The Vlad Hrouda Lifestream

Links, insights, photos and more on emerging life and media trends

An Excerpt from Seth Godin's New Book "Linchpin"

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THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL
The system we grew up with is a mess. It’s falling apart at the
seams and a lot of people are in pain because the things we thought
would work, don’t. Every day I meet people who have so much to
give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it
back. They’ve become victims, pawns in a senseless system that uses
them up and undervalues them.
This is a personal manifesto, a plea from me to you. Right now,
I’m not focused on the external, on the tactics organizations use to
make great products or spread important ideas. This book is
different. It’s about a choice and it’s about your life. This choice
doesn’t require you to quit your job, though it challenges you to
rethink how you do your job.
It’s time to stop complying with the system and draw your own
map.
Stop settling for what’s good enough and start creating art that
matters. Stop asking what’s in it for you and start giving gifts that
change people. Then, and only then, will you have achieved your
potential.
For hundreds of years, the population has been seduced,
scammed and brainwashed into fitting in, following instructions
and exchanging a day’s work for a day’s pay. That era has come to an
end, and just in time.
You have brilliance in you, your contribution is valuable, and the
art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must. I’m
hoping you’ll stand up and choose to make a difference.

YOU ARE A GENIUS
If a genius is someone with exceptional abilities and the insight
to find the nonobvious solution to a problem, you don’t need to win
a Nobel Prize to be one. A genius looks at something that others are
stuck on and gets the world unstuck.
So, the question is: Have you ever done that?
Have you ever found a shortcut that others couldn’t find?
Solved a problem that confounded your family?
Seen a way to make something work that wasn’t working before?
Made a personal connection with someone who was out of reach
to everyone else?
Even once?
No one is a genius all the time. Einstein had trouble finding his
house when he walked home from work every day. But all of us are
geniuses sometimes.
The tragedy is that society (your school, your boss, your
government, your family) keeps drumming the genius part out.
The problem is that our culture has engaged in a Faustian bargain,
in which we trade our genius and artistry for stability.
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More about Linchpin: http://bit.ly/8QtPRe
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Why Social Strategies are Difficult for Agencies to execute?

Paul Dunay wrote inspirational post on locked Triibes.com. I'd like to share it with you:

"Many agencies today are offering Social Media services (if they aren’t they need to). But for many of them it is often hard to architect the strategy since so much of the knowledge of ‘who to go to’ for ‘what type of Social Media conversation’ is very internal knowledge.
A good Social Media strategy starts with looking at what Conversations you want to engage in, what Objectives you have for engaging in those conversations, what Strategy you will have to fulfill on those objectives and finally what Technology you will use to get there.
In order to plan that out for a client, the agency can work with them to get a sense for the Conversations a brand should be engaged in, what Objectives they should have for engaging in these conversation, what strategy will best fulfill on your objective and what technology to use. But where Agencies typically are challenged is on the “who” part of the equation – “who” will be the person best suited to represent the brand for a particular type of conversation.
Agencies have to get internally savvy fast to navigate the waters of an organization and this typically doesn’t happen overnight. Or perhaps they need to find the “super connector” within the organization who can help them articulate who to go to as point of contact for those conversations.
So when you are working with an outside agency on helping you with your Social Media strategy the best place to focus your efforts to help them is in the identification and recruitment of strong personas who can represent your brand in some very specific conversations."

 

Managing Morale in a time of change – a Triiibes e-book

Click here to download:
ManagingMorale_Triiibesbook.pdf (759 KB)
(download)

This e-book is a Triiibes discussion led by Ed Brenegar. In times of continuous and disruptive change, when cuts in staff and consolidation of operations mean the work context is changing dramatically, leaders face a huge challenge – how to maintain the morale of those who are left? The e-book is thought stream from discussion on Triiibes about how to tackle that challenge and the issues that surround it.

The e-book is free to distribute. Please keep it intact so that the full range of discussion may be available to other readers. 

What is Triiibes?
Triiibes, is an online social network created by Seth Godin for readers of his New York Times bestselling book Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us.
This is a tribe about tribes.
As Seth explains “The opportunity, particularly in a controlled, private group like this one, is to combine the leverage of digital with the one to one impact of real life. Basically, you get what you give.”
Like any other online social network, the interaction between people is done through blog posts, discussion forums, the sharing of pictures and videos, and through messages sent between on members. Presently, over 6500 people are Triiibes members. You can find the main page of Triiibes at http://www.triiibes.com/ .

What social media will be like in the future?

Social Media is not Mass Marketing.
Here's   Steve Yastrow's suggestion:
„Don't think mass marketing. Don't think of advertising-type metrics, such as reach, frequency, big numbers, and "cutting through the clutter.

Think micro. Think relationships.

 Think of a customer saying, "What's in it for me?"
NOT
a marketer saying, "Cool, I have another marketing tool!"

 Think of customers talking with each other, not companies adding social media to their "marketing mix."

Executives feel a need to be "On Facebook and Twitter," as if being "On" these sites signifies that they are up to speed on the latest marketing tools. But being "On" these social media sites doesn't mean a thing. When your customers use social media to talk to each other about you ... now that means something.“

  
 

How To Act As Social Media Support Manager

Can virtual assistants be a "social media experts?" Is following example a clue how to start this type of business? See what Kathy Colaiacovo writes:

"With my clients, I act as a support manager; setting up a plan and custom profiles, linking Twitter and their other social media channels to work more efficiently, queuing up business tips to post on twitter and keeping the client on track with their social media plan. Looking after this type of work means that for 15 to 20 minutes a day my clients can go on Twitter and spend their time connecting with other people. It's the ability to have the time to connect like this that will reveal their personality and assist in building the relationships on Twitter that can lead to business growth."

I've bookmarked many posts on a "social media expert" issue on Delicious.

Who is social media expert? Is Kathy this type of expert? What do you think?