It was rare for me to get that many emails in my Inbox, as I am a believer in author David Allen’s method of routing incoming mail to the appropriate folders as fast as possible.  This keeps the inbox clean and move actionable items to an “actionable folder”, items to wait on to a “waiting” folder, etc.  So, purging and organizing my inbox was not the shock.  It was the realization that I actually took pleasure in doing so!  I was enjoying this organizing so much in fact, that I was disappointed when it was over.

This got me thinking… “Do I suffer from a Digital form of OCD or OCPD”?

Digital OCD Defined

Wikipedia describes OCPD as: “a personality disorder which involves an obsession with perfection, rules, and organization.“  I then began to think of what other traits of this I show with regard to the digital domain, and I was able to instantly identify the following:

• I reformat (not defrag, but REFORMAT) my computer once a month because I fear that it is running less than optimally due to internet surfing, demo application installs, etc.
• I spell check emails about 4 times before sending them (really…one should be enough, right?)
• I BCC myself on EVERY email I send to ensure it was indeed sent (no, the “Sent Items” folder is not good enough for me… although I think that this one may have derived more from CYA than OCD)
• I organize my desktop icons on a regular basis, ensuring that only the most important items remain on the desktop

Noting just the few examples above, I began to ask myself if these measures were overkill, or they actually serve some purpose for productivity.  Sure, keeping a clean Inbox helps you find emails faster, but should you really enjoy the cleaning/organizing part so much??

A Waste of Time?

While this post is only “half serious”, I think that it IS important that you ask yourself the following questions about your “digital habits”:

• “Are these practices actually doing something that will boost my productivity?”
• “Is the time that I save as a result of this action greater than that of the time I am spending on the action itself?”

If the answer to either one of these questions is “no”, you would probably do well to drop or modify that habit.  It may actually be semi-obsessive (or at least a time-suck), and not serving any functional purpose to enhance productivity.

Do you do display signs of Digital OCD?  Please post how… I’d love to hear about it!

Be an “I CAN” Employee or Boss

No one wants to constantly hear you complain to them, or tell them about how miserable you/your job is.  If you constantly do this, you will quickly become known not as a “rainmaker” or producer, but rather as a complainer.  It has been my experience that those who constantly complain about their jobs, their workloads, or other people… spend more time complaining about issues than facing them head on.  Those who think, “I can’t” leave themselves with no options or recourse.  “I can’t” quickly becomes reality… and turns into “I didn’t”.

On the other hand, those who take the mindset of, “I CAN” suddenly open up multiple courses of action.  If you are facing a difficult problem and take the mindset of, “I can figure this out”, then suddenly you are in a position to come up with options.  Not all options may be good or ideal, but taking action to solve a problem will always leave you in a much better position than taking no action and letting the problem overcome you.

Those employees who consistently produce positive results, are the same ones who take ACTION.  Those employees who do not produce positive results (and then complain about it), are the ones who let difficult situations overcome them.  They simply quit.

Misery Loves Company… So Does Success

I know the old saying, “misery loves company”.  This may seem to contradict what I said previously with regard no-one wanting to be around a complainer.  I should clarify.  No one who produces results will want to surround themselves with a complainer.  Those with positive outlooks who consistently deliver results will want to be around others with the same trait.  That kind of negative energy will drag them down, which is the last thing that positive people want.

It’s true, misery does love company.  People who like to complain will want to be around other people who like to complain.  Don’t be around this group of people… it will bring you down.  Align yourself with positive thinkers, and that synergy will elevate the entire group.

A Few Easy Steps to Help Become Positive

1) Positive Responses: When it is a Monday and someone asks you how you are today… don’t fall into the trap of saying, “Well, it’s Monday.  I wish it were still the weekend” or “Doing as good as can be expected for a Monday”.  These are negative responses.  Try saying, “It’s a great Monday, and I can’t wait to get the week off to a good start!”.  You will be amazed at how empowering this is, and how it helps to set your day off in the right direction.

2) Solve a Problem: Do you have a problem or situation that is nagging you… Perhaps one that you have been avoiding?  Make a choice to face the problem and solve it.  If you go after a problem instead of the problem going after you, it puts you on the offensive.  Solving a nagging issue will be a big confidence boost for you!

3) Walk 20% Faster: This one may seem silly, but when you go somewhere around the office, try walking 20% faster that you normally would.  Don’t mope… stand up straight and walk with purpose.  This may seem silly.. but if you choose to display the physical trait of energy, this will help you to get mentally energized and feel like you can tackle any issue in your way.  Give it a try, and be amazed.

 Below I have listed some of the search terms, as well as their search engine position.  Bear in mind that these are organic rankings only (no pay-per-click campaigns):

Google:

Brad Martin Business - #1 Ranking
Modern Business Life - #1 and #2 Ranking
Brad Martin Author - #4 Ranking
Brad J Martin - #5 Ranking

Yahoo:

Modern Business Life - #1 and #2 Ranking
Modern Business - #1 and #2 Ranking
Brad J Martin - #2 and #3 Ranking
Brad Martin Business - #4 and #5 Ranking

MSN (Bing):

Brad Martin Author - #1 Ranking
Modern Business Life - #1 and #2 Ranking
Brad Martin Business - #3 Ranking

While these may seem like fairly targeted search terms, bear in mind that the name “Brad Martin” is fairly common, and in direct competition with the country music star by the same name.  So, how did I do it then?  The answer is in the R.A.N.K method of blogging that I have developed.

The R.A.N.K. Method of Blogging

The R.A.N.K. method for blogging is a simple framework that I developed for helping you achieve higher search engine rankings with your blog.  While there are many technical tricks in the magic bag of search engine optimization, this method offers some simple guidelines to follow that will help you yield improved search engine results.

R - Relevance

Quite possibly the most important thing that you can pay attention to when writing for your blog is it’s “relevance” to the search terms for which you would like your article to be found.  In other words, you would not expect an article about cows to yield good search results for the keyword “skyscrapers” (regardless of your meta tags).  Ensure that the information you are writing about is relevant to your keywords.  Take some time before writing, and determine what keywords you would like for people to search for in order to find your article.  Focus your post on this topic, and mention specific keywords throughout your writing.  Ensure that your content is relevant to your desired search terms.

A - Accessible

After you have written a “relevant” article, you want to ensure that it is accessible to search engines and users.  Ensure that your post has a meta title, description, and keywords defined in the code.  Many blogs will either have this built in, or have a free component that you can use to add this into your post.  For example, Wordpress has a free extension that you can add to your admin console called “All in One SEO”.  This is a great resource.  Also, ensure that you post is accessible to users.  For every blog post I make, I submit it to at least 3 social bookmarking websites such as Digg, Yahoo Buzz!, and Biz Sugar.  You may not get a million hits from this, but it does put you in their indexes, and people can continue to find you in the future through these sites.

N - New Content

Ensure that you continuously offer “new content”.  This seems simple enough, but the more content that you have around a given subject, the more of an authority you are seen as in a subject matter.  Offering new posts often about a particular subject will most certainly build credibility with readers looking for information on that subject, and will help your search engine rankings as well.

K - Keep it Up

It is important to understand that getting a decent search engine placement (whether it be in blogging, for your website, etc.) is an iterative process.  You must keep your efforts up.  Don’t expect to put one article out, and suddenly rank #1 in Google.  You must continue to make every attempt to grow your reader base, and continue to offer content that is of value to those coming to your site.  Keep trying to spread the word about your blog through email blasts, community forums, and other forms of social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
If you follow these basic guidelines, you will find that your blog is not only more valuable to your readers, but is also organically ranking better among the various search engines.  Good Luck!

“The worst of us are a long drawn out confession, The best of us are geniuses of compression”

I listen to these lyrics, and can not help but think how true this is in the context of business.  There is something very true to be said about being precise with your words, especially when speaking with executives.  Giving extraneous information about something to a business executive, boss, or manager is many times simply uncalled for.  When asked a question about something, choose your words carefully and give the most important information.  Do not give excessive information, as this will simply dilute the the important parts of what you are saying, and your message will be lost. 

Being precise with your words not only makes you appear confident and certain, but they will executives will appreciate you respecting their time.  Have you ever noticed how we tend to babble about something when we are unsure, nervous, or not confident?  It is like we are trying to fill in the holes in our story with more words.  As Bono says, “The worst of us are a long drawn out confession“.

Donald Trump discusses this point in his 2009 book titled, “Think Like a Champion”.  He discussed how he once worked with a promising young associate, but every time Trump asked him for an update about something, he would babble on for ages.  This made Trump dread talking with him, and eventually ended the working relationship.  “The Donald” stressed the importance of getting right to the point. 

Become a “genius of compression”, and answer with additional information only as requested.  Don’t babble, or offer excessive information that will add no value to the conversation.  Executives will thank you for it by continuing to come to you for updates, and it will make you appear to respect everyone else’s time much more.

Identification of the Source of Conflict

Many times, it is beneficial to help determine the source of conflict that is causing the lack of motivation.  In doing so, it is possible focus some attention on that area, thus resolving the conflict and helping to restore forward momentum.  Are you having trouble at home?  Set some time aside in your schedule to focus on your relationships at home, and nature them.  Is your lack of motivation due to a lack of goals?  You can not take aim at a target without having first identified the target.  Not having set specific and clear goals can lead to a feeling of chasing your tail.  Nothing can stifle motivation faster than the feeling that no matter how hard you work, you are not getting anywhere.

In general, try to identify sources of conflict in your life that are consuming your mental faculties.  If something negative is constantly cycling in your subconscious, it is understandably difficult to focus on any task and stay motivated.

Recovery Autopilot

If all else fails, you need to put yourself into “recovery autopilot”.  Breaking things down to specific actions can help do the trick.

I am a “list person”, having adopted many of the teachings of time management guru David Allen.  I find that lists help to break down to the very basics what I need to do in order to be productive.  Take a few minutes at the beginning of the day to take inventory of what needs to be completed by the end of the day.  Make a list of these items.  Then, for each of these items, define what the very next action is that you can take towards the successful completion of these items.  Put these steps on an action list.  Now, kick it into autopilot.

Having defined a very granular list of action items should completely remove the questions from your head “Where do I start?”, and “What do I do next?”  Now you simply act like a robot.  Look at the list, pick an action item, complete it.  Look at the list, pick an action item, complete it.  Look at the list, pick an action item, complete it.  Before you know it, you will have completed an entire day’s worth of task by just putting one foot in front of the other.  Also, in doing so you will feel a sense of achievement.  Having felt this will likely motivate you to continue knocking items off the list.  If you are anything like me, soon you will reach a point where your sense of achievement (even if only due to the completion of many small tasks) will ignite into full blown motivation to be productive and achieve more.  It is a virtuous cycle that can pull you out of a slump, and get you operating on all cylinders once again.

You may be quick to answer that no candles are left burning.  The story clearly states that James decided to blow out all 3 candles.  However, if you said that no candles were left burning, you’d be wrong.  In fact, when we left the story, all 3 candles were still burning as brightly as they ever had been.

Confused?  Let me explain.  James only “decided” to blow out all 3 candles.  The story states nothing of him actually doing so.  In order to make that decision (passive) into a reality, James must act on that decision.  He must fill his lungs with air, take aim, and blow the candles out.  Deciding to do something does not mean that that the action will inevitably follow.

Too often we get caught up in making grandiose goals and decisions to do something in life, only to find that these intentions never come to fruition.  Why?  It is because we go through the exercise of thinking about the intention (which is, in itself an important thing to do), but we do not follow that up with any action.  Want to be a millionaire?  Want to lose 30 pounds of fat and gain 10 of muscle?  Do you want to be the President?  What are you doing today to further you to that goal?  What actions can you take and carry out (in the the short and long term) in order to achieve your goal.

Act on your intentions.  Failure to do so will result in a lack of progress, and ultimately a self defeating pattern.  Alternately, taking action and fulfilling your intentions, regardless of how small, will result in a virtuous cycle that builds not only your self confidence, but also your ability to achieve and take on even larger goals with vicious momentum.

In a perfect world where time, resources and money are no object, I would advise to engage all types of online marketing… from search engine optimization, to pay per click campaigns and social networking.  I would go after every avenue, and hard.  Why not?  The more exposure the better.  However, in the real world where time is money and resources are scarce, a company must determine what is the most effective method in which to market their company or product to the masses online.  One way to begin the process of determining the most effective strategy for your company is by using the 80/20 principal.

The 80/20 principal, also known as Pareto’s Law, states that around 80 percent of the effects comes from 20 percent of the causes.  In other words, 80 percent of the outputs come from 20 percent of the inputs.  So, following this same theory with an online marketing strategy, 20 percent of the online marketing that you are partaking in (be it Social Media, Social Networking, Micro Blogging, etc.) is yielding 80 percent of the positive effects that you may be seeing.  The next step then, is to determine where you are getting the majority of the results.

Cast a Wide Net

The best way to determine the most appropriate types of online marketing for your business is to simply cast a wide net.  Engage in all kinds of marketing and optimization.  Start an ad words pay-per-click campaign, sign up for a Facebook/Twitter/MySpace account, start a blog, or post a potentially ‘viral’ video on YouTube.  The main point is that you give each of these methods an equal shake.  Each of these may require several resources in order to try effectively, so if you are short of resources, take a phased approach.  Take a few months to try each, and measure their effectiveness.  While admittedly a few months is not enough to see the full benefits of many of these tactics, it should give you an idea of what has potential to work for you, and what does not.

Primary to this approach is that you measure the effectiveness of each method.  Collect data about the traffic that you are driving to your site, any sales increases, and exposure that you are receiving.  Once you have collected all of the data, use the “Triple A” approach… analyze, analyze, analyze.

You should be able to pair down the methods that seem to yield the best results.  At this time, assuming that you only have the resources to partake in a select few, you can dismiss the strategies that do not seem advantageous to your business.  Then, you need to engage full boar with the ones that you have selected.

Conclusion

Remember, the gains you experience through your online marketing strategy are only as good as the effectiveness of that strategy.  The effectiveness of your strategy is largely determined by the appropriateness of that strategy to your business, and the effort that you put in.  Online marketing strategies, especially Social Networking, require persistence and determination in order to realize benefits.  You may not see benefits right away, but if you stick with it, you will have an “aha” moment in which everything seems to click and the real benefits will be revealed.  So, cast a wide net and find the 20 percent that is creating 80 percent of the results.  Then, focus your attention on those online marketing strategies to realize more gains, and cut out the waste that is consuming you time and money.

“The Curious Neighbor”

I feel confident that many other have experienced this type of person on a regular basis, but may just be too kind to say something.  Occasionally, when pushed up against a deadline, I will bring my lunch back to my desk to eat.  It seems to be a common occurrence, whether in an office or cubicle, that the “Curious Neighbor” will inevitably make their way over just as you have opened up your lunch.  Once they have realized that you just opened your lunch, they inevitably ask the question that is apparently the most important thing on their mind… “So, what ya’ got?”.  What’s more, after you tell them what it is, they stand there and closely inspect it, as if it is going to jump up and walk across the counter.  And, as if they are expecting more information about your lunch to be relayed, they will then just stand there… when all you want is for them to leave so you can eat it.

“The Broadcaster”

Everyone’s food has a certain smell when in the office place, but it seems to me that there is one smell that stands out and hangs in the air much longer than the rest… that is, fish sticks or other fish related foods.  The “Broadcaster” will use the shared microwave to heat up their smelly lunch (ruining the microwave for everyone next in line), and then proceed to the most populated section of the office to eat.  This allows the aroma to spread far and wide.  What’s worse, when they are done they will throw out the packaging in their cube or office trashcan.  This ensures that the smell remains for hours of aromatic fun.

“The Conversationalist”

It stands to reason that when someone gets their lunch and brings it back to their desk, they would like to eat it and be left alone.  However, when people are not coming over to ask, “what ya’ got?”, there is the occasional person who wants to come over to strike up a conversation, or deliver an update on something work related.  One would think that it is a given that it they see someone preparing to eat, or already eating, they would simply come back later.  However, the “Conversationalist” seems to be immune to that idea, and talks away.

In looking through the courses offered, I have come to find out that there are 2 courses that I have found that Donald Trump offers free of charge.

The two that I have seen are in the Entrepreneur section, and they are titled, “Write a Business Plan” and “Finding Startup Funding”.

You can register for these courses online, and there is no credit card required.  Why not take a class or two on “The Donald”… especially for the price of “on the house”!

http://www.trumpuniversity.com/entrepreneurship/index.cfm