Welcome to Part 4 in Gaetano's series on procrastination. He's shown us the causes and possible effects. Now some ways to rid ourselves of this habit.

Procrastination Mini-Series - Procrastination Killers

by Gaetano Caruana

After reviewing what are the causes and effects of procrastination in previous articles in this procrastination mini series, this last article will highlight what are the main procrastination killers.

When was the last time you used a search engine to find information about something but didn't find you what you wanted? Other people are probably running into the same problem. Have you considered creating the content yourself? Let me give you an example of a blog post that could be turned into comprehensive content.

Wired Magazine's Senior Editor Kevin Kelly wrote a great post this week called 1,000 True Fans, and it's been getting a lot of attention around the blogosphere. Kelly essentially argues that to be a success online, you don't need a huge audience. You just need 1,000 true fans… who are willing to pay you.

It's a question that's been bugging me profoundly since I got into blogging over a year ago. Blogs are cheap, easy, efficient, wildly easy to find on the Net, super marketing-friendly, and just plain fun. They work rings around websites. So are conventional websites no longer necessary?

Comment or Vote on This Article

The number of social bookmarking sites has exploded in the last year, leaving someone new the space probably a bit overwhelmed at where to start. If you are new to social networking understand that each social networking site is different, it attracts a different audience with different interests. Thus what interests someone on Reddit might not appeal to anyone on Digg.

Do I show you a powerpoint filled with bullets?

Or give you a spirited sales pitch while looking you in the eye...



Perhaps I should send a very attractive salesperson.



Do I amplify my word of mouth and be sure you hear about my idea from three people you trust?

Do I minimize fear or maximize gain?

Posted by rebeccaEvery time Rand receives a marketing book, he puts in on my desk. I don't know if it's a gesture of "Here, you read stuff..." or if it's a more direct "Read this or you're fired" (which is clearly how Rand operates, for those of you who know him well), but I've got a stack of books at home that are one giant "Read these" list. During my flights to and from San Jose last week, I started reading Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads. Written by Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus, the book focuses on conversion-friendly web design, a topic that has interested me greatly since we now have a "product" to sell on our site (our PRO memberships). For the next few SEM Tuesdays, I'll share a couple chapters of the book with you all and give my opinions as they arise. (FYI, the book has a website, so check out Web Design for ROI's site for more information about the book and updated resources and links).

One of the most overlooked but important keys to success on social news sites is commenting (expressing a personal opinion or belief).

One of the biggest draws for many social news sites is that you can interact with fellow members and the submitters through comments. Many users go to the major social news sites (such as Digg or Reddit) mainly so that they can voice their opinions on stories and carry on the conversation that the story starts. As such, the comments on any particular story are vital to its success.

Think of all the ways that companies use branding to build

awareness of themselves or to promote their social awareness and customer

service values. A few things come to mind such as greeters at the entrance of your my favorite store, go-green awareness issues,

charity drives that "give back" to the community for every purchase

Do I show you a powerpoint filled with bullets?

Or give you a spirited sales pitch while looking you in the eye...

Perhaps I should send a very attractive salesperson.

Do I amplify my word of mouth and be sure you hear about my idea from three people you trust?

Do I minimize fear or maximize gain?