If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

The world of real estate has become a lot more software driven in recent years. Sure, ultimately, a buyer interacts with a person, but with the number of real estate apps out there, a lot of up front work happens before a real estate professional is contacted. That's not necessarily bad, but for a lot of Realtors (and other professionals in other industries for that matter), a personable connection with a buyer matters immensely as well.

If I Were Selling Real Estate Today

For years, I've had the pleasure of keynoting various real estate events and speaking at industry conferences. In every interaction, I found a warm, smart, driven person looking for new tools to reach and serve their buyer. My book with Julien Smith, Trust Agents, seemed to resonate with the primary challenge of "how do you build business remotely on the web?" Since that book (over 9 years have passed), I can say that the use of digital tools to evaluate real estate has only grown.

If I were selling real estate today, I'd embrace these apps and I would have a website/blog where I could add some content that my buyers might want. What would I put on that site? Oh, I'm glad you asked.

A Real Estate Professional's Content Marketing Checklist

1. Sure, you want to post pictures and videos about the properties. That's a given.
2. Take the camera on your phone and shoot a "neighborhood walk through" video.
3. Record an audio file where you talk people through how to evaluate a home. Tell them to keep this playing in the car when they're out hunting around.
4. Record another video where you list out what people need to bring to closing.
5. Find community points of interest and interview people to show off the neighbors.
6. Shoot an autobiographical video talking about your passions for serving people and your career so far.
7. If you have other skills/talents, like interior design, give people a video of tips for how to spruce up their place. OR, make a video to show homeowners how to prep their house for sale.

Naturally, there are plenty more pieces of content I could recommend. This is a great starter set that will keep you busy for a few weeks.

How to Go About Making All This Content

I'm sure you might have seized up a little upon seeing that list of seven ideas. The thing is, you already have the tools to make this. You have a smart phone. This comes with a video recorder and a voice recorder built in. If you feel like you have to edit the videos a little, you can record lots of little clips and dump them all into either Windows Media Maker (PC) or iMovie (Mac) and trim off the edges a bit. I promise that none of it is rocket surgery. If you know how to cut/paste words in a document, it's almost the same thing.

Practice. That's what I most want to share with you. Just practice.

As for scheduling, pick a weekly schedule of creating and posting that will let you take a little time to make your content, edit it, and post it. It's that simple (but not easy).

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You Need to Start Learning The Basics of Blockchain

In the early 90s, you started hearing about the Internet but brushed it off. Blockchain is that same experience coming to you again. Only this time, you can get ahead and learn a bit more before you feel like you're ten or more years behind everyone else.

I went looking for ways that people are describing and explaining even the basics of Blockchain technology and I put it together here for you. I know that everyone learns differently and that sometimes, we need to see something many times before it sinks in.Here's my effort to help you find more information on the basics of blockchain technology so you can start looking for ways it might change your world. There are opportunities here just like the Internet brought us many opportunities. Ignore this at your peril.

The Basics of Blockchain

I love this brief video from Wired where Bettina Warburg explains blockchain to a little kid, and then works it up from there.Blockchain ExplainedHere's investor and venture perspectives on blockchain.This is a technical guide from the NIST, (kinda dry but useful)I like how basic this article by The Fool is.IBM's explanation (they're a big player here already).This is a fun guide that has a bunch of ways of explaining it.Here's a Udemy course that might help. Plus, it's very inexpensive.I really like this description of blockchain and they went to a lot of effort to make it for you.Listed near the bottom of this post are some real world applications of blockchain.This one is a bit of a deeper dive told through massive slideshare decks.For those of you who prefer books, get this one by Donald Tapscott.

Audio Learners - Look Here

Great miniseries about blockchain by Fidelity people. It's really helpful. I like this one a lot.

Prefer a video?

Want it fast? Blockchain in 2 minutes (pretty good, actually.)Blockchain for DummiesBlockchain as it applies to BitcoinA whiteboard talk can be helpful.A really nerdy but very visual demonstration of some of blockchain's details. (Worth it, but you're getting a computer guy's take and that might spook some people.)A conference presentation on Blockchain.

How About Live Events?

I found this guide of conferences and conventions. You might have to do a little research to validate some of the events, but hey, good place to start.

There are Plenty More But Start Here

I'm just saying "hey you, it's time to get smarter and smarter about blockchain because it's coming around in more and more ways and you might want to think about your place in all this."The goal is finding the gaps where you can use technology to drive better human interaction.

I'll Help You Get Smarter

My weekly newsletter features ideas and thoughts and actionable concepts you can use for your own business. It's fun and VERY different from what you normally get. Check it out here:

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Are You Getting The Most Out of Your Conferences?

I had a wonderful time at Michael Port's Heroic Public Speaking event. There was a lot of value offered for those who attended. As a speaker, I loved sharing what I knew with the folks who were there. But I also operated as an attendee, listening and absorbing, and also getting what I could out of meeting and talking with other attendees. I had a secret opportunity: almost a dozen people there were friends as well as attendees. So I got a LOT out of my time there. But it made me think.

Are you getting the most out of your conferences?

There are some great ways to improve your conference experience, and I want to give you them right now.

1. Set your agenda. Once you know what is going to happen at the event, decide what YOU need to take back from this event for it to be a success.
2. Do your homework. Figure out who's attending. Is there an event hashtag? Go to http://search.twitter.com and see who's talking about the event.
3. Do your homework, part deux. Learn about the hotel, the surrounding restaurants and shops. What do you need to make your experience the best? Where can you take a few people for a quiet lunch away from the event?
4. Connect early. If you've come alone or with just one other person, find others and make a small group. It's okay if you're shy.
5. Bring a question and a solution. If you're working on something, ask others about it where it makes sense. If you've got some skills, ask others about what they're working on and see if you can help.
6. A.B.C. Always Be Connecting. While talking with people, think to yourself, "Who do I know who could help this person advance?" Ask the person if an introduction to XYZ person would be useful. Then email that person you're thinking about and ask if it's okay to make an introduction to your new friend. Connect. Repeat.
7. Follow-on. If the event is coming to a close, make sure to be able to reach out to the people you'd like to connect with further. Maybe find them on LinkedIn or Facebook, as well.
8. Review your notes within the first three days after the event. We ALL think we'll remember our notes forever. We won't. I've written things like "Three pigs in a tree" as if that meant something important, only to have no clue what it meant a week later.
9. Accept that you can't do everything at the event and get some rest where it makes sense. Lots of people attend conferences like it's a marathon. Rest. It's okay. Just don't miss the BEST opportunities to connect, if you can. The best stuff happens at the weird events.

I'm sure there's more going on. Maybe share some ideas on Twitter. I'm @chrisbrogan there. We could all search for the hashtag "#getmore" . Sound good? Ready? Go!

Which Conference Should You Attend? Your Own

I'm working through a few ideas, but I'm a little bit stuck. And as I haven't been invited to speak at a conference this week or next (where I get a lot of thoughts and ideas), I decided to put on a conference in my living room. The content doesn't quite matter, because it's my conference.People ask me all the time which conferences are the ones to attend? My answer: your own.

Which Conference Should You Attend?

Sure, there's all kinds of great events out there. I had a blast last year at several, and most of them were surprising to me. For instance, speaking with the folks at HR Florida was a real blast. But if you're not a human resources professional in Florida, it might not be your event. See what I mean?I loved Pioneer Nation in Portland, for the entrepreneurial types. I am thrilled to be part of Authority Rainmaker this year, as well as Social Media Marketing World. But in all those cases, the events were special to me because I have friends there.This plus a conversation with a friend asking me for this same advice got me thinking.

Throw Your Own Conference

Today, I'm watching some TED Talks, mostly about developing nations and innovation because they're more interesting than talks about here. I'm watching the Spartan Up Podcast and lots of interviews with Commander Mark Divine of SEALFit to learn more about mental toughness. I'm using Chromecast (you can do the same with the Amazon Fire TV Stick) and throwing the videos up on my TV. It's better than being there in some regards.

But Wait! What About The Hallway Conversations?

Look, I *love* conferences. I love meeting and talking with people. And you can't beat the serendipity. You must attend live events if you want the full effect. No two ways about it.But if you're home, and not really at an event, it's okay. You can make your own hallways.In the last few days, I've caught up with Tim Hayden about mobile technology and his life, and with Scott Oldford about his new book, and I've created podcasts with some of the conversations I ended up having. It's been really meaningful. Heck, I started a daily practice with Claudia Altucher's new book.

What Comes of It All?

There are three reasons to go to a conference, in our line of work:1.) Learn new things.2.) Make new connections and deepen existing ones.3.) Land new business.With my "do it yourself in your living room" conference today, I've been able to do 1 and 2 really well. I suspect number 3 will come along from the fruits of what I'm learning in 1 and 2. Don't you?So, don't wait to be invited to an event. Don't worry that you can't afford one, if that's the issue. Make your own conference, and make it the place to be! (Oh, and no one is trying to raffle off a free iPad for my business card, so there's that!)

Do You Invest in Yourself?

It took a long time to realize that I should invest in myself, that I should put my own mask on first, etc. Too long. To that end, I wanted to share some thoughts with you.When I was in my 20s, I flirted with college over and over again. My parents paid the first time around. Then, different employers would foot the bill and I'd march off to some other university or another. (There are over 20 in Boston). For any number of reasons, college didn't do much for me. I found the learning to be too boring, too outdated, and rarely applicable to what I thought would happen next. So I didn't bother.

I have only the smallest of regrets. I wish I had a degree in law and a degree in journalism, not because I want to practice either as a profession, but because what I'd have learned from those degrees would have been helpful to me. But that's only a smallish regret. You know, if I had a chance to do it over, etc.

I spent the next bunch of years not really caring about much, not getting far, being an employee. It was a paycheck, and then a couch, and a TV, and whatever passed for excuses for why I wasn't especially creative.

What Changed It All

I can tell you the exact moment I started caring. I was watching a PBS funds drive (you know, when the public television stations need your loot so they bring out all the good shows?), and Les Brown came on. He had a speech and a book called LIVE YOUR DREAMS, about how he went from being classified as "educable mentally retarded" to becoming a DJ, then a motivational speaker, and then to hold public office and then some. That was probably the first time I glimpsed the realization that I didn't have to fit into the labels I'd let other people give me.

What followed was picking up books by Anthony Robbins ( and later meeting him), and books by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, and learning more and more. And then realizing that I could write my own story. What I learned, however, was that this meant choosing a pretty difficult path.

Put Your Own Mask On First

When you fly, the safety briefing points out that we must secure our own masks first. What they mean is simple: you can't really help anyone else unless you get yourself squared away so that you won't pass out in the middle of trying to be helpful. Covey would call this "sharpening the saw." And sometimes we get this. Other times, we think of ourselves as selfish. But is an investment in ourselves really selfish?

Where Do You Invest Right Now?

Every time I say "invest" in this post, I'm talking about your time and your money and the investments I mean are in your day-to-day living, and not any abstract stock market. That's important as a starting point. But now? Let's get a little bit into this.

I invest in myself in the following areas:

• Fitness and health. Have switched to a mostly plant-powered diet. Lots of vegetables, very little (almost no) grain or sugar, almost no meat. I'm working out. I do yoga.
• Mindfulness. I'm meditating daily and practicing mindfulness and my head-setting mantras (thanks to Jacq).
• Education. I spend money on books and courses for my own development and the betterment of my ability to serve others.
• Time with my kids. I have chosen different paths lately so that I can have more time with my kids. This is most definitely an investment and one I'm glad to make.
• Longer term projects. By keeping myself focused on the larger plans of my business (and for me), I have to say no to some things now, but am investing in a better "soon."

I'm curious where you invest. And more so, I'm curious where we both have the opportunity to trim some of our expenses so that we can invest even more.

Trim Out "Expenses"

In 2009, I prided myself on flying every couple of days for conferences, for sleeping four hours or less a night, for having a hectic lifestyle. That turns out to be quite a bunch of withdrawals from various "accounts." My kids were seeing less of me. I was getting run down. The frantic pace "felt" like business, and there was some revenue being made, but I was also burning more and more money to try and keep this all flowing.

Where are our other expenses? Television. Do you really get something back for your investment in television? Rarely. That's an expense. Surfing needlessly? Same. We spend time as if it's not valuable. Now, that doesn't mean that we have to be hard at work all the time. But instead, it means we have to be mindful of where we choose to invest. Are you spending far too much of your time volunteering? Yes, volunteer. It's VITAL for doing good. But if you're OVER-doing it, that's not helping everyone. That's not putting your own mask on first.

Ask yourself this question often: "Is this the best use of my time?" I have that conversation with myself all the time. I also ask Rob about it, too. He is really getting into InfusionSoft, our email service provider. But as COO, that's not really where I need him to focus most of his attention. Me? I go off on tangents all the time. I have the question taped to my monitor.

Whose Celebration Is This?

I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing the Sakyong Mipham, head of the Shambhala lineage of Buddhism> One of my favorite parts of his new book, The Shambhala Principle: Discovering Humanity's Hidden Treasure (affiliate link) was this concept of being a lot more mindful of where we invest our time and energy. "Whose celebration is this?" That was the question. It essentially was meant to point out that we tend to get caught up in other people's rituals and moments. For instance, worrying about one's Klout score, or worrying about what the other parents at the PTA say because you stopped coming to the meetings, or trying to keep up with the Joneses, or wanting to watch every episode of every TV show so that you know what to say at parties.

We invest so much energy and time and money into those areas of our lives.

But do we invest in ourselves?

Commit to Investing

I have some very simple commitments right now that help me invest in myself:

• In bed by 8:30pm
• Meditate daily (thanks, Jacq!) Pray for others.
• Eat healthy and delicious food
• Fitness daily
• Read and study courses daily
• Connect great people together
• Ask questions and learn
• Love myself as if my life depended on it, and then love others even more.
• Dare to explore

I want you to commit to investing in your development, in your growth, and your intentions to build a better community around you. How will you do it? Which paths will you take? And will you choose this over just snacking on whatever's around?

Will you put your own mask on first?

Get Started With Google+

You've been putting off actually doing much with Google+. Maybe it's because you're already feeling behind in keeping up with all the other social networks. Maybe you think there's no one there ( 500 million users). Maybe you just don't know where to start.

I can help.

Getting Started with Google+

Personal Vs Professional Vs Business Page

First question first: should you have a personal page, a professional page, and/or also a business page?

My experience thus far has been that a personal page seems to do more for most people than separating out a professional page. People are enjoying connecting with all your interests and not just your business interests. If you want to keep it a bit more professional than personal, fine. Share the personal stuff on Facebook. But what I've found is that the "blended" approach (some business content and some not-business content) has served quite well.

A Local business or a business with a physical location should most definitely set up a Places listing, which now ties nicely into Google+ business pages. Want to create your Google+ business page? Do that here.

Want to see some examples of businesses around you who have done this? Check out Google Local.

So, my starting recommendations: build a personal/professional hybrid account for sure and possibly a Google+ business page (much more yes, if you run a location-specific business).

Get More from Your About Page

People seem reluctant to create any useful information on their about pages. MOST people seem to have very little on theirs. If you want to see mine live, click here. But I have some thoughts for you.

Create a simple explanation of what you do for others in the "tagline" section of the Story part of your About page. After that, in the introduction, expand that just a bit so that people understand why they would want to contact you. Make it even easier, if you'd like, by linking to your own contact page (instead of hoping people navigate Google+ to find you).

A Nifty Little Hack

Still on your about page, but in your Occupation area, not only do I list where I work, but I list what I do for people. Thus, when you look at my profile when I comment on someone's work, you'll see my tagline and the occupation area do something to entice people to connect.

Use a Nice Personal Picture

It's amazing how few people put up a decent avatar photo of themselves. You don't have to use the same one for every account on the Internet, but definitely, take some time to pick out a human picture of you that will let someone know who they're speaking with, and maybe even a little about you.Google+ also has a space for a ginormous background "cover" photo. Feel free to post a photo of your neck of the woods, or look at how companies like Red Bull and Lifehacker and PBS use their cover photo area.

Find People to Circle

Google+ has built a little area called Find People and it's a pretty good place to start, but I have more ideas. Use third party site, Find People on Plus and search by whichever demographics matter to you. Also, when you do find people that you like, check to see who they have circled, and whether they're of interest to you.

I also follow a lot more search topics on Google+ instead of just following people. For instance, here's a search I did for email marketing. Sometimes it's useful, and other times, depressing.

Take Advantage of Communities

One of two awesome secret weapons inside Google+ are its communities. I'm using a bunch of these in a private mode for my various courses, but I've also launched a public community about health and fitness. You can create your own, or more simply join someone else's. There are so many opportunities to connect up with people already passionately talking about items you might find of interest.

From there, you can obviously also find people you might wish to circle and stay even more connected with, so that's even another way to use the platform.

Connect With Hangouts

Another super secret weapon of Google+ are hangouts, which are live video conferences with either 9 other people privately or an unlimited amount of people watching (and up to 10 actively on camera) with the Hangout on Air feature.

You can use these for quick impromptu meetings with friends or colleagues (though when I want really professional meeting technology, I use GoToMeeting, who are sometimes a client). And the Hangout on Air function allows for large crowds for things like presentations (though I use GoToWebinar, especially so I can reach out to people via email after such an event).

There are many business functions of Hangouts that I cover in Google+ For Business, but I won't get into those here.

Some Quick Tidbits to Help You Even More

To access all your settings, click here. Consider throttling back notifications a lot so that you don't get a full inbox or worse while using this app. I have mine almost entirely off.

To organize the people you follow, put them into a circle (like a list). The names of your circles aren't public, so it's okay if you put me in the "loudmouth" circle. I find that organizing these early helps you decide where you want to focus your attention, and sometimes, lets you send info to a limited list of people (though as a marketer, I rarely want to limit my posts to a small amount of people.)

Post to "Public" anything you want to share with the world at large, and/or anything you want Google (the search engine) to index.

A "plus" works nothing like a "like" in Facebook. If you plus something, it doesn't share with your community. It just shows that you plussed it. To share, click share.

Follow people like Mark Traphagen and Jesse Stay and Thomas Power and Mike Elgan to get some unique takes on the platform and even more ideas.

And maybe, if you've got Google+ questions and/or ideas, feel free to share them in the comments section. That'd really be excellent!

Please Consider Getting My Newsletter

Here's exactly what you get when you sign up to my newsletter: I write you a weekly newsletter every Sunday. In it, I'll tell you a story that will illustrate some point that's useful to your life, your business, your organization, or maybe all of these. I'll invite you to participate. I'll be very personal. My goal is to help you build a strong, sustainable, relationship-minded business.This letter is written be me, Chris Brogan. If you hit reply, the reply goes to me. I respond as soon as I can. Most people can't believe how fast, but don't let me get your hopes up. Sometimes, it takes a few days. But if you hit reply, I'm there.If I intend to sell you something (and I do that, sometimes), it'll be very clear. Somewhat comically so.So join me. I respect your privacy and will honor your trust in us.

Join us for free and get valuable insights that you'll end up eagerly awaiting. This is a community pretending to be a newsletter. You are why I write it.

Your privacy and email address are safe with us.

And thanks so much for your support.

--Chris...

Why Trust Agents Did So Well

I'm not fond of bragging. Though I can be as prideful as anyone, I just don't see the point in it. So when I start my post with that title: Why Trust Agents Did So Well, I owe you an explanation fast.

I just finished watching this video, "Scamworld," which goes with this huge post about bad internet marketing, false schemes, and all kinds of deception. I will first say that I didn't read the entire post, but that I feel it's an important one to dig into (so I'll get it all read in the next few days). The video is a decent way to see the thrust of the concerns raised on the article:

Can't see the video? Click Here

I very much liked Danny Sullivan's article talking about it and adding his perspective. I respect and admire Danny a lot, and when he puts his thoughts onto something fiery like the world of internet marketing, I listen.

Why Trust Agents Did So Well

I make the same mistake that most marketers (most PEOPLE) do: I believe that the way I think is the way you think. I believe that you know exactly my motivation and my thinking. I believe that when I tell you that my goal is to help others conduct business in a more relationship-minded way, that you're thinking, "Chris wants to help me conduct business in a more relationship-minded way."

When I look at this video, and from what I've read in the article, the part that scares me is that there are SO MANY PEOPLE out there selling absolute garbage that says FOLLOW THIS AND YOU WILL BE RICH.

I believe Trust Agents sold so well because Julien and I said this, "be who you really are, connect with a community, learn how to take what you know and can do and make THAT serve you, connect people to each other, practice the art of being human, and band together to make your goals happen."

I Love Making Money. I Love Business. I Am Not Rich. And I Didn't Get Rich Quick.

I haven't made millions for myself yet. I've helped clients and my companies do reasonably well. I think money is wonderful. It helps me eat food. It buys clothes for my kids. I have a really fun electric guitar and I drive a Camaro. I also get to give to charities that matter like Skip1 and Invisible People. I will never apologize for believing that money makes my life better.

I love business. I love helping companies grow. I love seeing companies and individuals do better at what they want to do. It's the best feeling in the world to believe that something I've said helps someone else grow their business and feed their families.

I am not rich. I live in a 955 square foot loft in a very small town. My television (which is plugged into a Wii and a Blu Ray player) is about 26" across, I think. I own one car. Most of my clothes come from the Men's Wearhouse and Target. I eat well. I won't deny that (as if my belly would suggest otherwise).

I didn't get rich quick. Maybe some day after a few more years of working, I can get rich quick. That'd be cool. Like, you know, after 20 years of doing what I do, seeing a check with six zeroes once would be really cool. But that's not what I do.

Trust Is So Fragile

When people debate where to spend their money, seeing a video like the Scamworld video and then reading some of the accompanying mega article and commentary just makes me feel so sad for people. People have to try and evaluate who is trying to rip them off. Everyone has a kind of "eyebrow raised and one foot ready to retreat" stance online, and it comes from all these kinds of experiences. It's no wonder that people ask me some of the questions they do or assume some of the beliefs they have about me, about this space, about the potential to build business.

Even hearing the people use the term "affiliate marketing" in the video reminds me why so many people still have a very negative view of affiliate marketing: because there are still some people out there who abuse its potential and who use it for nefarious purposes. As a user of affiliate marketing programs for three years, I can tell you that I understand why people get tempted to go for it and make a gazillion dollars just pushing links to make cash. It just never seemed right for me and my business pursuits. If I'm going to sell you something, it's because I believe it is an amazing product or service and I believe it's going to benefit you.

Do you know that people still stop me in airports or at conferences and tell me that they bought this suitcase (affiliate link, naturally) based on my video review and on the word of others like Mitch Joel? That's gratifying, because it's a really great product, and I'm glad so many people have benefited from that video review and Mitch's advice.

The Cult of Information vs The Agents of Trust

What's most important from the Scamworld article and video isn't that you get it. I'm going to assume something: you GET it. You know this isn't how to get rich. What I believe, however, is that if you watch the video, and you listen to the woman on the phone being pressured into giving away $1000 for some program that will make her millions, I can imagine one of two things: you've done that and felt the sting before, or someone you know (most likely are related to) is about to fall into this because they didn't know better. And that is the scariest part of the puzzle. It's not whether you're clever or not. It's whether you can help those who might accidentally buy some kind of "you can make money starting TOMORROW" program from someone that's less than reliable.

As an agent of trust (you've just been sworn in), it's important to spread that gospel: that one doesn't get rich overnight, and if they do, it's related to someone else's suffering most often. Money grown organically is money you can feel happy about. And if you're not committed to the success of your customers and clients, then you're on the wrong tack and likely headed for stormy weather.

I don't agree with every single sentence in the article, and I don't think that everyone the article singles out are evil or whatever. I think that the overall message and caution and concern should be that too many people are out there falling prey to the notion that you don't have to work hard and you don't have to build relationships of value to earn money.

Here, where'd this soapbox come from?

Update to the Unfollow Experiment

As you might know, I chose to unfollow the 131,000 or so folks I was following on my Twitter account. I did this primarily because I was getting crushed by direct message spam. I chose to follow that many people in the first place, because I felt that reciprocal following was polite. However, I came to realize that I wasn't actually seeing anything that anyone was posting. In fact, because I followed so many people, the various software I use to view Twitter couldn't even be served enough data.

What I've Learned

First, I learned that people put a lot of emotions into their social network subscriptions, and they put a lot of value into the concept of "friending" online. They feel an emotional response to whether someone chooses to connect with them via a social network or not. Responses in the comments and in my contact form and via other means of communication ranged from indignation that I would dare to unfollow them after "all these years" to hurt (I just can't understand what I did wrong!) to some kind of, I don't know, reverence: "I'm truly honored to have been followed by you for as long as you did." All of these emotions were interesting. None of them are something I'm judging. They're just all interesting for what they are.

Second, I found that by following a lot fewer people (I'm currently following around 370), I see a lot of conversations that were missing to me before, plus I'm seeing more of my @ mentions and more information in general. This is interesting to me because Twitter had become fairly crippled by me when I was following so many people. The software couldn't even send me the messages intended for me in the @ replies.

Currently, I'm wondering what I want to do about following. The 370 I follow are all wonderful people. I'm still missing some good friends that I'm sure I'll find via @mention and add back, but I don't want to add everyone back again. I said that was my intention in the original post, but I don't think that would be very beneficial. Instead, I think I'll keep it quieter like I have it now. But what I might do is cycle in and out some number of followers, like drop 30 and add a different 30 from time to time, to see a new set of conversations from time to time.

These Are My Observations For Me

One point to make to you, especially the "you" who has to deal with clients who say, "Well Brogan did this," and "Brogan unfollowed everyone," please realize that a lot of what I do with each social media tool set is experiment. I work hard to understand what will work well, what won't, what will serve my needs or my clients' needs, and what will happen if I do this or don't do that. To follow along with what I do too closely would be to fall in some of the same ditches I'll discover by making mistakes and learning from them. Experiments are just that, and sometimes, things shake out in ways that aren't as intended.

What I Know For YOU

Twitter is what you want to make of it. I know that the most important element of using your Twitter account, if I had to pick just one, would be to reply as often as you can, if engagement and community matter to you. If they don't, use it however you want. But to me, replying when you can and as often as you can seems to be what people value most.

What's Next for Me and Twitter?

I'm thinking of Twitter more and more as an "in the moment" tool. For instance, it works really well at events like PodCamp and other conferences, because people can easily follow a stream of information flowing out of hashtags. Twitter does serve well as a "feeding network," sharing information into an ecosystem of people who are looking for new and interesting things to share. So, with that in mind, though I'm spending more and more time on Google+, I will still use Twitter to keep information flowing. I will reply as often as I can there, though I will likely go a lot deeper into conversations on G+. Why? Personal preference, plus I believe there's more value to be had at Google+ in the longer game. It lets me "see" people better.

Do What You Like

There are so many ways to decide how you want to use Twitter. Find the one that works for you, especially as an individual. I prefer accounts that are a mix of informative and also diverse. You might see your needs differently and want to keep things very homogenized. Do what works for you.And no matter whether I'm following you or not, you're still important and doing good work. My following is not a seal of approval. It's a choice. Like all things in life.

Make sense?

Selling Information

It's amazing how some people get all upset when someone puts something up for sale on the web. I released a Google+ for Business LIVE webinar (that goes on Wednesday, by the way), and a few people complained that I had the audacity to charge money to educate people for two hours at the cost of $47. This kind of thing used to bug me. I'd feel really insecure if someone complained that I was putting a product up for sale, or if I were promoting something. But it doesn't bother me any more and here's why.

People Buy Knowledge All the Time

We buy knowledge every day. I pay a mechanic to service my car, even though that information is freely available in tons of books at the library. I pay someone to manage my website technology, even though I can do most of it myself. I pay for books. I pay for audio programs. I buy webinars and seminars. I pay to attend conferences (Okay, I don't often pay for conferences any more, but when I do, they're worth it!).

But for some reason, sometimes people get tweaked about it. There are lots of people who get upset when one sells something. They call you a sell-out, a shill, a grubber, and all kinds of other words.

Selling Isn't Evil

Selling isn't evil. Selling crap might be evil. Selling something someone doesn't need might be evil. Selling something someone didn't ask to buy might be evil. But selling isn't evil.

Selling is what one does when one has something of value that someone else might want or need. I don't consider my grocery store evil. I don't think Amazon is evil. We buy from people every day, even if it's not money that's exchanged. I buy information with my attention every day. I read great blogs and watch interesting videos every single day. Don't you?

A New Place to Learn About Building Business

I'm introducing my new project (part of Human Business Works) that addresses this. It's called The Owner's Mind. The premise of this project is to create a private communication channel for aspiring web entrepreneurs to learn how to build their businesses and grow their future. I'm putting into this project all my learnings (plus interviews with all kinds of people who know tons more than me.

And we'll talk about failure, too, because failure is an oft-overlooked part of learning how to build successful web businesses. You and I? We'll cover that. Want to get involved? Just click below to read more, and then sign up for the free weekly email. I look forward to working more with you.Image hosted at Flickr

On Being Roasted

This post is ridiculously long and somewhat self-serving. Skip it, if you just like when I talk about marketing and stuff. Read on, if you want to know about just a few people who were kind enough to honor me last night.

Last night was one of the scariest nights of my life. I was honored by friends at a roast, where people would be throwing well-meant jabs at me all night in front of my family and friends. To say that I was scared might be an understatement. I was terrified.

I'm not afraid of public speaking. I'm not afraid of meeting very important business leaders. I'm not afraid of my own death. I was absolutely freaked out and scared of what this roast thing was going to be about.

And I faced it like a coward.

I drank a lot too much, and though I did my best to stay coherent, I'm really regretful that my closing speech after everyone was finished didn't go something more like this:

Thank You

Thank you to CD Vann for putting on this roast and for supporting Sit Stay Read, a charity that helps make literacy more fun for kids. I'm happy that this event helped out in even a small way.

Thank you, Jason Falls for hosting the roast, and for doing an excellent job of preparing for what must have been a much harder experience than one of our typical speeches. You performed magically, and were so kind ahead of time, during, and after (near as I can recall).

Thank you, Jon Swanson, my good friend and pastor, who led the best prayer ever. In fact, I really want to see a copy some day, if any of that was written out, as I suspect it was. It was priceless. Thank you to you and Nancy for coming down, and for just being my friend. Had I been a lot more coherent, I'd have told the room the story of Andrew and his friend walking by me that night years ago.

Thank you, Joe Sorge, for your great Honey Badger video, and for making me laugh so much. Of particular note was the Mama Badger and the Camero Therapy badger bits. If I had it to say again, I'd have told people how strange it was to meet a guy who I feel like I've known for years.

Thank you, Liz Strauss, for being my first grade teacher. You did a great job of telling meaningful stories that never happened but that sum me up much better than several things that really did happen. You continue to be a wonderful example of community.

Thank you, Dave Murray. From the moment the lab coat went on, I couldn't stop laughing. You hadn't even said anything, but because I count you as one of the funniest people alive, I was already pretty darned ready to laugh. Your jokes at that dinner at that Lebanese restaurant outside of Detroit have become legendary to me over time. The other day, someone asked about the shoe with the bottle of Jager in it that adorns our bookcase at home. I couldn't answer, because I was laughing.

Thank you, Gary Soucy, the scariest wild card a room could ever hold (he knew some really insane stuff about me, but didn't give up the best dirt). Gary also played the role of "guy not really in our space, who can tell us we're all crazy." It was a big surprise seeing you there, and I was very grateful.

Thank you, Rob Hatch, for a really well-written roast that had me laughing hard and appreciating you all the more. I know that Megin was ready to razz you, but there's nothing to pick on. You were really funny. Thanks also for getting drinks with me beforehand, and for that moment before we began it all when you made me laugh and spit carrot into your glass.

Thank you, Amber Naslund, for doing a great job of summing up the last few years of insanity, for being kind, for throwing in a bunch of the long-running jokes that defined the countless conferences and hotel ballrooms. It was great to relive those memories, and just good to catch up.

Thanks, Jeff Willie. You certainly added to the night's craziness. I don't exactly remember your roast parts, except for the Follow Friday parts, but I'm sure it was wonderful.

Thanks, Troy Janisch, for adding to the experience. You were telling me months and months ahead of time not to worry and that it'd be okay. You were right. It was fun to hear your perspectives and I'm grateful that you were in the room.

(At this moment, I really hope that I thanked everyone who roasted me in person, because I've gotta tell you, it's 4:30AM local time and I'm hung over, and I think I got them all, but if not, I really loved whatever you said, person I forgot to mention outright).

So, friends also contributed videos. Angel Djambazov did one in a bathrobe that had me laughing. Zena Weist did one that was as sweet as she ever is. Christopher S. Penn told our meeting story, which gets funnier every time he tells it. Shashi Bellamkonda shot a video for me. Other wonderful folks did, but I'm never going to remember you all.

There were all kinds of celebrity video bits, including Cloris Leachman, and um... oh god, lots of people who I'm not going to remember, but Dr Drew, some comics, some music stars, all doing a montage of sorts of "Who's Chris Brogan?" I hope it goes up on YouTube so I don't have to explain it.

I'm pretty darned sure I didn't thank my parents, Diane Brogan and Steve Brogan, who were probably a fine mix of proud and embarrassed by the end of it all, both by the people roasting me and doubly by me. My parents made me all that I am, but I doubt they'd want to take credit for the fact I got drunk last night in the face of my fears. That said, they love me, even when I mess up, the way parents are supposed to love you. I hope I will someday be half as good at that job with my kids.

Thank you, Katrina. Thank you. You did a wonderful job of connecting with people, of helping with some of the last minute details, with checking in, and then you were the poor soul who had to handle the very unglamorous part of my night. Thanks for getting me upstairs instead of letting me wander into that restaurant to talk more. Thanks for getting me fed and watered and put to sleep. I'm so glad I didn't get sick, but I'm super grateful that you dealt with my shenanigans. And thanks for being part of the event, but never getting the mic. : )

Next to last, thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes before and during the event from afar. I was served drinks from long distance (avoiding land sharks). I was wished well by friends who couldn't make it. I was honored by all of your kindnesses.

Finally, I was so humbled by the people who attended this event. I feel like I let you down, at least some of you, by not getting over to talk to you before the shenanigans began. I said hi to lots of folks in the room and talked to people who had come from all over to be there. Sue Murphy came down from Canada. Rick Calvert and Cheril Hendry both came from California to be there. Peggy Fitzpatrick came from New Hampshire. Several people made five or six or more hour drives. Friends like Jim Raffel and Katie Felton and Robin Walker and Becky Johns and Hajj Flemings and Anita Campbell and Shawna Coronado and many more came to be part of the story. I couldn't get over that.

At the end, when I was probably my most incoherent, I wanted to say this: I am you. I am every Katherine Bull and Kim Beasley and Salvatore Fiorella in the room. I'm not worthy of being the center of attention at an event like that. Jason Falls and Liz Strauss and thousands of people do what I do and then some all the time. They deserve to be roasted. You deserve to be roasted and honored and treated with the love I received from you all. And how do I know this? Because I'm you. I'm a nobody who works hard and who believes above all beliefs that humans are just trying to do what they can, and that they (you!) are inherently good.

In the end, I will repeat that I was a coward about last night. I was so afraid. I got a little drunk because I was so afraid, and that's a cowardly move. Because in the end, the roast that people put on for me was a testimonial to the love that great people can share for a regular guy like me, and with every passing moment, it dawned on me that I'd read the entire situation wrong, and that it was nothing but love.

So thank you, my friends, for the roast, for allowing me my flaws, and for a great time last night. I will remember most the sense that the world to which I've dedicated over a decade of passion came together to say great things, some of which were true.

Thank you.

Sponsored Post - My Big Break

The following post is a Sponsored post for American Express OPEN, as part of their Big Break for Small Business program. There's a contest involved. Swing by Visit FaceBook.com to see the deal. NOTE: The thoughts and opinions of this post are mine and are in no way vetted or edited by any other entity.

My Big Break

When people see success, they don't often think about all the curves in the road that bring one to that place. They see you as you are in a certain moment in time, and they might layer on what they know about your past experiences, but when thinking specifically about the success of another person or business, the humble beginnings often fall to the bottom of the awareness pool.My big break came from Jeff Pulver, internet entrepreneur and visionary. He hired me away from my wireless telcom role based on what he saw in me from the PodCamp event that I cofounded with Christopher S. Penn, so that I could come and run his Video on the Net conference and so I could help with his Network2 internet TV startup.

As part of this, Jeff flew me around to meet all the popular videobloggers of the time, and let me attend all the top conferences in the disruptive new media space. That exposure, with Jeff's backing, took my budding messages and ideas and thoughts and gave them a very big chance of being seen. I might have still accomplished a lot of what I've done, but Jeff most definitely turbo-charged the experience, putting me face to face with brilliant minds and sharing his own experiences with me along the way.

You Have to Be Ready

Now, I still had to do a lot of work. I had to have some big ideas. I had to have the skills to turn that exposure into something. I had to know enough about my area of expertise to get something going.No level of exposure and no big break works if you're not doing the work to turn it into something.

Giving Back

Once you've been lucky enough to reach even the smallest level of success, it's up to you to give back to others. Though you should most definitely honor the person who gave you your breaks, what he or she wants most is for you to help someone else who's coming up. That's how it works.

What will you do for them? Maybe you feature them in whatever platform you have, your newsletter or your blog. Maybe you make introductions for them via email and/or phone. Perhaps you can give them a small investment, or access to your own products or services.

Whatever the case, giving back is the biggest and most important part of getting a big break. Use that break to build your success, and then when you've attained even the slightest level of success, it's your turn. That's how we all grow.

How about you? What was your big break? Who gave it to you?

Thanks to American Express OPEN for sponsoring this post as part of the Big Break for Small Business program. Visit FaceBook.com to learn more about the Big Break contest. Enter your small business for a chance to win a trip to Facebook headquarters for a one-on-one business makeover and $20,000 to grow your business with social media. See Official Rules for complete details.

If You Did SXSW Right

If you are landing in your city of choice and are setting about the business of resetting yourself back to the workaday life after attending the big spring break for geeks, South By Southwest, then what you might consider doing next is probably what matters most. I mean after you kiss the kids/dog/girlfriend/fish, of course. What's next is setting about threading up your communication lines, building out your connections, and making contact.

Sort Your Cards

I'm going to tell you a cold truth: a bunch of the business cards you received at the event aren't worth a thing to you. They're from colleagues, people you might work alongside, or people you might admire. Lots of times, they have come from someone you met in a hallway or out on the street, and you have no idea if there's any "there" there.

Break out your piles into three:

1. Business.
2. Colleagues.
3. Trash.

Throw #3 in the trash. Now. Don't keep dumb cards.

In #2, sort through who you really want to stay connected with, and send them a LinkedIn request, find them on Twitter, get their blog into your RSS reader, and throw them a really quick "Great Seeing You" email, and then throw the card away. You will stay tuned to these people via the social channel. That's all you have to do.

For the #1 pile, saving the best for last, do the same steps in #2, but keep the card, plus enter these people into whatever you're using for client relations management. (I use BatchBook.) Then, when you send the email, send something that reminds them of the conversation, and then offer to be helpful. Don't push your product unless they specifically asked for a pitch.

Make a Temporary Twitter List

If you're using Hootsuite (affiliate link) or TweetDeck or whatever, create a list for your new people from the #1 and #2 list so that you can keep warm on them for a while. This way, you'll see if there's any further ways you can connect or be helpful (which can lead to business). Take special note of what they talk about, and to whom. You might find even more people to follow, thus doubling the value of your SXSW connections.

Do NOT Add Them To Your Email Newsletter

This is the #1 sin of people who take my business card. They quite often decide that I must want their email newsletter. I mean, who wouldn't? Don't do this. #1, it's borderline illegal by FCC standards (in the US, at least), and #2, it's a jerkbag move.

However, and I know that Christopher S. Penn was waiting to see if I'd mention this, you can invite them to join your amazing email newsletter as a specific ask in a short email to their addresses. That works.

Post Your Media Fast

If you shot video with people or photos or whatever, get it up online and tagged and point it out to the people involved, if that makes sense. People who've given you some of their digital time want to know what you've done with the footage (I'm sometimes really guilty of not doing this, but I'm writing it in here because I know it's what one should do).

Make Connections

Lastly, make some introductions between some of these new colleagues you've met (pile 2) and some of your existing friends and business contacts, so that you might help others find value via your connection. (We wrote about this in Trust Agents as being at the elbow of every deal).

Clearly, This is Universal Information

You don't have to had come back from SXSW to execute on this information. You might be leaving Coldwell Banker's Generation Blue conference, or one of the thousands and thousands of other conferences that happen daily all over the world. The connection points above still apply.

But, the real question: did I miss anything?

Ending 2010

There are about three ways you can go with a post like this:

1. Talk about your accomplishments, and wait for "good job" comments.
2. Talk about trends and wait for "here's where you're wrong" comments.
3. Talk about gratitude and wait for "you, too" comments.

I'll do all three, only I don't want comments. I've shut them off. Instead, I want you to end 2010 in your own way, and I will read yours when I see them. (I watch trackbacks very closely.)

Accomplishments

• I met more of you. Thousands more. And that matters most.
• I visited Colombia and loved it.
• Julien and I won a "book of the year" award for Trust Agents.
• I hung out with Hanes at Disney World and met the Social Media Moms, too, and fell in love with Maxine Clark.
• I had lunch with Tom Peters, a hero of mine, and keynoted the same event with him.
• I spent time with Bodger and Scott Gould in the moors of Devon.
• I spoke at over 70 conferences and events (honoring my promise to cut back from 2009).
• I had one of the best vacations of my life with friends out at the lake. (Whatever.)
• I fell in love with Birmingham, Alabama, as well as Memphis, Detroit, Doncaster, and several other places.
• I spoke in Vegas way more than previous years (CES, Magic, etc, etc).
• I launched HBW with Rob Hatch.
• Etc.

Trends for 2011

• Social business begins for real.
• More mobile - more tablets.
• Cloud computing gets real.
• Social media's fire cools a bit.
• eBooks and digital goods flourish. Get in now.

Gratitude

You're why I do this. There are lots of other ways to earn a few bucks and keep the family fed. But the way I've chosen to do my thing is by connecting as much as I can, by sharing as much of what I learn and understand as I can. 2010 taught me that I had to get even more serious about understanding scale. I've partnered with many great people. With Estrella Rosenberg running 501 Mission Place, and Joe Sorge running Kitchen Table Companies, with my partners at CrossTech Ventures running operations there, I'm able to help more people in varied ways than ever before, and that gives me even more to be thankful for.

To finish, be sure to remember those who need us. Give to Skip1 and feed hungry kids. Watch Invisible People and realize that homelessness isn't going down any time soon. And hug the ones you're with.

I'll see you tomorrow.

The Family Balance

I founded Dadomatic a year or so ago, because I wanted a place for dads to be able to talk about parenting. It's run mostly by Jeff Sass and Doriano "Paisano" Carta, but I still drop in there to write and contribute, as it's a project that means a lot to me. One thing I want to talk about is the family balance.

The other day, a friend of mine sent me an unfair letter. That was the title. He said that I should reconsider pushing the "work hard through the holidays" message when family matters a great deal and people should be absorbing as much family time as possible. It's really hard to argue with that message, naturally.

But that's just it. I don't disagree.

The Family Balance

On the day I wrote this, my little boy climbed into bed with me in the morning and we read (in exhausting detail) about every Lego minifigure that ever existed via a Christmas present. We named every single one on every single page. Then, my daughter crawled into bed and we read the journal of her Monster High doll, Deuce Gorgon. It's the journal of a misunderstood 16-year-old monster (his mom is Medusa). And then I got ready for work, kissed everyone, and headed out to work.

I came back home around 1PM and spent some time shooting Nerf darts with my daughter, and then playing a few games with my son, while Kat went shopping for some things she needs for a trip. My job is like that. I can modularize. I work 3 parking lots away from my house right now. I'm not the primary caregiver, but I'm three minutes away by foot.

I don't write much about being a dad here on [chrisbrogan.com]. It's not the purpose of this site. I do write about it at Dadomatic, and you don't have to twist my arm to get me to brag on my kids at conferences. But just because I don't show you that side doesn't mean that it's not very important to me and the way I conduct my business.

More than ever, I'm more home, more connected, and more a part of my family's life than any time ever before in my existence. AND I work the holidays.

Kitchen Table Companies

Joe Sorge and I are launching Kitchen Table Companies, a community for small business and entrepreneur types, on January 4th. It's been an idea of mine for almost a year. Why? Because I want to run businesses that can operate from a kitchen table, or that get talked about around the kitchen table, and that get me home in time for dinner. That's the goal. I want more families to have contact and connection to their family on their own time. That's why we do WorkShifting with Citrix Online. I believe in the mobile and distributed workforce. I believe that the future lies in giving people back choices like the ones I executed above.

What do you believe?

Time and Your Family

The number one question I receive with regards to my own work structure is how I manage to do all that I'm doing and still show up as a member of my own family. It's not easy, and it requires a lot of "ifs," but I can share my methods, and maybe you can see what matters out of the list for your own pursuits. Fair?My method, in a box, is this:

• Goals
• No's
• Chunks
• Reviews
• Communication

Goals Always Rule

I'm working on improving the quality of my life in all aspects: health, home, financial, and creative pursuits. If you don't have a vision for those goals mattering to you, then it's hard to lay out any kind of time and life balance plan. Let me break down just a few of my goals, so you can see what I do.

• Family - be home more days in a month than away.
• Family - put my daughter on the bus, or pick her up.
• Family - have one meal (at least) with them daily.
• Health - improve daily minutes of activity.
• Health - discover some new solo activities, maybe a partner activity.
• Health - half my plate at any restaurant.
• Financial - do I need this? (filter)
• Financial - keep my eye on my earnings statement
• Financial - work bigger, not more
• Creative - diversify my writing projects
• Creative - build businesses that make me smile
• Creative - work on artsy stuff with Josh Fisher

So, those are examples of goals I have that drive my actions. Those are just examples (although they're not half bad).

No's

This one is VITAL. I learned that the more I can say no kindly, the more time I have to do what matters most and what I perceive will aid the greater good. I say no to television. I say no to too many tweetups and meetups. I say no to conferences that aren't giving me enough direct value back. I say no to projects that I can't take on due to time constraints.

Saying no is the single most important way I reclaim time for my family. It's also a great way to be clear about why you can't help. Family comes first.

Chunks

The best way to get a lot done, I've found, is to have chunks of it ready to go at any point. So, when I've got an extra 30 minutes lying around (and it happens), I'll see what I have for goals. For instance, one of my goals is to have two posts a day ready at [chrisbrogan.com], and that's what I'm writing right now.

I break every project down into chunks of time. So, one project (ongoing) is the little things (like paper mail), and that involves a quick ride to my mailbox. Not unlike the David Allen system, I try to schedule all my "out of office" contexted stuff to happen at the same time, so that I'm not running around willy nilly.

The other thing I do is I try to diversify my chunks so that when I look at all the things I'm doing, I see whether or not I have enough family ones, enough financial, enough health, enough creative (or whatever ways you want to break them up). I do this with colorful sticky notes (either in real life or on a website), and it makes it REALLY easy to see what's dominating my time and my day.

Reviews

If you don't review your goals, your chunks of time used, and/or review WITH PEOPLE who represent those goals, you'll have no idea how you're doing. I review how I'm hitting on my goals, and I review whether or not there's enough balance in all that I'm doing. I review whether I'm doing too much of one thing at the sacrifice of something else.

One example: I've really neglected my physical health these last few years. Now that I've realized this, I'm scheduling in time to do more with that every day. But that time has to come from somewhere. So, I'm taking it out of some of my creative pursuits and definitely out of my "general networking" time chunks. It doesn't make sense to try and visit every Tweetup if I'm going to be visiting them in a wheelchair due to personal neglect. Make sense?

Communication

The single biggest piece of advice I have in maintaining a work-life-family balance is communication. I check in with Kat all the time. I ask her how I'm doing. I see whether or not things make sense. I reiterate my plans. I tell her why I'm spending my time where I do. I communicate as much as humanly possible as often as humanly possible.

That way, we're aligned. She knows what matters to me. I know what's important to her. I can work to keep the family's goals in mind when I'm doing my business goals, and I can really work to explain and/or justify the exceptions. It doesn't always work well, but that's why it's a relationship and not a robotic ruleset.

Your Mileage Will Vary

It's just not likely that you can do exactly what I've laid out and it'll work flawlessly. You'll have fewer restrictions, or not enough support, or a standard 9-5 or something. Don't let that disturb you. Take the parts you can take, work with those parts, and see if they make any difference.

What did I forget?

Feed Your Business Head

If you intend to build your business, it's important that you keep your head well fed. I do this in a variety of ways, including reading, watching informative video podcasts, listening to audiobooks, attending events, connecting with intelligent people, and testing out ideas in various labs.The other day I released my Escape Velocity Bookshelf, as yet another effort to help give you ideas on what to read. You can click into the bookshelf, but don't forget to check the comments on the post, as there's even more meat there.When I want to learn the best in Internet marketing, I spend more time with Third Tribe. The people in there (the not me people), are so smart, have so many ideas, and because there are thousands of them, they can "lab" some of my ideas for me without me having to try each one out. They are always trying, always pushing, and it's powerful stuff. I'm getting more out of Third Tribe than I am most conferences I attend. Why? Because we can engage and iterate. Speaking is just hearing something and taking notes. (However, events are much better for making new relationships and starting business.) I wrote about pulling value from your investments already.

WHAT to Eat

This is the thing. I think that marketers tend to read too many marketing blogs. I think that social media types stay too wrapped up in each other's work.We need to branch out. We have to read stuff way outside the norm. We have to go back and read the old basics. I found more meat in Think and Grow Rich (amazon affiliate link) than in most modern self-help books. The past is still alive and well, especially if you're good at extrapolating and applying.That's the secret trick, by the way. You can't just read what's on the page, or listen to what's on the podcast. You have to try and extract it from the direct story they're telling and see if there's a frame you can apply to what you're doing. For instance, in reading How to Get Rich (amazon affiliate link) by Felix Dennis, I learned a lot about his business, but then I immediately set to extracting parts of his ideas and applying them to the tasks at hand.So, when faced with WHAT to eat, consider finding things far afield of what your main focus would normally suggest. What could you learn about your business by reading the biographies of Olympic-level athletes? What could you learn about your business from reading stories of 1900s Russia? How could you find a whole new perspective by reading books about how China might not be as big a factor as people think in tomorrow's economy?

Change Your Head

I've been reading books that push my comfort zone. Lately, that's been about money and wealth. I used to hate these books. I still feel a bit weird about reading them. And yet, when I read them, I see a VERY different perspective than my old perspective, which was very much informed by being a cubicle farmer. When I read Winning by Jack Welch, I started to realize that not everyone could be saved, that some employees had to go. Before that, I thought everyone had to be saved. But changing jobs is part of growth.If you read from your own perspective all the time, you'll certainly reinforce what you already know. If you read from outside your comfort zone, watch the other side of the coin's TV news, read materials from other countries about their own country, but more interestingly about your own, you'll see things you never thought about before. It's almost a given.Whatever you do, keep branching out. Keep finding ways to bring in new material to inform your opinion. Keep learning and spreading and sharing information that's not the norm, because if we all go out and find new things, and then share them, we'll all grow faster and more rich in our learning.What are you eating these days?

Pulling Value Out of Your Investments

Buying a $47/month membership in Third Tribe Marketing is an investment. (If you don't buy it before June 1, it'll be $97/month for new subscriptions). It's not an impulse buy at the checkout counter at your local grocery. It's much more obvious when you pay money to attend a conference. If you wait til the last moment to attend a premier blogger conference like BlogWorld Expo, you're paying $1195 plus your airfare, plus hotel, plus meals.We all get twitchy justifying things. Heck, even buying a $24 book sometimes puts us in this spot where we're asking ourselves whether it was worth it (it's sad how many times the answer can turn out to be "no").Simply, if you want value from your investments, enter into them seeking something.I recently bought the book How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets (amazon affiliate link) by Felix Dennis (the guy who founded Maxim, amongst other things). It's a GREAT book, and a very entertaining read. I love it almost as much as I do Sir Richard Branson's Business Stripped Bare (amazon affiliate link). In both cases, I read these books with a pen and paper out, writing little notes to myself, and running my own business ideas through the books' filters, to see if I can glean something more from my effort.In both cases, so far, those two books have made me tens of thousands of dollars with ideas that sprang from them (no, I'm not going to share which ones, because they pertain to me and not your business), so I'd say the ROI on the $40 or so I spent on both books was quite worth it.In the case of Third Tribe, many people are saying they had ideas and questions, they bounced those ideas against the forums, tried a few things, went back to the forums, and got the help they needed. Lisa Johnson said today that she tripled her bookings at her pilates studio since executing things she learned about from Third Tribe. So, she turned $47 (or maybe even less) into thousands of dollars a month more because she had some ideas and some questions, and she worked them out.At conferences, I keep my eye out for opportunities that will fill one of a few buckets:

• Professional speaking
• New Marketing Labs
• Potential new sales opportunities for my new projects.
• Things that will help out my friends.

I usually can justify attending an event if one of the first two buckets gets filled, especially since they usually pay a multiple of the cost of attending the event, plus the hotel, plus the time out of pocket, etc. Meaning, if I find a professional speaking gig while attending an event, it's more than paid for my time to get there.But even that requires that I work for it, that I pull the value from my investment.My point in all this is to say, you have to work to pull value out of your investments. It should go without saying, but sometimes, we think what we've purchased are blueprints. That's rarely the case. What we've purchased is access to ideas that should spark something in our own.The beauty with things like conferences and Third Tribe, is that you can ask people things, and work to shape the ideas around your own. It's not like a book that stays static and requires you to do even more work. Events and communities can walk part of the way towards your goal with you.Is that how you see it?

Escape Velocity

Since I spoke at Disney a few months back to the "social media moms" group ( Murray Newlands has a write-up), one thing has been on my mind more than anything else: people are hurting out there, economically. Financially, folks in the US (and probably everywhere) are doing a lot worse off than we used to be. Families are cutting into their savings to cover bills. Many people have been out of work for 18-24 months, instead of the typical few weeks that used to be the norm. It's rough out there. I've been thinking a lot about escape velocity.

It's Hard to Achieve Escape Velocity

My definition of "escape velocity" is "the ability to leave a situation that isn't helpful or desired." So, in lots of cases, this can be applied to the jobs people take. If you're not happy where you are, but you need the money, that means you're not able to reach escape velocity. (You can use this in lots of ways, such as having trouble with relationships, with a change in your habits - it's the same mindset).With financial matters, it's really hard. Money tensions impact a lot of other things. If you hate your job but you need it, you're kind of stuck. Or, in lots of cases, financial problems cause us to make "deals with the Devil."For instance, I once had to get out of a car loan in a hurry, and had to roll it into a new loan. That new loan was horrible, and I ate that bad decision for about four years. For a while, I also chose to be late on a mortgage payment here or there, in service of attending conferences, where I hoped to make connections that would bring in more money. My credit had (has?) some serious dents in it, but the strategy paid off after a few years (a few itchy-scary years, mind you).

Some Future Positioning

Over the next few months, there will be some changes to my business. (Nothing will change at New Marketing Labs, just to be clear.) I'm going to work on helping people understand how to make human business - and by this, I define "human business" as sustainable, relationship-minded business practices. I'm building a whole bunch of information to that effect, and I'm also retooling my outreach and coverage methods to ensure that we talk here about the various businesses that we think are doing a good job at "human business."Part of this will be to help families and smaller businesses achieve escape velocity. I want to help you understand how I found my way out of the trap, and I want to help you find ways to add a little more to your own efforts. It won't be a very hard turn in the road. I don't think you'll run away from the site if you're a marketer from a huge company. But instead, you'll see even more that you can do for yourself along the way.Does this make sense? Are you struggling with those challenges in some way or another? What do you think?Find a sponsor for your web site. Get paid for your great content. shareasale.com.Photo credit Steve Jurvetson

Spending More Time at Third Tribe

At Third Tribe Marketing, the community I co-founded with Brian, Darren, and Sonia, we talk every day in the forums. I was just realizing what a value it's been for me, and how much I appreciate it.Today, I started a thread about examining our habits, so that we determine how we've configured our days and so we think harder about things we're doing that maybe are just habitual, but not helpful.I also talked to someone about his pricing model for a software launch he's about to have, gave feedback on a new website my friend Lisa launched for her pilates studio, talked about books to improve our effectiveness, and weighed in on a few other decision-making posts.What's exciting about it is that because it's a somewhat closed off community, we feel more open to share from our gut and from our business perspective. The other thing that I like about it is that we're all sharing and helping each other. It's not like the four founders sit around on thrones and everyone else grovels. We're all doing peer learning, my favorite kind. And I learn just as much from others as they do from me.When I was trying to figure all this out, I'd spend tons on attending conferences. I'd fly all over the place, hoping for at least two nuggets, and a handful of business cards to show for my efforts. With a project like Third Tribe, you get the best part of a conference, without the airplane rides and hotel rooms. Oh, and it costs less than most conferences, especially if you use it daily like I do.I'm thinking that there are lots of other ways people could use a private community to build their community's value. I mean, Third Tribe Marketing is for marketers, and we're really learning a lot from each other, but what about a small private community for cycling, for franchisees, for photographers?Where are your little hide-outs? Can you see your business or your blog sustaining a small, private community?And if you're a member of Third Tribe, what have you found to be good, bad, or otherwise?

Build Ecosystems for Your Content

If you're ready to think of your blog as a business (one of the hot topics over on Third Tribe Marketing), one way to do that is to start thinking of your blog content as the core of a distribution flow. In the little drawing to the left, I've put your subject matter at the heart of your system, and then have recommended you look at your blog, other products, education, and partnerships as the four areas you might consider. Note how I've moved your blog off to a branch and not to the heart of the drawing. Let's talk through it.

Your Blog as PART of a System

In the drawing above, I list your blog as part of your content ecosystem. Here's why I recommend you start thinking this way: because your blog is only one destination and it's only reaching one channel of a much larger opportunity and demographic. The minute you see your blog as only "a" channel, that's when you start thinking of other outreach opportunities.This, by the way, is the logic behind Steve Jobs's iPad. He didn't make it for us. He made it for your mom, for the photographers, for people who want a big shiny viewing device for downloaded movies. It's another way to build a channel for people to buy stuff off the iTunes store.Now, with that in mind, the easy first step is to strongly highlight the opportunity to get your blog sent to people via email (more people use email than read blogs). That's the easy opportunity. From there, start asking yourself how else you can build out your content delivery, both offline (print, perhaps, or publish a book) and into new channels online. Then, think about products.

Your Content as Products

Think about the various ways your content can fit into different shapes as a product. For instance, is your content suitable for audio? Have you considered recording and giving away (or selling) an audio version? I'm working up some audio projects for the commuters in our lives, not to mention the fact that Trust Agents and Social Media 101 are both available via audio download.Can you take some of your projects and turn them into slide decks and make them available to the public? Or look at Brian Solis's Conversation Prism. That's a project that's gotten Brian tens of thousands of placements in presentations over the last few years. Every time I see that wheel come up, it's a chance for us to go back and check out Brian's blog.What other projects can you think up based on your products?

Education: The Power of Events

Online or off, some of what you've created would be good for educational opportunities. What could you turn from a few blog posts into a helpful class? You might have to give more thought than what went into the original posts. There's a gap between "informative" and "educational" sometimes (unless you're Whitney Hoffman, who writes very thorough posts), and you have to tighten that up.This might be turned into a live event, like a teaching opportunity. It might turn into online courses. It might turn into a private membership site like Third Tribe. But education is a really good opportunity to spread your content into a new ecosystem. And, if you get really clever, you start wondering if your content might make a good part to someone else's parts and that it might together form a larger opportunity.

Partnerships

My friend, Matthew Ebel is a professional musician. He creates music, tours, and does all that, but he also offers his services to conference and event producers. Imagine the difference between attending an event, versus attending an event with engaging live music. Matthew can add this to a conference experience. However, as a guy who runs conferences for a living, I'm very unlikely to call up a musician to perform. I would, however, call my event planner and see if she knew someone for the event.Thus, it benefits Matthew to partner with event planners, so that he can book more gigs at conferences. Make sense?Partnerships with your content work the same way. There may be part of the story you're great at and parts that others are better at explaining/providing. For instance, if you're yet another social media blogger, how much more powerful would your site and content become if you partnered with an SEO professional, a digital marketing professional, and a graphic/interface design specialist. You'd have a killer teaching/educating/selling opportunity for people looking for the larger picture.See how killer this one step could become?

Ecosystem Thinking

This, to me, is where things get powerful. Once you see your platform as an ecosystem and not the parts, your possibilities to grow and develop more business value. Can you see it? Look beyond your blog as being the core of things. Think of it as an outlet. From there, things get exciting.What say you?