Want Next What

You've said it; you’ve heard it; you’ve been asked it - what do you want? It’s a huge question and most of us have a list. It’s too much to ask. I want to be financially stable. I want a puppy. I want to have millions. I want to retire. I want to live in a lakefront mansion and sip iced tea all day.

We all dream of winning the lottery. We all let our minds wander to places where we perceive our problems will vanish and life will be endless bliss. It's like the old story of the nine year old boy who is once asked; "So Sam, what do you want to be when you grow up?" and Sam quickly replies; "I wanna be rich!" 

Tougher Done Than Said

It took me years to grasp the concept of the fear of success. It sounded counterintuitive. The fear of failure, to me, is easy to understand. You don't want to fall on your face or run out of money or have to give up things you have your life. The embarrassment of failing is terrible. But, what about our fear of what we will do if what we try actually works? How will you handle the responsibility of that dream coming true?

The marketing genius Seth Godin once challenged that it's easier to fail small. Complaining about the fact we never amount to anything or we're not meant to win or no one ever gives us a break, is way easier than the unwavering persistence required to achieve something we want.

It's Way Too Big

In my opinion, it's easy to say you want a Bugatti Veyron because odds are pretty good it will never happen. It's much more difficult to identify the small shifts we need to make every day to get to the bigger dreams we possess. My business partner and I have been working on a project for close to a year. There are days we wonder if we are out of our minds. But each day, you push a bit more, ask a little bit more, and keep at it. Giving up now will only make us forever wonder what if we had kept going. 

You have dreams. You have things you want to accomplish. You have stuff that may feel a little out of reach. But I'm willing to bet if you suspend those for just today and think about what you could do right now to get what you need right now or your next want, over time, those bigger things will come clearer into focus. 

Let's try that and see what happens.

__________________________________________________________________

Your Next Want

You've said it; you’ve heard it; you’ve been asked it - what do you want? It’s a huge question and most of us have a list. It’s too much to ask. I want to be financially stable. I want a puppy. I want to have millions. I want to retire. I want to live in a lakefront mansion and sip iced tea all day.

We all dream of winning the lottery. We all let our minds wander to places where we perceive our problems will vanish and life will be endless bliss. It's like the old story of the nine year old boy who is once asked; "So Sam, what do you want to be when you grow up?" and Sam quickly replies; "I wanna be rich!" 

Tougher Done Than Said

It took me years to grasp the concept of the fear of success. It sounded counterintuitive. The fear of failure, to me, is easy to understand. You don't want to fall on your face or run out of money or have to give up things you have your life. The embarrassment of failing is terrible. But, what about our fear of what we will do if what we try actually works? How will you handle the responsibility of that dream coming true?

The marketing genius Seth Godin once challenged that it's easier to fail small. Complaining about the fact we never amount to anything or we're not meant to win or no one ever gives us a break, is way easier than the unwavering persistence required to achieve something we want.

It's Way Too Big

In my opinion, it's easy to say you want a Bugatti Veyron because odds are pretty good it will never happen. It's much more difficult to identify the small shifts we need to make every day to get to the bigger dreams we possess. My business partner and I have been working on a project for close to a year. There are days we wonder if we are out of our minds. But each day, you push a bit more, ask a little bit more, and keep at it. Giving up now will only make us forever wonder what if we had kept going. 

You have dreams. You have things you want to accomplish. You have stuff that may feel a little out of reach. But I'm willing to bet if you suspend those for just today and think about what you could do right now to get what you need right now or your next want, over time, those bigger things will come clearer into focus. 

Let's try that and see what happens.

__________________________________________________________________

What Would They Do?

Garbage day is Fridays in my neighborhood. The city rotates recycling weeks between paper/cardboard and cans/plastic and every second week they take perishable items in a green bin. When there is a holiday, pickup moves to Saturday. Your place may have a similar schedule.

According to the schedule, last Friday was a regular pickup day but with the Holidays I was all messed up on whether that affected the schedule. I looked at the other houses and no one had garbage at the end of their driveway. I had to make a decision before heading to my meeting. Was it garbage day or not?

Ignoring Our Gut

I thought I had misread the schedule or missed an announcement. If everyone else had waited to put out their garbage, maybe it was a holiday schedule. I checked the city website again. It didn’t look like a holiday week. I looked outside again – nothing. I decided to go with the schedule and put out the garbage.

We sometimes make decisions based on the behavior of others. It may be a stretch to compare garbage day to business strategy but there is a correlation. In my case, I was looking for others to make my decision and we often do it in the enterprise. Leadership is hard work. Sometimes we allow outside factors influence us more than our intuition.

Price Tag Wins

Seth Godin calls it a race to the bottom. Providing great products and services becomes less important than increasing market share and no one knows who's following whom anymore. In our quest not to be wrong, we miss opportunities.

By the way, the plastic and cans were collected. For the first time I can remember, I was first on the block to put my trash at the curb. Instead of trusting my own decision, I made a conclusion from an assumption.

That never happens in business, right?  

Kneale Mann

image credit: ctv

Social Networking Explained in Two Minutes

Seth Godin is recognized as one of the brightest business minds on earth. His daily blog posts are read by hundreds of thousands people and he consults large business clients. He is a celebrated author and speaks in front of hundreds of thousands people all over the world each year.

In order to help business grow, we must be able to show actual growth or it’s just a bunch of scores and counters and unusable data. Godin demystifies business, relationships and the web in 90 seconds.

If you haven’t seen this video, watch. 
If you have seen it, watch it again.



Kneale Mann

Do You Have Great Songs?

Guitars Are Not Enough

The business world can be overwhelming. You work hard, you strive to improve and help others yet the hill can be rather steep. Add in the digital world and it can feel like a losing battle. For all the opportunities there are obstacles. In a world where the playing field is evened, it is tougher to stand out.

I hosted a social media strategies workshop a couple of weeks ago and outlined that it takes much more than a website or web presence.

How Do You Cut Through?

How does your content find an audience? How do you find clients? How do you get paid? How do you sift through the virtually endless content? It takes perseverance and there are no instant wins or we'd all take them.

The journey is as personal as each of us but simply showing up is not enough. We have to read, listen, contribute, collaborate and have great songs.

Good is Not Enough

Of course we're not all musicians but it is imperative we have the equivalent of great songs to offer or the best we can hope for is to be average, pretty good, the norm.

When MySpace exploded onto the scene, it was touted as a place for every indie artist to find a home and millions of a adoring fans. The major music labels and corporate media were no longer necessary to carve out a successful career. It was heaven. It was a gold rush. Opportunity increased, fame not guaranteed.

Not So Fast...

Songs may be a product or a service but someone needs to see value or all the tools in the world will mean nothing. So the item that should receive a lot of your attention is writing great songs (building great products, offering great service). As Seth Godin often says; doing it cheaper and faster is simply not enough.

How's your repertoire?

Kneale Mann | How can I help?

image credit: flickr

Why Social Media

What's In It For Me?

I’m looking forward to working with a group of about a hundred people next weekend for my social media strategy workshop.

The executive director of the event was gracious enough to give me access to the list of attendees and I sent out a questionnaire. My goal is that each participate can pick up a few actionable ideas they can implement immediately.

There is no shortage of theory. Many assume everyone gets all this digital stuff. Some do, some don't, some are working on it, some are afraid to ask. And that includes small, medium and large companies. The exploration continues for all of us.

Human Networking

The essence of online social networking is what you bring to the equation. The choices of tools and sites can be overwhelming. No one has mastered them. It is an evolution for everyone. We are all cobblers in one way or another. I see far too much smugness on the social web from self-anointed experts touting everyone should be at some level. There are no levels, we are all learning. I have colleagues who are mortified that I still use Blogger while Seth Godin and David Armano grow large strong communities on TypePad. If it was about software, we'd all be rich.

This will be a workshop with professionals who have jumped into the social web and want some advice on how to navigate it better for their situation.

Here are some questions that came back from participants

• How can social media transform an organization?
• What are the limitations?
• How can I earn a living where standards and payment of content is low?
• What social networking sites should I consider using?
• How can I use social media more efficiently?
• Is the expense of reinventing my business worth it?
• How do I manage the time it takes to use social media?
• How can I find a new revenue stream?
• What can I do so social media doesn’t run my life?
• How important is blogging to my business?
• Where can I go to get information about sites and terms?
• How can social media best create new relationships?
• What's next?

What would you add?

Kneale Mann

image credit: noupe

Theories and Memes

There are more scientists alive right now than have been alive in any other time in history combined. They are working on cures for diseases, concepts that will defy our own capacity and ideas to revolutionize industry. They are writing opinion papers and research pieces that are challenging conventional wisdom and they are reversing past beliefs with regularity.

There are more writers alive today than in the collective history of humankind. They are writing books, compiling and dissecting historical data, relating daily events, adding to our collective education and publishing digital content faster than the two billion online users can consume it.

We all contribute to the conversation with our biased view.

My grade ten history teacher once proclaimed there is no such thing as an unbiased opinion and that has stuck with me ever since. The battles continue between science and religion, news agencies and the blogosphere, pro life vs. pro choice, conservative against democrat, my opinion or yours.

Our differences become escalated when we begin to read what others are preaching and feel compelled to discard our own beliefs.

What about your career or your organization?

You rely on suppliers and clients and fellow stakeholders to build something together. Each has an opinion yet somehow you are expected to piece together your memes with their theories and come up with solutions to increase the bottom line.

No two people are alike yet we attempt to arrange relationships within the business sphere and remain surprised when there is friction or conflict.

Status quo is often not practical.

Seth Godin wrote yesterday about the common practice of adopting the mantra - that's not the way we do things around here. That is perhaps the single most important phrase to immediately eradicate from our vernacular. The way you've done it is not enough of a compelling reason to keep doing it that way.

And when it gets to the online, digital, marketing, public relations, social media or advertising silos, the best place to start may be with a clean slate. After all, the brightest minds once thought the world was flat.

How do we manage memes and theories in a team environment and continue to build business?

knealemann | email


image credit: seekingalpha

Sliced Bread and A Guy Named Seth

If you travel in the marketing world, you have heard of Seth Godin. He is a brilliant marketing guy, explains clearly, writes succinctly and has numerous bestselling books. His presentation style is thought provoking, funny and (to use his word) remarkable.

Seth publishes the number one marketing blog on the planet. At the time of this presentation, none of us was tweeting or writing on each other's Facebook walls. The blogosphere was in its adolescence and online content consumption was still that new thing people were talking about.

This is a presentation he did at TED2003. Some of the references are dated and all of the points remain completely relevant.



knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

image credit: TED

Life and Business | What Matters Now?

Turn off all your electronics and surrender over all your aspirations and do absolutely nothing for a spell.
Elizabeth Gilbert | Ease

Seth Godin is one of the most creative minds we have in this world.

He is not curing disease or changing the trajectory of war, he makes us think and create.

Seth relates to the world of business, marketing and life in an inclusive and engaging way.



Be compassionate to everyone no matter the level of connection.
Mitch Joel | Compassion

Seth has brought together sixty people who have shared a piece of them for us to take with us and think, grow and learn.

And because life is always full of doubt and fears,
to act is to take that leap. So leap.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Leap

This is not just another book of inspiration. This is not simply a group of brilliant thinkers and doers who have shared one page of wisdom each to make up a collection of ideas for our lives.

This is certainly not some expensive buy-in download email laden purchase this program to help line the pockets of its creators.

It was created for us to download, read, share and repeat.

Everyone has their own Mount Everest
they were put on this earth to climb.
Hugh MacLeod | Meaning

This book is FREE. It’s FANTASTIC!

This is something you need to read TODAY and OFTEN.

Never forget, a small group of people can change the world.
Micah Sifry | Nobody

Topics include: evangelism, context, technology, knowledge, change, generosity, sleep, fascination, empathy, power, change, adventure and forty-eight more.

Notice what excites you and scares you
on a small moment-to-moment basis.
Derek Sivers | Passion

Sixty wonderful people have donated their time to create this 82-page free downloadable and sharable e-book. Times are tight, the Holidays are coming up, what a perfect gift to send to everyone.

The One Percenters are often hidden in the crevices of niches,
yet they are the roots of word of mouth.
Jackie Huba | 1%

What Matters Now | Free Download Here

@knealemann
marketing and social media strategy

image credit: seth godin

Have You LinkedIn?

"The ability for individuals to build a personal brand
has never been more important."
Mitch Joel

One of the fastest growing sites this year is LinkedIn. If you’re not familiar, this is a business social networking space. Unlike Twitter, you can post your resume and tell as much of your professional story as you want. Unlike Facebook, this is a bit more serious and doesn’t have as many plug-ins and apps.

It’s no surprise that LinkedIn has grown so much lately in lieu of what is going on.

"Your mileage may vary. I will do it my way, as most folks who connect with me eventually come calling to reach someone else that Iʼve added, and I feel good every time I can be helpful."
Chris Brogan

Like Facebook, LinkedIn features thousands of groups which you can join or you can start your own. This is a way to find similar thinking people in similar industries all over the world. It can give you a way to interact with people you would have never met otherwise.

Potential clients, employers and colleagues can educate themselves on you. Clients may want to know how you portray yourself before they let you do their marketing. Someone looking to hire you may want to see what kind of network you have developed or see if there is information you haven’t shared with them.

"Have a strong signal and rise above the noise."
Liz Strauss

One caution, if you have several profiles it is easy for potential employers to access information on you from your other profiles as well. So the pictures of Frank doing a belly flop in the lake at the cottage last summer may not put you in a good light. Then again, they might depending on the client or employer!

Lately, there has been chatter about advertising on LinkedIn and various other social networking platforms. Well it's simple, they need to make money or they will go out of business.

"In the future, social networks will be like air. They will be anywhere and everywhere we need and want them to be."
Charlene Li

Quality online spaces will not survive without cash flow. The venture capitalists need to see ROI eventually. But it is dicey business when the backbone of these spaces is built on community for the purpose of community. These digital spaces are companies. Those involved want to see a profit. Their challenge is to avoid temptation to exploit the users, our challenge it to be aware of that possibility.

"Why people choose to visit online social sites: Who likes me? Is everything okay? How can I become more popular? What's new? I'm bored, let's make some noise."
Seth Godin

We have hopefully learned our lesson from the dot-com bust that it's not enough to have shiny offices and a cool logo. And if you have LinkedIn, here's hoping it has become a valuable tool for you.

Thoughts?



photo credit: ere.net
disclosure: linkedin is not a client

Seth Sums It Up In 38 Words

Even the casual observer of marketing, advertising, public relations and business knows Seth Godin. His daily blog – which just surpassed post number 3,000 is the #1 marketing blog in the world.

His best selling books include: Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us, Purple Cow, Meatball Sundae, The Dip, Small Is The New Big, All Marketers Are Liars, Free Prize Inside, The Big Red Fez, Survival Is Not Enough, and Permission Marketing.

Seth is real, he tells it straight, and he shares constantly. And today he wrote a blog that was 38 words and that’s all he needed.

Seth wrote
The closer you get to someone, something, some brand, some organization, the harder it is to demonize it, objectify it or hate it. So, if you want to not be hated, open up. Let people in. Engage. Interact.

It has inspired many who do this on a regular basis to shorten the message and get to the point.

So I will today...

Share often. Build relationships. Stop selling. Ask questions. Wait for the answers. Listen more. Empathize. Solve don’t tell.

What are your words?

@knealemann

TED2003

E-Books: Free For The Learning

One of my true passions is music. I fought for artists and publishers in the music industry for more than a decade. This was not some clueless struggle against technology or progress but rather a discovery of how the music industry could remain healthy while giving music fans what they want - and were now taking for free.

At the core of any venture is the need to be good at it. Music downloading did not create better musicians and not everyone in the industry is out to steal from artists. But if you let people know the food on the menu is free every Thursday, the line-up will be quite a bit shorter on Friday.

I have all the data from the "I only download some music" group and the "they already make enough money" group but we can save that for another time.

Download Books for Free?

One of the coolest trends lately is e-books. These are tightly packed 30-40 page manuals jammed with information that can help you. E-books offer practical information for your business, industry and career.

E-books are easy to read and re-read and re-read again. If you want to write your own, you can!

Books Are Cool

While the publishing industry evolves, the web has allowed anyone to self-publish. You won’t make money from writing an e-book but it allows you the opportunity to share some information and most importantly give readers a better chance to get to know you.

Plus, writing an e-book can lead to business for your company in the future. But, like with music downloading your e-book must actually have substance and something people want to read.

Can You Be Trusted?

Trust is one of the biggest topics these days so if you can gain trust through sharing information, the chances of building better business relationships will increase.

As one who has a renewed interest in the publishing industry, we must look at the changes in the music industry throughout the last decade. It is imperative that the creators are compensated and protected.

Some samples

If you travel in the world of media, social networking, marketing, publishing or entertainment, here are some gems that may help you.

Download, digest and do.

Blink: A Social Media Guide from The Edge
Todd Defren
It is refreshing to read Todd’s work. Defren is a principal with Shift Communications – a PR agency with offices in San Francisco and Boston.

Blink is crammed with nothing but meat. Todd mentions in the opening that he is not going to waste a lot of time getting to real useable information and he keeps that promise. I would say there is a lot of common sense here but as I’ve previously posted, that too is rare. You may find yourself nodding your head a lot but your next step is to create action in your own life with this information. This is a fantastic book.

Unleashing The Ideavirus
Seth Godin
This is a classic! Seth wrote this in 2000 and it’s still ahead of it’s time today. If you are even marginally in the marketing industry, you have heard of Seth. His work, his energy, his mind, and his contribution to the industry is well documented.

If you haven’t read “Unleashing The Ideavirus” or it’s been a while – it’s worth a re-read. Congrats to Seth for publishing his 3,000th blog post this week. And check out his TEDTalk on sliced bread.

Fish Where The Fish Are
Using The Social Web to Find Work
Branding for the Business Professional
Chris Brogan
If you are even a casual social media participant, you have heard of Chris. He is the president of New Marketing Labs with partners Justin Levy and Colin Browning. Chris travels the world giving presentations to businesses that include practical applications for marketing and social networking. I had the pleasure of spending some time with him at PodCamp Toronto. If you did the same, you know he is the real deal.

Word of Mouth Manual
Dave Balter
With all the tools and tricks and data at our disposal, word of mouth still holds true as an extremely powerful way for people to find out about you and your business. It can work in your favor or work against you. Building positive word of mouth can take time but negative news travels quickly. Dave is the founder and CEO of BzzAgents – a word of mouth marketing and media network so he knows of what he writes.

Trust Economies
Julien Smith & Chris Brogan
Julien Smith was an early adopter to the social space through In Over Your Head which began in November 2004. He is a writer, designer and entrepreneur. He is also one of six contributors to a new initiative called Media Hacks hosted by Mitch Joel with Hugh McGuire, Brogan, CC Chapman, and Christopher S. Penn.

Along with Brogan, Smith has co-authored “Trust Agents” which will be released in August. He is wicked smart and very funny. He has more energy than an NFL franchise and a warning: he will in fact tell you the truth.

Have you written or have you ever thought about writing an e-book?

@knealemann

Many Minds Make Light Work

@carl Dude, how you doing?!
@steve All good ...how's Mary?
@carl Awesome, thanks... Sally well?
@steve Couldn’t be better! How’s the gig?
@carl Good good ...let’s grab a beer some time!
@steve Sounds great, give me a shout.

Carl signs off and wonders why his life is such a mess while Steve seems so happy. Steve grumbles under his breath as he switches off his laptop that Carl has it so good while his life is falling apart.

Take A Peak Inside

As we open the doors wider into ourselves, do we need to put up a higher wall or a braver face? I have received countless emails from people who feel intimated by places like Facebook and Twitter. They don’t feel they have anything to share. We all have something to share.

The Power We Hold

MuteMath writes in the song Peculiar People “With a word we can drown a mountain”. Later in the song they write "we can fly with the wings of eagles". The operable word in both lyics is 'we'.

We are human. We are flawed. We experience life with its joy and bumps. We too often have to paste a smile on our face for the world to see. We often forget others must do the same.

Start With Hello

If you have a social media profile and you dig a little deeper to get to know a new contact, you will experience the magic of the medium. I remember the first time I sent an email to someone I had just met - and they responded! And we started a conversation.

My friends who don't 'get' social media, think that Twitter is a waste of time. But if you've ever experienced it when the conversation flows among several people and new people chime in with thoughts, you know that it's much more than a chat room.

During the Presidential debates, Obama's inauguration, the bailout, and the latest in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the conversation was vibrant and alive.

Let's Collaborate More

If we are spending more time online in social media enviornments, should we not be trying to share even more? But let's not confuse activity with progress. Increased chatter does not guarantee more solutions.

Stretch out those conversations - in public or private. This isn't about showing others how s-m-r-t we are or how well-read we are or how in-the-know we are. If we all lived 300 years, we still wouldn't know it all.

Be Yourself

To borrow words that best describe this, I turn to Seth and Mitch. Be remarkable. Be authentic. Take chances and step out. Enjoy your voice.

We are all stumbling around together. If we aren’t willing to make mistakes, be ourselves and be remarked about, then we may as well turn off the computer.

And the next time someone asks us how we're doing – maybe it's best to simply say “fine thanks, you?”

km

What Will You Do? Complain or Share?

VP-elect Joe Biden was on Larry King Live last night and despite the fact that he gets a shiny new gig and cool mansion on January 20th, no one seems envious about what is ahead for him and his boss.

Biden he has hope for the future. He isn’t living in lollypop land, there is a steep hill for the world to climb – this is not about the U.S. economy – this is about all of us.

But I keep thinking about how we are writing and talking and blogging and podcasting and whining about this all the time. It is overwhelming.

Here are some facts we know to this point.

We know: There are dishonest people in the world. There are crooks in this world. Some people do enjoy scamming you. The planet has no shortage of horrific things. And not everyone tells the truth.

We know: There are millions of creative generous minds willing to share their knowledge every day. True friends are a phone call away when we need them. Abundance is not measured by monetary wealth. And we all have a choice to either complain or share.

If you feel down or beleaguered, here are some places to visit:

Mitch Joel. Joseph Jaffe. Ted. James Arthur Ray. Seth Godin. Chris Brogan. Gregg Braden. CC Chapman. Jack Canfield. Guy Kawasaki. Marcus Buckingham.

Let’s pick share. I think share is a good choice.

Yup, share wins by a landslide!

km

Why Social Networking Works

My life in the blogosphere began about eight months ago. I wondered what I would write about; I wondered if anyone would care. And I found out through reading experts on the subject that it wasn’t the point.

For some reason, the subject has bubbled to the surface again. People like Mitch Joel, CC Chapman and Seth Godin are writing about the benefits of writing a blog and immersing yourself in social media.

The bottom line: networking through blogs, podcasts, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Bebo, Last.fm, MySpace and the multitude of other social media sites is whatever you get out of it.

If you want to share recipes with friends, rant about government spending, share business tips, expand on your expertise, or simply stay in touch, it’s all okay. There are no set rules.

Don't worry about who will read or follow you. It’s important to share your honest voice. You must be cognizant of proper language (cursing won’t get you anywhere), and over time you will find your style.

My blogging life began with whatever came to the top of my head, but now I focus on my passions – media, integration, social networking, music, television, radio, and content.

I could write about golf, cooking, auto racing, or reading books but those are passions I prefer to enjoy rather than write about.

So if you have been thinking about starting a blog or a podcast, just do it. It’s free.

If you want to promote and share your thoughts with a wider audience, post your work on your various profiles to insure more people have the chance to know what you’re doing.

Let me know how it goes. Send me an email or a post here with a link to your blog.

In eight months, I have connected with hundreds of people I would never had met otherwise and reconnected with people I hadn’t seen or talked to in ages. We just want to connect and share. It’s really that simple. Abraham Maslow was right.

And most importantly - have fun!

km