I just spent the last 4 hours answering 12 questions from Associated Content author Donald Pennington. Don't get me wrong, it was fun - but it really took a huge chunk of the day away from finishing up v2 of the ComHacker design.

Although, I'm sure in the end it will balance out =)

I should've known better though. Last week's WordPress Weekly interview ran over an hour, and that's spoken (they didn't start grilling me until after the show though).

LOL, I just remembered, I got an email from TalkShoe today and I was so excited thinking it was the notice for the firm date of next week's show. Come to find out it was just a general notice and I got sooo disgusted lol

It's going to be so super awesome co-hosting a podcast ^.^

(gawd, if anyone told me two years ago I'd be here now, I would've sent 'em to the loony bin)

And I'm not just talking about French Vanilla Cappuccino or chocolate...

Maybe it would be best if I started with an example.

For me, I need an accomplishment to look forward to - something that will provide a reward of value to me. Historically, a valuable reward to me has been one of two things, stemming from something I have created: external praise, and giving someone thought / knowledge / a new perspective.

Not fame, not recognition, and certainly not money. Money, to me, is a means, not an end - as are the other two mentioned.

Since a job takes up most of our time, and typically becomes our identity, it makes sense that our job should be a source of happiness - but all too often, I see people taking jobs that do not align with things which make them happy.

For me, I can't stand to work for a boss because it typically does not align with what makes me happy. Working for a boss, I produce, I do not create, and the only feedback I get is not from the people whom benefit from it the most.

I have found that I must be in front of my consumers in order to be happiest. This means I must work for myself in order to be both the creator and "customer service" representative.

What about you? What do you need to feel happy?

I'm here - I'm a writer, full time... basically. Either way I make enough money working from home to sustain myself and a household.

It took a year of dedication to do it, but it was not fully realized until just this past month =)

Robin Good is looking for a few excellent aspiring editors to join the team at MasterNewMedia.org. For me, his lessons have been invaluable, and you should know by now I don't recommend anything I wouldn't bet my reputation on.

In his words, he's looking for:

"...someone who is very reliable, has true desire to learn and has solid time available..."

This is a full time gig and nothing to be taken lightly, and it's no chump change either. Think of it as working for the NY Times of the web, and treat it as such.

You'll start out as an unpaid intern, but the faster you pass assignment modules, the faster you get paid. And he does pay reliably - net 30 via PayPal or bank transfer (but only for "large amounts," i.e. over $500, which is really easy to earn once you are more trained).

However, just like I'll only recommend to you things I'll bet my reputation on, I'm only going to recommend to him the same way. Get in touch with me, and I'll give you a quick quiz to see if you can make it through the "Robin Good Boot Camp For Editors."

I used to Tweet every now and then because I didn't see any real value to using it. Then I added a couple A-listers, and those A-listers eventually posted something that piqued my interest. And I followed. I read. I commented. And felt like I did something, like I'm somehow now "in the know" and not so left behind.

Then again, working for MasterNewMedia.org has certainly helped in the "with it" department - but now, after following 100+ A-listers in the stuff I'm really interested in, I feel like I just might be able to keep pace and stay above information overload.

That's the value in Twitter for me - and I found that through using it. You can't know what value something will bring to you unless you bring value to it first.

For those of you that might be interested - my Twitter.

Aim Clear Blog has a post on writing outside of the first person and externalizing credit while internalizing fault as a means of being highly successful.

Truly great leaders (level 5) share a number of mostly-common traits. One of them is crediting others (looking out the window) for success and taking responsibility (looking in the mirror) for failures. External factors contributing to success could include luck, excellent team members, & market trends.

Failure often stems from lack of a coherent game plan, inviting the wrong team members onto the bus, & not facing brutal truths. Tactic or trap, writing from the self-center person can be an intentional grammatical style book decision.

The entry goes on to detail when you should and should not speak in the first person, with an aim of eliminating all self-references. While this is a good idea in theory, there are two small problems with that, as I noted in my comment.

The only downside to this technique is the propensity to write in a passive voice and come off as factual where the information is actually pure opinion. Your average reader would not be able to pick up on the fact what you have written (in this post most especially) is not to be taken as gospel, because you have successfully sold opinion as fact - to the average reader.

The critical thinker however, will notice that you have only referenced one other person, but not as a resource. You are not quoting studies or linking to references - which points to the idea you have not come to these conclusions via externalized research.

This technique, in essence, is a different form of propaganda, stemming from the magic words of marketing.

Whether you consider this to be a bad or good thing all depends on what you wish to do with this blog. Far be it for me to say the way you write is wrong - perhaps a bit deceptive, but given your demographic I’m sure they can understand your intentions and come to the same conclusions I did. =)

Notes: I originally referenced the 13 magic words of marketing in a People Watching blog post (send a request to mayobrains at gmail dot com if you do not have access and I'll consider emailing the text to you), and of course propaganda has been on my mind thanks to Maki at DoshDosh.

However, that is not my only concern with the concepts presented in the Aim Clear post. Honestly, the idea of externalizing credit while internalizing fault sounds like so much communism to me - great in theory, but not very effective in practice for a long period of time.

While it's great for improving your image with others temporarily, eventually this will shatter your internal image... and when the inside has grown dull, the outside can no longer shine genuinely. This concept is presented in my Uniform Social Standards theory.

So what is the best solution? Honesty. True, open, honesty. If you think something to be so, then say you think it. If you think you know something to be so, then reference your sources. And when it comes down to who gets the credit - dig down to the root, and find the most true reason for success and failure.

 

"Ready, fire, aim" is a perfectly viable strategy for New Media startups.

Don't be afraid to do what you love first and worry about making a living at it later. Liam Sullivan struggled for years to land an acting gig in LA, then he gave up and started posting sketch videos online. He even admits to being "computer stupid" and that his fame is totally by accident. Now he makes a decent living selling merchandise related to his videos. He became a 'net star the smart way - built a user base first, then worked on capitalizing on that resource.

There are quite a few ways to build up your presence online safely, with proven baby steps. Start off with a great idea and build upon it by figuring out what's hot and adding it to your offerings. TiVo is doing just exactly that and making television into a online video, or "podcast," receiver.

However it may be more valuable to figure out what works and fine-tune the design of your portal to better suit your readership first. If your readership would prefer videos, or if your content would be more self-evident through video - then offer video.

The general idea here is to make your content more accessible and convenient to your readers, where ever they might be and how ever they prefer to receive your content. In some cases, that could mean teaming up with the big boys. For example, Idiomag hopes to break out of being a no-name on the 'net by integrating with Facebook.

(yes, I did all of this, and more at MasterNewMedia.org)

Open Sourced Teams Brew Closed Minds

There are a few arguments against open sourced teams, also known as "crowdsourcing." For one, the anonymity of it all tends to allow for irrational and sometimes rude behavior. Secondly, there is a growing debate as to whether open sourcing hinders rather than helps radical innovation. Ryan Paul has made swift work of that argument, stating quite simply that open source obviously allows for radical innovation since developers do not have to build from scratch.

However, the infrastructure of the Internet today is by and large run by open sourced teams. For instance, Flemming Funch notes that Usenet groups and even server blacklisting is managed by open sourced teams. These groups can be very mobster-like and difficult to deal with, not to mention there is no recourse, no higher entity one can appeal to if the problem is not solved there. Wikipedia is also quickly following suit and becoming a mob-like open source team.

So how do you get your way?

Since the structure of these teams is fundamentally different, dealing with crowd sourced teams is also quite different from dealing with collaborative teams. If you want to win over a collaborative team, you go to the leader and state your argument. However, to change the mind of the leaderless open sourced team, you need to either join them, bring in your friends to back you up, or sway public opinion in your favor, as recommended by Flemming Funch.



RGTV Video News:
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Iraq: Just when they thought it was safe soldiers attacked in Baghdad
Israel: Gaza still in chaos
Kenya: Aid finally begins to reach those in need
"No Comment" Kenya Protesters blocked
Afghanistan: Country-wide food shortage
UK: Prime Minister Brown says UK will be OK despite global economic outlook
Japan: "The Pulse" on Asian Encephalitis plague with Chinese cure
Philippines: Music is their escape from the hard life
Interview with Bill Gates on the future of computing...

and more coming up...

This is RGTV News - Robin Good's daily hand-picked selection of international news and stories you may not be able to catch on your mainstream TV network channels.