In the connection era, the marketing is the product, the service and most of all the conversations it causes and the connections it makes. Marketing is the first thing we do, not the last.
I was having this exact conversation with a business partner yesterday. From Seth Godin’s post When should we add marketing?
Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.
I knew there was a good reason for undertaking the seemingly insane goal of learning Russian this year. From the New York Times.
I hear it all the time from people. “I’m passionate about it.” “I’m not going to quit, it’s my passion”. Or I hear it as advice to students and others, “Follow your passion”.
What a bunch of BS. “Follow Your Passion” is easily the worst advice you could ever give or get.
Let me make this as clear as possible:
- When you work hard at something you become good at it.
- When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more.
- When you enjoy doing something, there is a very good chance you will become passionate or more passionate about it.
- When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen.
Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort.
Read it @Blog Maverick
I guess it’s not wrapped … I just couldn’t stay away, plus there’s some exciting stuff I’d like to discuss. You’ll find me on Twitter @robertcollings.
I was recently editing a client’s presentation notes in which she wrote the adage that “knowledge is power”. This is no longer true (as most knowledge can be found on the net or via net enabled social relationships, e.g. Quora).
What’s true now is that the distribution of knowledge is power.
One tweak by Google …
Question for the day is whether Seth Godin has nailed the future of book publishing? If so, where is the inflection point at which consumers pay for content? I think macro industry models don’t work in the creative industries anymore and we need to look at not just sectors within an industry but at the individual organisations themselves.
Burbling: watching an idea go from page to conversation
Stop Stealing Dreams is closing in on half a million readers since I launched it eight days ago. There are about 100,000 Google matches for the phrase, up from four when I published it. What’s fascinating to me is how visible the spread of an idea is now, how much more quickly and socially we share something that resonates.
Here’s a live discussion scheduled for tonight that a reader and blogger is organizing with some passionate experts.
And there are spirited conversations and collections of quotations.
And of course, several teachers and parents and administrators have proudly announced that they refuse to read it because they think they know what it says and they don’t agree with it. Some things don’t change.
The math for an author that wants to spur a conversation is pretty thought-provoking. Instead of the 3,000 to 15,000 people a book-for-sale might reach in a week (if it were a national bestseller), a free book transcends the financial and physical ballast it carries and spreads further and faster. It also calls the bluff of those that might be inclined to avoid it, as it removes excuses of access or cost.
There’s no doubt that authors need to get paid. But when there’s no scarcity of things to read, it’s not clear that readers care. More and more of the ideas we talk about are starting out as free (blog posts, TED talks, ebooks, etc.) and that makes it harder than ever to make a similar impact with a traditional book.
[My emphasis]
A “dangerously funny video created and produced by Rémi Gaillard” involving a man, an elevator and some seriously unusual living arrangements. Is that the Champions League theme I hear?
I’m calling it quits for a half-year on this blog. Back on July 1, maybe … Hit me up on Twitter @robertcollings if you want to connect or shoot the breeze. Ciao for now and keep well.
In late 2010 I set myself the challenge of not consuming alcohol during 2011. I’m chuffed to say that I achieved my goal. Perhaps importantly it was easier than I had expected—which means anyone can do it!
I hope the following outcomes from my experience will inspire you if you’re thinking about meaningful change in the New Year:
My hope is that if you’re experiencing any unwellness, or perhaps if you haven’t achieved the things you wanted to achieve in your life, that you’ll take inspiration from my Year With No Beer and give it a go in 2012.
Hit me up on Twitter @robertcollings if you want to chat about your #YWNB. I’m doing it again.