Today’s post is about kindness. Yes, I said kindness. Now I know what you’re thinking, ‘what does kindness have to do with entrepreneurship?’ I say, ‘a lot.’ To illustrate what I mean, I’m going to use two examples from experiences I had this week.
First example: What NOT To Do.
Company: Rainsoft.
Rainsoft provides water softener devices to residences.
My parent’s bought a Rainsoft water filtration system for their house. Rainsoft installed the system and everything was fine, until their “customer service” gestapo started calling EVERY OTHER DAY. Not cool. Not only does this company NOT get that it is unkind to not trust your own customers (conversation goes like this: “hi, this is so and so from Rainsoft, we’re going to be in your area and wanted to bring you some salt (to replenish…which they already did, and they don’t go through it very fast at all. Like twice a year speed.) “uh, we already got some thanks.” Two days later…same phone call, different customer service rep. Same problem.) I feel like calling them and giving their manager a piece of my mind, but instead I’m talking trash online, too bad Rainsoft. Let’s see if they ever find my post and do any damage control. I doubt it.
Lesson: Don’t be mean to your customers, especially in bad times, you will NOT be pleased with the results.
Now, what you should do…
Second example: What To Do.
Company: Starbucks
Actually, it’s not Starbucks, but rather an employee of Starbucks, who serves coffee at a Barnes & Noble store I go to on occasion. This server knew what drink I wanted (after having served me a few days earlier, one time). No prompting. She just knew. And started making it before I even paid (I’m in line behind someone who was taking their sweet time to order, “um… I think I’ll have … um…”). Knowing what I wanted made my day. (Forget needing to remember my name, remember my face and my favorite drink and I’m good!) Not only that, she also made sure to offer me a fresh cookie (when her somewhat oblivious coworker was trying to get me the silly one I asked for after seeing it the window case. (Hey, I like my chewy cookies!) So, fresh coffee, fresh cookie, with a smile, and feeling like despite the weather, I’ve had a good day. That’s service. That’s kindness.
The kindness revolution is an idea I have for businesses. “Be nice, it’s good for you!” You never know if I was a traveling off-duty executive who happened to see your kindness and give you a promotion or hire you (from my competitor)! Or, to contrast, if I got another complaint about your poor phone manners, I’d fire you, or talk trash about you online – where you can’t erase it…or even find it, haha.
Kindness is between people, but companies that are smart know that their first-line staff are their ambassadors – and treat them with respect. And train them well. They teach them to be kind, to show respect for their customers, and serve them well.
So, thank you Starbucks coffee server lady, you made my day. And when I get a chance I’ll do the same for someone else.
What about you? Who’s been kind to you in a business setting? Did you return the favor? Why not spread good cheer all year by practicing daily kindnesses in your work life, and your personal life. Then watch the wonderful things that happen, even if its that you know that you made someones day/week.
This is the first in a series (of how many parts I have not yet decided) that will together compose my first book review.
Now you may ask, “Why are you doing a book review, aren’t there a million of these out there already?” Good question! Well, yes, there are a great many book reviews out there. But, that doesn’t mean that we all read the same book. Now that you’re confused, let me explain.
My Reading Philosophy
I subscribe to the idea that we see the world as we are. What I mean by that is that we see what we want to see, not what actually is. Humans have a great proclivity to filter information for what they want to find. Let me explain.
A Quick Example
My lucky number is 19 (I will explain how that happened in another post in the misty-eyed future, for now, just follow along). When I told my family that my lucky number is 19, we started to see it everywhere! It became a kind of family inside joke. We’d see it and say, “19…see!” (Today’s post for example…posted on the 19th..see! Hehe.)
But, this is an example of how humans filter information for the result they want. Instead of really looking at all the numbers that are seen in daily life, my family and I chose to look for a specific number. And we found it everywhere after that! If we had not chosen to look for it, we would not have noticed anything special about the number of occurrences of the number 19.
Got It?
So, now that you understand what I mean about finding what you’re looking for (I hope), let’s get back to the subject of today’s post, namely, the book review. Ok, what I would like you to do now is pretend that I’m right. I know, that’s a stretch for some of you who think you’re right. Well, you’re not. At least not right now. Anyway, suppose that you do indeed see the world as you are, not as it is. That means that if you are open-minded you see the world openly, and if you are close-minded, you see the world that way.
Now, to the task at hand. This book review will seek to give a factual representation of the book. Along with this, you will get my thoughts on it. This is how I see the book at this time. I may think differently about it tomorrow. Or the next day, or next month, or next year. I won’t know, and neither will you know how you’ll feel about it at any time in the future.
So, now that you understand the context, my present opinion, and the viewpoint that I’m bringing to the table, you can see that even though there are millions of people reviewing a book, we’ll all come to slightly (or dramatically, depending on the person!) different views of the book.
Absorb, Then Filter
I say all of this to get you in the mindset to absorb, then filter. Here’s what I mean. Absorb the material first, then filter for what is useful to you, not the other way around. The reason for this is that you may miss out on valuable information, knowledge, or wisdom if you skip along without understanding what you’re reading.
Ok, let’s dig into the book a bit now. Remember, I’ll be posting the other parts of this series later, for now, we’re going to absorb only an introductory overview and a few key highlights.
The first thing you need to do when reading a book, any book, is look at the Table of Contents. You do this to preview the material. This gives you a strategic or bird’s-eye view of it. Then you can dive into the subject matter, or if pressed for time, you can skim the Table of Contents (or TOC for those of you abbreviation freaks). You can also sometimes get a feel for what the material will cover. But, remember, we’re just absorbing now. Filtering comes later.
Outline
Chapter One: Passion Is Everything
Three Rules
Love Your Family
Work Superhard
Live Your Passion
What You Need to Know
The Game Has Changed
No Excuses
This Means You
It’s Up to You
Turn Water Into Wine
Chapter Two: Success Is in Your DNA
You Gotta Be You
Coming to America
Rise of the Entrepreneur
My Real Business
By the Time
Learning the Trade
Changing the Wine World
Chapter Three: Build Your Personal Brand
Building My Brand
Opportunity Lies In Transparency
Trust Your Own Palate
Word of Mouth On Steroids
Everybody’s Doing It
Chapter Four: A Whole New World
Plan Your Future Now
If You’re Not
Chapter Five: Create Great Content
Know Your Stuff
Tell A Story
Don’t Lie To Yourself
Choose Your Medium Carefully
The Lure and the Lasso
Chapter Six: Choose Your Platform
The Must-Haves
WordPress and Tumblr
Call-To-Action Buttons
Share Functions
Facebook
Twitter
Flickr
YouTube and/or Viddler
UStream.TV
Word-Of-Mouth Power Moves
Differentiate Yourself
Chapter Seven: Keep It Real … Very Real
Authenticity
Invest In the Important Stuff
Hustle
Patience
Chapter Eight: Create Community: Digging Your Internet Trench
Capture
The Power of One
Next Steps
Chapter Nine: The Best Marketing Strategy Ever
Chapter Ten: Make the World Listen
A Few Additional Steps
Chapter Eleven: Start Monetizing
Advertising
Speaking Engagements
Affiliate Programs
Retail
Articles
Seminars
Books and TV
Consulting
Advertising Redux
Create Some Hoopla
Chapter Twelve: Roll with It
Be Ready to Adapt
Put Out Fires
Shape Your Story
Trendspotting
Chapter Thirteen: Legacy Is Greater Than Currency
Conclusion: The Time Is Now, the Message Is Forever
Appendix A: Did You Forget Anything?
Identify Your Passion
Create 50 Blog Topics
Ask Yourself:
Am I sure my passion is what I think it is?
Can I talk about it better than anyone else?
Name Your Personal Brand
Buy Your User Name
Choose Your Medium
Start a Blog
Hire a Designer
Include Connect, Call-to-Action, Share Functions, and Business Invites
Create a Facebook Fan Page
Sign-up For Content Distributors (Ping.fm, TubeMogul, Twitter, Facebook)
Post Your Content
Create Community by Commenting
Use Twitter Search to Find People Talking About Your Topic
Use Google Blog Search to Find More Blogs On Your Topic
Join Facebook Fan Pages and Groups Relating To Your Topic
Reach Out To Advertisers and Begin Monetizing
Appendix B: Five Business Ideas I Won’t Get to – They’re Yours
The QVC of the Internet
A Tea Blog
The Sports Center of the Web
Online Book Reviews
PepsiLandHousPlace.com
Now Some Quotes
The next thing to do after previewing the TOC, is to read, and then look for quotes that stuck in your mind. (I will only give a few in this installment, so as not to overload you.) You can use what stuck in your mind as a springboard for what you want to get out of the book’s contents. Think highlights reel (for you sports buffs).
Quote, The First
On technology as a tool:
“You can pimp your ride, but that doesn’t change…how you travel in your car” (page 12).
My thoughts:
This is an excellent metaphor for how technological tools can be viewed. It helps us to visualize what to do with technology. Technology is not the car, it is the rims, the tires, the spoiler, etc. In other words, it is not the most important thing – the content (the engine!) is.
Quote, The Second
On monetizing your passion:
“Can you think of at least 50 blog topics that you’re amped to write about? That’s about the minimum number of posts you’ll need to give yourself enough time to get a feel for the situation.
That said, I’m convinced that if something is your true passion you can find 500 things – 500 interesting things – to say about it” (page 50).
My thoughts:
Wow! So, I’m just starting out with blogging and social media and this both excited me and scared me. I was excited because I thought, ‘great, now I know a number to shoot for when I’m looking to become an expert in my niche.’ Then I thought, ‘yikes, I’ve got about a year or more of hardcore blogging to do to get to that point!’ And then the next thought was ‘can I pull it off?’ ‘Can I last that long?’ Only time will tell, but this is a great target to shoot for.
Quote, The Third
On analytics:
“It’s not about how many viewers you have, it’s about how passionate they are” (page 80).
My thoughts:
As a new blogger, I’m very happy to hear this, because, frankly, it’s depressing being a ‘new kid on the block’ and feeling like, ‘ok, when is my traffic supposed to pickup?’ In other words, Gary gives me permission to worry less about quantity, and encourages me to focus more on quality.
That’s all for part one. Stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
As you can probably tell, I am still new to the online social media scene. I’m not a complete novice, but I was not participating much before. That all changed when I decided to face my fears (being ridiculed, laughed at, scorned, etc.) and just dive in full speed ahead. My goal: get online and participate.
That was three weeks ago.
Now, I am happy to report that, other than a few pieces of icky spam, I’ve survived unscathed – so far. (I’m sure the hate mail will be coming soon, I’m just praying that it’s mostly untrue and that I will be able to handle it without cracking and crying like some miserable spoiled child.)
So, I thought it would be a good idea to see how much progress I’ve made so far and help anyone who’s still scared senseless about online profiles and social media sites.
Follow me, as I show you what I’ve learned so far about the online social media scene. (For those of you who already know this stuff, please just smile and let me grab your hand like a cute-faced child and show you my silly drawing and you can tell me how cute it is, ok? )
For those of you who haven’t started your online social media experience beyond creeping like a ghost through chatrooms and blogs, this will help you see what to expect along your journey to the online society.
Let’s begin at the beginning.
Blogs
Bottom line here is: get one. Period. It is your homebase. This is where you begin the building process for your online self.
I chose the most popular blogging platform: WordPress.
Here’s a brief overview of why you should use WordPress & GoDaddy:
You don’t need to know HTML, CSS, Javascript, or any other web programming language or database program, like SQL. WordPress lets you do virtually everything inside a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) tool called simply the Dashboard (See figure 1).
You can easily purchase and install a custom theme (think cool clothes for your blog to wear. You got to be fashionable remember! Coolness counts online too!) I chose the Thesis theme by DIYThemes. You can get it here. It is well worth the price. Remember, cool clothes cost money. Free stuff just doesn’t look good!
Get a host for your blog. The thing I decided to do here was go with the industry leader, GoDaddy, for a simple reason: market share. From my research I determined that the larger the marketshare, the more likely that the host company will actually be around tomorrow. An especially important aspect in this fragile economy.
GoDaddy is also a good choice because they have a large array of domains (your online address) and other products (which you may not need now, like dedicated servers, but it’s nice to be able to do upgrades later without having to re-shop for a company who can help you.)
Figure 1 - My WordPress Dashboard
Facebook
Again, as with a blog, you should really be on Facebook (or FB for short). Over a hundred million users = if you’re not on here then you’re going to be out of touch. And as we all should know by now out-of-touch can quickly translate into out-dated, obsolete – not a great to position to be in if you’re looking for work, which odds are you are or know someone who is. Don’t lose out on a great opportunity to network. There’s no time like the present to fix your previous lax networking behavior.
Important things to remember on FB:
When setting up your profile for the first time, be aware of the privacy settings. There are a lot of them. For now, just leave them as is. You can always increase or decrease security settings based on how you actually use your profile.
It is called Facebook for a reason. You should upload your picture – with your face in it. No one is going to say, “yes, I’ll friend this person without a picture who could be an axe murderer!” You usually don’t need to worry about axe murderers you don’t know (it’s the one’s you do know that you need to worry about!)
Profile pictures of your children, babies, dogs, cats, favorite activity in a mask don’t count as your face! That is impersonation of another person, a fraud-like activity you should not engage in. Well, the dog/cat picture isn’t, but it’s still disturbing.
Facebook uses the term “Friend” as ‘a person that you know.’ This does not mean that you need to be BFF’s (a Paris Hilton-ism, meaning Best Friend Forever… ick, excuse me while I barf. Can’t take much of that), it simply means you know that person – somehow. Don’t worry, you’re not going to be inundated with contacts, at least not at first. Just remember, you can always change virtually every setting after you get the hang of the program. It’s pretty intuitive, so don’t worry, have fun finding people you lost contact with long ago!
A final word of caution with FB: don’t start playing games. It’s tacky, and people will respect you less if that’s all you post about. Start by finding friends, usually high school and college work best, then ease yourself into the rest. Some of the applications and games are simply a waste of time, and others are virtually spam. Don’t get sucked in. Take it easy and look around. Say “Hi” to a few people and get comfortable. Later you can learn about different groups, fan pages, applications, games, etc.
Figure 2 - My Facebook Profile page
Then, like me, you can feel good that after about a week and a half of intense self-promotion, you too can have over 100 friends!
Figure 3 - My Facebook Friends
Well, that’s enough for now. Stay tuned for Part 2: Twitter.
Until next time.
Peace.
-Ryan.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS:
If you don’t have a blog yet, why not? What’s holding you back?
If you don’t have Facebook yet, why not? What’s holding you back?
If you do have a blog and/or Facebook, what do you think of my tips for newbies? Clear? If not, or if you have different view of how to get started, let me know!
If you consider yourself a guru: how did I do on my first explanation post? Tell me your thoughts, I may just tell you you’re smart and implement what you say. Wouldn’t that be cool for you?
On Monday, my college changed its name from Seminole Community College to Seminole State College of Florida. I am very happy about the name change, not because it looks exciting to anyone, but because of the alternative names the school was considering. One of the ridiculous names floated (as a finalist no less!) was “Peninsula [...]
