MINDCUE

Free Tech Hotline Calls

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:06:30 +0000

It's funny that something I've said repeatedly would come back from someone else.

It's easier to "work" on other people projects rather than my own. To this end, my site is still a bit of a mess, though it's improving steadily. There's not as much content as I'd like, and the message is being lost someplace. I can only hope that enough of your stick with me and see how it evolves to be a valuable resource for your website development needs.

One thing I've noticed is that I really like talking to people about tech stuff on the phone. Whether it's the very basics of deciphering geek-speak terminology, or making sense of various WordPress, Drupal or general website problems and troubleshooting, it never fails to be fun.

I think it comes from really liking short and quick things like troubleshooting, problem solving.

With this in mind, and as a way to introduce myself to you, I'd like to offer FREE 30 minute Tech Hotline calls to everyone who either requests one in comments below, or tweets about it via twitter (@mindcue) between now and Tuesday midnight Pacific Standard Time. If you tweet about it, please either also leave a comment below, or send a message via the contact form so I don't miss it. If this is too much tech for you, just go to the contact form and request it there.

Here's some ideas from the Tech Hotline info page:

Website Technical Basics - What do I need in order to build a site like ___?
What software should I use if I want to do _____?
Geekspeak Translation - I can help decipher product sales pages, installation instructions, blog and forum posts, and most anything else of a technical/computer nature.
Website Updates and additions - From a technology perspective, what can be done to your existing site to better meet your goals
Example site deconstruction - What does site ______ use to do what they are doing? What's feasible within my budget?
Branding, naming and domain brainstorming - I have an idea, and some keywords, how can I find a domain and/or name/brand that's available?
Pick my brain about resources for info, scripts, plugins, etc..

In reality, we can talk about anything, it's OUR 30 minutes to use in whatever way fits!

Remember, the window closes in just 4 days, so don't wait. Your questions and thoughts don't have to be formulated yet. You can wing it!

Details will be send via email once you comment or tweet. I prefer calls done through Skype, and I don't care what country or time zone you are in. If you don't have a Skype account, we can arrange calls via regular phone lines (or other services), no problem.

3.....2....1....GO!

-Tim

Your New Website Doesn't Have to Hurt!

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:39:39 +0000

I recently had a wonderful consultation with Catherine of Be Awesome Online.

It was fun. It was a little scary. It was revealing.

Quickly, it became clear that something was missing in the typical buzzword driven web design offerings. Often it is frightening and overwhelming to the businessperson who is faced with sorting through lists of features, computer words, and sample sites. They have enough on their plate already in forming a new business or revamping an existing one.

Additionally, she pointed out some of the phrases I was using indicated that I was looking for a different kind of offering that would be both fun and productive for everyone. Words like play, fun, experiment, learn, enjoy, passion, energy, partner, friend kept coming up. This is quite the opposite of what many may think of when "having" to get a website setup.

And why not? It really should be fun and feel good to create something new. It shouldn't hurt!

Building your website should be fun. Instead of work, it should be play. I love it when I can just soak up the energy of my partner (aka client), and start trying things to see what fits. Doing things this way can lead to new discoveries and clarifies what we want to accomplish together, and allows it to happen.

You are faced with thousands of choices for web designers/developers. Many of them are highly skilled and great at what they do. But how many of them can give you a fun, motivating and productive experience while creating something uniquely yours?

That's what I aim to deliver.

How does that sound?

More to come...

-Tim

P.S. This site's progress is a work-in-process using some of the same ideas as I talk to myself about what I want to accomplish, and how I want it to look. It'll settle down at some point, but for now expect lots of little changes as I play with it.

Changing Your Outlook

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:30:19 +0000

Well, I did it. I sold my childhood Hot Wheels collection last week.

Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was still somewhat of an emotional roller coaster ride, which had a big dip for me this week.

When I was a kid, I used to spend most of my free money on Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Every sale one of the local stores had, I was in there looking for ones I didn't have. Luckily I could ride my bike to most of them.

From time to time, I actually played with them, but mostly I collected, and admired them. So much so that I even build a special stepped stand for them. We're talking something like 300+ cars! So the stand was either 8' or 10' long, with something like 4 two inch wide steps.

I'd sold the matchbox cars, and some of the newer, non "red line" cars for pennies on the dollar when I was a little older. Probably not one of my better moves, but whatever. This left me with a little over 100 cars left. The oldest, and most interesting ones.

About a year ago I started pricing them out on ebay, and found that I had some rare/valuable ones. Hmm... I could continue to keep them in the garage, or sell them and make a few bucks.

A year later. Last week, that's just what I did.

OVERNIGHT via buy-it-now.

Now, normally I might take that as good news, but I was actually somewhat distraught. My thoughts kept going to the fact that I probably drastically under priced them, as anyone on ebay can tell you when something sells that fast--it's probably the case.

Then there's the packing up, individually wrapping each car, and getting the box ready to ship. I misjudged the shipping price as well...

Jeeze Tim GET TO THE POINT ALREADY!

Ok, so I get it shipped out, and put it towards the back of my mind.

Then, I get what I at first interpreted to be one of the absolute worst notes I could have received from the buyer:

I got the box today no problems.

I have just two words………………..UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

These cars are much better than expected.

These are the best group of cars I have come across in a long time.

I am very happy and glad I splurged on myself.

I will be leaving positive feedback for you and would appreciate the same.

Hopefully you're having a good laugh, but let me explain.

You may have figured out why I at first considered this to be horrible. I already suspected that I did a piss poor job of pricing the collection, and I still felt a strong emotional connection to the cars. This just confirmed that I probably could have received substantially more for them, and my lack of knowledge in the condition grading process probably ruined any chance I had of getting a better price.

But what's really going on here? Realistically, this:

I made some pretty good money for something that was sitting in my garage
I made someone extremely happy for splurging on them self
I learned a valuable lesson about how to sell collectibles on ebay
I freed up some room in the garage
I got some positive ebay feedback
I have a unique story and lesson to talk about on this site

Instead of bitching and moaning that through my own fault, I got ripped off, instead I realized that I really got a lot of benefit from the experience. I reframed things in the positive, and most importantly in my mind, I made some ones day!

Sometimes it's not easy to do when there are emotional attachments.

What helped me in this case was realizing a few things. The first of which was that it made more sense for someone who would continue to admire and enjoy them to own them. Additionally, I tend to be pretty altruistic in nature, and there are many times I've done things with no expectation of payment at all, just to help someone out, or to make someone happy. These things come easily for me.

There's no reason I can't change my outlook, and view this as a super win-win, so that's what I've done. I'm glad to have passed them on to the right person!

Similarly, you can do this in all kinds of outwardly negative or challenging situations...

Car brakes need replacing? -- good thing you had them checked, and even better that you didn't lose control because they failed on the road
Lost your job? -- Now you have time and motivation to create your own ideal business
Having trouble finding time to do *all* of the things you *want* to do? -- You have a creative mind, and will stay mentally young because you'll always be keeping active!
fill in your own blanks here (it's late and this was an impromptu post!) _______
________________

The easiest way to do this (for me) is to make a list of the positives and the negatives, and then simply chose to focus on the positive, and consider the negatives as just noise trying to get in my way. Another good way is to step back and look at yourself as you would a friend (you are you own best friend, are you not?) and follow through with what you would say to them--but tell it to yourself.

I'm sure these are just tips of the iceberg.

Check out Tim Borwnson's A Daring Adventure blog and coaching for many more (and potentially better) examples if this line of thought resonates with you. I can't do justice to him and the amount of awesome content is on his site.

Cheers!

Questioning Johnny and Lee's Rules

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 05:34:10 +0000

I've started this post several times, but each one has sounded and felt like I was writing sales copy, which is the one thing I really wanted to avoid. Hopefully this time I'll get it right. Note: because I've started and stopped several times, I'm going to also keep it really short!

A quick thought: It's easy to fall into a trap of following the crowd (convention) when living your life, instead of actually building YOUR life. You've probably heard it before, and maybe you even agree. It sounds good. Just build your life the way you want it. But it's not always easy to figure out where to start...

If you are unfamiliar with Johnny B Truant or Lee Stranahan, I'm in luck. I get to introduce you to a couple of genuine characters. Ok, characters isn't that great. Awesome characters? No, that just sucks. Even the word awesome doesn't help. For now, lets go with something simply descriptive like Nonconformist Evangelists.

They have a new course out called Question the Rules. It could very well have been called Break the Rules, or Make Your Own Rules, or many other permutations. The basic premise is that if your life is not what you want it to be, it's probably because you're following someone else's rules--and you should question them.

I've consulted with Johnny several times in the past year, and have been consistently impressed with his up front style and honesty when talking one-on-one. My hope was that this course would be a relatively inexpensive extension of those sessions. In my estimation, it went far beyond that, because it addressed questions I didn't know I had.

There's a lot of information out there which gives you step by step methods of achieving a certain goal. Whether it be money, lifestyle, dating or whatever. The one thing most of those have in common is that they often leave out the uniqueness of the individual. They assume *everyone* can follow the same steps, and get the same results.

That's bullshit. Yes, it'll work for *some* people, but not for *everyone*. For example, if you are not a chef, and are handed a cookbook and ingredients, do you think you have a chance in hell of making a better dinner than a top chef? Why do you think diets often don't work? Same idea. The rules aren't your own... They are someone else's.

Question the Rules primes your mind to look at what you are doing, and how you are doing it. What's working, what's not. Then it gives you tools to use in building your new life...

Something I really appreciated were their examples and stories that backed up what they taught. Not boring stories either. The stories provide context for the lessons, and help you see similar scenarios you may have missed in your own life.

I can personally vouch for the benefits of networking, and their 3 part section on it rocks. My life has been enriched through meeting interesting people of all types, as I hope theirs has in meeting me. Some of the ideas were new to me, others weren't, but served as great reminders. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't get their money's worth out of the course just for this section alone.

Damn... I'm doing it again.. After I swore not to. I'm sounding like a fricking sales letter, and worse, I'm editing while I type. Dang. Too late to turn back now. In fact, it's getting too late... I need to get some other things done, and fall asleep next to my lovely wife.

Suffice it to say, I'm impressed, as I thought I would be. I wouldn't have bought the course if I didn't expect something great.

Is this course for everyone? No. Not everyone.
...if you are stuck in your ways, and have no interest in changing. Forget it.
...if you are squeamish about a few cuss words here and there. Forget it.
...if you love what you do, follow your own rules, and want to help others...you should have them (or me) interview you instead! Can't wait to hear about how you questioned the rules!

BUT
... if you are antsy as hell to have validation for your own ideas (you shouldn't, but this'll help)
... if you really want to change your life by looking at things differently
... if you are ready to take responsibility for your situation, and can't wait to make that situation 1000% better

...then you should definitely check it out.

If you are reading this in May, you'll notice my site is pretty bare bones and plain. One thing which keeps hammering me on the head is that you just need to take action towards your goals, regardless how little or much. If you just sit in the perfectionist/planning stages you are guaranteed to fail. This course was just one more reminder of this fact, and it resulted in this post. Onward!

One thing I know for sure. If Question The Rules doesn't light your brain on fire, you're made of mud.

-Tim

P.S. (Yes. Those are affiliate links, and it'd be totally sweet if you used them, but it's ok if you don't)

P.P.S. An excellent complement to this course is the How to be Rich and Happy book by Tim Brownson and John P. Strelecky. I'll be talking about that more in the future.

Screw It - Just Do It

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:08:54 +0000

Ok, I just realized that I accidentally stole one of Richard Branson's book titles (or at least most of it). Guess I should finally read the book, since it's been sitting my shelf for many months.

I'm going to be quick and dirty with this thought. You've no doubt heard variations of it before, but it's always worth a reminder--as it was for me. In fact it was the push I needed to start posting again. It comes in the form of a simple analogy. One which may have been used before, or not.

Credit Karen over at effindiets.com for being the catalyst, and I hope that she doesn't mind me making this public... She'd recently commented that she was "in the process of screwing her head on straight", which is silly if you know her, since she's very much got her (non computer techie) stuff together. Of course her comment could have had something to do with Yesterday's BoobQuake, but I unless I missed that post, I doubt it!

Here's the first thing out of my fingers from that comment:

As for screwing your head on straight--you are of course aware that it's far more likely that you'll cross-thread things a few times before getting it right (hey, I like that analogy!) Just a reminder not to worry about it, constant course corrections are inevitable and not something to be concerned about. Tis all just a part of finding the right fit.

Put another way, if you just say "screw it," and just "do it", you'll make great progress. It may take backing up a few times along the way, but that's to be expected. It's all part of the process. Of course every once in a while you'll have to replace the screw or nut, but that's another post entirely.

So what? Well...

It reminded me that I need to start moving myself in the right direction.

It reminded me that perfectionism is drop dead fatal to my progress.

It reminded me that there is no substitute for taking action, and making course corrections along the way.

It reminded me that the only real barrier to almost all of my ideas is my own thoughts--and those can change on a dime.

It reminds me of much more, which I'll be sharing along the way as I post more (shoot me an email or tweet if I sluff off, ok?).

How are you going to say "screw it" and just "do it"? What demons are holding you back, and what are you prepared to cross thread a few times on your journey?

Thanks,

Tim
[partial WBP]

P.S. Sometimes you have just got to save the best for last, and I quote Karen this time: "Of course, I do agree that it is very important to keep screwing until you get it right." ;-)

Ideas, Awareness and Taking Action

admin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:45:49 +0000

The only surefire way to succeed is to DO SOMETHING. Of course there are things that will help move you forward, and things which will have a negative effect. Actions that will get you moving in the right direction include things like Goal Setting, Writing, Setting Up and improving your Website, Product Creation, Promotion, etc..

Actions that will often drag you down, and keep you from moving forward include: Web Surfing without a specifically defined (and progressive) Goal, Too Much Television, Buying Products that don’t fit your plans/goals, etc..

At first, it may be hard to tell which side your actions fall on. The real key is to become AWARE of what you are doing. With practice, it’s pretty simple. Just know that you’ve had many (too many) years of self programming which may get in the way.

You’re probably wondering just how to undo some of the self-defeating past, and become more aware. One way is to constantly remind yourself to pay attention to your actions by putting notes in places where you would see them during your “routine actions”… On your computer monitor, by your tv, in your car, in/on your refrigerator, etc..

My notes read “Is this the best use of my time right now?” Your’s might say “Do I really want to be doing *this* right now?”, or maybe even guilt yourself into the right action by saying something like “Way to go, you’re doing great!” I personally don’t think that any one statement is going to be right for everyone. The main point is that whatever your note says, that it prompts you to notice what you are doing at that moment, and thus allows you to make a new choice–should you be need to.

So…

Right now, before you surf to the next great website, do yourself a tiny little favor and write your quick note, and put it on your monitor. Consider what you are doing, and how it serves you. Then do what you already know is in your own best interest!