Category: Ideas
-
Podcast Production Checklist
This is the podcast production checklist I use to produce the First Customers podcast.
-
Top 6 Free SEO Tools for Beginners
Over the 20+ years that I’ve worked in the SEO industry in different roles, I’ve found that there are many tools that promise to simplify and solve SEO once and for all. They give you massive waves of data to process and try to gain insights from. For beginners entering the SEO industry these tools…
-
Why take risks?
It’s easy to convince yourself that if you never take risks, you will always be safe. If you don’t move, if you don’t speak up, if you don’t try, you will never fail. But that’s simply not true. Choosing not to explore is choosing ignorance of what would be explored. Choosing not to take a…
-
How to start a business and make your first sale?
I started an entire podcast about this exact question. It’s called the First Customers podcast. I ask entrepreneurs, sales experts, and marketers how they got their very first customers. Every episode teaches me something new. Every business is a little different. But common patterns arise. Using what I’ve learned from the show, here’s how a…
-
Boost Your Sales with These 6 Proven SEO Strategies
I started my first job in the SEO industry in 2002 as a part-time assistant at an internet marketing company located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama called Evision Marketing that focused on trucker driver recruiting for trucking companies in the USA. Old School Link Building My first job at Evision was to search the internet for any…
-
Growth in chaos.
Nothing is guaranteed in business. Starting a company is hard. Running a company successfully is even harder. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the survival rate of new businesses are: Most companies fail before being in business for 10 years. Why is it so hard to stay in business? Simple. Each business owner…
-
Build your own school
Build your own school by focusing on a better way to teach school-age kids, which can be summarized with the following: Build connections with reality by going deep into one area of curiosity and discussing what you learn with others. – Paris Vega (yeah it’s weird that I’m quoting myself inside of something written by…
-
The Abundance Diet vs Harmless Eating
While studying permaculture and tending my own garden years ago, I started to notice that the Earth is capable of producing a surprisingly abundant amount of food on even the smallest patch of land. It struck me as a complete contrast to the poverty and struggle that exists in the world. I got the feeling…
-
Powering the People
There is a sovereign human drive inside us all that chants these basic desires: Let us be free. Let us speak. Let us learn what we want. Let us trade with whoever we want. Let us live and work where we want. Let us build communities with whoever we want. Let us solve our own…
-
People pay for dopamine.
There are dopamine makers and takers. Entertainers are dopamine makers. Bad teachers are dopamine takers. Entertainers, artists, athletes create our culture. We pay them for it.
-
Asteroid Mining Self Replicating Robots
What if we made an asteroid mining ship/robot that “hauls” the mined materials by using them to build onto itself, or replicating?
-
Permaculture.
All humans need these three things: Clean air, clean water, and clean food. Everybody wants them. Everybody needs them. Sadly, the concept of a clean “environment” has become politicized and saturated with unnecessary baggage. After a few years of learning and experimenting on my own land, this is the beginning of documenting my exploration into…
-
Explaining Pi
One day my wife and I noticed our boy, 6 at the time, repeating something to himself while holding a dollar bill. Suddenly, he says, “I got it!” He then quoted back to us the serial number from the dollar bill without looking. That’s a random 10 digit number that muh boy decided to memorize without any instruction from us.…
-
May your art never die.
The Xbox cable brushes against the guitar strings. They mutter a cautious chirp from behind the TV. Frightened, the guitar blasts me with guilt and musical memories. Dazed I stagger back. Hesitant. A deep ache rises from a forgotten place. Sorcery! That old stringed box works strong magic against my soul, begging to be heard…
-
Idea: Pay-as-you-leave shopping experience
Idea Summary:– swipe card or facial recognition connected to your account as you enter store– put stuff in cart and leave store, items detected by RFID or similar tech– your account is charged with no cashier human interaction needed 🙁 (At the time when I wrote this, these kinds of stores didn’t exist. Amazon came…
-
Floating Simple Robots: Sketch Meditation Day 3 (WIP)
That feeling when you walk into a room full of floating robots…
-
Sketch Meditation Day 1 (WIP)
Starting a new sketching habit each day of whatever shapes or imagery feels good to my brain at the moment. This started while drawing with my kids at the kitchen table. I started feeling such a high from drawing simple things with them, that I’ve decided to try and make it a daily habit. Might…
-
Idea: Child Car Monitor
Product Inspired by the Cooper Harris accident. Features Always on solar powered camera wifi connected camera view in mobile/web app motion & sound sensors other life signs sensors? (co2) alert when life signs detected after moving set distance from sensors installs easily onto a closed window Related products: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Solar-or-Battery-Powered-HD-Wildlife_911246942.html?s=p
-
Idea: Data Visualizations from text documents
Product / Service: Infobot Concept: Data Visualizations from text documents Create data visualizations from idea documents, or any text documents, by using some kind of smart word association / context detector to automatically detect what different chunks are about. Come up with a simple syntax/format that a user could follow while writing that would result…
-
Everyone is Changing Everything
“You’re not just anyone. One day, you’re gonna have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, is gonna change the world.” – Jonathan Kent to young Clark Kent in Man of Steel Inspired by this…
-
Alabama kids
Chasing fireflies through the summer night Listening to the crickets lullaby Laying on the roof of mommas car Searching for one more shooting star Running through the rain of a thunderstorm Hiding from girls in our pillow fort Shooting potato guns into the trees Swimming in a flooded Creek Sliding in the mud with bare…
-
Dealing with my brother’s murder: Love like it’s your last.
In December of 2011, a homeless guy killed my brother. My oldest brother, Jeff, one of my heroes, was murdered. The moment I heard the news all I could say was, “No.” My whole being rejected what I was just told. Denial. From the floor in my bedroom I tried to explain to my 3-year-old…
-
Idea: Landfill Mining
How to get into the market? This article mentions the need for software to simulate what a landfill may contain. Build that software How to measure/estimate the potential profitability of a landfill: Triangulation? Drill 3 deep holes around the perimeter of the landfill Install sensors to detect specific materials Triangulate the position of certain materials/objects Ground…
-
One rule to rule them all.
Impossible to please. 21 Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. 22 On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we…
-
Locked Mess Monster
Have you ever tried to move a folder or selection of layers in Photoshop, but were interrupted by this alert? Somewhere deep down in your selection is a locked layer. If you’re working in a huge file with tons of layers, finding the locked layer or layers could take awhile. Wouldn’t this be more helpful…
-
Idea: Get paid for your trash
The customer experience Customers sign up online schedule their trash pickup put out their trash/waste as usual receive email/update when their trash has been removed receive another update with details of how much of each material was processed and whether it was recycled, repurposed, or used to generate power Earn rewards for reaching certain goals…
-
If ya wanna click it, ya better put a button on it
How do I upload an image in WordPress? Frequently, clients who are staring at the WordPress content editing screen ask me, “How do I upload an image?” As an experienced WordPress user/designer/developer I used to get blown away by how silly such a question sounded. The button’s right there! But after running in to this…
-
The Never Ending Project: How to Prevent Scope Creep
Have you ever worked on a project that would… not… end!? Me, too. Poorly organized fixed-rate projects quickly turn into hourly-rate eating monsters that even Falkor couldn’t save you from. What is Scope Creep? Scope Creep is any work requested by the client that isn’t included within your original agreement. It can happen at any…
-
Solar panel for microwaves
Since visible light is just part of the electromagnetic spectrum, could other wavelengths generate electricity with the right materials? Rectenna: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectenna DIY: http://www.ac-grenoble.fr/yre/agency/library/missions/missrep1997/online/rap-nuc2.htm – power a light by getting it close to an active microwave Possible inventions: Microwave oven with built-in rectenna to generate/save power. Residential rectenna to harvest microwave energy from kitchen and ambience
-
An Inconvenient User Experience: Gmail Drafts
Summary I love Gmail. If you accidentally discard a draft its gone forever. I think Gmail should send discarded drafts to trash. You can vote for that feature here. I love everything about Gmail except one thing… Discarded drafts are unrecoverable without warning. I accidentally clicked the Discard Drafts button while scrolling by a different part…
-
How to rip the faces off WordPress hackers… their cheeto-encrusted life-sucking evil faces.
How to deal with website hackers Find hacker that attacked your site and destroyed the efforts of your labor. Insert hand grenade into hacker mouth. Pull pin. Kick in the nuts. Run, laughing as their head explodes. If that doesn’t work, here are some plugins to protect your WordPress site from future hacker evil. WordPress…
-
What’s the best computer for graphic design: Mac or PC?
What kind of computer do you suggest for graphic design? Mac? PC? My laptop is too slow to do a lot of what I’ve been doing lately so I’m looking for a new computer. Lots of people say “go with a Mac”, but I could build a PC with a much faster processor and better…
-
How much should I charge as a new freelancer getting started?
This is the first article in a new category I’m starting for my blog: Reader Questions. I’ll be answering questions that I’m often asked by young designers just starting out in their careers. If you have questions about freelancing, graphic design, web design, or anything really, I’ll do my best to find the answer for…
-
Why freelancers should use digital contracts with esignatures
Word of mouth agreements are too risky There is no reason to waste time and money by running your business on word-of-mouth agreements. The risk is too high, and the cost of integrating contracts into your business is getting lower everyday. I use a simple PDF e-signature contract that is sent to the client…
-
My True Father
My father told my mother he didn’t want any more children. SURPRISE! I was the last of his nine kids. When I was 2 months old they separated. Other than a few phone calls, I never saw the guy again. In 2005 I found out that he died alone in Costa Rica in 2003, two years…
-
How to beat Desktop Tower Defense
Desktop Tower Defense is a simple little strategy game that hacks into your basic human instinct to stop creatures from going from one place to the other. Protect your lands! Protect your village! Protect your house! Protect your garden! Whatever the scenario, this game captures that basic mechanic well. The image above is the layout…
-
The Email Standards Project… Thank God!
If the US government needs a non-violent method of torture to replace water-boarding, I would like to suggest email design. The detainees would be required to design an email that uses HTML, CSS, and images and works in all the major email clients. I am convinced that all terrorist activity would cease immediately after only…
-
Awesome Designer / Developer Video Tutorials
I LOVE KNOWLEDGE! Today my wonderful employer, Evision Marketing Group, purchased a premium subscription to lynda.com, the video tutorial site. Every designer / developer skill that I could ask for is bundled into easy to digest videos. Its awesome. Basically, I’m getting smarter (and more valuable to my company) by watching TV. Thank you God…
-
Green Website Hosting: A carbon-free solution
What do I mean by “green”? Over the past few years the word “green” has grown from simply describing the color we see in the visible light spectrum with a wave length between 520 – 565 , into a word that suggests environmental responsibility, renewable resources and sustainabiliy. Of course, marketing gurus have wasted no…
-
Gulf South Solar | Logo Design and WordPress CMS
About the Client:Gulf South Solar is the leading solar provider in Louisiana. They are based in Baton Rouge and have been installing solar for 5 years. They provide a wide range of solar power systems. The Process:It has been a pleasure working with a company that’s changing the world by spreading the use of clean…
-
Red Ribbon at the Beach
A straw hat with a red ribbon sailing in the wind at the beach is being held by my wife. We were in the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago, enjoying the white sands and blue-green waters. This photo would make an excellent desktop background, or background graphic for an ad. Contact me to…
-
Present: past’s future
pre-sent. This suggests that what is, became, as a result of something that has already happened. What you do now is literally creating tomorrow’s present. What will tomorrow bring? Well, what did you send?
-
Open source software in schools could save taxpayers billions
Open source software is all over the place. Google Apps being a prime example. If schools switched from paying for software to these open source alternatives, the savings would be substantial. It could also provide enormous opportunities for the home-grown technology sector based around open source software. So contact your representatives and let’s change the…
-
Solar and Wind Leaf Photovoltaic Shingles
While the future of solar technology seems to rest on nanotechnology innovation, these GROW panels by SMIT are fairly remarkable. Inspired by leaves, these tiny generators do one better than their biological counterparts, drawing power from the sun, but also capturing energy from the wind as they are jostled by the breeze.
-
Google goes solar funding $1 per watt solar panels
Googling Green Recently Google posted an article on there blog about encouraging green energy. They also made it obvious that, as usual, they were ready to put their money where their mouth was. Where is Google’s mouth? Well, at moment Google’s billion dollar mouth is salivating all over a change-the-world sandwich. First bite: The way…
-
Choosing a path
One day while daydreaming as usual in a college math class, i made a list. This list was different from most lists because i never got past number one. I had been struggling again with stressing questions like: What should i major in? What do i want to be? What should i do with my…
-
