Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

Blogging and your quality of life

If you are a blogger, consider this a thank you post. If you are not yet a blogger, this may prompt you to get started.

Bloggers go from periods of exuberant creativity and profound insights to long, morose soliloquies about their painfully dull existence. It may not be entertainment, but it is a living record of their quality of life and has more value than they realize.

The sanitized version of our lives is like some 1950's image of how things are supposed to be and is hardly worth reading. Writing from the heart commands more interest than carefully edited and polished "press releases" on how our lives are going.

I know how much I enjoy the daily adventures of the bloggers that I follow closely.

Some are blogging buddies with whom I exchange emails. Other bloggers are living out adventures that I share vicariously but would not willingly experience again because they live in the fast lane of working and consulting for large corporations. Other bloggers live quiet lives in distant places where they make the best of what they have, raise responsible children, and provide inspiration to those they touch online.

The one thing in common is that these bloggers write from the heart. They communicate a passion and an attitude that is uniquely theirs alone. They share no creed and are scattered all over the planet. They are serene, vulgar, erudite and profane. They believe in many gods or none and their ages span seven decades.

Some make me laugh, some bring a tear to my eye, but all entertain me and educate me. Their number is legion and is continually growing. They add so much to my life that I feel compelled to give back the best that I can. You will see their links in the sidebars of this site.

I manage to find time in an increasingly busy schedule to read weblog posts that offer food for thought in conveniently sized portions. These can be stand-alone articles or a series of posts about a topic.

Whatever the format, the content is what keeps me coming back even when I don't have the the time to spare. The posts that stay in my mind longest are those that evoke an emotional reaction.

Do the rest of you find this to be true?

And you think you have a terrible job...

You could be working for Bacon's Information, Inc  and sending clueless emails to bloggers!

Christine Birkner, Special Project Supervisor at Bacon's Information, Inc. has the embarrassing chore of sending an incredibly off-target email to bloggers along with a broken survey in MS Word and a request to fax the results back to her!

I received an email from Bacon's asking for my help. I am glad to offer assistance to anyone who sincerely requests it, so I opened Christine's survey and found a corrupted MS Word document instead of the web-based surveys that bloggers use constantly. I couldn't answer the survey because the document was broken, but the choice of answers precluded any intelligent responses anyway!

Look at this first question:

1) What is the primary reason you blog?

   -To document my opinions on topics I am interested in
   -I am a recognized authority in my field
   -Want to open up dialog with others interested in the same topics

Notice that I must choose between expressing opinions or being a "recognized" authority in my field. I guess if you are not "recognized", your information is considered opinion.

What about reporting findings from research? What about reporting observations of current events? Has the writer of this survey ever read a blog? What about Rathergate did she not understand?

Bacon's represents itself as a media/blogging database for PR professionals and yet they do not understand the Internet or bloggers.

I was moved to send an email to Christine as follows:

Christine,

This is a lame survey on several accounts.

1. You have used a Word survey when a web-based survey would be better and faster.
2. Your limited choice of responses shows little understanding of blogging.

Your approach casts great doubt on the ability of Bacons to provide any meaningful information to PR professionals on blogs and bloggers. If you are a legitimate source of media information, I suggest you engage bloggers in real communication and develop an approach that will provide real data to your PR public.

Bloggers Allan Jenkins and Mitch Joel have expressed their opinions far more humorously than I. It appears that Bacon's may get more information than they bargained for, even with a broken survey.

Tags: Bacon's Information Bacon's

Blogging makes me feel more alive. How about you?

After two full years of continuous blogging, I am more imbued with enthusiasm about life than when I started. I think this is because I am allowed and encouraged to communicate my ideas with more people than ever before.

I spent many years communicating with others with varying levels of success. I noticed after a while that my interest in living waxed and waned as my ability to communicate increased or decreased. I see that this relationship of communication and life seems to be true for others also. Thus it seems logical that more communication, not less is a good thing.

(Communication, as I am using it here, refers to the interchange of ideas not to compulsive or continuous outflow.)

The barriers to communication exist within and outside ourselves, of course, so removal of barriers has to occur in both places in order to communicate freely.

In spite of that, the recent availability of inexpensive blogging tools and technology allows us all to try our hands at communicating on a global scale. Blogging is open communication as it has never existed until now.

We write about something and people from Malaysia to Montana can read it and share their thoughts and feelings about it with us. We are not invading their privacy as with spam or emails, we make something available and they can find out about it by searching for it or subscribing to a feed that informs them of each new article we write.

I get almost instantaneous feedback on how valuable or confusing my communication seems to readers. As a result, I am driven to communicate more effectively.

Furthermore, I begin to identify with my readers and they with me. I share their losses and their successes. I exult in their victories and I want to reach out with encouragement as they struggle to overcome adversity. Their sorrows become mine. In a word, we become friends on a scale never before imagined.

As a result, I feel a huge sense of loss when one of my blogging friends decides to stop blogging. I'm not sure they realize how much their communication means to the rest of us. It feels very much as though another light in the blogosphere has gone out, like a death has occurred.

Fortunately, there are new bloggers joining us every day. I welcome them, because they bring new ideas to share and new friendships to explore.

As long as we stay in communication with each other, we all benefit. We are in for a period of great change because we are creating something which has never existed before on this planet, a universal and unexpurgated database of ideas, discoveries, and conclusions.

I feel that many bloggers will discover that blogging contributes markedly to their mental and physical well-being. I think the future of blogging is so bright we'll have to wear shades...  :)

What are your thoughts about this?

Another Thursday night in Floyd

Life just doesn't get much better than this. Good music in an intimate venue that provides great food and genuine hospitality.

Gretchen and I and Doug Thompson are discussing the fate of the world over dinner at Oddfellas Cantina while Bill Smith and Rich Rittenhouse play original and classic blues tunes.

Bill and Rich, also known as Chicken Wings and Gravy, play the blues in a way you will not soon forget. Their understated competence showed these two to be masters of their art.

I have seen too many blues groups which relied on histrionics and flashy vocals to capture an audience's attention, so it was a complete surprise to encounter the arresting performance that these two put on.

They didn't introduce themselves, they just started playing quietly and purposefully, but you knew immediatly that these guys were something out of the ordinary because you couldn't take your attention off them. They didn't speak much at all, they just let their music do the talking for them.

You can read more about them on chickenwings and gravy.com.

Still putting one foot in front of the other

The pace of life seems to pick up speed as winter closes in. Days that seemed to drift by during Spring and Summer now flick by like the output of a runaway movie projector.

My workshop is jammed with incomplete projects. Realtors escort buyers through the house every few hours as I dodge around them putting final touches on the house and on my overdue projects. The phone rings constantly and Gretchen juggles cell and office phones all through the day. The cats run and hide while curious deer, like this young buck, wander up to my office window.

I sprinkled birdseed over the back yard to attract deer while we are showing the house.  Taking an idea from Seth Godin, I am trying to provide them with a remarkable buying experience. It seems to be working. Prospective buyers get all misty-eyed when they look down from the back deck. "Oh look! It's a herd of deer!"

We may have escaped the Silicon Valley rat race, but our propensity for taking on new challenges fills our days with things that need to be done yesterday. Gretchen put it best when she said yesterday, "I only have to work 24/7 and the rest of the time is mine!"

Breakfast includes clipboards as well as coffee. We eat and make notes whether breakfasting at home or in Charlottesville. When we have lunch out, I am likely to bring my laptop, if lunch can be combined with free wi-fi service. The pace may be almost the same as when we lived in San Jose, but the mood is lighter.

We march to a beat that we set for ourselves now. There is little of the hurry up and wait pattern of corporate life. There is more time spent doing things and less time spent trying to explain and justify things to people who are not really interested. The work is more satisfying, if lower paying.

It is a deliberate choice, because there are opportunities for self-employed people to do well financially at the cost of personal and family time. Happiness for us means generating income AND having time for each other. It is a dynamic balance like riding a bicycle and takes continuing attention, but it is a source of great personal satisfaction when done correctly!

In a few hours we will be off to Floyd again to see how the new house and workshop are coming. Our cats will be left in the care of their cat sitter and the house will be left in the care of our realtors, The Marjorie Adam Team. Blogging will continue if I can get to the Cafe Del Sol while it is open.

Stay tuned for more news about the realities of living in a house heated by this wood stove. I still need to consult with Fred First, the Sage of Goose Creek,  on the proper design and location of a wood shed. With snow just a few days away, I want to be prepared for the challenges of keeping a house warm and managing a wood pile. I have childhood memories of lugging firewood through snowdrifts and splitting wood in subzero weather. I would like to be better prepared for using wood as a fuel this time around.

Those of you who are using wood for heating are welcome to share your experiences. For example, what is the best way to store a day's supply of firewood indoors?

Building/moving to a new home - day 35

New sign seen in our bedroom

The pace is picking up on the home front. Realtors and buyers troop through the house at all hours, rain or shine, and we have received our first offer for the house.

Sherman has taken to hiding under the comforter of our bed. This produces a huge lump in the middle of the bed which elicits comments from puzzled visitors. To save time on explanations, I made up the sign, which we will leave on the bed when we are not here.

Life has taken on the quality of a stage production, because we still have work to do and the house has to be seen at its best. We have learned how to keep the house ready for visitors and still enjoy our lives together.

UPDATE: This is the sign in use. Sherman is in residence. Click on the image to get a  better view of what  lengths Sherman goes to in order to  feel safe.

We try to give the cats extra attention to make up for the disruption in the family routines and  eventually they may get used to this commotion. By then we will be ready to give them the big thrill of moving again and we get to relive their production of "Fear and Loathing on the Highway!"  :)

At the construction site in Floyd, we are definitely under the gun now, because snow flurries were predicted on the local weather map and we still have foundation walls to pour for the new home and a roof to build on the new garage.

The first freeze warning from the National Weather Service is out for Radford...Blacksburg...Independence...Galax...Floyd...and more. This freeze warning was issued at 10:08 pm EDT Monday.

Temperatures are expected to fall into the upper 20s to lower 30s across the mountains overnight.  This will end the fall agricultural growing season until the spring of 2006 for that region.

The good news is that our two contractors are completely unfazed by this and expect to put full crews on site to get the house foundation done and the garage closed in by early next week. We are planning to be in Floyd this week to cheer them on and enjoy the fall colors on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Self-promotion is not a part-time job - part 2

There is a certain sequence to promoting yourself. First you figure out what you can do for people and then you tell people about it. One of the most convenient means of getting people to remember what you do is to give them a business card.

My friend Wayne Hurlburt says it very well:

The old fashioned business card is still one of the best offline promotional tools available. They are low cost, can contain all of the necessary contact information including blog and website URLs, they are easy to carry and distribute, and recipients actually save and read them.

However, you need to realize that business cards will only do their job if people can remember you in the first place.

Consider your own experience. How many business cards do you have that you cannot remember why you are holding on to them? On the other hand, you probably have some cards that you keep because you had a memorable discussion with someone and want to get back in communication with them.

Promoting yourself is more than mumbling your name and putting your card in someone's hand, you need to understand that it is a performance! You are introducing people to your global microbrand and you need to make sure that every contact counts! You want every possible prospect for your services to go away with a lasting positive impression and a way to get in touch with you. Like any performance, practice is required for professional results.

For example, if you give out a card at the beginning of a conversation, too often the recipient takes the card and puts it away without reading it while continuing to talk to you. This is a wasted card and he may barely remember he has it.

There is a better way. Get in good communication with the person. It takes only minutes to see where your mutual interests lie. If the person needs, or may need, what you can provide, give them your shortest elevator pitch. If they appear interested, give them your card while saying something like, "You can find out more on my website. It's here on my card. If you are interested, give me a call."

When you put a business card into someone's hand, tell them why you are giving it to them. Make sure they see you web address or email address. It will make it easier to remember why they have your card when they discover it in their pocket later.

Your business card is best used as a reminder that a conversation has taken place. Make the conversation meaningful and make sure that the person receiving the card knows why you are giving it to them.

You will know when you are succeeding because people will follow up later and say that they still have your business card.

I carry and use at least three different business cards. One when doing interviews for this blog. Another when pitching Danger Quicksand - Have A Nice Day. Still another when discussing design projects. All three make it much easier to get the word out in a relaxed and professional manner.

Wishing you success in your self-promotional efforts. Send me an email if I have left anything out that you need.

Use it or lose it

This semi-abandoned truck evokes memories of so many enterprises that started out bravely and then, somewhere along the way, their fire went out. This truck sits with others that have been left to rot where they sit, monuments to a dream that died so abruptly that no effort was made to salvage the pieces.

In the absence of a guiding hand, Nature is attempting to reclaim her own. If no one fires this truck up and drives it off to the salvage yard, it will eventually devolve to the sorry state of its nearby companion truck. If not handled at this point, it will devolve further to a pile of rust. There is no end to this decline.

Our companies, our bodies, our lives are like these trucks in that we set out to accomplish something and continue to do so until we finally decide it's too much trouble to go on. Once we stop trying, the game goes on without us and it may even involve us in ways we did not anticipate.

There is a time to grow and a time to die, and so on, but we have a choice in the matter. Give the game every thing you've got and when you decide that the game is not worth playing any more, move on to another game. Take your pieces off the board and leave it in good order for the next set of players if you can, but get on to the next game, because there always is one.

Happiness is knowing when it's time to start over and use what you learned in the last game.

Best of luck in whatever game you choose to play.

For those of you who know truck-devouring weeds, here is a closeup. Let me know what it is.

UPDATE:  The plant is indeed pokeberry, otherwise known as American Nightshade. The bright purple berrries are poisonous, but they will dye almost anything purple.  Thanks to BC and Marie for their help.

Self-promotion is not a part-time job - part 1

Over the years, I've seen many talented people who were hopefully expecting the world to discover them. I occasionally heard them lament the success of those who seemed to be far less talented. These hopeful souls have missed the entire point. When you are good at something, let people know about it.

The best cure for non-discovery is skillfully done self-promotion. By skillful self-promotion, I mean self-promotion that works for you, that fits your style, and that seems to be a logical extension of the product or services you intend to provide.

Self-promotion is occasionally linked to a gimmick, like wearing a green hat or wearing distinctive clothing. This actually quite unnecessary if you really intend to do business with people. All you need to do is to engage them in conversation and give them something to remember you by.

If you feel that adding one prospective customer at a time is too slow, think again. Word of mouth advertising works when you make a desired impact on someone and that usually happens one a one-to-one basis unless you have a busy schedule of public appearances.

For example, I meet a lot of talented musicians now that I spend more time in Floyd, VA, but a lot of them have no promotional material, no web site and no business cards! These are people who have daytime jobs, but are playing music professionally several times a week. When I see them performing, it is often a chore to find out who they are and if my notes aren't complete, I fail to provide much background information about them when I blog about their performance.

Last week, I ran into Mac Traynham at the Old-Time Music Jam at Oddfellas Cantina. Mac plays the fiddle, guitar, banjo and sings at musical venues all over Virginia. He has also made a CD. Mac is very good at making music. 

I'm sure there are dozens of other performers who play as well, but Mac was one of the very few who gave me a business card. As A result, I was able to look him up on Google and I know how to reach him for interviews or to find where he is playing.

In today's world where you can print excellent four-color business cards on your home computer, there is no reason not to have business cards for every one of your business identities.

There may be an art to designing high impact business cards, but you start by getting cards that say who you are and what you do. Once you start handing out cards, you will come up with a dozen different ways to improve them. The important thing is to always have business cards to pass out wherever you are.

Do you have business cards? Do you carry them with you?

In the next post, I will discuss some ways you can use business cards effectively.

Old Time Music Night at Oddfellas

On the second Thursday of the month, Oddfellas Cantina hosts an old time music night. When they bill it as old-time music, they aren't kidding. This music is before Bluegrass, before Carter family music, even before Gospel. The tunes you will hear are early Scottish and English melodies, mostly reels and other dances.

This group consists of a core of regular players and a lot of others who walk in and start playing as the mood strikes them. The level of skill was quite evident as the music never faltered as players joined in or left the stage to eat their suppers. The old-time music just kept on coming.

Phil Woddail is one of three core members of this group. He coaxes more music out of a harmonica than I thought possible. Lester Gillespie is another of the original members and plays the bass. Mac Traynham, not shown here, is the third member of the core group and plays the fiddle.

Chris Youngblood, the blond guitar player, is the only other member of the group that I could identify. If you readers know the names of the other players, please let me know and I will see that their names are added.

Rob Neukirch, the owner of Oddfellas Cantina hosts live music five nights a week. That's pretty spectacular for a county that has only one stoplight, but then again, Floyd, VA is a different kind of place...