Jason Unger

Introducing Automatic Finances

Posted by junger - 07/06/09 at 01:07:07 pm

For the past few months, I've been developing a brand new personal finance site featuring my first published ebook — Automatic Finances: 17 Days to Your Financial Freedom.

Automatic Finances promises to set yourself up for financial success and spend less time getting there.

Using tools freely available online and a mindset dedicated to reaching your goals, you'll learn how to:

• Track and categorize all your spending
• Find your net worth and watch it grow
• Save money and invest for the future without pinching pennies
• Ensure your money is getting the highest rates of return possible
• Have your bills paid automatically and never write a check again

The system is designed so that in 17 days, you'll be spending less time worrying about your money and more time watching it grow.

We've already got a good 3 months worth of blog posts, with contributions by former Online Savings Blog writer Fred Seigmund, and buddies Lee Distad and Louis.

Check out the site now, and download the first three chapters of the ebook absolutely free.

3 Mistakes I Made in 2008

Posted by junger - 12/31/08 at 09:12:51 am

You know how pretty much every look-back-at-the-year-that-was post generally remembers the highlights of the last year?

Well, in order to start the new year on the right foot, it's worth looking back at some of the mistakes I made in 2008 and will try not to repeat in 2009.

Here are 3 mistakes I made in 2008.

I Tried to Do Too Many Things at Once

This has generally been my problem ever since I started working and launching side ventures.

Since I'm the creator-type and tend to look for instant gratification in my work, working online is a blessing and a curse.

I started way too many sites and considered ideas for others and tried to run them all — at the same time. I consistently broke my own rule of maximizing product development, not number of projects.

I Communicated Poorly

One of the things about working at home is that your communication needs to be extremely clear.

I can't tell you how many times an email or an IM has come out the wrong way or been misinterpreted because of the word choice. More often that not, this leads to a mountain being made out of a molehill.

The biggest thing missing from online communication is a person's visual clues. If only we all had video cameras and Skype …

I Lost Focus

The only way to get where you need to be is to know where that is. Too often, I didn't.

This year, I went through phases: setting goals, managing work and removing distractions, then the complete opposite. Keeping focus requires structure, and too often I left myself roam free.

It's not like I can't hit goals: cepro just hit its yearly goal on the nose. But in my own ventures, I couldn't keep the focus long enough to succeed. And that hurt.

Why I'll Probably Make These Mistakes Again in 2009

Reality check: I'm not going to be perfect in 2009. That I know. I'll certainly make these mistakes again.

But that won't stop me from trying. My goal? To cut down on these mistakes as much as possible.

With Every Transition Comes a New Opportunity

Posted by junger - 12/24/08 at 11:12:34 am

It's been a mind-boggling week for me.

Last Saturday, I found out that my biggest client was having a much harder time raising the cash needed to pay for my services and needed me to stop working.

Last Tuesday, my day job had its first layoffs ever in 14-plus years. While I'm still there, we were all given reduced working hours and had some benefits cut back.

On Monday, I sold the Online Savings Blog.

As you can imagine, a lot has changed — quickly.

Where Do You Go From Here?

This is the question most difficult to answer.

Two weeks ago, I offered a service, had a big product, and security at my day job. Today, I've got a lot less.

It's a lot of change in not a lot of time. It feels difficult — at least it feels like a big transition — but in reality, it's not a bad thing at all.

If you step back, you can see that now I have the opportunity to re-work, re-define and re-apply myself.

This sounds a lot like what you tell people who have just lost their jobs. It's not a loss, it's an opportunity. But saying it to yourself takes a lot of confidence — something that this kind of transition eats away at.

What I've Learned and Can (Hopefully) Apply

Now that I've got a fresh start, here's what I'm working on:

• Not overextending myself with too many commitments
• Not starting too many Web sites that I can't keep up with
• Not letting my constant flow of ideas overwhelm my current project
• Focusing on my strengths, not my weaknesses
• Not trying to do it all, especially if someone else can do it better

In a way, it's great timing that all of this has happened as the year comes to an end. With the calendar flipping around to the top, we all have a chance to start over and make 2009 better than 2008.

Remember: the next time transition hits you, consider it an opportunity.

Is Your Content Valuable?

Posted by junger - 12/11/08 at 08:12:17 am

As you're reading information online, ask yourself: what is this worth to me?

Would I

• actively find out more about the topic?
• sign up to get more information like it?
• pay money for it?

If you answered 'yes' to at least one of those, the content has value to you.

But as a Web publisher, you can't be sure that your readers recognize the value your content has unless you treat it valuably.

How Content's Value Has Changed Completely

The Internet has democratized information. It's a beautiful thing, right?

Well, not for traditional publishers. Control of information has been their domain for hundreds of years.

Newspapers are going belly up. It's not going to get any easier next year, and it will hit certain places much harder than others.

Now that information is available from millions of resources, much of the actual content has lost its value. It's not a rare resource, dominated by a few in power. Anyone can produce it.

Giving Your Content Value

So how do you give your content value?

For small Web publishers, your content has to achieve certain goals or you won't succeed. Even if it's not about making money, it has to serve a purpose.

Your content could:

• Build a community around a product (ex. The Mint Blog)
• Grow a brand around yourself (ex. Robert Scoble)
• Market your offline services or products (ex. any freelance writer with a blog)

How to Make Money From Your Content

As forecasters expect online ad spending to decrease next year, you need to understand that pageviews are not going to pay the bills.

Even if ad spending was going up, users would still ignore ads unrelated to their online goals.

In order to make money from your content, you generally have two options:

• Charge for it
• Treat it as marketing materials for your paid products

Charging for content? Are you serious? Yes. Charging for content can be an extremely compelling business model IF you are creating the right content and, most importantly, targeting the right people.

Most people are not going to pay to read the Wall Street Journal online, especially because the information is available through other outlets.

But if you're a business owner, would you spend $100 to attend a specialized online training or business summit that will make you more money? Of course!

Targeting the right niche with information that will make them more profitable is, in itself, a profitable venture.

Use Your Content to Market Your Product and Services

Instead of charging for your content, use it as marketing for what you do get paid for.

Let's look back at the three 'free' ways to give your content value:

• Build a community around a product
• Grow a brand around yourself
• Market your offline services or products

Each of these use your content to make you money.

If you sell a product, you want a thriving community of users, critics and evangelists.

If you are a talking head or consultant, you need to build up your brand in order to establish your expertise.

If you are a freelancer writer or designer, you need to show off your skills.

Treating your content as marketing does not, however, mean it should be a sales pitch. Like all other information, if it isn't useful, your users won't respond.

What's Your Content Worth?

You're already producing content. But why?

The next time you sit down to write something, measure the value of your content. If you're not getting anything out of it, then your readers aren't either.

For more, follow me on Twitter or sign up for email updates or via RSS.

3 Things You Can Learn From Salespeople

Posted by junger - 12/10/08 at 09:12:58 am

You're either in sales or you're not.

There's no getting around that — some people are born to sell; some aren't.

I fall in the second camp. Selling, to me, has always brought forth conflicted emotions — obviously, it's about making money, but it's also about filling a need.

As I've transitioned from doing more of the day-to-day content production to meeting, planning and executing on bigger Web projects, I've had to pick up a few sales best practices.

Here's what you can learn from the salespeople you work with.

Act Social, Even if You Aren't

You need to be social to survive in sales. If you're an introvert, look for another line of work.

The easiest way to get someone to buy something from you is to be social with them. When was the last time you opened up your wallet for a significant purchase from a complete stranger?

Even if you're not friends with potential customers, you have to know them. Never eat alone. Network all the time. Go to local events and meetups.

If you don't know your customer, you can't sell to them.

It's All About the Customer

If your customer needs a hammer, you can't sell them a screwdriver.

When you can identify their needs, you can develop an offer that solves their problems. Sometimes, you're not going to have exactly what they need. That's just life.

A good salesperson can determine what the customer wants and package a solution that works. When that works, it opens up a lot of doors for you. The customer know trusts you to offer products that solve his goals.

After the initial sale, you have the opportunity to come back and sell them more. This is where you develop repeat business and can make the sale on higher margin products.

You Need to Believe in the Product

You cannot sell a product you don't believe in. If it doesn't work the way it should or doesn't fit what the customer is looking for, it's not the right product.

The reason passionistas are so important to sales efforts is that the truly believe in the product and let everyone know about it.

If you aren't excited about your product, how is the customer going to be?

Why This Matters To You

If you're not in sales, you might not care what they're doing. But you should.

At a certain level, salespeople are your product evangelists. They're out there shouting the praises of you and what you do. Yeah, they're getting a commission on it, but they're working to expand your presence and notoriety.

When you're developing a product, you need to understand what your salespeople need in order to do their jobs. Think of them as your customers — you have to convince them that it's worth their time to promote your product.

While not every salesperson is going to be an evangelist for you, the good ones are. They're excited, they believe in what you're doing, and they want to help you do it.