Meet people, rule the world August 31, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Work , 1 comment so farHaving spent the past year approaching thousands of drunken girls in bars all over the world, corporate networking events are now a piece of cake. Having a name tag that says, “Pick Up 101″ in big letters doesn’t hurt, either.
I attended the Northwest Internet Advertising Group’s mixer tonight and had a great time. Highlight of the evening: meeting a guy who started a disposable vibrating cock ring business three years ago in his garage and is now selling 500,000 units a month, partnered with Trojan, and on the shelves at Walmart.
One thing I learned - I think I’m going to get back to my idea of developing a curriculum to bring social training to the business world. Everyone I talked to tonight thought Pickup 101 was an amazing company that makes the world a better place, but if all I’m doing is one-on-one coaching with a romantic focus, I don’t have much to offer the people I meet. I need to develop a curriculum so I can speak on social development and maybe get a gig out of my next networking event.
I tried to find as many people as I could tonight who started their own business. I asked them all how they got their first customer, and everyone said the same thing. Networking.
Your thoughts?In which I learn eBay is not for me August 29, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal, Work , 3 commentsEver since I cleaned out my apartment in Berkeley, I’ve had a pile of junk I’d been meaning to sell on eBay. I finally got around to it and have decided next time, I’m just throwing it out. By the time I take photos of my stuff, upload them to my computer, upload them to eBay, write the description, and post it, I’m half an hour in. And I’m still going to have to take a trip to the post office. Unless I’m selling something for $50+, it’s just not worth it.
The other possibility is having multiple items that I sell for weeks on end so I can keep using the same description each time. Barring that, though, I’m eliminating eBay from my list of potential careers.
Your thoughts?Back in Seattle and no longer homesick August 28, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 1 comment so farI lasted about 12 hours in San Francisco before I started feeling homesick for Seattle. This last tour through London, Stockholm, Detroit, and San Francisco was great, but Seattle is the first real home I’ve had in a year and a half. I need some time to soak it up.
Your thoughts?No room for the risk averse August 27, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Personal , 3 commentsCraig and I have discussed our career plans with a lot of people, and so far the most negative reaction has come from my parents. This is particularly difficult for me, as it marks the first time we’ve had a significant disagreement about my life’s direction. Everything up to now - magnet middle school, magnet high school, college, grad school - has absolutely thrilled my parents. I was going to get a PhD and be the doctor that my conservative Asian mother had always dreamed of. “Passive income world playboy” doesn’t appear to hold quite the same cachet for her.
What keeps me going now is something Craig told me. I don’t want to spend my whole life blindly spinning my wheels with no destination. I want to be different, to distinguish myself. I’m not sure yet whether that will be through fame, fortune, or some other means, but it has to happen somehow. So what does that mean?
To distinguish yourself, at some point you have to choose a path that no one else would. If you make the same choices as everyone else, you’ll end up like everyone else. You have to do something crazy - make the risky choice that only makes sense in retrospect.
In the end, what it comes down to is believing in yourself. The last year of my life has completely changed how I see myself. For the first time, I am confident that I will succeed, even against all odds. Most likely that success won’t come the way I expect. Maybe it will. But I’m ready to walk a path that no one else can and I’m excited to see where I end up.
Your thoughts?WiFi SSID advertising August 25, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Passive income, Personal , add a commentCheck out the screenshot below. Someone came up with the idea of putting ads in unsecured 802.11 network names. From a marketing standpoint, I doubt this will actually result in any sales, but it’s a cute example of a low-cost way to push your content onto someone else’s screen.
