New year’s day always seems to be the “best” day in our minds for renewed ideas, commitments to creativity, commitments to self, commitments to others. I am appalled to note that I wrote only one blog during 2010 … how did that happen? A 50% decrease from my 2009 performance. This is not good. No, restate: this is something I want to correct.

Several years ago as I expressed my desire to pursue my writing career, a practical friend did what practical friends do: bought me a book of writing exercises for my birthday. And I did what I always do: skimmed until one idea hooked my attention, and have followed it ever since. Or rather, have followed no other ever since. The idea was to write every morning for 10 minutes, to make that commitment to that first-of-day glimmer of imagination, harvesting the the fertile hours of sleep – to write whatever pops into one’s head without stopping, backspacing, correcting. Just flow for 10 whole minutes.

And it occurs to me that if I am going to get serious about blogging, that’s probably the tool that I can leverage best. Yes, of course, I’ll have to invest in a little editing at the end but why not just move forward and do it? Just do it. Ah, Nike … you have forever permeated our psyches with what has got to be the best slogan in history.

I have to ask myself why I created a blog in the first place. Why do any of us? Do we really have so much to share? Are we really so in need of hearing ideas from other people that millions and millions of us can write something every day? Maybe so. Maybe that’s the new opportunity for the one spark that helps us all and on a glimmer, a notion, an idea to do-to be-to create better than we are the moment before. It has always seemed just a little egomaniacal to me that my opinions and ideas might matter enough to others to make the effort worth it, and yet, do I not share my opinions and ideas all day long? And do I not, indeed, listen to ideas and opinions all day long? Such is the rhythm of the universe. Hear. Consider. Digest. Use. Import. Export.

I like it. (Alec Baldwin’s voice in my ear.) And besides, it’s a good thing (now Martha pops in for a visit).

Vasilopeta 2011

I promised ideas when I first started this two years ago. And I have oh so many drafts just sitting on my hard drive, waiting for me to do something with them. Now that seems just plain silly. I love making the 100% effort, but as IBM exec Lou Gerstner noted when he decided to change the culture of the massive behemoth, sometimes it’s worth it to get 80% of the way there and learn the other 20% in the pr

ogress. Actually, he exhorted employees to make decisions and move forward with urgency … and 80% is good enough. It works for Microsoft and countless other companies. Why not for me too?

And so, that’s what you get. Maybe I’ll share. Maybe I’ll just take up bytes. We’ll see. But I need to move forward with urgency.

In the meantime, what are you reading?

On my desk right now …

• Six Pixels of Separation, Mitch Joel (a year old but I like the integrated concepts)
• Exploiting Chaos, 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change, Jeremy Gutsche (awesome idea-a-page book, and where I’ve just read the IBM anecdote)
• Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers, Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur (love the play on words here … the generation and the generating)
• Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career, Katharine Size (just in case I decide to grow up … seems to have some interesting ideas for self exploration)

Today is a day of multi-tasking. Before I started to write, I made the traditional vasilopita, or St. Basil’s bread, to ring in the new year. A quick breakfast of collard greens, Swiss chard and black-eyed peas helped us to bring in the new year. And, of course, a phyllo-wrapped bite of goat cheese and spiced fruits to take to our hostess this afternoon. Cooking, I find, speaks to my soul and enables me to think, to process ideas, if I’m willing to give over to them.

And now my 10 minutes of free writing have turned into 12. STOP!

Cya tomorrow?

Chats & Tools

This post was inspired by a recent discussion #chatmixer discussion, at the end of which the moderator recommended we solidify our new relationships by following and recommending following. About the same time, I heard two comments that gave me pause on the whole concept of followers and following. The first was from somebody on my wine list who wondered, “Is it a Twitter-pas to be following more people than follow you?” The second from an old colleague, who has become a dear and trusted friend since we reconnected via social media, who noted, “Time to weed out the list of people I’m following by deleting those who are not following me.”

I was a little overwhelmed by the #chatmixer recommendation because there were literally hundreds of interesting participants, who generated nearly 2000 tweets in an hour, in the discussion. And to the first comment, I had to reply, “No way! It just means you’ve found lots of interesting people to listen to!” To the second, I made no reply but did begin to wonder … am I continuing to follow people I should not be following simply because they’re not following me back?

So I used a oneforty tool (i.e., source for Twitter apps http://oneforty.com/) to find out who I am following who is not following me. And yes, there are quite a few … but I stand by my comment to the wino (so much better sounding than wine-y and not meant to be at all pejorative): these are people I find interesting, and from whom I am learning.

But I also think this is a defensible lot, as if one should feel compelled to defend one’s relationships: economists, change agents, thought leaders, and political commentators. There are journalists I’m tracking but with whom I have not yet engaged. And, of course, people who write about areas where I have a strong personal interest, i.e., anything about the environment, Greece, wine, and food (and/or some combo thereof). There are people who offer interesting ideas in my professional fields of integrated communications, public relations, analyst relations, social media, B2B, and investor relations. To be fair, I may have as many followers as I follow in the latter set. I even follow a few celebrities because I find what they have to say interesting, or they make me laugh… @NiaVardalos, @PaulaPoundstone, @MariaShriver, @MarielHemingway, among others.

Some will come off the list and mostly from a time when I (erroneously) believed that if you were followed, you should automatically follow back. Mass following techniques destroyed that concept. My discipline for months now has been to take the time to read a new follower’s bio (some are so much fun, I’ve created the hashtag #TwitterBiosILove to track and share), graze their tweets, and figure out if they have something to say that I’m interested in hearing. That’s what gets me to click “Follow.” Or a spirited dialog in a chat session. Not guilt or obligation. As IRL, relationships come when they make most sense, and when they’re genuine … when someone offers something that you’d like to share, and they find value in connecting with you.

We should remember that social media gives us the opportunity to FIND + LISTEN + ENGAGE. Sometimes these things happen concurrently, especially if you engage in #Chat sessions. Sometimes they’re deliberate. Often, they’re serendipitous. My recommendation: just enjoy and don’t worry about the numbers!

What I DO need to do, however, is get a little more organized so I can enjoy the discussions I’m really interested in more easily. Mop & rearrange the TweetDeck. Organize my Twitter Lists so I can easily recommend and link people for following … on Friday or at any time!

A last point, since I included “etiquette” in the title of this piece: it really comes down to the “everything I need to know, I learned in kindergarten” concept. Say thank you, be respectful, don’t be mean, share.

And yes, these comments are pretty Twitter-centric. I reserve Facebook for family and friends, people I’ve known awhile, and in some cases used to know, social activities with professional colleagues, etc. I’m not looking for quantity in either case, but quality … I just want to be able to hear the people I want to hear. Twitter-pas or not!

Thoughts on etiquette that just can’t be breached? Or, any organizational concepts that have worked particularly well for you? Please share: I’m sure we would all benefit!

I awoke from a dream the other day of ants marching around me … millions and millions of ants, marching in a perfectly symmetrical, rather Mayan-shaped design around me as I lay in my bed. You can imagine the freezing fear of having ants marching up over the end of your bed and then steadily towards your body, your head. But they didn’t crawl over me, they crawled around me. And in this really amazing, dramatic symmetry.

I woke up wondering, what the heck did that mean? I couldn’t lay my hands on my animal medicine book (The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals, by Jamie Sams and David Carson), my usual go-to source when I have a powerful animal dream. This forced me to think about it on my own. I’ve been having a particularly ant-y summer, with ants appearing everywhere in my house. They’ve been marching marching marching all season, exploring and carrying away every dropped crumb, every bit of spilled sweetness, every misguided leave-behind of anything that looks like protein. It is very obvious that there are multiple types of contributors to the orderly ant kingdom. I watched in fascination one day as an ant worked at a particularly large crumb, probably more than 15 times his size. I wondered what strategy he would employ to get this morsel home. I didn’t have to wait long: a helper arrived to try to move it with him, and when that didn’t work, another arrived and then another. With a minimal amount of discussion and no power struggle, these four ants were eventually moving in sync to carry a crumb across the counter top. Amazing collaboration.

So as I explored the idea of ants and their steady work and how it might relate to me (besides having to do a better job of cleaning up crumbs) in my morning writing, it occurred to me that Twitter can be very much like the story of the ant and the grasshopper. It is so easy to fritter away an hour, a day, even an entire week if something really interesting is happening in the world. Very grasshopper/non-ant like behavior. (You remember the story of the ant and the grasshopper, right? The grasshopper lazes in the summer sun, chortling at the ant marching by all summer long, storing away food for a long winter, and needles him to join in the fun and relaxation of summer. The ant knows he has a job to do and is not in the least swayed from his forward progress. Sure enough, the grasshopper shows

Twitter: ant or grasshopper?

up at ant’s door in winter, starving and near death. But ant knew that grasshopper was suffering from his own laziness … or lack of focus, for the purpose of this story. Ant is not very compassionate but he chose his priority and he and his family will not starve this winter.)

So, in the very practical application of all of this animal kingdom musing, and well-aware that many people in business are still avoiding Twitter because they’re worried about the potential for grasshopper behavior – but also knowing what a powerful tool it can be – here are a few strategies I’ve developed for making certain that my Twitter time is more like the ant-focus than grasshopper-frittering:

1. Decide in advance what you want to accomplish with Twitter. Listening? Engaging? Scoping the competition? Messaging? Giving your customers or investors another outlet? Or just for staying on top of new ideas, sharing information, making friends? All are legitimate and possible: just know what you want to get out of the process and assign time accordingly.
2. Set a clock: give yourself a specific amount of time to be on Twitter, partly play/partly work, and when your time is up, close the window … at least. Note: if you use a TweetDeck, an invaluable categorizing tool, pop-up alerts can inform you by category of incoming tweets that need attention – DM’s if you’re waiting for answers/responses, responses to #hash-tagged queries you might have launched, scanning relevant work groups rather than “All” in moments when you’re looking for a breather.
3. Set email or text alerts for those key people whose ideas really could have an impact on your daily activity. Be honest! Scan quickly if something comes in but resist the temptation to access the info or respond to it if it doesn’t have anything to do with what you’re working on. And turn your phone to silent during urgent projects.
4. On a conference call? Writing? Doing a web-based meeting where your participants can see your desktop? Close it down … you’ll want to work without interruption or inadvertently sharing more information than may be appropriate.
5. Use tools that you can find at oneforty.com to help you manage your presence. Know whose work you admire and benchmark yourself to that person using the Twitalyzer, also a very cool tool for keeping track of what you’re actually accomplishing on Twitter.
6. Want to find a relevant URL you neglected to bookmark? Rather than searching all the way through your Tweets, use topsy.com instead for a quick search.
7. Use RSS feeds to track relevant dialogue that you might want to share; scan before you open whatever Twitter manager you use.
8. Test messages to know when your audience is paying attention. If you have something important to share, share it when they’re listening.

Most importantly, know yourself, Grasshopper. Know what you want to get done, what you want to learn, when you can have fun without wasting a day doing it. Self-knowledge is a powerful thing!

Several months ago, broadband analyst Teresa Mastrangelo, @broadbandtrends, posed the question: “Do we really need to do a blog?” My answer was yes, very likely. But, once you begin to do it, you have to stay with the commitment. There is nothing worse than a blog birthed and left unattended.

I finally had to ask myself, Why is it that you’re willing to take on everybody else’s projects and commitments and challenges – almost to the exclusion of doing your own – and yet cannot move this effort forward? “Almost to the exclusion.” Make that to the exclusion. Sometimes it’s just about putting oneself first. It took as long to define and establish my own agency concept just because I couldn’t prioritize myself to think it through and move it forward. Much more fun to do a turn-around’s PR strategy, or launch a new product, or get an exec on a podium to tell a new story.

But seriously, what’s the big deal? I write at least 500 words every morning over my first cup of coffee. Just because it’s in my head and needs to come out. Girlfriend, it’s time to put some structure in your life. This is a little like putting on your first pair of shoes. Ouch.

The key is relevance. I happened upon a Facebook post by someone at Holland-Mark tweeted by someone who recently started to follow me on Twitter. [Rant: I care - a lot - about what people share on Twitter but I think there’s a point at which following too many people is a waste of time: you can’t possibly stay on top of what each is saying without employing some additional strategies. So, I apply a little discernment: if someone is following me whose ratio of followers-to-following is out of balance, I tend to reject them out of hand. Or, when they already have triple- or quadruple-digits in the follow/er/ing categories and single digit tweets. I mean, what’s the point? But I also will skim quickly to see what they have to say. ::Climbing off soapbox:: End Rant.] So in skimming that person’s tweets, I found a Holland-Mark’s Notes post on relevance and it made good sense. Wish I knew who actually wrote it but thankful for it nonetheless.

But that’s what blogging comes down to, isn’t it? Commitment + relevance.

[Here’s the post: http://bit.ly/ChHzS]

Let’s face it: at some point, the cobbler has to make himself a pair of shoes. And we have to make the commitment to move forward. I’ve just realized I’m making this blogging thing sound very painful. Not so! Commitment to self … THAT’S the challenge. But I’m ready. Here goes nothin’. Rewind … here goes somethin’!

Why do I hear Sarah Jessica Parker in my head saying, “Because I’m worth it!”? Yikes! Time to exorcise. And the exercise for this exorcism is writing. Cheers!