From the BlogSubscribe Now
Playing the role of Internet DJ, here’s a sampling of what I’ve been reading, watching or staring at lately, via some tweets (links below are clickable):
[blackbirdpie id=”127463426741121026″]
[blackbirdpie id=”128073033490513920″]
Wow, this guy didn’t just rock “Police Academy.” He rocked Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at the same time!
[blackbirdpie id=”127495682687897600″]
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/loic/status/127876885001670656″]
Playing the role of Internet DJ, here’s a sampling of what I’ve been reading, watching or staring at lately, via my tweets (links below are clickable):
[blackbirdpie id=”96235958298607617″]
[blackbirdpie id=”98043327659786242″]
[blackbirdpie id=”98085076402835456″]
This one includes poetry:
[blackbirdpie id=”98049119859380224″]
And a few funnies:
[blackbirdpie id=”98092582596386816″]
[blackbirdpie id=”98087032991129601″]
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.
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!
Playing the part of Internet DJ, here’s a sampling of what I’ve been reading the past few days.
1.) Remember, in small business, it’s advisable to sweat the details. Don’t obsess over them and never get anything big done – but don’t overlook the details. Like, for instance, if you’re an Internet company, renew your domain name! LOL @ Foursquare.
2.) Mark Hayward helps you define your small business social media goals in one of his latest posts. Most important here: make a simple plan, and then stick to it. Consistency is so key!
3.) I like to think I live a life of decency… showing respect for others, no matter if I report to them, or if they report to me. No matter if they’re some high-powered donor, or the person making my hamburger. Pleases, thank yous, may I’s… the very lessons I’m trying to teach my daughters. Peter Shankman discusses South By Southwest (SXSW) in one of his latest blog posts. At the event, it seems someone may have yelled at a volunteer. Some think Peter was the offending douchebag, when it turns out he was not. The meat of the post is much more than a who-done-it – it’s about showing respect for others (like never yelling at a volunteer). Peter argues for having a truer sense of self, i.e., we are not curing cancer or feeding the hungry. Get real, and get over yourself. (warning, just a bit of foul language in the post.)
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.