August 8, 2008
09:00 pm | 1 recommendation | Be the first to comment
Business lessons in adversity. Yesterday was a day that should have driven me up the wall. I watched every photo I had taken from the fall of 2005 through the fall of 2007 permanently disappear in a computer failure, while I was trying to copy them to an external drive. A squabble on a discussion list turned ugly in a way that could have serious repercussions for the future of my business. I left yet another voicemail with the editor at a big NY publishing house who should have had a revised contract on my desk in June and has not been answering phone calls or e-mails. Oh yes, and I not only got to walk my dog in the pouring rain (it was only raining at the hiking trail, not at my house half a mile away) and get attacked by mosquitoes, but actually got stung by a bee--in my own kitchen--when I returned.
And yet, somehow, I found the Zen of it all, and stayed remarkably calm while my life appeared to be falling apart. A few years ago, I don't think I could have handled that so smoothly. The loss of the photos alone (including our whole trip to Mexico) would have made me insane.
I thought about the time a few years ago when i was driving a rental car in San Francisco, didn't have the mirror adjusted properly, and accidentally cut off another driver. With true California class, he leaned out his window and called out, "It's all good!" I apologized and explained that because it was an unfamiliar car, I had misaligned the mirror, and he was cool with it.
But I've often reflected on that. And on the way my friend and mentor Bob Burg is able to deflect conflict, defuse angry people, and accomplish his agenda. He has a newsletter and book called Winning Without Intimidation. I finally got to meet Bob last week when he came to this area for a speech; we've been friends online for maybe eight years, and I include a section on him in my award-winning sixth book, <a href="http://www.principledprofit.com">Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First</a>.
Applying it to the day I had yesterday, I won't try to analyze how I stayed so calm. But I <em>will</em> try to draw some business lessons from it.
First of all, back up your files offsite. Duh! I'll be exploring the best places to do this.
Second, showing anger in public is <em>always</em> counterproductive, no matter how "right" you think you are. I have to go re-read that chapter I wrote about Bob Burg. I played a part in turning that list discussion ugly, and I regret it. And I'll have to deal with the consequences. I will of course try to do better next time.
And third, be patient because you don't now what the world has in store for you. If I'm feeling frustrated because the editor isn't returning my call, or because the <a href="http://www.business-ethics-pledge.org">Business Ethics Pledge</a> is not getting signatures as quickly as I'd like, or because the six-legged critters are apparently out to get me, I just have to remember the guy in California. "It's all good," even if I don't know exactly how, yet.
July 7, 2008
08:29 am | 0 recommendations | 1 comment
I am interested in knowing what people think about consumer research who are part of an innovation and design communities. Please tell me a little about what you find that has worked for you or has not worked for you in building relationships with consumer research companies. Do you currently use research? Why or why not?
I ask these things as the owner of a consumer research firm that wants to reach out to more creatives and inovators. This is not your parents research company if you know what I mean.
Thanks!
02:15 am | 1 recommendation | Be the first to comment
Today's show, The 10 Secrets of Highly Productive People, features Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets, a Boise-based provider of online timeclocks used by employees and consultants. On his blog, he writes about how he set out to interview CEO’s and find the Top 10 Productivity Tools they use to manage their time. What he learned: There are 10 rules that the 75 successful people he surveyed all followed.
WorkFast.TV, a live Internet-distributed video show focused on how Internet technologies are changing the way we work, will air live on FastCompany.TV today. Tech bloggers Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will co-host the show that features interviews with people who are using new tools and work styles to become more productive.
As a live show, WorkFast encourages user-interaction and feedback through comments, chat, video response, and Skype call-ins. Feedback and questions will even be taken through FriendFeed and Twiter. In other words, the viewer gets to actively participate in the conversation and ask questions along with the hosts. Kyte, the video platform that makes streaming the show live possible, features chat, where users get to type in comments and responses in real time.
This weeks' show won't have a chat room during the show, but will be interactive after the show. This will allow the hosts to focus their attention completely on the guest during the interview.
Filmed in the Revision 3 studios, WorkFast is live today at 10 a.m. [Pacific], 1 p.m. [Eastern.] The program is sponsored by SAP. Tune in here.
09:21 am | 2 recommendations | Be the first to comment
This week WorkFast.TV comes a day early to accommodate July 4, Independence Day. The guest today, Timothy Ferriss, is a great advocate of getting out of the office and getting on with life. To watch the show live and join the interactive chat room go here.
Timothy Ferriss, author of the #1 NY Times bestseller, The 4-Hour Workweek comes to WorkFast to explain how you can automate and outsource the process of becoming prosperous and then spend the rest of your time enjoying the things you love to do in life. Timothy speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a popular guest lecturer at Princeton University since 2003, where he presents entrepreneurship as a tool for ideal lifestyle design and world change.
WorkFast.TV, a live Internet-distributed video show focused on how Internet technologies are changing the way we work, will air live on FastCompany.TV today. Tech bloggers Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will co-host the show that features interviews with people who are using new tools and work styles to become more productive.
As a live show, WorkFast encourages user-interaction and feedback through comments, chat, video response, and Skype call-ins. Feedback and questions will even be taken through FriendFeed and Twiter. In other words, the viewer gets to actively participate in the conversation and ask questions along with the hosts. Kyte, the video platform that makes streaming the show live possible, features chat, where users get to type in comments and responses in real time.
Filmed in the Revision 3 studios, WorkFast is live today at 10 a.m. [Pacific], 1 p.m. [Eastern.] The program is sponsored by SAP.
June 6, 2008
12:04 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
Today on WorkFast.TV: Best Buy's Michele Azar (VP Emerging Customer Channels) and Gary Koelling - co-founder of the 22,000-employee behind-firewall social network BlueShirt Nation talk about how employees are helping each other as well as customers to solve problems more efficiently on the front line.
WorkFast.TV, a live Internet-distributed video show focused on how Internet technologies are changing the way we work, will air live on FastCompany.TV today. Tech bloggers Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will co-host the show that features interviews with people who are using new tools and work styles to become more productive.
As a live show, WorkFast encourages user-interaction and feedback through comments, chat, video response, and Skype call-ins. Feedback and questions will even be taken through FriendFeed and Twiter. In other words, the viewer gets to actively participate in the conversation and ask questions along with the hosts. Kyte, the video platform that makes streaming the show live possible, features chat, where users get to type in comments and responses in real time.
Filmed in the Revision 3 studios, WorkFast is live today at 10 a.m. [Pacific], 1 p.m. [Eastern.] The program is sponsored by SAP.
Tune in live for the interview, and our interactive chat room here.
12:36 am | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
T-Mobile's @Home service promises to do what Vonage did before it, offer families choices for their landline service. The mobile phone company also plans to offer this choice at an exceedingly low cost -- only $10 per month.
If you own T-Mobile's version of the Blackberry Curve (or any other HotSpot enabled phone) then you may have already seen this concept in action with T-Mobile HotSpot @Home over WiFi, where users can make unlimited WiFi calls. Now, with this new service, customers will be offered unlimited nationwide calling from their home phone starting July 2.
But of course, nothing is as easy as it sounds. It's not that there's a catch, but there are a few things to consider.
For one, you must already be a T-Mobile customer. If you are, then you can add on the @Home service to your T-Mobile account. But only qualifying wireless plan customers (potentially any $39.99 plan would qualify) can get the service. Also, the @Home user, like the Vonage user, must already have a broadband Internet connection. The service uses a wireless router, that costs $49.99 from T-Mobile with a two-year service agreement.
On the easy side of things, customers get to keep their existing numbers, and there's no need to use a special VOIP phone. A traditional phone will do.
Users will receive traditional landline features such as call waiting, caller ID, three-way conferencing, voicemail, call forwarding, but they will also get wireless service addons like CallerTunes (ringback tones).
Considering the battle between the ISPs and the phone companies with these bundled services nowadays, it's somewhat refreshing to see a new model enter into the fray. Many phone companies already bundle home services with mobile services, but this is the first to offer it the other way around. It'll be interesting to watch how other mobile companies react -- especially to the price. Even with the router cost and the two-year lock in, the odds are in T-Mobile's favor. The biggest question that remains is whether the service is actually any good. Give me a couple of weeks, and I'll have an answer for you.
12:15 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
Technology bloggers Robert Scoble and Shel Israel interview Ismael Ghalimi, founder-producer of the Office 2.0 conference, founder-CEO of Intalio, co-founder of Mondolabs the experimental Office 2.0 startup incubator, on WorkFast.TV over at FastCompany.TV today. He will talk about the state of office productivity and show a couple of his favorite software tools.
WorkFast.TV, a live Internet-distributed video show focused on how Internet technologies are changing the way we work, will air live on FastCompany.TV today. Tech bloggers Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will co-host the show that features interviews with people who are using new tools and work styles to become more productive.
As a live show, WorkFast encourages user-interaction and feedback through comments, chat, video response, and Skype call-ins. Feedback and questions will even be taken through FriendFeed and Twiter. In other words, the viewer gets to actively participate in the conversation and ask questions along with the hosts. Kyte, the video platform that makes streaming the show live possible, features chat, where users get to type in comments and responses in real time. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE CHAT
Filmed in the Revision 3 studios, WorkFast is live today at 10 a.m. [Pacific], 1 p.m. [Eastern.] The program is sponsored by SAP.
10:14 am | 1 recommendation | 1 comment
WorkFast.TV, a live Internet-distributed video show focused on how Internet technologies are changing the way we work, will air live on FastCompany.TV today. Tech bloggers Robert Scoble and Shel Israel will co-host the show that features interviews with people who are using new tools and work styles to become more productive.
WorkFast will examine real-world case studies showing how blogs, social networks, Twitter, Facebook, wikis and other collaborative tools have been used to reduce costs and simultaneously increase productivity. It will feature hands-on examples of the increasingly hyper-productive work/lifestyle.
The show's first guest, Mark Bernstein,, CEO of PARC (formerly Xerox PARC), will offer the historic overview of how we got to desktop productivity today. PARC is the lab where Microsoft Word has its roots, as well as the ethernet, Object Oriented programming, laser printers, and Adobe's page description language that enables printing.
As a live show, WorkFast encourages user-interaction and feedback through comments, chat, video response, and Skype call-ins. Feedback and questions will even be taken through FriendFeed and Twiter. In other words, the viewer gets to actively participate in the conversation and ask questions along with the hosts. Kyte, the video platform that makes streaming the show live possible, features chat, where users get to type in comments and responses in real time.
Filmed in the Revision 3 studios, WorkFast will debut today, live at 10 a.m. [Pacific], 1 p.m. [Eastern.] The program is sponsored by SAP.
May 5, 2008
09:43 am | 2 recommendations | 1 comment
Is Print Dead? How Digital Media is Changing the Face of Publishing
Mobile phone. Audiobook. Ereader. Social Media. Widget. What do these all have in common? Each of these forms of digital media, and the rate of consumer adoption of them, are rapidly changing the way publishers do business. Print isn't yet dead, but it's definitely in need of a transplant. This presentation explores successful convergence strategies for print media -- the stuff that can get it back on track -- while also glancing into the future of what publishing could ultimately become.
Below, I'm sharing the slideshow from a talk I gave on the future of print at WebVisions in Portland.
(The original inspiration for this talk came from a piece I'd written for New York Press in July 2006 -- "The Changing Face of Publishing.")
