Do you ever feel like you

Zappos COO Alfred Lin enlightens us on how to become 37 times more productive in only one year! Can it be? Let’s hear him out:

Make at least one improvement [every day] that makes Zappos better. It sounds daunting, but remember improvements don’t have to be dramatic. Think about what it means to improve just 1% per day and build upon that every single day. Doing so has a dramatic effect and will make us 37x better, not 365% (3.65x) better at the end of the year. Wake up every day and ask yourself not only what is the 1% improvement I can change to make Zappos better, but also what is the 1% improvement I can change to make myself better personally and professionally — because we, Zappos, can’t grow unless we as individual people grow too.

Imagine yourself making 1% changes every day that compounds and will make you and Zappos 37x better by the end of the year. Imagine if every employee at Zappos was doing the same. Imagine how much better you, Zappos and the

I play poker occasionally and the achilles heel of many poker players is that they think they are better than they really are. They

Big picture folks - we are in a bad, vicious, negative economic cycle with no end in sight. I hate to repeat bad news, but we

What if tomorrow I forced you to double your price?

If you sell software, your prices just doubled. If you’re an hourly consultant, your rate just doubled. If you’re a salaried employee, you’re now demanding double your salary.

Ignoring the (understandable) backlash from your existing customers/employer, what would you have to do to justify the new price tag?

• If you’re selling software, would it be best to add new features, or would people perceive more value if it were beautifully designed? Does it need more functionality or fewer bugs? If a customer emails tech support, what response would impress the customer? If a customer comes to you with twenty feature requests, do they get lost in the shuffle or do you proactively contact them quarterly with updates?
• If you’re a consultant, could you command a higher rate if you got certified in some technology, or would you earn more authority writing a quality blog? Should you charge for every email or provide some advice gratis? Should you charge a low rate but milk projects for extra hours or should you be expensive but brutally honest with your time reporting? To maintain contact with your past customers, is it enough to send automated holiday e-cards or should you write a quarterly newsletter with useful tips and ideas?
• If you’re an employee, how could you make yourself indispensable? Is there a project lying around that no one else is taking the initiative on? Is there a way to save money? Is there something you could do above and beyond your job description that would undeniably improve the company?
• If you’re looking for work, should your r

Great results never come easy, right?

Tiny startups will always have shortcomings compared to the big boys.

Three people can’t run 24/7 tech support. A single consultant cannot always answer the phone. Software might have more bugs and fewer features than the competition.

Your customers know it, and you get to hear about it.

“I’m not comfortable buying from a small company; what if six months from now you go out of business?”

“What if I have a problem on Saturday?”

“I tried calling you but got an answering machine — on a Thursday!”

Do you try to hide these shortcomings, or do you turn it into an advantage?

In my experience you can’t hide. Oh you can try, and boy have I gone down that road, carefully selecting my words so that I’m not lying per se but still hiding the fact that I was a one-man software shop.

“We have hundreds of users.”