Jacob S Paulsen's Blog, page 8

Taking the Personal Device Solar Challenge

The largest solar parks in the world are in China and India (The 7 largest)

I've been intrigued by solar power recently. I read a biography about Elon Musk and during that book, I heard a statistic that peeled my brain open.

In a single hour, the amount of power from the sun that strikes the Earth is more than the entire world consumes in a year. (Source and more details: Business Insider)

Solar Is Something We Can All Get Behind

There are a lot of politically polarizing issues in our country but solar power is something almost everyone can get behind. Unless your personal wealth or income is directly attached to the success of fossil fuels you probably at least agree that solar energy is a great idea. Today all renewable energy (wind, hydro, solar, etc) accounts for 13 percent of US electricity generation. Of that small sliver, solar accounts for 3% of the 13%, which ultimately means it represents 0.39% of the total. Less than 1%.

Personally, I wasn't ready 30 days ago to move to residential solar. I'm warming up to it quickly but I'm intrigued by Solar for the following reasons:

Economics. If I can save money then I'm game.
Environment. If using solar helps out the planet then I'll feel more warm and fuzzy about doing my part.
Survival and Independence. If solar can help me become better prepared for natural disasters and ultimately help me get off the grid then that sounds like a good idea.
Global dependency. I believe that at least in part, our country's dependence on fossil fuels has played a part in war and death. If I can be a part of that solution I'll feel more warm and fuzzy about doing my part.

The Personal Device Solar Challenge

I decided to create a challenge for myself. I decided to only use solar power to charge and use all my personal electronics. This includes my cell phone, my smartwatch, my headphones, my flashlights, and tablets. I am aware that relatively, charging these devices as often as I do doesn't really have any significant impact on my electric bill or the environment but it is a fun place to start AND it means that I could potentially power all these devices independently if the grid went down. Now obviously if the grid really went down my tablets are worthless without wifi but somewhere in my brain, this sounded like a fun way to test solar in my life.

Success or Fail?

I'm now 12 days in a row without using any power outside of solar to run any personal electronics, keyboard/mouse, or flashlights. During that time I went on one camping trip completely away from electricity. I call that a success. If I can do it I think you can too. I think you need about $180 worth of gear (more on that later) but it can be done. Here are some of the key lessons I learned that you might find helpful if you attempt this challenge.

Roughly speaking the strategy here is to charge up portable battery chargers (suggested gear below) with the portable solar panels during the day when the sun is high and you are using your devices. Then at night recharge your devices using the portable chargers that were recharged during the day via solar.
As it relates to the upfront costs it is the same with any solar panel decision. It doesn't make sense up front. It would take a very long time to get my money's worth out of the solar panels and batteries etc. Eventually, there will be a financial ROI but you have to justify this investment by the benefits of helping the environment and being better prepared for emergencies and the outdoors.
Cloudy days are not cool. I live in one of the sunniest states in the country (Colorado). If you live in Seattle and are reading this I suspect you are going to find this more challenging. That said, sun shining through clouds still does produce energy… just a lot less energy than direct sunlight. I learned to check the forecast for each day and plan accordingly. During my 12 days, I had a period of 3 days in a row that was cloudy and rainy. Not fun but doable.
You have to prioritize the energy you capture. Especially for the first 5-6 days, I had to learn the hard way to prioritize. I recharged my camping lantern and then didn't have enough power to fully recharge my cell phone. Oops. Pick your battles and in time you will learn what you can expect and then you can start to charge the secondary stuff as the power is available.
The sun moves and leaving the solar panels in one place all day may or may not work well. In my case, I don't have a solid South facing window or yard spot that will work all day. I start the panels in the backyard or in an East facing window in the morning and then move them to the front yard or West facing windows at night. If the weather is really good I'll set them outside for direct sunlight. If the weather isn't stellar or if I'm concerned about them sitting in the front yard where anyone could steal them I'll put the panels in a window that is facing the sun. I work from home so it isn't a big deal for me to move the panels a few times during the day.
If I didn't work from home I would have to consider alternatives. If you park outdoors at your place of work then putting the panels in the front or rear window of your car (whichever faces more south) is going to be a fairly effective “leave it and forget it” solution. If you park underground or in a place that is shaded then I hope you have an office window that faces south or have a good south facing window at home where you can leave your panels.

The Gear I Am Using / Loving (All links lead to Amazon.com)

PANELS: I have two different solar panels. They both are similar in design, folding into a compact package. The first ones I purchased have an output of 15 watts and have 3 panels. On a long sunny day they generate enough power to recharge a handful of things but quickly I discovered they wouldn't allow me to really complete this challenge. I upgraded to the RAVPower 24W Solar Panel w/ Triple USB Ports. I couldn't be happier. With 24 Watts of output and 3 USB ports these things make a big difference and still fold up into a compact package.

CHARGER: I have a handful of portable power charges I've collected over the years. They vary in quality and capacity. You will definitely need more than one but I quickly learned that having something with MASSIVE capacity and the ability to charge faster and be able to charge multiple devices was CRITICAL. So a few days in I ordered the Anker PowerCore 26800 Charger. It made a huge difference. It is big (I would rather be hit in the head with a real brick than this thing) but it gets the job done big time. It recharges twice as fast because it has 2 input ports. It also has 3 USB output ports, each one pushing out 5V. Just buy it and thank me later. I made the recharging of this my top priority and used my other chargers with my second set of panels or when the Anker was already full.

BATTERY CHARGER: A lot of my small electronics and flashlights run on AA and AAA batteries. There are a ton of chargers out there for rechargeable AA and AAA batteries but very few that can run on USB which is critical if I'm going to make it work directly off the solar panels or off the charger that was charged via the solar panels. This was the most difficult thing to research and find but I'm very satisfied with the Deruicent FLAT TOP Battery Charger. The digital display tells me where I'm at with the batteries and it runs fully on USB. Seems very efficient and comes with two 18650 batteries.

BATTERIES: I tested a few but haven't found anything as awesome as the Tenergy High Drain AA and AAA rechargeable batteries. $26 will get you 12 of each. The AA batteries have a capacity of 2600mAh and the AAA have a capacity of 1000mAh. They charge decently fast on the charger mentioned above and hold the charge much longer than most of the others I tested. They do sell them in other battery sizes as well.

Some other fun things I've using and enjoying include:

EFORCAR Portable Vacuum – USB recharging portable vacuum with accessories. Works great for the tent, car, and office and given the lack of USB charging vacuums available for sell I'm satisfied with this one.

Solar 11-in-1 Battery Charger – Has its own solar panels. Not nearly as efficient to recharge batteries as combining the RAVPower panels above with the Derucient FLAT TOP charger above, but it is an all in one system for solar recharging of batteries.

Goal Zero Lighthouse 400 Lantern – Camping lantern that is charged via hand crank or USB. Also can charge other USB devices.

Potential ways I'll expand my gear:

Cooluli Mini Electric Cooler and Warmer – USB operated portable cooler or warmer

KUNCAN 5V USB A Male to 12V Car Cigarette Lighter (for powering things designed for cars via USB)

YHOUSE Electric Mosquito Insect Zapper – USB powered bug zapper

The Conclusion of the Personal Solar Challenge?

So, you might be thinking… WHY? Why would one embark on something that has essentially no measurable impact on the electric bill or the environment, costs money up front, and is relatively inconvenient? Well, because I wanted to know if I could do it, and because I had to start my personal renewable energy journey somewhere. Buying thousands of dollars of residential panels seemed like a big step I wasn't yet ready for.

Maybe you are like me. You just don't know if you are ready to embrace this whole Solar Power thing. Give the Personal Solar Challenge a shot and let me know in the comments how it went for you!

Are You The Hero Or The Victim Of Your Story?

We all relate well to superhero stories. Who doesn't love a story of someone swooping in to save everyone from a great calamity and criminal? As it relates to our own life story, I have found there are generally three types of characters; Heroes, Victims, and Bad Guys. Which are you?

Sadly We Are All Three From Time to Time

Below I will clarify how I identify these characters but it is important to note that we have some of all three inside of us. Our objective in life is to try to play the role of hero as often as we can by suppressing the character traits of bad guys and victims.

Who Is The Hero?

Everyone loves the hero. The hero is always available and ready to sacrifice anything for the greater good. Heroes are selfless, strong, prepared, and willing to make sacrifices. Heroes are focused on serving others and dedicate their lives to the success of others.

The hero is the person who works long hours to feed their family. The mom who loses sleep to feed the baby. The school teacher who works nights writing detailed feedback for their students.

It doesn't matter what you do for a living, where you live, or your family situation. Anyone can be a hero in their current story… right now. All it takes is a shift in attitude.

Who Is The Victim?

Traditionally we don't think of victims of the latest Batman movie with a negative connotation and sometimes bad things happen to all people but in your story, your attitude not your circumstances determine if you are the victim or the hero of any given moment.

The victim is the person who is entitled, dependent on others, and focused on what is in it for them. Victims think they deserve something from the world and become frustrated when the heroes around them don't provide things for them.

The victim is the person who spends time complaining instead of working. Victims hesitate to do anything uncomfortable or inconvenient for others.

Who Is The Bad Guy?

The bad guy of the story is the person who is acting purely with the intent to harm others. Bad guys have gone beyond victimhood to a state of proactive destruction. Selfishness has turned into blatant disregard for others.

The bad guy knows their actions are harmful to others but is past the point of caring. Don't be the bad guy.

So How Do I Make Sure I'm Playing The Hero?

Since we all have some of all three characters inside of use we have to first be able to recognize the character we are playing at any given moment. We freely move between these different roles during the course of our daily story.

Next time something hard happens to you stop and ask which role you are going to play.

Parenting Example From My Life

My son's room is a disaster, his dirty dishes are still sitting on the counter and even though he has been asked to do his homework he has just walked out of his room dressed up in a costume and holding the appropriate props. I'm furious. Its the last straw.

If I decide to be the bad guy: I'll punish him without any thought. I won't talk to him, I won't give him a chance to explain, and I'll make sure the punishment REALLY hurts.

If I play the victim: I'll tell him my life is too hard to deal with this crap. I'll explain how I slave away all day long only to have to then deal with disobedient children. I'll pass out a punishment with the sense that this might help him understand how I feel about his actions.

If I play the hero: I'll see this as another teaching moment. I'll take a deep breath to summon my inner superman and I'll ask him to explain why he isn't doing what he was asked. I'll explain WHY it is so important for him to do what he was asked and I'll help him take the attitude of a hero as well.

Business Example From My Life

Someone has just published a video on YouTube saying my company and my product suck. They said our marketing practices are immoral and our company is nothing but a scam full of cheating and horrible humans.

If I decide to be the bad guy: I'll probably report the video to YouTube and then watch his last 5 videos so I can figure out what is really the worse thing about him that I can say. Then I'll publish my own video explaining why he is a moron and knows nothing about anything.

If I play the victim: I'll tell my employees that this horrible mean person is saying bad things about us that aren't true. I'll send him a message that explains how wrong he really is about everything he said and why he should appologize and take down the video.

If I play the hero: I'll watch that video 5 times and ask myself as honestly as possible if he is right in any of his accusations. I'll take immediate steps to improve my marketing process and change what we do to prevent anyone from ever having such a bad experience again. I'll send him a message that explains how grateful I am for the feedback no matter how hard it is to hear. I'll let him know what I've done to make business changes based on that feedback.

What Can You Change?

Take a moment to do some introspection. Think about the last horrible thing or hard thing that happened in your story. Were you the hero in that moment?

Cheat Time – Get More Done and Enjoy Your Life

As you have heard repeated over the years, time is the most valuable resource any of us have. I've been told many times that I can't get more of it but that is a lie. I may suck at a lot of things but ask anyone who does any work with me and they will tell you I somehow magically get a lot done in a very little amount of time.

TRUTH: There are a lot of ways to get more time

Money can't buy happiness, but time does make happiness, and money can buy time.

With a few simple tips you can cheat time. I do.

Here Are 8 Ways to Make More Time & Happiness
Playback Control

We all consume media right? TV shows you watch, videos online, and for many of us audio-books. I consume all of these things faster than most people because I speed up playback.

For audio-books I use the Audible app where I can increase playback speed as much as needed. I can listen to most books at 2X speed without any trouble. That is half the time to read the book.

When I watch TV shows or online videos I try to do so in Google Chrome and I use this extension to speed up playback: Video Speed Controller

Trust me, the latest episode of Blacklist is just as good in 25 minutes as it is in 40 minutes. For you binge watchers just imagine getting through an entire season of your favorite show in 2/3 the time!

Outsource Everything

Outsourcing tasks costs money… but it makes time. If you can spend more time doing the things that you are best at then your bottom line revenue should increase exponentially. In order to make the time to do things that make you a lot of money; you need to spend a little money to pay others to do everything else.

RESOURCE: Guide to Outsourcing Stuff Worth Less than My Time

Batch Activities

There are things you probably end up doing every day that waste your time. The process of beginning and ending the task are the same regardless of how much volume there is. For example, consider listening to and returning voicemail. If you check 1 voicemail message per day it might take 5 minutes. Instead if once per week you check voicemail you will have 7 total messages but instead of taking 35 minutes it will take less than 30. (Think I'm crazy to only check voicemail once per week? Resource: Making Voicemail a Tool of Productivity [Script])

What else do you do frequently that could be batched into chunks less frequently? Checking email, processing returns (a big one for me), accounting, making phone calls, home DIY projects, errands, and much more.

Stop Reprocessing

What is reprocessing? Essentially wasting time looking at something multiple times before taking action on it. You probably have emails in your inbox right now that you have read 3+ times and still haven't dealt with. If you can create a process by which you don't give anything your time and attention until you are ready to tackle the task and complete it, delegate it, or delete it; then you will save a ton of reprocessing time.

Exploit Shortcuts and Move Faster

I spend a large amount of my day in front of a computer. A lot of that time is spent typing things. On average I bet I am just hitting keys on my keyboard about 90 minutes a day. I type 95 Words Per Minute (WPM) where the average adult types only 40 WPM. That means my 90 minutes of typing each day would take the average human adult 3+ hours. If you are in front of a computer as often as I you could probably save yourself about 5 hours a week if you invested 30 minutes a week into improving your typing speed.

In addition to just typing faster you can save a ton of time by becoming more expert in software you use. Knowing shortcuts and the best tricks to Outlook, Gmail, PowerPoint, or whatever your daily tools are can have a tremendous effect on your time.

Start Saying No

You have probably heard this before. People will ask you for a lot of things. Start saying no to those things that are less important than your family or whatever thing it is you are trying to make time for.

Bio-Hack & Buy Health

Each year you probably lose several days of productivity outright to being sick. In addition, there are probably many more days each year where you get substantially less done than you should because you don't feel as well as you should.

Time is lost when you aren't performing optimally. This is another instance where some better health related decisions can buy you time. Eating better, exercise and all the other things you already know about can dramatically increase your productivity and limit down time. In addition to the amount of time you “buy” right now, you are also literally adding years to your life which is another amazing consideration of making more time.

Resource: Eliminating the Common Cold From Life

Hack Travel Time

For work or for leisure travel is a part of your life. For some of us it is more frequent a part than for others. Travel is a perfect place to make more time in life in a few different ways.

Don't travel in ways that will kill your energy and reduce your health. No point in getting there early if it is going to take me 12 hours to recover from the trip.
Time in the car or time on the plane can be very productive with a little bit of planning. If you are going to be outside of WiFi then plan in advance tasks that can be worked on and completed without WiFi… or without a computer at all. I often batch my phone calls for days when I know I have some car time.

I Don’t Have the Problem That You Are Trying To Solve

Products solve problems. If you are a business owner, salesman, or entrepreneur of any kind ask yourself what problem does your product solve?

Understanding the problem is the first step to all marketing. Your customer is in their current state. They have a problem. How does your product solve that problem and get the customer to their desired state? Here are additional thoughts on this marketing approach.

Now, as a consumer you also need to approach product purchasing this way. Using the “what problem” paradigm of shopping has some great benefits. When you see an advertisement for a new product ask yourself… what problem do I have that this will solve?

Here are the core advantages to this “Problem Solving” method of shopping:

You actually get to the root of the issue. Sometimes you might be tempted to buy products that address a symptom of your problem but don't actually address the problem at all. A lot of money and time can be saved if you figure out the actual source of your problem and buy to address it.
Often you will discover you don't have the problem. This happens to me all the time. Fellow business owners will tell me about the latest program or service they are using that has made life so much better. I take one look and say to myself… “This solves a problem that I don't have” and then I move on. Hey don't get me wrong the squatty potty ads are hilarious but I don't have an issue with my bowel movements so I'm good to just laugh at the videos on YouTube and move on in life.
You can make more logical priced based decisions. What is it worth to you to solve that problem. When you really understand the problem you are trying to solve you may more easily understand what you would be willing to solve that problem.

The Answer is Zapier – Solve All Online System Integrations

If you own an online business and you don't have an account with Zapier.com you should fire yourself immediately and hire a web guy who isn't clueless.

What is The Problem We Are Trying to Solve?

Stuff needs to talk to stuff. In order to make your business awesome you have to use a ton of different software solutions…

Email Marketing Software
CMS Software
eCommerce Software
Fulfillment Software
Google Drive
Giveaway Software
Social Media
Revenue Reporting
Affiliate Software
Marketplace Sales like eBay, Amazon, etc
Helpdesk Software
That One Thing That is The Best At Doing That One Thing
And On and On….

Companies do exist that claim to have the full suite! Do it all with them and you'll never have to worry about getting all the different systems to play nice together. The issue with those providers is that they suck. Honestly, if they really had the very best and most robust tools in all the categories in which you need tools then they would dominate and we would all flock to their service… BUT how can you be the best at 20 things when there are companies out there dedicated to being the best at just one of those things? You can't.

So, we all end up using a bunch of different services for different things. Sadly these things just don't get along. What if my eCommerce system doesn't have flawless native integration with the Email Marketing system I use? What if my Helpdesk software doesn't work perfectly with my social media profiles?

Zapier is the Answer

Zapier Is the Solution

Zapier is an online middle man. It connects to a large number of other online platforms and allows you to integrate (pass data) between two systems that otherwise don't have native integration.

So if I want to have a spreadsheet of every phone call that I receive at the office I can do that. We use CallRail.com for our phone calls and we use Google Sheets for spreadsheets. So I set up Zapier to connect to CallRail and for every new call that comes in I configure it to populate a specific Google Sheet. Done.

I want to make sure that orders that come into our fulfillment system for a specific product also generate an email to the company that dropships that product? No problem Zapier can manage that.

Use the best systems out there for what you need and then let Zapier do the connecting!

What You Need To Know About Image Copyright Violations – Lawsuits – Angry Letters

Before you ask, yes I own the rights to use this stock image

 

So you have a website and you just got an email or letter in the mail telling you that some fancy sounding law firm is going to take you to court unless you pay a settlement fee for the illegal use of some copyrighted image on your website.

What The CRAP Is This All About And What Are You Supposed To Do???
Why This Is Happening and Is It Legit?

Yeah, its real and it is happening to you. You found some image online and you put it on your website without the permission or necessary license. You probably did some Google Image search and found the perfect thing for your blog post and now you are paying the price for putting it on your site ignorant of the laws that govern image use and copyright.

There are big law firms that do nothing more than work with image services like Getty Images and make a fortune finding people like you and taking you to court. The vast majority of internet publishers (site owners like you) will pay the settlement cost before you deal with court and they know it. You know you can't win the court case because you did in fact violate the copyright so you figure why fight it right?

What Are Your Options?

Do Not Ignore It. This problem is not going to go away and you don't need the legal trouble that will come if you fully ignore it.

If the price is high enough, consider hiring an attorney. If the law firm is asking for ten thousand dollars or more you may want to hire an attorney. You may be surprised by the things that the attorney can do to help you. The attorney can help call their bluff in the threat to take you to court. Does the plaintiff really want to come to your state and make an appearance in court? Your attorney can likely force those kinds of terms and that will likely drop the settlement price and at least save you some money.

That said most of the time the cost of the settlement is too low to justify hiring an attorney. You should probably just pay it and make the problem go away. You can and should always try to negotiate the price. Talk about how you don't have that kind of money but may be able to scrape together 50% of that in cash if they you can come to an arrangement. Use your own language and don't be dishonest as that will only hurt you later should you end up in court.

When you agree to make payment make sure that you get something in writing that makes clear that the payment you are making is considered a full payment and that they agree to not pursue any additional legal actions.

As a final thought in this section, be sure to trace down how you found the image. If you happened to get the image from a website that claimed it was license free and public domain then you may be able to counter-sue that website to recover the damages you incurred having used the image in good faith.

How Do You Prevent This From Happening In the Future?

STOP using images that you don't have the rights to use. When you do a Google Image Search for example you can use the Usage Rights Tool to filter the results by images that are labeled for reuse though be warned that this still may lead you to images that have licensing requirements. For example an image may be labeled for reuse BUT require that you give the image owner credit in someway.

ALWAYS follow the image to it's source website and check that website's terms and conditions. If unsure, use a contact form to ask permission.

Here is a Google Image Search for me… apparently there is an artist somewhere that shares my name?

 

If you are going to have need for a lot of stock images you can always just pay a subscription to Adobe, iStock Photos, Getty Images, or any other service that gives you access to stock images at a subscription rate.

There are a handful of websites out there that provide a decent selection of public domain images you can use. Most of them make their money however by constantly asking you to consider subscribing to their paid service. Despite that they can be helpful… here are some I have bookmarked:

http://www.freeimages.com

https://pixabay.com/

http://www.freestockphotos.biz/

https://pixnio.com/

And don't forget Wikipedia as all images on that site are automatically public domain!

Happy hunting… and please share in the comments below any experiences you have had with this and how it turned out for you.

From 0 to 120,000 Email Subscribers – Interview with SendPulse Podcast

Recently I was privileged to be interviewed by the SendPulse Vice President of Sales Roy Weissman. SendPulse is a forward thinking email provider that runs the podcast in order to share ideas and successes in the email marketing industry.

Here are things Roy and I discuss in this interview:

Why did our company wait roughly 8 years to start doing any email marketing?

What to do if you don't know what to send to your email list?

How to make email an initiative that isn't a burden or has a strong ROI.

How to build your email list.

The major shift in mindset to having a quality list instead of a big list.

How to balance the sending of promotional email with content related email.

How often should you send email to your list?

What we send our subscribers for the first 7 days they are on our list.

How to monetize email if you don't have any products to sell.

Top Hacks For Hiring Amazing Employees

I currently have 8 employees. I have had to hire a total of 11 employees in this current business and many many more in past ventures and jobs.

I used to dread the process. Trying to get applicants and then trying to guess who is the right person based on resumes… No wonder research suggests that odds of finding a good employee are about 50/50 no matter the hiring process or amount of resources dedicated to finding the right applicant.

Truth is, everything has changed for me. I love hiring new people now because I've found the formula that works for me. If you follow the below steps you will save a ton of time and stress while greatly maximizing the chances of finding good people.

Indeed.com Is Magic

Trick number one, use indeed.com. This site is gaining in popularity and is overtaking the monster.coms' that have owned the space for decades.

Indeed allows employers to post jobs for free. There are a large number of upgraded features that cost money but I've never paid for any of them and haven't felt like I was missing anything.

Indeed also has a mobile app that makes it easy for employers to peruse job applicants.

Lastly indeed will optionally auto-notify rejected applicants that they didn't get the job. Awesome!

Job Title Is Everything

The number one thing I'm looking for is someone who really wants to work for me. Not just someone who really wants a job but that truly would rather work for me than anywhere else. So the job posting process is designed to filter out anyone else.

The first step to doing that is to use a job title that says exactly what you actually want… not what society thinks should go on the new employee's business card.

Recently I hired for a customer service rep. The job title used:

“Firearm Enthusiast and Relationship Professional”

Before that my last hire was a mobile app developer. Job title used:

“Firearm Enthusiast and Mobile Developer Extrordinare”

Yes I start all my job postings with Firearm Enthusiast because I want people who are excited to work for me and will be happy to be part of our company's mission. Why beat around that bush?

Have Something Super Valuable

If you want to hire really awesome people you have to offer an opportunity that really good people would consider.

If your pay sucks, your benefits are not existent, and the work environment is not inviting you cannot get good applicants.

We try to pay more than any other company would. We allow everyone to work from home. We don't regulate vacation days or time off. It may not be like working for Google but about half of our employees have taken pay cuts to work for us because of the value of the opportunity.

Ask/Require Cover Letter

Resumes are, in my opinion, not very good at telling me what I actually need to know. Do they really want to work here?

Sure the resume will tell me if they are qualified and if they have experience but it won't give me any sense for their level of desire.

That is why I request a cover letter. I do this at the bottom of the job posting under the job duties and responsibilities. Something to the effect of “If you actually want this job you will include a cover letter talking about your specific passion for firearms and/or the second amendment and that will also prove that you actually read this job posting all the way through.”

With that in place I immediately reject all applicants that don't include a cover letter. Those who do write a cover letter get considered and only then do I glance at resumes.

Do Short Phone Interviews To Narrow Down the Group

If you have followed the above process you are going to have a decent number of good applicants. Do not interview them all!

Instead call the top 10 or so and conduct 5 minute phone interviews. This should make it easy to get it down to a final short list of 5 or less than you can interview.

Ask Them To Ask Questions

My favorite interview question? “What questions do you have for me about the company or opportunity?”

I don't have a simple or magical explanation as to why this works but it does. I always get great insight into the individual when I let them air all questions they have.

Good luck with your next hire!

I’m Nothing Like Daredevil

Daredevil is an awesome Marvel superhero who was blinded as a child by some chemicals. In the process his sense of hearing was enhanced so significantly that it became a sort of radar that allowed him to essentially see even without traditional eyesight. 

At age 15 I lost hearing in my right ear. A nasty ear infection ate out my inner cochlea and at most pitches I'm about 90% deaf in that ear. 

Now, while my vision is very good, better than average, it isn't enhanced to superhero abilities. Instead, like Daredevil, my good ear has become more and more sensitive over the years as if to compensate for my bad ear. 

Now, unless you get the impression that my good ear has Daredevil like powers let me remind you of the title of this personal rant I call a blog post. I'm Nothing like Daredevil. My super power good ear is frankly nothing but a curse. 

It makes any loud environment physically painful to endure. I do not go to concerts. I avoid sporting events, festivals, and any places with big crowds but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

In recent years I've found I can't deal with church singing, movie theater speakers, some shower heads, anything at my children's school auditorium, the average bathroom fan, airplanes, or other things you just wouldn't think Daredevil would have had issues with. 

In addition to my car keys, wallet, and gun I also carry a single ear plug everywhere I go and I will pay a happy premium for good noise cancelling headphones. When I walk into a restaurant I request to be seated at the quietest table, and I've mastered the art of covertly blocking my ear canal with a finger while appearing to be leaning against my arm. I wear protective hearing protection when I mow the lawn or operate a vacuum cleaner. 

What is the point? No point really… Just wanted you to know that despite amazing increased sensitivity in 1 ear I'm nothing like Daredevil.

Drama Credit Card Processing

Look how happy the lady in this stock image is to buy something online!

I've been through my fair share of Credit Card Merchant providers. It's a mess of an industry. If you are new to e-commerce you may be scratching your head in frustration.

I'll first describe some of the common issues I've dealt with then I'll give you the solution.

Sorry, You Need Signatures

Yep, had a provider a few years ago start to hold back 20% of my money in a reserve account because I don't get customer signatures. Have you ever heard of the internet?

Sorry, We Don't Support Your Industry

Yep, I'm in the firearm industry and way too many hipster startups in silicone valley and most of the other moron credit card companies hate guns and anything associated with them. My industry isn't the only one on the no-charge list either.

Sorry, You Need To Connect The Processing Gateway to A Merchant Provider and Then Maintain PCI Compliance With This Other Provider

You would think the government runs this industry with the amount of confusing stuff you have to deal with. It's sometimes like trying to juggle 3 plates at the same time. Forget dropping them I can't even remember which plate does what.

Sorry, You Have To Respond To This Chargeback Via Fax

Sometimes customers don't recognize your company on their card statement or they hate you or you legitimately have been taken advantage of by a con artist who has used a stolen card to buy something on your site. When this happens the Card company sends you the Chargeback paperwork via snail mail and expects you to respond within 2 days explaining why you charged the person's credit card and include proof like signatures (remember it's the internet) and shipping tracking info etc. My last 2 providers gave me 2 days to respond and required I do so via fax. Follow up info about these chargebacks was also send via snail mail. I had spreadsheet just to keep track of this nightmare.

Sorry, You Have To Be Approved By The Underwriting Department

At the point of initial application merchant providers love to pretend they are considering giving you to secret clearance. The application process reminds me of getting a home loan. Recently our company changed company names and I was informed this required submitting a new application for which I was NOT approved.

Sorry, We Don't Work With / Connect With That Software

There are endless shopping cart applications and our company has 4 different systems that capture customer credit card information for purchases. There are only a few credit card gateways that work with ALL of those systems. This question of compatibility is sometimes more complex as a software system may show it works with your provider only to find out some features are not supported with your gateway.

Sorry, Your Charge Activity Has Grown Too Much/Too Fast

Remember these companies make money when you make money so you might think they would send me a bonus gift and lower my rates when my charge volume increases. I had one provider increase my reserve and make me get emails from customers confirming they did indeed authorize charges.

My Solution? Stripe

I opened a Stripe account about a year ago and at first I didn't think it could be legit because they didn't run be through any sort of complex approval process. Despite this we decided to use it for a few of the applications where it was the only option and it worked.

Further there is no question about gateways, merchants, and compliance partners. Its just Stripe.

When we did our company name change I contacted their support… and they changed it. End of story.

They connect with everything because one of their core company “dealios” is an awesome API. My developers LOVE Stripe and apparently every other application dev team does too.

Chargebacks? No more letters in the mail. They send an email and I respond online via an interface!

Life is good again. What are you using? Do you love or hate it?