Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

A good day today
It was a good day today. Not as productive workwise as I would have liked. Much of it was eaten by car repairs, other errands, and my son Joel's subsectional track meet. Joel, unfortunately, narrowly missed advancing to the next level in the state track competition, so his season is now over. But he's excited about going on his senior class trip over Memorial Day weekend.

But it was a good day in that I found myself more focused. The time waiting in the car repair shop gave me opportunity to refine my priorities. So I feel a lot less scattered in approaching my work. And the time spent on billable work today was very productive. I found another seven very attractive keywords that I can target for my client's sites—real winners!

Since it's approaching midnight for me as I write this, though, I think I'll leave it at that.
Jeff

Tired
Good night!
Jeff

Fear of loss
I saw a sign today, covered with a tarp. I'm sure that sign has been there for years and I've never paid attention to it. But seeing it covered made me want to stop the car and peek under that tarp to see what it says.

Weird, huh? But that's the way our minds work. Confront us with something out of the ordinary and we fixate on it. "What is it? What does it mean?" And most importantly, "What am I not being allowed to see?"

One of the most important forces that drives us is fear of loss. Put something just out of reach and we want it—NOW. It's all part of our drive for self-protection.

We grow up learning how to control the world around us as much as we can. The more we learn, the more effectively we feel we are controlling our lives. But present us with a piece of the puzzle that we don't have and that piece takes on increased significance for us; it becomes a must-have item.

That's why so much of sales is based around magic words like, "limited time offer," or, "while they last." Take a marginally attractive offer and set it to trigger people's fear of loss and you move many of them from thinking about buying it someday to finding it hard to walk away from it for fear that they'll regret losing such a great offer.

As marketers, fear of loss works both for us and against us. By creating a sense of urgency in potential buyers through a limited time or limited number, we trigger their fear of loss and force them to decide right now whether they want your product. In some people, fear of loss is so powerful that it can push them to buy something they really don't need simply because they might need it someday and don't want to regret having to pay full price for it then if they ever buy it.

Recognize the incredible power of tapping into people's fear of loss by giving them a reason to buy now instead of later. It's a powerful way to boost sales.

Recognize, though, that fear of loss can effect us, too. It can push us into purchases we wouldn't ordinarily make if we took more time to consider whether we really need what we suddenly fear losing. And fear of loss can lead us to save things we don't really need out of the concern that "we might find a use for it someday."

Know your goals. Have specific goals. And apply those goals to any potential purchase you consider making for your business (or for yourself). Don't get lured into buying simply because something that looks like it could be useful threatens to make you pay more if you don't buy it now.

Compare your potential business purchases to your business goals. Hard-heartedly turn away whatever doesn't immediately contribute to achieving those goals. You're better off accomplishing your current goals rather than running off in pursuit of new ones. And if a potential purchase fits into your goals, calculate how much you can realistically expect that purchase to earn you when you put it into practice.

Buy it only if the cost (including the amount of time it will take you to learn or set up or do whatever you need to do with the product) is considerably less than the amount it will help you earn. Don't be vague and figure, "It will make me lots of money!" Actually calculate how much the product will add to your bottom line. Controlling your own fear of loss will save you lots of money on unnecessary purchases.

Understand fear of loss, how it works on you, and how it works on your customers.
Jeff

Office day
Today was my day in my client's office, so that occupied most of the day. I was surprised at just how out of the loop I've gotten there. Mark was out for much of the day and I ended up answering phones. I ended up using the wrong chart to give a quote on one custom request and was unsure of pricing on a custom finish request from a distributor.

Decisions are being made there that I'm not aware of, leaving me unprepared when I come in. It feels strange, but needs to happen. I really got too emotionally wrapped up in Mark's business, almost as if it was my own. Getting a little distance from the everyday workings of it are necessary for me in building my own business and should give me better perspective to make marketing recommendations for him.

Back home, I did some traffic analysis and some quick checks on how the latest big Google update affected my client. Looks like some slight slippage, but I'll gauge that better when I can look at some ranking reports. The current Father's Day promotion is boosting conversion rates even as traffic has slumped slightly from the slippage.

Speaking of slippage, I think I'm running out of gas for the night, so I'll bid you a good night.
Jeff

Farewells and new adventures
My daughter, Becca, headed off (after nearly three hours of "last-minute" tasks and a trip back to pick up a crucial item she had forgotten) to a lot of lengthy farewells. It was good having her here. She's a bit of a whirlwind to have around, but fun.

So she's off to new adventures as an Air Force officer and I set aside what was left of the day for a new adventure of my own.

I decided to do a technique known as a Brain Dump to help me focus more on where I wanted my business (and my life) to go. The process goes like this: you find a spot where you won't be interrupted for at least two hours and take a lot of paper along.

Once you're alone, you write down everything you want to do or be or have. Then you write down in a separate list everything you feel you need to do. Then when you've completely exhausted everything you can think of, you copy everything down onto yet another list, breaking things down into categories, setting priorities, and developing action plans for the highest priorities.

I must say, the process was refreshing. It's been so long since I've had any true solitude that I'd forgotten how good it feels. Most of the time I multi-task, doing planning in front of the TV or while others are coming and going and engaging me in conversation. It was a luxury to focus on brainstorming without distraction (for the most part).

I can see why they advise that you do it on paper instead of computer; working on paper puts you into a more relaxed mindset than computer, with its ties to the rush, rush cyberworld. Also, I found that the act of rewriting multiple times engrained things into my mind better than copying and pasting on computer ever could.

One mistake I made, though, was not allowing more than two hours for the process. I started about two hours before supper and had to step away from it for supper, a little TV and some needed chores. I found when I went back that I had to regain the momentum I had lost by turning my attention back to everyday life.

I don't know if I ever did get my momentum back; I was considerably less relaxed and more irritable. Maybe it was just that the organizing was more complex than the brainstorming. At any rate, I felt a little overwhelmed by trying to organize and prioritize all of the thoughts that ranged over many different areas of responsibility.

I did see some connections and want to revisit it tomorrow.

But the process has had a positive effect already. As I went through my e-mail tonight, I deleted a couple of things that I had been hanging onto, not sure if I wanted to pursue them or not. Documenting where I wanted to go made it crystal clear that those opportunities represented a completely different direction than what I want. Delete. Delete. Delete.

And that's the kind of focus I want to develop.
Jeff

Family day again
What with this being my daughter Becca's last day at home before she reports for her Air Force assignment and my son, Joel, participating in the state track meet, today has been almost exclusively a family day.

Tomorrow, with things a bit more settled, I should have a chance for me to set aside some time for the reassessment of the direction I want my business to go.

So, until tomorrow...
Jeff