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Link Roundup on Rizzo Tees – What I’m Reading 5/4/10

Posted on May 4, 2010 // 4 Comments

Playing the part of Internet DJ, here’s a sampling of what I’ve been reading the past few days.

1.) Jason over at A Smart Bear breaks down American idiomatic usage in a rather hilarious way.  What does it mean when a fellow businessperson says to you, ““It’s not personal, it’s just business?” Read the post and find out!

2.) Back in March, Chris Brogan wrote about a visit to a charter school.  I took particular interest, since my daughter will be starting kindergarten at a French language immersion charter school in August. Kids in some of these charter schools are learning in vastly different ways than we did back in the day.  My daughter’s school is going to be no exception, and we’re quite excited about it. Kids are being trained in these schools to handle real-life jobs and real-life situations.  They’re even going to teach my daughter about food. How cool would that be – growing up understanding that organic vegetables are better than candy made in a factory?  Hell, she might even learn how to prepare healthy meals for herself! Why can’t a school teach this? To me, it sounds like the way to raise a healthier generation.

3.) Ari Herzog over at AriWriter.com is going through a time that sounds way too familiar to me.  Ari is trying to make a career transition, and after 18 months, he says he’s back to square one.  Starting off on your own is tough – there are times when I’ve thought that Rizzo Tees would be farther along by now.  Everything worth doing in life takes time – sometimes lots of time!  I have said this before – I am not some 150% full-speed-ahead entrepreneur that would step on his own mom’s neck to succeed.  There are times when I have self-doubt. I have ups and downs. I just do everything I can to stay in the game – stay focused, and just keep plugging away.  Half the battle is just not quitting. People completely underestimate this fact.

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Link Roundup on Rizzo Tees – What I’m Reading 3/23/10

Posted on March 23, 2010 // Leave a Comment

Playing the part of Internet DJ, here’s a sampling of what I’ve been reading the past few days.

1.) Peter Shankman’s post “Never Confuse Being A Nice Guy For Weakness” – there’s a lot of backstory, in my opinion, on why he may have penned this article.  In the days preceding this post, Peter’s NYC attorneys fired off a cease & desist letter to a new competitor, as chronicled here.  As the recipient of two cease & desist letters, I frowned upon the heavy-handed nature of the request (he wants ownership of the guy’s URL?).  I even left a comment on his blog (#62) that admitted that, as much as I love HARO and like Peter’s efforts therein, this litigious baloney couldn’t help but change the way I feel about Peter as a person.  Without going into too much detail, Peter contacted me and asked me to reserve judgment until all of the facts came out.  I told him that was fair.  I have since learned from another source that this new competitor may have used Peter’s image in some of its advertising.  I have no confirmation of that – I did not see it myself – but if this is the case, obviously the C&D makes a little more sense.

2.) Ari Herzog’s post “How Flash Mobs Invoke Togetherness” is a short article with four awesome videos showcasing some awesome flashmobbery.

3.) Check out this article outlining the pros and cons of scheduling tweets.  I understand the cons here, as I’m a huge believer in being interactive and responsive on Twitter. But for me, the pros outweigh the cons.

4.) Starting a business while you have a day job is a blast!  Take it from me!  Actually, while it’s financially much more viable than quitting your day job, it’s incredibly more tedious and fraught with peril.  This post at A Smart Bear outlines in great detail the steps you might take to protect yourself as you explore your “hobby” outside of company time.

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Link Roundup on Rizzo Tees – What I’m Reading 3/4/10

Posted on March 4, 2010 // Leave a Comment

Playing the part of Internet DJ, here’s a sampling of what I’ve been reading the past few days.

1.) Tim Ferriss and the 4-Hour Work Week – I have not read this book, and had no plans to. There is no shortcut to success, and the whole premise of his book sounded flawed to me.  However, I am reconsidering the book, and may even buy the new updated version of it, after reading this post on the 9 habits to stop now.  Included on the list is something I’ve been giving great consideration – somehow getting a better handle on email. I need to turn it back into a productivity tool instead of a business ball and chain.  Why did voicemail never turned into the time suck that email has?

2.) Mark Hayward is a new blogger I’ve stumbled upon.  His recent post, “It’s OK to BE Different” is just what the young, nascent entrepreneur needs to hear.  The psychology of the entrepreneur is one of risk-taking, but not all entrepreneurs are balls-out crazy.  Therefore, it sometimes helps to have people rooting for you. And those people would hopefully be friends and loved ones.  When they are the ones telling you that you are crazy, it’s good to have a.) thick skin, and b.) a solid, bullet-resistant business plan.

3.) Jason at A Smart Bear talks about “sunk costs” and explains that throwing good money after bad is quite obviously a terrible idea. And yet, businesses do it all the time.  This is a must-read post for not only entrepreneurs, but anyone in a decision-making position in business.  Kudos to A Smart Bear on this post – it rocks.

4.) Philip at UrbanBacon interviews one of my favorite people on earth, Arlene Maminta Browne of Robust Wine Bar. I have had some rough (read: awesome) nights at Robust, and I especially appreciate their embrace of Social Media.  Plus, it’s hard to forget that I met Gary Vaynerchuk there and got to drink wine with him.  If you can feel a certain enthusiasm coming from Arlene in this interview, that’s no mistake – she and Stanley love what they do.  Restaurants, take note – Social Media can help your business!

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