At a recent meetup I met someone for the first time in real life. We only had time to exchange friendly greetings. There was an after party, but even there we were seated at different tables. Well, one way to actually have a conversation with this person is to invite them and two other people to meet for a tweetup. We have been following each other on Twitter for a while already. Since my suggestion to meet for a tweetup with two other people was public, someone jumped in and said they would like to be one of the two other people. So, we have three people with relatively unknown schedules. Mine is known to me and would likely be in conflict with most people during the week. My availability Monday through Friday is mostly in the morning. No afternoons and no evenings. So, there is a tool that at least 2 of the three of use are suing that would be perfect for finding common times of availability, that app is http://www.tungle.me/Home/. This should allow the third person to see when we are available so she can choose a day and time that works for all of us.
Month: January 2011
Current Temp – Time to Go Running
This is not what I want to see when it is time to go running. 
Why Should I Follow People on Delicious and Create a Network?
Below is a screen shot of the recent bookmarks people in my Delicious network have created.
There are more than sixty people I’ve added to my Delicious network. The real power comes when you follow people that are active in areas that interest you. Some examples might be Technology, Apple, Twitter, Social Media, Social Networking, Business, you get the idea. These people bring some of the best content from their areas of interest to their Delicious account. This effectively filters out all the content that is not worth saving and distributing. If you were a user that saved crappy links people would probably unfollow and think less of you. Most people will only save good or great content. By following smart and active people on Delicious, you get a great tool that is much like a search engine. There are also two other features that are useful to Delicious. The first is Fresh Bookmarks and the other is Hotlist. Consider joining Delicious.
Yes I am aware that there are rumors that Yahoo will shut down Delicious. You can get value out of Delicious today if you sign up. Getting value now, is more important than getting value in 5 years.
Google Knows What You Are Looking For
When people share their website and email address they usually use some sort of space methodology to cloak the actual address or link. People don’t want spammers to find and gather up their email addresses. The above is an example search for a website URL that was cloaked. Well, Google apparently can figure out what I wanted when it asks, “Did you mean: garyvaynerchuk.com.”
This makes it easier to get to where one wants to go. That was indeed the site I wanted to visit. Click, visit, enjoy.
Job Advice – Showing Up
A huge portion of success is showing up. Some people think that they are better off not showing up. That is a strategy that will lead to failure. When you don’t show up, you are seen as unreliable and as a liability. It actually creates barriers to your success. People will not do anything for you if you build up a reputation like this (Exception: They will recommend you not be considered for a job or promotion).
Showing up means a lot, even if you are not the best. Once people know your strengths and weaknesses they will compensate for your weaknesses and help your utilize your strengths. Most people you work with will want to see you succeed.
Show up, it might be the best decision you ever make.
Barcode Payment System
The other day I read a blog post from the 37signals blog, Signal vs. Noise, about apps they are using. One that really caught my fancy was Cardstar, hadn’t heard of it before and it really solves a consumer problem.Itt eliminates those cards you have on your key ring and in your wallet. Those small cards are a pain.
The app creates a digital replica of the barcode that is found on the card the store gave you. When you need the card to get a discount, you open the app and have it display the appropriate barcode. You get the discount and don’t need to hassle with the cards.
Let’s take this one step further. A barcode that is used for mobile payments. Could see PayPal creating this type of functionality. Lower fees for the retailer on transactions would be a big selling point on getting this implemented. Credit card firms may also do this to make payments faster and more secure.
Security might be handled by using two 4 digit PINs. One as a user ID and the other as a security feature. The user ID would allow for more that one person to use the linked credit card or payment system. Purchases could be tracked by user and made into charts and graphs weekly, monthly or yearly.
Could see a secondary user being a child in some situations. Their PIN would have spending limits and it would be easy for them to see their spending balance as well.
*This is just a rough idea that came to mind during or after reading the paper this morning.
*Many people have their mobile phone with them at all times.
The Story: Create Opportunities by Engagement
How can you leverage your work to meet new people? If you’re a blogger or create videos, some of the best new material will come from the most unlikely sources. If you are curious and open to new ideas, you’ll encounter fascinating people to write about or film.
via Web Ink Now: I love Fargo, ND in winter! What do you love?.
While checking RSS feeds in Google Reader, I came to a bunch of recent posts by David Meerman Scott and came across the passage above. It really hits on something. You can find interesting people everywhere. Engage with people more often to find great stories. The ones that are remarkable and worth documenting in some way are waiting to be shared. Ways to share might include, writing, podcasting or video.
Lesson: Meet people. Let them bring their story to you.
This is why tweetups are such a powerful opportunity. Serendipity can make magic.
*This post is more about creating opportunities to meet people than it is about leveraging your work.
Pricing: Book + Ebook
For just $4 more one gets the Ebook. Buy both and it’s like getting a $6 discount. You could also look at it as Buy the Ebook and for just $10 more getting a physical copy of the book. Shipping is $5. Special Priority shipping is $10.
$6 discount / $25 discounted cost = a savings of 24% for buying both.
For $25 I ordered both the book and Ebook. It is unclear how one gets the Ebook. There was no download included at checkout. That part of the story is to be continued.
Coffee Shop Mentioned in Book Naked Conversations
In the book Naked Conversations, (p. 81) the coffee shop Victor’s Celtic Coffee Company was listed as being the top result for a Google search. It was a favorite coffee shop for coauthor, Robert Scoble. His blog and links to his post gave it a lot of Google Juice. So much so, that it is still the top result for ‘coffee redmond, wa’ even today. They also undoubtedly have a great product. One that is remarkable and worth talking about.
LinkedIn Ad
Saw the ad above on LinkedIn. Relevant in location and timing. Not relevant to me, as it’s not part of my plan.
D.L. Damore 