Books

Dec 21 2011

Top 26 Of Everything for 2011

Lists are Awesome! Here’s Ours.

1. Bacon

This was the Year of Bacon. Wasn’t it?

Wait, it wasn’t?

2. Cats

If you were a Vegetarian Dog Person, this was NOT your year. Just sayin.

3. Google+

While discussing Bacon and Cats, we should talk about Google+. It’s like Facebook, but it’s from Google, so it’s, well, plus. Here’s a link to Dave’s Google Plus Profile.

4. Francisco Rosales

He was kind enough to run our blog post on Holistic Social Media in September, but he makes this list by sharing so much awesome stuff on his site. (TIP: Visit his site today and learn which Social Media Blogs HE recommends. Here’s a link to the Top Social Media Blogs of 2011.

5. Books

Everyone seemed to either (a) come out with a book or (b) get a publishing deal. As a result, everyone is now talking about (c) how awesome everyone else’s book is and (d) where to pre-order their book. (e) Publishing is a wacky world. If you want to write one, learn what to do before you go down that path. Check out the Redhead Writing series on getting published.

6. 12 Most

We’d make this number 12 on our list, but, well, when you skip down you’ll see why we couldn’t. 12 Most: Great site, great lists. I don’t think they’ll run out of things to talk about anytime soon. 12 is a powerful number.

7. The Cloud

Want to make your startup really rock and roll? Make it Cloud-based. Put it in the Cloud. Use Cloud Computing to Solve a Problem. Say “cloud” over and over.

8. Queens of the Stone Age

Hey, if you re-released your first album, performed everywhere, and even showed up on No Reservations…

9. 9-9-9

Herman Cain, you glorious GOP Presidential Candidate you. By coming up with an interesting tax scheme – one that’s simple, memorable, and yet convoluted; I’m paying 9%, but am I doing it three times? Am I really paying 27%? Or is it 9%, then 9% of what’s left, then another…I guess when he unsuspends the campaign, we’ll know.

10. As in ‘Perfect 10’ of PR Stupidity

What Not to Do: Penn State. (Rather than talk about it ad nauseum, here’s a link to the Prevent Child Abuse website. Help a kid, learn what you can do, learn the warning signals.)

11. 11-11-11

This date comes around once a century. Though we will have 12-12-12 next December. And 13-13-13 the December after that. Right?

12. 12 Minute Marketing

Rick Strater and I worked really hard to bring you a dynamite program that trains small business people on everything they need to know to become better marketers. Not sure if the course is right for you? Check out a sample lesson on the site. One of my favorites: Holistic Social Media.

13. Color: The Expensive Launch That…

I remember hearing about this and downloading the app for my Android phone. Then what? Here’s a link to what the site is up to now. I’m not even gonna ask how much money they spent to launch. (Canadian Readers will point out that they spelled “colour” incorrectly.)

14. DJ and Danny and Chris

Three guys I like a lot for their smarts and no-nonsense approach to marketing, business and life. DJ Waldow, Danny Brown, Christopher Penn.

15. IRL 2011

Got to knock a few people off of the “hey, I’d like to meet them in real life” list this year. Claudia Anderson, Leyla Arsan, Lisa Pugliese, Paige Worthy, Amber Naslund. To name a few. (Five. To name five.)

16. The Launch of the Year

Wow, this one stumps even me. Which launch from 2011 was the most noteworthy, newsworthy, tweetworthy?

It’s this: the Launch of the Year. Rebecca Black. So sorry, but 13,000,000+ views. 13 Million Views of a Video that is Horrible, and a Girl that Can’t Sing.

17. If You Google Ron Paul

Don’t just Google Ron Paul, but Google the phrase “If you Google Ron Paul.” You get this gem.

httpv://youtu.be/FmKwlE3fO-Y

(NOTE: Two straight unwatchable videos of unlistenable songs. You’re welcome.)

18. Internet Marketers

Even if you think there’s a good deal of schtick, there’s something to learn from these guys. Well, not these guys, just this guy: Frank Kern. You’re welcome. Again.

19. Your 2012

You are going to make things happen in 2012, right? You know what you want to accomplish. You have objectives – for your business, for your personal life. So 2012 is where it all starts. Correct? CORRECT.

20. That’s All We’ve Got

Really, there are better things we should be doing – not making up lists, or doing more research on the other 6 things we should add. So…

We’ll keep the title because 26 is a more interesting number than 20.

And, on that note, thanks for listening, reading, watching, and being there in 2011.

Go Get Em! Make it a Great Balance of 2011, and an Awesome 2012!

Oct 20 2011

Social Media For First Graders

Happy Children — Photo courtesy lightruth, used with CC license.

A simple assignment – create a primer on Social Media, but write it for First Graders. It’s an idea whose time has come, hasn’t it?

Actually, no, we don’t really NEED a Social Media for First Graders book. Do we?

Social Media is Child’s Play.

We run the risk of over-simplifying this whole Social Media thing in our groundbreaking new book, which you can download for free right now.

Social media for first graders

View more presentations from Dave Walle.

Social Media For First Graders

Love to get your comments. Even better, you can use this book to answer the question that every parent dreads hearing from their young ones:

Daddy, What’s a Twitter?

Mar 15 2011

You, Best-Selling Author Whose Email Subject Can’t Get “It’s” vs. “Its” Right? You Lost Me.

Get the basics down, author dude
A week ago, I started a kerfuffle on this here page, suggesting, in effect, that “Perfect is Good, Done is Better.”

You can revisit it here: How to Write Good.

I’m not going to backtrack; I still believe that action trumps inaction on the part of the small business owner who is anxious to dive into social media and doesn’t know where to begin.

But, New York Times Best-Selling Authors Should Know Better.

I signed up for a list from a well-known “personality” – their marketing started with a webinar that I missed, followed by another email inviting me to listen to the archive. It was semi-classic marketing: webinar will be filled up, you need to get on the phone lines early to secure a seat. Oh and stay tuned for great things to come.

Imagine my surprise when I got an email, from this same “Best-Selling Author,” with this subject line (truncated so you can’t tell exactly who sent it):

“1st of it’s kind marketing system ready for you”

Mistakes happen, right?

WRONG.

One of the themes from last week’s “How to Write Good” comments centered around trust, higher standards, what we as a (dare I say) content community owe our readership. So, on MY site, well, YES, I cannot STAND typos, wordos, bad grammar, bad punctuation. I do everything in my power to stamp those out.

And, dare I say, New York Times Best-Selling Authors owe us more.

Especially in the subject line of their email – which may have gone out to 100,000 people, I don’t know.

Sadly, it gets worse.

There are trusted names within this email. Names that I am sure have been used with permission. Names that I personally trust. And one of the names is misspelled.

So, I am now questioning a couple things. Such as whether these folks whose names are within the email know what they are getting themselves into. Whether they are sacrificing quality for reach.

Finally, as if to nod to the fact that this “Best-Selling Author” has no respect for our time, the death blow to all respect. (Again, truncated.)

Typos are my gift to you.

My gift to you, Mr. Author Person? An unsubscribe, and a jaundiced eye toward your product.

Oh, and you lost me as a prospect.

Feb 25 2011

Business Model Generation – Video Book Review

Editor’s Note: We’re replacing our “The Week That Was” feature with a Video Book Review. Yes, if you have a book we’d love to review it.

So this book really spoke to us. Here’s our review of Business Model Generation.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwEwKUdKAkY

BTW, they have a website, of course. http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/