George Kao's Blog, page 42

You don't need "more traffic" to your website...

By @JadeMasri from Unsplash
Some marketing experts are always trying to get you loads of “traffic”.

By their language you can sense their values. Perhaps without consciously recognizing it, they are seeing people as a means to an end — their own wealth and fame. Let's be careful about absorbing their self-absorbed values.

Let's stop thinking in terms of "traffic" and focus on serving the right "people". The language we use will determine how we relate to our audience.

What an authentic busi...

Recovering from Discouragement: The BREATHE Resilience Process

@benwhitephotography on unsplash.com
How do we overcome discouragement?

Last year, I experienced a product launch that had fewer sales than expected.

Barely any, in fact.

My first reaction, as with most human beings, was to get discouraged, depressed, and tempted to quit.

You might be surprised that a business/marketing “expert” like me would have business failures anymore. By this point, shouldn’t I be experienced enough to have only success? Or at least launches that somewhat meet expectat...

Money and Spirituality: 3 Viewpoints

Image 599504 from Pixabay How do you view money and spirituality?

How do these ideas relate, in your mind, heart, and experience?

The intersection of money & spirituality has fascinated me for years. I’d like to share with you 3 viewpoints about it... Viewpoint 1: More Spiritual = Less Money

This is what we find in traditional scriptures, e.g. Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, Baha’i, and others.

I recommend checking out the following webpage that collects verses fr...

True Productivity

What does it mean to be "productive" in your business?

Checking off more items on your to-do list? Working longer hours? Doing more training? Getting another certification? Trying to perfect your website?

These can feel productive… however, it is an illusion most of the time, as you spend another week / month / year not experiencing your true livelihood.

True productivity in business is this -- Valuable contact/service, with your ideal audience, that inspires their reciprocity.In other words, it...

When you aren't keeping appointments with yourself, here's what to do...

Background image by @iamjoeroberts from unsplash.com
Let's say you've scheduled with yourself to work on an important project.

The "appointment" passes, and you didn't work on it like you planned to.

The three most common reactions:

1. Ignoring the fact that it came and pass.

2. Self-blame for having failed to follow your calendar.

3. Or, if you did keep the appointment, you suffered through it.

None of these are healthy responses. Let's talk about each, and then I'll share my recommendations...
Igno...

Layer a higher meaning into each moment of work...

background image by Ed Gregory at stokpic.comWhat's stopping you from making more progress in your business?

It is probably not “more” knowledge, training, or ideas. The greatest obstacle I've seen in people is fear...

Fear of making a mistake.
Fear of looking bad to others (or to yourself.)
Fear of rejection.
Fear of discouragement.
Fear of tedious work.
There's a mistaken perspective that causes your fear:

You think that the result matters a lot.
You think that the moment is about the project you’re...

Can you be creative on schedule?

Background image by ghostpresenter from pexels.com
Imagine being able to tap into your genius on demand, joyfully.

As I'm typing this to you, I'm on a deadline... one that I set for myself.

Is it unpleasant?
Is it constricting?
Is it bad to do something I don't "feel like" doing?

Learning how to be joyfully creative on schedule has transformed my business and life.

Here's the set of feelings experienced by many people during deadlines:Doubt -- "I can't possibly be creative under deadline!"

Perfection...

Break the pattern of delay. Stop "preparing"...

Background image by PaulSBarlow from PixabayI've noticed a common thought-pattern that slows down a lot of people's business progress:

Before I...  [take the next real step in my business]
I need to first do...  [some preparatory action that takes a lot of time]
So that I'll feel more ready/confident to move forward...

This is a dangerous train of thought, because "preparation" always sounds logical... until you wake up to the fact that you have already been preparing for months or years... and y...

Capture, Categorize, Calendar.

Background image by piro4ad from Pixabay.com
"How to stay on top of my big volume of tasks, and not feel overwhelmed?"

Think of tasks and information just like physical clutter: how do you solve that problem? Solution: Everything important goes into the right place. Put it there, and have system for reminding you where it is. Eliminate everything else that’s unimportant.

Here is how I organize my ideas, my wishes, my “don’t forget to”, and other random things I might want to do:Capture > Categor...

Stop Procrastinating: Write Down the Simple Next Steps.

When I notice myself procrastinating, here's a simple process that helps me get unstuck:

At the beginning of a work hour, I write down the project I'd like to make progress on, and three simple next steps I can easily take.

The key is to write it down. We try to keep too much in our heads. Our brains are not built for remembering lots of details. Instead of trying to hold ideas in your head, just write it down, so that you can liberate your mental energy for creativity. Also, it's impor...