Focused Fandom Countdown: 9 weeks to go

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So where am I on? "Focused Fandom: Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers."  Well first, late with this post – I was a bit under the weather.

First of all, if you noticed the header, it got pushed out two weeks.  I'm quite busy and am likely to be changing apartments – which easily kills a weekend.  So I figured better to delay it ahead of time.

Our big lesson for the week?  Well that has to do with the rescheduling – namely, plan ahead to add space for the unexpected.

Last book I did for the series I plowed through it.  I worked weekends.  I did an entire book in 3 months.  Yes, I did it – but it doesn't mean it

In giving myself more time on the second book, I got under the delusion that I'd be fine – but just adding extra time doesn't mean you're estimating well, preparing for interruptions, etc.  If I didn't have a self-imposed deadline, it'd be one thing, but . . .

So when you're doing your own projects remember – don't just set aside time, if you at all have a deadline, project ahead, estimate your time, try and get some sense of hours, days, etc. to work.  Think ahead about interruptions.

Then?  add about 10-30% time onto that.  Seriously, rare indeed is the person who gets their time estimates right.  Take it from a Project Manager.

Next book?  I still want to keep putting these out reguarly (I'm thinking every 6 months), but you can bet I'm going to put timelines and estimates on that just to be sure I'm not full of it . . .

– Steven Savage

 

Geekonomic News 2/13/2012

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Record unemployment for youth in America – as in worse in 60 years.  Oddly (or impressively) many are positive, which may actually help them weather this.  However unless there are some changes, the impact of the economic stupidity of the last decade is going to last a generation.

Politically, and by "politicially" I mean "usually talked about by people with no clue," entitlements are often controversial and usually associated with urban areas.  The reality is quite different.

– Steven Savage

The Loss Of Loss Leaders?

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Remember "Loss Leaders" in the world of tech and gizmos?  Have CD's and DVD's that are marked down insanely low, hope you sell, and get people to buy other stuff.  It's a historical practice, and probably one that doesn't get enough attention.

This was something Best Buy and some electronic stories try or tried because they want you to buy expensive stuff. In fact, last time I headed to a Best Buy, I thought about the fact I see a lot less CD's and DVD's there.*  Sure there were some, but not many, and they seemed to be cheap stuff, recent stuff, and expensive sets.  I'm guessing the latter is the only guaranteed profit maker.

Loss leaders aren't working like they used to.

Come to think of it, the answer seems pretty obvious: The Internet and The Economy.

First let's address the economy, which sucks and means we want to buy less stuff, especially stuff that we really don't need.  Sure it's marked down, but if we don't really need it anyway, then why buy it in tough times?  The economy clearly didn't help.

But then there's the Internet.

The obvious way the Internet kills off Loss Leaders is that simply you can get their contents online through Netflix, discounted sellers, used copies, or simple piracy.  Why buy them at a store when you can do it cheaper or free?

But there's other reasons.  Previews of things seen on the internet, reviews, and so forth can make you more picky and better informed.  You're used to looking for, well, crap, used to researching.  You know what you want, you seek it, and you're less likely to be tempted at a store.

Put it all together, and there's a loss of Loss Leaders.  We don't want to buy them, we don't need them.

I have to wonder how many companies have to struggle with this loss . . .

– Steven Savage

 

* In my defense, I now usually go to Fry's.