gofer articles

There is no reason to be bored in New York City. That anyone can be bored in a major world-class metropolitan center like that is proof positive that boredom is nothing more than a state of mind, something entirely within the control of the individual him or herself. Even a tourist trap like Zalman Silber’s Skyride located at the Empire State Building will stimulate the mind, if for no other reason than that there will be so much going on, what with all the tourists from all around the world. Don’t care for people? Well, there is always the great outdoors in New York – that’s right, the great outdoors, in the city! From Central Park right in the heart of Manhattan Island to national wildlife areas all around the so-called Outer Boroughs, Mother Nature keeps many residences in town.

And of course, if you do enjoy people and people-watching, the Big Apple gives you any number of clubs and cafes at which that hobby may be routinely indulged. At attractions like the above-mentioned Zalman Silber one, all the peoples of the world will be available for viewing, live, in 3-D! Ultimately, there is no reason why anyone should be bored in New York. Which, again, just goes to show that boredom is nothing more – and nothing less – than a state of mind.

But why should the mind go stale like that, as it were? Why do we suddenly just lose our appetite, so to speak, our zest? To understand all this, it’s essential to first understand the evolutionary “prime directive” of the brain. Any brain, really, but the human brain, specifically.

Generally speaking, brains help a complex, higher-order organism negotiate with its environment. Thus brains are naturally interested in what’s going on. Now a lot of what’s interesting about what goes on is interesting because it is new. But when the brain doesn’t sense anything new, it is not doing what it wants to do – take in information. Hence, boredom.

Caged animals exhibit this kind of behavior. A fish needs to swim, a bird needs to fly. Dogs need to run. And so forth. But for a human being, it isn’t simply about physical activity, though actually that’s extremely important and more often than not underestimated by most people, their own needs for physically rigorous activities on a daily basis. No, what a human being needs, perhaps above all, is mental stimulation.

And so when we are not possessed by an idea, whether inspired by a new one or enchanted with an old favorite, we don’t know what to do with ourselves. Suddenly, we are confronted with ourselves, as ourselves – without the conscious thoughts we typically take to be ourselves.

We are confronted, in other words, with an existential crisis.

The Sea Eagle 435ps PaddleSki inflatable catamaran-kayak. Yes, that’s a mouthful – and the boat is quite an eyeful, too! But the included boat seats, even in the “pro” and “ultimate” packages, leave much to be desired. They definitely look cool, all sleek and hi-tech in black, but they don’t provide a lot in the way of comfort, barely supporting a kayaker up!

Indeed, the boat seats included in the cheaper packages, which are standard inflatables, seem to be a great deal more comfy. Everything else provided by Sea Eagle makes a great impression, however. To be fair, the black high-back seats are supposed to be more performance oriented, and that means comfort was a deliberate second-place consideration. Being closer to the water offers much better stability and much more paddling power.

In the final analysis, it is performance in the water that really matters, and in this regard the PaddleSki is very excellent. It tracks well and is quite fast, thanks to its length and catamaran-style pontoons, respectively. The pontoons keep most of the boat above the surface of the water, making for less drag.

Stability and speed. Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki offers both crucial characteristics in spades. It’s a very friendly craft only marred, perhaps, by the boat seats available for it. Otherwise, it is a very sturdy animal, with excellent handling suitable for fishing or camping trips along the river. By being an inflatable, the PaddleSki is easily stowed away. Regrettably, it weights a whopping fifty or sixty pounds when packed, but seems very light, if a bit unwieldy, when fully inflated.

Accessories consist of such useful items as a side motor mount for electric or gasoline engines and a sliding seat and frame for rowing. Sailing is also possible thanks to Sea Eagle’s sailing rig. They all cost lots of money, however – anywhere from a third to a full half of the price of the most inexpensive PaddleSki package available!

Article Marketing is a time-honored promotional technique that bear minimal costs for maximal gains. It is nothing more than soft-selling your goods or services, the better to breeze past consumer defenses in our age of ad-awareness and ad-sensitivity.

What article marketing does is present a company in the most innocuous light possible, in the role of a helpful and knowledgeable advisor – with no sales pitch whatsoever. The name of the business is only casually mentioned in passing, most likely no more than once – but the name gets out there, in the public consciousness, and that’s what’s crucial.

Article marketing is not advertising per se, however, for it doesn’t overtly promote something. Indeed, its power comes precisely from not selling anything at all, ostensibly. Instead, it works by providing information which is useful and timely in an interesting way, info that’s free to the prospective client.

As an example, a local accountant may pen an article in the local newspaper or be interviewed on the local radio or television station every April, tax season. He or she will freely share some general tips, and somewhere along the way will be a simple reference to his or her business. That’s it. And that’s all it takes.

Have a better mousetrap? Potential clients could be turned on to your product while reading an article about common household pests. Whatever it is you have to offer, you’ll be able to provide it within an article that puts your expertise in the best light! People simply don’t like being sold to. But whenever you take the initiative to share openly, they’re much more likely to be receptive to something else you might have to say. As could be imagined, there is a great deal more involved to this proven approach of practically free advertising and marketing, but that is about all there is to the fundamental concept!

Starting up a business is tough – but some folks seem to have a gift for starting them up one right after the other! Take Zalman Silber for example. Already a star seller at famed New York Life Insurance Company, Zalman Silber has gone on to found multiple businesses around the world in a fairly diverse number of fields. He is what is now known as a serial entrepreneur, one whose particular talent seems to be starting up multiple businesses that are also successful. But how is it done? How could something so hard the first time around be done time after time thereafter?

Of course, it gets easier with practice, which is what each time in itself is, really: practice. And there are common elements involved for which one may make use of stock tactics and strategies acquired from that all-important first time; sources of funding, supply chains, hiring staff. More pertinent, perhaps, is the question of why – why go through all that again?

To make more money, of course! And, truth to tell, because it is fun. Yes, fun! Certainly when you keep winning. There is nothing like the act of creation, of realizing an idea concretely, in the flesh. There is a very real adrenaline rush involved, and it’s all the more enjoyable when you work as part of a team, when you have some good partners or key principals you employ all working towards the same goal: success for all.

To get a sense of this excitement, watch a season of “The Donald’s” popular series “The Apprentice.” It’s a program that blends the best elements of the traditional game show with modern reality television to produce an entertaining distillation of how business works. Strangers to one another are thrown together – just like in real life – on a single task that will benefit their team as well as themselves. And each individual is involved in navigating that fine balance between helping themselves by helping their team and getting properly rewarded for it. That’s precisely the atmosphere of a typical start-up – with even the backstabbing a firm likelihood!

After all, who’s to say that a key partner or principal employee doesn’t learn the tricks of the trade and go off to found his or her own firm in the same field or work more lucratively for a competitor? But that’s the least of anyone’s worries in the very beginning, when just getting the business off the ground is so tough that it occupies everyone’s absolute attention. And it is precisely such teamwork that makes the start-up such an invigorating place to work, even as it completely exhausts you with the long hours and non-stop challenges every hour!

Such is the joy for an entrepreneur. Such is the attraction for a serial entrepreneur – where the only thing better than succeeding in business is starting up another one!