Anyway, other than some flattery on Jane’s part, the interview is pretty interesting and you should check it out.

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I think I come off rather well, although it was interesting thinking about these questions because it made me realize a couple of things:

1. I really love books and haven’t been reading enough of them lately
2. Being interesting is very hard, but incredibly important

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In this case, the data just so happens to be baseball statistics—something I’m obsessive about. So when I found his site, I was like that fat kid in the old Willy Wonka movie—I was seriously freaking out.

I love this idea of something so simple becoming such a huge success with time, skills, and a lot of hard work. I’ve written about Gary and his site before (The Secret to a Good Blog and a Good Business), so make sure to check that out too.

The interview runs a little long, but I recommend you stick with it. There are some good lessons to be learned about ideas, monetization, and some of the sacrifices that come with starting something like this.

How did TBC get off the ground? What prompted you to start the site and do all the work that it required?

I had always been fascinated with the Internet and I grew up a baseball junkie and so it was a marriage made in heaven to combine the Internet and baseball. That, a compulsive urge to keep track of things, and the inability to set reasonable boundaries were the 3 major inputs into the birth of the site.

The site started out as a hobby. I was always a fan of the limitless possibilities of the Internet as a tool for information and research and never thought much about making money on it. Just the idea of putting some code to an html file and seeing my work publicly on the Internet was a rush enough for me. But I’m never happy and so a site with only 2001 MLB stats became a site with 1998-2001 stats and then I added a bit more.

At what point did you realize, “I can make a fair amount of money from this?” Did that change your motivations at all for the site?

At the time, everybody was talking about making money on the Internet and the common misconception was that all you needed to do was put up a web page and the people would come. Of course, that is completely false. With only basic content that could be accessed in numerous other locations on the net, I had nothing additional to offer to the web community and I found that the only way I could get traffic was to post (spam) message boards or newsgroups about the site.

I learned quickly that this goes against Internet etiquette but I found that it would give me a spike in traffic. Getting 50 people a day was a rush but if I wasn’t posting spam, the traffic would drop to zero.

If I had to change anything, it would be that I thought about advertising and revenue way too early in the life cycle of my site. With only a handful of visitors each day, it was the wrong time to focus on ad placement on affiliate advertising but it’s what I was doing. I didn’t respect my visitors and I even had pop-ups and my thought was very short-term.

It was about the time that the search engines started to index my pages and a particular event in the baseball world caused a spike in traffic and a subsequent spike in revenue. Such a simple concept but there it was, right in front of me. Traffic = Revenue.

I can say with all honesty that money was not the initial motivation of the site but it was the justification of the time that I put into it. At first, this was just something that I had to get out. I needed to build a baseball almanac for some reason. The possibility of revenue justified the time that it took.

How did you know (if you did at all) that so many people would want to check out college, minor league, and major league stats, all in one place?

After a few months of stagnant traffic with only Major League stats, I realized that people didn’t need to come to my site since the baseball stats were available almost everywhere else on the Internet. Besides, the media sites that had up-to-date, pitch-to-pitch stats, there were other historical sites that did a much better job than I did. I had to admit that when I was on the net searching for baseball stats, I wouldn’t use my own site. That opened my eyes.

After all, I was a baseball fan and if I didn’t use my own site, why would somebody else?

And so I spent a few hours every day adding historical minor league stats for all current major leaguers and I sat back and said, “There, nobody else has that.” But what really opened my eyes was the feedback. Every now and again, despite the low traffic, somebody would commend me on he fact that I had minor league stats mixed in with the major leagues.

Nobody else had that. And then one day, while in a classroom where I was supposed to be listening intently, I had a vision of a web site that not only included major leaguers, but one that included minor leaguers and their historical stats.

At the time, I didn’t realize it would take off the way it did but I did find it incredibly interesting and I found that I was surfing my site more than I ever had before. Though it was an immense amount of work, I found that traffic was rising every day and so was the revenue.

The feedback gave me some insight into what people wanted to see on the web and I expanded on it a bit more.

What was the hardest part of putting in all the work you put in to the site? Were there other things you felt you neglected during that time? Was it worth it?

The hardest part was justifying the amount of time that I put into the site to my girlfriend at the time (now my wife). Spending almost every waking hour in front of a computer copying stats from a book for a hobby that was earning about 50 cents a day was difficult.

It never felt like a job but the pull to be somewhere else was always there. I neglected my health, eating lots of junk food and I neglected my girlfriend. All of this on top of a full-time job. It was a difficult time but in the end, I would say it was worth it because the extra revenue from the site on top of my current full-time job (not in baseball) allows my family to live a bit more comfortably then if I didn’t have the site.

Thanks Gary for taking the time and if you’re a baseball fan that had never heard of his site…you’re welcome. Also check out my other post on Gary and TBC.

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Those days suck—you know you’re going to be dragging ass all day long and it’s just the beginning.

But I’ve noticed that a lot of the time (not all the time), those are the days that I get the most done. It’s almost like I’m a different person:

• I complain less
• I’m less annoyed
• I waste less time
• I get more done
• Time goes by faster

What’s going on here and what does it have to do with playing golf in the freezing cold?

Playing Golf in the Winter

Over Thanksgiving break, my father-in-law asked me if I wanted to play a round of golf with him, even the temperature was in the low 40s. He convinced me to go and I wound up playing one of the best nine holes of golf I’ve ever played. And I was freezing cold most of the time. Why would I play better when I’m struggling against the cold when I can’t play nearly as well when it’s a balmy 75 degrees out?

Golf is a very mental game, and trying not to overthink what you’re doing and what you want to do is often the hardest part. But I was so preoccupied with the cold and trying to stay warm, that I didn’t have time to worry about keeping my arm tucked, staying level, and giving my knees a little flex.

I just went up there and swung away. And I played much better than I usually do. Here’s proof from a fancy study:

In a 2008 study psychologist Sian L. Beilock of the University of Chicago divided novice and skilled golfers into two groups and instructed them to perform a series of golf putts. The researchers encouraged members of the first group to take their time, whereas they exhorted members of the second group to swing as quick ly as they could. Novice golfers performed less accurately when speed was emphasized, but skilled golfers showed exactly the opposite pattern: they performed best when told to execute quickly and faltered when advised to take their time.

What’s going on there?

Overthinking, That’s What

Both are classic examples of overthinking.

Sometimes we just need to get our heads out of the way to do a good job at something.

Here’s Joe Torre talking about one of his pitchers:

Manager Joe Torre said Schmidt looked a little unsure on the mound.

“He’s thinking about mechanics, and sometimes you over-think that stuff,” Torre said. “The last thing you want to do, whether you’re a pitcher or a hitter, is think about your mechanics when you’re out there.”

Any writer out there knows what this is all about: that’s why pre-writing and shitty first drafts are so important. They help writers get out of the way and get into the flow.

What Can You Do?

Should you stay out late partying every day to become a more efficient/exhausted employee? Sure, it might be fun, but it won’t last.

Instead, try to create controlled distractions that will prevent overthinking without taking you completely out of your game. I would suggest:

• Listening to music
• Watching TV
• Write at coffee shops surrounded by people and noise
• Doing it first thing in the morning—don’t give yourself time to think

It may sound counterproductive to be distracted, but give it a try and you’ll see how much more efficient it is that being hyperfocused on what you’re doing.

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I went to my first wine tasting this year and, while it was pretty fun, my bottom line is that wine is kinda boring.

So why have I been spending the last couple of days watching video after video about wine over on Wine Library TV?

Four words: Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk.

In case you haven’t heard of him, he’s this crazy-intense guy who became famous because he’s passionate about wine, he’s crazy, and he gets is all on video. Here is the video that got me turned onto this guy:

*Thanks to Adam Baker for highlighting this video in his great post on how not to suck at blogging.

Why Passion is So Powerful

After watching the Gary Vaynerchuk video, it’s pretty obvious how passionate this guy is. That’s just how he rolls.

Whenever I see someone this passionate about something, I want to be a part of it.

It’s happened to me before: my friend Andrew got me really into random stuff like Ernest Shackleton, Jobim, Coldplay, and Requiem for a Dream. Andrew was so passionate about them, that I just had to see for myself.

That kind of enthusiasm is contagious.

And Gary’s enthusiasm is so contagious, he’s even gotten some mega-famous people on his show: Jim Cramer and Wayne Gretzky are on two of his videos. How awesome is that?

Even better: his site and the work he’s done around it has gotten him a sweet book deal (Crush It is his latest) and all kinds of speaking opportunities around the country. He is the new Oprah.

Why Should You Care?

Gary has me interested in wine. He has me watching his videos. He has me blogging about what he’s done.

And I could give a crap about wine.

It’s all about the passion. He loves this stuff—everyone can see that. If he wasn’t passionate about it—if he was doing it for the money—he’s probably feel trapped. He wouldn’t want to answer the thousands of emails he answers every day. He would want to shoot an episode about the Jets and leave the wine completely out of it.

But he doesn’t because he absolutely LOVES wine.

Listen to the story of Gary V: make sure there’s passion in what you do.

It will make your life so much easier and so much more fun.

Crush it.

Image by Kyle May

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Steve Prefontaine was one of the greatest long-distance runners of all time. I became a huge fan of his after watching Without Limits and Prefontaine (both very good movies) back in middle school. This was way before I started running in races like the Urbanathlon.

Even if you don’t like running, “Pre” was a very interesting guy that has a lot to teach us.

The Quote

I’m currently training for the 2009 Urbanathlon, and in the middle of a run the other day I started thinking about him. One of my favorite lines from the movie Without Limits happens when he’s explaining to his girlfriend why he’s so good even though he thinks he doesn’t have any talent:

I can endure more pain than anyone you’ve ever met. That’s why I can beat anyone I’ve ever met.

Pre was very quotable like that.

The line has stuck with me for years because it’s how I feel a lot of the time when I run: training makes up for a lot, but being able to endure pain is a huge part of being a successful runner.

If you can withstand the pain, you can beat a lot of other people who can’t.

It’s the same story with our money.

Endurance and Money

Can you endure not going out and spending money all the time? Can you endure driving an old car that doesn’t have all the bells and whistles? Are you OK with living in a smaller home instead of pushing your budget as far as it will go? Can you cook most of of your meals at home instead of going out to eat all the time?

You may not make as much money as other people, but if you can endure this kind of stuff, you’ll be in better financial shape than most other people at the end of the day.

For most things, I can endure the monotony of things like a boring lunch every day. If you can endure monotony and lack of spending, then you’ll be able to save a lot of money.

As Pre would say, if you’re willing to endure more than the next person, you’re going to beat a lot of other people with more talent and more money than yourself.

For all the runners out there, make sure to check out my guest post on the Three Things Running can Teach us About Personal Finance.

Image from BrentSchoonover.com

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It’s 5:30am and I’m tired. I don’t have to go to work until 7:45, but I’m awake anyway. Why? It’s become a habit to get up and write, which I’m doing right now.

Which I’m really proud of, by the way—don’t get me wrong.

Being Tired Sucks

But I’m still tired. As in, really tired. And I’ve been really tired for a long time now. What I’ve noticed is that, by the time 7:30pm rolls around, I’m about ready to crawl into bed and call it a day.

Going out with friends and having some drinks during the week? Ugh.

Yeah, I’m that guy.

A month or so ago, some friends were in from out of town and I was sitting right there in front of them in their hotel room trying to stay awake. Finally, Josh says to me, “You OK?” I was trying to battle the nodding off and I was losing. Right there in front of everyone.

My sister is in from out of town and I’m so tired when we go out after work that I feel like one of those boring people you never want to hang out with because they’re so blah. I’m not blah—but by 7:30 my “blah factor” shoots up.

Why I’m So Tired

I’m directly attributing it to getting up so early in the morning every day. On average, I probably get around 6.5 hours of sleep (and yes, I know, I don’t have a baby yet—we’ll cross that bridge when we absolutely have to). Is that enough sleep?

Apparently not.

Why I Keep Doing It

Productivity, baby! I do it to get things done. Those two hours in the morning are when I get to sit in a quite place and think, brainstorm, and let my imagination roam. No TV, no music, no nothing. Just me and the keyboard and some scraps of paper with ideas jotted down on them.

And the computer waiting to take it all in. Sometimes I’ll write on this site, sometimes I’ll write for other sites. Sometimes I don’t write for anyone but myself.

The point is: I’m sacrificing sleep in order to get all these things done. The question becomes, “is it worth it?”

I don’t have the answer to that, but I haven’t figured out any other way to get all I want to get done done, so I’m going to keep on waking up early and being a little tired later in the day.

For me, right now, it’s worth it. Is it worth it for you?

Image by Raul DS

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The health care debate has set off a huge debate about how this country should deal with the health care of its citizens. But don’t worry, I’m not about to get into the thick of that debate on a personal-finance blog. But I did read something interesting in James Surowiecki’s latest New Yorker article on the health care debate. He starts out the article talking about how people feel about change:

There are times when Americans’ attitude toward health-care reform seems a bit like St. Augustine’s take on chastity: Give it to us, Lord, but not yet. In theory, the public overwhelmingly supports reform—earlier this year, polls showed big majorities in favor of fundamental change. But, when it comes to actually making fundamental change, people go all wobbly. Just about half of all Americans now disapprove of the way the Obama Administration is handling health care.

What happened that caused people to change their minds so drastically and so quickly? Was it all those town-hall meetings that turned ugly? Maybe, but the flip flop in position is the perfect example of how hard it is to get people to change.

Surowiecki goes on:

…the public’s skittishness about overhauling the system also reflects something else: the deep-seated psychological biases that make people resistant to change.

He goes on to quote experiments from Dan Ariely (author of Predicably Irrational, a book I’ve discussed before) on how people value something that they have more than something they don’t have, regardless of whether or not it makes sense.

This can explain our reluctance to change lots of things in our lives: our jobs, our careers, our routines, etc. It even has a name: “the endowment effect.” The thinking is that, while the “current system” might not work very well, at least it works. And trying to change it might be a lot of work—not just to effect the change, but to adjust to the change.

Can you think of something in your life you’d hesitate (or have hesitated) to change because you’d rather keep the status-quo?

Image by Joe Shlabotnik

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Want to know how I downloaded my very first MP3? It was The Devil Goes Down to Georgia, I downloaded it through mIRC, and I played it on my RIO PMP 300 player. Which let you listen to around seven songs at one time before you had to hook it up to your PC and switch the music out.

I know, I’m totally old school.

Downloading an MP3 back then was a real hassle.

Then Napster came along and changed everything. But it wasn’t legal, and a lot of people were still very skeptical. If you were in college, you got it, but everyone else didn’t trust MP3s. They had a “pirate” label attached to them.

Well, now MP3s are a part of our culture and the music industry itself has changed dramatically because of it.

But it had little to do with the MP3. It’s all Apple’s fault.

Apple Killed the Radio Star

I remember when I told people about my MP3 player and how I got music on it: they weren’t impressed. And for the longest time, I didn’t think MP3s would ever hit the mainstream.

Then iTunes came along and changed the whole game.

iTunes made it so anyone, and I mean anyone, could easily download music, pay for it, and listen to it on their computer/iPod in a way that was legal and cool.

All it cost you was a buck.

That was no small feat.

What Can We Learn From Apple?

I was thinking about all of this after reading this post on Apple and it hit me that what they did wasn’t terribly creative. They took an existing idea and made it better.

The thing is, they made it much better.

I spend a lot of time trying to come up with brand new ideas that no one else has come up with before. It’s really hard to do and it takes its toll. But what Apple proved with iTunes is that creating a better way to do something that’s already out there can be just as valuable. It’s not always about new and fresh, it’s about more efficient and better.

Look around your job/life and see if you can’t take an existing process or task and make it better. Or look at your budget and see if you can make it more efficient somehow.

Better doesn’t always have to be new or creative, but it can make a world of difference.

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So when a friend of mine decided to launch a new venture without quitting his job, I was intrigued. I love hearing stories about how an idea came to be and how they managed to get all the work done behind the scenes.

My friend, we’ll call him C, started a website called Recipe Comparison. What it does is let you compare recipes from different big-time sites like The Food Network and Epicurious to see what differences exist and what makes them unique.

It’s a pretty cool idea. M and I aren’t chefs, but we do like to cook—so this site can come in pretty handy.

Anyway, I decided to interview my friend so he can shed some light on all the work that was done behind the scenes. A lot of you bloggers out there will see some similarities between what his model (and the time he puts into his site):

Q. How did you get the idea for the site?

Q. You mentioned to me that you did several things to cut costs on this endeavor, can you talk about some of those and how much you saved?

Well, that’s it. He’s done some pretty interesting stuff in terms of preparing for a sale from the very beginning and doing a lot of the work himself, but the time spent on has obviously been very high. This is where it helps that C is passionate about cooking and so it doesn’t feel like a job, it’s more like a passion.

Make sure you check out RecipeComparison and play around a little bit with the site. And I want to thank C for answering my questions so thoroughly.

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