This is where I am coming from: I am deeply pragmatic and I hate wasting my time.

The older I become the more conscious am I using my own time. And the time of other people.

Podcasts and documentary videos are a mega waste of time. And they are intended for low-value people that are out for being entertained: I hate being entertained by someone else. I never did like it in my lifetime, as far as I can remember.

Sometimes I do entertain other people, but I hate being cheaply entertained by someone else: I don`t go to watch movies at a cinema, I don`t attend soccer games, and I do not have a TV set. I like sermons that show me insights into God and life, but I don`t like it when pastors make jokes from the pulpit. I can appreciate good music from a live band, but I do not like organized cruise ship journeys, and not the hip-hop dancing parties that come with them.

Example: How I Could Have Saved 2.5 Hours Work Time On An Article About A Documentary Video

I recently found a very interesting Youtube channel of Gordon Ramsay. It is all about failures in F&B businesses, and it is worth looking into it if you start an F&B business. I have written an article about one video from Gordon Ramsay`s Youtube channel, (click here).

Writing that article about his documentary video took me six (6) hours of my lifetime. I could have done the same in only 3.5 hours, had Gordon Ramsay`s video been available as a text document. It was not.

So I had to watch the video first: 47 minutes gone.

Then I had to think about it, connecting the dots with what I know about running an F&B business. Half (0.5) an hour gone.

Then I jolted the main points of my article down, referencing them to specific scenes of that documentary. Another half (0.5) an hour gone.

Then I had to watch the video again, matching the main points of my article with the corresponding scenes of Gordon Ramsay`s documentary. Plus, adding further points to my article while watching the video a second time. That meant switching back and forth between my article and Gordon Ramsay`s documentary video.  I could have taken notes when I was watching Gordon Ramsay`s documentary but I did not take these notes because I found it quite compelling to just watch that video. That step took me three (3) hours.  I could have done that in only half (0.5) an hour, had Gordon Ramsay`s video been available as a text document. It was not.

Last step: giving my article a final brush up with respect to grammar, the flow of words, and punctuation. Clarifying complicated chains of thoughts. Plus multiplying it on Facebook and LinkedIn. One hour fifteen minutes (01:15) work time.

Total work time six (6) hours.

I could have done the same in only 3.5 hours, had Gordon Ramsay`s video been available as a text document. It was not.

My article is good, I like it. It helps me to start off my next book, which is about entrepreneur personalities vs. wannabee personalities.

But still. I could have saved 2.5 hours of work time had that video been available as a text document.

Gordon Ramsay`s video is probably available as a text document, just that it is not published.

 

Contrast Example: Jay Abraham – 502 Business Case Studies

This book is a must-read for everyone who does business. There is a CD-ROM available at Amazon (click here).  And there is an entire article series of Dr. Gary North about that book on his website (click here).

This is what Dr. North writes about Jay Abraham`s book “502 Business Case Studies” (click here):

Jay Abraham is a gold mine of ideas for building a small business into a stream of independent income, and then doing it again.

I have worked with Jay for almost 30 years. I have found his ideas to be practical. The amazing thing is that they work just as well for start-up businesses and conglomerates.

The problem with Jay is that he has so many ideas that they overwhelm a newcomer. That’s why I like his book, Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got. You can get him in bite-size chunks.

You can buy a used copy of the book on Amazon for a few dollars. Chapter 1 lets you test drive the book. It was a great promotional idea in 2000. Now, it’s a convenient relic of a long-dead marketing campaign. Take advantage of it.

With this book as background, you will be able to understand Marketing Case Studies much more easily. You will be able to fit each case study into what I call “the Abraham Offensive.” Like a general guiding his staff, he assumes you are not yet a colonel. He assumes you are a buck private. By the time you finish his book, you will be ready for Officer’s Candidate School: Marketing Case Studies.

Fort a free copy of his book, plus a lot of other goodies, click here.

 

Compare Gordon Ramsay with Jay Abraham

So now what do Gordon Ramsay and Jay Abraham have in common? They both know how to make money. They know their businesses well. And they are both driven to communicate that skill to others.

And what is the difference between Gordon Ramsay and Jay Abraham? One difference is that Gordon Ramsay does documentary videos that are intended to entertain others, while Jay Abraham produces materials that others can easily leverage on. Dr. North did so by reducing Jay Abraham`s 502 business case in his book “502 Business Case Studies” down to 115 articles, highlighting the main insights that stem from these business cases (click here). There are now 115 low-cost, high-profit, practical case studies in marketing. These are great models to copy for any business, but especially a small business like a restaurant or a home business.

I have tried to do a similar thing with Gordon Ramsay`s  Youtube channel (click here) but this is not going to be sustainable. There are simply too many of his videos. The oldest one that I found (click here) dates back to October 2009, right after recovery from the Lehman crisis. I have counted more than 1,000 videos on his Youtube channel, which means that he has since then produced every week about two videos. It would be interesting to liaise with Gordon Ramsay and to interview him about what makes a successful restaurant versus a failing restaurant.

One thing is sure: Jay Abraham`s books will still be there in 25 years from now. Gordon Ramsay`s videos will probably still be there, too.

Jay Abraham`s books will still be cited. But who would be interested to view a 35 year old video about bad food and incompetent restaurant owners, be they as spectacular as the might be?

 

This Is What I Learned From My Exercise: No Podcasts Any More. Almost.

I will not do many podcasts in the future, because:

Podcasts are not easy to Retain and to Recall. Something that you have “just heard” has almost zero lasting content a week later. Probably much less, like only 24 hours. A great speech may inspire someone on one idea — two at the most. But if this someone fails to act within 72 hours, he won’t do anything with that information . . . ever. A podcast is a speech and mostly not a great speech, it is never well planned and conceived. It is entertainment, nothing else that for killing time.

Podcasts are Low-Density Content. We all read twice as fast as the fastest talker, probably more like three or four to one. So, the amount of content conveyed in a podcast is about one-third or one-quarter of the amount of content in a corresponding article. I must admit: it is a lot easier for me to do a podcast than writing a crafted article, but a podcast is mostly time wasted for you, the listener. And I find writing an article more enjoyable than just recording a talk with someone. A written article is of high quality, both for you and for me.

Podcasts are meant to be consumed during Low-Value Time. A podcast is OK to fill drive time or time on a train, which is otherwise wasted. But so is listening to the Bible or your favorite music. A podcast is for listening while there is nothing else on. In short, it’s better than dead time. But this is a low-attention time. It is not a serious listening time. It is OK for summarizing simple new material.

Podcasts are inefficient for those who want to review your information. As you have seen with Gordon Ramsay`s video above, if you want to review something then you cannot simply let your eyes skip back as in a written article. You must stop the podcast and move it back. You may skip the place where the information you are looking for begins, so you end up listening to the entire podcast. A well-crafted article has heads and subheads. You can easily spot what you are looking for.

Podcasts are not searchable. Neither macro searchable (by Google) nor micro searchable (with a find function). A podcast cannot be searched by any search engine. It is dead. A written article can be found a week later or a year later.

Podcasts are not easily quotable. I want my ideas quoted verbatim. This takes “copy/paste.” It is a real chore with a podcast. It is almost never done. You know the rule: “When the price is low, more is demanded.” Quoting a written sentence or paragraph is cheap.

Podcasts are not Precise. At all. A writer takes more care with what he writes than a podcast talker takes with every sentence. A writer revises for clarity and accuracy. A podcast is off the cuff.

Podcasts Do Not Allow Underlining I could best see that disadvantage when I wrote my article about Gordon Ramsay`s video. It is a major hassle to write up notes for a podcast or an entertainment video.  If you go through my library you will find many books with underlinings. I am assuming that my readers do the same, and I man writing for my readers.

Podcasts are never cited anywhere. I want my articles cited because I believe that they can change our thinking and our profession.

Please be reminded that it is my calling to produce materials that will help to guide bright young people through the mine fields that the IP profession has.  My webpage is also helpful for seasoned Patent Attorneys and IP lawyers who are looking for ways to save time and increase their productivity, especially by giving their staff proper training.

In other words, I am after serious readers. This is why I do not do podcasts. I can speak as well as I write. But the audience for podcasts is not the audience I want. I want people who pay attention.

I will still continue to record the public talks that I am giving. I usually get them typed afterward, and I use these texts for new articles or even for a chapter or two of a book.

And I will still do a podcast if it is a freebie that leads to a sale. But then my podcasts are carefully structured as sales devices, and they come with calls to action.

But I will not do entertainment, neither in the form of podcasts nor in the form of documentary videos.

 

Call to Non-Action

A podcast is usually a waste of time: mine and the listener’s.

As said above, I try to waste no time: neither mine nor the reader’s.

Do not waste your own time, stop listening to podcasts.

 

Martin”Zero Waste Time” Schweiger