Notes from a group call with Noah Kagan of AppSumo

IF YOU NEED A NEW IDEA/PRODUCT

Search “I want” or “I would buy” at web sites you frequent with communities that are built in. [Noah seems to love Reddit]

• reddit.com
• kickstarter.com
• quora.com

IF YOU HAVE IDEA/PRODUCT

Pick a 1 month objective like “10 sales” write it on a board, commit. [Noah had a screen just for this number at his office]

List 5 things you can try that will impact that objective.

• live chats
• craigslist
• content marketing
• posting stuff on some site
• webinars

Hit that objective!

*Important, don’t have too many objectives or things to try, it ruins it. Bad.

Answer to “What do you do after the low hanging fruit/beginner validation stage is done? DO IT MORE, set specific objectives, keep getting wins.

I got value from this “off the cuff” video chat from Noah in realizing [once again] how unnecessarily complicated I/we make things.

It’s so easy to get carried away with everything you think you should be doing … when really you need to stop getting distracted, pick a goal, and do only things to get you to that goal.

Of course running a business get’s more complicated, but keep your mindset simple, get wins, find out what works, and what fails, ignore all else except for that important monetary objective that will grow the business.

…notes on gaining focus…

stop getting distracted by internet shiny objects. free video’s, downloads and information are not always good. lock away distraction, build and create, help online business owners, do nothing else. ironic that this is most obvious while reading blog posts that talk about being distracted : ( 

everyone could be faking it with their online business, chasing squirrels, building a massive echo chamber…and it would be hard to tell. gut check, and do what matters, don’t compare yourself.

free is bad when it stops you from moving forward.

i constantly get stuck with all the freeness out there, our world, especially online, is rampant with it — education, learning, awesome content, media, etc. i have folders full of the stuff, i make lists of content to absorb…and all the while in the name of “productivity”. when I take a step back, it’s a sham, what WOULD be productive is to create that product, write that blog post that could have brought in traffic, update my website with a new service to offer, meet with a mastermind group to co-host an event, etc.

free is a double edged sword

• free hurts you when it distracts
• free hurts you when it holds you back
• free hurts you when it makes you think there’s more to do than there is
• free hurts you when you’re overloaded with information

say no to cutting yourself on free. say yes to laser-like focus

i’ve decided that march will be a month to turn my eyes away from new projects [not existing clients], new posts, news, rss reading, social notifications, iphone notifications — anything that detracts from focusing on goals that create, build, and refresh IT Arsenal. with this, i’ll look to be more present in the actions i take, as that’s a practice that always needs renewal.

maybe it would be good for you to do this too, let me know your thoughts below.