Thoughts on regulations and laws.

Here's an interesting article from Slashdot
Click to read. Note Slashdot is a technically oriented site, more interested in technology then politics.
So if a huge rental fee is charged, enough to leave the wireless bands to the major players in the space to rent we stand a good chance of killing innovation. While I don't subscribe to the "All innovation comes from small company" theory, with the state of things now, it's very cheap and easy to start a business and get it running on the internet. Wireless internet, and the devices like iPhone, Storm, Android and others on the way; we could be chilling new company's from getting started.
Let me give you an example: Click to read article
Did the Federal Alcohol Administration Act of 1935 mean to squash competition? No, I don't think they did. Did they mean to effectively make Budweiser the national beer of the U.S? No, I don' think so.
Nor do I think Jimmy Carter intended to allow 1,463 breweries, including 975 brewpubs to spring up across the country. I think his intention was to de-criminalize a hobby. I would tend to doubt that he even thought something like this would happen. I don't think anyone did. They just lifted the regulation, and Capitalism took over. As it always does.
I'll give you another example. There is something called The Ugly C Code Contest (okay, if you Google for that you wont find it, try The International Obfuscated C Code Contest). C is a programming language. The contest is to use and abuse the language to create the ugliest working program you possibly can. Every year, at least 1 new rule is added, because someone obeyed the rules in a new and unique way, that really shouldn't have been done. These are celebrated, although not allowed to win, as being particularly clever. However, despite the ever increasing number of rules, the contest is very freewheeling and encouraging of new ideas and strategies. It is it's view of the rules, and encouragement of innovation that keeps it going for 24+ years. Missing only 1 or 2 years in that entire time.
That's pretty much sums up how most conservatives (that I know) view business regulations. There is a fine line between killing innovation, killing the economy, and keeping people from killing the ideas and concepts that are the United States. I can look at what the financial industry put together and appreciate the cleverness of what they did. I also support eliminating derivatives, and mark-to-market accounting. Those two things alone would have at least made the crash easier. A third thing might be to give up trying to control the economy all together.
This may very well mean getting rid of the Fed. You can make a very strong argument that one of the keys to the real estate collapse was cheap money.

A possible mis-understanding about my views on MLM

I don't hate or despise MLM in general.
I found most MLMers to be amusingly tragic. Speaking in the general:
They start a business without knowing anything about business. They know nothing about marketing, sales, accounting or management/leadership. Yet, they are doing all of those things.
They believe people who say fake it until you make it.
I find most MLMers annoying, and their companys products or services over priced or dubious.

Warrior Spirit and the Entrepreneur

I have the oddest thoughts while driving to work. Today was, what does the warrior spirit and being an entrepreneur have to do with each other? More then just doing battle with competitors, how does a Warrior spirit really help.
I started thinking along the lines of several of my favorite mantras:

• Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.


• Not dead yet, can't quit


• If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then the world is yours and all that's in it -- Rudyard Kipling

Let's take the classic time-to-panic scenario - Zombie Invasion. In the classic scene, the zombies are all around the car trying to get in, our valiant hero, ignores the first mantra, and grabs for his key, and jams it into the steering column. Note, he jams it into the steering column, not the ignition switch. Why? His movements were jerky, and therefor did not have the finesse needed to find the switch. He's panicking, he hasn't kept his head, he's forgotten number 3 as well. Some might say that he's obeying number number 2, but is he really? Our typical hero isn't trying to do anything more then stay alive, he's playing defense because he doesn't think he can win.
The Warrior however, knows mantra 1. He's keeping his cool. He knows that he could die, and he accepts his fate. The car is the best weapon he has. He hasn't quit. When he grabs for his key, it's slower then our hero, but he gets it the first time. When inserts it into the ignition switch, it's not as quickly as our hero, but he gets it there the first time. Now that the car is started, its time to go with mantra 2... he's not dead yet.. can't quit.
Works quite well in a horror movie, but what about in business? What happens to the warrior when shipments stop going out, and the bank drains his account, and the creditors are calling? Is he running around slamming phones down, answering hysterical phone calls, and screaming at the bank's customer service rep? All at once? Or does the warrior calmly, smoothly move from one crisis to the next, accepting that the business might be dead by evening, but it's not dead yet, and he can't quit?

More MLM Annoyances

Multiple streams of income do not come from the same business. One business can have multiple revenue sources, and indeed should have them. However, that is not the same as multiple streams of income.
Learn how to run a business, not annoy the frack out of people. Anyone interested in making more money is not your target market. Learn how to target your market. Let me give you a for instance:
I am interested in making more money. I have no interest in so called health products. I have some interest in financial products and services, but they must conform to my ideas, not the other way around. If it's a product, you can be that I'm going to see if I can find it cheaper online. If I can, why buy from you?
You have a business if you have marketing, sales, management and acccounting systems in place. Otherwise you have a hobby that might be profitable.

Rules for approaching me if you're into MLM

So, you're in MLM and you want talk to me about it? Here are 5 simple rules you must follow to have any hope of selling me on your business.

• Determine if I'm in you're target market. Contrary to popular belief, you're target market is not anyone who happens to be over 18 and breathing. Remember both sales and marketing start the same way, qualifying the prospect. The difference is that marketing qualifies a segment of the market and selling qualifies the indivual.



• Do not under any circumstances attempt to sell me your opportunity. I will be more interested in your product or service. See, without a viable product or service, you have no business. If I like your product or service enough, then and only then will I decide if I'm even interested in your business.



• You must be deriving most of your income from sales of your product or services. Oh, and I'll want to see proof of that. If you can't sell it, how do you expect me to sell it? If you aren't making money at it, how do you expect to teach me?



• I don't like sales people. I don't like marketing people. They both have the same flaw, they assume that I'm interested in whatever they have to sell, and therefore have the right to contact me at will. WRONG!!!!!!!!



• It's not a fracking opportunity, it's a business. You must market, you must sell. If you disagree with that, don't get anywhere near me.

If you like my rules, please feel free to link to them.

A new day.....

Okay, I haven't done much blogging lately, but then again I've been busy. The short story is that I've been working on my business. I have just created an online organizer. While there are a few competitors, most of them don't do a good job of seeing appointments, tasks and contacts as all part of the same life.
They also don't track relationships between your contacts, or the roles those contact play in your life. These are important things, and things that we often forget about.
They also don't attempt to track every communication you make with your contacts, or attempt to integrate with every aspect of your life.
Mine does. Coming soon to a website near you.....
as soon as I figure out a name!

The Nokia N810

Using the wifi on it is great. I just wish my phone would handle more then one page in phone as modem mode. So its time to start blogging again. Well seriosly blogging anyway.