Ravi's Rants

Rndaom, Yet <Well Formed/>

  • Ravi’s Favorite Movies

Archives for January 2006

What Dreams May Come

1/30/2006 By Ravi Jayagopal

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Anonymous

But the dream started with an idea that was planted in their minds by a toy given to them by their father.

In the words of the boys, “Late in the autumn of 1878, our father came into the house one evening with some object partly concealed in his hands, and before we could see what it was, he tossed it into the air. Instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor.” This simple toy made of bamboo, cork and stretched rubber bands, fascinated the boys and sparked their lifelong interest in what would become one of mankind’s greatest achievements.

The two boys were great thinkers. They enjoyed learning new things. Initially, they recycled broken parts, built a printing press and opened their own printing office. Their interest moved to bicycles and in 1893, they opened a cycle company where they sold and repaired bicycles. But the older of the boys had his mind set on something more exciting.

The boys spent many hours researching, testing their machines and making improvements after many unsuccessful attempts. What started out as a hobby soon became a passion. With determination and patience, they realized their dream in 1903.

The next time you travel on one, remember where it all started – a simply idea conceived in the minds of two young men who did not finish high school.

Believe it or not, they did not have a University degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or any other subject. They were not scientists in the true sense of the word. In fact, many of their peers who did not witness their accomplishment, had trouble believing that two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio did what they claimed.

On Friday, December 17, 1903 at 10:35 AM, Wilbur and Orville – popularly known as the Wright Brothers – achieved their dream.

Go on, be a dreamer – without a dream, you may have nowhere to start.

Filed Under: Ravi's Rants

25 Signs that your eBusiness could make you Single!

1/21/2006 By Ravi Jayagopal

Or “25 signs that you probably don’t have a life”.

Passion & Commitment – these are absolute necessities – you should want to succeed so badly, that you can almost taste it! So how passionate are you? How committed are you to what you do? Take this crazy-but-fun survey to find out:

25. You work on a computer at least 3 hours a day –
after finishing your paying day job!

24. Every commercial you see, every radio ad you
hear, every classified ad you read, you’re analyzing it
and thinking about why it works – or doesn’t –
and how to use the information to improve your
product.

23. Every web site you visit, you look at it oh-so-critically
and see if they are doing something that you are not, and
try to learn from it.

22. You no longer read a newspaper while taking a dump.

21. You have a mini-library in the bathroom, and you now
read ‘How-to’ reports, Internet- or Marketing- related
books and magazines while sitting on the potty!

20. You keep a notepad and pen next to the potty, just in
case you get a brainwave that you want to jot down quickly.

19. You have thought about taking your laptop to the bathroom.

18. You DO take it with you to the bathroom!

17. You attach a “signature” about your web site products or
services to even emails that you send your mother!

16. You send “follow up” emails to people who you don’t
particularly like, hoping that they’ll click on that link
in your email signature.

15. You spam your friends (in a “friendly” way, you convince
yourself) and just about anyone who will tolerate your b$,
with links to your articles, your blog posts, and every new
product and web site you create!

14. And when they ask you to stop, you feel bad – very bad!

13. You feel like celebrating every time someone subscribes
to your newsletter.

12. You curse anyone who unsubscribes from your
newsletter.

11. You click on anything that can be clicked, especially in
emails.

10. Your dream about your web site – literally!

9. You hit ‘Ctrl-M’ (“Check Mail”) every 90 seconds to see
if you made a sale or if someone sent you an email.

8. You log into your Adsense account every 180 seconds,
because you have GAS(S)

7. When others are relaxing during their lunch break,
you are furiously hacking at your computer, reading
Seth Godin’s blog, trying to learn something new, or just catching up
with the latest dirt on the MSN-Yahoo-Google trilogy.

6. You tell all your friends and family – and anyone
who is willing to listen – about how cool the Internet
is, and how easy it is for anyone to start an ebusiness
and make a nice chunk o’ extra cash online – and when
not one person asks you “how”, you wonder how they could
be so disinterested, especially when you are so willing
to teach them!

5. Your dream vacation is hacking away on your laptop
(of course, it has an internet connection) at a comfortable
secluded area (on the beach? on a boat?) with food and drinks
served right to your desk top, right by your desktop 🙂

4. You long for your wife to take the kids and go to her
mother’s, so that you can settle down with a beer and your
computer, and finally get some serious s#*t done.

3. When someone asks you what you do when you’re not
working, you go blank for about 15 seconds.

2. You are beginning to lose track (or have already lost
track) of how many web sites you own, and need to look them
up from a spreadsheet, when writing an article or creating
a new signature.

And here’s the #1 sign….

1. You are stranded on an island alone, and after 6 months,
you run into the hottest, sexiest, half-naked, blonde genie
bombshell – who tells you in a very sultry tone, that she
(or he, for the ladies) can give you anything you want – ANYTHING!
At the mere thought, your eyes light up, your heart starts
pounding, your pulse starts racing, and you excitedly
wish …. for a computer with an Internet connection!

If you answered “Yes” to 3 or more above, it is a very sad sign that you probably don’t have a life.

Hey, I’m glad to know I have company! Welcome Aboard! 🙂

Filed Under: Ravi's Rants

Niche Marketing for Your Soul

1/19/2006 By Ravi Jayagopal

Forget creating “niche” web sites, “niche marketing”, “vertical portals” and “mini sites”.

Have you found YOUR niche yet?

Everyone is born with a gift. Everyone is blessed with a unique talent, a special skill.

The difference between winners and losers, is that the winners find their niche early in life – they know which game to play, which game they are good at, and at which game they can win.

And then there are the others, who spend an entire lifetime playing the wrong game, doing the wrong things, and wasting their efforts going the wrong direction.

Even the greatest competitor of ’em all – Michael Jordan – failed at Baseball.

Everyone cannot be good at everything, let alone win at everything.

Don’t spend your life trying to win at something you are not suited for, something you are not wired for, something you are not destined for.

Find what makes you tick; and find it quick.

Find out what is that one thing that, on a Friday evening, will make you long to get back to work on Monday. And stick with it.

Find your “niche”, and you’ll see that success comes to you as easily as the game of basketball came to Michael.

Filed Under: Ravi's Rants

Oh No, It’s Friday!

1/13/2006 By Ravi Jayagopal

Yeah, that’s how it feels when you love what you do. No, scratch that – not just “love” what you do, but are absolutely crazy about what you do.

That’s how it feels when you work for yourself, instead of slogging away your whole life for someone else.

That’s how it feels when you feel yet another week has gone by, you are yet another week old, and you suddenly realize that…

  • You haven’t learned enough…
  • You haven’t achieved enough…
  • You have’nt sold enough…
  • You haven’t earned enough…
  • You haven’t changed enough…
  • You haven’t grown enough…
  • You haven’t loved enough…
  • You haven’t lived enough…

Have you done enough for yourself this week?

If not, put your head down and get back to work – no, not your day job “work” – the real “work” of being on your own, the real “work” of being financially independent, the real “work” of owning your own time.

Fridays – they are for the mere mortals who just live weekend-to-weekend and paycheck-to-paycheck.

Not for winners like you.

Go on, be a winner.

Filed Under: Ravi's Rants

About Ravi Jayagopal

Ravi Jayagopal

Ravi Jayagopal is a full-time entrepreneur living in sunny San Diego, CA . He is the Co-Founder & Co-Developer of DigitalAccessPass.com (DAP), the premier Membership Plugin & Content Delivery Platform for WordPress. Check out his Podcast about Membership Sites & Online Courses, at SubscribeMe.fm. Ravi is also the creator of CoolCastPlayer.com, a pretty and powerful podcast player plugin for WordPress. And creator of S3MediaVault.com, S3 Video Player for Amazon S3. Ravi first started selling online in 1997. Check out his book "Subscribe Me: Making, Marketing & Monetizing Online Digital Content with Membership Sites, Online Courses and Subscriptions"


Ravi is also the host of the "Subscribe Me" podcast at SubscribeMe.fm

Contact Ravi

Don't Miss a Post!
Free Updates
By Email

 

Recent Posts

  • Should I start a Podcast?
  • I Create For Creators
  • Skyscraper
  • Do you prefer listening to a podcast that is edited? Or nah?
  • Pirates Keep Out
  • Sands of Time
  • Using Your Web Host For Audio or Video (Don’t)
  • Practically Unreadable
  • Unimaginative
  • Batching

Archives

  • March 2022
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • August 2018
  • March 2018
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • August 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • March 2015
  • November 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • May 2013
  • January 2013
  • September 2012
  • April 2012
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • September 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • November 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005

    follow me on Twitter

     

    Want to give credits to your members just like Audible.com does? Then checkout our Credit Storeplugin.

    No Business Like E-Business

    Available at: NBLEB.com & Amazon.com

    Digital Access Pass

    DigitalAccessPass.com is an incredibly powerful Membership Script for WordPress. It has an inbuilt "ContentResponder", Affiliate Program, Email Autoresponder, Email Broadcasting, and more.

    Links

    • DigitalAccessPass.com
    • NBLEB.com (book)
    • Ravi's Favorite Movies
    • S3MediaVault.com
    • Techiiies.com

    Categories

    • Adsense
    • Advertising
    • AdWords
    • Alerts
    • Amazon
    • App Store
    • Apple
    • Atom
    • Automation
    • Blog
    • Branding
    • Business
    • Business Tools
    • Change
    • Code Snippets
    • Competitors
    • Content Creation
    • Content Marketing
    • Cool Sites
    • Cool Stuff
    • Copywriting
    • Coupons
    • Customer Service
    • Customers
    • DAP
    • Digital Access Pass (DAP)
    • Downloads
    • E-Business
    • Email
    • Entrepreneurs
    • FaceBook
    • Famous Quotes
    • Feeds
    • Firefox
    • Free
    • Free Software
    • Funny
    • God
    • Google
    • Hosting
    • How-To
    • Humor
    • I Don't Get It
    • Industry News
    • Inspirational
    • Instagram
    • Interesting Facts
    • Internet
    • Internet Marketing
    • iPad
    • iPhone
    • iPod
    • Jargon
    • JavaScript
    • Life
    • Live
    • Marketing
    • Mashups
    • Microblogging
    • Microsoft
    • Mobile Apps
    • Mozilla
    • Online
    • Online Reputation
    • Online Services
    • Paid Software
    • Peer-to-Peer
    • Penny-wise
    • Permission
    • Personal Tools
    • Philosophy
    • PHP
    • PHP Code
    • PHP Scripts
    • Ping
    • Podcast
    • Podcasting
    • PPC
    • Pricing
    • Priorities
    • Product Development
    • Productivity
    • Publicity
    • Purple Cow
    • Radio
    • Ravi Recommends
    • Ravi's Rants
    • Remarkable
    • RSS
    • Scripts-n-Software
    • SEO
    • Seth Godin
    • Side Hustle
    • Sitemaps
    • Social Media
    • Spam
    • Steve Jobs
    • SubscribeMe.fm
    • SubscribeMeBook.com
    • Technology
    • Technorati
    • This Versus That
    • Timepass
    • Tools
    • Torrents
    • Twitter
    • Un-Remarkable
    • Uplifting
    • ventriloquism
    • Video
    • Video
    • Viral
    • Virtual Reality
    • Web2.0
    • Webmaster
    • WordPress
    • WTF
    • YouTube