Perfect Blend: The Sweet, The Sour, The Surprise

To my future employer(s), I'm working on the evil section (succulence, sweet succulence) of my book this evening, which warrants tapping into the brisk, brash and bold bigBADbob.

The Lil' Things (and others)...

Image via Wikipedia

I've read too many books to recall which one... oh wait... I remember who always talks about the little things making a difference, Andy Sernovitz (good reads whether you're a marketer or not). In my recent travels, I've noticed several small things that make a difference...

• At Nike's World Headquarters, there are no trash cans in offices. An employee has to trek to the break room, where recycling options present themselves.
• At the Salty Dog Cafe in Brookings, OR, the owners have left cards on the tables thanking you for your patronage (too bad they weren't hand-written or signed).
• My cab driver in Beaverton who got out and opened up the passenger front door inviting me into his space as equals instead of as my chauffeur, then proceeded to give me a history of Portland on our drive.
• Giving a book to a friend and getting two in return.
• Knowing the names of the homeless people near your business and greeting them when seen.
• Offices with an office dog.
  

And, a few other things that made a difference (but in a bad way)...

• Hotels that force you to pay for wifi when there are four coffee shops within a block that offer it for free.
• Stark and sterile-looking restaurants that feel more like hospitals than eateries... prompting me to realize that my necessity to eat is unrelated to the proximity of your food.
  
• Indifference when you arrive at your destination. Any traveler that rolls into accommodations early in the morning might have been traveling all night, a little "happy to see you" can go a long way.

What little things do you often notice?

@zamees Opts Out of Contract w/ #KC5

KANSAS CITY, MO, August 7, 2009 -- @zamees opted out of his multi-year contract with the #KC5 on Friday in what appears to be a surprising end to a tumultuous week in camp.

@zamees' decision, announced via Twitter earlier today, immediately makes the gentleman a free agent.

"I'll be honest with you, the head coach and I couldn't agree on what I felt was going to be a successful game plan," @zamees stated. After shaking his head, he continued, "We had a long discussion after two-a-days and, at the end of it, I told him that I'd have to sleep on it and get back to him. I didn't get much sleep that night which made for a horrible practice the next day, but also really gave me time to think about my future with the team. There's just no possible way that I can see myself being successful in this environment any longer. I do wish my teammates the best."

Visibly shaken, @zamees walked away from the podium without taking any additional questions from the media.

@zamees loses the final $72 million in guaranteed salary in his record contract, which he signed earlier this year. It is unclear whether the #KC5 will attempt to re-sign @zamees if he chooses to stay in the area. The move is surprising in many circles, since his return to the team after nearly 20 years away only recently occurred.

This reporter reached @zamees agent on the phone and learned that he has no plans to actively seek another team for this coming season. In fact, he says that he's already cleaned out his locker and relocated to his personal island.

He refused to provide any underlying reasons for his decision. However, he did close with this comment, "The sooner you get to 'no,' the quicker you'll know," then said he was going to retire to the pool, alone and smiling.

28/52: "Twitter Power" by Joel Comm

Book 28/52: "Twitter Power" by Joel Comm, 3/5 Stars

Remember my one and only New Year's Resolution? Yeah, to read 52 books in 52 weeks... well, I'm behind, but I'm still at it.

Though Twitter Power was published earlier this year, it's already beginning to show it's age. In the wide world of the web, connections are narrower and internet time is four times faster than real time, at least I think that's how the quote goes. That said, this book would be awesome for someone that wants to leverage the connection power of Twitter, is new to the medium and doesn't have much online marketing background.

There is a fact about our culture that is not discussed in the book. Americans love to accumulate and we love to see our name in lights (ranked). I realize that Twitter is an international channel, but that doesn't mean that other cultures aren't similar to ours. We collect frequent flyer miles, credit card points, baseball cards, coasters, dolls, bottle caps... so it only makes sense that we'd want to accumulate Twitter followers, too. Quality far and away outshines quantity. Unfortunately, most of the ranking engines on Twitter weight quantity for too much and too many profiles are influenced by accumulation. Be wary of those that only care about gaining followers and not engaging because they may just want to see their name in lights.

Comm takes the time to talk about strategy in reference to quality, but doesn't get into the fact that users can now ramp up thousands of followers in a mere matter of days using follow engines. I'd love to see him address whether it's possible to glean quality from this massive influx of quantity simply from the sheer numbers of it.

There really are four parts to the Twitter day and they can be broken up into six hour segments. This analysis would make an interesting addition to the scheduled updates portion of the book. Because of the international nature of Twitter, I can promote one blog post in the morning, afternoon, evening and then overnight. Since I only grab about 6-7 hours of sleep each night, I can do all of this without using scheduled tweets. Of course, I also have no girlfriend, no wife and no kids, so that makes it a heck of a lot easier, too. It might be rewarding to see how this technique impacts traffic logs. So far, I've not had any detriment from my avid readers, partly because they are avid and partly because I engage with them throughout the day between the broadcasts.

I've taken to being very stingy with my follow-backs. Because my primary purpose on Twitter is to engage, I don't return follow profiles that are obviously pornographic, link farms and those with a very high follower to update ratio. I block them. I also avoid the celebrity profiles that don't seem to engage, they just broadcast their doings. I make a few exceptions based on my own interests; when Lance was riding in the tour, for instance.

With time on Twitter, you'll start to see accounts that are identical to each other, I've simply made a decision to avoid following them and, in fact, I typically block them. One day each week, I perform maintenance on my followers through the use of Friend or Follow to see who I'm following that's no longer following me back. This can tell you how your tweets are impacting your followers.

Because it's such a new medium, it's not as reliable as we'd like. Just last night, Tweetdeck blew up my group filters and I had to spend an hour creating them from scratch. I also suggest using Tweetake to download a text file of your followers on a regular basis... it didn't help me with my Tweetdeck groups, but it's security against Twitter blowing itself up.

Speaking of Tweetdeck, there's no way that I can follow several thousand people with any degree of regularity, so I use it to filter search terms and specific types of groups into columns that are easier to track. Those that I don't follow become those that receive my updates, but may or may not engage. If they choose to engage, then I move them into an engagement filter so that I can to converse more regularly with them.

Twitter Power does a great job of covering the basics and even provides a step-by-step program for launching yourself into the Twitterverse. Much like anything else in the world, though, once you get into using the channel, you'll begin to hone your subjective approach based on the objective considerations that Comm has presented.

Follow me @zamees.

GOAL: 52 books in 52 weeks!

Book #27 = "The Cluetrain Manifesto" by LLSW, 3/5 Stars
Book #26 = "What Kind of World Do You Want?" by Jim Lord, 5/5 Stars
Book #25 = "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott, 4/5 Stars
Book #24 = "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King, 1/5 Stars
Book #22 = "My Favorite Place on Earth" by Jerry Camarillo Dunn, 4/5 Stars
Book #21 = "Wisdom 2.0" by Soren Gordhamer, 4/5 Stars
Book #20 = "Oath Of Gold" by Elizabeth Moon, 5/5 Stars
Book #19 = "The Age Of Engage" by Denise Shiffman, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = "What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20" by Tina Seelig, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, 4/5 Stars
Book #16 = "Divided Allegiance" by Elizabeth Moon, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = "The Curious Incident of the Dog..." by Mark Haddon, 2/5 Stars
Book #14 = "The Sheepfarmer's Daughter" by Elizabeth Moon, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #13 = "Love Is The Killer App" by Tim Sanders, 4/5 Stars
Book #12 = "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, 5/5 Stars
Book #10 = "The Finder" by Colin Harrison, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #9 = "Veronika Decides To Die" by Paulo Coelho, 1/5 Stars
Book #8 = "By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept" by Paulo Coelho, 3/5 Stars
Book #7 = "Stiff" by Mary Roach, 2/5 Stars
Book #6 = "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, 1/5 Stars
Book #5 = "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, 3/5 Stars
Book #4 = "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho, 2/5 Stars
Book #3 = "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #2 = "My Ishmael" by Dan Quinn, 2/5 Stars
Book #1 = "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho, 3.5/5 Stars

READ MORE!

The Truth IS Stranger than Fiction

Most of you, my wonderful readers (smooch!), pretty much know that I'm so close to the end of a rewrite of my book that I can taste it. So close! For you newbies, welcome, I hope that you enjoy your stay with us for a long, long time (PS: There's usually plenty of wine to go around).

I bring up my book for one particular reason, the truth is stranger than fiction.

I don't write about it much here, but I'm a technology marketer in my real life, when my creative flow isn't focused on this blog or my book, then I'm concepting and developing strategy for companies. I was rereading a book last night that I'd read (and reviewed: What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20) earlier in the year because I have an idea and I needed to reread the book with that idea in mind; the template for how to accomplish the idea is in that book. I stray, sorry, in the book it says that there are always problems to solve around us--opportunities that exist--the difference between an entrepreneur and someone else, at this stage, is that the entrepreneur notices the opportunities.

There's no need to make ideas up, they exist all around us.

How does that relate to my book? Well, it might be a stretch, but here goes... I don't have to make things up, my eyes are open and I see my book--several books, for that matter--all around me, constantly. This blog is the easiest thing (and hopefully enjoyable for you) that I've ever done in my life. One post per day about whatever I see around me. Done! I'm going sideways again... back on track... well, last night life authored another twist.

My previous post, "Love Case for Intended Change," caused a stir in the world (I added an update to the end of the post, so go back and read it real quick). The comments that were posted were fantastic, thank you, but it's the ones that never made it to the blog that have really changed my world.

How much do I believe in true love? That's one question that I contemplated last night. Another? Do I really think that people can change or am I just that optimistic? I suppose that depends on how much change needs to be made. Do I often feel like I live alone on an island of understanding? Yes, most definitely and I wonder why I keep inviting people to the island that I have to kick off... but, that's what I was told at a young age... you have a "knowing" and very few around you will appreciate or understand it. In fact, they'll think you arrogant or pompous when you have to wield it.

I see things all around me because my eyes are open.

I've had three opportunities in my life for intense introspection and I've grasped on to all three of them. When I was in college (for 9 years), I made it my mission to ask myself all the questions that I could muster. That's one thing. Answering the question, however, is never enough. You have to take the next step and ask yourself, "Why is that my answer?" "Why?" is the most important question one can ever ask. Seriously, start with, "Why is _______ my favorite color?" and see what happens. After a long stint of employment, I had a year and a half to read, travel and write earlier in this decade. And now, I've been at it once more for about 20 months. It's wonderful and frustrating, but so good for me to know myself... and knowing myself seems to be highly connected to knowing what's going on around me.

So, when a friend asked me if we could go out for a few beers, I thought it odd, but not unlikely. In fact, my first thought was, "Cool, I'd like to spend more time with him because we are quite similar in the way we think. Life's challenges have made us think deeply. I'm glad that he reached out to me." And then my second thought kicked in and I actually asked him, "Can I invite friends to join us or do you have something private that you want to discuss?" Intuition spoke to me and said there was something that needed to be discussed; intuition was right.

There were many things that I realized during the conversation:

1. If he is like me, a deep thinker, then he doesn't like to be told what to do; he has to experience it on his own. Sooo true for me. So true. Any lecture about my learnings would fall on his deaf ears because a decision had already been made.
2. If nothing can be learned from shared information, then it's not my place to stand in the way of opportunity. It'd be horribly selfish to deny a man the ability to explore--the opportunity to learn what needs to be learned in his life.
3. Love is a powerful force. To me, Love is the religion. We have such unbelievable desire to find it, that we're willing to do things that we'd never do if we stepped back a little bit and observed our actions. I know it, I've done it and I've learned from it. Asking for something doesn't mean that what you ask for justifies the action you request.
   
4. There are those that keep following the same template over and over and over without learning from the experience. Heck, I just did that exact thing! So, I can't even exclude myself from this truth. Fortunately, I recognized it in a few months instead of a few years.
   

So, my words of caution can really be summed up to this, be wary of those that throw around words with reckless abandon when they know not what they really mean. I've been accused of "being in love with love," and I absolutely am. Being in love with love is living in the NOW. Except, being in love with love and being in the now make a dangerous combination; it's possible to run people down and keep right on truckin,' oblivious to what really happened around you or what caused the accident. You can be in love with love, but you have to remember, you still want to get to the destination, not just bumble along on the journey your whole life; there is a place that you're trying to get to that isn't in the NOW.

So, my friends and readers, I urge you to stop, get out of the truck, step back and ask yourself, "Why do I keep doing the exact same thing over and over?"

Remove the nouns from the equation, it's not about what things look like, it's not about whether the truck is red or white or what street it's driving down... the problem is driving wherever you want, whenever you want... going where you want to go and never stopping to ask if someone else is heading in the same direction or even wants to go in your direction. My question is, "Do you even know where you're going?" Before you know it, you're making a turn and someone says to go straight and WHAM, accident.

There's a HUGE lesson in that last sentence... and it isn't about the metal, rubber and plastic left on the road; it's about whether everyone is alright. My readers, pay attention to the road, understand your path and be wary of getting distracted by the scenery... you just might total more than your ride and the rides of others around you.

Love Case for Intended Change

This morning, class, let's think about the phrase, "People don't change." Though that may have been the case with the older generations who were married for 50 years and employed by the same company for 30 years or more... it is not the case today.

Non-profits have realized that their strategy must change. No longer can they depend on the fierce loyalty of our oldest generation to simply send their donations in on a regular schedule; NPOs have learned that they must be accountable and they must focus on retention. Giving has a low switching cost and the web provides us with more information that we can handle.

Emergent strategies are becoming more the norm in business practice. In other words, strategy has been intended (proactive) for ages, we're beginning to see how an emergent (reactive) strategy can make an organization more nimble and able to capitalize on innovation and opportunity. People today are changing constantly: changing the TV station, changing the song, changing jobs, changing careers, changing partners... the list goes on.

But, enough of the business world examples. What I really want to talk about--what I always want to talk about--is love.

I think one of the greatest misnomers in love is the concept of change found in the statement, "I don't want to change for someone." Fact is, the world is dynamic and it changes around us and we constantly have to figure out how to continue making our way in it as individuals, as a couple and as a family. Things change. People change.

I believe that you should figure out how to change with and for each other in the beginning, not after things have already changed.

There is a saying that goes, "A man spends his life hoping she doesn't change; a woman spends her life trying to make him change." Haven't we all encountered that?

I recently had a conversation with someone that (I thought) was a potential true love. I wanted to believe that it was a real opportunity, but this concept of change continually popped up in our talks. In the great grand finale of the relationship, she said some of the following things:

• I want someone that ADDs to my life, not SUBTRACTs from it.
• I don't want to be with someone that wants to change me.
• I don't want to fit a square peg into a round hole.
  

She didn't need to say anything else to me, at all. Right then and there, in those three bullets, I would have been foolish not to see the immaturity and lack of depth. First of all, there is nothing negative about subtraction, sometimes we have to give a little to get a lot. One of the great strategies in soccer is to play the ball backwards and stretch the opposing players out so that you can open up space between them and opportunity to move forward.

Second, every thing that she said was about finding someone that fits her; nothing about finding someone where they fit together. "I don't want you to try and change me" sounds an awful lot like "I don't want to change for you" or "I'm not interested in sacrificing for you." Either way you approach it, being changed or changing, there was no concept of togetherness in her words--no concept of sacrificing for each other and for the greater good.

Third, I believe that the perfect fit is the one that isn't quite perfect; we both have to tuck in a corner here and squeeze into an angle there... we're snug... we need a little tap from a rubber mallet to snap into place... we didn't just fall into place... we had to work on it together. Our imperfections are what make us unique.

Because we're so snug, it's hard to pop us apart... that's my love.

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that the world is constant around us and we're the ones that attach our emotion to it... well, the objective world might stay constant, but our subjective world is constantly changing, will your strategy in life and love be intended or emergent?

Me?
I intend to be proactive about a togetherness strategy for change and reactive to the opportunities that love will present... now, to find the right woman.

[8/6 UPDATE: Apparently, this post has caused quite the stir and if there was one sentence that I'd go back and clarify, then it would be the one about immaturity and lack of depth. Yes, I believe in those words and stand by them, but that doesn't mean that I don't think we evolve. I believe there is a point in life where we realize what really matters. I'm just saying that there are people in my life that haven't gotten there yet... and they won't fit with me until they do, in any capacity, because I won't waste my time pretending to care or trying to convince them that what they think matters--really matters--is trivial in the grand scheme.]

Should a new phone really make me that happy?

Image by The Pug Father via Flickr

This post has been on the back burner (and on my mind) for a few weeks now. The story that it reminds me of most in my own life has to do with all the words exchanged about whether the Palm Pre is/was a better phone than the iPhone.

Here's my take, "Who cares?"

I'll be happy with my iPhone and you be happy with your Pre, cool? Honestly, I'd hope that technology continues to improve itself and, in conjunction, improve our lives. If the iPhone didn't have competition... well, let's just say that Apple is good, but can't be relied upon for every technological advance to be made in mobile phone technology.

Right about the time I was secretly laughing at the arguments amongst friends about whether the Pre or the iPhone were "the best," Seth Godin wrote a blog post that really hit home; the objectivity and subjectivity that occurs in the world...

"The external world is remarkably consistent, and yet we blame it for what's going on inside of us. People who think the world is going to end always manage to find a new thing that's going to cause it to end. People itching to be bummed out all day long will certainly find an external event that give their emotion some causal cover. The thinking happens long before the event that we blame the thinking on."

So true. Half full or half empty? You are what you eat; you are what you tweet.

Seth then asks the question, "Should a new phone really make you that happy?" And, I answer, it depends on how long you waited to upgrade. :-) I got sold on the iPhone when I was sitting in the The Tune Inn on Penn in DC and remembered that I had to send an email to our membership base, some hundred thousand plus strong, when my friend turned his iPhone around on the table, slid it over to me and said, "Can you do it with this?" Oh yeah, cheeseburgers, beers and nothing like sending a political email blast from one of the greatest dive bars in America.

Been a long time...

... since I left you, without a dope pik to step to.


Wasn't bloggin' much last week with all the antics and 20th reunion stuff going on. Back at it this week!

Cheers,
Triple B