W. Clement Stone, who built an insurance empire worth hundreds of millions dollars, would make all his employees recite the phrase, “Do it now!” again and again at the start of each workday. Whenever you feel the tendency towards laziness taking over and you remember something you should be doing, stop and say out loud, “Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!” I often set this text as my screen saver. There is a tremendous cost in putting things off because you will mentally revisit them again and again, which can add up to an enormous amount of wasted time. Thinking and planning are important, but action is far more important. You don’t get paid for your thoughts and plans — you only get paid for your results. When in doubt, act boldly, as if it were impossible to fail. In essence, it is.

—Steve Pavlina

If you choose to manage a project, it’s pretty safe. As the manager, you report. You report on what’s happening, you chronicle the results, you are the middleman.

If you choose to run a project, on the other hand, you’re on the hook. It’s an active engagement, bending the status quo to your will, ensuring that you ship.

Running a project requires a level of commitment that’s absent from someone who is managing one. Who would you rather hire, a manager or a runner?

—Seth Godin

Content producers submit their sites to the directory, and set ad zones across their site and the prices. Advertisers can then purchase ads in those zones in a few clicks, and then track the success of their ad in real-time. It’s never been easier to purchase ads on Christian sites.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Somewhere in the world, someone is doing something that you decided couldn’t be done.

—Seth Godin

In Chinese, Kentucky Fried Chicken’s slogan, “finger-lickin’ good,” came out as “eat your fingers off.”

Ford executives spent a long time scratching their heads trying to figure out why the Pinto was a complete flop in Brazil. Then someone told them that pinto was Brazilian slang for “tiny male genitals.”

And the folks at Gerber didn’t know that because of high illiteracy rates in some African countries, pictures on the outside of packages are always representative of what’s inside. No surprise, then, that customers were more than a little repelled by that cute baby on the baby food labels.

—Mark Breier, The 10-Second Internet Manager, p. 118

Making sure that every issue has an “owner” is an essential part of being an effective internet manager. So as you go through each item on your agenda, make sure the first issue you deal with is “Who owns this?” If a particular issue has an owner (and that’s the case most of the time), he or she is the one who handles it. If an issue is homeless, spend a minute or two figuring out who it should be, or simply appoint someone.

Getting the ownership issue out of the way early will help your meetings—and possibly your entire company—run more smoothly. Instead of wasting a lot of time on endless discussions you’ll be able to turn a particular issue over to one person who will then coordinate what to do with it.

—Mark Breier, The 10-Second Internet Manager, p. 84

If there’s a hell, it’s probably an infinite number of two-hour meetings, one right after the other.

—Mark Breier, The 10-Second Internet Manager, p. 84

From: Joe
To: Me

What is my total cost as a licensed Real Estate Broker to list my own property as well as listings my Clients?

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From: Me
T0: Joe

It’s $30/mo for unlimited listings, see [url redacted]

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From: Joe
To: Me

Is that a $30.00 one-time fee, period, with never another fee?  I can’t find the fee schedule on the site.

Where is your company located?  How long have you been in business?  I’m very likely going to use the service, after I do my own due diligence.  What phone number can I call to talk to a live body if I need to.  Thanks again.

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From: Me
To: Joe

It’s a monthly fee. The company is located in North Port, FL and we’ve been in business for 4 years. Support is email only.

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From: Joe
To: Me

Wrong answer dude.  I didn’t ask for support.  I asked for a way to talk with someone who wants my money!  But them you knew that. Good thing I ‘outed you’ first.

You most likely suck idiots into giving you a credit card with an automatic draw – that’s kinda like getting AIDS – no fucking way to get rid of you.

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From: Me
To: Joe

I’m glad you “outed me” too, as I’d rather not have customers like you. :)

Have a great day!

These kinds of customers can suck the life out of you. They’re more trouble than they are worth. I’m just glad he did his “due diligence” so I didn’t have to deal with him after he paid and would inevitably be disappointed. These people go through life spreading unhappiness, and I’d much rather do without them.

The world you inhabit is the world you make. Your reputation precedes you, biasing the way new colleagues deal with you. Your first moves, friendly or hostile, tip the balance for future interactions. When you exhibit trust, you will most often find trustworthiness. When you are selfish, you will most often find selfishness. When you compete, others must resort to competition. If you choose to play the game strictly for your own advantage, your attempts at collaboration will indeed be, [as Thomas Hobbes said], “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

—Rodd Wagner & Gale Muller, The Power of 2 (2009), p. 95