Author: themshow

Categories
Daily Life

Quarterly Review

Although I called Reverse NaBloPoMo, my Q3 review is actually left over from October… So here we go:

Results so far for 2009 Goals:

3Q 2009 Results
3Q 2009 Results

Family keeps me grounded and so it rates first. It’s been a good year, the only problem is not being able to get out to California to see my nephew. Unfortunately there’s not enough vacation time to go around between my family in Michigan and the West Coast. On the plus side was Carin’s birthday trip to swim with the dolphins in Orlando.

Financial Goals will be hit this year thanks to aggressive saving all year long. I’ve also reviewed all investments and insurance. The only thing remaining is to hit the Charity Goal, and all that requires is checking how much we’ve given in December and writing checks to hit the goal. No real effort to hit that one.

My Personal goals were kind of lame this year. I’ve lost about 1/3 of the weight I wanted to so that one will not get hit this year, even though I did run Falmouth. I wanted to shoot more video, and I did a little bit, but I ended up getting wrapped up more with photography.

Professionally it’s been another great year at AccuRev, in a year where everyone in software fears the unemployment line, we’ve been hitting bonus targets. Marketing Over Coffee is having another strong year too.

Time to start thinking about what to work on in 2010…

Categories
Daily Life

Reverse NaBloPoMo

This is National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). The idea is that you do a post a day for the month. It’s an extension of a similar thing where you write a whole book in one month. I’m to tired to google that right now.

I’m going to do Reverse NaBloPoMo and take the rest of the month off. If you’re looking for something to read while I’m gone, Clarence pointed me to Machine Man months ago and it is the coolest thing I have read in a long time. If the idea of augmenting human performance through machinery fascinates you, you have to check it out.

See you in December…

Categories
Podcasting

Big Stuff

Traackr looks pretty interesting (via Mike Troiano)

Even more impossible, there was a new episode of The M Show this weekend:

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/themshow/TheMShow204.mp3]
Categories
Daily Life

Project List

While the blog languishes to good news is that all projects are moving along nicely.

The most important news is that the day job has been on fire, bonus with a baby coming is a wonderful thing.

I got down to the Inbound Marketing Summit for part of a day, and 2 nights. I pulled a Forrest Gump and fell out of the sky on Wednesday to get dinner with the show team which was cool. I also got to hang out with Tim Street and that will show up on Marketing Over Coffee as soon as I can get to it.

A good week working with Matthew Ebel too. After a few months of work the major plumbing on his email system is up and we surveyed over 200 of his fans for feedback on his live shows. Some interesting there that will include testing some SMS stuff, very excited about that.

I’m also completing final edits on an eBook about email tactics, that should also end up on the best marketing podcast fairly soon.

Until then, I found this great video – Seth Godin talking about the behind the scenes strategy of his books. Buried in the last 5 minutes is why he doesn’t do email and sticks to blogging.

Right now I have the time honored New England tradition of moving the air conditioner to the basement. Have a good weekend!

Categories
Daily Life

MATCH School Shows Impressive MCAS Results

I first learned about the MATCH School at the Nantucket Conference a few years back. Most of the students are from neighborhoods that have a poor track record of academic success. MATCH School increases the workload and tutoring for students and shows impressive results.

Congratulations to them all!

The MATCH School received the state-wide MCAS rankings on September 16 from Duce Productions/ Ariadne Media on Vimeo.

Categories
Productivity Buster

Yeah We’re Comin’ to Your City

Blogtoberfest

Categories
Great Marketing

Bootstrapping PR – Live from WebInno 23

At WebInno tonight there’s a panel on bootstrapping PR. You can get the bios of the panelists and an overview of the event here. Some overall pointers on how to get attention. Quotes are direct, stuff without quotes are my summaries.

Bob Brown:
“CEOs need personality”
Journalists are becoming cognizant of page views.

Peter Kafka:
“Get a referral from someone I trust”
Entrepreneurs are better off without a PR firm, you can tell your story better than a 3rd party.
“Use your blog to put out your view of the world”
Know when to adapt if the reporter is not interested in your one talking point – staying on message will not always work
“Embargos are dead” he tweeted an embargoed release today

Scott Kirsner:
“Meet in person, don’t get introduced by your PR guy”
Dealing with multi-channel reporters – talk to them about where it will be published – online, print, is any of it off the record?
This is retail not wholesale
Exclusives are worthwhile

Wade Roush:
“Don’t write stories and send them to reporters”
Pick the reporters that are relevant to your space and start a relationship with them
Blogging helps complete the picture of the entrepreneur and can be useful to reporters
Only 4 Real hooks for him – Raised money, Change in leadership, change in direction, new product
Keep in mind that exclusives are shafting everyone else

Mike Troiano
“Treat reporters like people”
Mike was busy moderating so he didn’t spend any real time commenting.

There was one question from the crowd asking why PR firms were not represented. David said it was because they wanted a panel of first person accounts from the reporters. I think a key point on whether or not you need a PR firm is your ability to tell your story effectively. You either want a PR firm that has existing relationships with the specific publications or channels you need to get into, or to help you craft your message if you are not a passionate and effective storyteller.

Congrats David on a great event with a huge crowd.

p.s. – Plug for my own stuff for webinno attendees – If you are interested in marketing and PR tips check out Marketing Over Coffee

Categories
Brain Buster

Freedom from the Soundbite

Something underrated about impact of the web on how we communicate – the fact that you can now get just about any major news video on demand.

I had heard a few things about Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame acceptance speech and decided to consult the wise and powerful Google. I found a number of articles that were critical of the speech, and thought that it was a letdown. Prior to the web that would be it, I would have to take the news at face value. Now I can go watch the entire 23 minutes myself and form my own opinions.

Michael Jordan has always inspired me, I was fortunate enough to see him play a couple of times and in a time where sports icons seem to have a hard time staying on the straight and narrow he managed to do very well. If you don’t care about basketball, the punch line is that I think it’s a good speech about motivation and competiton if you listen to the whole thing. If it weren’t for the fact that streaming doesn’t work very well, I’d say watch the last few minutes starting at the 21:00 mark, I don’t think it matches what the soundbites say.

Categories
Daily Life Email Marketing

It’s about the email

I have been writing for the past two weeks, it’s just that none of it has made it here. I’ve got about 20 pages of email best practices that’s coming together for an eBook.

That and getting a roof fixed, and continuing my pledge to work on actual projects including a top secret photo project and music too!

Here’s to being busy, I hope all is well with you.

Categories
Productivity Buster

The Sheer Joy of Well Crafted Prose

As a younger man I wrote only to pass on knowledge. I still print rather than use cursive because it’s easier to read, and my copy was the same way – lacking irony or metaphor, but communicating effectively.

Now I worship the well-crafted phrase. It’s not enough to get your message across. Great copy can also entertain, and I prefer humor.

On the other hand there’s no faster path to sloppy copy than Gin, but that’s another story.

I don’t bike much at all, but this piece on biking in Boston is absolutely brilliant. Not only is the Boston attitude spot on, it sets up a turn of phrase that stands at the peak of perfection:  “thus alerting the wizard, who alerts the monkey”. This is the comedy I hold in highest regard, it has no need to resort to vulgarity, and is as funny as anything out there. I get the feeling Clarence has done some stand up in the past, or in his future.