Wal-Mart's mixed marketing message

The other day I wondered about Dell's mixed marketing message. Now it's Wal-Mart's turn.

Traditionally the low price leader, Wal-Mart has been trying to swim upstream -- I mean, move upscale. They want to hold on to their marketing base while attracting upscale consumers shopping for higher-quality goods.

But a confidential report based on interviews with scores of consumers concludes that being the cheapest store in town -- gasp! -- somehow conflicts with what upscale consumers are looking for. The chain's low prices suggest they sell low quality goods, which turns off upscale consumers.

... (T)he report says the chain “is not seen as a smart choice” for clothing, home décor, electronics, prescriptions and groceries, categories the retailer has identified as priorities as it tries to turn around its slipping store sales, a decline likely to be emphasized Friday during Wal-Mart’s shareholder meeting. via NY Times

“The Wal-Mart brand,” says the report, “was not built to inspire people while they shop, hold their hand while they make a high-risk decision or show them how to pull things together.”

On the other hand, Target, with its designer-inspired clothing and furniture, is perceived as the 'new and improved,' while Wal-Mart often feels like the 'old and outdated.'

Are you attracting the wrong kind of customer?

Who's your perfect customer? You don't need to be an FBI profiler to pin down the kind of customer you want.

Now consider: What kind does your marketing actually attract? If there's a disconnect between the two, you have a serious marketing problem. As Seth put it:

"Many of the products and services we use are now about our identity. Many small businesses, for example, won’t hire a coach or a consultant because, 'that’s not the kind of organization we are.' Wineries understand that the pricing of a bottle of wine is more important than its label or the wine inside. Price is the first thing that most people consider when they order or shop for wine. Not because of perceived value, but because of identity."

One of the most fundamental jobs of your marketing communications is to identify and attract the right kind of customers, i.e., the ones who can relate and identify with what you offer.

If your marketing consistently attracts the "wrong" kind of customers, it's past time for a marketing makeover.

What is Dell trying to tell us?

What's happening to Dell? Do they know who their customers are? Their marketing is shattering into a mish-mash of competing messages and brands.

On the one hand Dell is peddling low-end PCs in Wal-Mart stores. On the other hand, they're now selling PCs preloaded with Ubuntu, a flavor of Linux, the open source darling OS.

Can you say incongruency?

Why introduce shoppers to your competition?

So you can show how much better your product is. Saturn is launching a bold marketing initiative this summer. Dealers are bringing in a Toyota Camry and a Honda Accord, so car shoppers can test-drive the competition -- right at the Saturn dealership.

"In that side-by-side comparison, we come out really well," said GM's Mark LaNeve.

Later this year, Chevrolet dealers will be doing the same thing. As those characters in the Guinness TV ads say, "Brilliant!" Reminds me of the old Pepsi Challenge.

Does your product or service flatten the competition in head-to-head competition? Could you set up an on-site comparison test of your own?

Burt's Bees: Simple products, "naturally" profitable

Burt's Bees is a great example of a small, homegrown Maine company that has grown into a giant by keeping things simple: simple products, simple packaging, even a simple marketing message. Founded by a Maine beekeeper and a graphic artist in 1984, the company has become legendary for quality and a down-home image. As the New York Times put it:

"It makes simple products using plain ingredients like milk, honey, beeswax and almond oil, selling them in cheerful, tongue-in-cheek retro packages. It appeals to a diverse audience using a retail distribution system that includes national (drugstore) chains, college bookstores and village gift stores. And it employs seemingly low-key marketing... without preaching a green gospel. This laissez-faire approach inspires word-of-mouth promotion."

Viral marketing: a marketer's dream. And bioy has it worked for Burt's. In the last five years, the company has doubled the number of sales outlets (to 20,000) and quadrupled retail sales (now $250 million). Not bad for a company founded by a couple of hippies.

I'll bet poor Burt, whose bearded face still graces the packages, wishes he still had a piece of the company. But he sold his share in '93, a year before his partner sold the company for $173 million.

Have you been blacklisted?

Getting your company on an e-mail blacklist is easy. Getting off is a lot tougher. As yesterday's New York Times illustrates, it's easy to get labeled a sp^mmer.

"... Even people who follow the rules and do not send unwanted e-mail can find themselves in a jam. (One) company shared its server with some clients, and one of them sent out e-mail that was flagged as sp^m. (The innocent) company was guilty by association, as are many companies that use outside e-mail service providers that offer shared servers."

Certain precautions can reduce your chances of landing on some blacklist. First, make sure your e-mail service provider is a reputable one, committed to eliminating sp^m.

"The company should use outbound sp^m filters, have stringent antisp^m policies in place and be willing to enforce them. The company should also have some sort of deliverability reporting in place so it can tell you how many of your messages get through and are opened by end users. Finally, if you can afford it, try to send e-mail from your own server. Using a shared e-mail server... can be risky."

See article here.

A Field Guide to Freelance Writers, Designers, etc.

Thinking of doing a little freelance writing or graphic design work? Or maybe you're thinking of hiring one.

The Freelance Switch blog has compiled an amusing Guide to Freelancers. It zeros in on 13 common character flaws -- oops, breeds -- the highs and lows associated with each type, and a glimpse into the impact each type has on clients.

Chances are you'll see yourself -- or someone you've hired -- in at least one of them. All except me, of course: the "perfect" freelancer ;-)

Vacations: To unplug? Or just keep plugging?

We all need it. We all know we need it. And every year it seems fewer of us do it. Take vacations, that is.

Only 59 percent of 626 small-business owners polled nationwide said they plan to take at least one week off this year, according to an American Express Small Business Monitor reported in Inc. That's down from an average of 67 percent over the last four years.

And when many go, it's hardly a real getaway. Three-quarters of bosses admitted they'll be checking in at work at least once a day, while 32 percent confessed they'll check in several times a day. Owners worry:

• Service will deteriorate
  
• Employees will make stupid mistakes and poor judgment calls
  
• Employees will just slack off and nothing will get done.
  

Employees, too, shun vacations so they can keep their noses to the grindstone. Even though many say they're burned out, nearly half didn't take all of the vacation days they were entitled to last year, according to a survey conducted by Yahoo Hot Jobs. Top reasons:

• Too much work to do (36 percent),
  
• Too expensive (34 percent)
  
• Saving vacation time for emergencies (32 percent).

What's up with this? Are we addicted to work (or perhaps the goodies that money buys)? Is it ego? You know: "I'm far too important to leave. This whole place would collapse if I weren't there holding it all together!"

Europeans, who routinely get 5-6 weeks holiday per year, seem to have a very different attitude toward work. They laugh at us and think it's foolish to pass up any vacation time.

What about you? What's your attitude toward work? Vacation?

Why marketing hype ultimately fails

Hype is always a temptation when talking or writing about your company or services. Puffing up your features and benefits may seem like a good way to set yourself apart from the competition. But too much hype hurts you in the long run, when people realize that their expectations -- the ones you set with your marketing -- haven’t been met.

The role of marketing is not to jack up a prospect's expectations, but to manage their expectations realistically. We've all seen those breathless sales letters -- online or in print -- that promise the moon but inevitably disappoint. (Here's a very funny spoof of them.) You don't want to be one of those businesses, do you?

Personally, I believe that honesty always trumps hype in the long run. A University of Georgia study confirms that people really notice when they feel worse than they expected to, i.e., when the outcome doesn't quite meet your blue-sky promises.

The moral: Make sure you (or your copywriter) don't set customer expectations so high that you can't meet them. After all, hype might help you close that first sale, but profit comes from renewals, referrals and ongoing purchases. Think about the lifetime value of your customer -- not just the quick buck.

As Guy put it, "It sure looks like 'under promising and over delivering' is the way to go." Amen.

What's your opinion of hype? Has it worked for you?

A search engine -- for products

Maybe your problem isn't attracting more customers. Maybe you've already got plenty. Maybe what you really need is something new, something different to sell to all those customers.

Introducing ProductBlazer, a free search engine designed to help you identify new products and locate wholesale suppliers. According to Inc.:

"ProductBlazer pulls together more than 26,000 innovative products and indexes suppliers' websites, so all those goodies are searchable with a single engine.

The site groups offerings by broad categories (Apparel, Automotive, Electronics, etc.) then each is broken down into subcategories. Click on any link takes you to the supplier's site, with PB active in a top frame. (Remember frames?) You can click "Save Supplier" to note them in your PB account.

The service is free for both retailers and suppliers, who can sign up for a free listing. And yes, it's peppered with AdSense ads, which also compete for attention.

How about you? Where do you find great new products? Or do you always roll your own?

Do you repeat yourself? Do you? Well, do ya?

You should, you know. Everyone is busy, distracted, only half-listening. They're quite likely to miss your marketing message the first time (or two).

Business Week's Michelle Nichols says offering your customer the same information in different ways can help get your message across and close the sale.

Her sales tips (paraphrased by me):

• Listen for repeated complaints from customers. Then zero in on those pain points and how your product or service can solve them. Ignore the other great benefits you deliver -- they're not that important to this customer.
• Repeat your benefits. After you've heard your customer complain several times, it's time to create a pitch that repeats how your proposed solution solves their problem.
• Repeat your prospecting calls. It's more effective to call repeatedly on a smaller, targeted list than to make only one sales call each to a larger audience.
• Encourage repeat customers.
• Repeat and reinforce the benefits that will mean the most to this customer. (Oh, did I already mention that?)
  

Having trouble writing about your business?

"You know the really hard thing about writing? You not only have to think up all the words, you have to put them in the right order."

-- Rick Broida

Topless car wash

Here's one sure way to attract a certain kind of customer: Topless car wash. For a few bucks more, you get a lap dance, too.

The Bubbles 'n' Babes car wash in Brisbane prompted a flood of complaints with a topless car wash for A$55 ($45) and a nude car wash with X-rated lap-dance service for A$100. "If it was approved for a car wash then I can't imagine how we can stop them," Lord Mayor Campbell Newman told a council meeting with worried local lawmakers.

Professional car washes are booming in drought-stricken Australian cities because residents are banned from washing their own cars due to tough water restrictions. Bubbles 'n' Babes uses recycled water to squeak by the regs.

And the best we seem to be able to do here in the US is getting our windshields smeared by a derelict at a stop light -- whether you want him to or not.

F'ree enrollment at MIT?

Well, not quite. But the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has opened the gates of its vaunted curriculum to the masses -- no charge, no registration required. (No degree either, of course.)

MIT OpenCourseWare is an ambitious project to post all MIT courses on the Internet, open to anyone who's interested. A "free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-learners around the world," MIT OCW requires no registration, grants no degrees or certificates, and provides no access to MIT faculty. All it does is open the doors to a great fr'ee education. All you add is time and effort.

Over 1500 courses are already available and more are coming.

Want to to change the direction of your life and career? As a recent New York Times column (written by a former attorney) points out, sometimes all it takes is a single non-credit course.

Sure, you can sit in classrooms for 16+ years, but no one can give you an education. Like Abraham Lincoln, you have to go get it for yourself.

Why work hard?

By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss -- so you can work twelve hours a day.
-Robert Frost

Amazon: Selling music without copy protection

"Online retailer Amazon.com on Wednesday said it plans to launch a digital music store featuring songs without copy protection restrictions." Gasp!

Um, excuse me. Don't they already? They're called CDs. Have you heard of them?

How to fix "meeting hell"

Meetings can be a major bummer.

Maybe you've noticed. Whether it's a cell phone ringing, co-workers whispering, or the guy across the table snoozing, meetings can be a big productivity drag.

In fact, after I first went out on my own, I noticed I was immediately getting twice as much accomplished in half the time. A big factor was my lack of meetings -- especially the ones that seem pointless and disorganized.

What makes so many meetings so distasteful? According to a new study, 27 percent of workers are most irked by disorganized, rambling meetings. 17 percent are most annoyed by peers who interrupt and try to dominate meetings. Other top peeves are furtive Blackberry usage, lack of bathroom breaks and snacks (or the lack of them).

"If you (call) the meeting, organize it, control everyone during the meeting, and make sure the people there aren't wasting their time," said Jeff Resnick, president of Opinion Research USA, which conducted the survey. "If you're asking somebody to participate in a meeting, it has to be, from their perception, worth it to invest the time.

I have a few other suggestions to offer:

• Make sure there's a real reason for the meeting. A lot of routine stuff can be better handled in a memo.
• Post an agenda along with the invitation, so people know what will be covered.
  
• Let participants know what's expected of them (ideas, etc.) in advance.
• Invite only participants who really need to be there. Remember that a one-hour meeting attended by 12 people drains 12 hours of productivity from your team -- not just one hour.
• If the purpose of the meeting is to share information, procedure changes, etc., prepare summaries in advance.
  
• Keep it short! (I've heard of meetings conducted where no one is allowed to sit down. THAT would speed things along!) Short meetings also reduce the need for meals, snacks, bathroom breaks, etc. They also let your team get back to work sooner.
  

What's your take on meetings? Bane or boon?

What you can learn from Toyota's success

Toyota didn't get to be the world's largest auto manufacturer by ignoring the details. Its kaizen (continuous improvement) approach can teach any organization a lot about quality, productivity and taking care of business.

The two main pillars of Toyota’s approach boil down to: 1) respect for people and 2) continuous improvement; constant and never-ending improvement in all areas. So say Peter Paul Roosen and Tatsuya Nakagawa, co-founders of Atomica Creative Group, who sum up Toyota's lessons this way:

• Create manual systems first, then use technology as a tool to assist the process
• Emphasize constant learning
• Eliminate – don’t just reduce waste
• Build quality into everything.
• Create systems to respect and treat partners well
• Work with others but maintain your core competencies
• Chose friends and associates carefully. Associate with people who can help you and that you can help.

The Toyota process is a hybrid of best practices, say Roosen and Nakagawa. No wonder Toyota's latest great outcome has been to become the world’s first mass producer of hybrid automobiles, winning over half the world market.

More at Lifehack

E-commerce is booming (except for downloads)

E-commerce is still booming, says a new Forrester Research study, and the best is still ahead. Online shopping is charging "full steam ahead," according to the study, and is still years away from saturation. Double-digit growth will continue for several more years, says Forrester.

But wait -- that good news doesn't apply to sites selling (or trying to sell) audio and video downloads. Another Forrester study says sites like iTunes that sell movies and TV shows will likely peak this year and then lose popularity as more and more content becomes available on free, ad-supported outlets.

"In the video space, iTunes is just a temporary flash while consumers wait for better ways to get video. They're already coming," said Forrester analyst and study author James McQuivey, who called the paid download video market a "dead end."

Traditional media are making deals left and right to give away more content for free, reports CNet. "The Hollywood-backed film service MovieLink, Wal-Mart Stores' service and Amazon.com's Unbox service are also working against paid services."

So hurry up and get your business online -- unless, of course, you plan to peddle downloads.

Do right by your customers -- and the environment

One "secret" of business success is doing what's best for your customers, even if it's not immediately (or ever) in the best interest of your company.

Nokia has announced an initiative that will benefit users of their mobile phones -- and even green up the planet a bit.

The cell phone maker will soon roll out a series of phone chargers that beep and display an on-screen alert to let you know when the battery is fully charged, so unplug, please. (FWIW, my aging 2100 has always flashed a signal that it's fully charged, but doesn't beep.)

It's a terrific consumer benefit, a potential PR goldmine, and a reason to be loyal to Nokia phones. Nokia says it could save enough electricity to power 85,000 homes annually. (!)

I, for one, didn't realize that battery chargers keep consuming electricity even after the battery is full. (I know lithium ion batteries should be unplugged as soon as they're charged, but that's not for conservation reasons. This kind of consumer benefit could build loyalty to your cell phone manufacturer (even if you don't feel the same way about your cell phone provider).

Can your business do something that benefits consumers and the environment? It's a real opportunity to shine.

Speaking of cynical...

The Fake Steve Jobs blog has a funny/sick bit reacting to the news that iPods may interfere with pacemakers. Fake Steve winks,

"... we're happy about it. We even cranked up the voltage on our new models. Thing is, we really don't want old people using iPods. Ruins the image. Every time I see some elderly person wearing an iPod and power-walking at the mall I just want to scream."

Read it all here.

Campbell's canned food drive: "Cause" for cynicism?

The 15th annual Stamp Out Hunger canned food drive is tomorrow (5/15). The idea is for us to go to the store, buy some canned food, then leave it in our mailboxes tomorrow. About 230,000 USPS letter carriers in more than 10,000 communities will collect donations and haul them to local food banks, where they will be distributed to the needy. More here.

Giving to the less fortunate is a good thing, of course. The food drive is also a good example of "cause" marketing. By aligning your company with a noble cause, you can elevate your image while promoting your brand. Campbell's, for example, is donating a million pounds of food to food banks across the country.

It's a huge event -- last year more than 70 million pounds of food was collected. It may be totally altruistic, but some marketing types see a potential danger. They worry that today's cynical consumers may perceive cause marketing as a mere publicity ploy. After all, it's no coincidence that the sponsor, Campbell's, is one of the largest canned food producers in the world.

Could it be they're doing it just for the bucks?

This idea was briefly explored in a Marketplace Morning Report this morning, but I'd like to hear your take. Comment in the comments, please.

Four mistakes to avoid in your next case study

Many marketing and sales experts believe the case study is the most effective tool in B2B selling. One client tells me the case histories I research and write for them (one per quarter) are by far their sales and business development teams' most effective sales tools, both here and abroad. And why not?

After all, a case study is a customer success story -- and people love stories. A case study (or "case history") basically tells the story of how a customer (preferably represented by an actual executive at the company) faced a certain pain or problem, then solved it using your product or service, along with the measurable results they achieved.

One reason case studies are effective is that they're low-key. They don't beat you over the head with the sales message. Instead of pounding your chest and crowing about how good you are -- the typical sales approach -- a case history quietly demonstrates how you've helped other companies achieve success. What could be more impressive?

A case history puts your customer in the spotlight, instead of yourself. That resonates with other prospective customers, who are really only interested in how you can help them. Demonstrating your customer orientation and focus never hurts.

A good case history has what Hollywood scriptwriters call a "story arc." Instead of "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back," it's "customer has big problem, seeks out solution, heroic company solves the problem, customer and company live happily ever after."

Good case studies follow the most important rule of story-telling: show -- don't just tell. Unfortunately, too many wimp out. They don't tell a story. Or the stories are fake (or they sound fake). Dry and impersonal, they're weighed down with business jargon instead of the drama of overcoming obstacles.

Matthew Stibbe of the "Bad Language" blog sees their main flaws as:

• They are lifeless. You get little sense of person or place.
• They are formulaic: problem, solution, benefits.
• There is no story. No feeling of tension, suspense, progress.
• The results are hard to measure.

I agree. But it doesn't have to be like that.

One approach that's been especially effective for me, especially in longer case studies (2000-2500 words), is to focus the corporate story on one person at the customer company. It might be the head whatever department was most impacted by the problem and helped by the solution. Interview that person. Get actual quotes describing their pain, the needs the solution had to meet, how they implemented the solution, and how it eased the pain.

Don't forget to delve into how they felt about it. A smattering of emotions can dramatically improve a case study. In your interviews, ask questions and make statements like:

• "That must have been a difficult time for you. Tell me about it."
• "What was the mood of your company at the time?"
• "How did your (co-workers/peers/superiors) feel about the (problem/solution)?"
  

Not every corporate executive is willing to share their emotions, of course. Even if they do, it will often get cut or changed during the approval process. But at least you tried.

Personally, I believe even a high-tech company's case study (pdf) can be a story that demonstrates human emotion and drama. See for yourself.

How to get your e-mail opened

The biggest challenge for e-mail newsletters isn't getting people to sign up. It's getting them to open the darn thing when you send it. What can you put in the "Subject" line to get subscribers' attention and motivate them to open and read it?

Dilemma: If it's too "salesy" it's a turn-off. If it's boring, who's going to open it?

Better to bore than to hype, at least according to a new study by e-mail service provider MailChimp, which recently listed the subject lines of the best and worst open rates for clients using their service.

But Rich Brooks of Web design firm flyte new media has some important caveats. He correctly points out there are a bunch of variables NOT mentioned that might make all the difference in the world, among them:

• Size of the mailing list (Big list = lower open rate)
  
• How recipients got on the list in the first place
  
• Sp@mminess of the content
• What's in the "From" line (If it's from your boss, chances are you'll open it.)
• The companies sending the emails.
  

And don't forget other variables like the time and even day the emails are delivered, how often they're sent, and most of all, whether they deliver on their promise when people first subscribed to them? As Rich points out, they may not be getting opened because the senders "have already proven that their email newsletters provide no value to their readers."

Interested? Review Mailchimp's subject lines of the best and worst open rates here and read Rich's reaction here.

So... what makes YOU open -- or delete -- an e-mail newsletter? Have you got a secret formula for getting your e-mail newsletters opened? Please pass along your thoughts in the comments.

If "Web site" is two words, shouldn't "webcast" be, too?

Should "blog" be capitalized? Does the title of a blog go in italics (like a book title) or inside quotation marks (like a magazine article)? Is "login" one word or two?

Are you sure there's no period in Dr Pepper?

Nagging little questions like those can really slow down anyone's writing or editing. But there's an easy-to-use reference book that answers those questions quickly and easily, and helps you write with more authority and confidence.

With over 5,000 A to Z entries, the Associated Press Style Book is one of those indispensable resources for writers of all kinds -- including business people who write proposals and reports. It defines usage, spelling, and grammar, and makes the difficult job of writing a little easier.

It will be reissued (or should that be "re-issued"?) in a new, updated edition in July. If you write or edit anything from a company newsletter to a blog, keep one of these 400-page reference treasures at your elbow. For less than fifteen bucks you'll quickly finds answers that will let you get back to churning out the words. (Oh, and keep you from looking like a doofus.)

Dan Santow thoughtfully listed some AP-approved standards of spelling and usage in his "Word Wise" blog, a portion of which I will shamelessly reproduce below, along with a few parenthetical comments of my own:

• blog
• broadband
• byte
• CD-ROM
• cyberspace, cybercafe, etc. (One word, no hyphen)
• dial-up (So that's where the hyphen went)
• DVD
• e-mail, e-book, e-commerce, e-business, etc. (Yup, still hyphenated after all these years)
• Ethernet
• GIF
• Internet (A proper name, so it's capitalized)
• intranet (A generic term, so it's not)
• iPod
• Java
• JavaScript
• JPEG
• Listserv
• login, logon, logoff (nouns)
• log in, log on, log off (verbs)
• megabyte, megahertz
• podcast
• screenshot
• the Web
• URL
• VoIP (Lower case "o")
• Web-based
• Web log (Two words, although"blog" is one. "Web" always gets an upper-case "W.")
• Web site (Not "website" or "Website." Two words.)
• webcast, webinar, webmaster, webcam, etc. (Only one word. Go figure.)
• Wi-Fi
• World Wide Web
• Yahoo (not Yahoo!, no matter what the Yahoo people say)

Thanks, Dan!

PS: Another favorite of mine is the Wall Street Journal's Guide to Business Style and Usage. Many corporate clients seem more impressed by citing, "This is how the Journal does it." And now I see Amazon is selling used copies of this 2002 gem for as little as $1.50 each. Go get one!

Ignore customers? Game over, Sony

"Pride, politics, and an overabundance of technology can blind you to the simple truth of what consumers want." Thus reads the obituary -- er, article about Sony's Ken Kutaragi in Business 2.0. Kutaragi, the onetime genius behind Sony's videogame consoles, will step down as head of the company's games division, no doubt to be shuttled off to a darkened corner office somewhere.

Stepping down? "Carried out on his shield" is more like it. PlayStation 3 has been bruised, bloodied and bested by little Nintendo and its bestselling Wii. Sure, Sony's technology was superior. But it was slow and expensive and not particularly good at doing its main job: games.

"For Nintendo, the number 3 company in the videogames business, it's a David-vs.-Goliath turnaround. For Kutaragi's team, who ruled the roost of this industry for 12 years, it's a shameful final defeat."

Sony's biggest gaffe? Ignoring what its customers really wanted -- to play games. Instead, as writer Chris Taylor put it,

"Kutaragi was too busy thinking about how to push the company's other technologies. The PS3 was to create a vast installed base for Blu-Ray DVD... but gamers complained that the speed of the Blu-Ray drive was too slow when doing what drives in consoles are supposed to do: load games."

Lesson: Ignore customers at your peril.

Do you work for money -- or happiness?

Tim Ferriss has written a terrific book that explores the imbalance between work and happiness. The 4-Hour Work Week challenges the notion that we have to wait until we're 65 before we can shake off the yoke of work and start enjoying ourselves. For most people, Ferriss writes:

"...the perfect job is the one that takes the least time. The vast majority of people will never find a job that can be an unending source of fulfillment, so that is not the goal here; to free time and automate income is."

I agree that the most important ingredients of happiness are the "holy trinity" of time, income and mobility. Or as Ferriss puts it, "Gold is getting old."

"People don’t want to be millionaires -- they want to experience what they believe only millions can buy."

In other words, the freedom to pursue your passions while you work, essentially, part-time.

Ferriss's solution, briefly, is to extricate yourself from a physical presence in the office, outsource as much of your work as you can, then use the free time to pursue your passions through mini-retirements.

The New Rich… abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: time and mobility.

Ferriss calculates that your dream lifestyle probably costs a lot less than you think. No wonder the book has become an instant Amazon best-seller. (As I write this, it's #7.)

This is the book I wish I'd had with me twenty-five years ago, when my wife and I decided we'd put our quality of life ahead of career advancement. After much soul-searching and research, we decided to take a big risk. Our plan: Locate and buy our "retirement" home first, while we were still young enough to enjoy it, then figure out a way to make a living.

We left Los Angeles and moved all the way across the country to the coast of southern Maine, where we bought a charming old farmhouse on a couple of acres of land. We didn't know a soul in the entire state. I had a modest contract with CBS Radio to write and produce short features, but that was barely enough to live on. We had zero job prospects. But we were both smart and hard-working, and after a few false starts things got rolling.

In the early '80s, of course, we couldn't do it Ferriss's way. There was no Internet, no email, no outsourcing. Heck, a fax machine was an exotic, expensive investment.

Frankly, our lifestyle decision has been a real roller-coaster ride for us, equal parts exhilaration and fear -- but very little boredom. It's been a grand adventure, and neither of us regret it at all.

I remember as a kid hoping I'd never get trapped in a boring, dull life. Boy, did that ever come true!