TheStraddlersDiary

POST: So you want to write an E-Book?

The first step in writing an E-Book is to establish the working title.  Jot down a few different titles, and eventually, you'll find that one that will grow on you.  Titles are important as they help you to focus your writing and guide you in anticipating and answering your reader's queries.  Many non-fiction books also have subtitles.  But above all else aim for clarity in your titles, cleverness will help to sell books as long as it's relevant to what your readers interests are.  Beware of "cutsie", trite or overly simple titles which may cause the reader to wonder if you think they are children or not sophisticated.

Next, write out a thesis statement.  Your thesis is a sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are addressing and how your book will solve that problem.  All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement. Once you've got your thesis statement fine-tuned, you've built your foundation.  From this foundation, your book will grow, chapter by chapter. 

Your thesis will keep you focused while you write your E-Book.  Remember: all chapters must support your thesis statement.  If they don't, they don't belong in your book.

POST: E-Books for marketing and promotion

There are many ways to use E-Books to promote your business and drive quality traffic to your blog or website. 

1. Once posted on your site, you can turn them into a daily course, driving traffic by bringing your customer back to read the next chapter. 
2. You can use them as a free gift for making a purchase or for filling out a survey (gathering valuable information on your readership).
3. Put your E-Book on a disc, and you will have an innovative brochure.  Blow your competition away by inserting the disc into your sales packages.

But of course the most effective marketing products are those that are unique.  Copyright your E-Book, and immediately, you have a powerful tool that you, and you alone, can offer to the public.  People will then be "forced" to visit your site to acquire your E-Book, which increases the flow of quality traffic and the potential of sales and affiliate contacts.

POST: The magic of E-Books

E-Books are an entirely new medium for sharing marketing information, ideas, techniques, and expert knowledge.  As the vast numbers of internet users show, it's obvious how and why electronic self-publishing has become so popular so quickly.  Lets take a look at what makes E-Books so important and unique, supporting the reference to them being potentially very profitable.

• E-Books      have certain abilities and qualities that other mediums do not possess.      For example, E-Books are fairly easy to produce, and their production cost is nearly free. Just think about it: you don't need a publisher, an agent,      a printing press, offset film, ink, paper, or even a distributor. You just      need a great concept, the ability to write (or if you can't write, simply hire a writer), and the      right software (Microsoft Word is about it).

• E-Books are easily and rapidly distributed online. They may also be easily updated without requiring a reprint and they do not require a second print run.  Because of      this flexibility, E-Books can be written, change or grow as fast as you can type.

POST: 6 Essential start-up questions you must answer

For many years my dream has been to go into business for myself. But like many dreamers there has existed a significant gap between the dream and reality.

The following checklist is a guide which I am currently using to help direct my efforts in the important “formative” stages of turning my dream into reality.

1. Know your reasons for starting up…

It is very important to ask yourself why you wish to assume the financial risk, sleepless nights, extra heavy workload, and uncertainty of owning your own business.

• Is it the freedom from a set work routine?
• You are enamored at the thought of being your own boss?
• Be in control of your own destiny, do what you want when you want to do it?
• Improve your standard of living (make more money)?
• Are you bored with your current job?
• You have a service or product to offer for which there is a demand?

Some reasons are better than others, none are wrong, just be aware that there are always tradeoffs. For example, you may escape the 9-5 daily routine, but replace it with a 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. routine.

POST: What business are you in? (Part 2)

In the post titled "What business are you in?" I posed the following questions:

1. What business are you in?
2. How did you arrive at this business model or idea?
3. Are you certain that this is “it”, your path to riches, or is this merely another step down the path as you pursue that ultimate and winning idea?

As the act of writing this material is really an exercise for me personally to get into the mindset and rigor of focus, I wish to answer the second question.

Timothy Ferriss book, “The 4-Hour Work Week” is largely how I arrived at the business model I am adopting. Boiling it all down, I didn’t want to launch anything which would require ever increasing time and personal commitment as the business grew.

POST: This straddling thing is hard!

Today has been a very long day of conducting and facilitating training, followed by a dinner with colleagues (and my new boss), which has left me with little mental capacity to do much more than channel surf in the hotel.

This reminds me of a funny Saturday Night Live skit that I remember seeing shortly after President George W. Bush was elected for the first time.  As SNL is so fond of doing, they aptly pointed fun at the new and clearly less than experienced President with this parody of him having a conversation with his Dad the older and wiser ex-President of the United States.

I probably am not remembering all the details correctly, but essentially Bush Sr. is asking Bush Jr. a few questions about his first days in the White House.  To which, G.W. responds, "This Presidenting is hard!!"

Well folks, on nights like tonight, I want to say, "This straddling thing is hard!!"

I've still not gotten my blog set up correctly.  I've not begun to fully explore monetization options which I wanted and needed to do weeks ago.  I can't start developing any of my other web properties until I get this one figured out first.  And then there are the E-books I intend to write, I've gathered research material for them but haven't begun to write a single word...

And on top of it all, my position has recently shifted at work, and may shift yet again. 
So much to do, so little time!

But hey, look at the alternative.  I could be working this business full-time, in which case I'd be completely stressed out about all this because my ability to make my mortgage payment this month would be riding on them being completed.

So I guess it could be worse.  But still.  "This straddling thing is hard!!!"

POST: What business are you in?

I am quite certain that where two or more entrepreneurs are gathered, there will be no shortage of creative, amazing, crazy, wild (and any other adjective you wish to use) business venture and money making ideas present.

Frankly I struggle at times with the abundance of ideas that bounce around my own head.

Why? Because I know I’ve got a dozen or more which could change my life and the life of others in profound ways, yet I find focusing and ultimately honing-in on that single idea that is above the rest difficult to do.

Assuming that you can relate to this “challenge” of focus, I would like to request that you reflect on the following three questions:

1. What business are you in?
2. How did you arrive at this business model or idea?
3. Are you certain that this is “it”, your path to riches, or is this merely another step down the path as you pursue that ultimate and winning idea?

The first question is a simple one- or is it really?

The reason why this may not be as simple a question as it first appears is because I believe strongly that the lack of vision and a clear mission is among the biggest reasons why businesses fail or never achieve the success they could have.

So I ask again, what business are you in?

As I started writing this entry, I didn’t quite know what it would become. But since I am working through these same questions, I figured in a stream of conscience way I’d spur myself on to carefully consider what business I am really in. After all, knowing what a primary source of failure is for other business does not preclude me from falling right into it as well. Therefore if the lack of clear vision is symptomatic of failed business, I better get my vision clear, don’t you think?

Well it’s off to do some reflecting…

“Now let’s see, what business am I in? I thought I knew the answer...”

POST: Who am I?

The Straddlers Diary is a blog of my personal quest to escape the corporate trap that so nearly snuffed the life out of those entrepreneurial dreams I’ve held for many years, without taking action.  Won’t you join me on this exciting journey of discovery and success?

Who am I?
I am a 39 year-old technology sales and marketing professional in the consumer electronics industry (currently working in Silicon Valley) who lives in the Pacific Northwest with my beautiful wife and two amazing children.

Though at one time I was “on the fast track”, seduced by the allure of promotions, international travel, and large stock grants- long stretches away from home and 60 hour work weeks have finally given me impetus to alter my career reality for a more balanced and fulfilling life.

POST: How it all started

Welcome to the journey – what you are reading is an entrepreneurs blog that chronicles my experience as a “straddler”. 

This all started with the book “The 4-hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss.  NOTE: Click, don’t run, and buy this book now because it will change your life!

If you’ve read my ‘About’ page then you have some idea of how this site came to be, but first let me give you some more details.

POST: Soft launch here we go

Hello everyone, thanks for checking out my "construction site".  It's still a little dirty and we haven't finished painting, so please watch where you sit, wouldn't want those new clothes to get ruined!

What you are seeing is a very, very soft launch of my new project TheStraddlersDiary.  This site is intended to be a resource, forum and place of refuge for those of us who are straddling full time jobs while working on or in a business on the side.

It seems crazy that I am embarking on this project, as if I don't have enough to do without starting a business venture to boot!  But all I can say is that after 15 years of dreaming about being in control of my own future, I've decided it's time to actually make that happen.

So, what you are looking at is the first part of a multi-year construction project which when completed, I hope will redefine my work and financial life as I've known it... now if I don't go broke trying to build this thing, tweak my back, break a bone, or get shut down by the city, I should be OK!

Seriously though, you will have a place in all this.  It is my desire with TheStraddlersDiary to gather those who may be feeling a little tired, burned out, or are starting to question why they've attempted to do whatever it is they are doing, so together we can encourage, support and grow our businesses. 

I envision this being a place where ideas can be exchanged, resources shared, assistance requested, and thoughts provoked.  If we can get half way there I'll feel that this project had a positive impact on the world and my fellow entrepreneurs.