OH MY GOODNESS! The summer has flown, the kids are back in school (at least here in Texas), and I seem to have failed to write a single newsletter through the whole summer. Whoops.

I'm happy to report that there's a good reason... I've been busy! During the summer, I designed and built a number of web sites for colleagues and clients and developed an eMarketing Strategy Consulting business. Oh - and continued to speak and work on refining my topic "The Money Is In Your Blind Spot!™"

For those of you who are interested in my speaking, my calendar continues to be reasonably up to date on my web site.

Which leads me back to my topic. Or is it a philosophy? Or is it an approach? A strategy?

You and I are going to explore that together for the next few issues, because this is important -- important to me, and I believe it's important to other people too. Each time I've spoken about this topic, I have seen people getting a deeply thoughtful look in their eyes, and frequently they have come up to me afterward to tell me about their "Blind Spots."

For those of you who might wonder... I am, indeed, writing a book on this topic, and I expect that some of the material I share with you here will also appear in that book.

Let me start with a story...

My first lesson in Blind Spots came in 1980. I was working in my first job in the computer industry, for then-giant Control Data Corporation. I had been on the job for a couple of years, and loved what I was doing. I absorbed new knowledge and skills daily.

In 1980, our group hired a young fellow named Mike. Mike was fresh out of school, all of twenty-one years old. I was much older – I was twenty-eight!

I distinctly remember the day Mike shone a bright light into one of my blindest of Blind Spots, and started me on this journey.

We had been in a meeting, and I was frustrated and fuming.

“Why don’t they get it?” I ranted.

While I didn’t really expect an answer from my young friend, Mike offered the following…

“Steven,” Mike said, “you make intuitive leaps. You go from ‘a’ to ‘h’ without ever touching b, c, d, e, f, or g. And then when you say to people ‘if a, then h” you’re surprised when they don’t get it!”

I stopped stock still in the hallway as if smacked between the eyes by a 2x4. I had been entirely blind to this activity on my part, but Mike had zoomed right in on it.

“And,” Mike continued, “until you go back and figure out steps b through g, you’re going to continue to frustrate yourself and your audience.”

Wow.

Shazam.

Ka-powie.

Talk about an epiphany.

I just assumed that everyone else in the room understood the same things that I did.

This is not to say that I am smarter than or not as smart as anyone else. It’s not about smart.

And it’s not to say that I have more or less knowledge than anyone else. It’s not about quantity of knowledge or experience.

It’s about knowing what I know and recognizing what I don’t know.

The Money Is In Your Blind Spot!™

How does this apply to you?

After that conversation with Mike, all those years ago, I realized that I needed to take a careful look at my assumptions -- those things that I was taking for granted. I'd like to say that I made a miraculous change overnight. But I didn't. I made small improvements in my ability to adjust my mirrors and see into my Blind Spots over time.

That first conversation is fresh in my mind, even after all these years, because a similar Blind Spot came up recently.

I was attending a talk on how to apply Internet and email technology to the small business. Having spent most of my adult life working and playing in the software technology, Internet, and World-Wide Web arenas, I was familiar with much of what was being said. And I am doing a lot of it. But as I looked around the audience, I realized that a significant number of the attendees were saying things like "Wow! That sounds great. But I don't quite understand how to do it."

My first reaction was "It's really pretty easy."

Whoa! When you hear any variation on the phrase "That's easy" you should see flags and flares and hear bells or thunder pealing. Because it means that the speaker has, knowingly or unknowingly, identified a Blind Spot. They've just announced something that they take for granted that might have value for someone else.

In my case, the realization that something that I understand well and do easily might have tremendous value for others.

Y'know what? It's true - within two weeks, I started growing a Web Site Design and Search Engine Optimization and eMarketing Strategy Consulting business. My client list is growing weekly, referrals are coming my way, and revenue is starting to come in nicely.

All because I saw into one of my Blind Spots.

This is not the first time this has happened to and for me, but it's one of the most recent.

In coming months, I will be exploring more Blind Spot examples - both mine and others' - in this newsletter. If you have a good Blind Spot story you'd like to share, please send it along. I will be sure to give you proper credit.

And if you are in need of Web Site Design, Search Engine Optimization, or eMarketing Strategy Consulting, give me a shout - initial consultations are always free, and I encourage you to read the letters of commendation from my clients. You can learn more about this business at http://www.AnotherThought.com.

Adjust your mirrors, look into your blind spots, find new value, and put it to work.

Wishing you health, wealth, and happiness,

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Steven works with entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals who want to clarify their communications and concepts so that they can dramatically increase their business profitability.

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