tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99348912024-03-13T16:58:44.726-07:00Michael AshleyMichael Ashley (aka Mash), is founder at CORL8 | Consultant, Author, Speaker helping startups solve marketing, product and customer experience problems.Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-12511377529916579552023-01-04T14:26:00.002-08:002023-01-04T14:26:34.119-08:00Moving my blog to SubstackI am using a new platform called Substack to write <a href="https://mashiam.substack.com/">Mash Moments</a> and share it with subscribers free.<div><br /></div><div>Please take a look here: <a href="https://mashiam.substack.com/">https://mashiam.substack.com/</a> and subscribe if you would like to get a notification when I publish. I will no longer be posting on this site.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also post different content on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mashley/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/mashley/</a> where I'm happy to connect with you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks to all my friends and followers. I think you'll really enjoy the Substack app and I'll be able to share much more valuable moments in both text, video and audio. </div><div><br /></div><div>Keep in touch! </div><div><br /></div><div> -- Mash</div>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-70041745487331708732021-05-29T18:35:00.001-07:002021-05-29T18:39:51.721-07:00Extreme PerseveranceYou hear it all the time, “Great entrepreneurs have confidence.” And, “That girl is really talented.” Or, “He comes from privilege.” And you think to yourself, “I’m afraid to start my own business, I’m definitely not gifted, and I don’t have the privilege, connections or money that create luck.” The truth is most of us aren’t born with confidence, talent or privilege—yet we create amazing businesses and build successful careers every day.<div><br /></div><div><b>What’s the secret?<br /></b><br />Confidence is just one tool entrepreneurs use to overcome the fear, doubt and anxiety we all feel when starting something new, or doing something important. Talent is a gift that helps people focus when there are too many options in front of them. Privilege is a starting point at the front of the same race we are all running. Confident, talented and privileged people use these tools to persevere when others quit. They still face the same challenges and they, too, must persevere in the face of incredible obstacles.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, the secret is to understand your true challenge: How do you persevere when you want to quit? Fortunately, there are many ways to generate the ‘Extreme Perseverance’ necessary to succeed, and that’s the topic of my next book... follow me to get updates.</div><div><br /></div><div>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelPAshley">@MichaelPAshley</a></div><div><br /></div><div>And check out my latest project, <a href="https://www.corl8.com">CORL8 - where you can get strategic frameworks for Marketing, Sales, Operations and Finance</a> to align your teams on the missions that matter.</div>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-41832015628722296792021-02-12T14:58:00.003-08:002024-02-16T10:38:35.982-08:00My Journey from CEO to CTO to just being meIt's easy to get distracted by titles. I have been the CEO of a mapping startup, CTO of a book publishing company and Product Owner at a secure collaboration SaaS platform. But I've never been happier than just being, "Mash, the guy who helps people get stuff done."<br /><br />Before I can tell you about that, I need to tell you about this… When I was 14 my Mom, a 5-foot tenacious Vietnamese business woman, taught me how to sew. Yes, needle-and-thread-in-a-sewing-machine-making-clothes kind of sewing. <br /><br />She would drive me down to the fabric store and we would pick out cool colors and Hawaiian prints that my friends might like on their Clam-Diggers. If you don’t know what a clam-digger is, imagine going down to the beach to forage around in the shallow water for clams. If you wear pants, they will get soaked. But if you wear shorts, you’ll get cold. So clam-diggers are basically short-pants.<br /><br />At 14 I didn’t want to learn how to sew clam-diggers, but I did know that my friends and I wanted to wear shorts to school and it wasn’t allowed. If only there was a way to make shorts that could pass as pants… just barely! Clam-diggers looked and felt like shorts, but were just long enough to go past my knees and would be considered pants.<br /><br />We combined this idea with cool Hawaiian print fabric and extra baggy draw-strings to create my first business, selling shorts to my friends at school.<br /><br />I wasn’t trying to build a business, I was just trying to help out my friends!<br /><br />Fast-forward to 2008 and my Mom told me she wanted to write a book but all the publishers told her it was a bad idea and they would never publish it. So I designed an online book-authoring platform where we could all collaborate on her book. My dad joined as the editor, my brother joined and uploaded the illustrations, and we published her book using my platform. Butterfly Girl was published in May 2010 and distributed across the world with one click of a button.<br /><br />I turned that SaaS into a startup and we licensed our technology to Barnes and Noble for their Nook Publishing Platform. We were acquired in 2012.<br /><br />I wasn’t trying to make money, I was just trying to help my mom take on the giant publishing companies.<br /><br />So now let’s get back to the beginning of this blog post. Even though I’ve worn all these titles and I’m extremely proud of the journey I’ve been on, it wasn’t until I started my most recent company, <a href="https://www.foclarity.com">Foclarity</a>, that I realized, I am not a title or a business. I’m just the guy who wants to help people he loves.<br /><br />Over the years I’ve fallen in love with the little guy, the small business owner, the solopreneur, the startup founder and people with dreams too small for the world, but too big for them to achieve alone. So when anyone asks me what job or title I’m most proud of, it's being known as the guy who helps people get stuff done.Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-28011596431258096272021-01-27T18:39:00.000-08:002021-01-27T18:39:18.099-08:00CORL8 is making easy-to-use frameworks for startup Marketers<p> I've been on silent mode for the last 6 months but it's time to emerge from the cave and start talking about CORL8.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o09grLwMLW8/YBIjfk8reGI/AAAAAAAABMk/zf0baCCtus4SRbmIgBqGS68IrTr16b_nACNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/corl8-screenshot.png" imageanchor="1"><img alt="CORL8 for Startup founders and small business marketers" border="0" data-original-height="1516" data-original-width="2048" height="474" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o09grLwMLW8/YBIjfk8reGI/AAAAAAAABMk/zf0baCCtus4SRbmIgBqGS68IrTr16b_nACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h474/corl8-screenshot.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If you're a startup founder or small business marketer, we've created a platform to make it easy for you to get organized start making progress on your fundamentals.</p><p><br /></p><p>I'll share more details as we roll out the beta program. But for now I encourage you to take a look, give it a try and send us some feedback. We really want to do this for you, we want to help you and make your life easier and more productive.</p><p><br /></p><p>Check it out, <a href="https://www.CORL8.com">www.CORL8.com</a></p>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-25585668117727173222020-10-16T11:11:00.002-07:002020-10-16T11:13:09.117-07:00Follow Your Heart<blockquote>"If you want to follow your heart, you must be in touch with your heart."</blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">
Even though you may feel busy, it's important to take time to reflect, journal, meditate and listen to your heart. It's not easy, but the alternative is to be swept away by the desires and motives of others. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I discovered that I like to wake up slowly. After spending many years waking up to alarms, rushing through my coffee and jumping into remote meetings with teams across the globe, I now set aside 2 hours to wake up at my own pace. That doesn't mean I'm a slouch or lazy. It means I set aside time to enjoy the morning, enjoy my coffee and breakfast, spend time in prayer and meditation, and write in my journal. </p><p style="text-align: left;">This has been incredibly fulfilling and makes me a better person for the rest of the day.
But this time is not easy to capture if you don't put it on your calendar. I specifically have a time slot set aside for waking up which blocks my calendar as busy and I don't have to worry or check to see if I'm missing out on anything.</p><p style="text-align: left;">So, if you're feeling trapped, or swept away by the world, set aside your morning to wake up slowly. Get in touch with your heart and see if that helps you find your way.</p>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-9020475408793273882018-06-20T09:27:00.001-07:002018-06-20T09:27:17.400-07:00Slow and steady wins the raceI’ve been working on Radi8 for 3 years now. I’ve started and stopped and started and stopped. I’ve given up... then picked up the pieces and started new. I’ve tossed them out, turned left and picked up different ones. Sometimes I think entrepreneurship is a curse, but more often I think it’s a blessing. The depression that follows a failure is quickly replaced by hope as a new insight emerges. Then I dust off and start climbing again. My hands sweat even now as I think about how I’m going to make it to the next ledge. If you’re trudging, don’t give up. It’s the tortoise that wins the race.Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-24866517019533621452018-03-01T13:26:00.000-08:002018-03-01T13:30:51.090-08:00Beyond Your Wildest ImaginationWhat does the world look like if you succeed beyond your wildest dreams? This is a question I asked myself recently as I was working on the business plan for another startup. I didn’t like the answer.<br />
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Let’s start at the beginning. I had discovered a way to amplify marketing content using new technology. It would be faster, cheaper and spread content all over the world with just a few clicks. Businesses would be able to reach customers in every corner of the internet and spread their marketing messages 100x further than organic sharing. Enterprises would ditch email marketing and spend their marketing budget on my new company.<br />
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This sounded great from a money-making-machine point of view. But then I asked myself what would the world look like if I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams? What if every single company used my service to amplify their content 100x? Would I even want to live in that world? Yuck.<br />
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There are two types of entrepreneurs I’ve encountered. Those who are enamored by technology today, but care little about the future it creates—and those who care about the future they create, and work to invent it today.<br />
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It’s easy to fall into the trap of pushing the boundaries of technology and letting the chips fall where they may. It’s easy to look at all the money flowing into your checking account and hide your head when you look outside and see kids shooting each other. What’s difficult is walking away from it all, taking the time to imagine the future you want to live it, and inventing it.<br />
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That’s where I’m at today.<br />
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I’m getting my eyes off the screen and letting my imagination soar. I can imagine a world where we care about kids—we inspire them, listen to them, give them the time they need to overcome whatever obstacles they face. I imagine a world where we are passionate about each other and countries build bridges not walls. I imagine a world where we work hard and are pleased by the craftsmanship of our skills, whatever they may be. I imagine a world where people remember our names and faces because we matter.<br />
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I can’t work on another business idea without knowing I’m inventing a future I want to live in.<br />
Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-86883223744144505812016-09-27T14:41:00.003-07:002016-09-27T14:43:08.746-07:00My Startup ToolkitWhen I started my first company, FastPencil, in 2007, there weren't a lot of tools to get up and running quickly. But I knew it would be critical to leverage technology if I wanted to stay lean and get to first customer fast! So we immediately setup Google Apps for email and document collaboration. We also used Skype and a few other online services.<br />
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Today, there are a lot more services available for startups, and they're better than ever. Here's my basic startup toolkit:<br />
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<b>Nimble Social CRM</b><br />
Every company needs a CRM and most go straight to Salesforce, but I met John Ferrara from <a href="http://nimble.com">Nimble</a> at a Social Selling conference and I'm blown away at what he has been able to do with social CRM. Some of you may remember John from the company Goldmine. Goldmine was one of the first popular CRM applications available. It helped you stay organized and connected to your contacts.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttBLtp-FF_M/V-rkLRZW4wI/AAAAAAAABEQ/9ae33UNChX8D8wxl5vmzM5eySFSRP9jmQCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-09-27%2Bat%2B2.17.07%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttBLtp-FF_M/V-rkLRZW4wI/AAAAAAAABEQ/9ae33UNChX8D8wxl5vmzM5eySFSRP9jmQCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-09-27%2Bat%2B2.17.07%2BPM.png" width="400" height="323" /></a></div><br />
Nimble does all this and more... for today's social selling environment. I started using Nimble as I built out my new company, Radi8. It has been incredible. Not only does it help me stay organized and in contact with my prospects and leads, but Nimble gives me insight everywhere I go online. I highly suggest you give it a shot if you're just ramping up your startup.<br />
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<b>Google Apps</b><br />
If you don't already have it setup, take my advice and get <a href="http://apps.google.com">Google apps</a> for your business. It's easy to setup, you get email, file sharing, document editing and collaboration. It's fast and powerful. Don't even bother with Microsoft, this is the way to go for your startup.<br />
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<b>Zen Desk</b><br />
Customer support is critical and <a href="http://zendesk.com">Zen Desk</a> does it better than anyone right now. You can setup a simple account and plug it into your web site for instant customer support. As you grow you can add features and users to handle the increased load.<br />
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<b>Heroku</b><br />
You probably already have a stack and your developers are taking care of that for you, but if you don't, take a look at <a href="http://heroku.com">Heroku</a>. You can quickly setup and start building out your apps with Heroku, then expand and add services as necessary. Whether you like Ruby, Node or just plain old HTML, Heroku makes it easy... and fast. And that's the name of the game right now.<br />
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<b>Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Pages, etc.</b><br />
Of course you should grab all the important social properties you can. Whether it's Instagram, Snapchat or just Facebook for your business, you can't go without social. One of the things we discovered while building <a href="http://radi8.com">Radi8</a> is that social drives organic traffic to your content better than any other program. But marketing managers seem to get overwhelmed with managing social. If you want to make an impact, invest in social for your business... social selling, social demand-gen, social network management, social analytics, social CRM. It's worth it.<br />
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I'm sure there are a few basics I'm missing, maybe I'll write about them in another post. But this should get your started. Remember, your goal right now in your startup is to find customers and validate your problems and solutions. Don't waste time setting up and managing user license for Microsoft, or screwing around with all the options in Salesforce. Get up and running fast, then worry about this stuff later.<br />
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Connect with me on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/@MichaelPAshley">@MichaelPAshley</a>) and follow along as we pivot Radi8 (<a href="https://twitter.com/@Radi8HQ">@Radi8HQ</a>) from a social selling app to a social demand-gen platform that will drive traffic to your content and give you insights into your social marketing programs.<br />
Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-74520897163591271112016-09-26T12:46:00.000-07:002016-09-27T13:05:19.103-07:00Admit Defeat and Move On Quickly<b>The pivot</b><br />
One of the hardest things to do as a founder of a startup is to admit when your idea isn't working... your idea about the business, your idea about the product, your idea about the problem! That's exactly where I found myself a few weeks ago. It was time to admit Radi8 was chasing a problem that wasn't very painful. But it's not always the fastest who wins the race... sometimes it's the one who turns around first when they realize they are heading in the wrong direction.<br />
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That being said, one of the most exciting things about reaching this phase in your startup is the freedom and excitement of changing direction. After a year of trudging along in one direction you gain a lot of very valuable experience and insight. Some of the most valuable things you develop are relationships with your potential customers. And if you've been paying attention, you should have learned what some of the real, and painful, problems they face look like.<br />
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With that information in hand, I made the tough decision to get back to the whiteboard and try a new direction—the pivot.<br />
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This time I vowed to spend more effort up front working directly with the potential customers I had already built relationships with. And I also made the decision to use a new tool called <a href="http://www.uxpin.com/" target="_blank">UXPin</a> for my mockups, testing and collaboration.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.uxpin.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="UXPin for UI and UX design and collaboration" border="0" height="233" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K73wt6H91BY/V-l4FFlzFEI/AAAAAAAABD8/qO2mHvt8WEYL4N0hPOCXWBPQCAUlRIXgQCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-09-26%2Bat%2B12.26.15%2BPM.png" title="UXPin" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>Why a new tool?</b><br />
I've never used UXPin before but I have used other UI/UX tools like InVision and Balsamiq. Being able to mockup, share and test ideas quickly is critical at this stage. The reason I chose UXPin is their built-in design and collaboration features. I should be able to quickly mockup my ideas and flows using their designer and libraries—without ever opening Photoshop! Once I get the experience sorted out and tested, I can invite my designers in to produce the actual UI and then send everything off to engineering fully spec'd.<br />
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So this is the first of many posts I plan to do as I pivot Radi8 from a social selling app to something more like a social demand-gem platform. Follow along if you're interested and let me know if you would like to be part of the beta group to test out the new Radi8 app when it's ready.<br />
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Connect with me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelpashley" target="_blank">@MichaelPAshley</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/radi8hq" target="_blank">@Radi8HQ</a>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-57911405185708943662016-09-01T16:06:00.000-07:002016-09-01T16:06:49.713-07:00What Are You Committed To?Lately there has been a lot of discussion about standing for the flag and the national anthem. Some feel it's disrespectful to sit in protest, some feel sitting in protest is the ultimate symbol of freedom. To me it's a statement of commitment.<br />
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<b>What are you committed to?</b><br />
It's pretty easy to look back on a long, fulfilling life and see what you were committed to. Maybe you're reflecting on your life, and you realize how strongly you were committed to helping the poor, or how fiercely committed you were to your family. Maybe you were committed to making as much money as you could. Maybe you were committed to donating all of that money to non-profit organizations before you die. Regardless of your commitment, it's much easier to see what was important to you in retrospect.<br />
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But what do you do when you're a young kid, just out of high school or college? Is it really important to be committed to anything right now? It's hard enough making a commitment to meet for a movie, or to study together. Why can't I just go with the flow? Why not just stand for the flag, and sing the national anthem, because everyone else is doing it?<br />
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<b>Commitment is more important than ever</b><br />
I believe it's more important than ever to help young kids find and make commitments that matter—commitments that will last a lifetime. In a world growing more and more fragmented, we need to have certain things to hold onto... things that don't waver, things you don't compromise.<br />
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<b>Commitment takes courage</b><br />
Standing up for something you believe in takes courage. Sitting down for something you believe in, when the rest of the world is standing, takes even more courage. But when you make a commitment, when you discover deep inside the light that burns for you, it's no longer possible to go with the flow.<br />
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<b>Commitment takes integrity</b><br />
Doing what you say you're going to do takes integrity. Commitment is a special kind of promise you make to yourself. Nobody else really knows what you stand for until you stand. If you decide in the heat of the moment that you're too scared to keep your commitment, the only person who really knows is you. That's why it takes integrity to keep your commitments. The more commitments you make, and keep, the stronger your integrity.<br />
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<b>Commitments give you wings</b><br />
You might feel like commitments are chains that hold you back from doing whatever you want. But it's exactly the opposite. Commitments give you wings so you can fly with confidence through this fragmented and conflicting world. When you hold tight to your commitments you don't waver, you are not easily swayed, not easily tempted. Freedom is not the ability to do whatever it is you want, whenever you want—freedom is doing what you say you're going to do. Exercise that freedom by staying true to what you're committed to, even when every force is raging against you.<br />
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<b>Commitments are not beliefs</b><br />
But they do reflect your beliefs. Commitments are real, tangible expressions of your values and beliefs. When you make a commitment to feed the poor, then you feed the poor. When you make a commitment to marriage, you stay married. When you make a commitment to your family, you do whatever it takes to support your family. Commitment is tangible.<br />
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<b>What are you committed to?</b><br />
Commitment isn't easy—it's hard. It might seem easy at first, but when things get difficult you'll really get tested. No matter what you are committed to, whether it's a marriage, a belief, or a cause, stick with it—don't give up, don't waver. You'll either discover deeper meaning in your commitment, or you'll discover that you're not really committed. Then, take a long look into the future... what do you want to say you were committed to when you reflect on your amazing life.Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-37695253236377376662016-04-08T13:43:00.003-07:002016-04-08T13:43:51.542-07:00Easy to Share About Brands You Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Suxpsa4kVto/VwgVHl3GW2I/AAAAAAAABCA/R7YA7p7Si04cd6WEjonwzDj7Qb17yaKOw/s1600/IMG_4674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Suxpsa4kVto/VwgVHl3GW2I/AAAAAAAABCA/R7YA7p7Si04cd6WEjonwzDj7Qb17yaKOw/s320/IMG_4674.JPG" /></a></div>
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<b>It's easy to share about brands you love. The question is why aren't you sharing about your own company?</b><br />
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I have never heard someone say it's because they hate their company.<br />
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When I talk with B2B sales reps about social selling and how they are using social media today, I basically get two different answers:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I'm afraid to share something wrong or something that will make me look stupid."</i></div>
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or</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I want to share, but I don't have any content."</i></div>
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Both of these issues are very real and a major hurdle for B2B sales reps today. I think <a href="https://www.radi8.com/" target="_blank">Radi8</a> has come up with a really cool solution for both of these issues.<br />
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If you're interested in being part of our next Radi8 Cohort, <a href="https://www.radi8.com/contact-us.html" target="_blank">let me know</a>. We will be kicking off our next pilot program at the end of April.Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-26525431532608152842016-03-29T23:38:00.002-07:002016-04-04T21:23:31.729-07:00Disrupt the Damn Enterprise Sales Cycle<b>If you want to disrupt something meaningful, disrupt the damned enterprise sales cycle!</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4RmAWXr8EWg/VwM9shG9sXI/AAAAAAAABBk/-vWgu1rk8OAUrbMB97nlWTIWorVNBVi2w/s1600/IMG_4719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4RmAWXr8EWg/VwM9shG9sXI/AAAAAAAABBk/-vWgu1rk8OAUrbMB97nlWTIWorVNBVi2w/s320/IMG_4719.JPG" /></a></div>Seriously, I have been living through the hell of enterprise sales for the last 5 years and there's one thing I just don't understand. Why does it take a year to get enterprise software approved and deployed? Maybe a year didn't really mean anything to an enterprise 30 years ago, but today a startup can put you out of business in a year... an economy can collapse in a year... a nation can dissolve into chaos in a year!<br />
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We don't have time to wait around for you to get all your signatures. We don't have time for you to get your budgets in order. We don't have time to get IT approval. The world is moving too fast.<br />
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Someone needs to make it faster and easier to get game-changing software into the enterprise. Is that someone going to be me? I sure am going to try and I hope you'll help me.<br />
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<b>Here's my plan:</b><br />
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<b>1. Scale down the size of the solutions</b> - One of the largest hurdles to enterprise sales is getting all the stakeholders together. If you can remove the number of stakeholders you can simplify the buying process. I was at a conference today and one of the presenters was talking about how important it is to get Marketing, Sales, HR, the exec team and the sales enablement team all involved in the purchase and rollout of their software. Are you kidding me? If your solution requires that much alignment, maybe you're trying to solve too many problems.<br />
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<b>2. Solve tiny problems</b> - Rather than solving all the mission-critical problems in an organization in one software package, try solving tiny problems that add up to a significant impact. Why is this important? Because you reduce the fear of failure and lower the risk of deploying your product.<br />
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<b>3. Incremental Impact</b> - In the movie, "The Martian" there's a cool line. He says, "Solve one problem, then solve the next." I like this because it should be true for enterprise software, too. If you scale down the size of your solution, solve tiny problems and produce incremental impact, you can solve one problem at a time, for one stakeholder at a time, and add up to massive impact on the organization.<br />
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<b>4. Impact the end users</b> - Most enterprise software solves problems for the wrong people. You buy a content management system to secure your enterprise content, not to help end users do their job faster. You buy Salesforce so management can track pipeline, not so your reps can sell more. The list goes on. Instead, try making software so the end users can be more productive... and of course make it secure, and allow management reporting, but that's secondary. Get software into the hands of the end users who will use it immediately.<br />
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This is my plan. If we can create software that solves tiny problems and produces incremental impact for the end users, and if we can make it easy to use and easy to buy, I think we can destroy the enterprise sales cycle completely.<br />
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What do you think? Are you with me?<br />
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Let's <a href="https://www.radi8.com/">Radi8</a>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-30396804479738078922016-03-16T09:48:00.000-07:002016-04-04T21:24:32.398-07:00The Theory of Content RadiationI’ve been working on a theory lately and it is manifesting itself as a startup company. This is usually how it goes for me… theory, test, discard. But sometimes the theory sticks around for a while.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jEuusfYRir8/VwM99lZvCnI/AAAAAAAABBo/ZG-dneSE920X_KvoXXjRFxa4Y9IWuXZFw/s1600/radi8_appstore_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jEuusfYRir8/VwM99lZvCnI/AAAAAAAABBo/ZG-dneSE920X_KvoXXjRFxa4Y9IWuXZFw/s320/radi8_appstore_logo.png" /></a></div><a href="https://medium.com/@michaelpashley/the-theory-of-content-radiation-a7f4f3da5301#.5upzx8guk">Read my article about Radi8 and the theory of content radiation.</a>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-39639745849726195962014-01-29T13:06:00.004-08:002014-01-29T13:10:22.351-08:00Take an AX to your UX as a first step toward great CXSmart companies know that a stellar customer experience can be the way to turn someone from a customer into a brand advocate. This doesn’t mean however that you can get away with a subpar product. If your user experience (UX) is getting an “F,” it doesn’t matter how nice your support team is on the phone, you're going to have problems. Make UX an integral part of your customer experience (CX) if you want to build a deeper relationship with your customers. It’s time to get out the ax...<br />
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<a href="http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/take-an-ax-to-your-ux-as-the-first-step-toward-great-cx#axzz2rp9UVwnp">Read the rest of my blog on insights.wired.com</a><br />
Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-13792626175050881402013-11-06T13:07:00.000-08:002014-01-29T13:11:16.480-08:00Don't ditch your product, ditch the experienceIf you are wondering why your competition is speeding past you while your product is more sophisticated and feature-rich, you might stop looking at your engineers and start chatting with your customers. Sometimes a shift in your customer experience can turn your product into the flavor-of-the-month.I was visiting with a friend who owns a landscape design company and we were talking about online review websites like Yelp. He has a five star rating on Yelp and does everything he can to maintain…<br />
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<a href="http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/don-t-ditch-your-product-ditch-the-experience?xg_source=activity#axzz2rp9kpcYx">Read the rest of my blog on insights.wired.com</a><br />
Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-26838065863184140572013-09-04T10:39:00.002-07:002013-09-04T10:40:38.659-07:00If Your Pants Have Loops, Wear A BeltYour customers are complaining that your product isn’t as cool as the competition. You feel the heat of your sales force breathing down your neck because they don’t like making excuses to customers about how it works, and your customer support team spends twice as much time apologizing than they do solving actual problems. Essentially, in your rush to engineer a great product and solve some very important problems, you’ve let your appearance get sloppy.<br />
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<b>It’s Not Your Product, It’s the Experience<br />
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<a href="http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/if-your-pants-have-loops-wear-a-belt-impress-your-customers-with#ixzz2dwlDdE92">Read the rest of my article on Wired...</a>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-49658163009840457822013-08-26T15:51:00.001-07:002013-08-26T15:53:46.590-07:00My Other Interests: MotoAway.comI usually only post business-type stuff on this blog, but I do have other hobbies and interests. One of my favorites is embarking on Motorcycle Adventures. I have a 2012 BMW F650GS and I like to hop on and disappear. I also have a KTM which I take to the desert to get my fill of rock and sand. One of the best aspects of a moto adventure is when you experience the point of no-return... the moment you realize you must persevere because you can't turn back. It's one of the most amazing feelings. It's scary and exciting, it takes focus and the ability to make clear decisions. That's really what it's all about, the ability to make a decision and not waver in the face of adversity.<br />
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Well, I have a lot of other things to share about moto adventures, so I created a new web site dedicated completely to the topic: <a href="http://www.motoaway.com">Moto Away</a> [www.motoaway.com]. It's my safe place to share motorcycle adventures with anyone interested in reading. I hope you enjoy it.<br />
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--MashMichael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-80380460167143916392013-08-13T15:45:00.000-07:002013-08-13T16:00:28.008-07:00Is Marketing a Bunch of Smoke and Mirrors?<p><b>No... but if done correctly, Marketing can be magical.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fsgWJ12C_2M/Ugq4otY3WZI/AAAAAAAAA7o/SiNWtQL-UNs/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fsgWJ12C_2M/Ugq4otY3WZI/AAAAAAAAA7o/SiNWtQL-UNs/s320/image.jpg" /></a></div><p>When my kids were young we used to drive around town and take turns making up stories. At first it was pretty simple, a kid walks past a cave and he sees two red eyes. But after a while we started creating more intricate stories. We added tension and suspense. One day my son, who was about six at the time, made up a great story about a lion and a peacock. I was absolutely captured through to the ending... it was magical.</p><p><b>A great story is magical.</b></p><p>I've been in and around marketing for the better part of 20 years and the one thing I continue to stress is the importance of telling a great story. Yes, you can tell the story about features and benefits. You can tell the story of differentiation. You can tell the story of cost and value... But if you really want to see something magical, tell the story of integrity, prosperity, confidence, tension, suspense and values.</p><p>Your product or service is much more than a fact-sheet. Your story is about you, your employees, your values, your passion to solve problems in a unique way. Your story is also something your customer has been waiting to hear. It connects with them in a meaningful way. The Toyota Prius was never about MPG, it was a story about the earth... it told a story about integrity and values, and it allowed the customer to tell the same story just by driving it.</p><p>When I made up stories for my kids I used to try to build characters with strong values, but I never forgot to have fun, act silly and entertain them at the same time. Telling your customers about your features and benefits is like always telling your kids to brush their teeth. Entertain them instead.</p><p><b>Connect with your customers in meaningful ways. What is your story?</b></p><p>Whisk me away :)</p><p>--Mash</p>Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-77683330250230618622013-07-18T14:39:00.002-07:002013-07-18T14:39:53.678-07:00Rethinking Enterprise UX in the Age of ConsumerizationCheck out my piece in UX Magazine on the difference between end-user and Administrator UX when designing for the enterprise:<br />
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<a href="http://uxmag.com/articles/rethinking-enterprise-ux-in-the-age-of-consumerization">http://uxmag.com/articles/rethinking-enterprise-ux-in-the-age-of-consumerization</a><br />
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--MashMichael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-78256842908323885722013-07-18T11:46:00.000-07:002013-07-18T19:36:05.580-07:00E-mail or Email, Does it Really Matter?I have been reading through datasheets, websites, product literature and user guides for years. I'm a product guy and I like to pay attention to the details. You can tell a lot about a company by the words they choose, and the way they use them. When a company uses different words, with different capitalization, and different spelling, that's a sign of trouble. <br />
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On the other hand, when I come across a website where the words are well chosen and consistent, there is an obvious attention to detail and it's easier to build trust and a relationship with that company... and I like that.<br />
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Take a look at the words you use within your product and within your literature. Make sure you are consistent and the same words are used throughout your entire organization. Here are a few common words used in software today that companies often stumble upon:<br />
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1. E-mail, Email, or email - This is a pet peeve, especially going across product UI, datasheets and user guides. It doesn't really matter which one you choose, just choose one and make sure it's used consistently in all communications.<br />
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2. Login, login, log in, log-in, Sign in, sign in, or sign on. - Here, again, it's important to choose one and stick with it. But it's also important to question which one you use. Are you keeping a log of your customer activities and that's why you need them to log in? Are you authenticating the user, in which case you need them to sign in? Ask around and find out what is best for your company—then stick with it!<br />
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3. Logout, or log out. - The same goes with logging out of a system, signing off, and so forth. Determine which is most accurate for your product or service and stick with it.<br />
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4. Alert, Warning, Notification, or Message - This is where it gets a little more complicated. If you use these words interchangeably it can cause stress for your users. I've seen user interface alerts that are just messages, and I've seen notifications that really should be alerts. Make sure you define these clearly for your engineers and don't be lazy when you QA the product. It's also important to understand how icons are used for alerts, warnings, notifications and messages. Don't use them interchangeably and, of course, don't mix them in your literature.<br />
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5. Host, Hostname, Service, Server, URL - I often catch large companies, like Microsoft or Apple, using different words to describe the location of their online services. Typically these are hidden in error code, which makes it even harder to catch. For example, when you download an app and it requires you to enter a URL so you can connect to a service, if you enter a bad URL you get an error. If an engineer coded this error at 2AM the day before code-freeze, it's possible he didn't use the right words.<br />
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Take a look at your product or service, read through your documentation and see if you can find any inconsistencies. It's not easy, but it's worth the effort. You'll earn the respect of your customers by paying attention to the details.<br />
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So in answer to the question of whether you spell email as email or E-mail—it really doesn’t matter just pick one and stick with it.<br />
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Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-82971895985761425262013-07-05T14:41:00.000-07:002013-07-18T14:41:49.215-07:00You May Be Working an Extra Day a Week — And Loving It?Happy to see my piece in WIRED this morning:<br />
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<a href="http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/07/you-may-be-working-an-extra-day-a-week-and-loving-it/">http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/07/you-may-be-working-an-extra-day-a-week-and-loving-it/</a><br />
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--MashMichael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-86144344762436251362013-05-01T15:31:00.000-07:002013-07-16T15:41:56.553-07:00The Wait is OverWell, it's time to announce the big update: FastPencil has been acquired by Courier Corp!<br />
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It was a great ride, I had a lot of fun, and now I'm moving on to start another business. But in the meantime I've joined Accellion in Palo Alto as their Director, Product Experience, where I get to help design and engineer great solutions for secure mobile productivity. It's a nice shift to be in the enterprise cloud industry as opposed to consumer internet products.<br />
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I will be writing again and sharing my ideas, so stay tuned... and though I don't have all the details of my new business fleshed-out just yet, I can tell you what it's called and you can start guessing: CORL8.<br />
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Hopefully we will launch before you connect the dots :)<br />
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--MashMichael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-90935660602342582442011-03-30T12:15:00.000-07:002013-04-30T12:24:10.281-07:00Taking a break from the blogIt seems the more time you spend dreaming up ideas for companies and products, the less time you have for family and friends... so I'm taking a short break from this blog—and dedicating more time to my loved ones.<br />
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Believe me, this is a good thing. It's difficult to cut things out of your life, but it's like trimming a fruit tree, or weeding a garden—your efforts are well rewarded.<br />
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And so it is, I'm signing off for now and will return when time permits... Hopefully, I'll have some great news to share when I do.<br />
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--MashMichael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-6979663717358484662011-01-25T15:45:00.000-08:002013-04-26T10:41:29.261-07:00Fixed Layout EBooks on Apple iPad and iBookstore<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--qz86fCuC98/TXqJmG-O-MI/AAAAAAAAA5U/lpBy2Zc-xq4/s1600/IMG_0011.PNG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--qz86fCuC98/TXqJmG-O-MI/AAAAAAAAA5U/lpBy2Zc-xq4/s400/IMG_0011.PNG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582925975878826178" /></a><br />
Apple introduced a fixed-layout feature for the iPad and iPhone that makes it possible to reproduce beautiful, full-page illustrated childrens books. For months they kept it secret while testing the new layouts. But now they've given us access to the format and we have started the process of making FastPencil compatible with these new full-bleed childrens books.<br />
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Today, I'm happy to announce we've updated our system to support the new format on the Apple iPad for iBooks. There are a few extra steps necessary to get our default EPUB file ready for this format, but we can make the changes for you after publishing upon your request.<br />
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If you have an illustrated childrens book that you would like to distribute through the iPad and the Apple iBookstore follow these steps and we can get your book uploaded in a snap:<br />
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1. Export each page in your book as a JPG image, no larger than 1476x1970pixels. Use JPG compression of 85.<br />
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2. Make sure your images are in order from first to last by name. For example, page001.jpg, page002.jpg, page003.jpg and so forth.<br />
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3. Zip up your images and send them to us. You can email or we can give you a drop box to upload them, just contact FastPencil first.<br />
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4. Go to FastPencil.com and start a new eBook project but don't write in it. We will be using this empty project to upload your childrens book.<br />
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5. After we upload your files you can publish your ebook and purchase wide distribution.<br />
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6. Once we receive your order we will add our special fixed-layout codes to your ebook and send it to Apple for distribution through the iBookstore.<br />
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It's pretty easy, and you can get all this done for about $200 bucks!!! So jump in and try it out.<br />
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If you would rather not do-it-yourself, we can put together a package to help you through each step for under a grand.Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9934891.post-5713075913539982612010-06-27T18:13:00.000-07:002010-06-27T18:56:05.675-07:00The journey from book idea to publicationI've been helping people write books for years and I keep telling them how easy it is. But now that I've done it myself, I have to admit the process gets increasingly more and more difficult with every step. On a scale from 1-100 with 100 being impossibly difficult, this is how I rank every step in the process:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step One: Coming up with a book idea = 1</span><br />This step is so easy it's almost laughable. I talk with authors all the time who are afraid someone is going to steal their book idea. But having gone through the entire process, the idea is the easy part.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step Two: Outlining the idea = 20</span><br />Once you have the idea it's not that much harder to outline it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step Three: Writing = 30</span><br />Writing is mostly about discipline. If you can force yourself to sit down and hammer on the keys you can get through this phase.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step Four: Editing = 50</span><br />It's a lot easier if you can get people to help out. But it also makes it harder. The more people who give you their opinion, the harder it is to trust yourself. In the end you have trust yourself.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step Five: Design = 30</span><br />It used to be really hard to design a book and a cover. But today it's a snap. The only reason I gave it a 30 is because the book cover design is still pretty tough. If you can entrust this to a professional, do it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step Six: Publishing = 99</span><br />I used to think that publishing was the easy part, and technically it is. All you have to do is push a button. But making the decision to push the button was really hard. I kept wondering if I was done. I kept thinking maybe I needed more editing, maybe I should change the title or do more writing.<br /><br />I think this is where most people fall apart. They get stuck trying to make sure everything is perfect and the project loses steam. The dream fades. And once you lose momentum it's really hard to get it back.<br /><br />That's why I think the hardest thing an author will do is release their book into the world. So my advice to you is this: Pull the trigger. Don't wait for things to be perfect. Just do it. Trust yourself and push the publish button. I did it and it feels great!! Good luck.Michael Ashleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07660041434272322386noreply@blogger.com