What Winter Storm Pax Has Taught Me

Winter Storm Pax has taken the South by storm (pardon the pun). In Georgia, around 105,000 people were or are still without power. Over half a million people were part of the Southern black-out in Virginia, Albama, and Georgia in total. I am part of the fortunate few that does not have to wait until Saturday (February 15th) or later to have service restored. It’s been quite an experience!

It was scary at first feeling so isolated. Nights were cold and dark. Roads were blocked and there was not much to do. With no Internet access and limited cell phone service (and battery life), it was like a taste of the apocalypse to some. Sure, that may seem extreme but, in our connected culture, never underestimate the effects of isolation and doing things the slow way!

Three whole days of no power has given me plenty of time to reflect on a number of things. Part of me is disappointed power was not restored sooner.  I was caught in the midst of scheduling a bunch of posts and preparing some new shows. We had to cancel HorsePLAY! LIVE last night, which sucks, but we’ll bounce back!

Allow me to share some introspective and personal development tidbits…

Gratitude & Perspective

Like many of the folks in Augusta and the CSRA, I am grateful to have my electricity return.  It was easy to get bitter about being in the dark (quite literally) but when you think about all the engineers, police officers, fire men, and other emergency personnel away from their families for long stretches of time, a fresh perspective dispeled such angst. Some of these folks worked double or triple shifts to bring people back online quickly.

We all have had our own trials and tribulations to deal with during the aftermath of Winter Storm Pax.  Some have had damage to their homes and vehicles, others have had to deal with injuries and death. These realizations are humbling.  I am grateful now, more than ever, for what My family has and less worried about what we lack.

Without this perspective, it would be easy to be cynical or jaded. One could say the diligent efforts of Georgia Power and other companies was purely driven by self-interest; after all, getting customers back online ensures billability. On the flip side, we have already established the diligence and sacrificed required to restore electrical grids throughout the South. Let’s not forget the efforts to clear all the trees and roads.

As a whole, I think many of us focus too much on white whine and first-world problems. We forget how much bigger the world is and how fortunate we really are. Be wary not to develop a sense of entitlement, folks. Every day is truly a blessing!

My thanks go out to those facing the bitter cold and dangers while helping restore order!

Are You In The Service Industry? (HINT: We’re ALL in the service industry.)

Every now and then, I’ll see someone throw out the term service industry. Now there’s another one of those mis-used phrases and words. From my perspective, we’re all in the service industry.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that small businesses and start-ups are all about service. Yes, I said before that it’s all about storytelling but that’s what carries your service standards (or lack of them) further.

Think about this carefully: customer service is a huge part of what we do.. Without proper execution and end-to-end support, even the best design and systemization will fail. Knowing this stark reality, we see large corporations still getting it wrong and somehow coasting along. They’re always a quarter away from closing doors or being bought out for that very reason, I’d say.

So, yes, this is another one of my rants but I think this is a discussion we need to have, yes?

Support-A-Thon: The Power Of Collaboration & Engaging

On Tuesday August 16th, I embarked on a journey to develop more social proof and expand my influence, bringing change to the interwebz and fighting the good fight, thanks to Guy Kawasaki’s powerful message in his “Enchanment” book.  (BTW, the guy really shares some neat stuff on Google+)

My current Support-A-Thon mission consists of the following:

• Get more active on my social networks.
• Offer my help and free advice.
• Expand my networks and engage each and ever person.
• Support and share the content of others.
• Simply ask that others do the same.

This campaign has been successful thus far but the marathon continues. As I promote my article on adaptive SEO, inbound marketing, engaging your audience, and converting traffic, I am making a deliberate effort to provide a strong CTA (Call To Action) and be helpful.  The discussions we’ve had publicly and privately have been BRILLIANT!

What Can Squids Do For YOU? Squids Can Make You Money Online.

Are you just looking to join Squidoo – sign up here – it’s FREE!

Recently, I was asked by my fellows in Birds of a Feather to discuss why I am so excited about Squidoo, a flexible content curation and publishing platform with built-in income opportunities (AND an awesome community attached to it).  The usual questions ensued…

• What’s the ROI?
• How does it compare to XYZ?
• What are YOUR results?

I answered honestly and with great fervor (because there’s lots to be excited about if you ask this here geek).  Keri Jaehnig of Idea Girl Media (and Birds of a Feather, amongst other groups on Triberr) is very intrigued.  Others are asking about it as well, thanks to my #Squidoo hash tag on Twitter, chats via Triberr, and my constant efforts to keep dripping information about my latest lens efforts on other social platforms…

So here I am to share with you what squids can do for YOU!

Create a page on Squidoo TODAY!

Yes, you should create a Squidoo page today.  That’s it.  Don’t hesitate…  do it now!

Need convincing?  Okay, here we go…

Why Dating And Traditional Marketing Are Full Of Suck

A while back here on Y3B I wrote about dressing to impress, which I much later followed up with an article about pretender brands, empty labels, and broken promises (and how they are full of suck). There are many ways we play dress up to make keen first impressions, for better or worse. Here, I’d like for us to explore traditional marketing, dating, and the dangers of misrepresentation. In doing so, I hope to build up a strong case for the authenticity movement and warm connections, where the focus is on people and authentic experiences as opposed to spin or hype (manipulation).

When I blog, there’s usually a trigger or prompt that inspires me to build upon an underlying theme. This is one such scenario. After speaking with my mastermind group superstars, Laurinda Shaver and Julie Nutter, we realized that there are some glaring problems with human interaction as we know it. I’d like to share their perspectives and strategies because they’re things I know we could all work on more.

Laurinda On Rapid Assessments
You have a few seconds to answer the only question that really matters:

What can you do for me (and will you keep your promises)?

Okay.. GO!

What do you lead in with? How do you make it sound interesting yet authentic? Do you sound like a real person or a robot?

(Hurry, the clock is ticking!!)

Providing consistent, concise answers in a hurried world is no easy feat. Laurinda, fortunately, is a master of authentic taglines and video profiles, things that make rapid connections with fickle audiences. She’s made tons of these me-in-a-nutshell content pieces for many people and they’ve gotten great results.

In doing this, Laurinda has become a good judge of character. She can condense a 30-minute chat into a 30-second introduction or elevator pitch. It’s almost scary how well she does it! She also practices what she preaches, which further builds up her credibility as a professional.

Laurinda’s About Page: “A social media creative head who can actually project manage with a dash of true business savvy.”

Last but not least, I recommend reading “You Look Good Baby.. Sorta.” as the article hones in on the disappointment that happens when we build up false hopes through non-authentic interactions.

THE LESSON:. Practice understanding and, more importantly, accepting others and you can understand yourself better. The bonus here is that you get to learn the language of people that share your interests or could use your services. Framing “what we do” and “what we’re about” in ways people can identify with is a challenge we must all take on.

Julie On Dressing Right
You look up a business online. Their pledge outlines values you hold in high regards. Their service guarantee gives you peace of mind. Customer testimonials assure you further that this is the right choice.

Enter the disconnect…

You enter the office and nothing aligns with what is promised. The attire does not match the level of professionalism that you expect. The customer service does not is not as promised. The products are not as advertised.

Did you even go to the right place?

As customers, that is a frustrating encounter that could kill a potential sale before a warm connection can even be attempted.

What we forget when we’re on the other side of the customer interaction is that WE are the product.

Marketing starts and ends with you. If they dislike the people, the other stuff doesn’t really matter. Perception wins time after time.

Julie is a sort of pundit when it comes to discussing customer service, leadership, and relationship management issues within the overall service industry. Time and again, she sees people talking the talk but not walking the walk. As much as the rules of engagement in business may have changed, dressing to impress still matters and it’s not merely about attire. It’s about consistency and valuing your audience’s time.

THE LESSON:. Our attitudes (or, better yet, behaviors), clothes, posture, energy, actions.. Everything projects a stronger image than what mere words may say. Julie matches everything she does to her audience, while staying true to herself. This is something I find few businesses execute upon properly because we’re too busy trying to win people over. Perhaps it’s desperation at work but the lies eventually are shattered regardless.

Now let’s see how this all comes into play…

Gaming Clan Series: The Essence And Benefits Of Gaming Clans And Leadership

Finally, we revisit what you and I are most passionate about: geeky video game talk!

In the usual Y3B style, this will be an in-depth look at all things video game geek as they relate to gaming clans. I feel this topic ties into pretty much everything we’ve tackled on Y3B. There is a great need and urgency in stabilizing and supporting video game clans and social groups because, quite frankly, they are keeping things going during dire times in the video game industry.

Fun fact: Y3B currently ranks #1 out of virtually billions of competing sites on Google for keywords “gaming clan leadership” and related search terms. This inspires me because, if there is anything I am passionate about, it’s the video game industry, from a gamer and developer perspective! I love hearing of little gaming clans that attain BIG success. The Internet makes it all possible if you know how to play the game. It’s also pretty neat that Google considers this site an authority on gaming clans (though The Guild has us beat on popularity hands-down). w00t!

Knights Of Good Cosplay

The Culture And Lifestyle Of Video Game Clans

Gaming clans typically fall into two categories:

1. Competitive Gaming Team – I consider these types of clans to be more team or squad-oriented. Their main and often only goal is to win in their games of choice. By extension, fame and fortune is what drives them. Some of these clans are tightly-knit but most fall apart or rebuild constantly when individual members get inflated egos or losses start to become frequent.
2. Social Gaming Clan – Gamers that don’t care for the work involved in becoming highly-competitive find themselves here. Casual gamers, to me, are more about having fun with games first. What most casual or social gaming clans do not realize is that you can be competitive and still have fun.

I believe the best clans employ principle-driven leadership and are driven by their core values and the overall vision and goals that bind them. I find greater satisfaction in networking with people and making friends wherever I go. This is what has made NoF successful. Of course, how success is defined by a clan or squad as a whole is what defines it.

It’s great that professional gaming has bolstered the video game industry but, on the other hand, it has corrupted the spirit of gaming. People have forgotten to have fun. Large pro gaming clans tend to have high-turnover because non-starters get antsy or feel unfulfilled. There needs to be total engagement for all members to be involved. A truly successful gaming clan pursues a greater purpose beyond just winning. After all, video games will come and go so you can’t stake your existence on a single undertaking if you want sustainable longevity.

While being in a gaming clan can and should be a lifestyle on it’s own, smart clans realize that people have other life priorities and habits. The successful gaming clan model embraces diversity and accounts for differences in schedules, priorities, and the like. It’s important to weave individuality and personal stories into the fabric of your clan, especially in it’s infancy.

How Gaming Clans Enhance The Social Experience: The Benefits, Support System, And Values

We saw how diversity becomes part of the collective story of a clan. In a similar manner, gaming clans become part of the lore and value of the video games we play and support. Video games these days lack good stories and longevity for the most part. As a result, the community drives activity, builds stories, and builds new content even when first-party efforts lack.

Being in a gaming clan should be about enhancing the online gaming experience. By extension, social gaming clans enrich online experiences and sometimes even our lifestyles as a whole. One way gaming clans do this is by establishing a support system that may otherwise lack in online games and communities of choice. As a clan member at any level, rank, or tenure, you get access to tools, perks, and peers with their own respective resources and inherent value.

Communication, participation, and interaction are all things gaming clans bolster. It’s not just what happens in-game or even in waiting/prep lobbies but, rather, the activity gaming clans drive from event to event. Remarkable gaming clans keep members in total engagement and facilitate things that would otherwise be troublesome or simply overlooked.

The best of the best gaming clans establish clear core values and principles, as set forth by accessible and visible guidelines, policies, goals, agendas, and the like. As with any worthwhile organization, a social gaming clan sets a deliberate direction rather than just coasting along playing video games. New skills, bond, and experiences are forged as clan members collaborate and contribute more to make the vision of their clan a reality. It’s an ongoing work, a masterpiece refined gradually and naturally, at least ideally.

Getting clan members to invest back into their clan is tough. The bonds built and the wisdom made wide-spread should be reward enough but savvy clans add other perks and incentives alongside the more subtle benefits of gaming clan membership. The more practical of these clans raise money to maintain web sites and software. They also outfit their members with gaming gear (hardware and accessories). Some go as far as to implement business models whereas members buy into premium services and benefits, including retail discount programs, flexible spending accounts, health care coverage, and more. While these items are rare, through collective economics and an increased urgency that gets all members to really pitch in, it’s possible for a social gaming clan to have real long-term growth and “upgrade options”, so to speak.

In NoF, we’ve often raised money for care packages, computer repairs, web site launches, car maintenance, and, in the most dire of situation, bill payments. In this manner, social gaming clans bring the focus to people, not games. Fun and fellowship come before competition and mere personal gain/self-gratification.

Leadership And Participation: Is It My Job Or Your Job?

By now you may think the concept of a gaming clan evolving into a social group and special interests group seems a bit idealistic and unrealistic, right? Well, that’s where leadership and active participation come into play. To have these things, there must be clear-set rules and goals in place. Systems should ease the mundane so “busy work” is minimal. Most importantly, you have to have compelling stories and reasons to drive not just activity but the right kinds of activity – productivity is the keyword!

You see, leading a clan is not just the job of the founder or main leader/chief. It’s not just up to officers and those with “power” to keep things moving along. Everyone needs to buy into the dream, the vision, the driving force of the gaming clan. That’s what maintains the core and spirit of a great clan, a gaming clan of legend!

I feel that, the bigger a gaming clan gets, the more the main leaders and founders have to focus on oversight and delegation. You don’t want to spread yourselves thin and burn out; after all, you want things to remain fun, even if structure and work are necessary “evils”. Setting a clear chain of command, appointing key roles, and spreading tasks and projects with some degree of redundancy ensures there is no single point of failure. Do not make the mistake of making it all about you. One-man shows do not last long because the story will lack dynamics and compelling reasons for all to get involved.

In a few words, leaders are not those with titles or power. Leaders do not merely manage, either. Leaders believe in something passionately and try to instill that passion in others, empowering all those around them. Check the elitism, power tripping, and drama at the door, please.. Or find a pro/gosu gaming clan instead. Hey, it’s different strokes for different folks so no worries!

Mutual Growth: Evolving As Individuals And Groups

In order to sustain your clan’s core and maximize loyalty-building opportunities, you need to unite with like-minded geeks and gamers. You don’t have to agree on everything but you do have to believe in your clan: the leadership, the vision, the goals, and the collective dream. Like I said before, everyone has to believe in what you’re about as an individual and as a clan.

Managing expectations is everyone’s job in a gaming clan or any organization, really. That means everyone has the responsibility to learn about their clan and share the ongoing story driving it all. You can’t wait for your clan leaders and officers to hold hands and spoon-feed information, folks.

Only once everyone develops a real appreciation for their clan and what it means to them can mutual growth happen. You have to care about others in your clan and your collective success and accomplishments. It’s a process and it takes time.

Sharing of your experiences is one great way to grow together. It’s one thing to be active, contribute, and participate but you add real value to your clan by sharing those actions and stories. This is especially important when a clan booms and reaches larger numbers. In an ideal world, all clannies, not just core members, will be tightly-knit in their specific groups and across the entire social gaming clan but that is a bit unrealistic. Still, everyone should at least be aware of what goes on in their clan beyond their specific gaming fronts and projects.

Going Offline: Taking Social Gaming Clan Skill Sets And Relationships Beyond Video Games

Once you build and uphold a solid foundation for your clan, you’ll find that the online gaming community doesn’t have to be a faceless world or a virtual collection of avatars and monikers. Once you make warm connections with your peers, your interest and enjoyment of the social gaming clan experience increases tenfold.

Consider the video game geek comedy web series, The Guild: as off-the-wall as some of the antics on The Guild are, there is quite a bit of truth in it all (it turns out the cast of this show truly come from humble beginnings like their characters and they all play or at least dabble in video games). When the Knights of Good finally met offline, new challenges arose. It’s hard enough to build chemistry in a game but, when we bring our personal lives into the fray, there are new rules to consider. The characters on The Guild learned this the hard way.

One thing I particularly love about The Guild web series is how it removes the stigma about video games being for fat nerds and losers. Sure, the members of the Knights of Good have their quirks and issues but they are real people with everyday lives. While we can’t expect our clannies to be so committed and geeky, the Kings of Good show us that embracing diversity and going beyond online spaces (or cyberspace, if you prefer) is important for building strong ties that will out-live any video game. This is important because no video game lasts forever, not even WoW (World of Warcraft). On that note, it turns out that Rift may very well be the next WoW but we shall see (personally, City of Heroes and Anarchy Online were my faves when I still messed with MMORPGs heavily).

Gamers and geeks come in different shapes and sizes. Respect people and love them FOR their differences, not in spite of. Chemistry takes time to build and, until then, you’re bound to encounter clannies that rub you the wrong way. While NoF has maintained a core with members with us over 5 or even 10 years, we know not everyone will become a hardcore clan member and that’s all right. I say to this: some clannies join for a reason and others join for a season (at times this is quite literal).

Another neat thing is how gaming clan involvement can build “real-life skills” and actually make you more marketable for certain jobs. There have been some articles appearing on the web pointing to this so it is encouraging to those of us that spend all too much time on video games. Regardless, there is much knowledge, wisdom, and experience to gain as an active gaming clan member. Above all else, it’s about having fun and meeting cool people – so get out there!

With all this in mind, I hope everyone reading this sees the value in gaming clan membership and the urgency in supporting social gaming clans.

Now I ask you: what do you enjoy most about being in a gaming clan? What are your personal goals? What are your gaming clan’s goals? Have you ever joined a gaming clan? How did you contribute and change the video game industry?

Please discuss. This is, by far, one of our favorite topics here on Y3B so don’t hold back: we want all the loot, err, goods!

Related Links:

• How We Can Unite Gaming Clans And Make Video Games Fun Again
• How To Run A Successful Social Gaming Clan, Newb Or Not

Modern Marketing: SEO/SMO Tips And Tricks For The Non-Techie Geeks

Before I proceed, I wanted to mention that the battle for Net Neutrality rages on. Subscribe to the Free Press newsletter to see why this matters. In a few words, privatizing the Internet (going against Net Neutrality) will make it harder for us little guys to stay competitive and making a living. That puts this article into perspective because SEO/SEM and SMO help people with little or no budget dollars get their “thing” discovered.

There are plenty of quacks out there and it only feeds into the whole vibe that online marketing, especially SEO and SMO, is a black art. Truth be told, the non-technical part of SEO and SMO alike are where you want to focus anyway. Nowadays, we see a paradigm shift whereas search engines are rewarding quality content and natural promotions as opposed to ranking keyword-crammed, hacked-up junk high.

Free Hug Day and The Need For Warm Connections

I say it all the time: communication is a dying art. Communication is becoming more and more watered-down because human interaction is becoming so limited. As generations progress, we, the human creature, develop a greater need for space. It’s no wonder that people are more bulletproof, ideaproof, and recluse than ever before! We’ve become desensitized to just about everything, mostly because of the fears we’ve been instilled with by the mass media and the fact that, those we were raised around, never really learned the power of warm connections.

Along comes the Free Hugs Campaign to chop away at those barriers that many of us have erected. I firmly believe that we could all use a hug in this day and age. Some cultures are strict about physical contact and, in some places, government forbid many types of public displays of affection – it’s really a shame! Naturally, one must know their limits when matters of touch are concerned. Just like any marketing or communication in general, it is important to obtain the permission first. Once that door is open, let the warmth pour in!

We may not all have the tenacity and energy to go out there and hug random strangers, especially if you live in a generally-rude city, but why not give someone a hug today? Heck, even the walls need hugs…

Little-Known Ways To Become An Expert Recruiter

Well, I did not expect so many responses on my recent LinkedIn question but I certainly welcome it! The discussion is brewing right now as we speak and I figured I would take the time out to write a slightly-shorter article touching upon some of the core issues and hopefully sharing some tips for both recruiters, since the job seeker side can produce a whole string of advice columns on it’s own. First and foremost, I want all my recruiting friends to understand that I do not think the value of outsourced recruiting is not there but I do feel that there is a lack of professionalism and effectiveness in the field as a whole. I base this powerful statement on my personal experiences as both a job seeker and business owner, and on the experiences of my many clients and colleagues.

Now, for the sake of brevity, I can’t explore every possible angle here. Let me touch upon the assumptions and understandings that we should all have before moving on…

• There is clearly a lack of honesty both on the behalf of job seekers and recruiters alike.
• The typical workload for a recruiter these days is easily three to five times more than what it was a decade ago.
• Recruiters do not have time for small talk so, if you are loquacious, you may find yourself being cut off often.
• Job seekers that are driven solely by money will often not hesitate to break prioir obligations and jump ship.
• At least 80% of job seekers embellish or lie on their resume in some manner.
• Some job seekers are driven by money, others are not.
• Because of the above items, job seekers and recruiters alike are very jaded and pessimistic, to say the least.
• Recruiters come in many flavors, though many have dealt with the typical contingency recruiter for the most part.
• No one is fundamentally evil, recruiters included.
• Every field has good people and bad people; thus, good recruiters must exist!

For job seekers, the reality is that working with recruiters may not be a worthwhile investment of time if you do not keep your scope very specific, be honest about your abilities, and do as much leg work as possible to make the recruiter’s job easier. Companies love using recruiters because most of the cost can be absorbed by the candidates (they take a percentage of your salary without you even knowing). How payment is handled depends on the arrangement that has been set up but that is definitely the typical deal I’ve seen. As I mentioned in my article about lazy recruiting practice and how it puts job seekers at risk (or at least a major inconvenience), recruiters are, at heart, sales people so it’s all about the numbers to them, the bottomline matters more (typically) than helping people.

If you happen to be one of those recruiters that wants to be helpful and really drive value to both your prospects and clients alike, this article is for you. After all, what job seekers has to do is a lot more simple: represent yourself more accurately, learn how to interview effectively, tailor your resume to the specific opportunities, and be authentic, energetic, and deliberate in all your efforts (in a nutshell). What can you, as a third-party/outsourced recruiter do to really be seen in a good light? I’m glad you asked. Read on…

To Sell Or Not To Sell

To sell or not to sell?  It’s something that comes up often in our lives but let me be clear that I am not talking about stocks, auctions, or anything of the sort.  I am referring to the choice between going the career path or going into business for yourself.  Now, I can go into the advantages and disadvantages between both paths but I really want to keep this one short because I’m long overdue for some good blogs and, boy, do I have a lot of rough drafts that need completion!

The simple reality is that most people are not cut out to go into business for themselves.  Even those that have “successful” businesses, may not have solid plans or what it really takes to make a business truly profitable.  Consider the folks that you know are in business for themselves.  Chances  are you know maybe one person that is really living the good life but the rest of them are probably busting more tail than they did when they did the ‘ol 9-to-5 thing.  If you just consider that and then look at the fact that a good lot of people go into business to get their time freedom back, they’ve already failed coming in through the door with their great business idea.

Let’s face it: most people are not brilliant enough to think outside of box or, better yet, realize that there is no box.  Some people need to be micro-managed.  Most folks are not self-starters and need to be told what to do; in fact, they love the rat race, though they may say otherwise.  If you are the cut-throat type and/or just a social butterfly, a career path just makes sense.  I’m not saying that other folks won’t survive but I’m saying that brown-nosing, social networking, and aggressive effort are often the keys to career paths, not what your skills are, how nice you are, or things that may matter otherwise.  When you go into business, the operational stuff becomes more relevant but, regardless, business will always be like high school: a popularity contest.