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A Rock, A Nest, And A Box: Pet Rock, The Million Dollar Business

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Those three things were all Gary Dahl needed to create one of the biggest fads of the century (although there were many others as well). It was called Pet Rock. Have you heard of it? Probably not, and if you have heard of it, you probably don’t have one.

I’m not tricking you. In a span of 2 years, 1.5 million Pet Rocks were sold making Dhal a millionaire. Pet Rock went out of business after that due to a decline in sales, but that’s all it took. A rock, a nest, and a box resulted in millions of sales.

Would you rather create a fad that makes you millions, or would you rather create a product that sticks around but doesn’t make the millions of dollars right away (and the million isn’t guaranteed)?

Bragging Rights And New Products

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When a product first comes out, it has the potential of getting a lot of sales right away. Consumers see the new product, and they want to be the first of their friends to have that product. There’s a commercial about a giveaway for the Playstation 4 that would be awarded to a lucky winner before it came out. If you have heard, “Play the future first” before, then you have probably seen this commercial.

Consumers who get the new product first get to show off the product to everyone they know. The consumer doesn’t have to shout, “Hey! Look at what I got!” Simply seeing that Playstation 4 in someone’s room does the trick. As long as the new product is on display in some way or fashion, friends are going to notice.

The Playstation 4 is going to get old. Friends who once saw the Playstation 4 being displayed are now going to have their own Playstation 4’s. Then Sony will come out with the Playstation 5 or something like that. Then, people will get the Playstation 5, friends will see it on display, and the cycle will continue.

By buying new products, we get to show off what we have. Millions of consumers bought the iPhone 5C and 5S. Those consumers are going to show off their new iPhones to their friends. The conversation might go like this, “Is that an iPhone 4S? Well, I have the 5S.”

Both the iPhone 5C and 5S are going to get old. The people who were boasting about their iPhone 5C’s and 5S’s will have to find something else to show off. By then, the iPhone 6 will have come out, and a new line of consumers will have something to talk about.

Remember when the iPhone 4S was the big thing? You can now get that for free on Apple’s official site. It would only be able to hold 8 GB, but if you want a free iPhone, the 4S is the phone for you. It used to cost a lot. It used to be the one featured in commercials. That no longer happens since it’s become old. Now everyone has an iPhone 4S or a more updated version of the iPhone.

Has it come down to bragging rights? It is a factor, but getting the enhanced product is also a factor. The iPhone 4S came with Siri which made it a big enhancement from the other iPhone devices. The usefulness of Siri can be argued, but Siri was an enhancement. People want something that is going to be better than what they already have. If we didn’t believe in enhancing what we have, we’d be stuck with those big computers that are incredibly slow.

Things do break, and they need to be fixed. That’s another reason why people make changes. However, most of the people who make this kind of change can’t help but say, “Look at what I have.”

When it comes to innovation, making enhancements and fixing what is broken plays a part. However, the reasons for buying a new product go back to bragging rights. If people can brag about your product when they get it, that product will sell. When more people have the same product, less people get to brag about it. That’s when you need to come up with a new product.

You Have It Or You Can Get It

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No one is born with a hammer or a baseball bat in their hand. People aren’t just “born with the talents” that they have. In order for anyone to become talented at something, that person must continuously practice at what that person want to be. Talent doesn’t come natural. There are going to be some stumbles along the way.
If you don’t have a particular talent, and you really want that talent, you can always get that talent. You either have that talent right now, or you can get that talent by practicing.

Are You Prepared For The Holidays?

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Most people do last-minute shopping about a week or so before the holidays. The year is also coming to an end which makes it double crunch time for everyone to get goals accomplished. That’s why there aren’t any sales on the week before Christmas because stores expect consumers ready to buy anyway because the convenience outweighs the price.
Christmas shoppers have this option. Entrepreneurs do not have this option when it involves their businesses. If you aren’t ready for Christmas, you need to start getting ready. Promote some awesome products, and boost that exposure as the holidays come around. Waiting until mid-November or early December to start this is too late. Consumers would have already found someone else, and other entrepreneurs will already be prepared for the holidays at this point.
It’s like the ant and the grasshopper. The ant gathers all of its food before the summer ends while the grasshopper frantically searches for food in the middle of Fall. The grasshopper ends up staying alive, but the grasshopper was able to learn a valuable lesson for the next year. Being the ant requires more consistent work which results in everything getting done faster. Being the grasshopper requires short bursts of energy in crunch time situations. Don’t get crunched. Be consistent and accomplish what you need to get done.

Inputs And Outputs

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The more we put into something, the more we are going to get out of it. The more time we put in our businesses, the more results we are going to see. 30 extra minutes can make a dramatic difference for any business. Extra hours will give you an even better output.
We all want that big output. We all want to get the results we want to see. The problem is that while looking at the output, we forget about the input. Without good  inputs, we can’t get good outputs. The input leads to the output, but not everyone wants to look at it that way.
30 extra minutes has made the difference between 20 followers every day and 100 followers every day. Those 30 extra minutes are eventually going to lead to almost 30,000 extra followers every year. Now the output looks really big, but it’s only because the amount of input got higher. With those extra 30 minutes, I created a bigger output. What can you do with those extra 30 minutes every day?
30 extra minutes every day is going to change your business because it increases your input. The more you increase the input, the more you are going to increase your output. You’re business is ready to evolve and reach all of those dream outputs. All you have to do is give your business a high amount of input.

Take Notes

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I wrote notes in my notebook awhile ago. It was an experiment that I started up in the summer, forgot about, and am now going back to. The previous blog post was inspired by a note that I had taken months ago.

By taking notes, you will be able to retain more knowledge. You will remember what you want to remember, and you will be able to look back at something motivational, memorable, or thought-provoking. I am a big believer of writing in a notebook not just for school, but also for your business.

If you have a notebook, it’s time to take notes. One of your notes can turn into your next blog post, source of motivation, or bestselling product.