Is it me or did the words “Epic Fail” go out of coolness like a year ago or so? I guess many people are just now discovering how cool you sound when you type or say it.
Anyway… Not to detract from all the fun everyone is having laughing at the world failing.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting a different result. Doing things I have failed at for YEARS DRIVES ME INSANE. So you need to fix that.
I can tell you what I fail at:
Grammar
I dunno wtf is wrong with me but I can never get to too or two right. Thats not my only grammatical issue though and its really nothing new. I think it comes from my rebellion as a kid against my parents and school. Or maybe I am just f*cked up ? Whatever the case I know grammar is not my bag. I also like to makeup words that make perfect sense to me. I sometimes use these during presentations =P.
Being a CEO
I FAIL at managing people. I just want people to read my mind and do what I want. I also want them to do what I mean and not what I say. I hate to be bugged with making hardcore business decisions. I often refer to myself as the interim CEO.
Graphics/CSS
I don’t even know where to start on basic graphics. Thank god for photoshop for letting a kid with ZERO artistic ability make cool dropshadows and stuff. CSS sucks my you know what. I have wasted more time on this planet trying to tweak CSS then anything else. Cant we just use tables forever? PLZ!
So what to do then? Use your resources (as discussed at length in the March ShoeMoney Newsletter).
Before I hired Brienna to do our copy stuff I used to use my mom. She has masters degree in English and is always eager to help me. (should be noted I hardly ever have anyone proof my blog posts (thats what commentators are for 
)
Combating the CEO position is a little harder. I now never hire anyone. I make them interview with other people that I know and trust. I also have hired Tigh to be the Manager/business manager and manage things in general.
Almost all graphics I outsource. Unique Blog Designs does almost all of our graphics everything from print media to business cards to web designs. Its worked out well.
So I encourage you to take a hard look at what you fail at and quit wasting your time thinking you will get a different outcome by practicing it.
BTW this doesnt mean quit if your lazy… it means quit if there is no way your are going to be good at it.
About the author...
Jeremy Schoemaker – who has written 2415 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
Hi I am Jeremy Schoemaker and ShoeMoney.com is my blog. 99% of the post here are done by me but you will see others occasionally make guest posts. This blog is fun to write but for my day job I run several online companies.
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{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not a fan of this epic fail business at all. I’ve never heard anyone say it in real life, and I hope I never do.
Knowing what I know now (boy isn’t that always the statement of the year) I would have definitely paid attn in SKOOL! If it weren’t for the auto correct in firefox etc etc.. no one would be able to read my blog posts haha!
How do I try and conquer it.. i think just having my own blog has helped tremendously! Just reading more than I ever have has also helped! Practice makes perfect!
As a major grammar geek, it kills me that I constantly misspell ‘surprise’ (minus the first ‘r’). Surprise fail, I suppose the kids would call it…
Here’s a study of other fails that seem to have captured the world’s attention…
http://www.searchenginesnark.com/search-of-the-day/search-of-the-day-fail/
I agree with you. If there is some action that you consistently fail at (no matter how hard you try) then try something else.
If you really need to succeed then outsource it.
However, sometimes you just need to spend a little more time and get good at it.
For example, a ton of people try learning a language and give up on it. Sure, some people are better – but everyone can succeed.
Another example, I outsource my graphics just like you. The learning curve for getting good at graphic design is too steep. But I have taken a little time out recently to learn some Photoshop basics such as blending and merging etc. These are basic techniques which have been really helpful to me.
Chris
http://www.ProductCreationGlory.com
Not a lot of comments and maybe people don’t want to admit it yet, but we’ve all had that epic fail at some point. If you don’t then it only means that you’re trying to do things that are not hard or difficult.
The great part about doing something hard is that it has supreme upside.
Right there with you on CSS. Everytime I think I get it, I can’t get it to do what I want… but it is cool when it works.
Thank god for wordpress, photoshop and php. And a patient wife.
Crap – I have failed so many times, I decided this week is the perfect time to just quit!
A different kinda quit, somewhat inspired by YOU and your used to be fat post Jeremy.
As far as focusing on what you do best and leaving the rest to others… there is a damn good book out there that helps you do just that: Play to Your Strengths: Focus on What You Do Best and Success Will Follow (1994)
Great toilet reading for sure!
Darn… link didnt work in the post!
http://www.thenichestorebuilder.com/i-am-quitting-and-i-need-your-help.htm
The great thing about living the “online life” is never having to handwrite anything since my handwriting has always been totally illegible even if I tried to write neatly.
Epic Fail!!!
Just had to give it a try – thanks for sharing your thoughts – I think most folks should take the last two paragraphs to heart because most of us spend a lot of time trying and trying and things we know we’re not gonna get better at overnight….definitely reach out to all of your resources.
Jeremy, I think you’re being a little harsh on yourself .. your graphics here are pretty good and you almost always get their, there and they’re right
Figuring out what you fail at is the easy part. The hard part is letting go of control, trusting others to get it done and finding people that can.
CSS doesn’t suck…it’s IE
Take that out of the equation and it’s piece of cake.
Yesterday was the first time I ever used “Epic Fail” on Twitter, then you go and write this! Thanks alot Shoe!
This definitely makes you put things into perspective. Thanks
nice post
Never heard this term “epic fail” in person. Just online. But one thing, failure is just another step toward success. Epic or not.
This post read my mind today…I thought today about my graphics skills and now that they blow ass…I’m trying to get on the roll with that…
Thank god you know your grammar sucks. I always see your mistakes and I’m like “If this guy can do it, I can do it.” I would hate to see you reading aloud because it might be like “to to to to todayyyy junior.”
However we all suck at some things and in the long run it works out better.
I’m not saying my grammar is correct or appropriate all the time either… ; )
Your Q&A’s are not a fail
Let’s get another one going. I’ve got a deep one.
“Epic Fail” used to be exclusive to the online world. Now I hear it used offline and in my office all the time and it makes me cringe.
Jeremy,
Here Here! I’m not the web admin. doing web page / landing page creation either. ftp? How about drag and drop Host Gator etc?
The sheer madness that tries to force a marketer, (me) to become a sw developer / system admin. / web page designer and high payout searcher is the one reason many AM’s FAIL. Me=FAIL=WHALE.
Traditional products sit on a shelf and are purchased at point of sale.
Web-based marketing has this whole CSS/PHP/Shopping Cart/ overhead that is unreal..for a lone AM.
I’m restarting my Digital Video Production Company in SF Bay area CA, interviewing thought-leaders like you?, Tim O’Reilly at Web 2.0 Expo SF and, Chris Brogan, John Chow etc and letting the AM stuff wane for a bit, (my head wants to be removed and flushed!).
Respectfully,
Nicholas Chase
http://www.twitter.com/nachase
Jeremy, Great post man, I Like your blog cool design
thanks for sharing many useful info to us
Grammar, pfft. who needs grammar. This is the !nt3rn3t … Sometimes the best CEO’s are the humble one’s who have failed before.
Failing at grammar isn’t such a big deal. I think you are Shaq are perfect examples of that. He has over 300k followers on Twitter and he has terrible grammar, which you can now have too!
Shaq Speak
http://www.shaqspeak.com
Is fail keyword hot so much on search engines ?
Uuuum, I don’t remember that word ever being cool in the first place :O
Really like it when you don’t care about the grammar part. I remember a looong email I received from someone who said I sucked at english back in 2006 when I started my blog.
google post. I like ur blog
If I fail, I need to do more… I digg more and double the work I’ve done before.
I also fail in some things. Like in grammar and spelling, I usually miss a letter or something that is needed. DOH
Great post. Excel at the things you do and bring others on board or outsource like you have yo UBD
I never fail….I always succeed at producing a result. It may not be the one that I intended, but that’s OK because I can change my approach and get a different result. No such thing as failure in my book, only outcomes.
You know that thing you were thinking about and didn’t tell anyone, and still haven’t told anyone about. I have been working on it night and day, and should have it done in a few weeks. Sorry it is taking so long. “Interem CEO” lol
I am still just getting warmed up on TWSS. I haven’t even started on Epic Fail yet. Give me till next year.
Great post!
OK, why not show blog about what you are good at instead?
I guess there’s a fine line between trying to improve on something and spending too much time beating it to death. It’s true that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is stupid, but if you are trying to learn or improve in some area, it’s not wasted effort. And yet there will always be some things that one is not good at and never will be. At what point do you give up?
Absolutely right… People having issues like these along being lazy then leave laziness and you will solve the rest of the problems.
My first email to a top internet marketer was to tell her how I could correct and proofread her grammar for her, now I know what a dumb@$$ thing that was, because her uncorrected grammar has been earning her thousands a week while I sat around thinking how bad her misspellings were. Epic Fail on my part!
You make the point dude!
I’ve heard it said that you should “know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em”! Wasted time is wasted money. I’m glad you found some competent people to handle those things for you. Nobody should expect to be 100% at everything :}
But don’t you think that if you do not know anything and gripping on such skill will give you great satisfaction when you see the result.
Unique blog designs rocks!!!
We are not so different, except I’ am in programming and photoshop.
just kidding.
actually thank you for your good blog, starting to learn affiliate marketing for real
I don’t call that failure I call it being a normal Human being, good at a lot of stuff but still makes mistakes.
I think the epic fail saying should stay in the failblog, or only be used where it is 100% appropriate.
example: putting a to instead of two just a check minus. Putting a decimal at the very end of $2.00 (to make it look like $200. )epic fail
EPIC FAIL!!!
Still see it used alot online, not so much offline but it still annoys me, It never has been cool and never will be. Hopefully soon it will die off completely.
You have to change what’s not working on your blog. But, before you that, you have to learn what’s not working on your blog.
I’m starting a whole blog dedicated to my failures, not just as an affiliate marketer, but lessons learned from all aspects of the internet. I built my fist site in 1997 and the stories begin there!
Like the article Shoe, I admire your writing style it’s very original and not someone is writing for you, because you just can feel it.Funny thing about your story, you made the impression of your weak point becomes your success factor, as where you are right now.cool bro
you couldn’t be more correct!