This week I interviewed +Evo Terra about books.
This morning I hosted a +G+ On Air hangout with publishing expert +Evo Terra and discussed tips on how to become successful at publishing your own book.
During the podcast we talked about different publishing services and Evo’s two start-ups. Watch the video below to learn more and make sure you subscribe to my channel on +YouTube! (http://www.youtube.com/petergmcdermott)
Garbage Man Learns Irish Language
When you think of your garbage man, you probably wouldn’t think of someone that studies foreign languages in their spare time. That’s because we profile people and come up with our own stereotypes. It’s sad, but we all do it. Here’s a great story of NYC Sanitation Worker Ed Shevlin and his passion for speaking the native tongue of the Emerald Isle.
I was reminded of this when I saw the NY Sanitation Department marching through the New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Ed Shevlin Polishes His Irish While Collecting the Trash
Ed Shevlin, a city garbage collector, studies the Irish language and culture — and polishes his conversation skills with Irish speakers along his route in Queens.
One of the biggest things I have learned over the past few months is how important it is to fail. You can read about it from so many prominent authors, and hear about it from so many successfully people, but it won’t start to make sense until you start to embrace your failures.
The Internet is almost over-saturated with social networks. From Facebook to Twitter and Pinterest to chime.in, there seems to be a social network out there for everyone. But which one is right for you? Check out this infographic to see which social network best fits your lifestyle.
Now, of course this is slighted to favor those of us that have invested most of our time to Google+, but let’s face it, that’s where the true interaction exists. From long-form posts, to great comment threads to–my favorite–hangouts, possibly the greatest innovation since the telephone.
In all seriousness, there is a social network for everyone, but since I have based my last few months on Google+, I definitely wanted to share my love with this infographic I created. Feel free to download it and share it as you’d like, just be sure to link back to my blog.
I’m not a Social Media Expert.
But, I have learned a few things that could help you, your business and your brand in creating a successful online engagement experience for your customers.
One of the things I keep on my business card is “Experiencial Design” because I think something that customers of this age look for is not only a good product or service, but a great customer experience.
Take a look at what you’re doing with your current strategy and ask yourself if you are really engaging your customers or just pushing things out there without paying attention to what they’re saying. To find out more, watch my latest episode.
How to Make It Work is also available on Tivo, Roku and Blip.tv
It seems as the global population grows, more and more people feel the need to “make an impact.” This philosophy of making a difference with your life has really got me thinking a lot about how the way we think is changing. As future generations become more and more “mainstream” there seems to be less diversity in our occupations and less time away from work.
America (and other Western countries) are shifting more and more towards service and away from industry. Not too long ago it was common to have coal miners and factory workers as your neighbors. They were good people, working hard for an honest living. Now, in the suburbs of America, it seems that most of us work in cube farms providing services for other individuals and businesses.
There is nothing terribly wrong with a shift from blue collar to white collar work, but it seems as though we are finding our jobs more and more mundane and they are taking up more and more of our time. No longer do we have 40-hour work weeks with worry-free weekends. Instead, we drag ourselves into the office each morning and try to pry ourselves out sometime in the evening. The work doesn’t stop there, though. Usually there is a Blackberry or other device constantly reminding us of our occupational duties.
I think that our increasing passion to make a difference comes from the separation of ourselves from our vocation. No one wants to be known as a “project contributor” and they probably don’t want to define their life by that. I, for one, want to die being “the person that…” and I don’t think I am alone.
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” – Jackie Robinson
It doesn’t matter what your passion is, but I bet you it probably isn’t related to your work. If you love doing what you do, then consider yourself lucky. But, if you are like so many other people, what drives you to be independent, to succeed at something? Is it money? Is it happiness, fame? Why do you want to make an impact?
If one thing is for certain (well two, if you count taxes) we have a limited amount of time to enrich our lives and the lives of others. So putting your nose to the grind and finding something that will benefit not only yourself, but others—and possibly society—is a huge desire.
“I like my job because it involves learning. I like being around smart people who are trying to figure out new things. I like the fact that if people really try they can figure out how to invent things that actually have an impact.” – Bill Gates
I would love to make an impact on the world, but I don’t think that is going to happen, so I’ll settle on making an impact to my audience. I have been working hard to create content, engage my audience and build a tribe. Hopefully when I move on to do other things, create other products and services, I might have a few members of that tribe standing behind me. But, as I am doing all of this I need to keep focused on what pays the bills and keeps the lights on at home.
Perhaps in a few years I will hit a breakthrough and finally find myself loving what I’m doing. Until then, I’m going to keep trying to put a dent in a few people’s trains of thought. The universe comes later.
Last night I was asked to speak at Ross Jones‘ IMD405 Internet Marketing class at The Art Institute of Nashville. Ross and I met at the SpeakerUp meeting for the 2012 Podcamp Nashville as we are both interested in speaking this year about our perspective niches.
Ross is a SEO expert and has been doing it for longer than most people knew what Search Engine Optimization was. Ross owns a business called 2 the Top Design where he helps businesses get their website optimized for search engines and in turn, getting them more leads.
After midnight, Amazon released a fresh new makeover to their e commerce website. Although there was not information available from their Press section, the new design is much sleeker, trimmer and visually appealing than previous versions. If you haven’t seen the new design, check it out here, using this affiliate link.
And some really good reasons why.
Sharing quality content is what drives the Internet. +YouTube is the one-stop-shop for all things relating to, well, everything. So, with 48 hours of content uploaded every minute, it can be difficult to filter through all of the not-so-good stuff. In an effort to help you, here are 13 YouTubers that I reallylike and why. Some of them you might know, but hopefully others will be completely new to you.
Using any image on your hard drive, you can instantly create a meme by adding your own text. There’s no need to use photo editing software or a third party website. You can do all of the work, effortlessly, right here on Google+!
Face it, no one likes boring funny images without a witty caption. Spice up your original photos by making your followers laugh! Now start getting creative! Who knows, maybe your next meme will top the What’s Hot list!