So I’m thinking God is trying to tell me something.

I was sitting in my recliner last night, trying to squeeze in a quick bible study. But it was tough, cuz I had just read some emails from the office that got me worked up. Got me REALLY worked up. They put me on that “who do you think you are” mode.

Then I realized I had felt this way about three or four times in the past couple weeks. Which is not normal for me. And as much as I wanted continue wallowing in my inflamed anger toward those questioning my greatness, it hit me that, given the recent frequency of these events, maybe the problem was with me.

I think God hit me upside the head and said “Boy, you got an ego problem.”

Poke the Box

Fast forward to this morning. I awake and find Seth Godin’s launch posts on his new book, Poke the Box (affiliate link). And this one on initiative really got me thinking, especially in light of my ego issues. Here are some great quotes:

Most people don’t believe they are capable of initiative.

At the same time, almost all people believe they are capable of editing, giving feedback or merely criticizing.

Most people have been brainwashed into believing that their job is to copyedit the world, not to design it.

If your project depends on individuals to step up and say, “This is what I believe, here is my plan, here is my original thought, here is my tribe,” then you need to expect that most people will see that offer and decline to take it.

After reading the post, I got the feeling that struggling with ego and having those “just who do you think you are” moments toward others typically means I am not in the initiator stage, but the editing stage. More accurate, I’m in the waiting-for-permission stage. And because I’m waiting, instead of going, no one knows what it is I’m wanting and waiting to do. So other people start doing stuff instead, whether I like it or not. Because as far as they know, I’m not doing it.

It’s the difference between making an impact and making an impression. Impact is better.

With that said, I’m anxious to read Seth’s new book. I luckily got in on the pre-order special for the Kindle edition, and I’m sure I’ll start reading it tonight. I’m also eager to see how much of it (if any) further clarifies what I’ve been trying to say in my presentation Move the Box.

Thanks Seth, as always. Maybe while I’m doing all of this “going,” I can go get over myself and start initiating some greatness that can’t be overlooked rather than waiting for others to simply recognize it on their own.

And thanks, God, for keeping me in check.

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I recently finished Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. (aff. link) I was already a pseudo-fan of Miller’s, but this book pushed me over the edge. The video below gives the details, but here are the main reasons you need to read this book:

1. Donald Miller is one of the most talented writers of our time. It is actually a joy just to partake in the act of reading what he writes. His voice and his points are both stellar.
2. I had about 15 a-ha moments while reading this thing. That’s high. And who doesn’t want a-ha moments?
3. I’ll be re-reading this book about every two years, just to remind me of stuff I’m sure I’ll find ways to forget.

Here’s Donald’s website. And below is my summary of the book. (Link to YouTube)

Get the book now at Amazon.com (aff. link).

Check out my other book reviews.

Subscribe now to MarketingInProgress.com.

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I recently finished up Joel Comm’s book Twitter Power 2.0 (aff.). The video below gives you the good stuff, but here’s the 10-second version:

• Pretty good practical resource for people new to Twitter. Joel does a nice job of really covering the bases and giving good guidelines for setting things up.
• If you’re fairly familiar with Twitter already, you’ll definitely want to just skip through quite a few parts. But in the midst of all that are some pretty good morsels to put to use.
• The list of third party resources in the back is very helpful.

Get Twitter Power 2.0  now at Amazon (aff. link).

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First things first here: a big shout out to Frank Taylor for letting me borrow the book Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah of Hubspot. When Frank isn’t waxing poetic about how vampire movies give him ideas about economic policy, he’s usually doing some pretty useful thinking in the area of web marketing. He did very well in recommending this book. It is probably the best version of a manual for marketing online that I’ve ever seen. You have to read it.

With that said, there is one plea I have from the folks at Hubspot: Please make your acronyms better. Two of the best pieces of advice in the book are acronyms. However, they’re acronyms that I don’t think I’ll ever remember because they aren’t words …. but they could be. So here’s my suggestion for how these acronyms should be presented.

1. PAVE – ing compelling calls to action. In the chapter titled Convert Visitors into Leads, the Hubspot boys offer up their VEPA formula. It goes something like this: make sure your calls to action are Valuable (what’s in it for me?), Easy to use (clear and simple, with few words), Prominent (clickable image, above the fold) and Action oriented (start with a verb – don’t be too cute). Awesome advice, but I’ll never remember it. I have no idea what a VEPA is. However, turn the letters around, and you get the word (an actual word) PAVE. And it even applies to what we’re talking about. PAVE the way to compelling calls to action. That I’ll remember.
2. Be sure you’re hiring CARDs. A great chapter in the book for anyone heading up marketing efforts in a corporate setting focuses on how to hire the right people. The authors use the acronym DARC. This is to remind us that we need to hire a) Digital citizens (people who are already out there on the web), b) Analytics chops (people who know how to measure what’s going on, c) Web Reach (people with connections that mean something and that could possibly be leveraged, and d) Content creators. OK, this one at least sounds like a real word (dark). But why not switch it around and make it CARD. Again, it brings new meaning to the idea of someone being a real CARD (“that guy is such a card”). I’ll remember that I need to hire CARDs.

Hopefully it’s obvious that I love this book. The to-do lists throughout the book are invaluable, and they’ve thrown in a couple appendices that are just loaded with links and tips. Seriously, it’s a must-read for any marketer.

And who knows … maybe the next edition will incorporate some more memorable acronyms.

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If you like beer and history and doing good thing, you’ll enjoy reading The Search for God and Guinness by Stephen Mansfield. If you don’t like doing any of those things, I think you’ll still like the book. It’s an informative look at the story behind both Guinness and Dublin, Ireland, and how the giving spirit of one truly shaped and saved the other.

As informative as the book is, though, it’s not exactly the most enjoyable read. At times I found it a bit too fact-and research-driven. I’ve never read another of Mansfield’s books, so I’m not sure if his laborious listing of facts and events is normal. Regardless, it got old quick. The information was good, but the joy of reading wasn’t experienced in most chapters.

Though I found the majority of the book a chore scattered with interesting nuggets and trivia, the Introduction completely made up for it. Mansfield does a wonderful job capturing the essence and communal centrality of beer over the generations, and its prominent place in the church, of all places. His story of the first Thanksgiving is one I’ve already retold to several friends. Being a recent convert to the goodness of tasty ales myself, I felt reaffirmed in moving into what had before been forbidden territory. All in all, the book is worth its cover price if you only read the introduction.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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In December, I was fortunate enough to attend the Direct Selling Association‘s Internet Marketing & Communications Seminar. On my first night there, I lucked into an awesome dinner with Jon Weisgal of Garden State Nutritionals and John Oates of Vayner Media. In addition to dinner, their gift to me was Gary Vaynerchuk‘s Crush It.

I’ve read a fair share of books on social media. Let me just say this is my favorite, hands down.

First, the approach to the book is no-holds-barred and straight to the point. Where some books focus on the attitude of using social media well while others focus strictly on the tactics, Gary’s book finds the effective middle ground. He takes the time to explain why the rules are changing right now at such a rapid pace, and how that opens up doors for  anyone willing to really go after it. Then, he drops to-do lists on you that should be anyone’s playbook for really making the most of the space.

Highlights of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It

Here are just a few quotes I highlighted in the book:

• Search.Twitter.com is the most important site on the Internet.
  
• If your blog is your home, platforms like Twitter and Facebook are your vacation homes.
  
• The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.
  
• The Internet is only 14 years old or so – it’s so young it hasn’t even had sex – yet it has already crushed many of the biggest communication platforms known to humankind, and it’s not done.
  
• Some entrepreneurs are really into creating the next big thing. Not me. I’m about identifying the next big thing and jumping all over it.
• Creating community is about starting conversations.
  
• Your content has nothing to do with the mic, the camera, the lighting or the set.
• I use analytics very rarely and I urge you not to rely too much on them either, especially if you’ve got good business instincts.
  

In summary, this book is simply a must-read for any marketer, any social media nut, and especially any entrepreneur. That’s essentially what this is: a go get ‘em book for entrepreneurs who are straddling the fence, looking for something to push them one way or the other and put them out of their misery. Gary pulls no punches, but tells you his way (which often contradicts other things you might be reading today) and definitely gets you off the fence.

Buy Crush It right now on Amazon.com.

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Over the past few months, I’ve been on quite a voracious schedule of ebook reading. It’s truly amazing just how much resourceful content there is out there. Here are five great-reads that every entrepreneur should read at some point:

1. 7 Steps to Smalle Business Marketing Success by John Jantsch, DuctTapeMarketing.com: John really covers the basics here in a refreshing way. I particularly like the way he makes referrals and partnerships a key part of how any small business needs to conduct its marketing.
2. Personal Branding for the Business Professional by Chris Brogan: I first heard of Chris as “the Twitter guy.” Which reinforces the point that he knows what he’s talking about when he talks personal branding. We all need to be reminded of the importance of staying focused when it comes to how we portray ourselves, our brand.
3. Teaching Sells by Brian Clark, Copyblogger.com: These days, if you ain’t giving, you ain’t getting. The Teaching Sells concept makes perfect sense and really clarifies how and why this idea works.
4. How to Be Creative by Hugh MacLeod: Words can’t express how monumental this manifesto is in the marketing world. Just read it.
5. Twitter Power Guide eBook by Christopher Penn: The world has gone all a-twitter. This report by Christopher will show you how to make sense of it and leverage it for your small business.

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Seth Godin has a new book out, The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), and here’s his free manifesto. Seth has also launched a separate blog specifically dedicated to this new book, and he’s trying some new launch techniques that are definitely worth an examination.

A few groups of people that seem like a worthy audience off the top of my head:

• Entrepreneurs and small business owners
• Direct sales/network marketing reps
• Dreamers
• Sanjaya

Here are some other cool links dealing with it. Rest assured, I will own a copy within 7 days or less.

• The Dip Squidoo lens
• The Dip book tour
• Other books by Seth

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Seth Godin has a new book out, The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), and here’s his free manifesto. Seth has also launched a separate blog specifically dedicated to this new book, and he’s trying some new launch techniques that are definitely worth an examination.

A few groups of people that seem like a worthy audience off the top of my head:

• Entrepreneurs and small business owners
• Direct sales/network marketing reps
• Dreamers
• Sanjaya

Here are some other cool links dealing with it. Rest assured, I will own a copy within 7 days or less.

• The Dip Squidoo lens
• The Dip book tour
• Other books by Seth

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Just started reading Donald Miller’s Searching for God Knows What. I’m only through two chapters so far, but it’ a really good read.Here’s a noteworthy quote that could possibly simplify so many things we make difficult:

Some would say formulas are how we interact with God, that going through motions and jumping through hoops are how a person acts out his spirituality. This method of interaction, however, seems odd to me, because if I want to hang out with my friend Tuck, I don’t stomp my foot three times, turn around, and say his name over and over like a mantra, lighting candles and getting myself in a certain mood. I just call him. In this way, formulas presuppose God is more a computer or a circus monkey than an intelligent Being. I realize that sounds harsh, but it’s true.

I want to just talk with God.

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