Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 343

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #72

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, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so 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:

Hocus-Pocus, and a Beaker of Truffles - The New York Times . "On my last trip to New York, I was once again struck by the city's desire for the authentic: every food needs a string of adjectives, a backstory, to make it worthwhile and interesting. And few of those adjectives has been so heavily used as 'truffle.' So imagine my surprise when my wife sent me this spoiler: Truffle Oil is basically chemicals. In 2003, Vogue food writer, Jeffrey Steingarten , revealed that it was basically a chemical (2/4-dithiapentane) -- but restaurants have continued to feature it prominently. LA Weekly restaurant critic, Jonathan Gold , blames this on American diners, who, he says, have lost their taste for subtlety, forcing chefs to amp up even real truffles with the chemical concoction." (Alistair for Hugh).

Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm - Wired Magazine . "I first met Gary Wright when running a Strata online event on the quantified self. Gary spent some time in the Baltic recently, talking with Piotr Wozniak , an expert on how memory works. On its surface, it's a story about optimizing recall through the use of cognitive science. But it's more than that: Wozniak has decided to run his whole life by the math, and it makes him smart, happy, and weird. As I read this, I found myself wondering: when we live in a sensor-driven world where everything is based on real-time feedback, is a vacation the same thing as ignoring the feedback? Where today the wealthy have personal trainers and life coaches, tomorrow maybe privilege will be affording to do without them." (Alistair for Mitch).

Deep Intellect - Orion Magazine . "It's always a little hard to get your mind around the idea that other beings might have intelligence that we can't comprehend. The octopus, for instance, has more neurons in its tentacles than in its brain. And their skin appears to have the same gene sequences as those found in the light-sensing parts of the retina: octopi might be able to 'see' with their skin. Truly, we live in a wondrous world." (Hugh for Alistair).

The opportunity in abundance - Magellan Media . "This is perhaps the most thoughtful (and caring) article I have ever read about 'the future of books and publishing' by my friend, Brian O'Leary , who also happens to be my co-editor on ' Book: A Futurist's Manifesto .'" (Hugh for Mitch).

A Sister's Eulogy for Steve Jobs - The New York Times . "When I first heard that Steve Jobs passed away, I was shocked, sad and felt an empty space for someone I had never met. He had this iconic persona - the kind of character you see portrayed in big-budget Hollywood movies. I started reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson the day it came out. I'm nearly half-way through it, and all I can say is that beyond him being a clear genius and master of innovation, he doesn't come off as a good person at all. Far from it. In fact, as the book goes on and on, it's easy to downplay the great work he did because his character becomes so overbearing. I found it very hard to like Steve Jobs. And that's a tough thing to write, because I not only don't like to speak ill of the dead, it's not in my character to feel that way about anyone. Then, I read this eulogy from his sister, Mona Simpson , and it brought me to my knees. I know this link has been tossed around a lot, but do yourself a favor: take a break, find a quiet corner and read it again. Especially the last few paragraphs. Someone once said that 'technology is too important to leave to the technologists.' After reading this eulogy and re-reading it, I think that life is too important to leave to the people who are just going about their day, doing things that don't really matter to them." (Mitch for Alistair).

The Importance of Mind-Wandering - Wired . "I wrote a Blog post on July 4th of this year titled, Bored . Often, I have an idea for a Blog post and as I start to write it, something else takes shape and form. Had I stuck to my initial concept: that being bored isn't a bad thing and that it can often open up different doors of creativity, it might have read more like this article from Wired . I spent my days in High School math class (much to my teacher's chagrin) mind-wandering: thinking of new ideas and things to do. I believe that putting myself in a place of boredom usually stimulates some interesting ideas. I'm hoping that this article is right." (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.

Tags:

alistair croll

bitcurrent

book a futurists manifesto

brian oleary

complete web monitoring

gary wright

gigaom

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

jeffrey steingarten

jonathan gold

la weekly

librivox

link

link exchange

linkbait

magellan media

managing bandwidth

media hacks

mona simpson

octopus

orion magazine

piotr wozniak

pressbooks

steve job biography

steve jobs

story

strata

the book over

the new york times

vogue

walter isaacson

wired magazine

year one labs

What Marketers Are Learning From Occupy Wall Street

Episode #277 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

This is also episode #18.20 of Across The Sound. Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe Juice in audio and Jaffe Juice TV in video). He is the author of three excellent books (Life After The 30-Second Spot, Join The Conversation and Flip The Funnel). A long-time friend (and one of the main inspirations behind the Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast), we've decided to hold monthly conversations, debates and back-and-forths that will dive a little deeper into the Digital Marketing and Social Media landscape. This is our 18th conversation (or, as I like to affectionately call it, Across The Sound 18.20). While neither of us can claim to be politicians or economist, we discuss the power, value and merits of #occupywallstreet and how Social Media continues to play a pivotal role in our redesigned world. 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 #277.

Tags:

across the sound

advertising

bite size edits

blog

blogging

blue sky factory

book oven

cast of dads

cc chapman

chris brogan

christopher s penn

digital dads

digital marketing

facebook

facebook group

flip the funnel

hugh mcguire

in over your head

itunes

jaffe juice

jaffe juice tv

join the conversation

joseph jaffe

julien smith

librivox

life after the 30-second spot

managing the gray

marketing

marketing over coffee

media hacks

new marketing labs

online social network

podcast

podcasting

pressbooks

six pixels of separation

social media 101

social media marketing

strategy

trust agents

twist image

Your Media Is Controlled By A Handful Of Companies (Yes, Even The Internet)

What happened to The Long Tail? What happens in a world after Here Comes Everybody? Apparently, not much.

We had a dream. The dream was that the Internet and the many digital channels and platforms that have poured out of this technology and connectivity would give us better, more unique and different voices. There was a hope that the Internet would reshape the media world as we have known it to date. The Internet was going to lead us out of the mass media boredom and into an era of enlightenment (ok, that's just me and my wishful thinking). From a content perspective, it's hard to argue that it hasn't. The challenge is that for any media channel to truly be effective, it needs to be funded. The primary way that media channels are not only funded but benchmarked for success is the media and advertising that it attracts. Whether we like this metric or not, it is what it is (as they say).

So what does the online media spend look like? 

Digital Marketing professional and venture capitalist, Darren Herman, ran some quick numbers and here's what he uncovered: "...the digital media ad spend (search, display, mobile, etc) is controlled by Google, Yahoo, AOL, Facebook, and Microsoft... after searching through their 10K's, it's about $40.1B, or roughly 64% of the worlds digital media ad spend. According to a ZenithOptimedia press release on October 3, 2011, worldwide digital advertising accounted for about $64.03B. Google generates approximately 364% more revenue from advertising than it's next closest rival, Yahoo! With Facebook at $1.86B in advertising revenue (excluding virtual currencies/goods) for 2010, it puts them at right behind Microsoft but ahead of AOL.  With Facebook only now starting to monetize their platform, you can start to see how big an impact they could have on the dominance of the digital advertising landscape." You can read his full Blog post here: 64% of Digital Ad Spend Controlled by 5 Companies.

Does that freak you out (just a little bit)?

A lack of choice is what brought the major television networks to this world of fragmentation, cable networks, specialty channels and more. The truth (and it may be a sad truth for some) is that four companies control the majority of the advertising space online, because they control all of the traffic (people, eyeballs, etc...). To push this inequity even further, if you look at the comments in Herman's Blog post, Jon Steinberg (the President of BuzzFeed), points to a flickr photo of another staggering statistic: 75% of all advertising spend is controlled by three advertising networks: WPP, Omnicom, Publicis and Interpublic.

What's trending? 

As Twitter's popularity grew several years back, I noticed something that disturbed me: the trending topics were becoming the same subject matter that we might see covered on CNN or Entertainment Tonight. Prior to that moment, the majority of trending topics on Twitter were more niche topics. The type of stuff that was trending was from a different type of culture. It wasn't mass. It wasn't Hollywood. It was... us... a different group of people connecting in different channels to get a different type of (new) media experience. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to wax poetic about the good ole' days or lament a time that was better because everybody didn't know about it. I'm simply fascinated by how "vanilla" all of our media eventually becomes. It panders to the middle. The good news is that the edges are still here. The deep thought, the more complicated discourse and beyond. The challenge is that it may not be all that sustainable as a media model when a handful of 800-pound gorillas have all of the bananas.

Yep, that's what's been driving me crazy today. 

Tags:

advertising

advertising landscape

advertising network

aol

buzzfeed

cable network

chris anderson

clay shirky

cnn

connectivity

culture

darren herman

digital advertising

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entertainment tonight

flickr

google

here comes everybody

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jon steinberg

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microsoft

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publicis

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the long tail

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twitter

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wpp

yahoo

zenithoptimedia

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Can Leaderless Organizations Win?

Whether it's the Arab Spring , the Tea Party movement or Occupy Wall Street , what is it about leaderless organizations that makes it all seem so strange to us?

In 2006, I made the six hour drive from Montreal to Boston to attend the first PodCamp Boston unconference (a participant-driven or self-organized gathering). Prior to that, I had attended some of the initial BarCamp events. The idea of a self-organized event was foreign then... and it's still foreign now. Some of the initial questions I had about driving to PodCamp included:

What if I get there and no one shows up?

How will I know if the sessions are any good?

Where do I get my nametag?

Where are the networking events taking place?

Is there a travel sponsor with a rebate on nearby hotels for those attending from out of town?

Those questions are driven by a traditional conference mindset. Here are the unconference answers to those questions:

If you get there and no one else shows up, then I didn't do my job of letting others know about the event.

The sessions will only be good if I chose to either lead one or encourage others to lead them.

You bring your own nametag.

You have to connect with the other people who signed up on the wiki and make your own social events (and encourage others to join you!).

You're a big boy, call some hotels and negotiate a rate for yourself and for others.

Leaderless events and organizations act and feel weird because they are weird.

We expect others to lead us. This is why there are so few great leaders when compared to our overall population. It's not easy to take responsibility for success and to be able to drive results, and get others to not only believe in you but to follow you (this ever-more evident when reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson). The media struggles to find a figurehead or someone to interview in these self-organized groups and revolutions like the Arab Spring, the Tea Party movement and occupy Wall Street, but because there is no defined "leader" (mostly because these groups are self-organized), they are chastised for not having in place a more traditional (and hierarchical) structure or a seamless message.

So, can leaderless organizations truly get results?

Obviously, they can (and do). The real challenge is that these structures are new and platforms like Social Media have (finally) brought us to this unique moment in time where we can have leaderless and self-organizing groups affect true change in our world. This past weekend, Clay Shirky (best-selling business book author of Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus) tweeted, "Back from delivering coffee & gloves to #OWS. Hundreds of people hunkering down in freezing rain, an amazing act of patriotism." The magic of the Internet is that the power of open source has now expanded beyond the borders of software development. Individual acts of patriotism can now be viewed cumulatively in a much more powerful way - and with every act of patriotism comes a cumulative effect as they are shared and exchanged in both our protein forms and in the online channels. That cumulative effect springs new ideas for people to share and gather around. It's as mindless as lolcats and as powerful as the overthrowing of repressive governments.

Who are we going to blame?

As a society we want to point our fingers at someone - an individual. The truth is that the murkiness of pointing our fingers at a leaderless group makes it difficult to find a target for our energy (either positive or negative) and it is somewhat unsatisfying to get angry at a faceless corporation when it comes to a specific issue. The truth is that we're going to have to learn how to adapt to this new reality. While great leadership can never be denied, what we're truly seeing here is that the 99% are now connected and their power, rage and passions are not only hard to deny, but it's even harder to ignore. Big groups can self-lead. How dramatic and how powerful is that? Wow.

The next few years of leaderless groups is only going to increase as people continue to get smarter through our technological engines of connectivity and their desire to share and connect.

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for The Huffington Post called, Media Hacker . 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:

The Huffington Post - Can Leaderless Organizations Win?

Tags:

arab spring

barcamp

business book

clay shirky

cognitive surplus

conference

faceless

government

here comes everybody

internet culture

leaderless organization

leadership

lolcats

media hacker

occupy wall street

online channel

open source

participant driven

patriotism

podcamp boston

self organized

social media

software development

tea party movement

the huffington post

unconference

What Marketers Are Learning From Occupy Wallstreet

Episode #277 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

This is also episode #18.20 of Across The Sound. Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe Juice in audio and Jaffe Juice TV in video). He is the author of three excellent books (Life After The 30-Second Spot, Join The Conversation and Flip The Funnel). A long-time friend (and one of the main inspirations behind the Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast), we've decided to hold monthly conversations, debates and back-and-forths that will dive a little deeper into the Digital Marketing and Social Media landscape. This is our 18th conversation (or, as I like to affectionately call it, Across The Sound 18.20). While neither of us can claim to be politicians or economist, we discuss the power, value and merits of #occupywallstreet and how Social Media continues to play a pivotal role in our redesigned world. 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 #277.

Tags:

across the sound

advertising

bite size edits

blog

blogging

blue sky factory

book oven

cast of dads

cc chapman

chris brogan

christopher s penn

digital dads

digital marketing

facebook

facebook group

flip the funnel

hugh mcguire

in over your head

itunes

jaffe juice

jaffe juice tv

join the conversation

joseph jaffe

julien smith

librivox

life after the 30-second spot

managing the gray

marketing

marketing over coffee

media hacks

new marketing labs

online social network

podcast

podcasting

pressbooks

six pixels of separation

social media 101

social media marketing

strategy

trust agents

twist image

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #71

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, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so 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:

When algorithms control the world - BBC . "We're increasingly dependent on computers to manage our lives - from picking our route to work to testing the air we breathe and the water we drink. This BBC news piece is a good round-up of just how pervasive algorithms are, including mentions of a great TED talk on the subject and even new tools Hollywood is using to pick winning films." (Alistair for Hugh).

. "Ever wonder about those fake umlauts and interstitial dots in product names? Well, you're not alone. Adding strange punctuation to products is a way to defend a trademark, and maybe even make the product sound exotic -- but those weird characters (known as diacriticals, if you please, and including the macron and the interpunct) are a pain. The comment thread on this one is just as informative." (Alistair for Mitch).

How Visa Protects Your Data - Fast Company . "A look at the measures taken by Visa to protect consumer data." (Hugh for Alistair).

'Men Who Plan Beyond Tomorrow' Seagram's Ads, 1940s - Retronaut . "A series of print ads from the 1940s from Seagram about the future. Some awesomely prescient ones too." (Hugh for Mitch).

Remodel Your Meetings To Create Internal Entrepreneurs - Fast Company . "One of the biggest challenges facing every startup is how to not devolve into a big, massive - and yes, slow - organization. Part of the magic has to do with the structure and culture or the organization from its early stages of development. When people think of structure, it's hard to not to have a ton of big, long (and boring) meetings. When people think of culture, we all want organizations that are filled with passionate, entrepreneurial people. The truth is that almost every company (from startup to major multi-national) will grapple with meetings and the creation of a culture of entrepreneurship from within. Here's another way to look at these massive challenges." (Mitch for Alistair).

Technology Will Take on a Life of Its Own - Foreign Policy . "I was on a flight home from Chicago the other day and came across the September issue of Foreign Policy magazine. The cover had a baby's hand holding a robot's hand (that's usually enough cliché to keep me away), but thankfully this article on Alvin Toffler (and his wife, Heidi ) grabbed my attention. There are few articles that I consider worthy of tearing out of a magazine to hold on to: this is one of those rare exceptions. It is filled with concepts from technology that all of use need to be thinking about - today and tomorrow. While I don't love the nomenclature given to this phase in technology by the the writers (The Hybrid Age), I do love everything that's happening right now and the amazing new opportunities that it will bring." (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.

Tags:

alistair croll

alvin toffler

bbc

bitcurrent

complete web monitoring

entrepreneur

fast company

foreign policy

gigaom

heidi toffler

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

librivox

link

link exchange

linkbait

managing bandwidth

media hacks

pressbooks

retronaut

seagram

startup

story

technology

ted talk

the book over

the economist

the hybrid age

visa

year one labs

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A True Story About Work/Life Balance

Do you believe there is such a thing as work/life balance?

I think that work/life balance is a myth (for me). I've Blogged about it before (you can read it right here: The Myth Of Work Life Balance). This past week, the fine folks from Google invited me to a private event for their Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Pichette. During the cocktails, someone asked Patrick what his life is like at Google and whether or not he has good work/life balance? I thought the question was interesting considering all of the amenities that Google provides (free gourmet food, exercise facilities, laundry service, medical and more). On top of the amazingly generous employee benefits, Google also has an initiative where twenty percent of the employees time can be committed to their own pet projects. As hard as Google employees work, it seems like the company is doing everything it can to ensure that there is a healthy sense of work/life balance. What was Patrick's answer to this question?

"You don't take a job like this if you want balance."

His answer stopped me dead in my tracks. We like to think that we can have it all, but it turns out that the real superstars in our world are working themselves to the bone. The difference here that they're doing it knowingly and willingly. They take these hard assignments with a timeframe and plan pre-set in their mind. You could tell by Patrick's direct answer that he not only knew what he was getting into, but he accepted it as a part of what his life would become. He also seems very happy and proud of this choice.

You don't start your own business for balance either.

Patrick's comment summed it all up for me, personally. I didn't start my own business to have work/life balance. I don't Blog or Podcast or speak or write articles or business books to achieve work/life balance. I do all of this (and more) because it's what I was meant to do. While you may see this as unhealthy, I took my opportunity to dig deeper into Patrick's comment over dinner. He went on to say that while he can't have any semblance of work/life balance with this type of work, he has what he calls a "healthy blend."

A healthy blend.

What does a healthy blend look like? While Patrick is running around the world managing the finances for one of the biggest and most valuable companies, he often finds himself starting early, working through lunch and meeting clients in the evening. On a recent trip, he was working in Europe and invited his wife to meet him at the end of the week in London. He spent a long weekend there. This is blend... finding the opportunities to blend your life so it's not all focused on either work or play. They all blend together. I've done similar things. I was once invited to speak in Singapore and took my spouse along with me and we extended the trip with a visit to Bangkok and Phuket. Or, when I'm on a family vacation, I'll often take an hour (here and there) to quickly check emails or to catch up on some reading. Blend.

This is probably a bad thing. 

I'm sure there are a handful of health practitioners who will shake their finger and say that finding the blend is not enough and that people like Patrick and myself are headed towards burn out because we don't have work/life balance. I'm not sure that I would agree. The reason? I truly love what I do and I don't consider it work. Whether it's answering emails, helping a client out with a business challenge or writing this Blog, it's not a chore. It's not something that I ever feel that I need a break from and - between us - work doesn't stress me out. You know what does stress me out? Trying to forget, shut down, put aside or stop doing what I love to do.

How's that whole work/life balance thing working out for you?

Tags:

blog

burn out

business book

employee benefits

entrepreneur

google

google employee

healthy blend

patrick pichette

pet project

podcast

work like balance

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The 10 Questions Every Content Creator Must Ask

There are some things you must get out of every interview.

There is no doubt that you want to get a great quote, pull out an amazing insight or get the person you're covering to say something that they have never said before (I smell exclusive!), but none of that matters if you make a mistake when it comes to the raw facts about who you are featuring. Over the course of my career, I've had the pleasure of being on both sides of the content creation fence: some days I am the person conducting the interview, and on other days, I am the subject matter. I've had countless instances where my name is spelled wrong, my title is wrong, the company I work for is not written correctly or they explain my role inaccurately. In fact, there have been multiple instances where multiple inaccuracies were present. Yes, the old adage, "the only bad press is an obituary," still very much rings true, but all credibility is lost if you don't get the basics right.

Here are the 10 questions that every content creator must ask their subject:

How do you spell your name? While it might seem simple enough, there are times when a person would prefer to see their full name in print (along with it being spelled correctly). Think of Tony Robbins. I've often seen his name published as, Anthony Robbins. I'm sure he has a preference and he would probably appreciate being asked how he would best like to be represented.

What is your official title? I can't tell you how often I am wrongfully called the "founder" of Twist Image. I'm the President here. We are four equal partners and I was not a founder (I actually joined the company after it was already in existence). Also, people often change titles and forget to update their LinkedIn profile, etc...

Are you the founder of the company? Tying this into the last question, people often use titles to downplay their role within the organization. Make sure to prod a little to ensure accuracy. I've seen many VPs of Marketing who are also the founder, or they sit on the board of directors as well. These are all important distinctions that will give your content more credibility.

How do you spell your company name? Not as simple as you may think. Our company is called, Twist Image. We've been called Twist (wrong!), TwistImage (wrong!), Twisted Image (wrong!... but I like the subtle link to Twisted Sister). On top of that, many newer companies use intercaps (LinkedIn) and it's important to know how they prefer to be labeled.

How do you describe your company? We've been called a Social Media company (wrong!), an advertising agency (wrong! but not completely inaccurate). Why not just ask instead of guessing? For the record, we currently describe ourselves as a digital marketing and communications agency.

Where is your company based? Where a company is incorporated may be different from where they are headquartered, and where they are headquartered may not be where they really operate out of, and it gets more complex when you have virtual offices, etc... While we started our company in Montreal and then opened an office in Toronto, we like to define ourselves as a national organization with offices in Toronto and Montreal. Actually we like to say that we have one office with a very long corridor. It miffs a lot of our team members when the media prints "Montreal-based, Twist Image" in a newspaper or newspaper... and I understand why.

Where can people connect with you? Blog, website, Twitter, Facebook personal page, Facebook page, Google +, LinkedIn? You never know, so linking to a corporate management profile might not be the best solution. By asking, you're also giving them one tiny moment to promote an area that they feel best represents their brand.

Is there any other info that other media often get wrong? While this question is akin to opening a can of worms, it's a great way to know and understand what errors typically happen around a brand. Who knows, it may even open up another level to the conversation taking place. Worse comes to worst, at least you know your media channel will get it all right.

Based on our topics of conversation, is there any other individuals that you think I should speak to? This is a great way to get validation from either someone else in the organization or an outside source (it could be a customer or industry analyst). On a personal level, these types of questions have allowed me to interview a myriad of new and interesting people that I would have never been able to meet, had I not been able to email these individuals and say, "I just spoke to so and so, and they recommended we connect to discuss [insert your topic here]."

Did I forget anything? This is one of the oldest journalism tricks in the book, and it's the easiest way to spot the recently-minted journalism degree graduate, but if you're not sure... ask it. It's better to cover all of your bases than lack credibility when the piece gets published.

And one more thing...

Record everything. If you're typing or taking notes while the person is speaking, you're not focused on them, their content or the conversation. Don't focus on the end product. You can record everything from Skype (I use Audio Hijack Pro) to a conversation over lunch (while some use portable digital studios like the Zoom H2, I've had great results with the HT Professional Recorder app for the iPhone). Record your conversations (audio, video, whatever) and focus on your conversations. This way you can go back later and pull out the gold.

What do you think are some of the basic questions that content creators should be asking? 

Tags:

advertising agency

anthony robbins

audio hijack pro

blog

board of directors

content

content creator

credibility

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google plus

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subject matter

tony robbins

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zoom h2

Unlimited Capacity

What do you need to turn your ideas and thoughts into a reality?

Painting is hard. First, you need the money to buy all of the materials (canvas, brushes, paints, easel, etc...), then you need years of practice to understand the intricate techniques to nurture your spark and flow. All of the arts are like this (I would lump making movies, music, photography and even writing in here). Many of us dabble in art (we create content online - in text, images, audio and video), and while many won't count this as art (because "many" think of fine art when they think of art), it's astonishing to think about what technology has truly given us: it is a tremendous gift.

The gift: the ability to create with an unlimited capacity.  

My current love affair with my MacBook Air is well documented. As someone who used to switch computers a few times every year (always wanting something faster, lighter, thinner...), the MacBook Air is - without question - the best laptop I have ever owned. But, it's more than what it does... it's how it makes me feel. I look at the laptop and think to myself, if I were a painter, it would be like having every type of canvas, brush, paint and color available to me (and easy to take anywhere and everywhere). Unlimited choices to create.  As something who likes to tinker with words, this MacBook Air offers me unlimited capacity to create words. So yes, technology blows me away.

It's about more than creation.

It would only be amazing if all I could do was create with unlimited capacity, but I can do more. I can turn those words into a media channel. I can then distribute that media to the world (for free) instantly - as soon as the muse strikes. I can share it with the world... and the world can then engage in the discourse. Yes, there are moments where we should all get a little sentimental about how profound this truly is.

The wall.

What does all of this mean? This unlimited capacity actually breaks down divides. You - as you're reading this - are formulating your own opinion and it's going to take shape based on where you live, your culture, your heritage and how that adds a different prism to my very different background. Still, we come together (or agree to disagree) and in a small way, it brings us all closer together.

There is a lesson here.

The lesson here is that everything has changed. It's not really a MacBook Air that I'm typing on: it's a tool of change (to steal a turn of phrase from the good people at O'Reilly). It's not just a way to connect, share and publish, either. It's a tool that can (and should) kill mediocrity. Just because you can create and publish content, it doesn't mean that it should be done without care, perspective and passion. Everyone creating content will not result in everybody creating great content. The lesson is about using this power to do something great.

Does that stress you out? 

It should. I get stressed every time I open the lid of the MacBook Air. I hope the words will flow and that the ideas will please our clients at Twist Image. I hope that I will be able to publish something that will make you think, smile or counter-punch. It is not a computer. It is a tool of great power. I tend to fear it much more than I love it.

So, you have this power... now what? what are you going to do about this unlimited capacity?

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The Next Layer Of Social Media

What's next for Social Media?

If I had a dime for every time I've been asked that question... More often than not, I deflect the question. I'm humble enough to know that my optics into what works and where this is all going is not what it could be. If I could see into the future, I would have created the first online auction or sold books online back in the day, instead companies like eBay and Amazon came along. If I knew where things were going, I would not have have looked at YouTube when it first came out and said, "who would want to watch shaky cam videos on a 2x2 screen that has buffering issues!" (and yes, I've said stupider things like, "I don't see the point of Twitter" - when it first came out). Thankfully, I also have the humility to admit indiscretions like these, but still spend the time critically thinking about what may be coming next.

Social Media will not go away.

Some think that Social Media is just a fad. My friend, Jason Falls, called it a "market correction" when we recorded a Podcast together recently (take a listen here: SPOS #270 - No BS Social Media With Jason Falls). Others think that all media will become Social Media. I don't agree (at least not one hundred percent) with any of these assessments.

Social Media is not a fad. Perhaps certain channels and platforms will have popularity and then disappear into the ether, but Arianna Huffington is right: "self-expression is the new entertainment." Now that individuals are connected and can publish their own thoughts, share them and collaborate, we are not going to return to a hierarchical broadcasting platform any time soon. On top of that, Social Media is well over a decade old (The Cluetrain Manifesto was first published in 2000). Fads come and go much faster than that.

Social Media is not a market correction. This is not a return to anything. Technology continually changes our landscape and technology has dramatically changed our media. It's not like we had this technology or media before and that we are returning to it. This is new (even though it's ten years old) and the rules (if there ever are/will be rules) have not been firmly established or agreed upon yet. As technology continues to advance, so too will our media. It's more of an evolution than a revolution at this point, but it doesn't look, feel or act like a market correction.

Social Media will not become all media. The next layer of Social Media will be the integration of the ability for all media to be social... but it won't necessarily act that way. Think of it this way: just because you can make a media channel social, it doesn't mean that all media channels will be social. That being said, if a smaller minority wants specific media to be more social, the layers/ability will be present for them to be social.

Whoa... that's a mouthful. Confused? Don't be.

Think about television (and for more thoughts on TV, please read this: The Shift To TV Everywhere): if television becomes completely social and interactive, what happens to the people who just want to sit back and enjoy their show after a long day of work? What about an article in a magazine? If someone want to just read it (and not share it, highlight it, comment on it, friend it, whatever), are they allowed to? Social Media will simply be one layer added to the media mix for those who want to engage, connect and be a part of the discourse.

The next layer of Social Media will be about two things...

Media will be either passive or active. That's it. Those are the two things (1. Passive Media. 2. Active Media). People will either consume the media (like reading a newspaper or listening to radio) or they will be active with their media (like Facebook and Twitter). The truth is that some media will be predominantly passive (like watching a television show) with a whisper of active components (the ability to chat about it or share it with friends), while other media will be predominantly active (like Facebook) where the user won't get much intrinsic value unless they're an active participant, but it will have layers of passivity (like people who are on Twitter, but they're not really tweeting or following back anybody, they're just there to passively follow celebrities, etc...). Personally, this is the easiest way for me to think about innovation in media: Is it passive or active? What's the percentage? Can a passive media become an active media? Can an active media become a passive media? Is this what the public wants? How will passive and active media play together in a marketing mix? How well will brands be able to blend those two types of media together?

The future of Social Media feel less interesting when you think about how active and passive media acts - especially as those worlds collide.

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