18 Thursday Mar 2021
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on A Fleeting Notion
15 Saturday Oct 2016
Posted in News and Notes
≈ Comments Off on The NFL and TV DOA? DRT? LOL.
Tags
Big Club, culture, ideas, NFL, society, television, The People
The Washington Post reports on the free-fall collapse of NFL viewership. The phenomenon threatens to take down Big TeeVee as it falls.
Football, America’s biggest prime-time powerhouse, has been thrust into a crisis this fall, with dwindling ratings sparking questions over whether it can remain a gold mine for television in an age when more Americans are abandoning traditional TV.
Network executives have long used the National Football League’s live games as a last line of defense against the rapid growth of “cord-cutting” and on-demand viewing upending the industry.
My long-standing views on television and my recent decision on football are known to my audience. There is nothing wrong, per se, with either. Football is a sport, a simulated 1-hour war in a potential atmosphere of fun. Better that than a real war. TV offers (offered) the potential of idea transmission and entertainment. There is nothing wrong with that.
Blog Day Afternoon.
The problems with both institutions came from devolution. I swear both were hi-jacked and weaponized against the people many years ago. Football on television became the worst realization of the tragedy of Plato’s Cave. Now it seems people are turning both off.
The Post says the change came about from people utilizing newer forms of electronic entertainment. I’m not sure the change is for the better. Sure, some must be reading websites like this one, Googling “Plato Cave” and then reading The Republic. Intellectualization is never a bad thing.
Still, I suspect many have only traded one from of trivial control for another. Half of the internet and 98% of cable is dedicated to filth and stupidity.
We now have the ability to comment of the Tweets of Alt-Right pundits, who commented on the comments of traditional pundits, who garnered thoughts about news accounts of insults and general jabber-wacky spouted by other commentators, about the remarks of candidates in some battle royal “debate” between two sides of the same uni-party in a Club-controlled political election.
Others trespass backyards at night looking for a digital cartoon rabbit or gold stars or something.
I suppose all of this beats dodging lions, sacrificing rival tribesmen to the sun gods, or searching for a lightening-sparked fire source. Beats it but not by much.
Allow me to offer up some better alternatives for passing away the free time:
These are only suggestions.
29 Monday Aug 2016
Posted in Books For Sale, Other Columns
≈ Comments Off on Advice for Writing and Publishing
Tags
blog, blogging, books, ideas, Perrin Lovett, perrinlovett.me, The Happy Little Cigar Book, writing
A talented friend asked me how I do the crazy things I do. This was going to be an email to him. However, I thought it better to share with everyone. I suppose I can give this now. Sometimes its easier to give it than to live it. Do as I say!
Here are a few ideas:
Start a Blog
I use and recommend WordPress.WP allows for easy and professional startups. The base level is absolutely free. I pay a nominal fee to keep the “wordpress.” out of my page name and a few other perks. Next I will step up to the expensive level. Start small – and cheap. Just get started. There are other free hosts out there too.
Social Media
From WP you can link your posts to Facebook, Twitter, etc. This will help generate traffic and maybe build some new friends. Don’t forget LinkedIn.
Email List
They say for real on-line success one needs an email list – a go to group of dedicated followers. I spent a lot of time building mine this summer. I took it from about 20 people to almost 1,000. Sadly, I have not tested the system out. I will. I use Gmail which is okay for one to one emails. For a list there are vastly better options – MailChimp, Aweber, etc. Those cost money. Keep it simple (and free) to start.
Publishing
My friend has a wealth of historical knowledge he would like to share. There’s no reason he shouldn’t get paid to do it. One sure-fire way to do that is to publish a book:
Createspace
Createspace is Amazon’s professional publishing wing. Account setup is free and relatively easy. Converting, editing, and formatting everything takes a little work. However, the services are free and one can then directly upload to Amazon. These are books “available on demand”. Someone sees it, orders it and pays for it and CS prints a copy and mails it out. They also have other formats which I have not experimented with – audio, video, etc. For a fee they also have editing and design services.
You can make a book like this:
This is the way of the future – self publishing and Amazon. A few more years and traditional publishers and bookstores won’t exist. They are committing suicide.
CS is also a stepping stone to:
Kindle
Once one has a manuscript ready it can be converted to Kindle for ebook publishing and sale. This is not necessarily easy. I have one book in Kindle and the format is horrible. Worse, I have never gone back and fixed it yet. Learning curve here. One can also pay to have the formatting done. Otherwise the system is free. There are books available on the subject. I suggest reading them.
Amazon Tools
Once one has a book out, odds are people are going to find it on Amazon. Remember to set up an Author Page with links to your Blog posts.
There is a super easy way to make an ebook. Just convert a Word, WordPerfect, or Docs text to PDF and link it to your blog or email it. Freebies build business although it is possible to offer these for sale.
PayPal
Set up an account and use it to receive payments for the PDFs and other services offered until you can afford a real e-commerce system. Amazon and Kindle offer direct deposit for their sales of your work. PayPal also comes in handy for freelancing (see below).
Some Writing Resources
These are in no particular order and there are so many out there:
James Altucher offers a wealth of publishing tips and other inspiration. Read this.
The Write Life. All kinds of advice for all sorts of things.
That will do for now. If you have an idea or a question, don’t forget the Google.
Freelance Ideas
Independent contract work can be a great way to build business and make money. Many of these jobs can be found just by looking around. Then there are “content mills”. The mills are marketplaces where people look for work and companies look for talent. I list three of them below. I can’t really recommend using them because so much of what is offered is pure crap. However, the gems are out there. It’s just a matter of finding them.
As for my friend or really anyone, I would recommend searching hard within the author’s niche. I’ve stumbled into some great projects that fit my crazed topics and style. One might as well be happy when working.
This is just a board published by ProBlogger. No account to set up; just communicate directly with projects by email or their sites. I’ve had the most success with this service. And jobs are posted daily and are searchable. Most pay by PayPal.
A true content mill with required setup. They frequently handle payment but they also take a cut. That’s also how it works at:
They handle all payment issues in-house. I think it’s a slightly better system. A good deal of hassle and BS but you can search out what you’re looking for.
As I said there are many other resources. This is a gateway not only for writers, but also for speakers, artists, professionals, and anyone with something to offer. I hope it helps. Happy hunting.
01 Sunday May 2016
Posted in Other Columns
≈ Comments Off on Outmaneuver Your Own Obsolescence
James Altucher is a genius or at least he keeps coming up with great ideas. He’s not afraid to act on them either, though he seems to keenly understand the importance of timing.
I highly recommend you read his lengthy article, How To Quit Your Job the Right Way, April, 2016. The initial concept is that sooner or later your employer won’t need you (or won’t be in business) and it is best to diversify yourself before a layoff comes along. He delves into personal solutions for numerous modern problems – the changing/declining economy, escaping debt slavery, working smarter, and pursuing passions. He also goes into idea creation and networking.
James and one of his great books. Forbes.com.
James on the 80/20 rule at work:
The 80/20 rule refers originally to the fact that 20% of the seeds planted in a garden will result in at least 80% of the flowers that eventually blooming the garden.
It’s applied to every area of life. 20% of employees do 80% of the work.
20% of your customers, will result in 80% of your profits.
20% of your studying will result in 80% of what you remember.
And so on.
But what if you square it. So 20% of 20% of what you do will result in 80% of 80% of what you value.
So 4% of your work will result in 64% of the value.
Square it again. 1% of your work will result in 48% of the value.
This is the rule I like. 1% of the seeds planted in the garden will result in almost 50% of the flowers that will bloom.
This is how I know I can do many 2 week experiments to see what will eventually work in my life.
Instead of wasting my time on going out at night or watching TV I can take some days to start these two week experiments.
I wonder if you are like me. If you take certain stories. Certain questions. Squirrel them a way into your soul so you can peek at them later.
Let mystery wink at you.
Networking:
But here’s the real important thing to remember: networking compounds.
If I meet you today, I know you forever. And you might even tell others about me. Some will. Some won’t.
Do that every day and over years, your network becomes huge.
I am the worst networker possible. I am shy. I don’t cold call people. I am nervous meeting people.
But over years it’s compounded. Do favors for people. Introduce people in your network.
The value in your network is not the list of people you know, it’s the list of connections between all of those people.
That’s how you make networking exponentially powerful instead of linear.
The more people you can introduce to each other, the more value you bring.
I found this to be one of his more inspiration articles in a long, deep line of inspirations. Give the full article a read and then check out some of his books. Start with Choose Yourself.
No, I was not paid for this plug. I’m just passing on great information.
Cheers!
PERRIN LOVETT 
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