Are you listening?

I love Social Media. (Like you didn’t know!) Social Media is real. It’s about real people. It’s about real relationships. It’s about real value. Wise people, the older folk, always said it’s better to listen than to talk. They said that’s why we have two ears and only one mouth. Listening is powerful. Habit 5 in Covey‘s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.” Understanding starts with listening, right?

Are you listening online? I’m not talking about the gossip. There’s gossip online and offline. If you’re listening to gossip anywhere, you’re wasting precious moments of your life. Stop it!

I’m talking about listening to value. When I’m with older folk, or learned folk, I say little. I write a lot. I cannot afford to talk. I need to listen. I need to learn. When I’m online, I listen a lot. A talk some. But I listen more. There’s so much value in listening.

A distant family member is into crocheting. She’s been into it for a while. She also reads a lot. Someone who reads a lot, most often, can write well too. I found a job post online which said: “Crochet Writer Needed” – so I sent her the link. Maybe she’ll be interested. Maybe she won’t be. Maybe this’ll make a huge impact on her life. Maybe this’ll make no impact on her life. I don’t know. But I care about her. And I shared the link with her because it was the right thing to do.

Look what else people are talking about online (and, are you listening?):

     

     

     

     

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Mediocrity is for losers

At the start of all my seminars I play one of the Shift Happens videos. The people I talk to are usually the Eternal September crowd, so it’s important that I first illustrate the importance of having the correct mindset, a mindset which accepts change and progress. Only thereafter can I gradually ease them into the world of Social Media.

The mind has incredible power. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.” If we take just a little effort to change how we think about things, new dimensions open up for us.

The Internet is huge, would you agree with me? I think you would. I was at the Coral International Hotel a few days ago (my second visit, and I highly recommend it) and I picked up a copy of an international newspaper there. An article by Arno Maierbrugger mentioned that, “By the end of last year, a total of 192 million domain names had been registered by internet users throughout the world, according to data by internet infrastructure provider VeriSign.”

I’d say the number is much higher than that though. Many websites use sub-domains – like photos.jayz.co.za, which do not need to be registered. Also, WordPress.com and other companies provide countless millions of sub-domains to their members.

So how do you stand out in such a mass of content. The key is to be different. The key is to be unique. And the funny thing is that we are all already unique. But due to society, peer pressure, and what is known as “group think” – many of us try to conform to be like everybody else. We discard our individuality for acceptance. And in doing so, we lose our unique essence.

I try my best to be myself all the time. I’m a teacher, so I try to teach. Many Social Media blogs rush to get out the latest Social Media news of the day. I don’t do that. For all the best news, go to Mashable.com – Pete Cashmore has done a fantastic job growing that website into the best online resource in this space. My blog is about ideas. Insights. And it’s specifically geared at the lay person. This is not a blog for geeks, although many may label me as a geek. It was refreshing to get a message on Twitter recently from Jo Duxbury who said to me, “It was so refreshing to see blog posts that are intelligent and original.” I don’t mention that to impress you, but I want to impress upon you the importance of being yourself.

Will Smith, in this video, says, “Being realistic is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity.” Once we set ordinary goals, we just become ordinary. Why not set huge and unrealistic goals? I saw something interesting on Twitter today, which said: “Don’t tell me that the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon.” I like that sort of thinking.

Seth Godin is, in my opinion (and the opinion of some millions), a marketing genius. I have (only) 3 of his books, and I highly recommend getting any of them. At the last talk I did, I told the audience that if they go to a book store and see any book by Seth Godin, they should grab it and buy it – without hesitation. Yes, he’s that good. Seth is Seth. He speaks his mind, and he is very intuitive. I like that.

I found this interesting video of him, it’s titled “The Mindset of a Winner” – and I think it’s valuable that’s why I’m sharing it with you. I’m sure that after watching this video you will sit back – at least for a minute – and think about what you’re doing in your business. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks.

Photo credit: thost

Pick up a jersey

If you know me personally you’ll know that I’m not that much into sports. I played soccer in my pre-teen years, but not much thereafter. I enjoy watching a good game of soccer, tennis, and other sports – but that’s only if I happen to come across it playing on tv. I don’t really schedule this into my calendar, if you catch my drift.

What I do prefer is activities that get adrenalin pumping. So I’ve done bridge jumping, recently been on a (mega fast) speed boat, and sky diving and other items are next on the agenda!

Team sports interest me though, because I am fascinated by the team dynamic. Every person is important in the team, and working together is essential for success. I believe the same is true for business, as well as social communities. In this regard, John Wooden comes to mind. I first heard about him on a talk by Anthony Robbins, and then I saw this video of him at TED.com. Wooden (now 99 years old) was a phenomenal basketball coach. He was the first person ever (and then followed by Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman) to be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player (1961) and as a coach (1973). As a coach, he is still unmatched for winning 10 NCAA National Championships in a 12 year period while at UCLA. The significant difference about Wooden is that he focused on “coaching for people, not points” – so it didn’t matter if the team won or lost – he was interested in whether the individual player won or lost. Did that player play his best game, even if the team lost? Did that player play his worst game, even if the team won? What an interesting perspective!

A few months ago I attended a soccer match with my cousins and their kids. We watched a bunch of kids – around 10-12 years old – enjoy their Saturday afternoon in the best manner they knew how. Someone (I think it was a parent) yelled to one of the kids “Pick up a jersey.” Perhaps I had heard the phrase before, but that was the first time I had actually taken serious note. Immediately, I made a note on my iPhone, under “Blog Post Ideas” – yeah, I’m that type of geek!

The little kid was told to “target” a player of the opposing team, to focus only on that player. The opposite of this would be to tell the kid “Target everyone” – forcing him to run all across the field like a maniac. This is not the way team sports are played. I think businesses should learn from this. Too often we try to “Target everyone” instead of using the “Pick up a jersey” strategy. We’ve all fallen into this trap – at some time or another.

When trying to win clients, we sometimes “adapt” just so that we can get the business. This – in the long term – is not good. We lose focus, and we spend time building experience in areas which are not part of our purpose and ultimate vision. Anthony Robbins refers to this as trying to speak to all the trees in the forest – instead of the biggest trees, and the trees that are the best fit for us.

A very bold woman, and a very dear friend of mine, Jo Duxbury, has conquered this. Jo runs Freelancentral as well as Peppermint Source (please check out these websites, Jo really rocks!). A few days ago Jo said this on Twitter: “Turning away work because the clients do not fit my target profile is a uncomfortable, but sticking to my guns is best for both me and them.” You can view the original tweet here.

This idea is so essential as business advances and as global markets open up. All of us can’t be everything to everybody, we really need to focus. We need to find what it is that we do best, and then just do that!

Photo credit: bethcanphoto

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