What I’m reading part 2

So last night I confessed my love for tree zapping physical copies of books (I do at least recycle!), and also talked about 5 of the last 10 I’ve read. Tonight I’ll hit the other 5 to round it out. First let me also say that I went to the Apple store today and learned that I can pre-order my iPad on Friday (the 12th) so I’ll be doing that. And even though I may eventually download a couple of books to my iPad, I’m positive I’ll continue being old school; buying my analog books and enjoying bookstores.

Ok, without further adieu, here are 5 other books I’ve ready recently:

Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire, edited by Graydon Carter. This book, based on an old 19th-century parlor game made famous by author Marcel Proust, poses questions to celebrities which are supposed to reveal the true nature of the individual. This isn’t a sit down and read cover to cover, more a flip open and enjoy, conversation starter. The celebrity list includes George Carlin, Martin Scorsese, Jane Fonda, Sidney Poitier and Fran Lebowitz to name a few and poses questions like “what is your greatest fear,” and “on what occasion do you lie”. If for nothing else, there’s a high entertainment value per dollar spent on this one.

Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. To be honest, these two were all over the damn place, I couldn’t listen to a pod cast or log in to Twitter without hearing about this book, so I got it and read it. There, are you happy now!? In all honesty it was a good book, not a great book, but it did cover one topic fairly well: Trust. Seems like all the Social Media folk are always trying to coin their own terms, and Trust Agents is Brogan and Smith’s term. But there are some good points about building lasting relationships and leading with your best foot forward. Borrowing from Google’s motto, “Don’t Be Evil,” Trust Agents is about the age old concept of being sincere, being genuine, and above all, not being an asshole. I think social media has a million uses and should be explored by the individual, but there are some great points in this book and it’s worth a read.

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford. The satisfaction of working with your hands; are we losing the mental and physical rewards associated with this interaction and are we becoming stupider for it? It’s a worthy question that Crawford explores here. Anyone that’s ever done manual work, whether it be repairs on a vehicle, fixing a bike, building a house; whatever will appreciate where Crawford is going here. My only complaint with this book is that, at times, it reads more like a philosophy and sociology text book than anything else. There’s some really tasty stuff right around page 109 to 130, where he switches his writing voice from that of a teacher (he’s a professor at UVA) to more of an author while describing his motorcycle repair shop in Shockoe Bottom (my home town no less). Although I wish there more “human” moments in the book, I think it’s a very worthy question he poses and I do think we lose something when we detach ourselves from the very things we use.

The Google Story by David A. Vise. Let me first say I’m biased as hell. I really like Google, and learning about their humble beginnings in a Palo Alto garage is cool to me. Learning about all of the stubborn tenacity and genius they implored to get Google public and the whole IPO story is pretty fricking sweet. So, in a nutshell, this one is strictly for the nerds and business people out there that want to see what Google did to get where they are and why Google is such a special, and respectable company.

The Women, by T.C. Boyle. No words I write could describe the genius that is T.C. Boyle. I think you’d be hard pressed to find any living author with his profound knowledge of the English language and how we weaves words together to paint the most vivid pictures imaginable. He’s been around for a while, but my guess is he will be immortalized, once he does pass away, as one of the great American authors. I’m late to the party (as usual) as this is my first T.C. Boyle book, but I assure you I’ll read them all. In The Women, Boyle creates a fiction (loosely based on factual occurrences) around the life of famous American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright and the multiple women that were part of his life. Ostensibly it’s a great fiction work, but more than that, this novel is an amazing display of the depth and breadth of the English language and the poetic use of words to create lasting images and impressions.

In closing I’d like to say one thing. Often, business owners get caught up in just reading business book after marketing book after social media book after business book. Some of them will even turn their nose up in disgust at the thought of reading a book of fiction. This is one of the greatest mistakes anyone can make. Not only do fictional books provide a great escape, a way to unwind at the end of the day, they also unlock the imagination and creativity. They inspire the art of storytelling which may be one of the most important crafts any true salesman can implore (and every business owner is a salesperson whether they admit it or not). I’d recommend weaving the two together so that you can keep your business on tract, stay up to date with the latest and greatest, and keep your imagination and creativity sparked and ready to work. More than likely that’s what got you into business in the first place…

My book list

I read a lot. Like, all the time. In fact I purchase books much faster than I can read them. I know, I know, I should have an e-reader of some sort, perhaps a Kindle or Nook, but I have an affinity for the tactile nature of holding a book in my hand. I like the way books smell and feel, so I’m analog in that way. I also like book shelves and stacking books everywhere. Anyway, my argument for analog can wait for another day (I’m probably going to buy the iPad the day it comes out even though I know a much better and cheaper version will probably come out six weeks later). In the next two posts, I’ll just share the last 10 books I’ve read and why I recommend them.

Here they are (in no particular order):

1. The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. I’ve read this book like 4 times, but since J.D. Salinger recently passed away, I thought I’d pay homage to him and Holden Caulfield and give it one more read. This one’s an obvious classic, about a teenager questioning the way the world works and looking for answers to questions that may not exist. If you haven’t already read this, it’s a must.

2. How To Invest $50-$5,000 by Nancy Dunnan. Inc. magazine recommended this one to me, and I took ‘em up on it. It’s a quick read, full of good information for anyone looking at getting into investing, with plenty of great advice for the novice. If you’ve been investing or have a trustworthy investor working for you, you probably won’t get a ton from this one. One cool take away was www.betterinvesting.org

3. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman. If you have spent any time in a rural area, ever in your life, you will love this book. Klosterman has quickly become one of my favorite offers for his verbose, resounding, intriguing writing style and knack for dissecting social idiosyncrasies. In this novel, his first, Klosterman’s characters inhabit a typical little town in North Dakota. Throughout the tale, one can’t help but relate what his characters experience to life in any small town. I blew through this one in a couple of days. It’s a good one.

4. The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber. This is basically Cliff Notes for starting a business. It’s sold something like a gizzillion copies in a bazillion countries. It should be on any business owner’s book list and should be written on, highlighted and gone through multiple times. There are tons of great ideas, although they aren’t all original or terribly complex. Even if you’ve been in business for a while, it’s probably a good idea to dust off that old copy you bought way back in the day and give it another read. Books like this one are good for getting your creative spirit up. Of course they run a consulting business so the underlying goal of the book, at least on some level, is to get you to call Michael Gerber and give him money to become your personal business coach (or at least one of his lackeys).

5. Where Men Win Glory, by John Krakauer. I’ve never met a Krakauer book I didn’t like, and this one definitely doesn’t disappoint. Even at 344 pages, you won’t be able to put this book down until you’re done. The concept is an in-depth and personal look into the life of NFL player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman and the circumstances surrounding his death in Afghanistan. Krakauer, of Into Thin Air fame, spares no detail when describing the almost super-human, lovable Pat Tillman in this thrilling and sobering portrayal of his life and death. Don’t just read this book, read everything Krakauer has ever written. Also check out the Pat Tillman charity at http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/ and donate if you can.

Stay tuned, the next 5 are coming soon. And as a side note, I put a link to the books in Amazon solely as a reference for those interested. I have no affiliate relationship with Amazon nor do I stand to profit from their sale. I do recommend these books, but I don’t care where you buy them.

Twitter- an expanded thought

My last post dealt with the importance of Social Media and business in general and dispelled the thought that social media was just a fad that will come and go like the pet rock, Vanilla Ice, and parachute pants.

I wanted to take the time to expand a bit on just one form of Social Media–Twitter.

I read an interesting e-newsletter from a pretty smart internet marketer by the name of John Reese today. (I’ve learned about some pretty cool stuff from this newsletter so if you want to subscribe, you can click here. It’s free and I don’t know him so I’m not pawning you off on some product, although he does occasionally sell stuff)

ANYWAY, he recently shut down his Twitter account which had over 25,000 followers. This counter-intuitive thinking prompted the thoughts I’ll write here.

First, I don’t claim to know the best way to use Twitter. I don’t make claims that Twitter is the new “hotness” or that Twitter will transform your business. Hell, I don’t even claim that I use Twitter that well. (At the time of this posting i have only 441 followers) That said, I know that I use Twitter differently that even many of my friends do.

I use Twitter to watch. I’m a Twitter voyeur if you will. I watch how big companies interact with their clients. I watch how start-ups and local companies spread their message. I watch people tweet mindless babble out into the ether. I watch businesses get on Twitter and screw it up royally. And occasionally I tweet, normally to friends and people around me locally. But that’s just how I use Twitter. Everyone has their own approach.

The larger, expanded question here (and this is something I’ve wrestled back and forth with quite a bit) is the amount of time people spend on Twitter (for business purposes for the sake of this blog) worth it? Largely, I’d have to say no. But there’s a very large caveat here.

The caveat is that it depends on HOW the company is using Twitter and WHO they have using it. Done correctly, I’ve seen big business use Twitter to defuse potentially negative scenarios and win over new customers. I’ve seen small businesses successfully put customers in their stores and stimulate buzz. Done poorly, I’ve seen other businesses use Twitter as social hour (or hours…) and I’ve seen their social use of Twitter hurt their business and turn potential customers away.

The great thing about big companies is that they have the budget to hire a “Social Media Director” or some other person whose primary function is to understand Social Media, the internet, and how best to use it to build customer relations. The downside for many start-ups and small businesses is that they can’t afford to hire a full-time Social Media wiz that they trust with the voice of their company. That usually means the owner becomes the voice.

If you own a small company, and you are on Twitter 4 hours a day, off and on, with TweetDeck running in the background, how is that affecting you? Twitter can become a huge vacuum of time and accomplishment and this is something to carefully watch for. You can become dependent on checking your smart phone for Twitter updates and it can have a negative affect on your focus and accomplishment. As John Reese points on his newsletter, Twitter can also become a high school-esque EGO fest where he/she with the most followers has a superiority complex. Nothing good comes from that nonsense.

So for the reader who uses Twitter, my advice is to monitor your Twitter usage. For one week, take the time to document how often you are on Twitter. You may just be shocked how much time you use. ( I recently clocked my usage of Twitter for just one day and was amazed that I spent nearly 3 hours on Twitter in one form or another). Once you have a number, an average amount of time you spend on Twitter, ask yourself, is it worth it? What is the payoff?

These can be difficult questions to answer because some of the payoff from actively using Twitter is qualitative, not quantitative. New friendships, social invites, discounts to your favorite restaurant that you wouldn’t have know about otherwise, these things are important but hard to measure. Remember, we are focusing on Twitter for business here, so try to think in terms of how you used Twitter to build relationships that resulted in sales, new customers, new business. Again, since there are no “Twit-alytics” that can super accurately measure sales, this will take some close monitoring.

I guess the real answer here is that there is no cut and dry answer. If you have 25,000 followers on Twitter, I certainly would not recommend closing your Twitter account. At the minimum you’ve built a herd of followers who could potentially be customers, blog readers, referral sources or JV partners. But I would suggest monitoring your usage and at least try to be honest with yourself about how successfully or unsuccessfully you are using Twitter for your business. (By the way, even if you “just use Twitter for personal use” it could be cutting into your work time, big time)

Until next time,

-Brian

“Social Media is a Fad”

To that I say, yeah… right. Twitter may wax and wane and facebook may eventually go the way of Friendster and MySpace, but something will always replace it. In fact, I rarely actually use Twitter.com when I post on Twitter. I use third party applications that were built because Twitter is open-source (meaning programmers have access to the code and can write programs around that).

People want a voice. People want to be heard. People want to connect with other people. People want to interact with other people who share the same interests in them, and to argue with people they don’t agree with. Social Media provides this opportunity in a way that was not possible before the internet.

The fact that “Social Media” is a relatively new term applied recently to online communities begs the questions of it’s legitimacy but the truth is that Social Media, albeit in different forms, has been around since the internet’s conception. Forums, AOL chat groups, etc,etc are all forms of Social Media when you strip the term down to its fundamental definition.

A good friend of mine, Lindsay Dicks (@lindsaymdicks) was the first to show me this video from YouTube aptly titled “The Social Media Revolution” which paints a pretty clear picture of the future of Social Media. It’s worth a watch (the music by the way is Fat Boy Slim)

The internet is our digital Wild West and Social Media the proverbial gold rush for many business owners. More importantly though, it’s an opportunity to be part of something new, something powerful, and something that is changing the face of modern business.

You don’t have to look hard to see the impact it’s having on big business. Look at the recent incident with Filmmaker Kevin Smith (@ThatKevinSmith) and Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) that made public headlines. Entire networks are using Social Media to better connect with their audiences. Take a look at HGTV (@HGtvOfficial) who has actually started incorporating tweets from real viewers into their commercials. Ever watch the NBC nightly news. Tom Brokaw now mentions NBC’s twitter page and facebook fan page as part of his sign off every night. The icons even show up in the closing moments of the show.

So is Social Media a fad. Hell no. Not even close. People will always look for new ways to connect, new ways to stay “in the know”, new ways to have a voice, new ways to express themselves and the internet and Social Media are making that easier than ever. If anything, Social use of the internet will grow exponentially and probably reform our current economy to one of Consumer-based Capitalism. I say, ’bout time!

Progress, Completions and Moving Forward

It’s a great feeling to actually get something done. To look back, remembering the before, and to see the after. It could be something as simple as cleaning off your desk, cleaning out your wallet or purse, writing a blog post. It could also me something like setting daily goals and checking them off of your list one by one.

As it turns out, these completions and the feeling of progress that we make have a profound positive impact on us. The human mind craves these completions and we tend to seek out things which we know we can complete. This is an important thing to understand, because we often tend to avoid things that we don’t think we can complete.

I was reading the most recent Harvard Business Review and happened upon an interesting article about what motivates employees in the workplace. While most people would guess that money would be the number one motivator and that praise would probably be a close second, those answers were actually both incorrect according to their study. I thought their findings were so interesting (and relevant to this post) that I took a quick snapshot with my iPhone. Here’s the graph:

As you’ll notice, the number one answer during this study of what motivated actually employees was progress. Getting stuff done. Checking it off the list. Making headway. Seeing the fruit of their labors.

We all have a deep desire for completion and forward progress. So help yourself to gain a mental stronghold on your day by making progress and setting daily goals which are actually attainable. If your goal is to create an entire marketing plan, that might be too big for one day. Break it down into sections that can be accomplished.

The flip side of this is, of course, leaving things incomplete and unfinished. The emotion and feeling that normally accompanies incompletes is frustration and a lack of fulfillment. Enough incompletes and you start to tell yourself you aren’t going to be able to accomplish your goal. You may even abandon the goal is search of a more favorable goal that you can accomplish quickly.

This can be very detrimental, especially if the goal you are trying to accomplish is, say, building a new business. A complex and formidable goal, building a business takes time, planning, and honest goal setting.

Naming goals, making progress and getting things completed will help you to Build Momentum. Don’t believe me, clean your desk.

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