Paul Lemberg

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Small Changes = Big Profits Part 2

People say, “knowledge is profit.”

It isn’t, and I can prove it.

Everyone knows someone who has a PhD or a monster-sized IQ and can’t earn a dime, because it’s not what you know but what you do with it.

So why don’t most people do MORE with what they know?

Because it’s too hard…

Or it’s too complicated…

Or they don’t have the time to get it right.

Which brings us back to making small, easy changes.

Here are a few more case studies of companies that took some very simple ideas and turned them into giant-sized profits.

Watch and profit, and leave your comments and questions on the blog below.

Comments

  2. Hi Paul,

    Do you have a list of all the changes that can be made and the different areas that they can be changed anywhere? I heard about a Blueprints to Profits course, but can’t seem to find any info on it.

    Chris

    Reply

  3. The only sad thing with that is, that you could delete or not catch a very crucial and important piece of a information that unfortunately won’t be coming back your way…sometimes timing is everything.

    In fact I do believe in one of your Formula 5 Modules that you actually teach that…

    Something like if you have an idea or one comes your way to act on it immediately… Perhaps I am wrong?

    Reply

    • Hi Karin – Not sure why you’re not hearing it, but I’m guessing it may be some tech on your side. Several thousand people have viewed the videos and I assume they’re all hearing the audio.

      Reply

  5. Hi Paul,

    Thanks for the reminders about Kaizen (gradual improvements / tacticals & the work of Deming and Imai). According to the Japanese, we should spend 80% of our time in Kaizen mode.

    Strategics (Major new projects, and massive radical change) is a 20% effort and the domain of Juran.

    I think Americans get it backwards sometimes. We get stuck by fire-fighting in the project / urgent mode and forget the tacticals.

    Separating the domains, prioritizing, and building a solutions list and a problems list are key. Working on tacticals is critical to prevent backsliding on strategics.

    Thanks,
    Bryce

    Reply

  6. Hi Paul,

    I hate the tyranny of the email box as well. I have gotten more vicious with the delete button but I think scheduling particular times is even more effective.

    I would appreciate hearing more about pricing points. That is one of the more difficult things to figure out.

    Thanks for sharing your valuable insights.

    Reply

    • Stew, I always figure that if I accidentally delete something that was important, it will come back to me. ”

      When in doubt, cut it out.” -pl

      Reply

  8. Another effective video Paul… Email is one of my distractions, but non business distractions are growing an ever increasing rate, the time to do any work at all is becoming increasingly hard to find!

    Reply

  9. Great tips Paul.

    I’m committing to:

    – Check email once per hour (or less!)

    – Raise the price on a new course I’m developing. I’ve been struggling with pricing for a few weeks, feeling that I need to lower the price to attract more students. But, I also feel that lowering the price “discounts” my experience and may make people feel that the course won’t have valuable content due to the low price.

    Thanks for the case study about raising prices – perfect timing for me!

    Reply

  10. Hi Paul,
    Great video…. Inspired me to buy ‘Be Unreasonable’ (You sly marketing fox! 🙂 ).
    Fantastic book… Just the intro was enough to kick me up the rear and realise I needed to stop trying to perfect things and just get on with ‘it’.

    I will now follow my inspiration/instinct rather than towing-the-line and move forward without following the normal (safe) route… That said, I am off to get on with some ‘doing’. OooRah.

    Thanks.
    Forever Ronin

    Reply

  11. I have a particular sensitivity to the ‘Email Slave’ segment. It is unfortunate that I have opted into so many lists – so many sources of valuable information [many of which are free]. Albeit at the end of an intentional process, I have literally become beholden to my Inbox. I will soon unsubscribe from many such lists so as to have ANY time to use productively . . . no exaggeration.

    Paul, you are one of the few that exercise sensibility with respect to the frequency of your communications and the consistent quality of content you provide – justifying our continued attention and appreciation for you and your shared wisdom. As opposed to being perpetually intrusive, you literally make yourself part of the solution. Inasmuch, I cannot envision the day I would consider unsubscribing from your list. I appreciate the fact that I am on it.

    Thank you, as always.

    Reply

    • Glenn, You’re welcome. In the spirit of full disclosure, we are on the verge of bringing a new product to market, and may step up our frequency for a time. I’m pretty sure you’ll continue to find it helpful. –pl

      Reply

      • Oh yes, I do understand. History would suggest that what you choose to do and how you choose to do it will be anything but intrusive, unless of course one considers an endearing handshake to be so.

        Keep up the great work.

        Reply

  12. Hi Paul,

    I read something in Fast Company a few weeks ago that absolutely changed the way I deal with email, both work and personal email. When you go to your regular mailbox at home, do you leave mail behind in the mailbox so you can “deal” with it later? Of course not, you grab all the mail out of the box, and take your mail into the house to deal with it. So why don’t we do that with our email too?

    Using the suggestions in the article, I began emptying my email inbox the moment I saw there was mail in it. Junk gets deleted immediately. I created three folders — one is To Do for things that must be done. Two is waiting on — things that you’ve either done or have delegated and can’t act on until someone else does something. The third is reference. Things you know you’ll need to refer to in the future but don’t belong in your waiting on folder. The trick is to keep going to the To Do box two or three times a day to make sure you’re working on what you need to be doing and the Waiting On box once a day, to make sure other things are progressing.

    I can’t tell you how WONDERFUL it feels to be greeted by an empty In Box, knowing that everything is still getting taken care of. Totally changed my work life!

    Laura

    Reply

  14. cool Paul, im such a big believer in these small changes, i slow;y did stuff like this before and it made such a big difference, keep up the good info.

    Thanks
    Dean

    Reply

  15. Hi Paul,
    I admit I am an email slave, so I turned off auto-loading and the audible sound, this is going to make me more productive. This is probably something that many “suffer with”

    Reply

    • Abraham, here’s the thing. It seems like a simple thing, a little icon pops up or the chime sounds. What happens is that it totally takes you off whatever track you were on. It’s not the 30 seconds to check, it’s the 30 minutes it takes some folks to get refocused. –pl

      Reply

  16. Thanks Paul, great mini case studies. It has inspired me to do three things;

    1) Only check my email 3 time a day
    2) Up my prices
    3) Implement a better guarantee

    Lets see if these three small things make a difference.

    Reply

    • Nick, get going on ALL THREE(!) of these and you’re business will rock. Stay tuned for some real detailed information on some of this soon. –pl

      Reply

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