#14/111: The Wizard of Menlo Park

What is it about?

Thomas A. Edison – the inventor of the modern world! Really? Randall Stross investigates Edison’s story and tries to find the real Edison. He doesn’t talk so much about the technical achievements, he rather focuses on Edison’s self-marketing. Showing how Edison exaggerated, told lies and played with the media.

Key points?

Famous doesn’t mean profitable: Edison got famous while working on the first version of the phonograph. But it took him four years for the first commercial version and another 20 years for the improved one.

It’s not about you: Edison’s life and business was about Edison. He wanted that the phonograph was used as a dictating machine. But the customers wanted to use his machine for music because its dictating abilities were pretty poor. It didn’t interest Edison, he was too pigheaded to commit himself to his customers.

Don’t try to control everything: Moreover it did not stop there. Henry Ford called Thomas Edison “the world’s worst business man” but it didn’t bother Edison. Also, there were so many opportunities which were missed. Furthermore, he had big problems operating his companies efficiently. While building his first power grid he needed about $30,000 per square mile to install the power lines, while his competitions only needed about $500.

Look into new fields: Edison worked in lots of businesses. From providing electricity to mining. He immersed in different fields which helped to stabilize his aura as the inventor of the modern world.

Conclusion

The stories are highly interesting because you see how he failed (See: Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur) and you’ll learn about his most remarkable move: He built a strong relationship with important journalists how praised him continuously. He knew how to market himself.

In conclusion, Edison didn’t invent the light, but he did invent personal branding for business people.

Yes, well done!

yet another waterdrop by paxflickr

Imagine: There’s a strange new game. Every participant earns ten million dollars per month. The only requirement is that they have go working. You are attending this game. Which profession will you choose?

Yes, this is a variation of the famous one billion dollar question. But is this enough? I don’t think so.

Maybe people decide to get any work because they are rich. They don’t care whether they like it or not. Maybe they won’t change their jobs because they want continue working with their colleagues.
But if I change this game and remove this requirement what will happen now?
Some people will continue working others won’t.

Yes, there are people who can live happily without their dream job because their dream is not about their job rather their private life.
I think that there are two extreme parts. People who live their complete life for their job and people who live their complete life for their private life.

I think it’s important that you have goals in your life. It doesn’t depend if they are vocational or private.

It is important that you can look back and say “Yes, well done!”

Your life in bytes

saturated writing by tnarik

Grandma blogs. Your neighbor blogs. A cat blogs. But why should someone blog?
To be hip? Perhaps. To tell wisdoms? Maybe. To make money? Sometimes.
Firstly, there are various kinds of blogs. I distinguish them approximately in private and cooperate blogs. I want to talk about private blogs.

People talk about their pets, work, private life or hobby. But why should they blog about it?
If you go to your local bookshop (or an online one) you’ll find always one book for nearly every topic imaginable.
OK, books aren’t that topical as blogs. But books offers mostly more information.
If it’s not about raw information then it’s maybe about personal stories. Maybe you’re interested in the life of a Second Officer or an marketing specialist. Is this the key to the why?
So, I asked me: “Sure some people are interested in the life of an marketing specialist but not in this of Average Joe.”. Would you buy a book titled “My Life As A Normal Guy“? Maybe not. People want something special, they want things they don’t have or they dreaming about. Remember Hollywood?

Thus, should you blog? Yes, you haven’t to become one a pro bloggers with 250k readers. Tell your story. Even if nobody will read it, it’s your own small biography.

Stop crying, start working!

man hard at work by tearbear

You’ve lost your job? You are failing in School?
Stop crying! Start working!

In the long-run, self-pity never helped anyone. In my opinion, it’s worsening the situation. If you act pessimistically people will refrain from you. Why? Most people have enough problems for themselves. They don’t want to bear your problems, too.
At the moment you may think of all the bad that have befallen you. You may decided that you have to wait. You have to think about your problems and why they have happened. You have to.

I can’t and I won’t force you to change your situation. I can only give you some advice and I think that the future is more important than the past. You can change your future every second. This isn’t possible with the past. The future gives us the opportunity to improve our life.

I think that one can achieve everything that she/he wants. It’s one of my principles. Believe in yourself.

Stop crying, start working!