After graduating college I joined the Marine Corps and found myself in the middle of a North Carolina forest in early 2004. We were doing required field training at the School Of Infantry and I was down in the dumps. I remember it clearly because it was unusually  cold and it got even colder over night. I woke up in my sleeping bag and could not feel my toes. The air was so dry that my mouth was parched. I reached for my canteen and the cap was frozen in place. It didn’t matter, the water inside was frozen anyway. There were several weeks of training left and I had heard horror stories about what was ahead.

At this point I just stared up into the sky and just thought if I could make it to morning that the sun would warm me up. I thought about the thousands of Marines who had gone through the same training over the years and made it. I thought of the hundred other Marines laying in their sleeping bags in the same cold forest. They were getting by and I didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t either. I never gave up the search for inspiration.

Take comfort that in whatever situation you find yourself in, however hopeless it may seem, there are many others who have made it through what you are going through. Maybe it is debt, divorce, job loss, or worse…seek out the counsel of those who have been where you are and went on to great things. You are no different from them and there is no reason you cannot succeed just as they have.

More importantly, never give up the search for inspiration. It is all around you.

Growing Is Hard

I’ve been going through some changes in my life lately. They are life altering.

Whenever I go through a time period like this it always results in a huge period of personal growth. I should be more welcoming of this chance because it always works out for the better. It’s still difficult and I need to remind myself constantly that whenever I come to an impasse in my life that it is actually an Extraordinary Growth Opportunity (EGO).

An example of an EGO is when the doctor tells you to lose weight or else. You’ve got to do something about it, but what exactly you do is up to you. Your current course must be steered in a different direction because of life events. Without EGO’s we would not be where we are today and we won’t be what we will become in the future.

Welcome EGO’s when they come. It will save you time.

Papparazi

In Hollywood, celeb hunting is a sport. Whether it be Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, or Brangelina they are all routinely trailed by photographers, thrill seekers, and other people who don’t have the best intentions.

There has been case after case where celebs have attacked paparrazi to protect their privacy. Kanye West has been arrested for assault and destroying paparazzi cameras.

There is a more recent story involving the stars of “Twilight” lamenting the paparazzi, the “unavoidable” paparazzi. To me, stars feel threatened because they are constantly being followed and their personal security is threatened. This is understandable and I would probably feel the same if I were in their position. At the same time, the paparazzi informs the fans of celebrities with pictures and stories(some good, some not). The amount of celebrity coverage on the net, in print, and the small screen proves the insatiable taste for celebrity news.

So, the question is, “What Can Celebrities Do To Inform Fans Without The Paparazzi?”

I believe the answer lies in the web, of all places. It involves the actual celebrities taking control of their persona and satisfying their fans while earning new ones. Using social web applications allows celebrities to easily notify their fans of what they are doing in ways they approve of. Celebrities don’t have to worry about the paparazzi snapping a photo of them in a compromising position or with a bad hair day because people’s attention is redirected to what is coming directly from the celebrity. Social web applications give celebrities a platform to share and crowd out the paparazzi noise.

How Celebrities Can Accomplish This

1. Twitter and Twitpic

Twitter is a tool that has been used by both celebrities and non-celebrities to reach their fans and generate new ones. There are countless people who have used Twitter to build their fame like @garyvee and @chrisbrogan. For existing celebrities, they need to use it to personally connect with their fan base. Tell us when you are eating a cheeseburger, reading the paper, or playing golf. You will turn your fans into a tribe of followers less inclined to seek out paparazzi sources because they get all the info they care about directly from you. This means the paparazzi population is reduced and celebrities can feel more secure by several orders of magnitude.

There are examples of celebrities using Twitter successfully. @lancearmstrong recently tweeted about his surgery and tweeted pictures of his scar using the Twitpic service. No paparrazi shot that photo, nor could they get that access. Only Lance can show us this and he gives his fans what they want.If Lance reads something untrue about him in the newspaper he can also immediately let his fans know what he feels. Lance is empowered by a great platform.

Rainn Wilson, Dwight Schrute from “The Office,” also uses Twitter @rainnwilson. At the time of this writing he has 1,120,967 followers who see his notifications when he makes them. If you need to spread a message, this is a great way to reach fans of yours.

2. Blog

Twitter is referred to as a “Microblog” because it restricts posts to 140 characters. For longer posts the best spot is on a blog. Many celebs have websites, but don’t have blogs. I believe it should be the opposite when it comes to priority.

On your blog fans can subscribe to the RSS feed and be notified when you make a post. You can interact with your fans in the comments sections. You can post more of your own pictures from on the red carpet, on set, when you are in the studio. You don’t need to wait for VH1 to do a documentary on you for coverage of your album or Entertainment Tonight to cover your upcoming movie. With blogs you can frame yourself before others frame you.

Many celebrities utilize Myspace for this function, but I believe this is a mistake. You need to have your own web property to develop. You never know what will happen with Myspace. It may go downhill with the annoying adverts. They are getting clobbered by Facebook as it is.

3. Live Broadcasting

The final part of the celebrity social web app plan for reducing paparazzi, raising your profile, and making more money involves live broadcasting.

No, you don’t need a satellite truck, lighting, production crew, a set, etc…just a webcam, computer, and the internet. There are a range of free services like Yahoo Live, Justin.tv, and Mogulus. Sign up, follow the instructions and broadcast.

There are several web celebrities who have built followings because of this technology (ijustine, Chris Pirillo, and more). Hollywood celebs can create more fans and give fans exactly what they want: more of you (the celebrity).

___________

So, thats the plan, nothing more. If there is too much more, the celebrity wouldn’t have time to use the tools correctly.

I guarantee if used the way I suggest you will do exactly what the title of this post claims.

I had some success in a recent meeting with a potential partner. He simultaneously complimented and threatened me in the same sentence and I was forced to deal with it. What did I do?

1)No Emotions

A threat or compliment can generate emotions both good and bad. These emotions cause me to speak, act, and judge differently. The problem is that neither are good emotional states to make decisions from. So, be unemotional to make better decisions with a clearer mind.

2) Get to the core of it

The threats caused problems with our potential deal. They were essentially senseless roadblocks getting in the way of accomplishment. I pushed them aside and got to the core of the issue and how to solve it. Do NOT be distracted. That may very well be what the other person wants.

3) Size up the other person

Just as you would at the poker take, look at posture, body language, breathing patterns, etc. If the other person is upset, you should sense it coming and dissolve it immediately by addressing what you believe is upsetting them. Don’t be afraid to profile the person. Are they a knucklehead? A whack’em all? Make judgements about people and everything they do. It will help you get what you want out of the conversation, sales call, etc. And you will have more productive meetings!

Denver International's Crazy Devil Horse

Some people refer to it as “The Apocalyptic Hell Beast.”

On the way into the airport that isn’t exactly the last image I want to have before getting on a plane.

2) Weird Indian Singing

After passing through security in the Frontier gate area someone had the crazy idea of playing weird Indian chanting over the loudspeaker. Everytime I go through I feel like I am part of a burial ritual. I am all for cultural sensitivity, but let’s not scare the shit out of the other 99.9% of people who are not Indians.

3) Horrible Turbulence

This is actually what provoked this writing. In the afternoon during the summer time you can count on thunderstorms in the Denver area. Bad ones.

Pilots either fly around them or through them and in either case it feels like a roller coaster ride. In the Marine Corps we called it the pucker factor and most of my flight into and out of Denver are definitely off the charts in the overall rankings.

As most know, many actors and musicians are more likely to vote democrat than republican. Unfortunately, many of these actors and musicians like to take controversial stands that alienate their fanbase. The Dixie Chicks and their comments overseas apologizing for our country were widely regarded as  un-American. Some things you just don’t do.

Another example, Matt Damon referring to Sarah Palin and her family as a bad Disney movie. Jane Fonda overtly trying to appease the North Vietnamese. And more recently, David Letterman and his comments about rape in regards to Sarah Palin’s 14 year old daughter, Willow.

Many Sarah Palin fans watch David Letterman and Matt Damon on TV and movies. Many conservative women bought and used Jane Fonda’s fitness routine.The Dixie Chicks have had a huge following of conservative country music fans.

So, why would these people take the overt stands they do on certain issues? In my view they have made a strategic decision to appease one group while alienating another. In return for a more rabid core group of fans they insult another group of fans. This insult also grabs headlines and promotes who they are and what they do.

Is this smart? Giving up what could be millions of dollars in ratings, movie tickets, and album sales, to make a political or sensational statement?

I can see a reason to do it that doesn’t have to do with ego or insults. A tribe of followers is sometimes more valuable than wide appeal.

First, let me say being totally transparent in the way government spends money is very noble. Every citizen has a right to know where their tax dollars are going. If only Recovery.gov gave that sort of information.

Here is a sample:

14.257	Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program	$65,653,996
17.260	WIA Dislocated Workers	$58,511,252
66.468	Drinking Water SRF	$58,460,000
17.259	WIA Youth Activities	$56,158,510
16.803	Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Formula Program – http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/recoveryact.html	$38,048,939
14.253	CDBG Entitlement Grants	$29,952,254

After looking through all of the set asides, I found the generality shocking and almost intentional. It is as if the object was to give the impression of transparency by having a bunch of programs and money allotted to them without really being transparent.

My second thought after looking up some of these programs is: what is so stimulating about these programs? When I say stimulating I mean creating value greater than the dollar spent. Some might call this the Keynesian multiplier. From my judgment it looks as though this stimulus amounts to an expansion of government programs which are notorious for their misuse of funds (over budget, delays in completion, etc). When the money is spent, all or most jobs created will be gone and we’ll be left with higher operating costs due to the increase in government largess (more highways and bridges mean more maintenance, more buildings mean more maintenance, air conditioning, and janitorial costs). In the long run, we are actually not providing ourselves any benefit and may be hurting ourselves in the end. The intent is good, but the result is predictable and inexcusable.

The stimulus plan should have done something truly stimulating like a capital gains tax holiday which would encourage private investment and job creation. Another suggestion would be to lower the corporate tax rate, one of the highest in the world. Instead, we get more regulations ( ie CAFE standards), increased taxes (ie mileage taxes, cap and trade, healthcare benefits), nationalization of large companies (ie GM, Chrysler, AIG), and quadrupling our national debt. All within six months of being in office.

Some describe this administration as being “historic.” Unfortunately, in my view, it is for all the wrong reasons.

Intense Debate, like many consumer web apps, was and remains a free to use plugin or add on. One simply downloads it and activates it to use. I always found it funny when I received angry emails from users who couldn’t wait for a new feature or felt compelled to threaten us with using another service if we didn’t give into their demands for new/random features within their suggested timeframe.They were the first to blog or tweet their issue.

Why did I find it funny? First, because I knew we were offering a superior product to what the competition was offering. Intense Debate has always set the standard in the commenting realm and continues to do so today with the user created comment plugins. More importantly, we were offering a FREE service that gave users more pageviews, kept visitors engaged longer on websites using Intense Debate, and significantly upgraded the commenting functionality. In the long run, we were going to win, but we couldn’t win over everyone all the time.

I see this scenario play over and over–People jumping on a soapbox to complain about the newest webservice in order to draw attention to themselves. I saw it yet again the other day when Twitter announced their future TV show. Michael Arrington posted a rant on TechCrunch about things HE wants before a TV show (note: I think Michael is a decent fellow, but he is wrong here). The comment section turned into a complaint festival full of negativity. Robin Wauters, a writer for TechCrunch, said “a business model” in referencer to what he would want Twitter to work on. Please. Twitter will decide what is best for Twitter, but what concern is it to you whether they have a business model or not? It’s a free service. Plain and simple. Leave those decisions to Twitter Execs and Investors. You can go back to tweeting about hot dogs, farts, and whatever else.

The majority of people who use Twitter barely know how to use it let alone want a group feature, notice downtime,  are worried about a business model, etc. This is the disconnect of the early adopter crowd. Once a product does gain a small amount of traction it no longer needs to cater to the blowhorn crowd. Belief in your core product and its acceptance by your ideal user is more important (more often than not it isn’t the editor of TechCrunch).

A non-web example is Adam Lambert’s loss on American Idol. The Hollywood Elites all thought he had it wrapped up. Of course, the people in flyover country thought differently. Now people like the esteemed Kim Kardashian are speaking out on how they thought Adam should have won. As if all of Kris Allen’s Voters are somehow one step away from farm animal intellect.

Opportunity is out there. Listen to people with blowhorns at your peril. Let your sales numbers do the talking.

(Note: This is not to suggest that “The Blowhorns” do not make good suggestions at times. For example, Marshall Kirpatrick, makes lots of excellent points at times. To all “The Blowhorns” please do not read the name as a pejorative. A lot of you are good people)

Growing up I had great examples to follow. My parents, coaches, teachers, professors all impacted my life positively. Later in life I entered the Marine Corps and was mentored by several higher ranking Marines. Later still, after starting Intense Debate and getting into TechStars, I was absurdly lucky to go from meeting to meeting and visit with people like Alex King, Brad Feld, David Cohen, Todd Vernon, and several others. A lot of Intense Debate’s success is drawn from outstanding mentorship.

Having taken a break from the consumer web business and entering a more conservative industry (natural stone), I found myself in need of a new type of mentor.

The way you find a mentor is kinda like how you might find anything else. You look for it! There is no magic. Search for one, two, or however many suits you.

I found that mentor last Summer. Since then it has been a similar experience to the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” books. Every week there is a new lesson. Each lesson is backed up with stories, structured reasoning, and most importantly, numbers.

This week’s topic was looking at a potential distributor scenario. We fleshed out numbers, a breakeven analysis, and role played a negotiation scenario. After it was over he told me to come up with 50 ideas. I said, “For what?” He said, “For every question you have. What channels are there to market? What Marketing Materials are needed to reach those channels? What content goes into the marketing materials? Everything.”

He went onto say “You see, you don’t truly know your business until you can come up with 50 ideas. It isn’t an arbitrary number. If you can’t come up with 50 ideas for everything, then you don’t know your business” (your customer, your channel, your marketing, etc).

I found this advice tremendously relevant to my business and I just wanted to share it with you

It is interesting to hear a sales guru ignore the maxim in sales Always Be Selling (ABC).