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Little BIG Things – Tom Peters – Video Book Review

chrisbrogan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:30:43 +0000

I love Tom Peters. He’s gotten me in trouble for years. Well, his books have. I finally got to have lunch with him, and then see him keynote. The affair just grows and grows. And now, Tom’s done the whole “compile some good blog posts into a better book” thing. It’s awesome. His new book, The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE (amazon affiliate link), is just outright wonderfully STUFFED full of Tom Peters-ish things about pursuing excellence. Some of it is so simple you’ll kick yourself for not doing it already. The rest of it is thought-provoking and heart-felt. You’ll get something out of this book. And it’s HUGE. Almost 400 pages. Just a big giant helping of the man himself. Thanks, Tom.

Direct link to the video

People always ask which camera I used to shoot my video. I use the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 (that’s a review of the camera).

Give Your Speech Change the World – Video Book Review

chrisbrogan — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:30:22 +0000

My friend, Tim Sanders sent me this book by Nick Morgan, Give Your Speech, Change the World: How to Move Your Audience to Action (amazon affiliate link). I admit that as a pro speaker, I wasn’t sure what I’d take from it. Well, I took tons from it, and you might, too, either as a beginner or someone with some speeches under your belt. Here’s a quick video review:

Direct link to the video

Anyhow, it’s a keeper. Thanks Nick, and thanks Tim.

People always ask which camera I used to shoot my video. I use the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 (that’s a review of the camera).

Linchpin by Seth Godin – Video Book Review

chrisbrogan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:30:34 +0000

Are you indispensible? That’s what Seth Godin asks in Linchpin, his new book about the future of work, the break with our industrial past, and what we need to do, individually, to measure up. It’s a Seth Godin book, so of course it delivers. It’s much more meaty than Tribes and more actionable than Meatball Sundae, and every bit as eye opening as his other books.

Here’s a quick video:

Direct link to the video

Drive – Video Book Review

chrisbrogan — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:30:48 +0000

I really enjoyed Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (amazon affiliate link), by Daniel Pink. Dan’s got a great style about him, and this book really shows off his storytelling-meets-research style very well. As you’ll see in the video, I took lots of notes while reading the book. It’s interesting that I wrote equally as many notes about the book’s points as I did ideas for New Marketing Labs. Anyhow, check out the video:

Direct link to the video

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Review

chrisbrogan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:23:33 +0000

I’m asked all the time which camera I use to make my videos for projects like Kitchen Table Talks, or my many book reviews. Well, here it is, the Panasonic DMC-LX3 (amazon affiliate link). It is my most favorite point and shoot camera that I’ve ever owned. What I like most about it is that it’s small and fits in my jacket or pants pocket quiet easily.

It takes SD memory and has a rechargeable battery pack. It shoots in standard size (4:3), widescreen (16:9), and even 3:2 (not sure what that’s called). I also quite like the fact that it shoots snaps really easily with the autofocus features but that it also makes for really great video quality in high definition.

I’ve had it sense September 2009 and it’s been my favorite camera and video rig to date. Obviously, it doesn’t have an external mic so it’s not like it’s *super* versatile, but it’s served me quite well.

How Social Media Can Power Your Business – Kitchen Table Talks

chrisbrogan — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:30:12 +0000

I had the pleasure of spending some time with Joe Sorge, who runs AJ Bombers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as Water Buffalo, and a few other restaurants in town. We were talking about how he uses social media to power his business and I found it fascinating. Here’s why this is a Kitchen Table Talks video: Joe shares how he uses a tool to humanize his business.

Direct link to the video

New Job New You – a Book Review

chrisbrogan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:30:24 +0000

Here’s a review of Alexandra Levit’s new book, New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career (amazon affiliate link). I really enjoy Alexandra’s style. She’s published many good books in the career space, and this is a very timely one for the displacement era that we find ourselves in. In the video, I mention also Pam Slim’s Escape from Cubicle Nation, because I could see this book pairing well with that one. Levit’s is tightly written and focuses strongly on helping one think through a career change. It’s a great read.

Direct link to the video

Switch- A Book Review

chrisbrogan — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:04:45 +0000

First, thanks to Steve Garfield for recommending I use a stack of books and a tripod for shooting my video. His great advice shows up in his new book, Get Seen (amazon affiliate link).

So, this is about Chip and Dan Heath’s really amazing new book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (amazon affiliate link). It’s the best book about understanding the mechanics and switches of change that I’ve ever read. I loved MADE TO STICK, by the Brothers Heath, and this book is like that, only even better. The book has LOTS of how-to baked into it, and by the end, you’ll be re-assessing all kinds of projects in your life. Total must-buy. Here’s my review:

Direct link to the video

Get Switch:

Business Stripped Bare – Book Review

chrisbrogan — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:33:12 +0000

I love love loved Richard Branson’s Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur. It resonated with me as the owner of a small business, and also as someone who’s helping big businesses develop. His storytelling style is great, and the ideas that the book gives you are immediately applicable. I took tons of notes and have already started implementing them into how I do business. It’s much better written than Branson’s first two books, and has the benefit of time, too. Definitely worth reading.

Sorry for how I look in the video. This was yesterday, just before I realized I was coming down with a cold.

Motorola Droid- My Take

chrisbrogan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:32:19 +0000

I purchased my own Motorola DROID (amazon affiliate link) on the day they came out, and have been using it as my primary (only) cell phone for weeks. I left behind the iPhone 3G primarily because of AT&T’s service. I just couldn’t keep a phone call up. My take, after a few weeks of intensive use of the Droid is that it’s a good phone and worthy of your consideration. Let me give you a bit more information.

Motorola Droid – The Good

I’m a Google kind of guy. My email is gmail. I use Google Apps. I use Google Calendar. The phone is built for this. Calendar, Google Voice, and all the other apps really integrate well. I make my calls via Google Voice. I schedule appointments with the same calendar I use on the web. So with that in mind, everything I used worked really seamlessly between the web and the phone (except, oddly, Google Wave, which says it’s not compatible with the browser).

The camera is 5 megapixels, and does stills and video. It’s pretty decent. The “hard” button is in a silly place, and using the soft button wasn’t very simple. But there were all kinds of 3rd party apps in the store to make this easy. The video is HD quality, by the way, which is nice. Oh, and there’s a flash for stills. Eat that, iPhone.

The app store had lots of apps that I was using on the iPhone, including Evernote, PixelPipe, SnapTell, Shazam, Pandora, and more. I’m using Twidroid right now for a Twitter app, though I’m hoping the Seesmic Android app gets better, as I’d like to support Loic LeMeur.

I love the maps feature, which is a lot more like a full function turn-by-turn GPS and blows away the iPhone built-in maps feature. It’s provided by Google and it’s really a threat to Garmin and Tom Tom and the boys.

The 3G network seems pretty darned fast. I have done some comparisons that showed the iPhone winning, and some showing the Droid winning, but in general, I feel like the Internet runs faster on the Droid. Might be a perception. You be the judge.

Motorola Droid – The Bad

The soft keyboard is silly. It’s messy, not very responsive, and requires a lot of patience. The hard keyboard isn’t as good as a blackberry, but after a while, I got used to it.

Battery life is a hair better than an iPhone, but not much. I like that I can buy replacement batteries and swap them out on my own. The guys at AMD told me a lot of the future wars around computer components would be around battery life. This makes me believe them.

Apps crash every now and again (but then, they did on the iPhone, too).

I have only 10,000 apps and iPhone has 100,000 or something. So, sometimes that shows. Now that everyone and their brother is making an iPhone app, I find myself hoping they’re also making Android apps. It’s never fun to be in the “B” category of software crazes. But so far, that’s not hurting me too bad.

I find there are lots of design elements where Apple did it better. The iTunes interaction is much better than the various entertainment products lopped into the Droid. Meaning, the App Store seems smoother than the Android Market. The iTunes part seems better than Droid’s Music app. So, it’s a little bit of what Robert Scoble said, about it not exactly being as ’smooth,’ but I’m holding out that there are more options for improvement.

How I think the Droid Compares

I think people who have a Blackberry should think about the Droid.

I think people who are considering the Palm Pre should think about the Droid.

I think people who are tired of AT&T dropping their calls should think about the Droid.

I think the other Android phones are good, but Droid is Android 2.0 and seems a little bit nicer.

So that’s it. That’s what I think. What about you? And are there any other questions?