Instigator Blog

Lots of people love the beach.

Tall people. Short people. Fat people. Skinny people. Bronzed beyond George Hamilton people. Deathly pale people.

There’s just something about stripping down to the bare necessities and letting it all hang out. The interesting thing about the beach is that no one seems self-conscious. It’s rarely flattering and in some cases downright disturbing. Watching a flabby guy in a bright green thong parade across the hot sand just doesn’t do it for me. You?

What is it about the beach that allows many of us to discard our outer shell of clothing, and with reckless abandon allow our least attractive parts to bounce about willy nilly? What, indeed…

Expose Yourself on the Beach

I recently spent a day at the beautiful Parc Jean Drapeau - 5 minutes from the heart of Montreal.

It’s an amazing location: beautiful water, sand, BBQ and great play areas for young kids. It’s amazing how few Montrealers know about it, because it’s the closest thing to a tropical vacation spot that we’ve got. And it’s the closest thing to a vacation I’m going to get in the next couple years…

While at the beach you can’t help but notice the flesh. Lots and lots of flesh. But no one cares. People are exposing themselves in a very, very personal way…and no one is covering up. It’s not all Baywatch models either; every shape, size, culture and creed hangs at the beach.

It makes me think about blogging. (Say what now?!?!)

Expose Yourself on Your Blog

Whether you like it or not, blogs are personal. They wouldn’t work otherwise. Of course they have a business purpose; just like social networks, blogs can be used in a hundred different ways for professional reasons. But business is personal, and blogs have their roots in an open, conversational, relationship-building style.

So if a blog is personal and professional, where do we draw the line?

How much of your personality goes into your blog? How much do you expose?

It might depend on the topic. News-focused blogs won’t have as much room for personality. But most of us write blogs as a means of establishing our personal brand, building meaningful relationships and growing our businesses. There’s lots of personal “stuff” in there.

Chris Brogan exposes himself a great deal on his blog (and through Twitter, Facebook, etc.) He talks about his work and his personal life. Following Chris is more than just a learning experience; it’s a personal experience.

Don’t Show Me Everything, But Keep It Real

Exposing yourself doesn’t mean revealing every detail of your personal life. It does mean you need to approach blogging with an authentic voice. Overly crafting your message can siphon off too much personality if done incorrectly. The information you’re providing might be valuable but the delivery becomes staid and distant.

Your blog should drip with your personality. You should feel free to include personal stories as a means of truly connecting with your audience. The more you expose, the more your audience will as well; and that’s how community is built.

So feel free to be a beach. (Or at least enjoy it!)

photo by pocketshoot.

The A-list debate rages on. Every couple of months it rears its head as people argue over whether the A-list exists and whether it remains relevant.

In this latest installment, Hugh MacLeod is arguing that social networks and social networking tools (Facebook, Twitter, Pownce) have given people more power and ability to build their own groups, and not be as reliant on A-listers as hubs of attention. I think blogs already gave people that power; there are plenty of “networks of blogs” and “blog communities” that are thriving without A-list support. You don’t need links from A-listers, nor will they suddenly turn you from a zero to hero overnight. But…

The A-List does exist.

The A-List is relevant.

What people miss (on both sides of the argument) is how the A-list is relevant.

The A-list is made up of tech-focused, early adopters. If you’re in the tech business, running a Web 2.0 startup, hoping to generate buzz and build key relationships in places like the Valley, then being in-tune with the A-list and being able to reach the A-list has value. Having Robert Scoble promote you, your business and your product will help. It’s not the “be all and end all” but it will help.

The A-list, within the tech community, has the power to create lots and lots of buzz.

That can be useful.

But for most people (since most people in the blogosphere aren’t starting Web 2.0 startups) it’s not relevant.

For me, that’s the end of the argument. It’s a question of relevancy. It’s a question of strategic value. Not celebrity, not hero worship, not “who has the most friends in every social network.”

The A-list exists.

The A-list is relevant…for certain people, under certain circumstances.

Where we all go wrong is that too many people believe that being connected to the A-listers will be of real value to them. In reality, it won’t.

In Tony Hung’s world, the A-list matters a great deal. He lives and breathes Web 2.0, reports on it and the relationships he builds with A-listers can help him further his own goals (whatever they may be.) And Tony points out the obvious, which I agree with — some people are more popular than others.

For Brian Clark, the A-list is irrelevant. In his brilliantly titled post, Blogging is Dead (Long Live Value Blogging), he says he’s thrilled that tools like Twitter and Pownce exist, so all the banal “stuff” people want to write about (like what they’re having for lunch, etc.) moves to those mediums, and blogging is left to those that, “…provide true value by teaching, informing and offering unique perspective are thriving.”

Fair enough, I’ll buy that argument. There’s no question that quality blogs are thriving in a huge way, irrespective of social networking tools. And I don’t see a time in the near future where we won’t have quality blogs growing bigger and bigger audiences. No amount of social networking tools will change the value of blogs.

But Brian’s focused almost exclusively on blogging. And in that case, he’s right, you don’t need the A-list for your blog to be successful. On the other hand, if you’re trying to launch a Web 2.0 startup and you’re hoping to get mentioned on TechCrunch, get Jason Calacanis as an advisor, and generate lots of initial buzz, then the A-list becomes much more important.

Some people will always be more popular than others. That’s how the world works. And in some cases it’s worth being buddy-buddy with the popular kids. And in other cases it doesn’t matter. Each of us has to decide whether it’s really worth it or not, and go from there.

LinkedIn is a business networking tool that works well for a couple of things. For starters, it’s good for staying in touch with people. You keep track of who you know and what they’re up to. Secondly, it works well for recruiting.

Some time ago, LinkedIn released LinkedIn Answers, which allows you to pose questions to people within your network or a greater audience. At first I didn’t pay any attention to the functionality, but I started receiving questions from people.

• What is the best RSS reader for a Blackberry?
• How would you implement a staff-wide networking program?
• What would you like to be able to see and do on a local community website?
• Jobster.com: Has anyone used this site and if so, what do you think of it?

You’re not obligated to answer, but if you have an answer, it takes all of 2 minutes to reply. I believe all the answers are made public, and a discussion can ensue.

I’ve asked 2 questions recently, and in both cases I received very quick and good responses.

It amazes me how quickly people respond. I’m certain had I emailed all of the contacts and asked the same questions, the response would have been slower. Why? Because people tend to ignore mass emails, or feel overwhelmed by email to start (which I completely understand!) And although your LinkedIn questions will get sent to people via email (they receive a notification), somehow it feels different, it doesn’t feel like a mass email (or email at all), and so people respond.

LinkedIn Answers works great for referrals.

For general purpose questions, most people will search Google. But when you need a reference or referral you want to go to people you trust; i.e. your LinkedIn network. I recently asked via LinkedIn, “Do you know any videographers in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, Boston or Toronto?”

The response was immediate, from people I trust. I now have a bunch of videographers to contact. (Incidentally, I’m still looking for more if you know anyone!)

It took approximately 2 minutes to submit the question, and I received 15+ responses in less than an hour.

LinkedIn scored big-time with this feature. It’s useful and sticky. Plus, it’s fun.

SOBCon07 is finished. But I doubt there’s many that walked away without a ton of inspiration, practical guidance, friendships and an appreciation for the people that put it all together.

I played a small role, helping with the SOBCon website and speaking, but that’s nothing compared to what folks like Terry Starbucker, Chris Cree and Liz Strauss put into the event. And don’t forget Chris’s wife Lisa, event planner extraordinaire. Mike Sansone was integral as well, along with a bunch of others that planned and executed an amazing event.

Oh, and Christine Kane was great. Wonderful musician, entertaining, funny…

I’ve struggled with writing this post for 2 days. Firstly, there are many great reviews already by the likes of Jason Alba, Tony Clark, Hannah Steen , Easton Ellsworth, Phil Gerbyshak, Mark Goodyear and Jesse Petersen.

And secondly, what did I learn that I really wanted to share?

I learned a ton, and many things I was planning to write about here started to become even more crystal clear over the SOBCon weekend. But most importantly, I recognized how important it is for all of us to get out from behind our computers, walk away from the screens and meet one another.

As much as we can build relationships online, there’s nothing that beats face-to-face connections.

For people who “don’t get the blogging thing” they’re missing out on tons of amazing relationships that can be built online, without meeting people directly. But for those of us that do so much connecting online, being given the chance to interact in-person with people is critical. And that’s what SOBCon brought us.

I didn’t meet everyone there. A few people pointed out that more networking/connecting time is needed, and I wholly agree. I know the organizers do as well. But the chances I did get to speak face-to-face with people were great. Everyone stood out for me as stellar. Everyone stood out as a friend (except for one guy yawning in the front while I was presenting; I won’t mention names!)

So I learned a lot. I had a blast. And most importantly I remembered how important it is to not live life through the computer; but to use it as a tool to build as many great relationships as possible.

Here’s a quick shout out to everyone that attended:

Sandra Renshaw Brad Shorr Timothy Johnson Tammy Lenski Muhammad Saleem Lorelle VanFossen David Dalka - Mobile Search Marketing Todd And John Yedinak Joe Hauckes Tim Draayer Jeremy Geelan Sheila Scarborough Steve Farber Dawud Miracle Doug Mitchell Jeff O’Hara Dave Schoof Jamy Shiels Adam Steen Hannah Steen Chris Thilk Barry Zweibel Eric Bingen Ellen Moore Cord Silverstein Jean-Patrick Smith James Walton Sharan Tash Vernon Lun Tony Lee Scott Desgrosseilliers Mark Murrell Kammie Kobyleski Easton Ellsworth Mark Goodyear Ann Michael Kent Blumberg Ashley Cecil Robert Hruzek Sabu N G Lisa Gates Franke James Chris Brown Troy Worman Karen Putz Jesse Petersen Terry Mapes Andy Brudtkuhl Lucia Mancuso Peter Flaschner Derrick Sorles Mike Rohde Thomas Clifford Rajesh Srivastava Claire Celsi Jason Alba Cristiana Passinato Sean R. Alex Shalman Brad Spirrison Ari Garber Dr. Rob Wolcott Cheryll Cruz Sharon Scherer Jonathan Phillips Jason Wade Jill Pullen Doug Bulleit Wendy Kinney Chelsea Vincent Ayush Agarwal Paul Mangalik Premchand Kallan Xochi Kaplan Michael Snell Ella Wilson Adam Kayce Andy Sernovitz David Armano Drew McLellan Mike Wagner Rodney Rumford Robyn Tippins Diego Orjuela Wendy Piersall

Incidentally, the picture below is the best one I found of me — yes, that’s my backside (I’m talking to Tony Clark, standing next to Ann Michael.) There are a few pictures of me floating around, most with my eyes closed…but if anyone has a good picture I wouldn’t mind replacing the one I use on this blog for my headshot.

PS. I will put my podcasting presentation online shortly, in case anyone’s interested.

Since announcing the founding of my new startup — Standout Jobs — I’ve noticed something amazing from my network of friends and contacts that I’ve built through blogging and social networking.

They’re acting as a real-time research team.

In the last few weeks I’ve been sent tons of great information that’s of value to what I’m doing with Standout Jobs. People send links to industry news, blog posts, competitors, etc. All of the information is extremely valuable and hugely appreciated.

This is fascinating to me because it was unexpected. I was certainly hoping for support, and I knew I would lean on a lot of great people for different things (and will continue to do so), but I didn’t expect people to be looking out for me in the way that they have.

It’s a great lesson in the true purpose and value of social networking and blogging: 2-way conversations and reciprocity. Or simply put, “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.”

There’s nothing new in that mentality - I do something for you, you return the favor - but the key difference when it comes to the community of people growing within blogging, podcasting and social media circles is that we return the favor “just because.”

Just because you reached out, I reach back. Just because you took the time to communicate with me, I communicate back. Just because you became a friend, I help you in return.

It’s not so much about doing one another favors, or thinking in terms of business transactions, as it is about connecting and building relationships. The relationships I’ve built through blogging and putting myself out there have resulted in a network of people feeding me valuable material for Standout Jobs. I don’t need to track every single mention of every single thing related to the job market; everyone’s already doing it for me.

That sits at the heart of what we’re all doing: reaching out, befriending others, and having them reciprocate in kind.

Here’s some of the things people have sent over recently:

• What’s Next: The Monster Dilemma
• Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger
• New Start-up Video Sharing Web Site HireOrNoHire.com Helps Job Seekers Ease Through Job Interviews with Confidence
• Recruitment: What Not To Say - I Love Rewards
• Overhauling the Recruiting Process at CDW Corp.
• Time to Hit Pause on Video Resumes