“We’ve Reached A Tipping Point”

I picked up the New York Times the other day and on the front page there was an article entitled “Internet Giants Vie to Snap Up Web Ad Firms.”  It talked about the race among industry power players like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL to acquire small Internet advertising companies. 

NYT writer Miguel Helft states that “underlying the deals…is a transformation of the advertising world away from traditional media like television, radio and print.”  It is directly after that statement that chief executive of 360i, Bryan Wiener, makes the profound revelation that “we’ve reached a tipping point.”

How does this relate to the legal industry, and more specifically PI law?  How much time do you have?  LOL  The fact is the writing is on the wall.  Traditional mass media is experiencing diminished results with each passing month.  Replacing it in power and pervasiveness are targeted efforts to capture the vast niche audiences that turn to the Internet to assess credibility and make purchase decisions.

Bottomline:  it’s time to reallocate some of your traditional mass media advertising resources to the web.  Many opportunities exist in this arena so study it and choose your venues carefully.  Just don’t wait too long. 

Intentional Dreaming

Last week I attended a conference in Phoenix and the keynote speaker was Michael Gerber.  Michael is the author of the E-Myth Revisited and what he talks about in that book is that we need to create systems for our businesses.  His concept is to grow a business as if we plan to franchise it.  It’s a great book if you haven’t read it.

But in this post I want to bring you up to speed on his latest endeavor.  He calls it “The Dreaming Room.”  Michael holds weekend conferences where he works with his attendees to make sure they are dreaming big enough.  I have to say that he is full of energy and enthusiasm and truly inspiring even though he is now 70 years old.

Here’s why I wanted to share it.  He talked about rekindling that entrepreneurial spirit and embracing the idea of being “stunningly original.”  Isn’t that awesome?  So often we become complacent in our comfort zones and become employees and worker bees in our own businesses.  But that is not where an entreprenuer finds fulfillment.

An entrepreneur is not afraid to live in the unknown.  The pain and discontent of not knowing how to do what you feel you want to do is not a bad thing.  As a matter of fact, Michael describes it as a gift.  He talks about “infinite climbing” and awakening the entrepreneur and creator within you.

I believe that each of us has the potential to go far beyond our comfort zones and as Michael states, doing so requires intentional dreaming.  We need to get away from the day to day grind regularly and have time to plan and dream so that we are able to create and innovate.

If you want to learn more about Michael’s new project you can do so by going to:  http://www.inthedreamingroom.com/index.html

In the meantime, be sure to set aside time regularly to dream.