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The Power of Starting Something Stupid [Book Review]

Posted on February 4, 2013 by jessestay

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In my life, I have a rich dad and a poor dad (see Robert Kiyosaki). My poor dad is always keen to tell me that going out on my own and running my own business is “stupid”, risky, and a bad decision. My rich dad tells me it’s the most secure and rewarding decision I can make. Which one is it? The book, “The Power of Starting Something Stupid: How to Crush Fear, Make Dreams Happen, and Live Without Regret” attempts to answer that with a pep-talk, showing how “stupid” is the new smart.

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur that has a rich dad and a poor dad like me, there’s a good chance you’re going through the very same debates I did before going out on my own. While I must say there are definitely risks and a lot of work that goes into it, going out on my own was one of the best decisions I made in my life. The book, “The Power of Starting Something Stupid“, by Richie Norton goes into these rewards in deep detail, and has lots of motivation to push you towards taking that leap and going out on your own.

It is not a howto book per-se. However, I found the principles taught in the book were a perfect “pep-talk” for reminding me why making decisions others call stupid isn’t worth listing to those distracting me from my goals. In the book, it shows how some of the best ideas and businesses were called “stupid” before they became multi-million (and some times billion) dollar businesses.

If you’re looking for some inspiration to get off your rear and go out on your own, this book shows you why stupid is the new smart. It’s the perfect pep-talk for any aspiring entrepreneur. Go pre-order it now, and check out my GoodReads review! It is scheduled to come out in March.

Wondering About Google+? Do Me a Favor and Go Buy My New Book.

Posted on November 7, 2011 by jessestay

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You may have read some of my posts about Google+ wondering what it is. Or, maybe you’ve tried out the service, and just can’t see the point. Or perhaps you’re even an active user, looking for tips and strategies to improve your presence on Google+. Whatever your situation, could I ask you a favor? Go and buy my latest book, Google+ For Dummies, Portable Edition now.

Google+ For Dummies, just released on Amazon on Friday (and available for the Kindle, too), aims to show anybody, especially typical Facebook users, what they can get from the service. It goes over how to set up your profile, what a “Circle” is, and why you want to circle somebody. If you’ve already joined and just can’t get any activity on the network, have no fear – the book shows you how to overcome that common problem, and how to gain real value from the service.

In the book, I show how to use the various mobile apps for Android and iPhone, as well as the mobile web. I show how to use Google+ Games for networking and as a productive means to build relationships with people you want to network with. I show you what the etiquette is on the service, and why certain things may be considered appropriate and certain things shouldn’t. It is very up to date, and right now the only resource in print showing you how to get going with the service.

The book is currently available on Amazon in both print, and on the Kindle. Both versions are only under $8 – it’s a 140 page easy read chock full of information on Google’s new service. That’s just over the price of a typical value meal at your favorite fast food restaurant!

I rarely sell on this blog, but if you can I’d really appreciate the favor of checking out the book, and leaving a review on Amazon to let me know how it went. Oh, and don’t forget to share this with your friends!

If you’re a blogger and would like to consider doing a review let me know at my email address on this blog – I’ll see what I can do to get you a copy.

Want Your Business in a Dummies Book?

Posted on May 23, 2010 by jessestay

I’m looking for concrete examples of businesses, large and small, that have seen firm success by integrating Facebook either as an application, a Page, or on their own website via Facebook Connect or Facebook Graph API. If you have analytics and statistics to back up your claim, I’d like to get quotes from you on how Facebook’s API has helped your business. The best ones I’ll be including in Facebook Application Development for Dummies.

This is a great opportunity for your business or website, as your brand will be promoted, pushed, and shared with an audience of thousands (wouldn’t it be cool if it were millions?) of readers worldwide, in a brand that is recognized in bookstores everywhere. So if you, or someone you know has a great story to tell about how the Facebook API has helped your business, I’d like to share those case studies with my readers. The best ones I’d like to also try and share on this blog if you’re okay with it. Feel free to share them in the comments if you want everyone to see, or send them to jesse@staynalive.com.

Oh, and and not to show preference, but if anyone has any good contacts at Digg – I really want to see if their integration of Facebook Connect has helped. I think that would be a great example to share – send them my way if you think they might be interested.

This book is a group effort – I hope to include you in many more opportunities like this, so keep reading and subscribing!

I’m On Facebook–Now What??? Now Available for the Kindle – Get Your Copy Today!

Posted on March 23, 2009 by jessestay

Recently when Amazon made their Kindle software available for the iPhone I told Jason and our Publisher Mitchell at HappyAbout that it was time we get our copy in the already strong database of books the Amazon Kindle Store provides. Now, not only would you not have to buy a Kindle to read our book digitally, but you could now take it anywhere with you, in your pocket, along with dozens of other of your favorite books thanks to the portability of the iPhone. This was very appealing to me, as now with just the push of a button you could download our book, read it anywhere you go, bookmark it, select your favorite pages, and more in a nice, easy-to-read digital format.

So I was proud to learn today that you can now go to the Kindle Store, search for “I’m on Facebook”, and with one click, have our book in your pocket or on your Kindle wherever you go. Better yet, it’s the cheapest of all versions, at only $9.56! We save on publishing costs, you get half off the original book price. How’s that for win-win?

If you have an iPhone, you can download the Kindle app by clicking on this link. You can also buy the Kindle 2 on Amazon (affiliate link) and get the full experience. To get the book, just go here, click the “Buy now with 1-click” link, and it will automatically be downloaded to your Kindle the next time you turn it on or open the app on the iPhone. Or, if you were always wanting to see what it was about, try it out for free! There’s a “Send sample now” link on that same page which will send you just a sample so you can see a preview of what you’re purchasing before you buy it.

Oh, and be sure to share this with your Facebook friends!

Twitter API Lead Changes Priorities With New Book

Posted on October 27, 2008 by jessestay

UPDATE: Be sure to see Alex’s comment below for his view on this.

I am a huge fan of Twitter, regardless of what I say or ever complain about. As a developer of Twitter apps, I want to see it succeed. However, I will sound the warning bell when I see things happen that could detrimentally affect the service. A post on his personal blog today by Twitter’s API Lead, Alex Payne, has me concerned. In the post, he announces that he’s writing a book, and ironically, the book has nothing to do with Twitter development.

In the post, Alex announces he’s writing a book on a new, JVM-based language called Scala. He did a presentation on it awhile back at C4, talking about why he was supporting it and why it was a good language. Alex is a smart guy, and it would seem he’s a very appropriate author for such a book, but in his blog post he mentions nothing about what is going to happen with his work at Twitter – what are his priorities after he begins writing this book?

In development for my own site, SocialToo, I’ve dealt quite a bit with Alex, so I know he’s a hard worker. He’s answered my e-mails in the middle of the night, and even over the weekend. He’s always talking to the Twitter development list and lately seems to be doing a great job interacting with developers.

As an author of 2 books, one of them O’Reilly, I’m a bit worried Alex’s priorities may be shifting. Writing a book is no easy task, and especially not an easy task to maintain a full-time job at a very time-consuming startup that still doesn’t have its API squared away. He should expect to spend several weeks in a row, full-time, writing, editing, and re-editing the book. It’s not very easy to write a book in your spare time – he should expect his focus at Twitter to diminish. There’s no avoiding it – that’s why O’Reilly gives authors an advance, so they can support themselves during the time they are writing the book. O’Reilly has tough deadlines to get books to print in time.

So, seeing perhaps the most important player in Twitter’s API development completely shift their focus after posts like this one last week by Alex himself, I can’t help but wonder where the priorities are at Twitter and who’s actually working. Does this mean we’ll never see them open the firehose? As a Twitter developer, I’m truly worried about this announcement.