For the past few weeks we’ve been enjoying unusually hot sunny weather here in the UK, to such an extent that I actually now have a sun tan for the first time in several years !
Last Monday was a holiday here in the UK so I jumped in the car, risked the bank holiday traffic, and drove to Bournemouth.
Wow ! what a beautiful place…. I loved it so much I’m now thinking of moving there !
When I am out and about you might have noticed I have a tendency to park my brain in autopilot and let it wander off.
Well, for the last couple of years one of the things on my to-do list has been to write a book talking about how I see the world and my early experiences growing up.
The things that have made me the person I am today and the main influences in my life.
Being dyslexic it can be quite daunting writing a book and to be honest this embryo book is one of the main reasons that I have ended up with a suntan!
You see I came up with quite a novel way of writing my book. I’ve been using the audio recorder app that I have on my phone. I plug my hands-free kit into my telephone and take a one hour walk down the beach and dictate a chapter of my book.
Next I download the audio recordings to my computer, edit the audio file, cutting out any bits I don’t like. I then send off the audio recording to be transcribed.
I then edit the transcription, tidying up the grammar. Hey presto I have a chapter of my book.
This process seems to be working incredibly well and is enabling me to get 3 chapters completed every week!
I’m hoping to have the book finished by the end of September.
Pattern Interrupt
On Tuesday I celebrated my birthday. Dave took me for a drive in the country, visiting a lovely country pub, having a meal out, and finishing off with a movie.
On the way we stopped at a petrol station (a gas station for those of you in the US) and was totally taken aback !
I was paying for my fuel when I noticed a display in the shop selling of all things, get this, virtual reality headsets!!!
I made a joke to the guy on the checkout saying “I bet you sell loads of those…”
He replied.. “actually yes we sell loads of them, its people who clip their mobile phones into them !!”
This is a pretty good example of what I call “Pattern Interrupt”
Changing the context from what people expect to what they don’t.
It just goes to show that pattern interrupt works incredibly well offline as well as online.
My most successful use of pattern interrupt came from my Affiliate Formula X sales video.
This is a sales video I did in my car and it was very different to my competitors sales videos.
When people watch a sales video they normally expect to either see a PowerPoint slide presentation or a presenter standing in a studio reading a carefully crafted script.
In my Affiliate Formula X video I’m driving along in my car speaking very much off the cuff.
Classic pattern interrupt… As a result this sales video converts at about 7%.
Have a look at the video now 🙂
The Next London Lunch
After much badgering Martin has finally fixed the date for the next London lunch. Friday the 30th of September.
For the first time ever I’m going to be attending with the full team from Sarah staar Business School, Angela who has flown in especially from the USA, Kathy who’s coming from Scotland, Catherine, and possibly Su.
Book your ticket for the London lunch now 🙂
If you’ve never been to the London lunch it’s the ideal place to meet new people in the Internet marketing community.
We all have lunch in the restaurant and then spend the rest of the afternoon and evening chatting in the hotel bar.
The London lunch has a great mix of people. Complete beginners through to Internet millionaires.
Films
War Dogs
I always love films that have an entrepreneurial feel about them. True stories about how somebody made a fortune.
War Dogs is based on a true story about how two ordinary guys ended up as international arms dealers!!
I saw War Dogs with Dave on my birthday and we both really enjoyed it. At times it’s absolutely hilarious. But at other times it can be quite dark.
Overall Dave and I both thoroughly enjoyed the film. This is one I will definitely be getting on Blu-ray.
Books
The Everything Store
This is a book about Amazon.com and how Jeff Bezos Started the company and grew it to be the largest online store in the world, the everything store.
I have to say after reading this book I’m not very impressed with how Amazon treats its staff and competitors. They can be a bit of a bully at times.
The book opened my eyes and has taught me a few lessons in how not to run a company!!
I think Jeff Bezos has been so focused on expanding Amazon, that he doesn’t really care about the collateral damage he has caused along the the way.
Not the best book in the world, but I think I definitely learnt some lessons….
All the best,
Sarah Staar