I have been tweeting a lot about Crossfit recently, and I thought I would post a link to an interview with the founder in order to answer a lot of the curious readers of this blog. I am enamored with the Crossfit workout routine, the philosophy, and the community. I have been doing the workouts for 2 months, and I have no plans of stopping.

Why post about Crossfit, an exercise regimen?

Good question.

Crossfit has been around for over 15 years, but in the last 7 its popularity has grown tremendously. Look at their site, every day a new workout is posted, and look how many comments are on each workout of the day… hundreds! And the workout is free! And there is no one to make sure that you do it. And if there is an exercise posted that you have never done or don’t even know what it is, just click on the exercises link and there are hundreds of videos explaining each exercise in massive detail. For free.

Yet, Crossfit does hold certification seminars, which it charges for… and you can become an affiliate, which costs money.

But overall, Crossfit is one of the best examples of a business using the Internet to combine the benefits of “free” with a way to monetize those free provisions. It is incredible! Plus, they are building a community of people who are absolutely sold out to their program. (Yes, I am one of them.)

Here’s another link to the interview with Coach Glassman.

That’s all I’m saying for now because I want you to read the article. But don’t worry, I have many more thoughts about Crossfit…

Here’s a link to the Crossfit Games.

The Crossfit games crown their winners, “the fittest person on earth”… there’s a marketing genius somewhere around here – how would you like to be called the fittest person on earth?

87 books.
37 dollars.

102 books.
45 dollars.

Those are actual numbers, by the way.

Book binges have become a lot less frequent, but I still love to buy books at Amazon.com. My wish list is ridiculously long. But in the last few years, I noticed that I can buy almost anything at Amazon. They have taken retailing online better than anyone.

I just bought a G Tech Hard Drive – from Amazon.

And it was cheaper than on G Tech’s site.

All I can say is wow.

I don’t think I’ll be going to a Barnes and Noble anytime soon and see a heavy duty hard drive sitting next to the newest Brad Thor novel.

Anyone else just love Amazon?

A YES is not always good.

And a NO is not always bad.

In fact, there are a few things better than a yes…

For instance, if I’m a writer, and I’m going to pitch a story idea, then sure, I’d love to make a sale. Money in the pocket feels great!

But what if I do such a great pitch that I turn everyone into the room into a raving fan. Maybe I don’t even get the job. But if they remember me… if I make a fan… then I just had a huge victory. It will help you. Trust me.

And what about getting a no, but learning something. Failure is just an opportunity to learn. Sometimes you need to work to learn, then to earn.

So, if you ever think it’s all about yes’s and no’s, think again.

We have just made a number of final changes to our program. It has become clear that our competition is finally paying attention to what we are doing so this time we will NOT announce what the changes are.

I will say the following:

1. No negative price/performance changes.
2. Only positive feature and system changes.
3. No additional slip to the target schedule.

If our competition is shooting at us, they will be shooting at where we were and not where we are going to be.

Speculation is dangerous because people post what they think or hope and others read it as fact. Just know that every time we change something, it gets better.

See you in Las Vegas.

Jim

I love how Jim knows the competition is out there, and he knows that unless they are thinking “revolution”, they are aiming at the past.

Here’s a link to the forum if you want the full scoop.

One of the things I want to create in the film industry is a small company that can act like a “big” one.

In the current economy, being able to cut costs is important because you can make a profit with less revenue – or you can have more profit with the same revenue.

In fact, in ANY economy, being able to keep costs low is important.

My friend Kevin Thompson might call it being a “Googley” producer or filmmaker, but I think one way to say it is entrepreneur by innovation.

Here are some ideas I’ve put together to keep costs low for some of my projects:

- use digital acquisition technology
- edit my own stuff
- create my own graphics
- understand how to leverage technology and how new technologies work together to create more efficient systems
- networking with people who are reliable and using them often (essentially using trust to create efficiencies)
- building a network so that you have an audience prior to a project
- using social media to start marketing efforts earlier than the competition
- searching for and finding key vendors that are cost-effective in helping to create professional caliber results
- plan, plan, and more planning

Any thoughts out there? I’m curious how other people are trying to keep costs low.

I’ll post more on the concept in the coming months.

I think the key with free is that you have to provide a quality product. It doesn’t have to be perfect or ultimately as feature rich, but it needs to be pretty good.

For the filmmakers out there… I wonder what kind of dent free, online videos could make in the larger scheme of things? Any thoughts?

Take a look at this dialogue between Bill Gates and CNET. It’s taken from pages 78 and 79 of Guy Kawasaki’s book, Rules for Revolutionaries. (Great book)

Gates: Now if I try to raise the price of Windows, then that just makes it easier for people to compete with me in operating systems. The question you should be asking yourself is why do we keep the price of Windows so low? That’s what you have to ask yourself. Only when you understand that will you understand Microsoft.

Gates: Why do we keep the price so low? Think about it.

I’ll follow up in my next post on some thoughts on this. Is your pricing strategy the best one for you? Are you sure? Anybody still think Windows is cheap?

I hope we never lose sight of one thing. It all began with a mouse.

I just keep thinking of how big DISNEY (the company) is right now. Theme parks, movies, TV, investments, travel, hotels, and everything else. And it all began with a mouse.

How many dreams do you have that are so big you can’t even see how they’re going to be accomplished?

Maybe they need to start with something smaller, like a mouse…

But there’s a part of the story that’s missing.

Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, once said:

Walt Disney used to walk around and always say, “I hope we never lose sight of one thing. It all began with a mouse.” Well, here at Disney, we know the truth. It started with a mouse, and a man.

Are we looking for the mouse, or the man? Any thoughts?

I have seen Fairview Street and also Shane’s first film, The Model Father. I have to say I am impressed. One of the most striking things I noticed about Shane is that he is incredibly grounded in who he is and what he wants to do. He has stories to tell, and he wants to tell them in a way that makes sure he remains true to the characters, but also to himself. He is going to be around for a while, and I am going to support him in his endeavors as he makes more films.

If you’re a music fan, Fairview Street has a fantastic soundtrack. I really enjoyed the film.

Please support these local filmmakers!

After talking with Shane and watching what he and his crew created, I thought of a quote:

What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it!
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

If you see the film, come back here and tell us what you thought of it.

For more info on Shane and Fairview Street, click here.

How in the world do they make the lines appear on the field in a football game? No, they don’t hold up rulers to the screen and measure (not that I thought that)…

Check out this video to see how they get the first down lines on the TV screen when you watch a football game.

Okay – it’s a lot more complicated than I thought…

Look out on the blog for an upcoming post on one of the shoots I’ve been on recently.