Escape from Cubicle Nation

Confession: my new passionate crushes

The first time I saw the term "professional crush" was on my friend Andy Wibbel's blog, and it refers to an episode of Seinfeld where George Castanza has a "non-sexual crush" on one of Elaine's boyfriends.  Unlike Matt Dillon, Benecio del Toro or Matthew McConaughey (I know, such the prototypical hunky blond, but ladies, can you blame me?), I CAN mention the following names to my husband without him getting jealous. 

These are people I have run across online in the last couple of weeks that jumped out and hugged me with their magnetic brands.  Each is smart, bold and very distinctive in his or her own way. 

I harp over and over again about the importance of a clear niche, honest writing and a brand that matches who you really are.  This is what I am talking about! They are great examples of how to stand apart from the crowd not by using tired hyper-marketing tricks, but rather by letting your true self shine.

So here goes:  my passionate professional crushes of the moment:

 

David Seah.  I found Dave via a post from my Twitter buddy Fred Schechter who blogged about meeting Dave in person for the first time.  Intrigued, I popped over the Dave's blog and immediately felt a rush of excitement.  He was smart, funny, cool and had a really distinct brand.  Not only that, but he has a pet project called "The Printable CEO Series (TM)" where he gives away gorgeous forms just dripping with productivity and lifehacking methodology.  A smart, generous and creative man who can design a form more attractive than most people's wedding invitations -- who could ask for more?

 

Communicatrix  is the brainchild of Colleen Wainwright and is a smart, wacky and very honest look into the world of words.  Colleen has one of those blogs that you stumble across and just can't get enough. The other night, even though I had huge circles under my eyes and was nodding off at my computer, I read her back posts until the wee hours of the morning.  As she says, "some people connect with stories, not how-tos."  I couldn't agree more.

Peter Shankman at first glance could be an action-loving cohort to 4-hour workweek phenomenon Tim Ferriss since he loves testosterone-induced activities like jumping out of planes.  What has impressed me about Peter, however, is how, in a sea of bland PR professionals, he has created a truly useful service based on the principles of social media and free information exchange. It is called "Help a Reporter"  and he collects requests from journalists and summarizes them in a newsletter to expert sources.  I love to scan for stories that apply to friends and blog readers, so I responded to a few myself.  In one case, I replied to a reporter's request 5 minutes after receiving Peter's email.  She said "Thanks so much for your referral -- thanks to Peter, I have already received 40 qualified sources in 20 minutes."  How is THAT for doing your job? 

Jonathan Fields.  Anyone who says "this ain't your momma's self help blog" is a friend of mine.  Jonathan is funny, sassy and wise, and offers really good information.  He is actually a direct competitor, as he offers coaching and career advice to prospective entrepreneurs.  I say, who cares?  If you work with Jonathan, I am sure you will get your money's worth. I don't say this based on meeting him in person or even talking to him on the phone.  We have had about three 140-character Twitter exchanges, enough to make me think "this guy 'gets it' and would be a blast to work with."  That is the result of really great copy and good content on your site -- people feel they know you, like you and trust you before even meeting you.

If any of you look at these sites and say "Yuck, not for me!"  that is the point!  Great brands should attract a certain demographic and repel others.  Because I am obviously the target market for these businesses, they speak to me. 

What do you think?  Who are your "professional crushes?  And how far does your brand need to go to jump out and hug a complete stranger?

 

Perfect example of a targeted niche: back fat

I was watching the news this evening and squealed in delight at this example of a targeted niche.  A local personal trainer developed specific exercises to pinpoint that tricky area of the body known as "back fat." 

As soon as I heard that, while I was stuffing a cupcake in my mouth, I reached back and pinched the pesky blubber that has crept onto my once taut back from two pregnancies, no exercise and too many late-night blogging snacks.

As a member of this guy's target market, all I knew is that I have back fat and this guy knows how to get rid of it.

The great thing for him?  Of course he works out every part of your body, just like every other trainer in the area.  But he developed a specific differentiating hook, and because of it, people will be lining up outside his door to work with him.  Not to mention that his timing for press was excellent:  half past Halloween (where kids eat 1 pound of candy and parents eat 5 in their attempt to "save their kids' teeth"), a quarter past Thanksgiving with the obligatory 12 pieces of pie and 3 quarts of gravy, and 2 minutes to Christmas where 5 pound See's Candy boxes appear on your doorstep from neighbors you barely know.

Can you see how much more compelling this hook is than "lose 15 pounds and feel great!"?

How can you turn your boring, generic marketing into back fat?

Frighteningly formatted but strangely addictive list of common errors in English

I am fascinated by the English language.  Even though I make a lot of typos and grammatical errors which my readers are kind enough to quickly point out, I take special note of common errors like "effect vs. affect" (one is a noun, the other a verb). 

So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this page with hundreds of them (make sure to scroll down past the picture of the book and intro text to see the gigantic list of words).

Samples:

Flesh out/Flush out*

To “flesh out” an idea is to give it substance, as a sculptor adds clay flesh to a skeletal armature. To “flush out” a criminal is to drive him or her out into the open. The latter term is derived from bird-hunting, in which one flushes out a covey of quail. If you are trying to develop something further, use “flesh”; but if you are trying to reveal something hitherto concealed, use “flush.”

Backslash vs. Slash

This is a slash: /. Because the top of it leans forward, it is sometimes called a “forward slash.”

This is a backslash: \. Notice the way it leans back, distinguishing it from the regular slash.

Slashes are often used to indicate directories and subdirectories in computer systems such as Unix and in World Wide Web addresses. Unfortunately, many people, assuming “backslash” is some sort of technical term for the regular slash, use the term incorrectly, which risks confusing those who know enough to distinguish between the two but not enough to realize that Web addresses rarely contain backslashes.

Gibe/Jibe/Jive

“Gibe” is a now rare term meaning “to tease.” “Jibe” means “to agree,” but is usually used negatively, as in “the alibis of the two crooks didn’t jibe.” The latter word is often confused with “jive,” which derives from slang which originally meant to treat in a jazzy manner (“Jivin’ the Blues Away”) but also came to be associated with deception (“Don’t give me any of that jive”).

Can you see how strangely addictive this can become?

The formatting is truly painful on the eyes, but maybe this is intentional so that you don't spend twelve hours straight reading it. 

There is a book and calendar too.  I can't think of a better gift for the writing nerds in your life.  Too bad my Dad and sister read my blog, since this would have been the perfect Christmas present for them.

This list, created ten years ago by Paul Brians, an English Professor at Washington State University, has been visited by over 8 million people.  Somehow I missed it. Now I have yet one more site to visit when I should be doing something productive. 

*I once dragged a whole online discussion board down a rat hole with a discussion of "flesh out vs. flush out."  I don't know why, but it drove me crazy to hear it used incorrectly.

(Update via Dan about my "effect vs. affect" ... I was wrong, or at least not entirely correct.  Look it up on Paul's list for a complete explanation.  I told you my readers didn't let me get away with errors!)

Check out Personal Branding Summit November 8

My buddy Jason Alba from JibberJobber has organized a pretty cool free learning event tomorrow, entitled  Personal Branding Summit.  Details are here.  It includes some of my favorite marketing and career types like Guy Kawasaki, John Jantsch, Krishna De, Richard Bolles, Phil Gerbyshak and Debbie Weil.  Sign up for individual sessions that cover all kinds of personal branding and marketing topics.  You can't beat this line up for free.  Good job Jason & Co.!

I also forgot to remind you that I am holding my monthly free call today (Wed, Nov. 7) at 3pm Eastern.  You can still sign up here.  Warning:  I don't have a babysitter for the little one, so you may hear a few squeals from Angela Rose.  But we will have fun!

How to build a strong and creative brand

Marilyn Scott-Waters has been an artist all her life, but found that her corporate role as Art Director at Nike was pinching her soul. So she ventured into the world of freelance, and as part of her business built a gigantic following with her whimsical paper toy site thetoymaker.com. On today's radio show, hear her perspective on building a strong and creative brand, integrating the best of her training as corporate artist with the hard won knowledge of an in-the-trenches entrepreneur.

Show details:

Date:  Friday, July 27 (Today!)
Time:  11am-12pm Pacific Standard Time
Topic:  How to build a strong and creative brand
To listen:  Click here

If you miss the live show, you can always listen later, through the link above.  To download as an Mp3, you will have to click on the title of the show, which will bring up the "download as Mp3" option.

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And a note of apology to Feedblitz subscribers to this blog, who often express annoyance that my notices are sometimes short for radio shows. (Feedblitz sends summaries of blog posts via email, and they are usually delivered the day after they are posted) I can only plead busy, pregnant woman these days, and I am racing as fast as I can to get everything done before the baby comes.  Between scheduling guests, preparing for interviews, creating a product, writing a book and blog posts, I am stretched pretty thin.

I appreciate your interest and dedication.  Please note that the show airs every Friday at the same time (11am Pacific) so you can always go to the link I reference above under "show details" to see what is playing live.  Thanks for your patience with me!

I would rather be Don Cheadle than George Clooney

One of the best parts of building a business is fantasizing for hours about the heights of fame you will achieve.  You imagine giving a warm, familiar hug to Oprah, or Jon Stewart, or seeing your face plastered on a gigantic  billboard in Times Square, like the one I saw of Sean "Puffy" Combs that hung about 18 floors down the side of a building.  No dose of reality tempers with this daydreaming, nor should it, as you are entitled to a whole lot of fantasy fame building for the amount of sweat and blood you pour into your business.

And so it hit me last night in the bathtub, while reading O Magazine: I would rather be Don Cheadle than George Clooney. 

We all know that George has that adorable grin, flirty cock-eyed smile and the coveted title of "Sexiest Man Alive."  He has his choice of high-profile and dollar films, cavorts with beautiful people around the world, and even finds time to contribute to meaty social issues, like ending the genocide in Darfur.

But George has to deal with being George.  He is such a huge celebrity that he is continually hounded by paparazzi.  Women continually fling themselves at him, and he is so recognizable that he must not get a moment's rest in public. 

Don Cheadle, on the other hand, is pure understated cool.  He effortlessly blends with Hollywood hunkie heavyweights like Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and George, in the Ocean's # movie series.  He participates in intelligent flicks like Traffic with Benicio del Toro (another cool cat, but a bit too disheveled and wild for my fame fantasies), Crash (which he also co-produced), and Hotel Rwanda, for which he garnered an Oscar nomination.

Not to be outdone by George, he co-authored a New York Times bestselling book on Darfur, entitled Not on Our Watch:  The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond.

Although of course I don't know him personally, he seems the kind of person that would be great to have an in-depth conversation with on just about any subject.  He is smart, well-read and seems to be extremely secure with who he is.  He doesn't need to be the center of attention, but is the person everyone invites as a critical ingredient to their party.

So he doesn't make as much money as the true "A-List" celebrities.  After a certain point, how much money do you really need?

OK, so I am not a man, and not an actor.  But for the flavor of fame that I like to fantasize about, Don Cheadle does it for me all the way.

Who is the celebrity that you would most like to pattern your entrepreneurial fame after?

Is your model a flaming, exuberant daredevil like Richard Branson, a business-savvy yet soulful diva like Oprah, an in-your-face bad-hair-be-damned mogul like Donald Trump or a world-saving mega hot momma like Angelina Jolie?

Humor me, people. I like to think that I am not the only one who spends precious, valuable productive time thinking about things like this.

photo by Katy Winn/Corbis

Do you love your work enough to be interviewed on the "Pursue the Passion" tour?

One of my fellow Phoenecians, Brett Farmiloe, is a young, creative and inspiring storyteller who is launching his second "Pursue the Passion" tour across the U.S., complete with a 29-foot RV.  James Whiting and Noah Pollock will join him on the cross-country adventure.

Last year, Brett and 2 friends toured the country interviewing people who were fired up about their work.  As they describe their project:

"Pursue the Passion started as a group of three recent college grads who embarked on cross country roadtrips to interview passionate professionals about their career paths. We created this site because we felt that others could benefit from these interviews, and use them to determine a direction to take their careers."

Brett summarized the wisdom from the 2006 tour interviews in a nifty e-book which you can find here.  There are pictures and quotes from a whole range of different professions, including:

"I believe that everyone meets a person who will have a large role in their life.  It could be a friend, your wife, but for me it was my teacher, Sherman Miller.

He taught me to believe in myself, and to believe that I could go from being a green little kid to what I wanted to be."

-Ford Burkhart, Staff Editor, New York Times

"You are only young and good-looking for so long."

-Samantha Harris, Playboy Playmate

If you want to participate in the 2007 tour, there are still slots available. Here is the criteria outlined by Brett:

1. Individual LOVES what they do for a living.  If money weren't an issue, they would still be doing what they're doing for free.
2. A candidate must be willing to allow us to post our writeup on our website www.pursuethepassion.com, and grant us permission to use the interview in our book "Timeless Advice for the Aspiring Individual."  And if they aren't camera shy, we'd like to video the interviews as well.
3. That's it!  I used to say that an individual must have an interesting story surrounding their pursuit of a passion, but I've found that every story is unique in and of itself, and everyone has a story.

Go to the 2007 tour schedule to see the cities where they are in need of more interviewees.  If you aren't a candidate yourself, perhaps you know someone who is.  They also host a "Passion Hour" gathering in each city where they stop, so that would be a fun place to get to know the team, and give them encouragement to keep going. 

I am honored to kick off the 2007 tour on July 2 with an interview in my backyard (or inside if it is too sweltering - very likely).  I can't wait to see the huge RV pull up to my doorstep, perhaps sealing my title of "most hated member of the homeowner association."  After Amanda Congdon's visit to my backyard last year, I am beginning to think there is a little something special about my middle class, suburban, beige colored home ... who needs the edge of San Francisco or the glitz of New York when you have the sexy appeal of Mesa, Arizona?  (and heretofore, I would have considered "sexy Mesa" to be an oxymoron!)

More power to you Brett, James and Noah ... it makes me very proud to see such inspired, positive and risk-taking entrepreneurs crossing the country.

Are you in the mom (or dad) closet?

Nataly Kogan, a former venture capitalist who very recently flew the corporate coop (yeah Nataly!) to co-found a company called Work-it Mom, recently wrote a blog post calling for perspectives on what she calls the "coming out of the mom closet."  It was spurred by a conversation with a potential contributing writer to her site who said:

“I really like what you’re doing but I try to not be associated with mommy sites. I don’t want to be pigeonholed as a mommy blogger.”

Nataly was kind of surprised by this comment, as she didn't expect this to be an issue in this day and age when women are such an integral part of the workforce, and being a Mom is not exactly something that carries great social stigma.

She called for perspectives on this topic from working moms, including me.

I have to admit that when I read the post and the initial quote by the reticent writer, my first thought was:

I totally understand where she is coming from.

Don't get me wrong, I adore being a Mom, and am very proud of it (not that I take any credit - the whole thing is a freaking miracle, if you ask me).  But when it comes to including lots of "mom stories" in my work, I walk a careful line.  What drives all editorial decisions for what I do or don't write is a strange, intuitive compass that says "this topic would be of interest to my audience."  A lot is based on emails I get, or feedback from my monthly calls, or work with clients.  But underlying that data is a kind of "hunch" that I need to write or share something on a given day.  And "mom" stories raise a particular flag inside me for some reason.

The connotation, fair or accurate or not, is that "mommy bloggers" spend most of their time writing about the appropriate kind of snack to pack for a field trip, how to get spit-up stains off your suit, or the varying consistencies of baby poop.

There are some wickedly funny and smart "Moms who blog" like Mimi Smartypants (VERY rated R sometimes, but if you don't mind well-used profanity, you will enjoy this blog) and Mom-101, who gives an eloquent breakdown of the "mommyblogger" debate here.  Excerpt:    

"I have never once called myself a Mommyblogger, not without a heavy dose of irony. I admit in fact to cringing when I hear myself described that way. I tend to say instead, "I have a parenting blog." And yet, I often feel the need to offer a disclaimer. "I have a parenting blog, but..."    

But...it's funny.    

But...I can also discuss Bush's heinous disregard for the Kyoto treaty and the potential impact for generations to come.    

But...hey, do you like Journey? Wait til you hear my new ringtone!    

Saying "while I write about my child, I think really what I do is look at social issues, politics, pop culture, and my own feelings about work and the world through the eyes of a new mother" is a wee bit verbose in most contexts. Mommyblogger it is. Blech.    

It's not that blogging about our children is such a horrible thing. I mean, Dooce can make washing a bottle more interesting than most women could make a menage-a-trois with George Clooney and Johnny Depp. But in my opinion, the diminutive, mommy, automatically demeans whatever it is the author has to say. That no matter how many degrees she holds, how many times she uses words like ostensibly and onomatopoeia, she's still writing something trivial."

I know that many of my readers have families and are often driven to an entrepreneurial lifestyle so that they have more freedom and flexibility to actively participate in their children's lives.  Or they work from home, so can relate to some of the challenges faced uniquely by work-at-home parents (which I wrote about.)

The rule of thumb should be similar to showing your vacation pictures to friends and relatives.  Sometimes, we get so carried away by the excitement of our vacation that we forget it is much less interesting to friends who weren't there.  By the 42nd "and this is another castle in the countryside of Switzerland!" photo, they are madly racking their brain to think of ways to  leave your living room, including feigning a heart attack, since being subjected to 45 minutes more of your deathly pictures would be worse than being carried out on a stretcher by emergency medical technicians.  Such is how some people feel about "parenting" stories.

General "to disclose or not disclose" guidelines could be:

• What is the purpose of your blog?
• Who is in your audience?
• Is the fact that you are a Mom (or Dad) of relevance or interest to the work you do?
• Is it part of your brand?  Work-it Mom, webmomz, and a thousand other sites have chosen niches that specifically appeal to mothers. 
• Are you sharing because it is a bit self-indulgent, bordering on vacation picture behavior?

I have chosen to write a few posts around my motherhood experience, but keep it very limited. A wonderful, consistent blog reader (who happens not to have any kids) wrote me a note after one of my few "mommy" posts that started something like "when I started to read the post about your son, I groaned a bit since I was worried that it was going to be a "mommy" post..."  She ended up liking the article because it did have broader applications to the world of work, but this definitely reinforced my reticence to writing a whole bunch of posts about my experience as a mother.

Perhaps the other side of the coin is protection.  The world can be kind of scary, and sharing too much about my kids sometimes makes me a bit nervous.

Ultimately, we can all choose the amount of disclosure that is comfortable.

I am not shy to disclose parts of my personal life where it will help make a point, provide support or empathy to my audience, or add more interest and power to a story.  Then there are the times when I blog on a personal rant as cheap therapy, and I reserve that right, since I spend a lot of hours focused on the needs of others.  :)

Ultimately, I think we should each respect our internal comfort level at disclosing any number of personal details in the work environment.  Be proud of who you are, and know how "open" is too "open."

I'm curious for the parents out there as to where you fall on the "parental disclosure" issue in your work and writings.  And for the non-parents, what is your "barf-o-meter" when it comes to parenting stories in business blogs?

P.S.  And, yes, I did slip in a picture of my cute son for this post, since what the hell, I was taking a risk to write about Mom stuff anyway.  Thanks, Dad, for the great picture!

Controversy is good: go ahead, disagree with me!

If you were raised in a conflict-averse household like I was, you may find that this early history seeps into your business and you are afraid to upset anyone with a controversial product or service.

Big mistake!

The most successful (and interesting) businesses take a stand and create something different, unique, and meaningful for their target market.  You should be no different.

I was very inspired by Guy Kawasaki's take on this from The Art of the Start:

"Polarize people.  When you create a product or service that some people love, don't be surprised if some people hate it.  Your goal is to catalyze passion:  pro or anti.  Don't be offended if people take issue with what you have done; the only result that should offend (and scare) you is lack of interest."

This week's 6-minute podcast expands on this thought, and offers a few strategies for taking a stand while designing your business:

• Create from the heart and soul.  Let your rational mind have its place in the design process, but by no means let it lead. 
• Speak clearly and speak the truth.  My take on why Bob Sutton's book The No Asshole Rule is a success, and why it would have been so much less effective with a watered-down title such as Don't be a Jerk in the Workplace or The Successful Manager's Handbook.
• Know your niche.  If your urban youth-targeted product offends your wife or mother, you have a winner.
• Embrace your detractors. Learn to decipher useful information amidst snide personal comments.  Decide who to care about and when to delete offending messages, lest they stink up your inbox.
• Don't back peddle.  Tweaks and enhancements are good.  Total redesign to accommodate many diverse segments of a market will lead to watered down products and "design by committee," a phenomenon that should strike fear in the hearts of any corporate employee who has lived through it.

Finally, I want to distinguish between being bold or controversial for its own sake rather than as a means to create something of use, value or beauty for a specific group of people.  Ann Coulter is  my poster girl for the "rile em up, consequences be damned" approach to creating controversy.   I could be wrong, but it seems like little value comes from, as Bob Sutton would say, acting like an asshole for its own sake.  I don't imagine that I have one Coulter fan in my blog feed, but if I do, please point out where I am missing the boat.  Just refrain from the personal insults, ok?

Go here to listen to or download the podcast.   If you want to subscribe to the feed, here it is.

Excellent post on usability tips for your blog, gleaned from dozens of bloggers' experiences

I just came across this excellent post on blogging usability tips from Tom Johnson of I'd rather be writing.  He describes twenty different examples in very clear language, accompanied by helpful graphics.  It doesn't necessarily have new or revolutionary information, just a great reminder of the basics needed to start a solid, useful blog.  He also lists lots of great resource links at the end of the article.

I know that I am due for an overhaul and upgrade in many areas of my blog (revamping categories and adding search to start), so I am going to evaluate many of these tips myself.

Well done, Tom.

I know we can get 500 people to Phoenix to hear Seth Godin live, right?

I have been a Seth Godin fan for a long time, since back in the days when each issue of Fast Company magazine was the size of a phone book, and he was a contributing author. (Was I the only one that would get an intense thrill at receiving a fresh issue in the mail?  Those were such revolutionary times, before everything went to hell in the dot.com bust, and the issues seemed to vibrate a magnetic energy.  I would read them in the bathtub, and would get arm cramps from trying to hold the dang thing out of the water).

Anyway, I just read on his new blog, promoting his upcoming book The Dip, that he is considering Phoenix as a stop on his "Dip Tour."  In true Godin fashion, he is adding a viral networking twist on his promotion, and inviting people to host a stop in their city, with the stipulation that they must get 500 people who are willing to pay $50 each to see him.  With that $50, in addition to a guaranteed seat, you get 5 copies of the book, because in his words:

"Why five books? So you'll give four away. That's why I wrote the book. So you would buy copies and give them away."

We here in Phoenix may not have the biggest percentage of sexy tech startups, or venture capitalists or cool beatnik poets that you have in some of the coastal cities, but dagnabit, we have a community of enthusiastic, hard-working and creative entrepreneurs that love to learn.

So if you want to be in a room with 500 motivated, interested, open and creative people to hear one of the most refreshing minds of the 21st century live and unplugged, sign up on Matt LaPrarie's site where he has an easy to use pledge form.  The deadline is April 30.

Don't live in Phoenix?  Don't let that stop you!

If you don't live in Phoenix, don't let that stop you from coming, since in addition to hearing Seth talk, you could plan a mini-vacation with the following scenarios depending on your budget and tastes:

• Stay at the elegant and luxurious Biltmore Hotel where you can revel in Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and take early morning hikes up Camelback Mountain
• Come to Phoenix to hear Seth, then spend the weekend at the rejuvenating Canyon Ranch in Tuscon where you can eat healthy food, do yoga and choose from more than 20 different kids of body therapies, including Thai massage, Ayurvedic body treatments and, for men only per the tradition they practice, participate in a 100 minute sweat lodge
• Take the family, and after staying at any number of nice hotels in Scottsdale and seeing your teenagers squeal in delight at the multitude of shops and malls nearby, head to the Grand Canyon Railway just outside of Flagstaff where you take a very enjoyable ride to the Grand Canyon (where you can also stay overnight, if you so choose) I did the train trip with my whole extended family and it was a blast.
• Hook up your RV and come stay in one of the many camp sites around this beautiful state
• If you are a sports fan, stay to watch a home game of the Arizona Diamondbacks in their cool stadium with a retractable roof
• Although I have never even picked up a club, my golfing buddies tell me that Arizona has some of the best golf courses in the world. (although I don't agree with using so much water to feed the grass, I understand that I am in the minority here and realize that most people get a lot of joy from the sport)
• Gain exposure to some of the wonderful Native American art from the region at the Heard Museum, then head over to the Desert Botanical Gardens to walk through Mother Nature's version of art.
• After hearing Seth, head to my favorite spot in the world, Sedona, where the red rocks and beautiful nature will take your breath away and the crystal vortexes will have your tired chakras singing a new tune

It sure would be fun to make this happen ... Francine, I see you signed up - with your network alone, we could fill the room.  Let's make it happen, AZ entrepreneurs, shall we?

Don't forget:  the deadline is April 30.

 

Resource for new and experienced bloggers: Clear Blogging

I don't know if many you know this, but I started this blog in October of 2005 as an assignment for a class I was taking about getting known in the online world.   I was moving from a very person-to-person model of outreach and marketing in my consulting business to one where I needed to connect with people I didn't know, who to further complicate things, were sequestered behind corporate walls and networks.

Little did I know as I wrote my first posts for a loyal readership of 3 (my Dad, my best friend Desiree and the random single daily Google visitor that stumbled by my site by accident) that the act of writing a blog would radically alter my life and business.  I learned as I went, and was tremendously fortunate to develop a network of smart, funny and supportive blog readers that provided editorial and technical advice for free.

One of the people I met in this way was Bob Walsh, founder of Safari Software, moderator of the Business of Software forum on Joel on Software, and author of Micro-ISV:  From Vision to Reality.  Bob and I found that we had a mutual interest in helping cubicle dwellers to break free.  His main audience was programmers who were interested in starting their own small consulting or freelance businesses.  We shared ideas, and referred clients to each other.

This year, Bob published a book called Clear Blogging:  How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them.  He wrote it with both the newbie and experienced blogger in mind, and includes numerous interviews and tips from successful and experienced bloggers like Seth Godin, Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net and Richard Edelman of the PR company Edelman. 

I was honored that he asked me to write the forward, which sums up some of my feelings about blogging and the benefits you will get from the book.  Here it is:

"The moment comes at different times for a new blogger, but it is unforgettable.  After posting a fleeting thought, curious insight, personal theory, or random rant on your blog, you go off to attend to regular business for a few hours.  Then, returning to your email box, you start to see tens, sometimes hundreds of messages.  Your heart starts to pound as you see your daily reader statistics shoot through the roof, and read comments about your post from bloggers around the world.

In this quiet, exhilarating and sometimes scary moment, you realize that people are listening to you, and they care about what you have to say.  Whether blogging for personal or professional reasons, discovering your voice is a liberating and revolutionary feeling.  For so many people who feel stifled, not heard, taken for granted, or disrespected, the feeling of creative outlet is invigorating.  Finally, there is a vehicle for saying things that need to be said.

Most people are changed by this experience and become thoroughly immersed in the world of blogging.  The pursuit of new ideas, creative partners and reader contact consumes many hours of the day.  Most bloggers care profoundly about what their readers think, and always strive to create fresh, useful and insightful information.  Doing so can be a big challenge and can take up more time than is healthy or reasonable, if you are not careful.

For wannabe or new bloggers, Clear Blogging offers an efficient, easy-to-understand, and compelling overview of what blogging is and how you can quickly jump in and participate.  For more seasoned bloggers, it offers multiple ways to more efficiently plan, research, write, connect and promote the ideas contained in your blog.  When I started Escape from Cubicle Nation a little over a year ago, I had never even read another blog, and I set most of it up in a wildly inefficient way.  As I read Bob's multiple technical tips and tricks for blogging more efficiently and effectively, I only wished that I had this information a year ago!  It would have saved me a lot of grief.  The multiple case studies and interviews highlight what I have found my tripping all over the blogosphere:  There is much wisdom in the everyday insights of men and women around the world.  You just have to know the right places to find them.

The act of blogging changes your status from passive observer to active participant and expert witness.  While the medium is still relatively new, the potential for your personal and professional growth through writing about what you deeply care about is without limits.

Those like Bob who we deem "experts" on blogging hold that distinction because they have dove in, contributed the best of their minds to developing the medium, and actively participated in shaping conversations.

You, too, have something important to contribute and people eager to hear what you have to say.

What are you waiting for?"

I appreciate the opportunity to participate in a small way in this book, and encourage you to get it for yourself!  It feels really good to promote the work of a positive and supportive entrepreneur like Bob.

To order, go here.

For more reviews, here is what Seth Godin said and Darren Rowse said about the book.

The key to small business success: be the sharpest knife in the drawer

A few years ago, I hosted a holiday dinner at my house and my Mom helped me cook.  After rifling through my kitchen drawers, she pulled out a half a dozen dull and inferior knives, all which would pulverize a tomato, instead of creating crisp and clean slices.

"Do you have a good knife?" my Mom asked.

"Um - not really," I replied, realizing that my shoddy collection of 10 bucks-for-a-set-of-12-knives would never satisfy her culinary needs.

Thankfully, the next Christmas, she bought me a beautiful and razor-sharp cooking knife which made cutting through carrots feel like slicing through butter.  Soon I was using it for everything, and wondered how I ever lived without it.

As a small business owner, you should make your clients feel the same about working with you.

Because despite all the other things that you worry about when setting up your business, the most valuable and enduring asset you have is providing the absolute best service that solves not only the articulated needs of your customers, but also the unspoken ones. 

My insurance agent, John Kennedy, is a great example of this.  He has a small agency affiliated with Allstate that handles home and auto insurance. They are a dime a dozen in Phoenix where I live, and I could easily shop around and find comparable or even lower rates.  But John does some exceptional things that make me fiercely committed to him and his company:

• He shows genuine caring and enthusiasm for his customers.  When my husband and I go into his office, we feel like family.  He does not ask how we are as a polite formality before getting down to business, he listens attentively and is genuinely interested in hearing about our lives.
• He knows his stuff.  I have never asked a question that he didn't have a well-thought out answer for.  He has obviously been in the business for a long time (he is the second generation in his father's business) and reads up on all the latest developments to make sure he can provide accurate information to his customers.
  
• He provides valuable information to help us make decisions, not to try to sell us high-priced products. We never feel pressured to buy one product over another or to increase coverage beyond a level we are comfortable with.  He lays out the information in a matter-of-fact way, explaining the risks and trade-offs with each decision.
• He follows up promptly.  We have had a couple of complicated situations which required him to contact other employees in Allstate to resolve a problem.  He always does what he says, and comes back with a complete and timely response to our questions.

John is definitely a sharp knife in a market full of bored and impersonal insurance agents.

So how can you make sure you are a sharp knife yourself?:

1. Choose the right business.  As hard as you try, you cannot manufacture passion.  Choose a business that allows you to express your best skills, talents and interests.  This enthusiasm will permeate your brand and draw customers to you.  Too many people choose businesses to start only based on external market factors.  You want to make sure that you will enjoy your business as you are growing it, not just when you get to a certain level of financial success.
2. Be fiercely dedicated to learning.  All fields of business are rapidly growing and changing.  Learn as much as you can about your profession so that you provide the absolute best service.  Take classes.  Read books.  Surf the internet.  Connect with other professionals in your field.  Don't let yourself get tired and bored of always doing things the same way.  Your love of learning will keep you fresh and alive, and ensure that you solve new problems in new and effective ways.
3. Always ask yourself "What would really help my customer?"  In my years as a corporate consultant, I would say that at least 50% of the time, clients would bring me in with a predetermined idea of what solution I should provide to solve their problems.  But after a short conversation, it became clear that following their prescriptive path would not solve the problem, it would either do nothing or exacerbate it.  So I spent a lot of time up front defining a realistic path to success.  If they were insistent on following a path I didn't agree with, I would graciously turn down the work and offer other resources.  It is never worth it to take a big check for a project that you know is doomed from the start.  (And since it will fail spectacularly, who will get blamed?  The errant executive?  Of course not!  The incompetent consultant!)
   
4. Avoid clients that are not a match with your ideal profile.  Martha Beck humorously calls these folks "life-sucking squids," due to their tendency to wrap their needy tentacles around you and drain your life force.  You will not be of good service to someone you don't enjoy working with; it is better to pass them on to someone who can truly serve them.
5. Check out your competition.  Regularly benchmark yourself and your company with others in your field.  Find out how you stack up, and learn from the things others are doing right and wrong.  You don't have to aim to crush all your rivals, you just want to honestly assess your place in the pack of people serving similar clients.  Being around smart, effective competitors is great motivation for stepping up your game.

Any other suggestions for keeping yourself sharp?

Don't commit these mailing list mistakes

One of the best ways to begin a friendly and non-intrusive relationship with prospective customers is to build a mailing list of people who are interested in you or your business concept.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to offer a useful free report or piece of information, then follow up with a regularly published newsletter or "ezine."

Your primary goal with a newsletter is to share useful information and tips that will help your target audience get to know and trust you and learn things that will help them solve problems. 

But some people, eager to get on the mailing list bandwagon, make some of the following mistakes:

1. Don't ask permission for people to join your list, just add their names.  This is more than a case of poor etiquette, it can also land you in very hot water with the CAN-SPAM Act, resulting in everything from an $11,000 fine for each violation to shutting down your email server.  I find this most often occurs with people just starting a list who will roll their personal email list into a mailing list.  A better way is to send one message to your email list when you launch your newsletter explaining its purpose and benefits.  Provide the directions for signing up through your mailing list service.  If I get newsletters that I didn't sign up for, I immediately unsubscribe, out of principle.
2. Try to manage your list manually.  You will pull your hair out trying to keep up with subscriptions, cancellations and address changes.  There are many good mailing list services available for a reasonable price.  I use AWeber and am very happy with it.  Others have recommended Constant Contact or even an integrated shopping cart and mailing list program like 1ShoppingCart.com.  The other benefit to these paid services is that they live and die by observing the CAN-SPAM Act, so your list should be protected. 
3. Provide no meaningful information, just sales drivel.  No one wants to join a mailing list only to receive sales announcements.  If you consistently provide useful information in your main article, it is perfectly fine to include a section of your newsletter where you promote your products or services.  But use discretion so that people don't feel the hard to describe but easy to identify sensation of being "sales slimed" every time they read your newsletter.  Soon, they won't bother reading it.
4. Send more messages than you initially described in your sign-up.  I send my ezine out once a month, and as a general guideline, only send one additional message a month if there is something to announce that misses the monthly cycle.  This is for my large regular mailing list. You may follow up more frequently with people who have signed up for a particular program or class, since they may require more information.  Whatever timing and amount of messages you choose, state it right up front when people sign up so that they won't be surprised by the amount of emails they receive from you.
5. Take unsubscribes personally.  This can be a bit of a challenge, since all of us would like to think that we provide pithy, useful information that our readers are eager to find in their inbox.  But the reality is that your information may be useful to someone at a particular point in time, then become obsolete.  Or they may need to purge all of their mailing list subscriptions to get control of their inbox.  Or ... they may not like what you have to say!  And this is ok too, because your objective is to fill your list with people who genuinely are connected with you and your message.  I think it is better to have 300 ardent supporters on your list rather than 3,000 near-disgruntled ones.
   
   As Zen as you can be about the "ebb and flow of the mailing list," there will be times when people piss you off by reporting your message as spam (which is simply not true since they can ONLY sign up voluntarily by a double-opt-in subscription process if you set your list up correctly) or send an incredulous "This is useless nonsense and I have no idea why I received it" message to you. I have gotten more than a few of these, and always wonder if they either have a bitter spouse or teenager that maliciously signs them up for things they don't want, or if they got hit in the head with a wooden beam since the day a few weeks before that they voluntarily signed up for my mailing list.  The appropriate response to these messages is not a scathing reply (which may further fan the flames of their desire to get you) but rather to stand in front of your computer screen and chant the following sophomoric song lyric right before you hit delete:
   
   "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, GOODBYE"

Happy mailing!

Come celebrate entrepreneurship and social media in Arizona with me and Robert Scoble on March 1

OK, I don't know Robert Scoble yet, but he will be keynoting the Revolution in Marketing Conference at Grand Canyon University here in Phoenix, Arizona on March 1. The topic will be "How entrepreneurs can use social media responsibly and effectively."  I will be on a panel later that morning of Arizona entrepreneurs on the "how-tos" of launching  social media campaigns.

Details:

When: March 1, 2007, 7am - Noon
Where: Grand Canyon University, Ethington Theatre
Map Link: 3300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ 85017
Cost: $75 until Feb. 15, $95 at the door (if not already sold-out)
Register HERE (do it soon, given the date)

This event is one of many that are taking place nationally around EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, February 24-March 3. (Note that this is a good time to get some press coverage for entrepreneurs, so if you have been courting journalists, think of a good hook for a story.)

If you are local, or are tired of having to wear a space suit to go outside and stay alive since it is so cold where you live, please come and join us!  Phoenix weather should be totally delightful on that date and I would love to meet you in person.  Maybe both of us could elbow our way to Robert Scoble to get a cheesy picture.

Love her or hate her, what you can learn from Rachael Ray about building a brand

Here in the U.S., the media darling of the year is the 30-Minute Meal perky cooking diva Rachael Ray.  It seems that her brand and media presence jumped from a whisper (a few cooking shows and cook books) to a scream (a talk show, magazine, product line, pet advice, etc.) all in a short period of time.

I think she is kind of spunky and I admire her business growth so she doesn't bother me a lot, but I know that there are some people who feel she is the human equivalent of nails scratching on a blackboard.  Maybe there is such a thing as too perky.

Regardless of how you feel about her personally, I think we can all learn a few things about building a brand from her meteoric success:

• Find a real need in the marketplace.  So many stressed and overworked Moms and Dads long for a way to cook healthy and fast meals for their families.  Rachel saw this need when she started out as a humble manager and cook at a food equipment store in Albany, New York and started offering 30-Minute Meal cooking classes as a way to increase sales.  They became so popular that she realized she was on to something big, and started writing cookbooks.
  
• To get national media, start local.  After her cooking classes exploded, she got some local press coverage.  This caught the eye of an Albany television producer who invited her to do a weekly 30 Minute Meals segment for the local news.  As she was promoting her first book, she got booked on the Today Show, and an interview on a Public Broadcasting Station caught the interest of a Food Network executive who invited her to start the first of her four cooking shows.  Many people want big, national media immediately.  Start in your own backyard, and you may be surprised when the media heavies come calling.
  
• Be yourself.  I find it hard to believe that her smiling personality is all an act ( or is she really like Martha Stewart behind closed doors? ).  A big part of what draws people to Rachael is her unpretentiousness in the kitchen.  She doesn't pretend to be a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and makes people feel that they, too, could have fun in the kitchen while preparing a quick and healthy meal.  Her personality is her brand.
• Build a product set around a core concept.  For Rachael, it was the 30-Minute Meals that started as a class, then moved to a cookbook, then a food network show, then a series of shows, then a magazine and a national daytime talk show.  Now she is selling kids music CDs on her site which is a little confusing, but I guess it is somehow in the next generation of products.  The idea is to take a great fundamental idea and build a whole set of products and services around it.
• Align yourself with influential people who will help get you where you want to go.  I am not sure how the introduction happened, but Rachael Ray somehow connected with Oprah.  After appearing on Oprah's show a few times, she struck a deal to have Oprah's Harpo Productions produce her daytime talk show.  I have a feeling that  aligning with Oprah was a very conscious choice on Rachael's part, given the target demographic of Oprah's viewers. 
  

So while you may faint at the thought of ever using a term like "Yum-o," don't lose the branding lessons of the most exposed cooking sensation of the year.

Personally, I am fascinated to know if Rachael Ray is really happy.  Not just with her financial success, but with her life.  What do you think?

Escape from Cubicle Nation takes to the airwaves

After some serious thought and gentle cajoling from my buddy Robert from iscatterlings, I have decided to start the Escape from Cubicle Nation Radio Show on VoiceAmerica.  I first read about VoiceAmerica from my buddies Denise and Patsi of The Blog Squad, who recently started their show Blogging & Beyond.

My show launches on March 9, and it runs every Friday for 13 weeks.  This gets me excited for a number of reasons:

• I have really enjoyed the interviews I have done on recent podcasts and wanted to have the opportunity for listeners to ask questions directly to my guest experts
• I am always interested in getting the "free yourself from the bonds of corporate drudgery" message out to as wide an audience as possible, and an internet radio show seems like another neat extension of blogging and podcasting (ironically, Robert told me that when he was living in a remote area of Namibia, he used to listen to VoiceAmerica shows as a way to stay connected to the world of business and marketing in the U.S. and Europe)
• Now I have another excuse to talk with interesting people
• The VoiceAmerica headquarters happens to be here in Phoenix, so I get to go into the studio and record live, complete with studio microphones, cool headsets and production assistants that make strange arm motions to signal breaks and who do magic on the mixing board (maybe I have seen too many episodes of Frasier).

Here is the breakdown of the first few shows which will air live on Fridays at 1pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5):

March 9:  How has corporate life gotten so unbearable?
Guest:  Dr. Bob Sutton, Stanford University, author of The No Asshole Rule:  Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
While there have always been challenges working in a corporate environment, in the last decade it has become vastly more unstable and uncomfortable. Frequent mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, off-shoring, shrinking economies and powerhouse talent from countries such as China and India have left many corporate employees stressed, frustrated, cynical, overworked and afraid for their jobs.  Learn why you need to radically redefine your relationship with work if you need to stay in a corporate job for awhile until you can start your business.

March 16:  Where to begin:  The key starting points to launch your new business
Guest:  Rich Sloan, Co-founder, Startup Nation .
The process of starting a new business can seem totally overwhelming to a new entrepreneur.  Luckily, there are organized, clear steps to follow that will ensure your business is started the right way, with the biggest chance of success.  Rich will share his own fascinating and adventure-filled entrepreneurial story, as well as share what has worked to launch thousands of businesses at the Startup Nation community.

March 23:  Identify your true passions so you start a business you love.
Guest:  Dr. Srikumar Rao, Columbia and London Business Schools, author of Are You Ready to Succeed?  Unconventional Strategies to Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life.
One of the common symptoms of being in a corporate environment for a long time is disconnecting from your emotional and intuitive self.  Before choosing which business to start, you must identify your inherent interests, talents and passions.  Dr. Rao has very unique and useful tools for getting to the heart of finding your purpose.

March 30:  Profile of a purpose-filled business. 
Guest:  Steven A. Darden, Owner, Success and Directions Enterprises, Navajo Cultural Educator and Leader.
A real example of a successful entrepreneur who blends creative talent, flexibility, spirituality and family into his multi-faceted home-based business.  This is a show for those of you who identify as a "Renaissance Soul," as Steve combines award-winning feather and bead work, leadership consulting, traditional Native American healing and real estate investing in his business model.

I have thirteen episodes in all, so I would love to ask your input and help in the following areas:

• Suggestions for good topics
• Suggestions for good guests (Don't be shy to pitch yourself if you have successfully made the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship, or if you are an expert in a topic that you think my listeners would get value from)
• Suggestions for sponsors.  Yes, this is going to be a "real" show, complete with sugar daddies and mamas!  Is there a company that you think would be a great fit for my target audience?
• Call in to ask questions on the shows!  Can you imagine how embarrassing it will be if I launch my first show and in the Q&A section, no one calls in?

I am really excited about this and hope you are too.  Like all internet radio, the shows will be available for download if you are unable to listen at the appointed time.

If you want to leave your thoughts in the comments, that would be ideal so that others can view and build on your ideas.  But if you feel more comfortable sending an email, please do!  pcs (at) ganas (dot) com.

Thank you Robert so much for your kind and supportive encouragement.  I would not have done it without you!

---

And I might as well break a little more startup news ... a new baby is in the works in the Slim household!  Yep, I am pregnant with baby #2.  We are very excited and can't wait to  become parents again.  I will share a few thoughts related to this:

• I promise not to turn this blog into "Pam's baby journal."
• That said,this is an official disclaimer that I may have a moment where I write unnecessarily snarky posts.  In the case someone gets offended, I will have my lawyer read the following statement:  "Pam was not in her right mind -- it was the hormones talking." (Anyone who has ever been pregnant or lived with someone who is will understand this.)
• My email response time has been lagging since I am unable to do my customary late-night inbox cleanses since I am so dang tired!  I must get more efficient with email (all you GTD aficionados must have tips for this!)  To those who have sent kind notes or questions lately, my apologies for not getting back to you yet.  I will soon!
• Finally, for those that have been gently goading me about my (stalled) book project, here is the good news:  now I have a REAL deadline!  I hope to make real progress, if not finish it before the baby comes.

Thanks everyone for bearing with a long post!

How not to be a cultural knucklehead in a global business world

These days, even the smallest-scale entrepreneur working out of her home office in Boise, Idaho can have a circle of clients and partners from around the world.  She may have an Australian graphic designer create her logo.  She may  manufacture her product line in China.  She may hire technical developers and e-commerce experts from India.  She may have customers from Bolivia and Belarus.  But if interacting with global partners is all new to her, she may be missing some important communication skills.

Ten years ago, while working at a financial services firm, I cracked up when a smart and seasoned investment adviser told an assembled group of employees:  "There is a lot of talk these days that the world is getting more and more global.  I am here to ask you:  when has the world not been global?"

As a North American who has spent significant time living in different parts of the globe and working with large, multi-national corporations, I would like to offer some helpful tips for effective communication.  Although I have certainly met many well-traveled and sensitive fellow Americans, I have also seen my share of completely clueless lunkheads who embodied the term "Ugly American."  Most of these were drunken college students on Spring break in Mexico.  But a few were seasoned executives who managed large, global organizations and who should know better.

If global business etiquette is really new to you, here are a few tips for effective communication:

In presentations and meetings:

1. Don't use baseball analogies when talking to a global audience.  People around the world certainly know what baseball is.  But it is not nearly as prevalent as football (aka "soccer") in most countries of the world.  So if you are going to use a sports analogy, use one that most of your audience can relate to.  I have felt very annoyed when hearing an  executive address a global audience and use metaphors like "hitting it out of the park," or "throwing a curve ball."  The rub is not that the global audience will not understand, but that the executive did not take the time to think of a metaphor that is universally applicable.
2. Stay away from "country insider" metaphors and analogies.  My favorite is when a presenter talks about a business idea and says something like "but that is just Motherhood and apple pie."  If you are American, you will nod your head in agreement since you know that this means that the concept is wholesome and prevalent.  But if you are not American, you may scratch your head and wonder how mothers and pies relate to business.
   
3. Speak clearly and enunciate.  You don't have to slow down until you sound like a kindergarten teacher, just make sure you enunciate your words.  This will benefit not only your audience members who speak English as a second language, but everyone else as well. A tip:  if you smile while you talk, your words will come out clearer. 
4. Accompany your talk with written notes.  I have experienced the agony and ecstasy of operating in another language.  The first time I walked into my all-French language Swiss classroom as a high school exchange student , I felt like my brain was turned on  hyper-speed.  I tried to grasp philosophy, chemistry, history and calculus in French, and my head almost exploded.  Even a person very fluent in English as a second language will have to work extra hard to make sure he understands what you are saying in a presentation.  So provide written notes as backup which will allow your non-native speakers to fully grasp the materials, and review them after the meeting.
5. Avoid potentially offensive metaphors.  I once attended a meeting which included Native American participants.   Another non-Native participant said to illustrate his point: "We have too many Indians and not enough chiefs."  His face did turn three shades of red once he realized that it was offensive to those in attendance.  It is best to banish these kinds of metaphors from your vocabulary, as frankly they are unbecoming in any context.
   
6. Plan for a level of interaction appropriate for the culture of your audience.  The first time I taught a class in Europe, I felt like I was a comedian playing a really hostile comedy club.  I tend to be a very interactive presenter, and frequently ask the participants questions.  Each question dropped like a lead weight in the room, and I was met by cool stares.  At the break, I checked in with a colleague, and was told that for this group in Amsterdam (with participants from England, France, Germany, Holland and Switzerland), large group presentations were often more formal, and people would often not speak up until they got in smaller groups.  They looked to the instructor to be well-prepared and knowledgeable, not to act as a talk show host.
7. Ask people what they prefer to be called before you introduce them.  Americans have the wonderful quality of making friends quickly and using informal terms with each other.  But you might want to ask Prince Charles how he prefers to be referred to, before introducing him as "My Main Man Chuck."
8. Include social events that meet the needs of all global participants.  A favorite pastime  after many  American and European business meetings is to go drinking.  Some of your participants may not drink alcohol for personal or religious reasons.  Some will feel fine going to a bar and drinking a non-alcoholic beverage, while others may feel very uncomfortable.  So try to schedule a mixture of activities that will meet the needs of all participants.

In electronic communication:

• Include your time zone in your email signature in the form of "GMT +/-"  Here in the U.S., we are used to using time zones such as Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern.  But outside the U.S., not everyone is as familiar with which states fall in which time zone. 
  A handy global measure is to use the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as a standard.  In 1884, an international conference agreed to adopt the Meridian of Greenwich, England as the starting point for reckoning longitude and to divide the world into 24 time zones of 15 degree longitude each. (Amazing how the center of the earth happened to fall in Europe, huh?  The after-effects of colonialism is another topic for another day.) So if you live in Arizona like I do, my time zone is GMT-7.  If you live in Tokyo, your time zone is GMT+9.  This can make scheduling global meetings much easier.  (I have a handy "World Time Zone" map to decipher GMT times from Streetwise Maps.)
• Include a salutation.  Email culture in general tends to be shorter and less formal than traditional written communication.  But many cultures have a more formal written protocol than in typical email style.  So the first time you approach a new business partner in Japan, make sure you don't say "Hey Jim -- read that you are doing interesting things with green technology.  Call me and let's discuss. -Joe"  A more appropriate greeting might be "Dear Mr. Tanaka," or even better, "Dear Tanaka-San."

Lastly, here are just a few common global stereotypes I have run across:

1. Canadians are basically American, with warmer coats.  Don't believe it for a minute.  Although it may be hard to tell the genetic difference between a fresh-faced American and Canadian, the cultural differences are many.  They have a different form of government.  They have a very different foreign policy.  They have a very distinct culture.  They have a different history ( I made the mistake of calling Canada Day "Canadian Independence Day" in a blog post.  Glenda, my saucy Canadian friend quickly shot me a snide email:  "Canadian Independence Day?  Independence from what?")
2. Brazilians speak Spanish.  They speak Portuguese, as they were colonized by the Portuguese, not the Spaniards.
3. To ensure someone with a strong accent understands you, speak louder.  Comprehension will happen by using clear, jargon-free language, not by raising your voice and shouting. And just because they have a strong accent does not mean they don't comprenhend you perfectly well.
   

I have always bristled at the term "political correctness," as applying these global etiquette principles is neither about being political nor being correct.  It is about showing respect and consideration to people that you interact with on a daily basis.   By doing so, I guarantee that you will expand your world view, and feel more connected and "related" to your global partners.

I would love to hear your tips for effectively communicating across cultures!

No more boring press releases: Redefining the relationship of PR, traditional media and bloggers

It is kind of amazing how convergence happens.

Last night, I finally got to attend the Phoenix chapter meeting of the Social Media Club. The room was packed, and it felt so good to get out from behind my computer screen, and see some real live human beings that I had only met before through email, like the spunky Francine Hardaway, Dave Barnhart,