Head First

Well, here I am on holiday in Italy (in case you hadn't figured that out already ). The weather is beautiful, the scenery is spectacular, and the food and wine are plentiful. I seem to be doing nothing but eating, drinking and putting on weight. To be fair, I've also been doing a lot of walking to help make up for it, and I've got it all figured out: By the time I leave Italy, all I have to do is to walk back to Australia and that should just about even things out!

You know what I've discovered since I've been here? There's a big difference between learning Italian from a textbook and actually having to speak it in Italy! It's one thing to read a bus timetable in a language book to figure out the time of the next bus, and another thing altogether when I really have to know the time of the last bus home from Montalcino!

My Italian is improving rapidly, and I'm a lot more confident about speaking it out loud than I was when I arrived in Rome last Sunday. Mind you, I've also got pretty good at apologising for my lack of fluency ("Scusi, signore. Non parlo bene italiano." ... in case you were wondering).

Here's the point:

After diving in at the deep end, I can honestly say that I've learned more Italian in the last week than I ever knew, and more than I could have learned from months of study!

And I reckon that's true on the Internet as well.

Are you holding back waiting for something to be "just right", when you would be better off jumping in, boots and all?

Is that e-book almost done, but you haven't created a fancy cover for it? Publish it anyway!

Is that article just waiting for that final 10% editing? Go ahead and upload it - you can always edit it later.

Have you got half a book written? Why not publish a few sections as articles or e-zine issues, and get some feedback before it comes out in print?

Are you putting the finishing touches on your next workshop? Advertise it anyway on your Web site. Who knows - somebody might even ask about it, and that will give you the incentive to finish it!

The Internet is the perfect testing ground for stuff like this. And you'll learn a lot by doing it now, even if it's only 80% ready.

So go for it!

And good luck ... err, I mean tanti auguri!

Key words: productivity, leverage, Creating Products

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Gihan Perera is the author of "Get Active: Web Sites for Speakers, Trainers, Coaches and Consultants" and "Fast, Flat and Free: What You Need to Know to Stay Ahead in a Connected World". Visit http://GihanPerera.com and get your complimentary copies now.

I would also appreciate receiving a copy of the issue in which it appears, if that is convenient.