I have intent on the brain. So does Tim Sanders, it turns out. During my speech at the first ever GR2L event (get ready to live), I talked about shifting from connections into intent. I was talking about networking at that juncture. I want to expand. And I have a comparison/analogy to light this up.

The difference between talking about human business and social media and doing it is the difference between having recipes and running a restaurant.

We go to events and network. We collect business cards. Why? Because we don’t know what else to do. We know we’re supposed to network. We talk about why it’s important. The thing is, what do we DO with these? Jon Swanson wrote about switching back to a dumb phone when he realized that he didn’t really have to check email and Twitter every waking hour.

Jon’s restaurant doesn’t need an always-on recipe. See it?

Intent and Execution are the gold standard

My friend (I’m calling us friends) Tom Peters has spent decades on the variation of the theme that “execution is everything.” He pushes us over and over again to DO. Because again, Tom knows that having a box of recipes is nothing compared to executing on them and putting food down in front of people. Tom urges us to look at the buying trends in the world and realize that Baby Boomers and Women should be our main markets (in most cases).

Tom’s restaurant caters to those crowds quite well. Are you doing the same?

Open With a Few Dishes

Having a huge recipe box of ideas is one thing. Starting a restaurant and seeing what your guests like is another. We’re all in this space picking up ideas. We go to big events, we read tons of books, we surf hundreds of blogs, but if we’re not trying a few of these recipes out, we’re not really moving forward. We’re thinking plenty more than we’re doing.

What recipes should you start on today? (Here’s a hint: pick just a few, or one, and learn to make it so that your guests sing.)

I Believe This is a BIG Thing

I think we have to accept that we have a big enough recipe box. I think we have to look at what kind of “restaurant” we want to run, what kind of guest we hope to attract, what kind of cost-per-dish we’re aiming for, and what kind of experience we want people to have…

…and then we have to DO.

Will you take a moment and talk about your restaurant? I know I’m hungry.

On Twitter, @jnswanson is a force for good. I recommend HIGHLY that you follow him and get to know him. That is, unless you don’t like genuine, intelligent, thoughtful, feeling people.

Happy Birthday, Jon. And I’ll end with some snaps I’ve taken over the last 3 years:

Happy Birthday, friend.

Social Media Pastor Part Two.

Emilio has a personal blog for reflections, and a website for the Church, as well. Most recently, he’s added a section for using UStream.tv to show live sermons. Not that every house has a broadband Internet connection, but if this is another way that someone who can’t make it to the church can feel connected to the community, why not give it a try.

Other churches are putting up sermons and special events on YouTube and GodTube. Emilio has found ideas for sermons online regularly, or rather, ways to refresh his own ideas with the wisdom of others.

Some churchgoers in his extended online community are doing things like Twitter their local service. Others have been confronted for bringing technology into the church. In some affluent churches, there are even Second Life outposts, and online campuses. It’s a balance of concerns and considerations: are you still part of a community when represented digitally? Does God hear your prayer in pixel form? Emilio leans towards yes, but he knows that others aren’t as understanding.

Emilio knows that there are more challenges to taking religion into social media. He’s read and studied the book UNCHRISTIAN, by David Kinnamon. In this book, Kinnamon talks about what outsiders think about Christianity: hypocritical, focus on conversion, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, judgmental. Emilio feels there’s a much greater risk of these concerns spreading in the online world, where some context is lost.

Emilio recently upgraded his cell phone, which allows him to receive email from people with questions, receive text messages from people seeking a quick check-in during a rough moment, and it’s allowed him to be able to take pictures and share them online with the larger community. As Emilio visits a lot of hospitals, he sometimes records quick audio messages with someone sick, to be able to store and play this message for a family member later on.

There’s still so much face to face that he does, and much that doesn’t require an Internet connection, but through these options, Emilio has reached out far beyond his local congregation. He feels friendship with people from all around the world, and he understands the larger struggles people are having through his exploration of other blogs and online media.

With so much more to do, Emilio is happy for his first steps, and looks forward to even more respectful contact with others.

—

How does this sit with you?

—

These posts are made for sharing. Feel free to repost all or portions of this (as long as it’s not for profit). If you do post it, please make sure you kindly link back to [chrisbrogan.com] and give me credit. Thanks!

Photo credit, Chicago Eye