article was not factual. It was more emotional and definitely not thorough. For example:

The cost of starting a business was once very high. You had to rent office space, hire an accounting and payroll department, buy a telephone system, etc. This isn’t the case today. Someone who is good at running a business can start one on a shoestring budget and look just as big as anyone else. Computers are cheap, a lot of software is free, and you can outsource many parts of your business as you go and simply pay as you go.

Say what????

Guess what? All businesses are not online businesses. I suppose what he meant was “never hire an MBA for a online company”. Then he goes on to talk about why someone with an MBA is looking for a job. He makes the huge assumption the person wants his or her own business. My master’s is in Business Management but I was the rare one that had no intention of working for someone else. The people I know that have MBAs have no desire to work for themselves. They want and enjoy the corporate life. They have no desire at all to grow a company from scratch.

And exactly what type of business are they supposed to start on their own? Consulting is not the same as working in a corporate structure. What are they supposed to do, start a widgets company so they can manage it? Let’s be real, owning a company and managing one are two different things. It is not wrong to not want the responsibility of ownership. Reading on, the emotion just poured on…

For an MBA, the pretty piece of paper they have hanging on their wall can make them less careful.

If you are looking to hire someone, don’t overlook them simply because they have an MBA, but at the same time don’t over-value their degree and let it blind you to their actual real-life skills.

Sounds like someone who did not get the job or client because they did not have the degree. In the vein of keeping it real, in business (corporate world) not having the master’s degree is like trying to be an engineer without the certifications. Eventually the lack of certifications will cripple the ability to earn higher incomes. For many positions, or even consulting, you cannot get your foot in the door without the degree.

How about this: only hire those qualified

Most top-level professions have requirements, something that legitimizes a person as qualified. I do not agree with the assumption that having the requirement makes the person qualified for the job, but there should be some requirements in place. Honestly, unqualified or people who are not optimal for the position are hired often:

• Ever had the friend that used to give you free stuff? That is not good for the company’s bottom line.
• Ever seen someone get a job because he or she knew the right people, but were not qualified for the job?
• Let’s not forget the people who are granted promotions based on seniority, not skill.

I could go on and on. Online companies are finding out that so-called “social media experts” really have no idea what they are doing. They use the internet being relatively new as an excuse but the truth is, the internet is old enough that many of the mistakes from the past are being repeated today – which makes them avoidable.

It is what it is

The premise of the article is correct: do not hire unqualified people and do not assume someone having a degree or certification makes them qualified. However to say “never hire ” is an emotional statement, not qualified statement based on fact. The truth is there are many MBAs (or whatever) that are more than qualified.

I could easily say “do not hire someone that is a business consultant that does not have a business degree” (as it seems to be the situation of the writer), but I do not. Why? Because it is possible to gain business experience doing something else. My objectivity will not let me overlook that.

In your decisions, be objective and step back from the emotions. And do not write articles without solid foundations.

Makes you look bad.

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There have been times when I noticed something, either a friend or a business situation, and when I mention it to others, no one sees it. My archives are littered with situations like this. For example, I said a long time ago to be careful using Facebook, as many are detracting from their goals by using Facebook. Those that love the service looked around the privacy issues, continued to use the service, and many ended up angry at the decisions Facebook made. That does not change the fact the signs were always there.

Let’s look at it another way. The other day when I went on my porch, a neighbor was sitting on their porch. You know how you make small talk? I said hello, talked about the weather a minute, and then I asked if he thought the house across the street was being knocked down. He responded, “Naw, I think they are fixing the front porch.” I looked at the house and his response blew my mind so much, I took a picture and decided to write about it.

The house did not look this bad prior to them working on it. They stripped all of the siding off the house, took out all the windows, the steps were not broken like that previously. They removed the steel/wood/glass where the porch was. They are actively knocking everything out of the inside of the house, filling up huge dumpsters. One other tidbit, they knocked down a house the other day the same way. Another, they completely redid the house.

Yet my neighbor, sitting on the porch watching them do all of this, honestly believed they were fixing the porch.

I cannot grasp the logic in his statement. These houses being knocked down are the first victims of the bad economy. We started feeling it here before most areas, when we lost the factories that employed so many people. They could not sell it without remaining in debt. They could not afford to pay the ballooning mortgage. The street began to empty out and the vacant lots drove the property values down further. Even those houses that were paid off would be sold, if they could be sold, at a loss.

My neighborhood is in the redevelopment stage where these houses, that could not be sold, are being knocked down and/or rebuilt. The houses being rebuilt are smaller and more affordable…good first home houses. Many cities experiencing foreclosures have years to get to this point.

Knowing all of this, my neighbor still said he thought they were fixing the porch. Note he did not say he thought they were refurbishing the house. He said “fixing the porch”. What about the rest of the house?

We all do this…

At some point in our lives, we all behave like this. Perhaps we had feelings for someone that was not the best choice for the goals that were set. Or perhaps you know of someone unrealistically jumping through hoops to make someone happy when, they would be wiser to pick someone that loved them as is – no change necessary. There are many people who are on a false path for wealth, and will not achieve it because they do not realize they are on the wrong path. Similar to the person who has worked many years for a company and does not want to accept he or she will never get that promotion they want.

We’ve all done it. We don’t have to continue to do it.

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There are times when something will cross my mind, I have no idea why, and I cannot let it go. It sits there in my brain until I figure out why it is there.

This time the thing nagging my brain is MMO Champion, one of the leading World of Warcraft information sites. MMO Champion is known for breaking news. WoW.com informs and educates readers, not necessarily being the first to deliver the news. The two sites complement each other because WoW.com covers more in-depth articles than MMO Champion, for example How-To Guides or more directly, explaining the changes MMO Champion reports and how it will affect players in the game. MMO Champion fills the gaps in WoW’s news delivery. Two different sites with two very different clear cut goals that complement each other.

Delving further, the founder of MMO Champion is in his early 20s, sold the site and still updates it, and has a very focused updating schedule.

Describe a typical workday at MMO-Champion.

Hmm … I don’t think I can explain that without looking crazy. When a patch is on test realms, there are a few things I have to keep in mind. Patches can be released as early as 6:00 p.m. (CET) and as late as 7:00 a.m. The European CMs can post patch note update between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and people can first-kill bosses or discover very important stuff in all time zones.

I never sleep for more than three or four hours in a row — it’s not that bad when you’re used to it — and just try to be here when something happens. But it’s not always that bad. When nothing important happens, I can just sleep for 10 hours, wake up, spend an hour or two checking the blue posts and writing a news, post it, and do whatever I want for the rest of the day. But that didn’t happen a lot in 2008 or 2009, and I usually use this free time to work on new features for the site.

So you work seven days a week?

Yes, especially now that Blizzard posters are also active during the weekend. First kills can happen seven days a week. Even on Sunday, I still have to work on news for the day after. It usually takes slightly more time than during the week, because it’s harder to fill a home page when there isn’t any official post to report.

That focus is what led to him being able to sell the site within the first year of its existence.

They want it…but not that bad…

I know many people who want a “big” site like MMO Champion (millions of readers per month) but do not want to put in the effort Fabien exerts daily to maintain a quality site. Their expectations are not realistic. Most of the people I know who have successful sites lived and breathed those sites to get them off the ground. Their social lives tanked because the responsibilities of the site took precedence and they have no regrets because they enjoy what they do. Listen to Fabien’s description of his social life:

And what about you? Are you working day by day on MMO-Champion, or are you looking forward to new projects and plans?

The site totally killed my social life over the last two years. Most of the people I know tell me to “get a real job,” because video games and internet are definitely not serious businesses. I live during the night most of the year, and I still love this job. ^^

I will probably try to change a few things and start recruiting people to let me do a few things I can’t do right now, like attending major events and spending more time creating other projects.

Note what he said. He did not say he wanted the extra time to go swimming, hang out in the club, etc. He wanted the free time to attend more events or create other projects. The hard word he is putting in now could easily allow him to retire at 30, in plenty of time to have kids, raise a family, and enjoy life. Let’s be real…if that were to happen he earned it. He put in the hours, the effort, and made the sacrifices.

He receives tens of millions of page views per month from the millions of unique people who visits his site. Does he share his stats? Only when asked as he is very humble about it. When he was a rising star, did he publish his stats? Nope. He was too busy working on the site and the results were obvious from the links and interaction on his site. Thinking about it more, the big sites normally do not brag about their stats, even as they are becoming powerhouses. They might state the stats for an advertising page but that is it. I definitely did not when I had my large gaming site. I was too busy scaling the site and dealing with the problems that arise when there is an increase in visitors for the thought to cross my mind (interesting tidbit: I talked more about my stats with the site after I closed it than when I had it. I knew the traffic would come with the effort I was putting in so there was no reason to stress it). Let me be clear, statistics are important but people focused on their stats to the point of posting them online usually are slacking in other areas, because their focus is wrong, that could help grow their site. Especially since most site owners focus on the wrong stats.

Fabien also does not have goals that are out of his reach. He knows the work involved to reach his goals and does not have a problem putting in the effort, or spending the money (if needed). He made improvements in data mining and hired the people needed to create the tools. This investment made it easier for him to update the site and he used the extra time wisely. He reinvested it in the site or other projects. As of the last interview I could find, he no longer plays WoW because he spends so much time mining for news or beta testing. By the time he is done, he feels as though he played the game. That is how he finds balance and continues to enjoy what he does. His enthusiasm shows in his dedication.

This is the part where someone usually says there are many ways to have a successful business. There sure are, pat yourself on the back. There are many ways to go about it but hard work and dedication is rarely something that can be taken away, be successful and maintain that success. Using MMO Champion as an example, unless something big is going on, he only makes one news update per day. However, he has quite a bit of data to go through daily to make that update as the news and developer updates are made all throughout the day. If he misses something, his audience let’s him know about it. His audience expects the quality to continue.

As far as competition is concerned, he will have minimal competition. There are many WoW sites but very few have the quality content he has. Why? They are not willing to put in the effort Fabien does.

Are you that person?

Are you the person that wants success but not enough to consistently work hard to reach your goals? Are you the person that does not mind hard work and looks forward to challenges that come up? Be honest with yourself. If going to the beach or the club on weeknights or weekends is a priority to you, then you are in conflict with having a “big” successful business. Better to know the truth early on than frustrate yourself trying to achieve something that most likely will not happen (until the focus and dedication changes).

Why did that site stick in my mind?

It is an example of what I want to do, what I’ll need to do, and a variation of the success I’d like to have. A quality entity that people appreciate.

And I’m willing to work for it.

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I read an article this morning, Your Take: How do you deal with “Splitting the check?”. The article has a different spin than to it. The scenario: a group of people (co-workers) go out and split the check. However, the amount the person is asked to pay was more than it should be if the amount was evenly divided, by $20 to $40. This seems to consistently happen in social situations. The person ends up subsidizing someone’s food and drink. The person was hesitant to bring it up because 1) The husband already thinks his wife is “too” concerned about finances and 2) she does not want to cause an awkward social situation. What should she do?

Want to be wealthy, start thinking wealthy.

Here’s a tip: Train yourself to ask for separate checks, otherwise people will attempt to help themselves to your funds. Let’s be clear: the people who do this know exactly what they are doing and, because they have been allowed to get away with it, continue to do it.

In this case, it was a work-related event, more reason to ask for separate checks. Always ask for separate checks when the order is being taken, not at the end. Experienced people have an arsenal of situational responses if someone questions separate checks:

• Just in case I have to leave early. I had that happen, the babysitter called…
• You know how accountants are…
• I’m on a budget…saving for a new car .
• My husband/wife is frugal about money (roll eyes).

There are endless ways to ensure you receive a separate check without offending anyone. Of course, the people who usually speak up are the ones that will miss getting a couple of free drinks.

Being the “big” guy/gal

Although it might feel good, for a minute, to be the one that can afford to pay for everything, you don’t want to be that person. The person who consistently does this is not being generous, they are being “a sucker” and honestly, rather foolish. No, I’m not being mean, I’m telling it like it is.

What ends up happening is that people will hang out with “the sucker” because “the sucker” pays for everything. It’s a free night out. Introduce separate checks and those friends disappear in search of the next “sucker”.

Keep your money in your pocket.

In the end…

This similar situation comes up amongst friends and that is how you can tell who your true friends out. Your true friends, the ones that really care about you, will not try to sneak money out of you. It could be that you pay sometimes, they’ll pay sometimes and it all balances out. Or it could be that separate checks are always given to avoid the situation altogether. The point is that the good people in your life will not try to take from you or lead you in the wrong direction. Work-related events can be unavoidable and it is best to maintain professionalism even though it is a social event.

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