I Knew That Once I Saw The Jellyfish, Anything Goes

Vases at Fort's Etsy shop. I have been obsessed with Jellyfish for years and am planning an arm tattoo of one. Not this exact one, but still I love this vase.

When To Do Things For Free... And When Not To.

With the ever expanding world of social media, blogs, video and online journalism it's obvious that the "personal brand" is really important these days. It's important for your career and it's REALLY important if you want to be a freelancer, location independent worker, or if you want to open your own business because people find you online, so you'll need to have good content out there for visitors to determine if they want to know you, work with you, or meet you. We all agree on this.
I started my company and decided that I would do as much as I could to get my work out there and in front of people. This is probably where a lot of you are right now. So I wrote every guest post that anyone asked me to do, spoke at every event I was invited to, helped on every project, took every call. Let me tell you something though: This is going to make you really busy and stressed out.
I remember having a conversation with a more financially minded person several months ago and I was losing my mind because I was so busy. I wanted my company to be writing interesting articles about social media and I wanted to be doing lots of speeches so that people would know that we knew what we were talking about and want to work with us.
"That sounds like a lot of content to write." My financially minded friend said.
"It is. I can't think of something smart to say all the time. Sometimes I want to write about clothes and I feel like I can't." I told her.
"Well, you need to prioritize this better, which ones are paying you?"
"One of them." I answered and immediately realized how ridiculous it sounded.
"You have got to stop doing so many things for free." She told me.

She was right, I needed to stop doing so many things for free but I still needed to do enough to keep moving forward with my company's online presence. Here are my rules to help you decide what to do and what to turn down.

Do It For Free If:
It's for something that is well marketed on its own. Like a speech or a really large online publication. If the event has a marketing department of it's own and you will be included on the roster it's probably a good idea.
It's something that's exactly the topic you generally talk about. I will guest write about social media, entrepreneurship, work clothing, innovation and inspiration, being creative, and a few other topics. Writing and posting about the topics you want to explore further will introduce you to other like minded people and their audience will appreciate your view (or at least understand the topic). Anything outside of that isn't going to be worth your time.
It's something that's really fun. I have a few really time intensive projects that are currently making me zero dollars but are so much fun that the end is definitely worth the means. Having fun can be a reason to post on a friend's blog or participate in a speech for students, or create a video you just have to keep those in check or you won't make rent.
It could turn profitable at some point. Putting in the time for reward later is also a reason to do something for free. Don't take this as "I'll do every guest blog post I'm asked to do because someone might pay me for it some time." This is more that you should be willing to write content or posts to support your company's podcast series that someone might sponsor at a later date. The difference is, nebulous guest writing doesn't necessarily lead back to a success for you.

Don't Do It For Free If:
It's too small. You need to choose the guest posts, speeches, and videos that you do with care. Blogs and organizations that are the same size or smaller than you should be done in smaller doses. This sounds mean but I used to say yes to everything and I was exhausted from developing content for so many places. Make a rule like: I will do a guest post for a smaller blog or site twice a month. You can book for the next month then once you fill your quota.
It costs you money to help. A speech might seem like a good opportunity but if the organization isn't willing to pay for the flight, hotel, and expenses (as they sometimes aren't) then the speech will cost you money to give. If the speech is for 75 people and it's 7 states away you could end up paying $50 per person to give that speech when all is said and done.
It's ongoing. A friend just told me recently that she'd been writing once a week for a prominent web site for several months and was not being paid to do so. Beware of companies asking you to provide recurring services in exchange for "exposure". Unless of course you really are seeing huge returns on it. Generally, "exposure" just means "please write and work for free".

Learn Something New Every Day: Cool Site Alert

Love this UK site with crazy facts every day. You can also upload your own if you know any....
I'm not sure what their qualification process is.

A Company Doing It Right: Scotch Tape

I'm not sure why office supply brands like Sharpie, Post-It, and now Scotch Tape are doing so well online.... they are office supplies after all. Yet here's Scotch Tape doing the Off The Roll Contest which is a tape sculpture contest. What's cooler than tape sculptures?
Here's Why It's So Good:
The contest is something that already happens, Scotch just got in on the action. Street art is huge right now (when isn't it?) and Scotch Tape has created a contest using its product. They didn't ask people to come up with something FOR Scotch Tape like a jingle, product design, or video about why people love Scotch Tape. Instead, they lightly branded a really cool and creative contest.
Their second good idea was to create videos about how to make a tape sculpture using their tape. Notice the LACK of straight up tape commercials... the videos are tailored to the contest.
Social Media Notes:
They have links to their Twitter page, Facebook page, and YouTube right on the site. Plus they have a downloadable poster which is cool because the brand is giving people a way to promote the contest for them. Lots of companies screw this up. If you want people to promote your contest then you have to give them the collateral to do so (posters, images, text, etc.).
The only minus points are that the Facebook is covered in really boring tape packaging images... they should add more examples of the Tape sculptures (I couldn't even find a good one for this post).

A Long Drive: Or Otherwise Titled How To Deal With A Small City.

Everything is 3 hours away or more.
When I lived in Santa Fe, I could take a 45 minute plane ride to Las Vegas and when I lived in Colorado, Denver was nearby. In the Midwest everything is at least 3 hours away (and that's assuming you want to go to Columbus, OH or Nebraska). This makes me feel really far away from the places where things are going on and I can really feel it when I'm driving through hours of farmland from Madison to Chicago once a week because I work mostly with people that live in Chicago. "What's so great about these broken down barns that I'm still here?" I argue with myself.
When I go and visit places like New York or L.A. I come home and talk about moving for a month (at least). In my mind, those are better places to live because there is more opportunity there for my career. There are more people mingling around that have larger companies and groups that I'd love to work with that are doing really interesting, progressive things. Then I look at rental prices and I realize I've been spoiled horribly by the low cost of living in Madison.
What? No laundry in-unit? No 2nd bedroom? No walk in closets? I can see that what I can spend on rent would hold approximately 1/9 of my stuff...maybe less.
So I generally spend my 3 hours driving to and from Chicago deciding where I should live. So lately, I'm averaging 6 hours of uninterrupted "where should I live" time a week. Probably not that healthy... but that's what I do.
It's also not that easy. My girlfriend in New York cannot for the life of her figure out why I don't just pack up all my stuff (as I have done many times before) and move to NY already. The truth is, I would have to take a major step down in my lifestyle, my family would be far away, the New Jersey-ite can't leave, and I have some really good friends here.
Here's how I am working around it right now.
Living in a small place is the life equivalent of working from home because there are less chances to meet people and see weird things. I have to make sure that I travel regularly. This is probably important for everyone but especially for people living in a small city. Every time I go to a conference in New York I come home and freak out because I feel like we are behind here in Madison. Whether we actually are or not doesn't matter because those types of conferences make me work really hard to stay current and that is really important.
The great thing is, you can watch this stuff online (the TED videos are amazing) when you can't get out of the state.
The time I spend in the car and at airports is ridiculous but I'm willing to do it so that I can see new things at least once a month. My Dad often calls me up and says "where in the world are you now?" and my grandfather says things like "you sure don't let any moss grow under your feet" but this semi allows me to have the lifestyle I want.
Setting myself up as a "location independent business" means that I can travel Wed. through next Tuesday and not mess up my work schedule. I get to work from remote coffeeshops and pretend I live there. Can I have my cake and eat it too? Will I ever figure out how to simultaneously live in a city and also Madison, Wi.? Unknown, but I have a lot of Chicago driving hours ahead of me to figure it out.

Listening To: Pagan Angels And A Borrowed Car

It's not new, just perfect for today. Have a listen.

Sooshi Ice Cream? Thanks New Zealand!

It looks like sushi, but it's natural ice cream Sooshi. On the outside roll part, Sooshi has a green apple flavored strip. Rice is replaced with vanilla or fruit ice cream, and the center’s is lemon or apricot.

Overheard: An Actual Conversation

Last night I went to a talk at Monona Terrace with Modite. It was 10 designers with 20 slides to talk about their inspiration. My favorite quote was from Planet Propaganda.

"If you came to the race to see a crash, get ready"

He said Evel Knievel inspired him. His speech inspired me.

How To Fake Being Organized

I am not nor have I ever been an organized person. It's not like I ever set out to simply ignore the rules of being organized..... it's just not something that comes naturally to me. For example: remember "clean out your cubby day" when you were in 4th grade? That was my nightmare. I was the kid with 100,000 papers jammed into their cubby so that they had to start a "clean your cubby day" to get the kid to take it all home. I'm not proud of it, it just is.
The worst part is I don't really want to be organized I just want it to be ok. I just want it to look like I am the type of person that doesn't have 100,000 papers jammed somewhere.
Over the years I have learned enough tricks to seem like I'm organized enough that people actually tell me "you're such an organized person" which makes me chuckle because it's worked. I have enough tricks now to make it seem like I'm not the "clean out your cubby day" kid.
I'm not endorsing being unorganized but here are a few tips in a pinch.
1) Be on time. I can't stress this enough. Being on time for a meeting sets the tone that people's time is valuable and you respect that. My trick for this is to set every clock in my house and my car clock ahead at least 10 min. The person who is late always looks unorganized even if they aren't. Forewarning: No one else in your household will enjoy the clock trick but you.
2) Send follow ups. People who send an email after a meeting with a client, interview, whatever will look well put together. Bonus points if you write the deliverables or next steps in the e-mail.
3) Carry your things in a nice folder. I like those folders that are leather and have pockets for business cards and a notebook. Don't carry a junk notebook unless you take really good notes otherwise it will look sloppy. If you take few notes (I have a really good memory and I don't take notes because I can't pay attention and take notes) you'll need something more professional.
4) Use Google calendar. I have been beaten by so many calendars I've lost count. Not writing them down means you'll miss appointments so if you go into Google Calendar you can set up a million reminders for each appointment. I usually have at least 2 emails and 1 pop up and have managed to miss no calls or meetings in the last 6 months.

Thinking Of Starting Your Own Thing? Create A Workspace.

This is Lisa Congdon's space via ShareSomeCandy
A comment on a post I recently did about working from home made me really start thinking about the home office and what should go in it. I have actually failed at several home offices because I made them like I thought I should make them instead of what worked for me.
This is a pitfall of the freelancer, location independent, and avid blogger. I have this idea in my mind about what the home office should be like and then I don't really use it because it's not my space it's just an idea of a workspace come to life. Artists are great at creating studios to work in so I took a note from them:
Build your dream workspace, but get some ideas first.
Take a few minutes and look at these and these and decide which of these places makes you feel inspired.
For me, I like to have tons of cool pictures, articles, and toys around me when I work. I dislike living in a cluttered place but for my workspace I don't mind at all.
Throw out ideas like "I have to have a desk" or "There must be a file cabinet". Your workspace should reflect not only the type of work you do but also how you like to feel while you come up with ideas. I love the feel of an artists studio so I have lots of art magazine pages ripped out and around me when I work. A desk doesn't do anything for me so I don't use one.
Some good things to consider are:
Corkboard. I love corkboard because you can put things up and take things down however frequently you want to. You can also spray paint them to look more interesting if you want.
There are magnet boards that do much the same thing - IKEA has some great ones for $12. You could potentially cover an entire wall in these and have a mood board that you can change and design every day if you wanted to.
If you are a traveler, you could put up pictures of your next dream trip location. Does having a mood board increase productivity? I can't prove it but I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy having a cup of coffee and working next to things that make you feel inspired more than a cubicle wall.
Create your "office" in a room you use. This part was really important for me. I hate going into a room and closing the door to work. It's why I work so well in coffeeshops, background noise helps me concentrate. If you set up your space in a room you use you can make your office part of the scenery. There's going to be work/life blend with location independent work
so I just embrace it and work in a room where I can work and live.
The bottom line to creating a good workspace is to have all of the tools you will need plus an environment that keeps you motivated and inspired. If anyone's got any other good home office tips post them in the comments!

Next Time You're In New York: Stanton Social

Over the weekend I had a chance to get together with an old girlfriend and we had dinner at Stanton Social. Completely worth going to! Their music was amazing, their food was amazing, and the staff was incredibly hospitable. Their food is small plate (tapas style) so you order a whole bunch of plates to share. Milwaukee has a great small plate style restaurant too called La Merenda .
My favorite thing about the menu was that every item was well thought out and incredibly creative. You could try some of their ideas for a dinner party as well. My favorites were the Chicken and Waffles, the Onion Soup Dumplings (these were really cool bite sized dumplings with the soup inside), and the Kobe beef sliders.

Netflix It: Lymelife

When I got home from the airport last night (New York) I couldn't think of doing anything but relaxing with a movie. If you like the Culkin kids (and I do) you'll probably like this movie.
It's the kind of a dark coming of age movie that the Culkins are doing a lot these days so I was pleasantly surprised.
Watch it if you liked:
Igby Goes Down
The Secret Life of Alter Boys
The Ice Storm

The Windows 7 Burger.....

yuck. that is all.

This Is The Coolest Halloween Costume This Year. Definitely

Via One Plus Infinity

I couldn't resist this re-post. How awesome is this halftone dot print character? I love it. I am still working out my plan.....
The New Jersey-ite and I are going to be in New York visiting my friend Brooklyn and we're having dinner at Stanton Social, anyone been there?

I'm On This Show Today - 3:30 CST

I'll be talking about networking online - you can see it here.

Pepsi's Halloween Cans, Are They Even Trying?

This is Pepsi's "Halloween can". Ummm..... did they not know Halloween was coming up and had to come up with something quick? Like 5 minutes quick?

Buying A Suit 101: Caleb Gardner

I asked Caleb to help me with a suit buying post because after being asked by no less than 3 men in the last few months to help find a suit I realized that you guys out there need some guidance. Hope this helps!

Caleb Gardner is a marketing and social media consultant, clotheshorse, and family man. He calls Chicago home. The Exceptional Man is his idea of trying to help.

Buying a good suit is something akin to purchasing a work of art. You can no more tell a man exactly what kind of suit he should get than you can tell him exactly what he should be hanging from his walls. There are too many styles and genres from which to choose, and every man’s preferences will be different.

However with the right training and a keen sense of style, you can tell good art from the stuff hanging in the Holiday Inn. Similarly you can tell the difference between a man wearing a suit and the suit wearing the man.

First and foremost, it’s a matter of choice. Fabric, cut, lapels, vents – these are all decisions that need to be made. Since suggesting what you should buy depends on a number of factors, from body shape to the occasion, it’s difficult to make specific suggestions as to which suit is right for you. Owning your own shape and your own style will go a long way to figuring out what you can pull off.

So in general, I’m going to go ahead and suggest that, especially if this is your first suit, you should be buying a single-breasted, two-button wool suit with notch lapels and a center vent in the jacket. This should serve you well at most occasions and through most seasons. If you’re a slimmer gentleman you can take a look at a European cut; otherwise stick with the classic American. But no matter what you decide to go with, the most important thing to remember is what I would urge you to keep in mind with your entire wardrobe: fit.

Especially if you’re not familiar with your jacket size, try them on in ever decreasing sizes until you find the one that’s obviously too small for you – then get the next one up. Make sure your shoulders are being hugged, and there are no protruding shoulder pads. You shouldn’t be able to fit more than a fist’s worth of space between your jacket and your body, but should be able to button without straining. Your pants should only have a slight break, and should fit comfortably around the waist.

[Side note : the sales guy is not always your friend. He’s looking to make a sale, not make you look good. Know what you are looking for, and then stick to it.]

Then comes the ever important final step: tailoring. If the place your buying your suit from doesn’t have an in-house tailor (or you don’t trust theirs for some reason), take your new purchase to someone reputable. Tell them you want a quarter inch of shirt cuff to show on your sleeves, and if necessary have him alter your pants or take in your jacket. Remember: he’s not a miracle worker, so do everything in your power to get it right out of the store. Under no circumstances should a tailor attempt to reduce shoulder pads or alter a waistline any more than one inch either way.

I hope this simple guide will be a good starting off point for you. If you need any more specific advice for your situation, don’t hesitate to send me an email. I’d love to help you find your work of art.

Would You Rather See Street Art Or Ads? Artists Start Battling For Space.

Well, well, well.. things are getting pretty interesting in the advertising world these days as ads seek to be seen as street art - however well or poorly that turns out. (see below) While street artists are not allowed to put up their work in lots of places, Jordan Seiler founder of PublicAdCampaign says that ads are being placed in the very same places.
The New York Times covered the event on Sunday in New York where artists took to the streets whitewashing over "illegal ads" and putting up their own work. The ads were replaced shortly only to be whitewashed over again. The article is really worth reading.

VW Bus Speaker For Your Ipod.

at Urban Outfitters.

Working From Wherever. Is This Possible?

I think about location independent working and how to make it work for people all the time and it all started a few years ago when I realized 2 things:

1) My productive hours are from 7AM - 2PM. I can be productive again around 8PM.
2) I got a lot more done on days that I had the flu enough to stay home than I did in the office.

This got me to thinking about how many hours I spend getting ready to go to an office during my productive time and how many hours after I was chilling in my office but not necessarily getting much done. I also felt stifled by going to the same place day after day after day. It can be very uninspiring.
When I bring this subject up people almost always say "yes, that would be great but it wouldn't work in my industry" and I used to accept that as an answer. Now, I'm not so sure that it can't work for any industry. * The only industry this wouldn't work is in a retail setting where people need to physically check people out, make a latte, etc.

Since technology has come in and bowled over the workplace as we know it, people are much more connected. When I stopped working for someone else and opened my own business I realized that my network didn't change very much because my network existed online. I can change jobs or cities and I still e-mail the same people every day that I always did.
Granted, the freelancers and small businesses will be the first ones to catch onto location independent working because the overhead of keeping an office, desks, phone lines, etc. will force them to consider co-working or remote working. I think the bigger companies will follow eventually.
1) Productivity will go up. If people don't have to go to an office every day, office drama will decrease significantly. When I started adding up the coworkers birthday lunches, pointless on the spot meetings, and hallway chatter, I now wonder how I ever got anything done at all. By eliminating the social aspect of the office, people will not only get more done but they will then spend more social time with friends and family.
2) Companies Can Charge Less. The overhead that advertising agencies have to charge is enormous because everyone works in house. The same goes for a lot of other industries. What I've been trying to do is set up a core group of people that make up my company and when a client tells me what they need I contract those people accordingly. This means that when I don't have projects where I need a designer, they don't need to come and kill time at the office. This keeps my pricing very competitive.
3) Gen Y Will Demand It. Gen Y wants to know how everything fits into their life. They look for jobs that allow them to use the internet skills they have grown up with and that allow them to pursue their interests. Gen Y travels more than previous generations and will want to know how this fits into their job. Sound spoiled? I don't agree. I'd rather hire someone who has thought of a trip they wanted to take, pitched it to a company who agreed to pay them to blog about their experience, and come back with ideas, writing skills, and a knowledge of how to create work out of their experiences than someone who showed up at the office every day.
4) The Family Unit Has Changed. It took me a while to realize this one but it is relevant to this subject. Our families don't live as closely knit as they used to but things still need to get done. Most people don't have grandma cooking meals, or aunts doing laundry, or fathers next door to fix leaks. I was starting to feel like I simply couldn't get it all done and spend 60-70 hours physically at an office each week. Office hours are primo "get things done" hours so these errands had to wait until the weekend which meant I couldn't go and visit my actual family. Flexible work schedules mean we can answer e-mails while we wait for the plumber on a Tuesday.

I'm interested in hearing other thoughts on co-working or location independant working.Is anyone trying this ?
Here are some other places to read about the subject:
Location Independant
Coworking.com
Free Pursuits
Wise Bread - Location Independent 101