TGIJ

January is normally the slowest month for retail sales. Thank God! Ironing out the kinks of a newly created anything is tough. Ironing out the kinks of this new store is especially taxing, since the combination of slow download/upload speed, even slower PC performance, entirely new area of eBay I’m unfamiliar with, new interface rules to remember, etc., means I have little time to spend on customer service.
         Yes, I’ve made a couple of sales. The first was to a total newbie, from Italy, no less – first purchase, no feedback. The second alerted me to a major goof-up in my instructions for downloading eBooks, which meant revising all my listings to give the RIGHT instructions for downloading my files.
         Now I’m off to the bank to open another account for PayPal micropayments on sales of less than $12 US. I’m sure there are more headaches ahead, but I’m looking forward to the eventual automation of so much that I am doing by hand – and foot!

The Hannah Montana Fans Blog

I found this interesting blog at MyBlogLog: Hannah Montana, and felt it deserved some attention. While I am not an avid television watcher, Hannah Montana is a name that I recognize. Obviously, there's more to this than simple name recognition.
     I'm very curious to see if this particular link will affect my ratings at Technorati, since links determine authority, and I DESPISE authority, other than my own and those I respect.
     I'll pop over to my Squidoo lens and add the link there, along with my WordPress mirror. [Vince dons a lab coat and takes up a clipboard] Let the experiment begin!

The Aggravation Index - a measurement tool for actual cost of anything.

Many things in life are aggravating. In fact, one could argue that life itself is aggravating. However, for the purposes of this discussion, let's deal with aggravation as a cost of doing something. We'll measure it via AI = Aggravation Index:

VL = VERY LOW
L = LOW
M = MEDIUM
H = HIGH
VH = VERY HIGH

Here's an example: you find a Web site with thousands of free eBooks, titles only. Aggravation Index - VH. You'll have to download and parse each one to find out its value. Despite the fact they're free, many may be worse than useless - they'll be wrong, outdated or simply waste your time.

Here's another: you grow tomatoes in your garden, with all the work involved to make them excellent. AI = VL. You find the physical work relaxing, the chores are a time to reflect and enjoy being outdoors, the bugs and weeds are part of the process, and the result is delicious. Even if you never sell one for profit, you still get the full enjoyment of them for yourself and those who receive them. Sometimes, giving away your best is enjoyable.

The next time you think you've found a bargain, examine it for AI. You might find you've saved yourself some time, effort and, yes aggravation. Also, feel free to share your AI knowledge with others. I've actually rated myself as AI = M. I feel I have a Constitutionally protected right to annoy others, but not to excess.

HTH,
Vince