My friend Gordon just said on Facebook that he is "Dreaming Big and Outside the Box". More of us need to do this. I have a small slew of near genius friends - but very few dream big. Its not like they are living lives of "quiet desperation" - but close to it.   Even the Zen Master gets tired of small pleasures.  Sometimes we have to break out of the box and do something that stretches us personally - which is my definition of "spiritual".

Sometimes we need to put on the big suit an...

Photofunia is another free online photo editing site.  What is remarkable is not just the array of effects - but the use of face recognition technology.   Photofunia can extract a face from a photo image and then super-impose it into different situations - as putting your mug on a billboard.  I had crazy fun just playing with it.   I imposed my wife's face onto Lulu the dancing girl.  Give it a whirl at http://Photofunia.com

connect with me

• Note:
  • The commas are added to separate symbols
  • The symbol | (Example:  B = |3 ) is a "down-slash", or "pipe", and not a lower-case "L" or capital "i"
  • The symbol ` (Example:  T = 7` ) is not a standard apostrophe, but is a "Grave Accent" and is found on the tilde (~) key
  • Also keep in mind that the use of /-/ for H for example, aren't used nearly as often as the normal letter in a quick conversation. To write an entire sentence this way would take three times as long, thus the quicker singl...

I thought this script was clever.   I rarely want to invite all my friends to anything.  But this script works.

I was just cleaning out my spam folder and ran across these jewels.  We have all seen variations of these things where in order to get money the dupe has to send some amount to free up a much larger amount.  Not all of us have been educated about scams - and the good ones are always deceptive.

ACCEPT MY WILL!!!
From: CLAIRE WILLIAMS <info@williams.com>
To:    

Good Day,

My name is Mrs Claire Williams. I am a dying woman who had decided to donate what I
have to you.I am 62 years old and was d...

You might be wondering how you can automatically post your wall entries on Facebook to Twitter.   You want anything new happening on your fan page to be shared on Twitter.  Its really quite simple.  First go to http://www.facebook.com/twitter  You will see a simple page that directs you to make the connection.   After clicking you will be taken to a page showing all of you fan pages that you have control over.   Find your fan page and click the button that says "Link to Twitter". 

1. You really don't want to engage directly with customers, employees, etc.—you just want them to hear what you have to say.

2. You're not ready to create new roles, update process, re-distribute resources and budgets, re-train people, and revise old policies.

3. Social media actually threatens how you make money—but you pay lip service out of fear.

4. Politics.

5. You see it as a career advancing opportunity as opposed to a significant business transformation.

Reverse any of the...

I recently presented my pitch on personal branding at two lunch time events in Sunnyvale.  On the first occasion I wore tan corduroy pants with the shirt you see above.  And more recently I wore black pants with the same shirt.   I didn't really think too much about it except that I know this is a good color on me.

I started a small buzz when people realized that the business cards I was handing out before the event matched my shirt.  I had several people remark about it to ...

A Brand Evangelist is a person who promotes your brand without regard for compensation.  Their reward is the association with your brand.   Your brand becomes part of their identity.  The goal of any brand is to find and cultivate Brand Evangelists who can promote your brand everywhere without costing you a cent.  Social Media provides a great platform for you to grow some Brand Evangelists for yourself.

As you probably know, a fulcrum is the pivot point for a lever. And we know that Archimedes was planning to use a lever to move the world. But a lever by itself is worthless. It needs the fulcrum to actually do the leveraging. You are that fulcrum.

Part of a good brand is being focused on a dream that you want to come true. It is the thing that drives a personal brand. While branding is about creating im...

The most salient characteristics of the typical technology evangelist role include being:

• Proactive in rapidly connecting with others; open and generous in extending time and assistance; willing to build and leverage relationships to accomplish tasks and meet goals.
• Able to communicate large volumes of content rapidly and clearly. Enthusiastic and persuasive, motivating others by considering their points of view, and then adjusting the delivery to fit the specific individual.
• Collaborative,...

I remember a comment Neil Young had about Live Aid and other similar events. He said "save yourself". I have always thought about that and realized that after I find my true self and act upon that fact - the world will change around me.

Taglines aren't just for companies - they are for individuals. A tagline is a very short expression that conveys meaning to your audience. When developing a career we can use these short expressions in conversation or on our business cards to quickly help others understand who and what we are. A good tagline starts a conversation and provides context for everything that follows. Without any further preamble (Just do it), I am going to list some qualities of a good tagline.

...

• BE ON TARGET - Your business message should have a target audience in mind.  When you write for your business its not about you but about who you are attempting to reach.  Knowing your audience for the message is the first step.
  
• ADJUST YOUR READING LEVEL - Im not saying dumb down your message, but make ...

Personal Branding is a way of looking at things. It is a lens through which we can interpret and decide if actions and behaviors are good or not. Most of the things about personal branding we already know about – but we dont always know what to apply and when. A personal branding lens groups and guides our thoughts and actions. It’s actually very exciting because I can now prioritize what I do using this “branding” lens.

I was thinking about this today when I set up my first Squidoo p...

Everybody has heard of the Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. The Invisible Man in the story is a scientist who theorizes that if a person’s refractive index is changed to exactly that of air and his body does not absorb or reflect light, then he will be invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but cannot become visible again, becoming mentally unstable as a result.

Without personal branding most of us are exactly like the Invisible Man – but without going through the �...

Lately, Ive been attempting to come to grips with telling my personal story more effectively. I know its important to tell a good story in order to have people remember you positively. But I didnt really understand the power of story telling until I read Seth Godin’s book called “All Marketers Are Liars”. And before you misunderstand the title I have to tell you the subtitle is “The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World”.

The whole book is interesting but Im only ...

I have been reflecting on how to be most effective on Twitter – and to use Twitter to convey my brand. Since my primary trade is a software architect – I immediately recognize what I think are best practices – in fact are probably patterns for success on Twitter. So here they are:

• First start with an interesting design. You can customize the Twitter page using what Twitter gives you. Or you can upload a custom background. I uploaded a simple image of the ocean – an image large enough...

So what do you see when you google your name. Is it a listing for a convicted felon or porn star? If you have an unusual name (like a well differentiated keyword) you will rise to the top automatically. But if you have an ordinary name you might not even show up. What you don’t want to happen is to have a search result that doesn’t represent you.

• Your name is your brand so use it consistently. Don't dilute it by using different variations – pick one version of your name and stick with i...

1. You cant blog unless you already have a personal brand. I joke about this – but I really believe that you cant blog sustainably unless you find your voice, have an opinion, and have something valuable to say. Having a brand is like being in the groove – and when you are in a groove – things roll along.
2. Start with an attention getting title. If you dont capture an audience in the first sentence – you have lost them. The title is going to show up in a list of your blogs and that is all t...

• Memorable Logo - a logo is not a brand although it represents one...

• BRANDING - The site should ...

• Its a great idea to twitter events that happen on your web site. 
• Enable users to tweet almost every page. 
• Make sure you use some good keywords or #hashtags to allow your tweets to be found.
• Use keywords that get retweeted - search around for these list - I have found that "fre...

Here are more than seventy big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. From bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert to brilliant tech thinker Kevin Kelly, from publisher Tim O'Reilly to radio host Dave Ramsey, there are some important people riffing about important ideas here. The ebook includes Tom Peters, Jackie Huba and Jason Fried, along with Gina Trapani, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber.

Here's the deal: it's free. Download it here. Or from any of...

Anatomy of Buzz Revisited – Emmanuel Rosen revisits his best seller and updates how buzz works with today’s new tools.

• Why Read This Book: Learn what gives a story and an idea “legs” and how to actually build buzz into your marketing strategy.
• Key Point: Build a community of experts and then let them speak freely about the advantages and disadvantages of your product or service.  It builds buzz and trust.

---

Escape from Cubicle Nation – Pamela Slim writes a ...

• The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinberg, Weinberg Tamar
  
• Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone by Mitch Joel
  
• Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust By Chris Brogan and Julian Smith
  
• Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Me...

• If you are a manager or team leader dont blab out all the ideas yourself.  Often times your team members have the same ideas but arent as adept in expressing it.   If you let others come up with ideas then then they will take credit and will also take ownership of the idea.
• Dont forget to RT (Return Tweet) on Twitter if someone has a great idea that you noti...

• A short Bio
• Photos
• Links to your online pages as F...

• Write a Blog. Nothing is better for publicizing your site than writing some good content into a blog.  Blog pages get entered quickly into Google index quite quickly.    And good blog software knows how to maximize your number of indexed pages and also providing indexable pages for different tags.  So dont forget to categorize and tag your blog posts well because this will enhance your finability
• Write For Others - Anytime you can spread your reputation and brand around the better.  Offer to g...

• Just as any good blog article it has to have a "catchy" title.  So make your subject line make a difference.   The subject has to be shorter than a twitter comment but pithy enough to be remembered.
• There is no substitute for providing something of value.  Let me know in the title what it is you are going to say
• And my biggest secret for branding is to make sure ...