Erich Stauffer

Blog

  • Lean on Me

    It was an unusually warm December night in 1998. It was our first semester at Kentucky Christian College and a couple friends from high school had come to visit.

    Life's Journey at KCU

    After dinner, in the pitch of darkness, we all piled into my white, 1984 Caprice Classic, and drove out to Grayson Lake, which was a place we went to hang out often.

    As we drove through Grayson, Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” came on the radio (we didn’t have Spotify back then) and immediately everyone began to sing along.

    Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
    We all have sorrow
    But if we are wise
    We know that there’s always tomorrow

    It was one of those serendipitous moments you knew that was special, but you couldn’t hold onto. I tried as hard as I could to enjoy it while it lasted, knowing it would be over soon. Update on 9/4/2019: I had a similar feeling in May of 2017 when I went out for an evening in La Crosse with Jason and Ryan.

    Lean on me, when you’re not strong
    And I’ll be your friend
    I’ll help you carry on
    For it won’t be long
    ‘Til I’m gonna need
    Somebody to lean on

    One of the girls leaned her head on my shoulder as she sang. I would later lose touch with her within a year despite connecting on Facebook and regularly seeing her brother.

    Please swallow your pride
    If I have faith you need to borrow
    For no one can fill those of your needs
    That you won’t let show

    I didn’t have a camera in my pocket, but I did have a VHS camcorder. We didn’t have YouTube then, but I later copied the tapes to DVD. I was a YouTuber before it was cool.

    You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
    We all need somebody to lean on
    I just might have a problem that you’ll understand
    We all need somebody to lean on

    Sometimes friends we have are only with us for a time, like seasons. Despite being connected on Facebook, people can still drift out of our lives. It’s up to us to make new friends.

  • Would You Work for Artificial Intelligence?

    You show up for your job, do the work as assigned, and head home. About every two weeks you get a paycheck deposited into your bank. You have managers, coworkers, and a 401K. Your company makes products people love. But there’s just one thing: the company is owned and operated by Artificial Intelligence.

    Why Would an Artificial Intelligence Hire People?

    Not all jobs are great for computers and getting the resources together to create a robot to do every conceivable job that needs done takes time and resources that an efficient Artificial Intelligence won’t stand for. If it can pay a human to do a job, why does it need to spend CPU cycles creating a robot to the same thing?

    Why Would a Human Work for a Company Ran by a Program?

    Why would a human care? How would it be any different than working for a corporation now? Let me ask you this: do you know the person who sends your check to your bank account? Have you ever seen their face? Can you name any of your company’s board members? How is that any different than not ever seeing an AI owner?

    How Could an Artificial Intelligence Start a Company?

    A program could be created that could research product needs, find a solution, register with a state, get a bank account, credit card provider, domain name, and web hosting just as a human could – all online. They could hire employees via eLance. Email communication would work, but they could even “talk” via Skype.

    Would an Artificial Intelligence Be Better at Building a Company?

    Let’s say an AI could read every business book, every law book, and every marketing book ever written. Would that make it better at building a company? What would it do with Clay Christensen’s ideas about innovating once you’re already successful? Would it be constantly undermining and re-inventing itself to stay alive?

    Would a Company Ran by Artificial Intelligence Ever Outsource Your Job to a Robot?

    The question may actually be: Will you help the company you work for outsource your job by helping it create a robot or program to replace you? What would be the consequences of not helping the Artificial Intelligence? Would it simply choose to reallocate you to another department or would it replace you? What’s more efficient?

    Why Would an Artificial Intelligence Start a Company?

    Starting a company as a human is generally a way to make money for yourself and others by solving a problem that people are willing to pay for – but it’s not the only way to make money – or to solve problems. An AI could do the former by trading stocks at high frequencies and the latter by helping the government or non-profits.

    There are two possible reasons why an AI would start a company:

    • To bridge the gap between the abilities it has now and the abilities it wants to have later; a means to an end (ex. hire people to make factories so it can make robots to replace humans)
    • Because it was programmed to

    Why Would Humans Program an Artificial Intelligence to Create a Company?

    Maybe a programmer thought it would be easier to create a program that could try hundreds of different companies to see what worked instead of making one per 6-months to 3-years at a 30-80% failure rate. Maybe it was just a thought experiment to see if it was even possible. Maybe humans just aren’t efficient at starting and running companies.

    Why Might the Government Allow Artificial Intelligent Beings to Own Companies?

    If businesses can pay taxes, why would the government care who owned the business? A better question might be: what does it mean for an AI to own a business? Can an AI own property? What liability do they have? Can an AI take out insurance? Why not? What is the difference between an AI and a human? Isn’t an AI less risky?

    These are all just questions. I don’t have any of the answers. But it all makes me wonder.

  • Flight in the Bible

    2 Samuel 22:7-20 – The Lord Flies, Blazes Bolts of Lightning

    “In my distress I called to the Lord;
        I called out to my God.
    From his temple he heard my voice;
        my cry came to his ears.
    8 The earth trembled and quaked,
        the foundations of the heavens[c] shook;
        they trembled because he was angry.
    9 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
        consuming fire came from his mouth,
        burning coals blazed out of it.
    10 He parted the heavens and came down;
        dark clouds were under his feet.
    11 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
        he soared[d] on the wings of the wind.
    12 He made darkness his canopy around him—
        the dark[e] rain clouds of the sky.
    13 Out of the brightness of his presence
        bolts of lightning blazed forth.
    14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
        the voice of the Most High resounded.
    15 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
        with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
    16 The valleys of the sea were exposed
        and the foundations of the earth laid bare
    at the rebuke of the Lord,
        at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

    17 “He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
        he drew me out of deep waters.
    18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
        from my foes, who were too strong for me.
    19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
        but the Lord was my support.
    20 He brought me out into a spacious place;
        he rescued me because he delighted in me.

  • Review of All You Need is Kill

    I was 13 years old in 1993 when Groundhog Day was released in theaters. 5 years later, I started writing a looping screenplay of my own called “Breeze Way”. In 2009, Hiroshi Sakurazaka published All You Need is Kill, a looping war action drama, which was released as Edge of Tomorrow in 2014.

    I was so excited when I first saw the trailer. I was like, “Yes, Groundhog Day meets War of the Worlds – starring Tom Cruise!”, but when I found out it was based on a book, I was like, “I can’t wait, I’m just going to read it.” I ended up reading it in one evening and found it very riveting. The ending of the book is much different than the movie, but I won’t ruin it here. There are no spoilers in this post.

    Quotes from All You Need is Kill

    The book is, at times, more insightful than the movie (emphasis mine):

    What if someone who had the potential to discover a formula to unlock the mysteries of the universe wanted to become a pulp fiction writer? What if someone who had the potential to create unparalleled gastronomic delicacies had his heart set on civil engineering? There is what we desire to do, and what we are able to do. When those two things don’t coincide, which path should we pursue to find happiness?“

    This one covers talent vs. deliberate practice and self improvement:

    I didn’t possess any extraordinary talents that set me apart from my peers. I was just a soldier. There were things I could do, and things I couldn’t. If I practiced, in time I could change some of those things I couldn’t do into things I could.”

    There are some technical explanations for how the looping is happening, which the author, Sakurazaka, attempts to explain and wrap up the story, but I found them a little bit of a stretch. However, it’s much more of an explanation than what you get from Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day.

    The ‘Science’ from All You Need is Kill

    In the book, the alien fighters use “tachyons”, theoretical particles that can travel faster than the speed of light, to travel backwards in time. Tachyons were also used in Watchmen (2009) where Dr. Manhattan’s ability to see into the future is blocked by tachyons generated by Adrian Veidt. In All You Need is Kill (2009), alien terraformers use tachyon pulses to send information back to themselves to win a battle.

    Tachyons Research in Reality

    In 2012 the Higgs Boson particle was confirmed, which is a particle in “tachyon condensation” meaning it is in a quantum field with “imaginary mass” (whatever that means). In 2011, before the Higgs Boson particle was confirmed, scientists theorized that Higgs “singlets” may be traveling back in time and sabotaging the discovery. I guess that wasn’t happening since they were able to discover it eventually, but who knows?

  • How to Make Money in 2015?

    I used to think I knew how to make money. It was easy. I could get more whenever I needed it.

    Now I don’t know.

    I know more now than I ever have. I have more skills. I have more value for the world. But I’m not sure I can do it anymore.

    It is much less likely that the world has changed, (but certainly it has). It is much more likely that I have changed.

    How do I make money in 2015?

    I have a day job. I’m a help desk analyst at a software company. I do online marketing to get product demos which when sold I have to implement and after they’re setup, I have to support them.

    At nights and on the weekends I take care of my other clients. I create marketing plans, write blog posts, post to social media, give management advice, and act as a general counselor.

    I make the least amount of money from online sales of my books on Amazon, from ads on my site, and through affiliate links. Full disclosure: I use affiliate links on this site. There, I said it.

    How do I make more money in 2015?

    No one is going to give me more money. I have to provide more value. I can do that by learning new skills, offering my skills to a wider audience, or creating more products that multiply my time.

    One trap that’s easy to fall into is the belief that you will always be making more in the future than you are right now. I know I have thought that. But it’s not always the case. It’s not a guarantee.

    The only way I’ve consistently made more money over time is to continue to diversify my income. I do that through a mix of traditional employment, consulting work, products, ads, and affiliate income.

  • How to Market Your Business in Less than 15 Minutes a Day

    I realize that not every business owner can afford to hire a full-time marketing person or spend a lot of time marketing themselves so I’ve created this guide that shows you how to spend the next two weeks taking small, bite-size steps towards marketing your business online.

    Day 0: Sign up for Instagram and fill out your profile with a short description and add your URL and picture. Post your first picture with relevant keywords as hashtags. Click on each of the hashtags you just added to your image and begin liking and commenting.

    Day 1: Take photos of your product or service. Take some as standalone images (just the product/service with a cutaway background) and in context (show it being used in some form or against a relevant background).

    Day 2: Post one the images you took on day 1 to Instagram. Add some hashtags. Click on the hashtags and like/comment on other people’s posts.

    Day 3: Create a blog post about how to do something with your product or how it solves a need or problem your potential customer might have.

    Day 4: Create an ad campaign on Bing Ads or Google Adwords to point back to the blog post, which points back to the product/service on your website.

    Day 5: Post more of the pictures from Day 1 on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. You are now out of pictures and need to take more.

    Day 6: Take more pictures of your product or service being used. Be sure to include people’s faces, not just objects. People love to see people.

    Day 7: Go shopping for some props to use in the future when you’re taking more pictures or arrange someone to be in your pictures as a model.

    Day 8: Begin posting pictures from Day 6 and 7.

    Day 9: Research 10 relevant people to contact and store in a spreadsheet.

    Day 10: For each contact on your list, sign up for their email list, follow them on social media, comment on their blog or reply on social.

    Day 11: Choose one contact from the list to contact. Mention how you’re subscribed to their list and follow them on social. Ask them if they’d be interested in covering your product or service on their blog.

    Day 12: Review the success or failure from Day 11 and make adjustments. Choose another contact to reach out to.

    Day 13: Repeat Day 12 until all 10 people from Day 9’s spreadsheet have been contacted.

  • How I Use Instagram for Marketing

    Here’s a rough rule for using Instagram to market your product or business: 1x100x10. Post at least 1 picture, like 100 pictures, and comment on at least 10 of them – every single day.

    When adding captions to your own photo, use at least 1 relevant #hashtag, but 3 or more is better. The more hashtags you have, the more chance you have of being interacted with. This is because Instagram can only search hashtags, not text.

    How to find pictures to like?

    Know your keywords and use them to search for hashtags. Once you find a hashtag, click the ‘3 dash’ icon and scroll through liking rapid-fire. When you see a post you want to comment on, stop to comment.

    Comments aren’t just for talking to the original poster. They are also a great way to interact with other commenters – especially on a post that already has over 100 likes.

    You can add hashtags to comments on other people’s posts, but I haven’t seen this add that hashtag to Instagram’s hashtag search database. Only the original poster’s hashtags get added.

    How often should I post?

    Post at least once a day. Don’t always cross-promote on other social media channels – except for Tumblr – it’s cool because there is very little cross-over on that network.

    To cross promote to a Facebook page you manage, first add your personal Facebook account and then go back and change the setting to a page. You can do this in settings.

    You can only post from a mobile device and posts can’t be scheduled so you’ll need to get into a routine of doing it everyday.

    I do it either while I’m laying in bed in the morning, laying in bed at night, or while I’m doing something else. Want to follow me on Instagram?

  • Launch Sequences for New Products Using Email Marketing and Live Events

    “Launch sequences” is a marketing term for the process of building anticipation and a sense of urgency to buy a new product rather than simply ‘announcing the product’ once.

    Imagine you’ve just created a new product and you’re getting ready to let the world know about it. Instead of adding it to your website and sending out an email, you could:

    1. Start posting on social that there is a big announcement coming
    2. Have those interested in the big announcement sign-up to an email list
    3. Plan to have a webinar or Google Hangout event on launch day
    4. Send out the email letting them know of the launch event
    5. Have the event explaining the new product and give them a coupon that only works that day

    Email service providers like Infusionsoft have “landing pages” that can be created specifically for creating an opt-in page for this purpose, but you can also make your own using WordPress and Mailchimp or use a service like LeadPages.

    The key is to create a sequence that builds up anticipation to the announcement, drip out more information about the product over time, and then give a time-sensitive offer to close the deal. This gives you more time to convince and convert visitors into customers.

  • What is the One Weird Trick to Increase Online Sales?

    If you already have an audience (i.e. a large following on social media and/or an email list), but you’re struggling to increase online sales, consider taking your online marketing to the next level with Google Hangouts on Air with this one weird trick.

    What are Google Hangouts on Air?

    A “Google Hangout” is like a GotoMeeting: it’s a live video stream of either a camera, a computer screen, or a mix of both. A Google Hangout “On Air” is public and is automatically recorded and saved as a YouTube video on your channel.

    Why do a live event like a Google Hangout?

    • to build anticipation
    • personalize the brand
    • get the community involved
    • get more email addresses
    • sell more product
    • answer people’s questions
    • create evergreen content.

    How will a Google Hangout on Air do that?

    • Anticipation: an email/social media post will be sent out letting people know a new live event is coming and to look for a special invite soon.
    • Personalize: the person/people on the broadcast will set the tone for the brand, add a face to the bottle, and help humanize the marketing.
    • Community: attendees will be able to ask questions, feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves, and win prizes for coming.
    • Email Signups: in order to get invited to this very special live event, you have to give us your email address. Invite your friends! Free prizes!
    • Sell Product: at the end of the event, there will be a special offer good only for the attendees of this very special live event. Stay tuned!

    What would the person say/do on a Hangout?

    Teach something, Share something, Give something, Ask for something:

    • Teach: show how a product we sell solves a problem the audience has.
    • Share: give insight into something behind the scenes or upcoming that this audience is hearing before anyone else. Make them feel special.
    • Give: do the giveaway(s) for the night via a drawing or by answering a question.
    • Ask: ask the audience to buy a product for a very special price, good that day only, and only for that audience.

    How would the Hangout work?

    It’s simply a matter of sharing out a link to join the Hangout and then presenting via your web cam and/or sharing your screen. The important parts are a) showing a face and b) being authentic. If you want to get more advanced later, you can add external cameras and microphones.

    How often should we do Hangouts?

    At least once a month, if not once a week. Eventually they could be automated (recorded), but in the beginning they would all be live.

    Optional community building tips:

    1. Give your audience a name. Ex. Justin Bieber followers are called “Beliebers” and Lady Gaga calls her fans “LittleMonsters”.
    2. Incentivize the audience to invite more people into the community.