Some links may be affiliate links. I may earn money if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these links on this site.

Rob Knowlan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

New Year, New Direction

Well, 2017 was a tremendously uncomfortable comfort zone for me. It’s funny how you get caught up in the grind. It’s like being dragged along in the current on a lazy river ride. You might want to stop a moment and take a closer look at the decorations. You might want to take the fork in the ride that loops around near the snack bar. You might just want to get away from somebody’s screaming kids. In any case, you’ve got to paddle like heck to foil the current. It just drags you where it wants to go, which is essentially nowhere. Round and round you go. You see the same sights. You dodge the little waterfalls and the screaming kids as best you can, but you’re just floating where the current is designed to take you.

Pulling out all the stops

Well, the New Year is a perfect opportunity to start paddling like crazy and redirect myself onto the other loop. I’m heading for the snack bar. I’ve got definite plans for 2018 that I’ve been working on feverishly over the last few weeks.

I’ve finished my Christmas content for the season. Articles will continue to drip out automagically until Epiphany. I’ll be starting much earlier this year so that I’m not under the gun like I was last time around.

I’m finishing up three weeks worth of autoresponder messages for the site I’ve created for my upcoming course on how to start a profitable niche site. The next step after that is to create a collection of video articles that will drive traffic to my squeeze page. Once those are complete, it’s on to the next site. That one’s going to be a doozy!

Some More Rules

Rule #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the Hell out of your enemies

Given the cutthroat nature of Ferengi commerce, it stands to reason that any Ferengi would expect any other Ferengi to be working on an angle to cut them out of the market. Exploitation and greed reign supreme. So, when you suddenly change tack and start treating your competitor as a friend it will definitely confuse the sudden recipient of your kindness. Related to this rule is Rule 48: The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife. Of course, every Ferengi worth his Latinum knows both of these rules and will be on their guard.

Rule #77: If you break it, I’ll charge you for it!

Fair enough.

Rule #78: Not yet cited in Star Trek episodes, movies or novels

Comfort is the enemy of achievement

Oh, how true that is. Comfort zones are a stifling blanket that lull you to sleep and smother your ambitions. It’s fine to find your happy place, but make sure to allow time for adventure, danger and challenge. Only by stretching our boundaries can we grow into the awesome people we were born to be.

Rule #79: Beware of the Vulcan greed for knowledge

The Vulcans are another race in the Star Trek universe who revere logic the way that the Ferengi revere greed. Because they have learned to master their volatile, emotional nature through the embrace of logic, the urges that they experience needed to be redirected in other ways. As a contemplative, logical society, the Vulcans became voraciously inquisitive. Their desire for knowledge is every bit as compelling as the Ferengis’ desire for gold pressed Latinum.

Rule #80-81: Not yet cited in Star Trek episodes, movies or novels

Here are some that caught my eye:

The best time for new beginnings is now

This is particularly apropos for the New Year, but it is good advice at any time. Along with that:

It’s never too late to be what you might have been

and

If you want something you’ve never had

You have to do something you’ve never done

There are some we can really sink our teeth into. Every day, whether it’s New Year’s Day or some humdrum day in any humdrum month, is a new opportunity to change your entire life. All you have to do is make a decision. It doesn’t have to be a big decision. Just figure out where you want to go and start by taking one step in that direction. As you take subsequent steps toward your goal, you’ll find that the road becomes more and more like a highway to your destination.

Rule #82: The flimsier the product, the higher the price

This is just naughty, but it makes complete sense. If your product is lacking in value, you can create value by jacking up the price and making it look prestigious. If you can wrap your crap with a convincing story, stir up some buzz and polish it with a veneer of exclusivity you can justify charging exorbitant prices for something nobody in their right mind would give you a plug nickel for. As the saying goes, “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.”

Rule #83-84: Not yet cited in Star Trek episodes, movies or novels

In order to understand my interpretation of the next Rule of Acquisition, you’ll need to catch up on some jargon. Particularly, Blue Ocean Strategy and Red Ocean Strategy. These terms were coined by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne in 2005.

Red Ocean Strategy is the traditional understanding of commerce and competition. It’s the cut-throat, dog eat dog way of thinking that is typically associated with business. There are fixed boundaries and companies struggle for market domination. The market volatility is like having blood in the water and the corporations are hungry sharks ready to frenzy-feed on whatever gets in their way.

Blue Ocean Strategy, on the other hand, is a way of creating new market space that is uncontested and therefore makes competition irrelevant.

For instance, weight loss is a highly competitive market with some clearly dominant players. Weight loss for women is more specific but still represents a Red Ocean. However, teaching middle-aged women with office jobs how to shed pounds before their wedding is very specific and creates an entirely new niche market for which you will not be seeing competition any time soon.

Rule #85: Never let the competition know what you’re thinking

The Ferengi are extremely Red Ocean in their approach to business. Even in a wide-open market, they will take the approach of trying to establish a monopoly and jealously guard every aspect of trade and commerce in that venue. This was demonstrated in the episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled False Profits. Two Ferengi who were stranded on the far side of the galaxy due to their hubris and scheming in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation titled The Price, had taken control of a primitive society and were using their high technology and some coincidences surrounding their arrival to live as revered mythical figures.

If you follow Blue Ocean thinking, competition is meaningless. Rather than being competitors, other participants in the market become potential partners. Because you are serving a specific portion of the marketplace or serving in a very specific way, you don’t need to jockey for position and nibble away at other folks’ slice of the pie. You can come right out and tell your “competition” what you’re thinking and collaborate for mutual gain.

You’d think that a culture obsessed with commerce would have figured this out, but the Ferengi were designed by the writers of Star Trek to be grasping, greedy and comically flawed. Fortunately, we in the real world know better. Enlightened self-interest involves collaboration rather than competition.

---

Stay tuned for further details. I’ll be making some changes on this site as projects reach their completion.