25 Things You Can Learn From Nick Cernis

1. Be Careful who you delegate to

Nick discussed this in his interview on DaveCaolo.com

I choose people I trust to delegate to. If they don’t deliver, I think twice before asking them again. If you find yourself worrying about tracking an item you’ve delegated, you’ve probably delegated it to the wrong person.

This is a very useful tip and one that I agree with. Tracking the task you've delegated can be just as time consuming as if you had done it yourself. If this happens, you should choose another person or just do it.

2. Be patient

This was a tip Nick gave in his guest post on Zen Habits.

The moment a pineapple is picked, the fruit stops ripening. It’s a simple idea and a powerful one. Many people seem in a rush to ‘become’ something. Whether it’s a famous musician, a great designer or a problogger, don’t hurry to ripen. Your heroes became famous through hard work and good fortune and you’ll have to do the same. There’s no magic ticket — just take your time and enjoy the ride. Fame should be an added bonus; never a goal.

I agree with this statement. I can understand the frustration of the slow road to success - I have been poor for sometime and was focusing on using blogging as a platform to build up my consulting business. It has been two years of work, but I finally feel like the wait is over and it feels awesome.

3. Offer content for micropayments.

To learn more about this concept, read 'The End of Free Content.' It is a fascinating post that had me - and many others - rethinking our monetization strategies.

4. Just launch it

Nick wrote about this further in his post about his one month launch.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But, on its own, “just launch it” is pretty crappy advice. Here’s what the mantra means in a way you can break down, chew up, and spit out as some actionable ideas.
The fact is this: launching a big project can be scary. The fear of failure appears dark and dirty, just like the other things on your mind. The way people deal with it is to plan instead of taking action in the hope that, one day, if they put things off long enough, the wind might change and all their problems will be carried up the chimney on the breeze, like watching Mary Poppins in reverse.
What happens instead is this: The Plan consumes them. Their business becomes the business plan. Their company, grand scheme, or trip around the world never happens, and all because someone told them they needed a watertight plan.

This blog has been planned for about 18 months. The launch process has taken 6 weeks. Its been hard. Its been stressful. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have that time pressure though. I highly recommend reading Nicks post for some motivation.

5. Make a plan

Nick shared two questions you should ask if you want to make money online and escape your day job.

Using my skills and experience (or new skills I’m willing to learn), what would I love to do online?

How can I make a living from it

My advice is to do what I did – find several things you love that each have the potential to make money online. It gives you variety, and it spreads the risk across several income streams.

This is what I did - and what I've been working on. I've discovered my main passions and have been focusing on ways to earn an income from it. The plan - which in my case, is an A4 piece of paper, has been really helpful during the past month.

6. Email Rules The Business World

Nick made this statement in his post about how to work from anywhere without blowing your budget.

It really is possible to run a successful business by email. This is the first generation where you can work on the move and do everything by email (just ask any crackberryaddict). With connectivity getting even better, there’s really no excuse to be stuck in an office.

I have learnt more about this by being part of the Location Independent community. I really do believe it is possible for most people to work remotely.

7. Restrict Facebook/Instant Messaging

Nick discussed this in his post about beating the procrastination demon.

Social networking and chatting are great, but will both kill your productivity faster than you can say “Scrabulous”. Discipline yourself to use them at lunch time or after working hours only.

It was hard to restrict my social media time, but I did. I gave my phone number and skype details to those I worked with, and trusted that they would contact me if they needed me. This has stopped me stressing and has allowed me to work unrinterupted.

8. No Technology is Worth Going Into Debt For

Nick talked about this in his post, Buy A Bigger Envelope

I don’t care if it fits in an envelope. I’m not fussed if it has eleven touch screens, brings you toast, teleports you into bank vaults and blows cute bubbles in the shape of Keira Knightley whilst styling your hair. If you’re buying it on credit, you shouldn’t be buying it at all.
I used to be terrible at this. Really terrible. At university I bought a lot of gadgets on plastic, and it took me years to pay it off. I spent that time broke and miserable. I didn’t have the cash to go on holiday with my partner for almost 3 years. She reminds me of this often. Don’t use tomorrow to pay for today. You’ll regret it, I promise.

This was a really useful tip to read. I often think that my business would improve if I had better equipment - a video camera, better lenses and other things. I think that in some cases, you can make smart purchases on credit but these can be hard to come across.

9. Keep your inbox empty

Nick wrote about this in his Inbox Heaven post.

Your inbox should stay empty. Forever. If you find your inbox is backing up with email, you’re doing something wrong. Once you’ve scanned an email, you should be doing something with it! Don’t leave it in your inbox to sort out later.

I have been trying to adhere to this policy and reading my emails each morning is a lot less stressful. I really recommend trying it out.

10. Get a moleskin notebook

In his post about Moleskines, he said that when you spend a lot of time writing, you don’t just want functional.

You want beautiful. You need a writing experience. You seek a connection with the page that enhances the writing process; a combination of notebook and pen(cil) that encourages you to think of writing as a pleasure, not a mundane chore.
If you think this is a little over-the-top — that falling for an inanimate notebook is simply too intense — you probably need to buy one to understand. But be warned: once you do, there’s no turning back.

I was unable to afford a moleskine, but did invest in a strong notebook. It was definitely worth it. I take it everywhere and only write my important business thoughts in it, or use it when I'm inspired. Its not a place for negativity. Instead, its a place to encourage my creativity and planning.

11. Teach people (or fake it)

Nick spoke about his experiences in his post, Problogging by Accident.

I’ve learned to respect teachers more than most other professions. Their goal is a humble one: to spread the knowledge. The fact that they often border on the verge of breakdown is, at worst, evidence that kids these days can be real shitbags and, at best, horribly rotten karma.
Whether or not you respect teachers, sharing your knowledge will do more for your abilities and influence than you could possibly imagine. It’s only when you start teaching that you realise how much or little you know; it forces you to close those gaps in your knowledge and develop as a consequence.
If you don’t think there’s anything you can offer, think again. At the very worst, force yourself to become an expert in something you love, and then fake the teaching bit.

I have found teaching people to be extremely useful. It has allowed me to learn more about breaking information down, and also has helped me get to know what my audience wants. It also has helped develop my reputation within the local community.

12. Create your own product

Later in the post, he talked about the benefits of selling your own product.

Being an affiliate (someone who sells others’ products for a percentage of the sticker price) is great, but it’s a tough job. You’ll never be as passionate about selling other peoples’ stuff as you will be about your own.

So many professional bloggers have talked about creating your own product. I highly recommend this, even if its a free ebook for marketing purposes.

13. Use email feed instead of RSS

Nick discussed this in his post 'Ditch the Digital Itch'. It is something that I have started doing and it really increased my productivity. It means I look forward to each new post, rather than see it as a chore. I have become significantly more selective in what blogs I now subscribe to.

14. Don't stop advertising

Nick talked about this in his post titled 'Why you need luxury loo roll'

Think you can drop your advertising budget to save some cash? Think again. You might not notice it after the first month’s sales, but it will hit you around month three. I know this first hand: I stopped advertising Todoodlist for three months last year and sales almost dropped off completely in the final month. Your business needs to be in people’s faces, or they’ll slowly forget about you and give their money to someone else. (Yes, I know, I’m sorry, and I’ll try to start posting more often.)

This was a fascinating tip. I assumed that affiliates would be able to do most of the advertising. It has made me readjust my ideas for promoting my first products.

15. Request the format of output when outsourcing

Nick wrote about this in his useful case study on personal outsourcing.

The way you present your initial requests will have a large effect on the results you get back. It may help to ask the company how they prefer your requests to be made. LongerDays were the only one to offer this information without me having to ask.

This tip was really useful and one that I wouldn't have thought of. Do you have any other tips for personal outsourcing?

16. Every mail you send should require action.

Nick discussed this in his post about eliminating the amount of posts in your inbox.

This is simply good email karma. If you’re sending out mail that you don’t expect people to act on, stop. You’re just adding to the noise. Find another way to share links, or tell those jokes with a glass of wine, box of beer, or walk in the park.

This has really made me reassess the amount of emails I send out. I disagree sometimes - I still send out the occassional email that simply thanks someone, or shares information that I can't give in twitter. It is still a useful concept that will impact my productivity.

17. Don't go on a long term information diet.

Nick discussed this in his post about the dangers of information dieting.

I’ll come sharply to the point: while I dearly love The 4-Hour Workweekand praise Tim for being single-handedly responsible for 100 thousand middle fingers of collective resignation, I think that encouraging perfectly healthy people to go on a “low-information diet” is a terrible crime.

This is a point to really think about. I have times where I restrict the amount of information, but I think its bad in the long term. This is a topic I'll be researching an assessing as I read more about lifestyle design.

18. Outsource the small jobs.

Nick wrote about this in his post about ways to save on software.

If you’re buying software to complete a small job or for occasional use, consider outsourcing the work to someone else instead. It’s much easier to pass on the cost of a freelancer’s time to your client a few times a year than it is to cough up for a four-figure software licence!

This is a really interesting concept - and one that I'm sure will save me a lot of money! This works best for the occasional job, as Nick said. It is also worth paying for quality work.

19. Search out new experiences.

Nick discussed this in his post titled Find Your Love Today.

If you haven’t yet found what you want from your life, the important thing is to always be on the look out! Make sure you put your self in as many new and interesting (but safe!) situations that you can. Yes, you might have to step away from your comfort zone once in a while, but the potential to discover your calling by accident will make it worth it.
The simple truth is, if you haven’t found your love within your own life, it just means it’s somewhere else instead! Get out there and get meeting new people, trying new sports and hobbies, and experimenting safely. You never know what you’ll find.

I completely agree with this. It is somewhat unrelated, but I found one of my favourite bushwalking destinations because of a place I visited on a whim. It will be the main focus of my travel blog for the next year.

20. Shut up about it.

Nick wrote about this in his Ittybiz guest post, Home Business Insanity

I’m an ideas person. For almost five years I waffled on about my many schemes. The problem wasn’t that I had lots of them. It was that I never committed to one. My reward? A reputation for being a dreamer and not a doer. My business practically was the beer mat.
It took me five years. Don’t make the same mistake. These days, we never commit to a new business idea if it can’t be launched in one month. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be out there, testing the market and ringing the till.
Your goal should be the same: shut up about it and just launch something one month from now. Then you’ll have a live project to talk about, results you can demonstrate and, if you’re lucky, some cash in the bank to silence the naysayers. It also makes it easier to leave your current job faster, if that’s something that appeals.

This is an awesome statement. Instead of talking about it, you should just do it. It is harder, but I'm planning to launch a different part of my blog project each month.

21. Use typing shortcut software

David wrote about this in his post on typing short cuts. I have never used them, but it does seem like an interesting idea. I'd love to know about your experiences in the comments.

22. Support authors and publishers

Nick made this comment in his challenge about reading one book a week.

Getting a book to market is bloody hard work. Those who’ve self-published an ebook or printed a novella will be nodding now. The other brave souls amongst you who work in the word-pimping industry won’t be able to nod, largely because your necks are so stiff from craning over a veritable Stonehenge of piled proposals that your vertebrae will be fused together.

This is one the main reasons I've been focusing on reviewing print books. I try to support this industry wherever possible, especially when the book was written by a blogger.

23. Use your blog to funnel traffic to your main business

Nick has said that one of the best things about his blog was the amount of traffic and leads it funneled to his design business. This is a similar idea to what I will be doing to promote my writing and consulting services.

24. Release an iphone app

Nick released a really cool Put Things Off Iphone application. It is agreat way to promote his site and his skills as a developer.

25. Create a mini site for your product

Nick created a minisite for both his ebook and his Iphone app. This is great for branding and also for advertising purposes. It meants that the users attention isn't distracted by your other content.