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Start engaging your fan base as if you are serving them face to face. Do what you do best:
Engage in conversation
Provide solutions
Give relevant information

Pick something that works for your fans, clients or customers. And if you don't figure it out within a week, don't worry about it and keep plugging along until you do.

It's not hard, just don't over think it.

That's enough for a short thought.

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Noise
-reliving the past
-single sided
-general or no opinion
-pessimism

That's enough for a short thought.

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This article has been reposted from here. I will definietly be doing a follow up post as I am in the process of my second degree in a business program. 

I went to B-School about 10 years ago.  I remember the good times, the parties, the camaraderie.  I also remember the long hours in the library, working on team projects with other keen classmates, and the sense of accomplishment at graduation.

However, 10 years later, Business School missed out on a lot in terms of teaching me the skills needed to succeed in my career and life.

Here are the ten biggest lies of B-School you should protect yourself against:

1. You will be rich. My experience (and from talking to others) is that it will take you 2 or 3 times as long as you think it will take to succeed after Business School.  So take it easy running up your student loans and credit card debts expecting you’re going to be a rock star later.

2. You are smarter than people without an MBA. You were smart enough to get in to Business School.  That doesn’t mean you are smarter than other people without an MBA.  Stay humble.

3. There’s always a right answer. B-School students are usually very analytical and achievement-oriented. They like to think there’s always a “best” answer. There’s not.  The perfect answer is always the enemy of the good enough one.  You make decisions you can with the best information available.  Life and business today doesn’t let you count how many angels can fit on the head of a pin.

4. If you’ve made it this far (to B-School), you’re destined to succeed. In my B-School, there were always amazingly talented executives coming in to give talks on business and life. They’d always compliment us on what a great school we attended and why we had our future by the tail.  It made us all feel invincible — destined to succeed once we set out on our various career paths.  It doesn’t work that way. I know B-School classmates who’ve failed miserably, under-achieved, gotten divorced, gotten severely depressed, etc.  B-School is a great educational opportunity in life, but you still have to go out there and succeed. Nothing is given to you as a birthright.

5. You know how to “fix” the first few companies you join after school. You’ve probably worked at companies were people who’ve been there for 2 decades roll their eyes telling you about the new hotshot MBA who just started and is now telling everyone how to do their jobs.  It’s so clear to him, yet others find it deeply offensive that he would think he knows how the company works when they’ve spent countless years there and are still trying to figure it out.  All hotshot MBAs should wear tape over their mouths for the first 3 months on the job and not be allowed to “fix” anything.

6. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) will always tell you what a company is worth. MBAs love DCF. They think the true answer to what a company is worth is always a DCF away.  Just crank it out on a spreadsheet or whiteboard, show the boss, and move on to the next problem.  Unless you’re going to be a sell-side analyst, you’ll never do a DCF after B-School.  And even the sell-side analysts get their underlings to do them.  And no one reading your reports will read them anyway.5. You know how to “fix” the first few companies you join after school. You’ve probably worked at companies were people who’ve been there for 2 decades roll their eyes telling you about the new hotshot MBA who just started and is now telling everyone how to do their jobs.  It’s so clear to him, yet others find it deeply offensive that he would think he knows how the company works when they’ve spent countless years there and are still trying to figure it out.  All hotshot MBAs should wear tape over their mouths for the first 3 months on the job and not be allowed to “fix” anything.

7. The “soft” courses (leadership and people management) are least important. I remember talking to the professors from the Management Department at my school who had to teach the courses on leadership and people management.  They used to lament that the MBAs never paid attention to them in class.  Yet, the Executive MBAs (usually in their 40s or 50s) always told them that these courses were the most important of all the B-School classes they took.  You learn after B-School that the perfect answer or strategy means nothing if you can’t get people around you to buy in to it and help you achieve it.  To do that, you need to motivate them, listen to them, connect with them, and support them when they need it.

8. You are going to be more creative and entrepreneurial after Business School than before. In my experience, B-School makes you less creative, the longer you’re in it.  They teach courses on entrepreneurship but it’s kind of an oxymoron the idea of the analysis paralysis B-School Students being entrepreneurial.  You will learn a lot of tools and frameworks in B-School, but you won’t learn how to start a company.  You just need to start a company.

9. Your peers will give you lots of tips and insights that will help you succeed in your career. In my experience, the majority of B-School students are lemmings.  They don’t know what they want to do afterwards, so they just do what their peers say they should do (maybe that’s why they applied to B-School in the first place).  Ten years ago, everyone at my school wanted to be a dot com entrepreneur.  That didn’t work out so well and most students later went back to being investment bankers or management consultants.  Your peers don’t know what you want to do with your career.  You need to start listening to that voice inside your head.

10. The Ivy League MBAs will be even more successful. An Ivy League credential will be a big plus for you on your resume – no question.  However, you have to realize that if you’re getting an Ivy League MBA, you’re probably 10x more susceptible to the previous 9 lies than other MBAs.  Don’t let yourself be the next Jeff Skilling, the smart Harvard MBA, who worked at McKinsey and then went to Enron and drove the company off a cliff.  He had a golden resume – and where did it get him?

If you treat B-School like an amazing educational experience, chances are you’ll get a lot out of it.  Just keep your attitude and sense of entitlement in check.

As Casey Kasam used to say, “Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.”

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The National Labor Relations Board has weighed in on the role of social networking at the office, determining that employees can't be fired for what they post on Facebook -- as long as they use the platform to talk about improving their workplace. The NLRB's ruling, announced on Wednesday, stems from an incident last year, when an employee at the Hispanics United of Buffalo non-profit organization went on Facebook to complain about a co-worker who accused her of slacking off at the office. Other colleagues soon chimed in on the woman's wall post with a slew of profanity-laced comments, before the targeted employee noticed the thread and reported it to a supervisor. Citing the agency's zero-tolerance policy on cyber harassment, the boss fired the five employees who participated in the online discussion -- including one who went on to file a complaint with the NLRB. Last week, administrative law Judge Arthur Amchan finally issued a verdict in the case, determining that the employees retained the right to talk about "their terms and conditions of employment," as stipulated under the National Labor Relations Act. Because this particular Facebook thread involved discussion of "job performance and staffing levels," Amchan ordered Hispanics United to reinstate the employees. The decision marks the first time that an administrative judge has ruled on a Facebook-related workplace case, though the NLRB says it's received "an increasing number of charges related to social media in the past year" -- so it likely won't be the last. You can read the Board's statement in full, after the break.

via engadget.com

Just too interesting to pass up.

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Juice up before taking the trip. Great idea!

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via nytimes.com 

The tax man wants his fair share, but what is the fair share here?

Here is the fan’s fantasy: You go to the ballpark and under a picture-perfect sky not only do the Yankees win, but in recognition of your exemplary behavior, the team also showers you with free season tickets, signed merchandise and a personal audience with the Yankee-est of Yankees, Derek Jeter. The team president hands you his card, with his e-mail address.

And here is the reality: The taxman may own a piece of your windfall. And not in tickets, either. He takes only cash. Read the full article. 

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via feedproxy.google.com

This presentation from Tac Anderson is simple and just makes sense. After enjoying it, I asked: Why as marketers, as organizations, as businesses do we believe that we can truly communities around our products/ services and ideals? Is our "stuff" actually that good that a community should be built?

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Earlier today I received a email from YouVersion. It was an apology note for sending out some wrong information. Rather than a "carefully worded letter," they sent an apology in clear language. Not only that, they made light of the situation, corrected the error and reassured me of their intent. (You can read the full email below.)

I appreciated their email this for a number of reasons:

• It was short, but meaningful.
• It used simple conversational language.
• It didn't make guess at what they were trying to say.
• Finally, they did not only apologize but they asked for an apology. (Who does that anymore?!)

Overall, the message was clear, powerful and respectful. I won't remember the mistake, but I will remember the company that asked for forgiveness. 

____

EMAIL from YOUVERSION

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Background

I have been using about.me for the past week or so. It is yet another tool which provides analytics and another place to post about yourself, or in this case about me. Overall, I enjoy the tool from a branding standpoint. Keep in mind, you first have to have a brand to post anything and the tools only project what you already are/have. Besides that, it allows anyone to create a simple splash page to share with others. In this case, a splash page is a landing page on the web for you. You can post a brief bio and links to all of your social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. There are also a number of privacy features but I have yet to really work through those. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

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This a repost of Seth Godin's post on March 11, 2011.

Perhaps it's time for a new definition.

Unskilled labor is what you call someone who merely has skills that most everyone else has.

If it's not scarce, why pay extra?

Skills matter. The unemployment rate for US workers without a college education is almost triple that for those with one. Even the college rate is still too high, though.  On the other hand, the unemployment rate for skilled neurosurgeons, talented database designers and motivated recombinant DNA biologists is essentially zero, despite the high pay in all three fields.

Unskilled now means not-specially skilled.

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I just received a t shirt and handwritten note from Rich at Posterous. A little while back I participated in some beta testing. At the end I evaluated a product and they sent me a shirt as well as a thank you note. Now Posterous is happy, they got nearly free feedback, and I am too, I gave my feedback and received a t-shirt. Overall it is a pretty easy process, but few organizations do it.

Here's the super simple marketing formula:
1. Ask your customers for feedback.
2. Listen to what they say.
3. Respond by letting your customers know what you plan to do with their feedback.
4. Thank everyone sincerely.

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I am not a fan of new years. It may have to do with my birthday being so close to the new year, but regardless I am always hesitant of the new year's hype and all of the resolutions. We all know the new year doesn't mean much, it means that we say we will try to make new habits and become better humans. Every year there are new resolutions, new ideas, and new things that won't pan out. Like I said, I have hesitated to post anything about the new year but have come to the conclusion it is entirely necessary because I am a fan of new beginnings. Here it is: Don't wait, start now. Are you waiting for something? Start now, start knocking on the door, start the conversation, start the process, start something new. I have two new ideas that I will be pursuing in the next few months. The first is furthering my education in accounting and the second is a small business venture focused on marketing management. (More to come on both in the future) What are you planning? 

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Reposted from thetricycle.com

At Tricycle, we are always talking about creating the right culture within your organization. The fastest way to shape your culture is to start by hiring the right people. I, Thomas, recently saw this contract application. It isn’t your typical job application…What do you think? For more about the actual position and even to apply, check here.

* Required

1. Your name * The one your parents gave you…
2. Invent an application ID number * Your initials followed by a four digit number that you won’t forget (e.g. SG1234). I’ll use this to anonymously post the finalists so people can informed about whether or not they made the cut.
3. Your email address * So we can contact you
4. Where do you live now? * City or state or whatever
5. A phone number In case we need to make voice contact More about you
6. Where do you live online? A blog or a Squidoo page or some other way to see who you are and what you do
7. Tell me about the books you read… * Not by me… books that have changed the way you think or do your job
8. Where are you going? * What do you want to do next? What are you hoping to learn?
9. True story #1: Tell me about a project you successfully shipped * Preferably where you were in charge
10. True story #2: Tell me about working in a team * A project you participated in
11. Publishing experience * Check all that apply Book publishing Book editing Online media Magazine publishing Other:
12. Publishing experience * Feel free to fill me in on the above (if you don’t have any professional experience at this, don’t fret, it’s not the end of the world)
13. Skill testing question #1 * Which superpower is more highly leveragable: flight or invisibility?
14. Skill testing question #2 * A turtle and a giraffe leave Cleveland, walking in different directions. The turtle walks at 5 meters per second, the giraffe at 12 meters per second. What color is the street sign?
15. True story #3: Getting picked * What’s the most demanding/exclusive application process you’ve ever been through? Who picked you and why?
16. Technical chops * Tell us about your skills with various web apps or languages or whether you can operate a Zojirushi rice cooker
17. What do you do now? * Where and what and how, etc.

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