Entries Tagged 'Business' ↓

     The year is over but the people of this year have left a mark on my life that goes beyond the turning of a calendar page. Support, encouragement, challenges, contests, and more were brought to me through and by these men and women.

     I’d love to be able to break them down into a Top 10 list, or into distinct categories, or give each one a label, such as Top Pesterer.  It won’t work.  Each of these individuals has contributed in multiple ways to the course of 2008.

     Simple messages across the void to in person meetings, these people shared and listened.  This post is just to share a little bit about them, both to help remind me and to show respect.  Join me please for this small bit of memory chasing.

     In no particular order…

• Susan Reynolds and Connie Reece - These ladies, whom I met on Twitter, were two of my earliest encouragers and knowledge instillers. Susan is a complex person being artist, blogger, and business woman. Her hands on sharing about Twitter, Second Life and business were just a few of the things she brought to the table.  She also introduced me to Connie Reece.  Connie is a busy woman herself, being a leader of BlogHer, running a business, and also providing leadership for Social Media Club.  Between them I was given a big head start in the social networking world and a spur to get serious about blogging.  They lead me to the next folks on my list.
• Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker - Liz and Terry uncovered me as a blogger and social networker.  This was in big part from Susan and Connie spurring me on.  Liz and Terry not only included me in their circles, but Liz nurtured my inner SOB potential.  It didn’t stop there, when next they invited me to attend SOBCon08.  This event was the most significant event of year of my blogging and social networking life.  I’ve written about SOBCon elsewhere on the blog but these two did more than provide a conference.  They challenged me to take my blogging game to the next level.  Thanks to their push, I won all expense scholarship to SOBCon08 via my blog.  SOBCon brings me to my next group of folks.
• Becky McCray, Chris Cree, Rick Mahn, and Sheila Scarborough - I could write all day about these folks, but let me tell you what they have in common.  All of them run their own business, all are bloggers, all are experienced in social networking.  Best of all, they are part of my SOB Advisory Team. Each has given up their time, resources, and more for me and each other. Introduced to me at SOBCon, the bunch shared a vision of doing more than just keeping fond remembrances of that weekend.  That vision has lead us to team up, sharing ideas, encouraging, and when needed, badgering each other. I can’t express enough how much I appreciate them.
• Trish Forant, Tracy Lee Carroll, Christine Taylor, Marti Lawrence, Glenda Watson Hyatt - These ladies may not realize it, but they’ve got a lot in common. All are business women, all are bloggers and social networkers, and something else.  They’ve all been like sisters to me.  Trish, Tracy and Glenda have been there with me pushing me on to get to SOBCon, take me to new heights in networking but it didn’t end there. Each of them has shared highs and lows with me this year. They have listened to me whine, laughed with me, cheered me, and told me when I’m being a smart-ass. Oh, they are so different in personality and tastes, each brings a unique style and wit to my life.  All of them have taken the relationship beyond 140 characters. I hope we are always friends.
• Duane Myers and Erin Kotecki Vest - These two are a pair. A pair of what I’m not saying.  One’s a Conservative, the other a Liberal. One likes scotch, the other a good wine.  Both are social networking, blogging, and offline networking gurus.  I’ve had a chance to learn at their feet so to speak.  Duane and Erin have shown me things that challenged my views, ticked me off, and yet spurred me on.  Duane and Erin don’t let you rest on your laurels, heck, they don’t rest on theirs, or for that matter, rest much at all. Both demonstrated to me the need to keep moving, keep working, and keep influencing.  They’ve schooled me on my attitude, as well as talked me up.  Neither probably realizes their influence this past year, Erin especially.  I couldn’t pass up acknowledging them though. You could do worse than to just listen to them.
• Vicky Hennegan, Michelle Vandepas, and Karen Putz - I met these three at SOBCon08. Thanks again to those that lead me there.  Vicky and Michelle saw more in me than just another blogger or social networker. These women, like those above, are business savvy, bloggers, and more.  All have another wonderful talent, that of encouragement. They have drawn together, though with my stumbles, to form another group to share support, advice, and just listen.  These ladies aren’t just sitting on the side lines online or off.  Vicky and Michelle, and Karen too are involved in projects for coaching and educating adults and children.  Because of them I’ve been moved to a spirit of generosity I’d never known. That’s taken the form of giving to and support numerous charities throughout the year but it went beyond that.  They told me to give time as well, in the form of guest blogging and directly supporting other bloggers and social networkers to success. If you like stuff I’ve done this year, you might want to thank these three personally.

     There are so many more of you that I’d like to mention.  One group though has a bunch of you in it, the St. Louis Bloggers Guild.  The Bloggers Guild is a change making group in St. Louis. I was asked to get in on the ground floor and couldn’t pass it up. (thanks to all of you above)  The guild gave me a chance to be a better blogger not just in the writing sense but in terms of responsibility to others. Responsibility for honesty, courage, and respect to those offline and on.  It also gave me a chance to lead, instruct, and share that wasn’t open to me before.  Cheers to all of you!

     Insert the other 2,000 names here.  Thats for the ton of you that came along side this year.  You listened, you shouted, you danced, you laughed, and you shared.  You brought your best, your worst, and tolerated the same from me.  I had the chance to meet some of you in person and feel incredibly blessed by that. A strong desire of mine is to meet as many of you as I can, even if it’s just to shake hands or give a hug.

     I promise not be be a stranger.  I ask that you keep me in your thoughts.

     Thanks for one of the best years of my life - 2008.  Cheers to you all.

Yours,

Todd aka tojosan

I love my users, honest.  Just some days they get the best of me.  My guess is that if you’re in IT, you’ve had days you just wanted to shout or pull your hair out.  Here’s my short list of why they do that to me.

1. Users can never provide a real example of a problem.

2. Users never call when the problem is actually occurring.

3. Users never know their sign on, even if they are signed on.

4. Users will call and ask how to do something they did every day last week.

5. Users will not answer their phone, nor reply to emails when you try to follow up.

I’m sure I could list more and sure you could as well.  Feel free to drop me a comment with your list or steal the idea and blog about it.  Be sure to send me a link and I’ll mention you here.

     Okay, my life is out of balance, and terribly unplanned at times.  I admit I’m not the busiest guy in town, not nearly so.  Part of the problem is that I’d like to be busier and still keep organized.

     What I’d love for some one to take up for me is scheduling me to do things, online and off.  There are blogger’s guild meetings, Skype meetings, Campfire chats, Barcamp planning sessions, photography outings, and more.  I’d also like to reach out to local organizations, specifically non profits and churches, to get engagements set up to talk to them about using social networking and social media.

     This person would be willing to make cold calls, keep my schedule, and contact me when appropriate.  There’d be no need for this person to visit me in person, or even live in my area. They would be expected to make long distance calls to organizations and people local to me however.

     The position wouldn’t involve more than a few hours each week and would mostly be self scheduled.  I’d be communicating primarily through email with the occasional phone call or even twitter communication.

     People interested in this position should contact me via email and provide a real name, phone number, email and best time to contact.  I’d like to start considering folks for this position towards the end of December with an eye to starting in January.

     This is an equal opportunity position, but being able to read, write, and speak English is a requirement.  Familiarity and experience with social networking and media tools a big plus.

     If this position works out, we’ll see what develops.

    
     Yesterday I purchased two pairs of shoes.  These are the most expensive shoes I’ve ever purchased for myself. Each pair was just over $90 with a discount.

     That amount might not seem like a lot to you, but to me it seems extravagant.  So you might ask what drove the purchase.  It’s only partially because I care about my shoe wearing comfort that much.  Mostly it’s because I was reminded how important it really is.

     What reminded me wasn’t advertising.  It wasn’t big signs or flashy ads. Heck, it wasn’t even really word of mouth.  A man at Gene’s took time to work with me one on one to fit my feet with shoes.  It was that act that drove me to care enough to buy some good shoes.

     This humble man sat at my feet and helped find two pair of shoes that fit perfectly and are quite comfortable.  Not only did he take the time to fit them but compare styles and fit versus clothing choices.  It was his willingness to be about me and my comfort that sold me.

     Are you getting yourself out of the way when you help others?  Is your ego coming through as much as what you’re pitching?  Perhaps if we all put ourselves behind what we’re sharing and giving out, we’d find that folks are a lot more receptive.

     Take yourself out of the sale for a change and see what happens.

Chris Brogan, a favorite blogger of mine, asked us a question on Twitter -

…what it would do if Oreo came knocking looking for a social media project.

It’s a great question and Chris received more than a few answers. Some of my favorites are:

• bradatpharma – Oreo avatars. I’d have an opportunity for people to offer new flavours, I’d have a feedback loop for taste testers… hmmm…
• mecarluen – How bout a make-your-own Oreo cartoon using GoAnimate, ey? http//goanimate.com/go/watch
• LeisaWatkins – - An art contest - art created out of Oreo Cookies. Everyone could vote for their favorite work of art.

Models and Masterminds

Liz Strauss is up to something again. Something to get your business going. Models and Masterminds is all about leveraging the wisdom of professionals like yourself.

What is a mastermind group? A mastermind group is a team of business professionals who are committed to working on their businesses together to take advantage of their combined wisdom. They meet regularly and hold conversations in confidence.

This venture takes the mastermind concept a set further.

Models and Masterminds combines professional instructional design with the mastermind format to accelerate business growth.

Members will become part of a Models and Mastermind team.

A Models and Mastermind team is 5 professionals working together. Each team member is interviewed before registration so that team placements include members with compatible goals. I work with all teams as coach and facillitator. The team meets weekly via conference call for 3 months. (Teams can continue on after the coursework finishes.)

Learning will be a key part of being on the team, as well as sharing. What are some of those things?

• Be the first trusted source in your market
• Write irresistible offers
• Talk value and results, not price
• Negotiate from the same side of the table

Would I endorse joining such a team? Yes. Why? Because I’m already on a similar team. We formed our team within a week or so of SOBCon08. The five of us have already had our first session.

We’re conducting our meetings more frequently than once every 3 months, as time permits.

This is the type of opportunity to get real time feedback from fellow business men and women, backed up by professional course work. What are you waiting for?

Hats off to you Liz!