Working hard is the new red white and blue. A reaffirming article from Scott H. Young titled “Execution is more important than planning” where he reminds us that success often comes down to how hard we’re willing to work to achieve our goals. “J.D. Roth, the founder of the wildly successful blog Get Rich Slowly, worked on his website at full-time levels for two years, building to its success. He did this while having another job to pay the bills.” That reminded me of how novelist Scott Turow spent years writing Presumed Innocent while riding the commuter train to and from his day job as a prosecutor in New York City.
Working hard at writing is the new 1-2-3. Instructive article with the fun title of “how 2 blog if u suk at writin’” Three advice tips are 1) Stop trying to do what you can’t, 2) Craft a superior experience, 3) Choose the medium you’re best at (presenting, story telling, cartoons or blackboard illustration), then use it as an approach for making content interesting to your audience.
Why some of us persist in working hard at writing. This CopyBlogger post titled “Want to Know the Real Reason Why You Write?” is very good, describing the enriching life experience that results from finding your own voice through writing. However, when I consider the answer to “Why You Write” I go back to 2004 and what Doc Searls said in a BloggerCon III Podcast titled Making Money with Blogs. “People who write suffer from the delusion that other people give a shit about what they have to say.” Yeah, that makes more sense to me than all of that stuff about the enriching life and finding your voice.
The art of not listening to your customers. Robert Scoble channeled Robert Scoble of two years ago and wrote an excellent post detailing how recent changes in Facebook demonstrate why it is sometimes necessary to disregard your customers to move your vision forward.
Obama entourage leaving the Tonight Show. This YouTube video of Obama with his security and support personnel leaving the Tonight Show lot fascinates me. All of those people, vehicles and functions wrapped around this one man’s every move. I’m trying to imagine sitting in the back seat of that black Cadillac limo…no, can’t imagine it at all.
Garth Brooks on Obama. I don’t have any Garth Brooks in my Zune collection, but I’ve been a long-time fan of his music and more importantly of the man. I really enjoyed this video interview of Garth describing being on the Tonight Show with President Obama. Garth is Blue Collar Everyman of the Week, our highest honor!
Everyman on Obama’s Press Conference. Everyman gives Obama an A- on his Press Conference performance tonight. He’ll get more love when he shuts down those follow-up questions reporters have come to regard as a god-given right. A 10-second shot of Obama behind the podium struck me, as Obama was standing with one of his legs slightly bent projecting a state of complete relaxation. Mr. Cool. The high point of the conference for Everyman was when the dufus CNN reporter baited Obama with “the action on AIG seems to have originated with Cuomo and New York,” asking why it took him two days to express his outrage. Obama’s response was, “because I like to know what I’m talking about.” Next.
Obama Press Conference Analysis Postscript. Dear CBS News, if you’re going to provide analysis on President Obama’s performance and give him a B-minus on his response to the CNN Dufus’ question, it probably shouldn’t be from some guy with a double chin you post on the White House lawn no one has seen before.
Free only gets you so far. This Mac news TidBITS article on Kodak Gallery’s Free-with-Payment Services provides good food for thought. “Despite storage, processing power, and bandwidth becoming ever less expensive, having a million customers who spend nothing isn't as valuable as 50,000 who spend regularly.”
Doc Searls knows advertising. Funny how Doc can reference his book “Cluetrain Manifesto” 10 years after it was released and it’s still THE book on advertising. It is, and Doc is still an advertising guru. Long post from Doc titled “After the Advertising Bubble Bursts” with lots of sage guidance. Here quoting Eric Clemons, “The Internet is participatory, like swapping stories around a campfire or attending a renaissance fair. It is not meant solely to push content, in one direction, to a captive audience, the way movies or traditional network television did.” Smart people participating in the comment thread complete the 4 hours you can spend on this post.
Forget Doc. This is brilliant advertising, just brilliant! This Arby’s banner advertisement contradicts practically everything Doc espoused as got-a-clue advertising, but it’s still brilliant. When you move your mouse over the Arby Roastburger it magnifies the meat inside the bun. There’s not an Arby’s in the entire state of Vermont (the closest is 81.39 miles away in Glen Falls, New York), but if there was I’d be having ROASTBURGERS for supper!