Every time I give a blog training session, like a mother hen I say, “don’t just regurgitate what somebody else has said. Don’t just duplicate … instead, add, enhance, extend, create.”
In this case, Seth’s suggestion is so simple and so awesome for our web development clients, I find I’m more than happy to just link to his post and pass along his tip as is;
When you need great photography but find you’re on a shoestring budget, take a trip to Flickr.com. When you get there:
Use the advanced search and check the appropriate boxes under the Creative Common License section.
Be sure to check out the HDR images (which stands for High Dynamic Range). If you haven’t seen this photographic treatment in action, you definitely need to see it to believe it.
Be sure to sort by “Most Interesting.”
There are some amazingly gifted photographers out there, giving you all of these photographs for free … like the above shot of the junker truck taken by CodyR. To really appreciate the photo, you’ll need to click the image to see a larger version.
Before reading further into this post, watch this video first …
Seth Godin commented on this clip and pointed out the most important point … If you think interuptive marketing (advertising) will get past the consumer’s mental filters, you’re sadly mistaken. If a brain is busy, it is amazingly good at blocking out everything else around it.
Here’s something else to consider. A great ad with a great message, delivered in a unique and powerful way does NOT have to cost a lot! In fact, I would suggest that some of the best messages around are low-tech or no-tech works of art that required nothing more than creativity. Here’s a good example from the stars at Crispin Porter.
I’m sitting in a session at MicrocreditNH Entrepreneurial Exchange Day. What an amazing talk!! … Including a bit about real-time blogging and the immediacy of “new” technologies. Great stuff!
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UPDATE
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After posting the above comment during Katie’s presentation, I had the pleasure of doing a wild and wacky bit with my cohorts in crime, Allen and Lani Voivod. Little did we expect, Katie was capturing one of our “skits” on her cell phone. Yeah … color me embarrassed (NOT). Honestly, it was A LOT of fun!!
We’ve been feverishly putting the final touches on a new niche social networking system for Real Estate Investors for several months now…. In that time frame, and between the mundane day-to-day tasks, there has been an amazing series of epiphany, bolt-of-lightning-like, new business concepts that have struck us…. Each revolves around mass-collaboration and taps into the relatively new trend of online social networking and social communication.
Our latest idea was SO HUGE, so monumental, so earth-shaking, it would certainly redefine the industry…. Not surprisingly, however, the challenges and hurdles that would need to be overcome, make it just a tad too easy to say “let’s just pass on this one … it’s a bit too much.”… The challenges included little things (yeah, right) like; getting a group of head-to-head competitors to tightly knit their businesses in a collaborative way … creating a new affiliate system that would take over two man-years to develop … huge technology issues revolving around security and privacy … you know, “little things”.
I was about to kill the idea …€” until I read Seth’s blog post this morning, “Always easier to just say, ’stop’.”… … Sometimes I think the guy is a mind reader…. Spooooooooky…. … (Thanks again Seth)
Great for convenience … not so great for the drain on my energy level. I’m in Boston for three conventions at the Boston Convention Center; PodCamp Boston 2, VON and NepCon. PodCamp for myself, VON for our Client Iperia, Inc. and NepCon for another client (and new Brand Strategy success story … more on that later), Paladin ID.
Yesterday’s opening event was a fabulous line-up of New Media moguls, including; David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan, Chris Penn, Jay Berkowitz, Scott Monty, John Wall, Adam Weiss, Jason Van Orden, and MANY more. Over a two day stint there are 77 (no, I didn’t accidentally hit my 7 key twice) presentations in seven distinct topic channels. And the price one pays for such a star-studded extravaganza??? FREE!
Although I was hoping to get some of my Sybil-like personalities to attend events in other rooms, I ended up not needing to do that because co-horts Allen Voivod (Epiphanies, Inc.), Chris Forkey (Web Action Group) and Leadership development gurus Kathy and Louis Emond (Strategic Directions) are also in attendance. Not surprisingly, we DON’T have to compare notes because each of the sessions has been recorded and will be available by (duh) podcast.
Here’s a nugget from the show; I had the honor of chatting briefly with David (thanks for posing for the photo op) right before his presentation. Here he is showing off his laptop. Why should you care about THAT? David points out to each of his audiences that, on a per square inch basis, he’s willing to rent out ad space. By posting this photo on this blog, I’m hoping to “up” the value proposition to those companies who have already signed up! [wink]. The real point is that David, from the beginning of his presentation to the end, makes you realize that times have changed. To succeed, you have to “think outside the box” (that cliche was included as an inside joke to those who attended the presentation). Much of the material was from his fabulous book The New Rules of Marketing and PR …. a must read.
A little factoid I didn’t really care to learn about, however, was David pointing out that you’re tagged as being over a “certain age” if you find yourself typing two spaces after a period. Yes, even the rules of digital book publishing and document preparation have changed. Hrrrmmmph. That one may take some effort to correct.
Of course it can.… Here are some questions for you;… Do you have a plan on how you’re going to get career promotions in the near future?… Do you know the characteristics of highly promotable people?… Are you able to communicate your personal brand effectively to decision makers in a way that makes you a candidate for promotion?
If you were even a LITTLE bit stumped by any of the above questions, be sure to attend a FREE teleseminar conducted by my dear friend Susan Britton Whitcomb this Thursday at 3:00PM EDT…. Register here.
If you really want to embrace your own personal brand and find out how to skyrocket your career promotion plan, be sure to buy her new book “30-Day Job Promotion: Build a Powerful Promotion Plan in a Month.”… Susan’s book will be featured nationwide in Barnes & Noble during August…. You can buy it online or visit your nearest B&N bookstore before August 31st!
A “Trip” is …
Although I was hoping to get some of my Sybil-like personalities to attend events in other rooms, I ended up not needing to do that because co-horts Allen Voivod (
Here’s a nugget from the show; I had the honor of chatting briefly with David (thanks for posing for the photo op) right before his presentation. Here he is showing off his laptop. Why should you care about THAT? David points out to each of his audiences that, on a per square inch basis, he’s willing to rent out ad space. By posting this photo on this blog, I’m hoping to “up” the value proposition to those companies who have already signed up! [wink]. The real point is that David, from the beginning of his presentation to the end, makes you realize that times have changed. To succeed, you have to “think outside the box” (that cliche was included as an inside joke to those who attended the presentation). Much of the material was from his fabulous book 
