Aaron Hoos

I love dreaming up new ideas.

I love starting things.

My mind is always brimming with things I want to try.

A torrent of ideas is helpful in my line of work. And when I can get those ideas down fast, act on them fast, and see results… I’m a happy writer.

The problem is, not everything goes from start-to-finish in an hour or an afternoon. Sometimes they take longer: An idea might not be fully formed for a few days or weeks. Then the execution of that idea might take even longer — days or weeks or even months.

And that’s when the challenges start: Newer ideas eclipse the old ones. More pressing demands from clients push older stagnant client work aside. The exciting opportunity to create is so much more tempting than the apparent drudgery of managing the details.

But those details won’t take care of themselves. That book won’t get written, that website won’t get built, that business won’t become prosperous unless you roll up your sleeves and actually slog through the hardest part no matter how tedious it seems and no matter how much more exciting other things are.

I confess: I’m a great starter but not a great finisher. I’m an ineffective executioner.

I know I’m not alone. I know there are MANY other entrepreneurs and investors out there who face the same thing I do. I know this because my clients have told me. (In fact, I’m often hired because a client started something that they couldn’t finish.) And some of the clients for whom I finish work simply let that work collect dust because they’ve moved on to something else, too.

Starting is fast. And exciting. And creative. And when something is fast and exciting and creative, it’s almost easy.

But finishing is slow. It’s tedious. It’s detailed. And when something is slow, tedious, and detailed, it’s hard.

I’m a good starter and I suspect that maybe you are, too.

My work as a writer requires me to be a finisher. But I’m not a very good finisher. I confess that I struggle with finishing. I do it because I have to but I’m not great at it. I know I could do so much better.

So I’m issuing a challenge to myself and to you.

THE FINISH-WHAT-YOU-START CHALLENGE

Do you have any projects you’re struggling with finishing? I do. I have 14 projects I DESPERATELY want done. Some are overdue. Some are on-time. But I want them done and off my desk.

So here’s my challenge: There are 10 days (technically 10 and a half) between now and the end of May. And in that time, I want to finish 10 projects. I know it’s possible. But these are all half-done projects that now need some buckle-down-and-execute effort. I’m listing them below and I’m going to update each day (in a new blog post) how I do… along with tips and ideas about become a better finisher.

The projects I’m working on are…

1. Finish an ebook for a real estate investor about investing in empty land
2. Finish an ebook for a real estate investor about wholesale investing
3. Finish an ebook for a real estate investor about marketing system
4. Finish an ebook for a real estate investor about a real estate investing method he pioneered
5. Finish a book for a debt repair expert
6. Finish a sales letter for an internet marketing company
7. Finish a sales letter for a health and fitness company
8. Finish a sales letter for a social media marketing firm
9. Finish 100 articles for an income trust client
10. Finish a report and autoresponders for video marketing site

I have my work cut out for me in the next 10 days. There’s a lot of work here but I think it IS possible to complete this work. I’m going to put in some overtime (plus I do have some other regular keep-my-business-running commitments I still need to keep) but these are the projects I’m going to be working on in the next 10 days.

How about you? In the comments below — IF you’re bold enough!!! — why not list some of the work you need to complete in the next 10 days and participate with me in the challenge.

I love writing. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and I really can’t imagine myself doing anything else.

But there’s one big disadvantage: Not all projects start and end cleanly and predictably. Sometimes there’s unavoidable overlap. When that happens, I end up working around the clock and burning out. I was pretty close to that this week so I took some time off. It’s awesome.

If your work can lead to burnout, here are 10 tips to help you avoid burnout and stay productive.

1. WATCH YOUR DIET

Make sure you eat a good breakfast and a good lunch. Keep your supper light. This keeps your energy levels up during the day when you need that energy. For breakfast I like a bowl of Shreddies. And for lunch I like a vegetable smoothie with some almonds or maybe a big salad and a bagel and cheese. For me, those meals have proven to be the best source of clear-headed, productive energy through the day.

2. GET LOTS OF REGULAR EXERCISE

Spend 20 minutes (or more!) each day working out. Get that heart-rate up, stretch, build muscle, feel the burn. Don’t do a half-assed job, either. Do a serious workout. You’ll reduce your stress levels and you’ll sleep better at night.

3. GET ENOUGH SLEEP

I’m definitely guilty of this. When my schedule fills up, the first thing I do is try to figure out how I’ll stay up all night to finish something. I need to constantly remind myself to finish what I can and get a good sleep. This is what I’ve found: I’m more productive in an 8 to 10 hour day after a good 8 hour sleep than I am in a 14 to 16 hour day after a 4 hour sleep.

4. FOCUS

This is also a struggle of mine when the heat gets turned up. It’s easy to look at your schedule and try to move the needle on everything. But there’s a productivity cost to switching. Focus on just a couple of things. Work hard; get them done, and move on.

5. BREAK UP YOUR PROJECTS

A million little projects can seem overwhelming and can lead to burnout but I think they don’t lead to burnout as much because there is a sense of achievement with each one. But with larger projects, it feels like a big bottleneck and no matter how much you work on the project hour after hour, it’s not advancing. So break up your project into smaller, measurable pieces. When I write a book, for example, I divide the book into parts and then chapters and then sections and then sub-sections. Each subsection might be 500 words or so, and that is an easy, manageable chunk to work on and I can knock out a bunch of those in the day and feel like I’m getting somewhere.

6. MAKE A LIST

As you break down your projects into smaller pieces, write it all down on one big master list. Then cross it off as you do each part. I like to use a Sharpie marker because there’s something therapeutic about a big black scratch through a task once it’s completed. And here’s something else I’ve found: When you start to feel overwhelmed, create a separate list of just the things you need to do to catch up. Use THAT list as your to-do list until you’ve accomplished everything on it. This is helpful because it moves the non-essential stuff off of your radar for a short time.

7. REWARD YOURSELF

I like to set up a few reward systems for myself throughout the particularly stressful times. Nothing major — time on Facebook or maybe a chapter in the book I’m reading. I recently finished writing a particularly challenging project just by rewarding myself with a piece of my favorite candy after each section.

8. DON’T DO ANYTHING DRAMATIC

This is important! Don’t do anything dramatic during your busy period. I tend to make sweeping changes to my business while I’m in the middle of these busy times. I’m not sure why I do that. Only recently have I started to intentionally hold myself back from that.

9. TAKE TIME OFF WHEN IT’S ALL OVER

When I have a bunch of projects all at once, I tend to focus on them and ignore everything else in my life. I have wonderful family and friends who know how I work and they don’t mind that it happens occasionally. But after I’ve had a period of intense focus on a project, it’s good to take a few days off and relax, hang out with your friends, and knit your mind back together.

10. JUST GET IT DONE!!!

While keeping the above tips in mind, don’t forget the most important tip: Put your head down and push through. Get it done.

On Facebook, a friend of mine posted a link to an article in the UK’s The Guardian newspaper. The article was written by Neal Lawson and it’s entitled “Ban Outdoor Advertising“.

As someone who lives and breathes marketing and advertising, I think Lawson’s article is frustratingly naive (with all due respect to a fellow writer, of course!)

I’ve dashed off some thoughts below and I’d love to know what you think of the topic:

WHY NEAL LAWSON IS WRONG

I think banning outdoor advertising is naive because it only removes display ads. Our world is still awash in store-front signs and brands. Lawson wouldn’t suggest that we take down all store signs or pull the brand badges off of our cars or our clothes. So he’s focusing in on just one tiny element of a much larger issue — will this one fix change everything? I doubt it.

In the 1st and 2nd paragraph of his article, Lawson describes some of the public places where outdoor advertising can be seen. Although he doesn’t describe why it’s in those places, he says it shouldn’t be there. But it’s not like the advertising has suddenly appeared there against someone’s will. Schools and hospitals (and other public institutions) need to defray increasingly higher expenses and they have a choice: Charge users more (per-use, in taxes, or through some other form of income — advertising). So if we take down advertising in these public places, there will be a financial impact on users. Admittedly, not every public advertisement is there to defray expenses. (Roadside billboards, for example, are profit centers for the billboard owners rather than to help lower costs of a public institution).

In the 3rd paragraph of his article, Lawson says that the purpose of advertising is to make us unhappy. I think that’s somewhat alarmist. It also feels like he’s suggesting that we wouldn’t have these social problems of anxiety, insecurity, and obesity if it weren’t for advertising. That’s not true. We would still have these social problems because we compare ourselves with other people. For example, long before we had billboards, people were doing dangerous things to beautify themselves. And how does advertising help to sow the seeds of mental illness?

In the 4th paragraph of his article, Lawson say: “The advertising industry exists to ensure it becomes culturally and emotionally impossible to refuse.” I find that phrase the most offensive and naive statement of his entire article. The advertising industry doesn’t exist for that purpose. Industries (in general) exist to earn a profit by filling needs (both good and bad, admittedly), and the advertising industry exists to connect those other industries with potential buyers.

In the 5th paragraph of his article, Lawson says that advertising would clear our minds “for ideas, plans, love or just to daydream.” I’m not sure what he thinks is happening in our minds. In spite of our minds being all cluttered up from public advertising through the ages, we still circumnavigated the globe, cured many diseases, and went to the moon. (Maybe he thinks we could have been to Mars if it wasn’t for that pesky billboard that I drive past on my way to the grocery store).

Throughout his article, Lawson tries to separate the motivations of advertising from its value (I hope I worded that in a way that makes sense). What I mean is: He seems to be suggesting that advertising is there because advertisers are profit-driven and looking for more ways to tear us away from our money; instead, he should be considering that advertising is there because it works. People are going to buy things and advertisers are filling a need.

In the 6th paragraph of his article, after vilifying advertisers in general, Lawson tries to show us how great one city is doing it by quoting what is essentially a branded advertisement: “Bristol: the city that said no to advertising”. Somewhat ironic, in my opinion. But maybe Lawson is okay with it as long as that slogan is never ever displayed in public.

In the 7th paragraph of his article, Lawson seems to separate citizenship and consumerism. But those shouldn’t be separate. (1) Citizenship is a type of consumerism — we buy our citizenship with our taxes and votes; (2) Consumerism is a type of citizenship — we invest in who we want to be; (3) Advertising isn’t inherently uncultural — yes, there are disruptive and even offensive ads but advertising in general is part of our social fabric. Lawson seems to suggest that our citizenship would be better when outdoor advertising vanishes. However, I think that our effectiveness as consumers doesn’t come from NOT seeing ads, but rather from choosing to buy or not to buy what we see. We vote with our wallets. Those ads would disappear if they didn’t work.

So, what do you think? Will our lives be better if we tear down the advertising in public spaces?

From time to time I review helpful resources for my readers — basically the stuff that I put on my bookshelf or in my list of bookmarks; the resources I would use to rebuild my business if it ever burned to the ground.

(Note: These are NOT paid endorsements. I don’t receive any financial incentive or affiliate income for doing these).

Just last night I finished reading 101 Success Tips and Strategies for Financial Advisors by Rosemary Smyth.

Rosemary is a well-qualified coach who works with professionals in the finance sector. (We originally connected through Twitter — follow her at @RosemarySmyth.)

101 Success Tips and Strategies for Financial Advisors is an easy-to-read book of ideas and insights written for financial advisors to guide them through specific situations and challenges that they will face throughout their career.

Her book starts at the very beginning of a financial advisor’s career with tips on completing your designation and writing a business plan and getting a mentor. Then, following the typical career path of a financial advisor (from rookie to advisor then senior advisor then manager) she provides an enormous volume of ideas for just about anything a financial advisor would face.

I said the book is easy to read but don’t let that mislead you. Rosemary has jam-packed ideas and advice into this book that you WILL use every single day of your career. It’s 101 chapters of solid content in a 116 page resource.

It’s one of those books you can read cover to cover to get a bunch of good ideas or you can dip into one or two relevant chapters when you encounter a specific situation in your financial advisory practice.

Waaaay back when I was starting out as a financial advisor, I would have bookmarked and highlighted several chapters, especially “Five Ways to Build a Referral Network with Centres of Influence” and “Ten Tips for Better Networking”.

And even though I’m no longer a financial advisor, I’m still closely connected to the finance industry and found other chapters helpful in my business today, such as: “Three Tips for Telling Successful Stories”, “Five Steps to Find Balance at Work” and “Top Five Attributes of High-Performing Advisors”.

Here are some other favorite chapters (which made me think of specific advisors or times in my own career when this information would have been particularly useful):

• Three Steps to Segmenting Your Clients
• Five Criteria for Buying a Book of Business
• Ten Tips When Receiving Feedback
• Top Five Exit Interview Questions
• Four Tips When Supporting Charitable Events
• Tips for Transition Planning
• Ten Items to Consider When Choosing Your Business Partner
• Five Tips for a Better Advisor-Assistant Relationship
• Five Tips to Do Less and Accomplish More

The price is ridiculously low for the value of the content. You can read one chapter, put it into practice, and earn back in less than an hour. I’m not joking.

Get the book. Read it. Read it again. Use it to grow your financial practice…

101 Tips and Strategies for Financial Advisors by Rosemary Smyth

I love joint ventures!

I’m contacted pretty regularly with joint venture opportunities. There have been some nice successes and there have been some stellar failures… but I love working with like-minded entrepreneurs who want to share in the struggles and triumphs of a JV and I always keep my ear to the ground for new opportunities.

So, I thought it might be helpful to make a list of the types of things I look for in a JV. I turn down more JV opportunities than I accept and there are many reasons why I accept or reject a JV idea. I’ve tried to capture it all here in one place for people who might want to present JVs to me:

WHAT I LOOK FOR IN A JOINT VENTURE

• Is there a pressing need in the marketplace that can be filled? The JV idea doesn’t have to be fully formed before it is presented to me. A good idea (heck, even a half-baked one) is enough to get started. We can work together to figure it out further. (I like to think that’s one of the things I can bring to the table). I really like to see a need identified and a way to solve that need but if all you’ve identified is a pressing need and a vague notion of how to solve it, that’s cool too.
• Is it a niche that I’m comfortable working in? I generally stick to topics that I know well — business (B2B, marketing, sales, strategy, copywriting), finance (investing, stock market, commodities, FOREX, accounting, business finance, financial management, cash flow), and real estate (especially related to real estate investing).
• Can I add value with content (either to market/sell or as part of the deliverable)?
• Has the JV partner done their homework? I want to see that you have done your homework and know why this is the best time for this opportunity and why you and I are the best people to pursue this opportunity.
• Am I excited about this? That’s a huge one for me. I need to be excited about the project… it’s the only way I can sustain any effort on it.
• What is the opportunity here? I get a lot of ebook joint venture ideas or ad-based-blog joint venture ideas. Those are fun but I’m open to creative arrangements. They don’t have to be an entirely new business. I’ve worked with existing brands on co-branded books, shared revenue for an ecourse, etc.
• What is the sales funnel? How do we expect to get leads? How do we expect to turn those leads into prospects? How do we expect to turn those prospects into customers?
• What is required of me? Is this an investment of money? Of effort? Of expertise? Or a combination of those things? What will I be bringing to the table? How often will I be contributing — once or ongoing?
• What will the other party be bringing to the table? (Hint: I want to see that you are going to do something. I did one JV where there was no “J” at all… Learned my lesson).
• Is there a fair division of labor that makes sense with the anticipated reward?
• Is the relationship a good fit? Hey, not everyone gels with everyone else. That’s cool.
• What is the time required? I’m specifically looking at (1) the time required to set-up the venture, (2) the time required to gain critical mass where we likely start marketing, (3) the time required to get to cash flow, and (4) the time required to get to breakeven.
• What is the potential upside on this project? I want to know the optimistic upside and the realistic upside.
• What are the risks? (That doesn’t make me a pessimist. It makes me a realist who wants to be prepared).
• Who controls what? Each party in a JV has some control over something. Is it shared? How is it split? Who holds the keys to the business? Who has control over the money?
• What happens in a worst-case scenario? If the relationship collapses or if the market dramatically shifts (both of those things have crashed JVs in the past), what will be left and who will walk away with what?
• Where can this go? Is this a one-off project or are there future opportunities?

I’m always looking for new opportunities but I can’t participate in them all. These are the things I’m looking for when deciding whether or not to participate in a joint venture. If you bring a JV idea to me, I’d love to hear about it!