No, you don't need to know everything

Five O'Clock Shadow 59

Originally uploaded by evo_terra

When someone comes over to my house and says something like "Here, boy" to my dog, I don't bother to correct them. Yes, the dog is female and yes, the person is wrong. But so what?

Trust me. The dog doesn't care. In fact, the dog has no idea that we humans have placed differentiating labels on male and female members of the same species. In fact, I have my doubts if the dog truly gets the meaning of male, female or even species. She's a dog, after all.

And it really doesn't matter to the person who made the error, either. Unless of course that person is involved in the field of veterinary medicine, in which case it matters very much and I'd likely seek a new health care provider for said dog.

As for me, I genuinely do not give a frog's fat ass that someone got the sex of my dog wrong. There are plenty of other things in the world to worry about that take precedent over the infraction. So you see, all three parties are none the richer nor poorer for having the error corrected. We all move along.

Now. Go find ways to implement this teaching in your greater lives. There will be a quiz.

Off the cuff Top 10 Marketing Mistakes to avoid

Five O'Clock Shadow 58

Originally uploaded by evo_terra

Recently I was asked (twice, because I'm a putz) to contribute to an article to be posted in Entrepreneur magazine. I'm hopeful that my ideas will make it in, but you never know. So, at the request of the fantastically talented Chris Miller, I'm posting what I sent here. I didn't pull these from any book or high-priced seminar. Instead, I wrote what I've seen and learned from Podiobooks.com. In no particular order:

Top 10 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

1. Don't assume your pea shooter can't reach the moon. Many folks underestimate the power of a well thought out and executed marketing campaign. I'm not talking about spending lots of hard cash, but I am talking about spending lots of time, energy and effort. If you've got a quality product, you can make it go big if you try. And know how.
   
2. Don't be afraid to swim upstream. Many of the "tried and true" methods of success in marketing are simply there because someone hasn't come up with a better way. You can't do this blind, obviously. But if you see an opportunity to do it differently and better, do it!
   
3. Don't assume your audience is stupid. All too many marketers cater to the lowest common denominator. Give your audience some credit, and make the assumption that they'll get what you are offering -- without you having to repeat it in HEAD ON fashion.
   
4. Don't be afraid to go hyper-niche. Sure, there's lots of money to be made appealing to the masses. But we could be nearing the end (or at list a big shit away from) the "blockbuster" era. People have lots of avenues to find what they want. Go niche and find an audience who cares deeply, but in smaller numbers.
   
5. Don't listen to "we tried that before" stories. This medium in which we live and work has changed. Facebook wouldn't have worked in 1997.
   
6. Don't buy the "don't be a sellout" mantra. As my friend Dave Slusher says: "There is no such thing as selling out. There's only selling too cheaply".
   
7. Don't be afraid to copy new success. Find out what worked really well for someone with something similar to what you are offering, and do that. There's probably enough room for both of you.
   
8. Don't ignore people's inherent need for help. Today, people have access to information. For many, it's just too much information. People love choices, but the also love it when people help them make those choices. Narrow down lists, or act as a curator of information. That's helpful.
   
9. Don't listen (too closely) to your fans. Fans have a vested interest in getting more of what they like from you. But that may not be what's best for your product or service. By all means listen, but don't jump to implement suggestions from fans -- unless they meet with your well thought out and executed plan.
   
10. Don't forget to have fun. (Thanks, Steve!)You can do just about anything to make money. Market the things you love. Market the things that make you happy. You'll be happier -- and more successful -- in the end.
    

It's OK to ask for help

Five O'Clock Shadow 57

Originally uploaded by evo_terra

Celebration time. I just turned in my last chapter of Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies, due out from Wiley Press in November of this year. But unlike the first book Tee and I penned (Podcasting for Dummies), this one wasn't spit 50/50.

About two months ago, I did something I don't normally do: I asked for help.

I'm very much a self-sufficient kind of guy. Sure, I know my limitations (for instance -- no one would every call me "handy"), but when I take on a project, I see it through to the end. But all sorts of things were piling up in my life --some of which many of you are aware of and much which your are not -- and it quickly reached the point where something had to give.

So I called up my editor and explained the situation in brutally honest terms. To my shock and utter amazement, they were incredibly cool about the whole thing. I wound up with only around 35% of the book -- much of which was completed. They found another experienced author to step in and handle the rest. So no extra stress (well, not much) on Tee.

Which brings me to the point of today's post. It's OK to ask for help. When it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders -- raise your hand and call 'UNLCLE'. The world as you know it will not cease to be. Your reputation will probably not be irreparably damaged. There likely are legions of people (or at least one) who can step in and take some pressure off.

Take it from me, the type-A guy who hated to ask for help and kept it piling on. You know what? I like this way better. I think I'll stick with it. How can you help?

Good thinking

Good thinking

Originally uploaded by l0ckergn0me

Nabbed this from Chris Pirillo's Flickr photo feed.

I have nothing more to add, other than:

Can I get a Hell yeah!

I'm going to make my own version of this sign and plaster it to my door.

Phoenix Media Makers afterglow

Five O'Clock Shadow 56.jpg

Originally uploaded by evo_terra

Last night I had the chance to get together with the folks from the Phoenix Media Makers at a meetup at a little coffee shop near downtown. I met:

• Marc and Nicole from The Wood Whisperer podcast
  
• Chris from the Hands on Food podcast
  
• Phototgrapher and vlogger Clintus McGintus
  
• ... and all around video and creative goddess Cheryl Colan.
  

To say that I enjoyed meeting these people would be an understatement. I had no idea a talent pool like this existed in the Phoenix metro area. We all get so caught up in what we and our friends are doing, it's easy to forget that there are 6.4 billion people on the planet, and that other creative folks might be just around the corner.

My advice? Go to these meetups. Find groups in your area and go hang out and meet these people. I don't even do anything with video (though Cheryl has me thinking), and I had a blast! If you think that what you are doing is the most important thing in town -- you are wrong. Get out. Find others. Connect. Inspire. Collaborate. NOW!

No, that's not the hand of someone I picked up at the meeting. That's The Lovely Wife, squeezing herself into my photo. Gotta lover her...

A missed opportunity for ISPs

Five O'clock Shadow ??

Originally uploaded by evo_terra

One of the dumbest things and ISP can do is to put up a "This Page Suspended For Too Much Traffic" pages. Seriously. It's a public relations and marketing fiasco.

You want to know what that says to the general public, many of whom may be in the market for a decent webhost? It says "we can only handle so much traffic on our site, so you better not get popular or we'll shut you down". Thanks, but I'll move on.

And Brian Ibbott from Coverville spoke so highly of BlueHost. Now you've just gone and spoiled all of that goodwill just because someone got Dugg.

We no longer live in a limited-bandwidth world. Yes, I realize that you have bandwidth restrictions -- not saying you shouldn't. But surely there is a more creative and better way to handle sudden spikes of traffic than shutting down the content. How about putting up a redirect page or a frame (wow, a potential good use for frames?) that says something like "The amount of traffic to this page is huge. But we can handle it. Can your current ISP or hosting provider?" That my friends, would land you way more business than the cop-out approach. It just makes you look unfriendly...

And before you ask -- yes, you can get paid for the extra traffic. My cell phone doesn't shut off if my kid texts too much, I just get a massive bill. What if the person doesn't pay? Well isn't that the risk of doing business. And be honest -- the bandwidth really isn't that expensive (to you) and only a handful of folks would bail on the bill.

So stop it. Right now. It's getting tiresome and gives you a black eye.

My kind of humor

I'm not a huge fan of comics -- either online or off. But I have been following A Softer World for a while. They make it easy for me, putting the image right in their RSS feed. Love that!

I felt the need to share their most recent:



What kind of funny do I like? This kind.