How To Focus...Or Not ~ A Rich Idea

This morning I lost focus which happens with regularity.

Fortunately, I can control it because I am aware of it. If you are aware of losing focus, does that by definition make you focused?

My intention was to create a page on my how to video site about how to copy a DVD to a DVD because a lot of people want to know how to do this. I had already written about how to copy DVD to hard drive and people really liked it so I thought I would expand on the topic.

Then, I lost focus.

Here is how it happened.

As I went to my website to start the post, I noticed that a lot of people were reading my article about online dating called “Online Dating: Get Lovin’ While Looking Love”. Why today, I wondered.

Today is Wednesday. I have written Why Tuesday sucks and in that article I hypothesized that Wednesday is pretty cool because it’s the “over the hump” day. Perhaps, we can take that further. Since people realize that the week is half over on Wednesday, they begin thinking about dates for the weekend, about humping if you will 😉

Several people were reading my post about online dating because it is linked to from an article called How to Spot a Fake Match.com Profile. So, of course, I then had to read that article. Apparently, these big dating sites are rife with fake profiles for various reasons: to equal out the guy-girl ratio, make their sites seem better, send false winks to encourage sign-ups, etc.

Who creates these fake profiles? Often times, it is the site itself. The article suggests that the companies employ interns to create these fake profiles and, in the end, the goal is to get more sign-ups and make more money.

Do I buy it? Of course I do. Why?

About a year ago, a friend proposed to me that we create the “Facebook of Golf”. It would be like a social networking site for golf. Frankly, I thought the idea was a bit stupid. However, he had had some success in this arena so I lent my ear to the discussion.

“How would you get started with this site?”, I asked.

He responded, “Well, the first thing that we do is create 10,000 fake users and have them all fake communicate with each other.”

Then I got to thinking about those sites that you visit that say, “Meet a girl in San Francisco tonight” or sites with pop-ups that say, “Mindy wants to chat with you in Phoenix.” All of these girls that “pop-up” are HOT. It’s really too bad that they really don’t exist. They are all fake.

And did you know Facebook.com has an online alter ego focused exclusively on getting action? If you change the “ace” in Facebook to “uck”, you will find your online action paradise.

However, nobody will be real there. (I just looked. They’re all too hot to be real 😉 )

Ah, so where was I?

Yes, back to the topic of focus. I am losing focus whilst writing about the topic of losing focus. Very appropriate.

But can you see how easily I got de-focused? It’s much more appealing to be thinking about relationships and sex than it is to be thinking about how to copy one DVD to another DVD.

So, why not write more about relationships and sex and less how to copy a DVD to your hard drive?

Well, if you want to make money online, you unfortunately have to write about what people are searching for. And, the fact is, a lot of people are searching for information about copying DVDs.

But for the last 30 minutes, I have written about neither topic. I am writing about how easy it is to lose focus in this Internet era.

For me, ideas like this are fun.

Sometimes, you can combine the two: a long, rambling article that you like to write and an article that a ton of people will read. This was the case with my article called What Can I Do On The Internet When I’m Bored.

I discovered that many people search this exact term in Google. And voila!, if you search for it on Google, take a look at who appears at #3.

Many people liked this article because it was “tongue and cheek” about what to do when your bored. Other people hated this article because I suggested that bored people couldn’t spell and perhaps lacked any semblance of creativity. Take a look at the comments below the “bored” article. One person will say, “I hated the article and I’m still bored” and another will comment something to the affect, “Very fun article. Some people just need to get a clue.”

Of all of the 64 responses, my favorite is:

“hi i wos bored but do ya know wot i do when im bored have a fat bucket and spliff and u will not be bored any more try it” signed STONERS R US

I’m happy that stoners happen upon the article. I picture them just smoking a fattie, surfin’ the Internet, and laughing uncontrollably. I bet they smile a lot more than other people.

So, will people read this article as much as they read the “bored” article?

Absolutely not! Why?

Who is going to type into Google, “What Can I Do on the Internet When I am Focused?”

By definition, wouldn’t these people already be doing something else?

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Richard Cummings

Author at Obvious Conclusions

Richard Cummings is a writer, traveler, and web content developer.

Get your copy of his latest book entitled Obvious Conclusions, stories of a Midwestern emigrant influenced and corrupted by many years living in San Francisco and abroad. It just received its first outstanding review "...reminiscent of David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs" on Amazon UK.