A "secret" little talked about toll position...

[GordonJ]

Sometimes Dien,

I wonder about our many and varied interests. We agree, life is more interesting that way, as opposed to doing one thing and making it our "life".

I like the idea of you getting some bigger projects going, as we both would say, about time. And you've only scratched the surface with a couple of those connections, it will be exciting to see what you do, with China for example.

You've known about my quest for Stand Up comedy for a couple of years now, and this AGT thing is the opportunity to quit talking about it and put up or shut up, so I'll give it a shot.

Funny thing, both of us have a tendency to be financially rewarded when we are NOT purposefully working toward a financial goal.

I feel, the forum itself has been a giving center, and we appreciate the contributors over the years, be hard pressed to find a site which hosts more ideas and more "been there done that" information than SowPub.

It has always been more of a labor of love and we've discussed our "dereliction" of financial duty, not milking it more for moolah than it could have been.

Anyhow, I think there is the "attraction" concept at work too, maybe pulling in people, whatever number you assign them, whom have lessons for us.

Interesting times (as it always has been).

Gordon

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Gordon,

A "gut feel" is certainly part of it... But not everything, I think...

For example, the "No. 3" type of person - the person with a "hidden agenda" - there is a fundamental dishonesty there, with having a "hidden agenda." If I "catch" someone lying, to me it is a sign to be very wary. It can even be a little lie - in general, I think people who can make up small lies can easily make up bigger lies too... They don't even have to be lying to me. If they lie to someone else, it tells me something about their character...

The "No. 2" type of person is the person who wants to share in the reward, but doesn't want to lift a finger to help. This is the opposite of a hard working person.

You can usually tell, after knowing a person a while, if they are a hard working type of person or not. Since I'm more interested in people who are entrepreneurial, I look for people who work hard on entrepreneurial activities. They don't even need to be "successful" yet... If they're not willing to work hard, then they are probably not a candidate for someone I'd want to work with and help out...

So, perhaps some of the "shortcuts" I use are, I look for hard working people, who think in an entrepreneurial way, who are honest...

As for which projects... I think high potential is a big factor to me nowadays - these are all high potential projects! It's also the person - I like to work with people I like personally. But in addition, you know me well enough... I can't help myself, I like to try out new things, which can be good, but it can be a fault, too!

By the way, Gordon, remember how you helped me last year when I wrote that sales letter to farmers? (Gordon helped me out, because he's a great guy, and he's also an ace copywriter!) That was an example of me helping someone for free (I wrote the salesletter to help a friend's business...) That particular one didn't go anywhere, but that was an example of me trying to help out someone for free, that you saw yourself, and that you gave me great advice on...

Best wishes,

Dien