Read Online The Six-Figure Second Income: How to Start and Grow a Successful Online Business Without Quitting Your Day Job by David Lindahl, Jonathan Rozek - Free Book Online
Authors: David Lindahl, Jonathan Rozek
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MindManager software program from www.mindjet.com.
It’s not free or even cheap software but is quite useful. It wil create not only outlines but
mind maps. Those are graphical maps of information, which can also contain pictures,
web pages, and other content.
I use the MindManager tool to organize my thoughts about a project, but then I usual y
move to Microsoft Word to create the detailed outline from which I write. (This book is
the result of just that process, by the way.)
Now that we’ve covered the standard way of getting content—writing it down—let’s
look at other excel ent methods.
Method Two: Have a Conversation
I unscientifical y estimate that a minority of people find it easy to sit down and write, but
that most people have no trouble carrying on a conversation. If you’re in that latter group
and not the former, do not consider it a handicap at al .
It’s my recommendation to go out and buy a digital audio recorder. My favorite is the
Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder. It’s about a hundred bucks, though you can get
other models and brands for significantly less or more money. You don’t need lots of
features but you do need good sound quality.
I like this Olympus model because it’s smal , holds many hours of recordings, has very
good sound quality, and the controls are intuitive. It also runs on readily available AAA
batteries.
Another option is to record on the phone. I real y like my Plantronics Encore H91N
Monaural Headset with Noise Canceling Microphone, which attaches to a Plantronics
MX-10 Amplifier. Headsets are wonderful for when you’re at the computer and talking
with someone. This particular setup al ows me to raise or lower the volume and also to
mute someone. I can plug the Olympus recorder right into the amplifier and capture
everything said on the cal . I’ve recorded hundreds of hours of phone conversations that
way and turned them into info products.
You can just put the recorder on the table and talk away. If you’re comfortable simply
talking out loud to yourself, that’s great. It’s often more comfortable to have a true
conversation with someone on the phone. If that person knows something about the area
you’re going to focus on, that’s al the more content you’l be capturing, but let’s assume
that only you know about the topic. I suggest you create a short list of topics you want to
talk about and just dive in.
As with the writing process, do not censor yourself in the conversation. You’re merely
getting al that content out into the open. If you need to restate something better, then do
it. You may end up cutting out whole sections of what you said and that’s fine. Just try to
get on a rol and let your thoughts roam over the topic.
If you find your first attempt less than satisfactory, don’t give up. Remember that you’re
experimenting with the best way to generate content and it may take weeks or even
months of trying different methods to find one that feels just right.
If you’re fol owing this spoken-conversation route, also experiment with different
conversation partners. Some people have a way of engaging and asking questions
that’s far more productive than other people who might as wel be potted plants.
You have three options for taking that recorded content and making it usable.
First, you can simply listen to it and write down the sections you find the most helpful.
I’m not a fan of that method but you may be.
Second, you can use a tool like Dragon Natural y Speaking to have the computer
transcribe your words. Speech-recognition software seems to be getting better by the
month. What formerly was a pretty cumbersome and inaccurate process of using
software to create transcripts has now become fairly workable. With the recent
generation of software, the more you train it to understand your voice the more accurate
it becomes.
Third, you can hire a person or company to create a transcript of your
It’s not free or even cheap software but is quite useful. It wil create not only outlines but
mind maps. Those are graphical maps of information, which can also contain pictures,
web pages, and other content.
I use the MindManager tool to organize my thoughts about a project, but then I usual y
move to Microsoft Word to create the detailed outline from which I write. (This book is
the result of just that process, by the way.)
Now that we’ve covered the standard way of getting content—writing it down—let’s
look at other excel ent methods.
Method Two: Have a Conversation
I unscientifical y estimate that a minority of people find it easy to sit down and write, but
that most people have no trouble carrying on a conversation. If you’re in that latter group
and not the former, do not consider it a handicap at al .
It’s my recommendation to go out and buy a digital audio recorder. My favorite is the
Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder. It’s about a hundred bucks, though you can get
other models and brands for significantly less or more money. You don’t need lots of
features but you do need good sound quality.
I like this Olympus model because it’s smal , holds many hours of recordings, has very
good sound quality, and the controls are intuitive. It also runs on readily available AAA
batteries.
Another option is to record on the phone. I real y like my Plantronics Encore H91N
Monaural Headset with Noise Canceling Microphone, which attaches to a Plantronics
MX-10 Amplifier. Headsets are wonderful for when you’re at the computer and talking
with someone. This particular setup al ows me to raise or lower the volume and also to
mute someone. I can plug the Olympus recorder right into the amplifier and capture
everything said on the cal . I’ve recorded hundreds of hours of phone conversations that
way and turned them into info products.
You can just put the recorder on the table and talk away. If you’re comfortable simply
talking out loud to yourself, that’s great. It’s often more comfortable to have a true
conversation with someone on the phone. If that person knows something about the area
you’re going to focus on, that’s al the more content you’l be capturing, but let’s assume
that only you know about the topic. I suggest you create a short list of topics you want to
talk about and just dive in.
As with the writing process, do not censor yourself in the conversation. You’re merely
getting al that content out into the open. If you need to restate something better, then do
it. You may end up cutting out whole sections of what you said and that’s fine. Just try to
get on a rol and let your thoughts roam over the topic.
If you find your first attempt less than satisfactory, don’t give up. Remember that you’re
experimenting with the best way to generate content and it may take weeks or even
months of trying different methods to find one that feels just right.
If you’re fol owing this spoken-conversation route, also experiment with different
conversation partners. Some people have a way of engaging and asking questions
that’s far more productive than other people who might as wel be potted plants.
You have three options for taking that recorded content and making it usable.
First, you can simply listen to it and write down the sections you find the most helpful.
I’m not a fan of that method but you may be.
Second, you can use a tool like Dragon Natural y Speaking to have the computer
transcribe your words. Speech-recognition software seems to be getting better by the
month. What formerly was a pretty cumbersome and inaccurate process of using
software to create transcripts has now become fairly workable. With the recent
generation of software, the more you train it to understand your voice the more accurate
it becomes.
Third, you can hire a person or company to create a transcript of your
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