Aaron Loring Davis

I have reached my quota for HD videos with Vimeo, however I have infact been true to my committment and have been posting them daily to my Facebook profile.  Friend me to follow along :)

http://facebook.com/aaronloringdavis

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I go off on a few tangents in this installment of my 30 day challenge, but the theme of today is to listen to my gut.

So, by the time this video is published, I’ll have resigned from my firm of almost 5 years.  I enjoyed my time there, but it was time for me to move on.  It was a leap of faith, as I do not completely have the future mapped out and I am uncertain as to how the resignation will play out.

But, I must honor myself.  I had a very insightful conversation this morning about just that.  It wasn’t overly lengthy, but the its value was incredibly high.  It boiled down to this – Not being honored by others is OK, because we don’t have control over anyone other than ourselves.  But, when we don’t honor ourselves, that is when the real damage occurs.

So, while I have many many friends from my time at Sotheby’s, it is time to part ways.  Perhaps I’ll get into why on another day, but that isn’t what’s important today.  I hope that they all continue to provide excellent service for their clients and are able to realize incredible success for themselves.  Well,  most of them at least..there are a couple that I hope get fat and lose all their hair.

For me it’s a bit scary.  In fact, as I write this my heart is beating fast.  Having fear of the unknown is normal, I suppose.  But, as I listen to my gut, I know its the right thing to do.  Its a leap of faith in my effort to do right to myself and to do right to those that deserve it.

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In my effort to stop smoking, which I have, I have done my best to stay busy. Industry, or the act of being industrious, seems to be a great tool for focusing the mind on things other than that which I am stopping. Inasmuch, I had trouble getting to sleep for the second night in a row.

But, no time for the meek!

The theme, if there is one, for today is to laugh. To laugh with and at every possible thing I can.

So, thank you so much for tuning in and showing your support. Please stay with me and drop me a line or call me if you feel inclined.

In the video, I talk about not feeling 100% today, but that I’m committed to staying on track. It feels good. So, by the time I am done with my walk, thinking and verbalizing what I am thankful for in my life, and then having a bit of breakfast I’m ready to attack the day. While I do not have quite as much energy as I did yesterday, I certainly have more now than I did when I woke up.

My concern, as I stated in the video, was staying committed to this new ‘morning walk/reflection’ time every morning for 30 days. I am concerned because I know myself, and I know about how many times I’ve started something that I know will be good for me, only to lose steam a week in and quit.

I found this article (http://www.prolificliving.com/blog/2010/08/03/beyond-first-30-days-staying-committed-to-habits/) to have some good advice, whereas the take aways for me are:

1 – Practice firmness and kindness with myself
2 – Let habits build on each other
3 – Reject the notion that I can’t do it, for whatever reason
and 4 (which isn’t listed) to enlist the support of others, which is why I’m sharing in the first place.

So, thanks for helping me along. I really appreciate it!

Do you know of other article or ideas on how best to keep/build momentum in the face of habit changing?

I had this idea yesterday..

What about a site that allow you to pay your rent with your credit card (there are some but they aren’t marketed the way I’m thinking)

Sell the concept on the auspice of being able to reap the rewards from your credit card (frequent flyer miles or whatever rewards).  That’s a ton load of points a year at just a $1,000 monthly rent..probably worth a trip at least a year

Market it on flyertalk.com or other online forums where people are discussing frequent flyer miles and other reward programs
Market it to the developers/owners of big complexes on the auspice of convenience to their tenants

Either one or a hybrid (depending on how the negotiation goes with the landlord prior to their first tenancy) can absorb the fees.

The company providing the service charges a small..really small fee and then automatically pay the bill by check.  We create 30-60 day back flow of funds from fees and then make interest on that too..like amazon.com

Never any inventory + automated deployment of checks = streamlined business with low maintenance

In this economy, I bet lots of people would like/attempt to put their rent on a credit card to defer expense, in addition to getting something out of paying it in the first place.

I have put in calls to friends/colleagues that work in private banks to see what their take is, as I believe this sort of thing would most certainly need to be managed by a bank and not an independent person or company.

Responses from advisers so far have been:

Risk of charge backs
Credit card processing fees make margins to slim or even negative
Red tape and/or legislation

What are you thoughts on this idea?

To reconnect has been great.  Even though I know cool stuff and interesting interactions are always a result, it still always amazes me of what comes from simply reaching out to others.  This past month has been no different.

Among other things, I have been asked what some of the tools I use are..

Here is a short list:

Contacts and Relationships
Gmail – Having a google account is crucial in my opinion to doing any sort of work online (email, calendar, analytics, reader, maps, etc, etc.)
Google Alerts – What are people saying about you, your business, your children…keep tabs on it for free
My website runs on WordPress.  Free with tons of support.
Write a hand written letter to someone. A piece of line paper and an evelope and a stamp.  You might be surprised be the reaction :-)

Money
Paypal – Used for purchases and small payments
Bank of America – Used for Checking and General Savings.  I set up Automatic Bill Pay for most of my bills as they are recurring and to chip away at debt.
ING Orange – Totally online bank I use for savings.  The transfer is automatic from my checking account so I dont even think about it.
Mint – Super smart and easy budgeting.  All online and free.

Travel
Azzurro Travel – The owner will take care of you (unless you mention me and then he might curse your bloody name, spit on his own foot, and hang up on you.)
VRBO - Temporary rentals around the block and around the globe.
Craigslist – Rentals, bikes, carpools, or whatever in nearly every metro on the planet.
CouchSurfing – Find a free place to crash and find folks to help you crash a party.

As with any traveling abroad, have fun, keep your head on a swivel, and steer clear of clowns.

Travel Reference:
Lonely Planet
Wiki Travel
Frommers

Health
UCLA Recreation – Until just recently, I had no idea someone that was not directly affiliated with the university could use the facitiities.  Wrong again, smart guy!  Its even cheaper than most other gyms and has waaaay more stuff.  Gyms, pools, courts..hell…one can even rent a sail boat through them.  I imagine most universities have similar programs.
Exhale Yoga – Great small studio near my home where I like to get on the mat and relax, breathe, and quiet my mind.
Venice Beach Basket Ball – I try to hit the courts every few days.  A short bike ride and I’m there…ocean on one side and crazies on the other.  No other court like it.
Pacific Ocean – Lately, I’ve been swimming a bit more with the warmer weather.  The water is still freezing, but the effects on my mind and body after taking a dip are incredible.  I would find it hard to believe that someone could remain in a stale mood after a dip in the sea.

Interwebz
Aaron Loring Davis – Even if you never do a single thing with it, I feel its a good idea to reserve your name (and your children’s) on the web.  Use Instant Domain Search to quickly find versions of your name that might be available.  Then visit AFMU to register it.

Interweb Reference:
SEOmoz.org – All things Search Engine Optimization and internet marketing
Digital Point Forums – Design, Development, Site Admin, all things internet support forum
Seth Godin – Marketing and Management

Real Estate
Los Angeles MLS Search – See all public listings in Los Angeles and Greater Southern California
Los Angeles Graphic Search and Ratings – Search homes with graphical representation of the city based upon price, safety, and schools.
Sotheby’s Global Luxury Search – Browse high end listings from around the world.

Other ways to stay in touch with me are to:
Subscribe to my blog
Friend me on Facebook
Link to me on Linkedin
Follow me on Twitter
or, for the love of all things easy, call me 310-663-2865

If more time has elapsed since we last spoke than you are comfortable with, please give me a jingle.

Until next time, Seth Godin wrote a pretty profound short blog post (20 second read). I recommend it:  A 5 step plan for just about everyone and everything.

Stay close,

AD

Disclosure – I do not make one red penny off of any of these recommendations.  In the spirit of sharing, if you know of other tools that are free or close to it that you feel other might find useful, please share them in the comments.

I have been working my behind off learning SEO.  I’ve been reading as much as I possibly can about best practices, trends, and black vs grey vs white hat methodology..and a lot of rather technical stuff in between.

I’m no expert and I do not claim to be.

However, I am learning some really cool ways to make a difference for your small business.  Im not talking about the gal that wants to sell things online.  I’m talking about the gal that runs a small business on Main St. and wants to take advantage of the internet as a lead source.

I can hear my father now..”Why on earth would you boot up the computer, log on to the internet, bring up a google screen and search for a hardware store? When you can just look it up in the yellow pages..”

There ain’t no helping him.

But for the rest of us, that love simply recycling, trying to tear, and using their fresh Yellow Pages as a target, we know that the internet, specifically Google, is the place to find relavant information.  And its not only searching amongst e-businesses like Itunes and Amazon, but also where to find the best place to eat or where to fix your car or the address of the hardware store.

I think about my parents and my grandparents.  How did they find a business to patronize? They looked in a directory or yellow pages and they asked a friend for a referral.

Yellow Pages and newspaper classified ads are dying to more relevant and more easily changed web based directories and Craigslist has all but killed the classified revenue stream for the Papers.  In the digital age we live in, it is easier to find a dozen or so reviews on Yelp and Urbanspoon on what is hot and what is not, that easily take the place of the referral from many a moon ago.

So what does all of this mean and why am I talking about it?

It means that if you run a small business, whether a plumbing company or a lingerie shop, in Garner or London, claiming your land online is paramount to your success and longevity.  And you wanna know what’s so cool about it..its damn near free!  (more on that later when I spell out exactly how to do it).

If you own a business or work for one that falls within this sort of criteria, feel free to reach out to me.  I would like to speak with you about how you might be able to rank higher within the search engines.  My advice is free, however I may ask to use your success as a case study in a product I am developing.