Hello everyone from Beijing.

The opening ceremonies are in a couple of hours. I’ve been in Beijing for a couple of days now, and it is like nothing I have seen before. Last year I was in Beijing for three days.  I have also been to the past three Olympics.  The combination of the Olympics in China is crazy.

In other Olympics the local people often avoid the games.  In Athens the locals left the city in droves preferring to stay away.  Not so in Beijing. Not only is everyone in Beijing excited but millions of people from surrounding provinces are here.  The city is swollen with people.  The Tiennamen square area is packed wall to wall with people.

So far my trip has involved a lot of exploration.  I’ve been learning the city, the subway system and where the venues are.  I’ve been doing the touristy things and that has been great.

Beijing has invested so much money in this Olympics – more than I’ve ever seen before.  The new airport terminal is larger than any US airport.  It cost over $3 Billion to build and is bigger than the city even needs at this time.  They have planted millions of trees, and flowers.   They have volunteers sitting around to stop locals from spitting on the street, from public urination and other unsightly habits that used to be common in Beijing.  The level of national pride is huge.

Cars are only allowed to run every second day and yet the smog is very dense.  (More on this in another update!).  For tomorrow we have rented a minivan and driver to help us follow the cycling Men’s Road Race.  We hope the roads will be open and we can get where we need to go.

Until next time!  Enjoy the games!

The Success Professor!

If you travel long distances frequently, this will be great news for you: Fasting can eliminate the effects of jet lag!

I know I’m going to try it.

For the full article go:
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2252042720080522?sp=true

For a short version, and my source go to Boing Boing:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/26/fasting-may-prevent.html

Danny

What would you do if you received a phone call that the Pope (or the Queen or Tiger Woods…. etc.) was coming to your business TODAY? What would you do? What you do differently? What would you do the same? How would you get ready?

Take a few minutes to think through those questions and then read the great post by Seth Godin here:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/04/the-pope-is-com.html

Danny

I haven’t posted too much lately. That needs to change. As with anything the biggest difficulty is getting started. The only time to start is now! So I’m starting now.

What are you starting now?

Here is an article to help you get started.

http://successfromthenest.com/content/the-only-time-you-can-start-is-now/

Danny

A recent study from researchers at UBC and Harvard found that money can buy you happiness, but only if you do one certain thing with it.

Do you know what that is?

Read this article to find out:

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/03/20/happiness-money.html

Danny

One challenge for people who run a home-based business can be isolation. Sometimes home business professionals can end up becoming hermits. Even if you are not a hermit, chances are a major part of your business relies on referrals or some other form of networking.

In this great post, Jon Morrow, talks about how to avoid being a “home business hermit”.

Enjoy:
http://successfromthenest.com/content/home-based-hermit/
Danny

One of the keys in any business is the ability to create a differential advantage. A differential advantage is the thing or mix of things that cause customers to choose you over your competitors. It must be something that shows how different you are from everyone else. Having a differential advantage is vital in business and is becoming more important in the age of the web were customers can search between hundreds of customers very quickly.

Jonathan Fields has a great post about how important it is to be different, and gives some great ideas. If you can’t answer the question, “How is my business different from anyone else?” then you need to read this article:

http://freelanceswitch.com/finding/differentiate-or-die-marketing%e2%80%99s-magic-bullet/

Danny

One key for any entrepreneur today is to avoid Spamming. Spam is most frequently referred to as unwanted and unrequested emails, however the name can really go much deeper. Spam can be emails, but it can also be phone calls. It is important to build permission assets instead of using anything that might be considered spam.

Seth Godin has a great post about how even companies like Dell and The Better Business Bureau are engaging in spam practices. Practices that can only hurt their reputation.

Here is the link:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/11/spam-they-still.html

Danny