Schadenfreude.

Get to know this word – because it’s the thing that may eventually cause your movement to fail. It’s a German word for the pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. It’s why TMZ is so popular, and it’s why – despite evidence that the economy is leading us directly towards a civil war – some folks continue to post snarky comments about the Occupy Wall Street movement on Facebook, Twitter, and giggle while the nightly news shows recaps #OWS arrests.

Let me be clear here: I do not want you to fail. I do want you to get a hell of a lot more organized so you can do this thing right.

Schadenfreude only comes into play when there’s an “us vs them” mentality. Our enemy slips up. Someone much more wealthy or powerful than us gets caught doing something naughty. We’d never be that silly. We could never do those things. But when something happens to mom, dad, or our little sister, suddenly we can empathize. It’s personal – it’s just as bad as if it happened to us.

While almost everybody could empathize with the feeling of not being able to pay a bill, losing a job, or thinking that it’s time to whack some high-level bankers like piñatas until no more money falls out, here’s the problem you’re facing (and it’s a big one): occupying a park is not something that everybody can do. Most of the 99% still has jobs (they might not be the best jobs, but we still have to work). A lot of the 99% run their own businesses. And trust me, while I’d have no reservations about chilling in a park all day, working on my laptop – a lot of folks don’t have that kind of time or luxury. Meanwhile, we wish we could do something to help, but we don’t know what – and then we get on with our day while you’re getting zip-cuffed in the park.

So, while we should be empathizing with you, we end up dissociating from you instead. You become “the protesters” and not Mary the 32 year old spinster who barely scrapes by in her apartment on Prospect Road since losing her job at the bank while her former CEO decides whether or not to buy a third gold-lined umbrella holder at Bed, Bath, and I’ve Got Too Much Fuckin’ Money. And it’s not the media’s fault. Got it?

Don’t believe me? What did I just say about a banker piñata? Didn’t you get that, “Hell yes” feeling? OK, how about if our banker’s name is now Gary from Littleton, father of two and avid donator and volunteer to the foodbank? Now it’s a little harder to justify whipping out the whiffle bat, right? He might be a rich prick at work, but I can’t shake down a volunteer dad of two.

Schadenfreude is what enables us to disconnect from our morals and justify harm to marginalized groups. It’s why ordinarily rational white folks did nothing while black folks were getting firehosed for sitting in the wrong chair. And it’s why folks who should be supporting you may just be changing the channel instead.

While a mass occupation is great and all – hey, it worked for Woodstock, right? – you’re running out of time to make this personal. You have a serious marketing problem.

You desperately need a leader. Someone who can stand up – someone well-spoken – and deliver a speech that makes these things personal. Remember Obama’s 2008 campaign? He took this country by storm, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. Why? Because he was the guy who understood our problems. The guy who told us stories about people just like us - who came from roots just like us - and had a plan to try and fix the problem. You need an Obama. And you need a plan.

What’s #OWS’s plan? I’ve been watching for a while now and I don’t see one. If you (and even if you aren’t a part of the #OWS) want to get sh!t done, you have to get activation.

The public’s lack of activation for your cause is not a sign of laziness, but instead a lack of clarity on how to help. Any project must have that clarity to succeed.

So here’s a plan of action for you – and anyone else who wants to make something happen – because you need it:

- Get Your Message Straight and Align it with What Your Audience Wants to Hear: Stop the political preaching on your blog. We get it. Instead, I want you to start posting the personal stories (video if you can) of every single person you can – always include a photo – hopefully of the person with their family. Once a day, non-stop. Use a secondary Tumblr blog if you have to. Make this thing personal. For the titles of those blogs, first name, town name, age, and family stats.

- Get Your Message to the Right People and Be Consistent: Send these out as press releases. Flood the media with them. Give Obama-type online talks and post them online for all to see once a week.

- Develop the Right Platforms and Design a Clear Path: Create a newsletter. Your website is not enough. Get people to sign up to your newsletter and give them a weekly course of action, not just events or marches, but 5 small things they can do that week to help the movement and raise awareness.

- Make Spreading the Message Simple: Create a guidebook that you can use to educate the general public with stats directly from the Government on why things are so bad. I’m also working on an ignite-style video with those same stats. Release everything you do under Creative Commons so anyone can reprint and share it without asking for permission.

- Generate Sympathy and Camaraderie: Nominate a leader in each city who can speak for their movement. This person should be well-spoken, well-groomed, and very sympathetic. No political preachers, no lecturers, just a plain-jane-family guy or gal. Then have them share the stories that came out of the occupation that day. Have them give a speech twice a week to rally support, to give followers a list of tasks to take on that week.

- Find Allies to Help You: Start courting small businesses. Don’t expect handouts or freebies, but promise to shop in their stores in exchange for spreading the word or standing by you if they get interviewed (or, better yet – ask them to do a video interview for you and post it on the blog: the more business support you have, the better you will do).

- Change Your Tactics to Leverage the Element of Surprise: Silence works better than any other method of intimidation. Instead of loudly protesting outside of a bank, instead, line up, side-by-side, five rows deep, and *stare* at folks who cross the line. That’s creepy as all hell and will get you all sorts of attention.

- Engage the Desire to Belong to Something: Give everyday joe’s an ability to show solidarity. A bumper sticker, a t-shirt, something… and a check-list of activities to perform (ie: join a credit union, don’t shop at xyz) so that we can help you, even if we can’t occupy with you (as an aside, this will help you raise some money to afford to sit around in a park all day).

With all that even marginally attempted, Occupy Wall Street (and all the other Occupy movements) would become an unstoppable force, so what’s stopping you?

–

This post is part of the October Word Carnival on productivity. Check it out for more great advice on being productive!

(Header photo: Occupy Wall Street)

Seth Godin had an awesome blog post today about aiming for infinity in your outreach – that is, no number of fans is ever enough. No number is really ever satisfying.

There is a really important lesson between the lines of Seth’s blog post: you don’t have to reach everybody. Nobody can reach everybody. So, I put it to you:

You just have to reach one.

One really dedicated, committed fan. Make them feel special, because they are special. They’re an activator – and you only need one.

To clarify: Activation = Attention + Action – a simplification of the AIDA model.

Our brains can only hold a certain number of connections to the people that matter at once, it’s called Dunbar’s number. And we ignore this fact as we reach for increasingly ridiculous numbers of subscribers, followers, friends, fans, and views – like they’re marshmallows in a game of chubby bunny. We forget that at some point, with enough marshmallows shoved in your pie hole, you choke. You can’t possibly please or activate more than Dunbar’s number at any given time, because folks who want to interact with you – and are subsequently ignored because your bandwidth is too low – will not activate.

Here’s what happens, though, when you reach for one: you use one of your Dunbar’s number slots for this person. You make them feel valued and become an activator for them – because they’re buying from you, they’re activated, they’re participating. In turn, they use a Dunbar slot for you – but they also spread your information to their other Dunbar connections. That is the only way you ever increase your network beyond your Dunbar connections. That’s it. The only way.

Going beyond your significant other, family, friends, and colleagues, you only have so many Dunbar slots to utilize for building your business network. You maybe have 25-50 Dunbar-level connections to use – and all of them can be activators, given that they’re the right people that should be in those Dunbar slots. As an aside, I advocate relentlessly cutting non-activators out of your life as fast as possible – you must become an activator for your own activators, or they’ll stop. I would guess that for most people, the actual number is closer to 5. We’ve all heard that saying: you are the amalgamation of the 5 closest people to you.

That sure as hell takes the pressure off, doesn’t it? At maximum capacity, you only ever have to delight 5 folks at a time.

This is what social media is. It’s not a race for fans, followers, friends, views, or subscribers, like those things are a scarce and limited resource. They’re not. Here’s what is rare: actual relationships that require and earn attention from both parties.

Social media allows us to break through the barriers that once existed between us and those five activators. The only thing big numbers allow you to do is find and replace potential activators faster – beneficial, but not a necessity; and certainly not something worth placing significant effort toward.

How will the knowledge that you only need one activator (and can only ever delight 5) change your business? And how are you going to become a better activator for someone you believe in?

(Header photo: Hugs)

What kind of story do you tell about your business? I know what mine is.

If there were ever any question about what I stand for – how I do business, how I think businesses should do business – just look toward my Ignite videos. There was one in particular that caught my eye yesterday.

(click here if you’re viewing this through the RSS feed)

I don’t take my cues from the prim and proper. I take my cues from people like Katrina Pfannkuch, Erika Napoletano, Naomi Dunford, Logan Zanelli, and other business bad-asses. (Katrina probably wouldn’t label herself a bad-ass, but she’s rockstar like Lisa Loeb. And even the burliest construction worker breaks down in tears to Stay.)

I Aim to Misbehave. It’s high time for a new kind of storytelling in business. I thought of myself for a long time as The Geek Superhero. The more I think about it, the more I realize I’m telling the stories of business superheroes every day. I’m going to dedicate my professional life to re-direct attention to the people and products that matter and away from the businesses that treat us poorly and waste our time. Color me a web marketing Robin Hood. All that’s left is to fight a pair of tights.

(Header Photo: Robin Hood, Men In Tights by Jameson42)

Yesterday my wife and I went to the Avalanche game. That is a team with a big problem – I’ll go into that in tomorrow’s post, but today I’m concerned about marketing and attitudes.

We started off at the Pepsi Center three hours early, which is smack-dab in the middle of Downtown Denver. They don’t let you get in to your seats until an hour before the game so we decided to head to the 16th Street Mall to do some walking and window shopping.

About Blake and Speer, we heard it. A primal, guttural hollar. It took a moment to realize the source: a homeless man, begging for change on the next street up. Yelling at cars. But not just yelling – screaming. Shouting. Pulling a William Wallace. Whatever you want to call it, this guy was doing it.

My wife and I promptly turned around before we got in range of his tirade, but it got me thinking.

First – this is not the beggar’s problem. They are not the ones at fault. Instead, they’re a side-effect of a culture and community that has forgotten that – crazy off their ass or not – people are people and have basic needs like medical and mental healthcare, regardless of who foots the bill. How is someone like Homeless William Wallace supposed to productively pitch back into society if he can’t even get help to get his life together in the first place?

If we build the foundation a little higher to avoid the floodwaters, even if the house is a tiny bit more expensive – doesn’t it raise everybody up?

What’s more, in a world filled with noise and a limited attention spectrum, how is Homeless William Wallace supposed to compete with all the other corner beggars out there besides get flashier? Or take some voice classes so he ends up like Ted Williams.

As an aside, and not to sound heartless – I’m happy that Ted is finally getting help and rehab, but it shouldn’t have come because of pity. That’s a pathetic statement about our modern society; instead of making it a priority to bring everybody up together because we believe in it, we’re highlighting the most pathetic of the pathetic and rewarding them for “sticking it out”. Meanwhile the guy on the opposite corner continues to starve and beg. Drug-addled rejects (sorry Ted) are being preferred over equally talented, non-drug-addled college students with golden voices who give up their dreams and work fast food.

We’re rewarding those scraping the bottom of the bucket and treating it like some fairytale rescue story when there’s so, so many hard-working people out there who deserve the same chance but don’t have nearly as sad of a story.

By this same logic, we only care when the straits are dire; in the best traditions of a caring, responsible American public, we give a shit when the shit hits the fan. American or not – from Haiti to New Zealand – we cry, we pray, we hope, we donate, we volunteer.

But when it comes to prevention most people just sit idle on the sidelines until the breaking point cajoles them into action. Not to weave too crazy of a tale here, but we behave exactly the same way in our business lives.

My less-than-politically-correct point: as a small business owner, I have occasionally behaved like Homeless William Wallace. I’ve seen a lot of other business owners do the same thing. It’s high-time to stop this bullshit.

I’ve screamed my marketing at people; I’ve screamed into the void and added to the noise. All in the hopes that someone listening will drop some change in my bucket and pay some attention. In doing so, I (and my fellow business owners, who have all been guilty of this at one point or another) have single-handedly driven potentially dedicated, helpful customers away from entire business segments.

So what does the alternative look like? How do we do it better?

We focus on prevention and forward thinking. We can’t fill the the void with noise. Generation Y is largely ad-blind. Unless you can grab our attention with something funny, unexpected, or unless you already have a pass into our attention stream, you’re hosed – and it’s our own damn fault. It’s like that party where everybody screams louder and louder until nobody can hear a damn thing.

The only moment of clarity is connecting with our friend across the room and heading outside to have a quiet drink together. A one on one connection. No noise. No shouting. No posturing.

What if we actually shut up for once and let our customers and friends to the speaking for us, to the people who mattered – and were most likely to buy and care? People who will be honest about our benefits and faults on our behalf.

I’m working on this. I don’t know what it looks like, yet, but I think it can be done. And when I’ve got it down, I’ll teach it.

In the meantime, let’s work on building the house a bit higher. Soylent Green is not the solution, but it’s where we’re headed if we don’t fix it.

(Header photo: Homeless Lady by JPhilipson)

My wife and I like to relax by watching Cupcake Wars on The Food Network. We’re not foodies, but we do like our cupcakes.

I know there are probably foodies out there who feel that the judging on this show is not absurd. You really have to watch the show to understand exactly what I mean, but – four teams of contestants get an hour to make cupcakes. Except, these are pro bakers. They do nothing but this for a living, and when they get on the show, they’re bringing their best.

The cupcakes, in short, are probably more addictive than meth.

What bothers me is the looks on the faces of the judges when the contestants display their wares. I’ve never seen someone able to be snobbish about cupcakes – as a fat kid, I can’t even fathom it.

It got me thinking – are there things in your business that you’re (unnecessarily?) snobbish about? Does it make a difference to your customers? Is it something that sets you apart, in a good way?

Cupcakes are joyful things. Your career can be that way – but a lot of us don’t remember that. We get snobbish. And my guess is, it takes all the fun and joy out of it for our customers, too. I have a lot more fun interacting with people who exude joy about their profession rather than snobbery.

Don’t know what I mean? Just ask a typography junkie about Papyrus.

(Header photo: Cupcakes by lamantin)

If you don’t know who Captain Hammer is, educate yourself fool! Far from being the Corporate Tool Dr. Horrible thinks he is, Captain Hammer is actually the model of a perfect freelancer. No, really:

He knows how to energize his audience.

He knows how to get the competition’s goat.

He does good by doing well (and gives back!)

… and he knows how to make an entrance.

He doesn’t need business books. He’s just naturally like this.

I’ve always wanted to bring more creativity into the business world, so on December 25th, I’ll be launching my new business: Creative Renegade. My focus is on reminding businesses how to be creative by improving communication with their customers, employees, and businesses partners. If you are interested in learning more, visit the Creative Renegade website at http://www.CreativeRenegade.com and subscribe.

Without getting in to too many specifics, I see a serious need in a few different areas:

• Web Marketing Strategy
• Talent Procurement and Management
• Team Communication and Creativity
• Customer Engagement and Retention

I don’t pretend to be a wizard (and if you know me, you know ‘guru’ in my book is the same as ‘snake oil salesman’) – but over the last few years, I’ve been able to help businesses in every industry communicate better. Perhaps as a neat side-effect, not one of those businesses has gone out of business because of the economy.

I also want to see some cool things happen around Fort Collins. On my 5-year to-do list (and you’re welcome to help, I can’t do it alone!):

• Eliminate Hunger in Fort Collins
• Regular Free or Low-Cost Music Lessons in Fort Collins
• Bring TEDx to Fort Collins (I just found out on Friday that our license was granted!)
• Make Fort Collins a major hub for cool, geeky events like PodCamp, GameCamp, FreelanceCamp, and CareerCamp!

I’m really excited to make a difference for businesses and the community. In the next few days, I’ll post a few choice questions for local business owners; let me know what you think and you’ll be entered for a chance to get my services for free. Keep watching CreativeRenegade.com for more updates!

In a digital age have we forgotten the basic elements of human connection in business?

At a time in history when we have a plethora of communication options at our fingertips, why are the polite and respectful elements of business drying up like a crusty glob of mayonnaise left on the counter?

Constantly rescheduled meetings, completely missed meetings with no explanation, texting while in a meeting, the need to constantly check a phone or mobile device in the middle of a conversation or meeting, consistently showing up late… the list goes on.

Have we forgotten social graces, or are they slowly evolving out of traditional business interaction in the digital age?

Its Pretty Simple, Stupid

When you make plans. Keep them. If you cannot, let someone know, much more than five minutes before you are supposed to show up. Considering we have several ways to communicate that have evolved way beyond  the carrier pigeon, there are really no acceptable excuses. In fact, you look like more of an ass given just how many options you can use, including Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, text message and even phone…remember that one?

A doctor charges you for missing an appointment without giving 24 hours notice, so why should inter-business meetings be any different? You are wasting people’s time, and that translates into money lost in any business. You also piss people off who tell other people about their experience.

Make a Decision and Stick to It

People who constantly change meetings look flaky and undependable. Same goes for the people who consistently request you send them multiple dates that you are free, only to tell you none of them will work. Then why the hell are you asking? In this case its not me, its you, so come up with some alternatives so I am not constantly throwing darts in the dark.

This does not instill a sense of trust, and makes me concerned about working with you in the long-term. Can I count on being able to meet with you in a timely fashion to get anything done? Or are you going to play the hard to get card? Please note; we are not dating, and I am not interested in chasing your tail.

Shut off the Mobile Device for Five Minutes

Yes, we know you are important. We also know you are a critical cog in the wheel of U.S. commerce. You are also a human being who can pay attention for more than five minutes at a time if you try.  I believe in you! How can you really connect with the person in front of you if you are constantly thinking about who else is trying to get in touch with you? Remember, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  Believe it or not, successful business transactions took place before technology convenience.

Get Organized; It Pays Off

The underlying problem with these scenarios is basic time management and organization. Don’t think it needs to be complicated or that you need to invent a complex system. Sit back and think about what would work for the way you work. I like having a paper calendar (yes, old school) so that when I am using my digital media I can easily access my calendar and change things.

Google also offers a free online calendar that will also send you alerts for upcoming meetings, and you can schedule the alerts for any amount of time. They also have ton of other tools that help with all aspects of your business and life.

Not getting anywhere? Get help. Talk with others in your industry and find out about the tools they use to manage their time. There are professionals who can work with you one-on-one to determine the approach that works for your lifestyle. Timebridge and Toggle are also very helpful time management/meeting tools.

The bottom line is that with more media to manage,  time is spread thinner. Its critical to maintain your in-person connections as priority one and be sure you are using digital media to enhance these personal relationships, not erode them.

Too many ideas distracting from running your business? Tips for regaining focus when distractions get the better of you.

We all have them, multiple times daily. They could be about what to eat for dinner, or how to quietly side-step that weird co-worker who stands just a little too close in the break room.

The challenge is even though we have ideas flying through our mind like pollen on a windy spring day, we need to know when to shut them down and focus on what is important.

Some people are “idea” people; they are much more at home thinking of ideas then bringing them to fruition. Its a wonderful skill and very useful. However, many entrepreneurs jump in as idea people without realizing it. Soon, they are frustrated because they make little to no money, are stalled at the starting gate and have zero fun — all because they lack the skills to actually EXECUTE ideas.

Here are some suggestions:

Create a path that works for you and how you work. Find key times of the day you are most productive. For me, its definitely not at the crack of dawn, or really even before 10 am. Do I take client calls and meet with folks? Sure, when I need to. I just don’t attempt to work on large creative tasks or writing in this time frame, because I usually just end up with a lot of revisions.

I also plan time in my day to just space out and think. I know what times of day are best, and yes, some of them do involve chai, staring out the window and perhaps even twirling my hair around my finger. Most importantly, I factor it into every day because its just as important as any of the other “work” I may be doing for clients, and its the fuel that keeps my business evolving to new levels. However, its planned for so its not distracting from key tasks.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t have creative ideas out of the blue, but they often show up when I am already doing other things. To honor the thought, I capture it in an idea notebook or on a whiteboard, and keep going until I have the proper time to dedicate to developing it.

Get a handle on what sends you off into dream land or causes you to lose focus. We all have a sense of what that is for us. It might be getting onto Digg or Stumble Upon and losing track of time. Perhaps its those daily phone calls from family members that are completely unnecessary, but they call because you don’t have a “real job”. Whatever it is, find ways to contain it, don’t cut it off cold turkey. Just choose a consistent time and hold to it.

Review your strengths and weaknesses and how to honor them. When we take time to understand and acknowledge what makes us tick on many levels, we can stop wasting time with tasks or projects that are full-out time suckers and leave room for cool ideas to take shape. So take 10 seconds, forgive yourself for being human, and then move on doing things you know you are good at, while at the same time finding creative ways to get your weaknesses covered. One option is to trade services with someone in the short term if money is tight.

Build a dependable team. These people will carry on the tasks after the idea is solid, and keep your mind free to explore other options and possibilities. Case in point, time for new ideas and the ability to make money without doing it all yourself.

Use social media wisely: By that I mean, don’t burn hours at a time reading things that are just entertaining enough to keep you distracted, but offer no real value in terms of productivity. Set aside a time specifically for this fun so that you are not cutting into overall productivity, unless its something that relates to your work or key trends that impact your business.

In the end, taking the time to know how you work most effectively is definitely worth the effort, and will open up the doors to creativity wider than treading water through the muck of overwhelming ideas and distractions.

How often do you stretch yourself, I mean, REALLY stretch yourself in your job, career or business? Do something completely out of your comfort zone where your stomach bottoms out, palms sweat in an instant and you feel the urge to melt into the floor out of sight? If the response is NEVER, you have some exploring to do.

Depending on your personality, a big stretch might be trying a veggie burger when you usually get a cheese burger with bacon. Well, good for you — but that is not a gut-wrenching challenge that takes any real cojones. I am talking about trying something your heart has always dreamed of, and ignoring the loud obnoxious voice that bellows “this is comfy”, to listen to the lighter, fainter voice that says “I would be happy if I…”.

Being Scared is Normal

I get it, fear can stop you in your tracks. Doing something new is scary, and can feel completely overwhelming. However, as human beings we are also often terrified by actually getting what we want. By trying something new, that might actually come to pass. So, get off your butt and pick that one thing that truly scares you, and DO IT! How else will you ever know if you are really afraid our just making excuses? This is especially important for entrepreneurs because without innovation, your business can quickly become complacent or obsolete.

Even businesses with simple formats such as Five Guys Burgers and Fries are innovative. They stick to their base plan and formula but continue to innovate in small ways to stay on the top of their game, despite the owner’s initial fears about stretching outside his own comfy box and business plan.

Entrepreneurship and Night Terrors

Being an entrepreneur is a risk in and of itself. It takes guts, vision and often self-soothing pep talks at midnight when you are so freaked out you swear getting each fingernail plucked out one-by-one would be a better deal. Yes, it might feel that way, but what is the alternative? A long, slow march forward doing things that feel comfortable and safe but never even get close to igniting your passion?

When you really get quiet, shut out all the distractions and To-Do’s, there is a voice, a general direction guided by your internal passion for your purpose on this planet. If you are going to be here taking up space anyway, you might as well do something that gets you fired up and happy. Not sure what that might be? Then get relaxing! Yes, not doing, relaxing!

Why keep doing when you are not even sure what it is you want or makes you happy? Take the time to find peace and quiet in your life and your mind. Yoga, sauna, exercise, trips, nature, do whatever it takes to get you centered, and then begin to build a practice around creating that time REGULARLY in your life. Life changing events happen in a second and transform your entire outlook on life. Keeping your mind open to new ideas is a life long process.

The Busy Mask

Yes, I get it, we are all busy. Heard it all before. I minimize it as much as possible in my own life. Look, only you can decide if you are too busy to help your own ass. So let’s leave the excuses at the door and find time to take a risk that has no SURE outcome, but leaves you with a sense of being forever changed for at least having tried. I guarantee it will change your outlook on life, and in turn, change your perspective and approach to business.