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Link Roundup on Rizzo Tees – What I’m Reading 4/21/10

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

1.) 50 minutes of Peter Shankman – how can you go wrong?  Peter talks about self-promotion, and it just so happens that his Help a Reporter service allows us to easily do just that.  If you’re not using HARO, start today!  I have used it several times with great success.  Every single opportunity doesn’t result in a “hit,” but you will respond to enough chances that you’ll start getting press attention.

2.) Can the Care Bears really teach us about being a successful entrepreneur?  Entrepreneurship is about hard work, good product, good timing, and confidence. I have low points in my own entrepreneurial life… times when I wonder if its all going to work… times of true stomach-churning self-doubt.  If you can’t handle watching the 5+ minutes of Care Bears, just know that you have to believe in yourself in order to make your own luck, and eventually succeed.

3.) The difference between salad and garbage is….. timing!  Sonia Simone at Copyblogger reminds us that direct marketing can completely flop if not truly targeted.  Additionally, becoming an expert in a very specific niche can turn into successful inbound marketing, which I’m finding is a much superior way to market my product than outbound marketing.

4.) Chris Brogan implores you to stop adding him to your email newsletter.  Bottom line – spamming people is bad. I am certain that I have, at one time or another, marketed myself in a way that could be construed as spammy.  Maybe it’s one extra tweet about one of my products, or a Facebook wall post about my bacon t-shirts on a bacon fan page.  Brogan talks about the rash of email newsletters he receives that he’s relatively certain he didn’t subscribe to.  Marketers of Earth: you are just pissing people off with this!  Maybe there’s an argument that for every 10 people you piss off, you’re reaching 1 person with your MLM message…. volume = $$$.  It’s the v1agra spam email mantra – carpet bomb the Internet with your wares and sales will come.  It’s a sucky life to live – don’t market your product in this way!

A Crapload of Advice From Chris Brogan

This video is so full of advice, I didn’t even know what title to adorn this blogpost with.  So I called it “A Crapload of Advice From Chris Brogan.”  Enjoy!

Work is a Symphony of Interruptions

Midday on a Monday, I’m sitting at work, working at my computer with my office door open.  Note that much of my work requires thought. If checking email requires 10% cranial capacity, this work was like 80%.  In the span of 15 seconds:

1.  I received a mobile phone call that could have waited until later.  Yup, I answered it.

2. While on the mobile phone, a loud overhead page was made at work that could have been easily avoided (just get up and go see the person, we work in a small office. Damn, that speaker on my office phone is loud!)

3.  A person came to my door and knocked, took a few steps in, expecting me to talk to them (yo, I’m holding a phone near my ear! And talking!)

4. An urgent email came in. I often stare at my computer screen while talking on the phone. Of course it was urgent and sort of made my heart skip.

5.  Someone then buzzed me on my office phone – this came in after the overhead page, although an incoming office call can interrupt an overhead page on my phone. When that happens, hopefully the overhead page isn’t for me!

What was I working on again?  Calling this 15-second chain of events a “symphony” is being generous – all of this incoming work and personal stimuli is nothing more than a cacophany of productivity destroyers.

I’m not even qualified (yet) to give you advice on this – I am struggling with this mightily right now, and I’m losing.  People often say, “How are you getting all of this done,” and the answer is that I’m chopping through it like those rainforest explorer dudes chop through the underbrush with machetes (I’m convinced this only happens in the movies).  It’s ugly, and all of this is turning my brain into a rewired mess of scrambled eggs, but I’m getting stuff done.

However, I don’t want my brain rewired in such a way. I want to return to a simpler, quieter time, where my creative brain can work unfettered.  I want to break through and harness the power of big ideas.  Can I do it?  The answer might be no – with a full-time job, Rizzo Tees, this blog, Social Media Club of St. Louis, a 4-family apartment building I own, a wife and two kids, and then maybe a wee bit of time for doing things that actually interest me….. I’m busier than ever.

After reading some Tim Ferriss, I’m starting to take steps to cut down on the incoming email.  Here are two other recent articles that got me thinking more about this subject:

Chris Brogan’s blogpost on The Assault On Anywhen

Jason Fried’s awesome video and transcript on Why You Can’t Work At Work (God I love this)

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Am I just full of excuses here, or can we take steps to restructure our workday to get more done?