Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 280

The New Resume

What are you able to disclose on an eight-and-a-half sheet of white paper?

I can't imagine what it is like to apply for a job. I've chosen a very different professional life for myself. A lot of it was based in a world of vain ideologies (I wanted to wears jeans everyday or make my first million by the time I was nineteen or have a life where others wouldn't be able to tell me what to do). Those didn't work out in the allotted timeframe, but having simple dreams and goals is what keeps us going - day in and day out. In a quest to wear jeans and make my millions (and, for the record, as someone who is now a lot older and wiser than the punk who made those goals back in the day, those weren't the best of goals to have), I've always had to succumb to things like looking for work in a newspaper, applying to jobs online and trolling the Internet job boards for something that matched my skills. None of that was easy and, in speaking to some peers, it's still one of the most challenging things to do.

Making the case for social media.

It's sometimes hard to believe that more people aren't blogging or podcasting. It's sometimes hard to believe that people still feel that Twitter is silly or that Instagram is a joke or that LinkedIn is just a space where headhunters and employers go to poach new talent. Take a step back and review this blog, my podcast, the books that I have written (Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete), the Twist Image website, my LinkedIn profile, my Twitter feed, my Facebook page and more. Who is Mitch Joel? What do you know about me? How relevant is my education at this point? How relevant is the work that I was doing prior to Twist Image? What kind of a resume can capture this information?

It's not about me. It's about you.

There is an ancient adage that goes like this: "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time to plant a tree is today." We live in miraculous times. Yes, times are tough (and getting tougher), but it's still an amazing time to be alive. We've now seen multiple instances when individuals with a connected computer have turned an idea into a billion dollar business. We've no seen multiple instances of individuals using these connected digital channels to tell their story and, in doing so, build a micro empire (or if you're the people who created TechCrunch, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Mashable or others, those be full-fledged media empires). Why are we still dinking around with traditional resumes?

Plant your tree.

Figure it out. In text, images, audio and video, you can now share who you are (who you really, really are) with the world on a real-time basis. Instead of a resume, why not be able to say, "this is my resume!" with a list of links that demonstrate how you think, how you collaborate, how you create, how you love, how you connect and how you add value? What could be more impressive that this? Resumes have transformed from these static white pages (that, as my dear friend, Jeffrey Gitomer, likes to say fit perfectly into a paper shredder) into three dimensional, real-time personas that live, breathe, share and connect. Nothing will impress more than an individual who has taken the time to craft and share their perspectives about either the industry that they serve or what inspires them (bonus points when the two are combined and interwoven).

Push that button.

Having a completed LinkedIn profile is par for the course. Sharing the occasional link on Twitter is something anybody can do. How about becoming an original? I'm not perfect. I'm working on it. You can tell. I make mistakes, I sometimes blog when I'm not in the best mood, and I often don't follow what others would consider to be the best practices... but who cares? Publicly, my main goal is to add value to your life. To help you think about the work that you're doing and (hopefully) to help you expand those boundaries. Privately, my main goal is to create a wealth of information and thinking that makes me indispensable to the industry, our clients and my peers. Like I said, it's not perfect and I'm not always thrilled with the results, but I keep pushing on in the hopes that something resonates, clicks, pushes and provokes.

It's a pleasure.

When people ask me for help in this arena (help with ideation, choosing a platform, personal brand positioning etc...), it's usually surprising to them that I find all of this stuff a complete and total pleasure. I do. Most people see blogging, podcasting, tweeting or whatever as a task. As something on the to-do list. Something that must be done because they don't know what success might look like without it. Don't make this same mistake. Fine the type of publishing that gives you pleasure. Make it a part of your daily ritual. Have fun with it. The quirkier, the better. Ultimately, what you'll uncover is something bigger than a resume. You'll uncover who you truly are, and you'll be amazed by how many people want to connect, share and be a part of everything that makes you such an interesting person. That's something no resume can do.

But it starts with you. So... start.

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Please Track Us

Every brand you like online ( Amazon , Facebook , Google and more) are monitoring your every move.

Are you creeped out? They're monitoring you for many reasons. Some are doing it to better understand if what they're creating works, in terms of how you view, click, touch, move and share through a digital experience. Others are tracking you to better understand how one piece of content leads to another. This way, they can test and learn what types of things you may be more inclined to look at. Some are tracking you in order to put more relevant ads in front of your face. So, if you were looking at a pair of shoes on Zappos and find yourself on some other website later in the day, you may find a Zappos ad with the exact brand of shoes in it that you were looking at earlier, with a call to action (like a discount code or free shipping). This is called retargeting, and it's a contentious component of online advertising, because of how your information is being shared beyond the confines of one specific site (with many potential third-parties) and because it has become an increasingly effective way to advertise.

All marketers are liars.

There is an inherent and well-deserved truth to the title of Seth Godin's 2005 seminal book, All Marketers Are Liars. It's no surprise that the marketing profession has a bad reputation. You could even call it ironic that the marketing industry is in such dire need of a better marketing campaign (and in even worse need of a complete rebrand). Editorials, like the one published in The New York Times' Sunday Review this past weekend (see: Don't Track Us), are not helping either. Privacy advocates and policy makers are naturally reacting to the public outcry that online tracking of consumers has gone from something many didn't want to openly admit to doing, to a realm where marketers who are engaged in these types of activities may not even be aware just how much of this consumer data is floating around out there, who has it, what they're doing with it and more.

What's best for the consumer?

It's clear that this entire component of the marketing industry needs a thorough review. It's clear that consumers, brands and agencies need to have a much more transparent approach to what is being collected, how it is being used, how it is being shared and more. Ultimately, consumers should have some say in what they're comfortable sharing, and what they would much prefer to have kept as private or unavailable to these websites, ad networks and third-parties. But there is a much bigger elephant in the room that needs to be drawn out, approached, copped to and discussed: this type of tracking works and consumers are loving it (because the results prove it: Study: What Actual Marketers Feel About Retargeting, FBX & More).

Pitchforks, tar and feathers.

Before you start lighting up those pitchforks and come after us marketers with a mix of mass hysteria and moral panic, take a look at your own online behavior and ask yourself, which scenario you prefer? Go to Amazon and start shopping (presuming you have been there before), and ask yourself, "what is the experience like?" Now, go back to Amazon, sign out, clear your web browser's cache and go back to Amazon, without logging in, and ask yourself, "what is the experience like?" The answer is always the same: when Amazon doesn't know who you are or have your viewing/shopping history, the experience is pretty gruesome. There's simply not much to see because you can see everything. When Zappos is better able to show you inventory because they know you're a female, what your shoe size is, and can cater the entire experience to your past shopping habits, we marvel at the ingenuity. The lesson is clear: relevancy and a more personal experience makes for a happier consumer and a better brand experience. The same is true about ads. Consumers will tell you that they hate advertising, but if they have to see ads, they prefer that they be relevant, personal and contextual.

The enigma, wrapped in bacon wrapped in a paradigm.

What consumers (and brands) really need is a win-win scenario. Digging deeper into that New York Times editorial piece, it becomes abundantly clear that we're not there yet: "For the last two years, a group of Internet and advertising businesses and experts has been working on this problem. It is hoping to create a voluntary standard that would be adopted by companies that make Web browsers, the ad networks and Web sites. But advocates for greater privacy and groups representing advertising and marketing companies remain far apart on several important issues, like what constitutes tracking." Perhaps we need to better define what is privacy and what is personalization? Instead of privacy advocates on the case, perhaps we need a healthy dose of personalization advocates. All of the "do not track" initiatives seem more like platforms to complain about advertising, than ones that help consumers understand what a world without personalization looks like. These groups - and other media pundits - are blurring the lines between what we're anonymously doing online versus who we are. What we're doing is the personalization part of the equation,  and who we are is the personal stuff. If we can better help consumers understand that better brand experiences happen when these channels understand what you're doing, but not who you are, by collecting usage and not personal information, we may be able to achieve a result that truly is mutually beneficial.

The case for tracking.

Policy makers stepping in and unilaterally making the case that all tracking is a form of capturing personal information has the same whiff as all consumers thinking that their personal information is being shared when it may only be anonymous usage. This idea that "one size fits all" for tracking is silly in a world of social media, e-commerce, websites, smartphones and tablets. It's not good if the current hyperbole over tracking wins, and it's definitely not healthy if it entirely dies on the vine as well. Consumers need to better educate themselves and have the options to make intelligent decisions instead of a generalized position that will, ultimately, make the consumer experience, bland, impersonal, and so generic that their frustration over being tracked will be trumped by platforms, channels and brands that are giving them nothing personal or of value other than generic ads and products/services that they don't care about/need. We need to start asking the tough questions: what information is personal versus what information is creating a better personalized experience? What is a better experience: ads, products or services that are based on my usage and preferences or non-targeted ads and no ability for a brand experience to know me?

What do you think consumers would truly prefer? A world of no tracking or a world of personalization and context?

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for The Huffington Post . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here:

Huffington Post - Baby, You Can Track My Online Activity .

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You Should Work For Free. You Should Not Work For Free.

It is the constant debate of the marketing industry: should you do spec work?

There is a phase in the acquisition of a new client that usually requires a marketing agency to spend a lot of time pitching. This pitch work often consists of both strategic and creative spec work (for free - in the hopes that you win the big account). This work is masked as an exercise to see how well the agency understands the brand's positioning and how well they can execute on work specific to the client. It's a game that all agencies take play in, and it's one that we all, constantly, complain about. There are a myriad of reasons (the work isn't truly indicative of the experience that you get when a brand collaborates with an agency. That the work isn't always being done by the actual team that the brand will ultimately work with. The fact that none of this work is ever used for an actual campaign. And the list goes on and on). Brands claim that this spec work gives them a much better perspective on what they can expect from the agency, but many would argue that there is nothing truly gained that couldn't  be done through deep interviews with current and past clients and reviews of the agency's portfolio through case studies.

The debate rages on.

It's not just agencies that deal in the business of working for free. In the past little while, there were two divergent pieces published on the notion of working for free. The New York Times put out the article, Unpaid Interns: Silent No More, on July 20th, 2013, while Fast Company published, How To Write A Follow-Up Email That Will Land You The Job. It's a sticky and contentious topic, to be sure. The New York Times piece: "What interns are demanding is hardly a mystery: respect for their work. In short, it's time to start envisioning and putting into practice a healthy, effective internship culture. For better or worse, pay is the fundamental currency of respect in every modern economy. Unless it's a bona fide training or volunteer position, an internship should be paid, open to all and transparently advertised -- and should never result in the displacement of other employees." From the Fast Company piece: "The psychology underlying this practice of unstoppability: By showing what you're capable of and why the organization needs it in their life, you reduce the cognitive load of whether-or-nots for the hiring manager. In other words, we can make ourselves obvious hires." Two very different scenarios. In one scenario, the individuals have accepted to be interns. In the other scenario, the individual is applying for a job. Still, do you think the individual applying for the job was then paid for her work, or was the "pay" the fact that she made herself the obvious hire?

Defining economics.

I often joke to my peers that since I started writing for free (on this blog and in other places that seemed good for me to bulk up my resume and visibility), that it has afforded me more paid writing opportunities that I ever encountered when I was a full-time freelance journalist many moons ago. The real joke comes in that I no longer even consider myself much of a journalist at all. What I do know is this: over the decades I have done a ton of free work. I've worked for others, consulted individuals, offered to be an intern, been writing this unpaid blog for close to a decade, and more in the hopes of not being paid or eventually getting full-time employment from these companies, but as a way to increase my experience and make me more valuable in the marketplace. Abuse of an intern (paid or otherwise) or any individual doesn't add any true value to a company. Furthermore, in many of these instances, I think the abuse is a two-way street. If there is an agreement in place that the person helping out will not be paid and then accept this agreement, it should stand. Most companies are not going to meet the federal law's requirement that "internships at profit-making companies are to be unpaid, they must foster an educational environment. (The rules are different for nonprofit and governmental agencies)," simply because it is increasingly difficult to define what an educational environment is. Personally, my best "job training" was happening not by doing anything, but by simply being a fly-on-the-wall and observing those who were being paid in action. I've also had instances when I was doing the physical work and wondering why an unpaid individual would do this. Those moments were often more illuminating to me than the observing ones. I was truly learning more that I ever could from some HR-guided presentation on what the company does in a classroom setting.

Bad bosses.

I was once fired. I didn't like it. But, to this day, it was the most powerful business lesson that I have ever learned. It forced me to do a lot of self-reflection and it taught me about what I truly wanted (and didn't want) in my life. There is no doubt that abuse of this system exists. There is also no doubt that the smartest individuals take these opportunities to work for free and convert it into something worth so much more than the minimum wage. We need rules to protect those that try to abuse the system in as much as we need rules to protect the individuals who don't realize that they're being taken advantage of. Beyond that, sometimes the best experiences are not the ones that you're immediately paid for, but the ones that pay off - in dividends - for the years that follow. Work is sometimes not about the money that you make for a specific task, but much more about:

Learning a new skill.

Networking with interesting people.

The dynamics of teamwork.

Fighting towards a common goal.

Understanding how an industry operates.

Expanding your horizons.

Forcing you to think through a problem in a way that you never had.

Teaching you what you don't want out of life.

...and so much more.

I don't believe in working for free, but I sometimes do.

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From Advertising To Youtility

Episode #367 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Welcome to episode #367 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. Really thrilled to have my friend, Jay Baer, back on the podcast. He recently published another business book, Youtilty, and true to Baer standards it is one hundred percent "hype free." Proof in the pudding? The book is currently riding its third week on the New York Time's bestseller list. More pudding? Youtility isn't just a smart book, it's a fun read. Baer holds no punches in his writing. If you have yet to fall in love with his blog, Convince And Convert, or his first book, The Now Revolution (which he co-wrote with Amber Naslund) or his podcast, Social Pros, you don't know what you're missing. He is a frequent guest on this podcast and I am honored to have him back to discuss a topic that is both near and dear to my heart as well (a full chapter and more on utility-driven marketing is featured in my latest business book, CTRL ALT Delete). Enjoy the conversation... 

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #367.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #161

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

Netflix's "Streamageddon": Why Do Streaming Video Services Still Suck? - Flavorwire . "Netflix delivers movies in two ways. First,  or by DVD; and second, by streaming. But the differences don't stop there--one is a long-tail play that delights film buffs, while the other is a numbers game and a mathematical popularity contest. As this Flavorwire piece explains, balancing commercial commitments with diversity isn't easy. There's a good lesson here for anyone in publishing." (Alistair for Hugh).

This DJ Shadow mix was "too future" for Miami - Consequence Of Sound . "DJ Shadow is a giant of progressive mixing and mashups. He's always pushing the envelope, and sometimes, that rips through the edges of crowd-pleasing mass-market tastes. So when he was prematurely ushered from the decks by promoters who found his set too futuristic, he put it online. Pundits are divided: is the mark of a great DJ someone who knows how to please a crowd, or someone who can school them in what's new? You decide." (Alistair for Mitch).

Settled - xkcd . "I've heard Alistair say, on a couple of occasions: 'Who knew that the killer app for cameras was an internet connection?' Along those lines, Randall Munroe , the mind behind the comic xkcd makes an observation about cameras, phones, and UFOs." (Hugh for Alistair).

Woman's work - Columbia Journalism Review . "An important essay about journalism, and Syria. A heartfelt essay, with a most astounding (and depressing) factoid: risking your life to bring the reality of Syria to western news outlets will net you: $70 a story." (Hugh for Mitch). 

9 Facts About Quantum Computing That Will Melt Your Mind - Business Insider . "You had me at: 'quantum particles can exist in two places at once, move forwards or backwards in time, and even teleport by way of what physicists call quantum tunneling. This is the stuff of science fiction to us, but in the quantum world it's business as usual. And scientists can't really explain it.' So, um, yeah... chaos and technology is coming to computers. Buckle up!" (Mitch for Alistair).

Authors Guild Warns Of 'Dark Underbelly Of Mass Digitization' - The Daily Online Examiner . "You know, if we can just stop the digitization of books and force everyone to buy a physical, paper copy, the whole industry would bounce right back and that would be much better for authors. These people are delusional. It scares me, because I saw the music industry ignore digitization. There is an 800 pound gorilla in this conversation that these traditional, antiquated groups and organization always fail to acknowledge: they would not be crying had they cannibalized and disrupted the industry themselves. Their frustration comes from someone else ( Amazon , iBooks , Kobo or whomever) who has developed a new technology and market and commanding money. I hate it when art and the protection of artists is actually shrouded in greed, money and control. We have to ask the really tough questions: what's best for the author... and the reader." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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YouTube... Then What?

Sit back, relax and watch this...

As few months back, Kevin Rose (ex-Digg now at Google Ventures) recorded an episode of Foundation with YouTube co-founder, Chad Hurley. It's a pretty amazing story and will give you some amazing insights into making ideas happen, smart marketing, overcoming challenges... and what a little bit of luck can do.

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Don't Read This. Go Read This.

If you're going to spend any time reading anything today...

I'm going to encourage you head over and read this post by James Altucher titled, Living The Counterfeit Life.

Then... if you are smart:

You will sign up for his free e-newsletter (so you can get his frequent pieces of glorious writing): James Altucher Insider's List.

You will buy his latest book (which I am currently loving): Choose Yourself!

You will follow him on Twitter (he's funny and clever there too): James Altucher on Twitter.

It's a different kind of self-help.

If you like personal development, self-help or motivation, you may not like Altucher. I happen to love reading about those topics as much as possible, but Altucher isn't just dolling out the usual slop. His stories are personal, real, riddled with mistakes and a path that is both hard to believe coupled with honest insights that make sense because he really has lived and struggled with it.

Like I said... don't read this. Go read this: Living The Counterfeit Life.

...and one more thing: Altucher was a guest on my podcast last week, so if you're interested in more: SPOS #366 - James Altucher Wants You To Choose Yourself .

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Are Brands Confusing Advertising With Marketing?

It turns out that the major advertising networks think that Yahoo made a mistake in the acquisition of Tumblr.

That's the news you get when you read the Business Insider article, Marissa Mayer's Biggest Problem With Tumblr, Summed Up In A Single Quote. Digital advertising people can't figure out the social aspects of Tumblr or where to put all of those ads that their clients want to spread out to as many eyeballs as possible. As much as brands toss the words engagement and content marketing and social media and mobile around the boardrooms, they're still ultimately looking for one thing: a quick impression... or another place to put an ad.

Welcome to the post-impression era.

Digital is not television. No newsflash there, but it doesn't take much scratching beneath the surface to see that when digital media does things like get a mass amount of consumers to follow and connect with a brand, the conversation (from the brand side) swiftly turns to, "ok, when can we start pushing them to buy stuff?" It seems like the greater goal of what digital can deliver gets lost in the mix as the brands and traditional agencies fall back on the dogma of the mass media industrial complex. We just can't seem to shake it off. No matter how hard we try.

Epiphany!

Several weeks ago, I was giving a presentation to an executive board of a major international brand. At the end of the presentation, one of senior marketers approached me and asked about how we could best take the concepts from CTRL ALT Delete and bring them into the organization. Personally, I was mystified as this brand had just announced a brand new agency of record relationship with one of the big, multinational shops. This marketing professional then said, "I think that they don't get digital," which surprised me even more considering this agency's known reputation for quality digital. Digging a little deeper, it became clear that this agency is skilled at taking advertising, spinning it for digital and creating highly effective digital advertising, but they lack any ability to do anything more than digital advertising. It may seem like semantics, but it's not. Being able to take an advertising campaign and make it work in digital channels is no small feat. It's a complex and highly fragmented platform with many players vying for attention in some strange ways. What the media professionals who complain about Tumblr don't understand is this: it may not be just about where the ads go, but rather about what a brand can do in this channel to create something interesting for the Tumblr community and make a name for themselves. In short: it's not about advertising, it's about marketing.

It's not just Tumblr.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, whatever are ambiguous. They are neither great for brands or bad for brands. They simply are. They are publishing and content channels that enable the content to be as shareable and findable as possible (when done well). Tumblr's business may not be to convince the traditional media buyers that the true revenue and value will come from how many ads can be plastered on it. It's a tough pill for the big advertising networks to swallow. They balked at Google, until they were forced to embrace performance-based advertising. They balked at Facebook, until they were forced to understand that the work is about creating social stories that make sense in the context of the newsfeed. And now, they're balking at Tumblr. Even while they are forced to divert media spend to Google, Facebook, Twitter and beyond, this shifting of media dollars still constitutes a minor effort. This isn't about whether more effort needs to put into Tumblr (that's a strategic decision that every brand will need to make for itself). This is about the perception that advertising is the gateway and metric for success in these channels. The opportunity for Tumblr (and other channels), is for the brand to figure out a strategy, voice, level of engagement and commitment to provide some semblance of a utility that creates an additive effect for the people who are connected there. If you strip that last sentence down, it's not something that traditional ad agencies or media buyers do all that well.

A new dawn.

Thinking that a fully integrated ad agency will solve all of these challenges is going to cause some serious brand/agency relationship challenges moving forward (and yes, it is in my vested interest, as a digital marketing agency owner, to say this). Coming out of the Mirren New Business Conference this past May, it seems like the key search consultants agree. Most frequently, the smartest brands are now looking for "teams of record" over the old "agency of record" model. They are looking for both subject matter experts who have depth of both the industry and niche that they serve. Brands now need business solutions to solve the marketing challenge, not just an advertising one. Thinking that the only way Yahoo will recoup their billion dollar investment of Tumblr will be through an integrated advertising opportunity is probably very shortsighted.

Are brands still confusing advertising with marketing or are they simply struggling to adapt to the new reality?

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Great Advertising (From An Unexpected Brand)

Have you seen this ad?

When was the last time you paid attention to a commercial about toiler paper? Or even cared to?

Kimberly-Clark's Cottonelle brand (not a client) has come out with dispenser packaging for its Fresh Care Flushable Dry Wipes product. Yes, a moist and flushable toilet paper. Innovative product? Maybe. Stunning Cannes-worthy advertising? Nope. But it's short. It's to the point. It catches your attention. It makes you smile. But, more importantly, it makes you ask yourself a bigger question: why do we wipe the way that we do and doesn't this make much more sense?

The butt of the joke.

In marketing, we tend to focus too much on the humor or shock tactics to drive attention. This simple (and effective) ad works on many levels: it clearly explains the product in a way that makes us smile and relate to it. It provokes us to think about our current habits. It creates a strong case for a consumer trial the next time we're wandering down the toilet paper aisle. It doesn't need to be flashy. It needs to be informative.

Too much time.

If I'm going to be honest, even blogging about this ad kills my point, because I'm giving this too much attention and time. Great advertising acts as an engine to transmit brand information. In a world of Facebook and Twitter many will argue that you need hashtags, content marketing  and a bunch of followers to get people buzzing about this product. For my dollar, this makes much more sense: tell people about it, get them to smile, get them to recognize a new behavior, and get them to consider a trial.

That reminds me.

One of my current business partners used to have a sign on his wall. It read: "Be brilliant. Be Brief. Be gone." It's a lesson that advertisers, presenters, brands and more could learn from. Regardless of the product, production, casting or originality of the idea, by my estimates, Cottonelle nailed this execution. It's also a reminder that not everything has to be jaw dropping... it just has to make the strategy and insight come to life in a way that captures the consumer's very valuable attention.

Great advertising doesn't always look like the way we typically define great advertising.

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The End Of Writer's Block

I don't believe in writer's block. Do you?

Have you ever had a moment in time when someone says something that stops you dead in your tracks? It happened to me. It happened to me live on stage. The other week, I held a private book launch for my latest business book, CTRL ALT Delete. The event was held at the Google offices in New York, and I was joined on stage by Seth Godin (you can see the full conversation right here: Don't Be An Anonymous Cog - CTRL ALT Delete With Seth Godin). Someone in the audience asked us about both the frequency of how much content we publish and where the ideas come from. Seth said that he doesn't believe in writer's block because we don't get thinker's block or talker's block. And, he concluded, he writes like he talks. It's true, you don't stop talking and you don't stop thinking, so why should you be blocked to write?

It's scary... but it's true.

Volumes have been written about how to overcome writer's block, but it could well be a term that writer's created as an excuse. Not every word is gold. The words don't always flow easily, on a consistent basis on every day. Sometimes it seems so easy. Sometimes nothing could be harder. But a blockage? Nothing? I don't believe it. Even it does exist, I don't want to hear about it or think about it. There are some tricks and advice that I've culled over the years. I am hopeful that this may be of use to you on your journey.

How to put an end to writer's block:

Read the book, Do The Work by Steven Pressfield. It's a small and brilliant book that is a riff on his original book, The War of Art. In short: bring a blue collar work ethic to your writing. Much in the same way that the construction worker wakes up, gets ready and hits the work site, as a writer you have to do the same thing. Put in the hours. Take a small break in the morning, maybe an hour for lunch, but plug away at it. 9-5 five with no excuses.

Overdose on content. The more you read, see and feel, the more ideas you will have. Blogging once a day is easy when you have to choose one of five items to blog about. The more I consume during the day, the more inspiration I find to write, and the more of a catalog I have to pull from. Be an infovore.

Keep notes. It may be Evernote, a voicemail, an email, handwritten note on scraps of paper or a fancy shmancy Moleskine. When something pops into your mind, capture it. If you don't... it's gone.

Learn how to freewrite. I can't thank Mark Levy enough for this technique. If you think you have nothing to write, you're wrong. Pick up Mark's book, Accidental Genius, or listen to my podcast with him (SPOS #221 - Unlocking Creativity And Your Accidental Genius With Mark Levy) and get that writing going. If you don't have time to read the book or listen to our podcast, do this: take the topic that you want to write about, set a time for five minutes and just make a list of everything you know about the topic. Once the five minutes are done (and don't stop making that list until the five minutes are up), review the list and choose the three most important bulletpoints from the list that interest you the most. Then take five minutes for each bulletpoint and freewrite (no focus on spelling, grammar or form... just write). That whole exercise took about twenty minutes. Still think that you have nothing to write about?

Free yourself. People often say, "I can't write on a plane," or "I need my special chair to write," or "I need it to be quiet," or "I need the hum of a coffee house" or... whatever. Four words: shut up and write. I used to work with a close quarter combatives coach, and a lot of our clients were military personnel. On the way to a war zone, their senior officers would often come over and tell them to grab some sleep. And, guess what? With all of the pressures of the pending combat, the stress, the motion of the bouncing truck or cargo plane, they would get some shut eye. They forced it. Force yourself to write anywhere and everywhere. It's going to be hard. It's not going to feel right. Keep at it. You will get there. Write everywhere. Find a plug and start plugging away.

Now, quit reading this... and start writing! 

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