Archive for August, 2008

What The Bluejay Figured Out

26
Aug
2008

Anyone who’s been to my house probably considers me the “crazy bird lady” on the block. It’s almost true, I probably spend way too much time feeding and observing the birds here, but this week, the bluejays taught me something: if you find something special, broadcast it only if you want everyone to know about it and use it all up.

Case in point: I have a hanging peanut tray and the bluejays love it. Generally when I fill it, they carry on, making noise for all their friends, letting the entire neighborhood know about the restocking of said tray. What often happens, though, is squirrels and grackles also show up, and these varmints are wasteful and tend to bully the jays away. The grackles will also bully smaller birds off all the other feeders and basically take over the entire property. The peanuts are gone, the birds are gone, the yard is quiet. Yuck.

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Twitter Me This

23
Aug
2008

This week for some reason has brought this topic of discussion up time and again among my clients, and being an advocate of social networking, I thought I’d add some resources today for people still on the fence. This is a short article by Lisa Cruz on the subject, but it really sums things up nicely: If the big players are doing it, why on earth wouldn’t the smaller players follow suit and maybe even be the frontrunners? It doesn’t get any more level a playing field than free and easy. Early adopters have spotted the value, and Business week also has a nice blog on the subject, with plenty of feedback from readers.

The point is not whether it works (it does, even if you’re not using it yourself for fear, thoughts of it being a kiddy tool, or you think you’re too busy to market in this way), but whether it will work for you. The answer is, “if you work it, it will work” Really.

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The Scoop and Then Some

20
Aug
2008

This week I realized that in addition to some great networking opportunities, Twitter is able to give me an amazing amount of news and information, simply by following the tweets of the major news sources out there. Give it a try. Not only will you find stuff to validate our suspicion of a sagging economy, you’ll find crazy stories like this one: http://tinyurl.com/5lf4va , where a man lost an ear tangling with a pit bull…my tweet says: file under “stupid things I did this summer.” Sometimes we just need to be amused at life to remind us how sane we are, right?!

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Are We All Olympians?

12
Aug
2008

Okay, I admit, I’m a junky for the Olympics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not glued the entire time, letting dust bunnies take over my home or allowing the cats to eat tuna all day, but I like to catch as much as I can. What dawned on me this morning is that while there are amazing stories throughout the Olympics, there seems to be a common theme on how these athletes arrive here: perseverance. Another thing that occurred to me is “sacrifice”, and not just for the athlete, but for their families or whomever has seen this goal culminate in an Olympic appearance. Obstacles, time, money, all these things, big and small, could prevent just an average athlete from becoming a really great one on the world stage. The athlete has to have the drive, heart, and yes, access to what they want to make it happen. How much one digs in and how much one commits in every way will pave the path to regular guy and “guy with the medal around their neck.”

Are you the average business person, allowing something to keep you from your own success? Make it a day where that “something” is in the past and eliminate a hurdle every day. Do this every day and you’ll see that goal come closer, faster.

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Mountain Chill, YUM!

09
Aug
2008

Most days I’m listening to Internet radio through iTunes. The huge diversity of selections is hard to beat. One station I found recently is called Mountain Chill, located under the ambient section in iTunes, where you can find a host of music, podcasts, talk, etc., if you download their program.  I was delighted to discover this station plays really great music to work or cook by, but also included in the broadcast are voices of real people, and no commercials. They also highlight areas around their town that are great destinations in a segment they call “Chill Spots“, should you come for a visit or live nearbyt. It’s like combining travel tips with the soundtrack that gets you there. An excellent listen for any of you creatives out there, they have evocative setlists and oh, by the way, they’re right here in Colorado, in Ouray!

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30 Boxes of Fun

08
Aug
2008

For about a year now, I’ve been playing with Scrybe as my online calendar of choice. After months and months of apathetic user-developer exchanges, I’ve finally had enough; I took my info over to 30 Boxes and I’m a happier person for it. Already, my Tweets and Facebook is linked up. It’s a smooth, easy interface and does all the intuitive things you’d expect in a Web 2.0 environment. Easy schmeazy additions, changes, and updates. Best thing of all, I don’t have cumbersome login issues and the cut and paste functions made the transition so easy, it made this GTD’er a believer.

If you’re looking for a user-friendly online calendar that really plays nice right now (not next year or?….),  check out 30 Boxes. While I was having a love affair with Scrybe, I also felt like I was being lead along a primrose path, with no hope of a real exciting future. Sometimes you have to shake things up to get what you need.

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