According to the NY Times, there are only 1.2 Billion good jobs in the world – and 6.9 Billion people are fighting over them! Ever seen Shift happens?

Education is getting slaughtered in the US – and maybe that is a good thing because free education was set up by Edison and Crew to provide skilled workers for their factory jobs – jobs that have moved overseas. Maybe home schooling, internships and mentoring programs are the way to go. Even with a Chemistry degrees, I didn’t have the skills for a job until I took extra workshops in specific equipment to get certified with marketable skills. The same is true today where a number of jobs did not exist ten years ago — and education certainly won’t fix that.

The key is to be coachable, learn a lot fast, know how to market yourself, communicate, handle the complex — in a nutshell: Be a Linchpin!

Good Luck!

where they need to be

I took some heat from people on my blog post to the TBBJ. Apparently, I took a personal dispute public. Actually, it was on Facebook and there was some public dressing down at a club, so it was public.

Why do I blog this stuff? As a fellow Cranky Bastard told me, “I set my expectations too high, so I’m always disappointed.” There’s some truth to that.

Why is Customer Service so awful?

Why don’t companies accept criticism as a chance to improve? (What? You think I’m some Outlier? That others don’t feel the same way?)

Hugh MacLeod sent this cartoon out to his email list today. “Business is the art of getting people to where they need to be faster than they would get there without you.” In other words, I may kick you, but I will try to be constructive so you can improve from it. Most people don’t see the constructive parts in what I write. They just see the kick. The kick is to get your attention. If you can’t get past that, then I can’t help you. (Nor do I want to.)

Business is changing faster today than ever before, especially for the print newspaper space. With about 8K subscribers, the TBBJ has to rely on events to stay open. It can get better at events. It has to. There’s too much competition in the event space for the sponsor dollars; the audience attention; and the attendees’ wallets.

TBBJ isn’t just competing with DG or TBTF. It’s competing with hundreds of Meetups that are smaller, specialized tribes that give great value. It’s competing with Camps like BarCamp Tampa Bay, BlogCamp, CodeCamp, and so many more.

In a similar vein, the AMA Tampa Bay is facing a similar challenge from all of the social media “gurus” running seminars, classes, etc. all over the Greater Tampa Bay market. It also competes with the Wealth Annex and Social Fresh for sponsor dollars and attention.

That’s pretty much the problem: Everyone is competing for Attention.

There are two ways to get the Attention: (1) throw such a fabulous event that people buzz about it; or (2) build a tribe through relationships with your target audience. The other way is to just keep throwing shit on the wall to see what happens. That doesn’t work well.

Here are some ideas, Bridgette. (1) Subscriber only events with a speaker. (2) Work with Bright House, since you have the same parent company. How about a TBBJ/BayNews9 business minute every work day? Or better interview a business person every day. Unfortunately, you will take this to mean any advertiser can send anyone over to get some face time. That’s the wrong way to do it! (3) Brand each event better. Instead of “just name tags” what about a TBBJ headline name tag?

It’s 2011. Time to get creative. Stop whining about your critics and your competitors and get better at what you do.

Netscape spent too much time worrying about Microsoft’s Internet Explorer instead of making game changing improvements to Netscape.

But my opinion doesn’t matter, so you probably didn’t read this far.

Community. What is Community? We live in a time when it is as easy to connect to people in Europe as it is to connect to people in our home town. But Community starts at home. It’s where we live.

Some community leaders spend time on their own agenda, but not on connecting with other communities. We are a collection of micro-communities, many times running in parallel; other times in cross-purpose with other micro-communities in our own geographic circle.

One fear surrounding the Internet is that we will become insulated from other opinions and surround ourselves with like-minded people who don’t oppose our world view. That’s not how thinking happens. To poke the box, you need to be able to defend your world view or philosophy or opinion against thoughtful debate. But I’m getting away from my idea for the post.

We talk about Community in grand scale. But it starts in your backyard. (Local is all, right?) It starts with people, because who but people in you backyard make up community?

Leadership is a funny word. It isn’t defined by notoriety or fame or celebrity. A leader is someone who has a vision and, well, leads. She does that by following that vision. If you look around and no one is following, you may not be a leader. Every tribe needs a leader. Someone to be the beacon of the vision, like Steve Jobs or Gloria Steinem or Martin Luther King, Jr.

Visionary is not a title you get to pick for yourself. It’s about seeing the future. It’s about imagining what is to come. It’s also about expounding that idea, spreading it, making it happen.

In none of these cases – community, leadership, visionary – is it about YOU. It’s about the Tribe. It’s about moving forward, paying back, taking a stand, but always about bettering the ball. That’s a volleyball term that means when you make a play on the ball, you improve the position of the ball for your team to make a play. Mothers say to leave the place better than when you arrived.

The next time you are thinking about these terms – community, leader, visionary – remember that it isn’t about you. It’s about those around you, where you live, and what you will be remembered for. It’s about Actions more than Words.

Words are easy. So are Ideas. The stand outs Act, Ship, Create, Do.

People get hung up on success being about fame, power and money. That is certainly one metric to define success. Yet success isn’t a race against the Joneses. Success is about happiness, alignment of values, enjoyment of the journey and maybe even friendships.

Missionaries and non-profits don’t measure success on dollars. The yardstick is how well the idea spreads and sticks. Another measure might be how many people they helped. Certainly $ is needed to accomplish these goals but it isn’t the final determination of success.

We all define it differently for ourselves. If it was just a race to the CEO seat, most people would be unsuccessful, since there a finite number of those positions.

“Life is a journey” means that you will have successes and losses a long the way (if you take any risks at all). It also means you will have to set short and long term goals. Goals help to show you the path. They are something to strive for and grow into.

A long time ago, a pal told me that “He works to live, not lives to work.” Success for him was defined by how little he worked and by how much fun he had.

Some people love to travel. Isn’t it a success when you take a trip to one of your wish destinations?

Most people are not aware of how many people they touch in life or how they affect other people. A certain aspect of that is needed to be considered successful. You can’t do it in a vacuum.

One of my nieces recently reminded me that while I may not see it, my advice has had an effect. it was wonderful to hear.

Friendships are funny. Some are short term; some long. Some are more work than others. If your values lie in making the most of life and family, etc., there’s success to be had here as well.

Charity, community, family, health, hobbies and, yes, career and finance are all different areas that we spend time setting goals. These are all aspects to measuring success. No one area totally defines us. So take stock! And enjoy the journey

Your own Happiness is your Responsibility. Not anyone else’s. If you are Unhappy, it lies within you to fix it.

People don’t make you Happy. You are reacting to the stiuation. The only 3 things we can control in life are:

1. Your actions.
2. Your responses to situations and your experiences.
3. Your thoughts, beliefs, or attitude.

By the way, you can’t fix people. Or change them. Period.

You have to be comfortable with yourself – and love yourself.

Manage Expectations. When I suggest lower your expectations, I’m not saying lower your standards. I’m saying be a little realistic about what will happen or how it will go. For example, if you go to an event that you paid $75 for, don’t have an expectation that the food, drink, crowd and other details will be fabulous. Often that isn’t the case. But if you just expected to meet a few people, have a nice conversation with someone, and relax through the experience, your expectations are set at a more realistic level. Hence, you will be less disappointed. Less often your hopes will be shattered.

I lack Patience. If I had patience, I would likely be happier. I wouldn’t be grumpy in traffic. I think Patience makes waiting for “The One” easier. It makes the wait for the perfect job (whatever that is) easier.

Last thought:  you have to have some kind of map or plan or goal – or you will just float along. Happiness and Fun take some planning. It doesn’t usually happen by itself.  Enjoy the Journey.

Ricki introduced me to another VA that edited my book. I met Susan from Ace Concierge online. I am getting busier so I am trying to figure out how to delegate better. I need to learn how to utilize my VA better to free up my time, so I can spend more time writing (blogs, articles, book #3); doing podcasts; speaking; consulting; and talking with prospects and clients.

I asked Susan if she had a tele-seminar about How to Use a VA. She didn’t but gave me thoughts. Then I Googled it. This is what I found:

1. WebWorkerDaily has an article about How to Use a VA.
2. Here’s a list of 101 tasks that a VA can do for you.
3. And here’s 30 creative ways to use a VA.
4. The typical MLM article: How to use Virtual Staff to make passive income. I actually have hired a freelancer to write non-technical copy, so anything is possible.

For me, the key is probably control. Susan wrote to me, “It is not easy to delegate what we have always done; to trust another to do it, or to believe someone can complete a project/task as well as we can. Developing a comfort level and knowing that someone can truly and effectively help you manage your business is a learned skill.”

I think it’s my mindset that I can get it done myself faster before I even explain it once. But that’s a falsehood. If I explain it correctly once, the VA can do it over and over. Also, it always takes longer to do something than I think it can (or worse schedule it to). (Like this blog post).

“Solo-preneurs cannot do it all themselves. It is impossible. Something will always suffer for this type of mentality. We all try, but miss the mark,” Susan points out.

I think she is right on the mark with this: “Once you lay the foundation, discuss accountability, responsibility, expectations and deadlines, it comes together. Some tasks may take a little more creativity with training while others, not so much, but in the end, if you think about all you stand to gain with outsourcing, it is a win-win. Just think if you delegated only 4 hrs per week-that is 16 hrs per month to work on income generating activities or have a little more me time.”

Thoughts? [I am going to spend this week thinking about what I can outsource].

On RAD’s Radar has a bunch of the insights and quotes from the sessions I attended at GROWCO.

Now I will sum up the conference in 4 points.

Number 1: I would have to say that in order to really grow your business you need to tell a story. That’s first and foremost. And not a story that is Me, Me, Me. Over the ages storytelling is how history was passed down. You know your own family history from listening to your parents and grandparents tell you stories. If you want people to talk about your company and refer business to you, you need to be able to tell a clear, concise story about what you do that benefits the person who is listening. (It takes time to create this message).

Whether you are networking, giving a presentation, answering a customer complaint, or on a sales appointment, remember that people care about themselves, not you. What message do you want them to take away? (It can only be one message).

Your Brand is the Emotional memory that a person has for either your company or logo or product. I usually describe it as 1K of memory storage of everything they know or have heard about your company. But there has to be an emotional string there somewhere for them to care one way or another. Apathy is the absence of emotion. [FYI, the Coke/Pepsi Challenge with brain imaging]

“You are building a relationship not a sale,” says Norm Brodsky. Raving Fans, Repeat Customers, and Referrals all come from relationships. You need to care about your customer more than making a sale. Period.

It all starts with the Hiring. You can’t teach Friendly. Hire Slow, Fire Fast. If the candidate isn’t smiling and trying to win the position, don’t bother hiring them. Corporate Culture is about hiring friendly, trustworthy people that care about the same things that you care about. [See the story of Zappos.com or any article by Norm Brodsky]

What does that mean?

The idea of job security is ended. The responsibility for job security, income, benefits and retirement will be solely in the hands of the workers from now on.

Whether you intended to be a Freelancer or not, you will need to make decisions and embrace the path of a freelancer to find some success.

Register for the Lunch 2.0 talk on March 10 here.

1. quite a few people do not have the skills for today’s knowledge economy

2. our education system doesn’t equip students with employment skills

We live in an Outsourcing environment. Companies are downsizing, but are also hiring contractors and consultants to fill needs and get projects done. We are moving to a world of Freelancers.

This is scary for many people because there is no job security in freelancing. There are no vacation and health benefits. And you have to sell yourself! That’s the scariest part. It’s like being on job interviews all the time.

Let me tell you something: as a W-2 (employee) you don’t have job security either. But you do have the illusion of it that let’s you sleep at night. Benefits are even being cut to the retirees! What? you put in your 20 years and along comes a benefits cut! BAM! What now?

Americans rely on the state and federal governments for too much. And the taxpayers get mad when the budget skyrockets. The government back stops insurance, banking, education, infrastructure, the military, etc. It can’t do that forever. You will need to take some responsibility for it yourself.

As we move into the Era of Freelancers, you will need to keep current on your industry as well as on skills. For instance, as a web designer you have to keep up on CSS, Java, PHP, .NET, etc. As a graphic artist, you have to keep up on Adobe products, but also mobile web sizing.

Many businesses will be relying on the skills of freelancers – consultants, contractors, 1099′s – for long term and short term projects, goals and skills.  The soon you get used this idea the sooner you can start planning for it.

1. What marketable skills do you have (what’s your cash machine)?
2. How will you market those skills?
3. What training do you need to stay current (or certified)?
4. What conferences do you need to attend to stay current and noticed?
5. What are you passionate about?
6. How will you Crush It?
7. How do you become a Linchpin in your niche?
8. Think about the Brand Called You!

Fast Company magazine published Tom Peters article titled The Brand Called You in August 1997 and a follow-up article called Brand You Survival Kit here in 2004.

In addition, Joe Calloway wrote Becoming a Category of One in 2003.

Moreover, Seth Godin has been writing about being unique (a Purple Cow) since 2003.

Seth’s latest book, Linchpin, is about becoming indispensable at the office. To add value and distinction at the workplace so that you can get some pleasure out of your W-2. In a way, that’s about branding yourself too, because you are talking about affecting how others perceive you. And you are thinking about how others perceive you. A brand is the sum total of experiences, thoughts and emotion associated with a person or company.

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Copyright 2009-2010 by Peter Radizeski, the Marketing Idea Guy. All rights reserved. Must have written permission of the author to copy.