Tim Bursch

I read this post by Jen Kane and have been thinking about it ever since. She brings up some great points and as usual challenges us to action.

So, here’s my idea: start small mastermind groups of people that are interested in going deeper.

Let’s talk about metrics and ROI. Let’s figure out action steps too. And let’s support each other and share ideas.

A few challenges with starting mastermind groups:

- Trust is needed in order to let a small group of people give you feedback and learn together.

- Time is needed. Who has time for another meeting? There’s work to do, but this would be a commitment to going pro.

- Logistics need to be figured out. Where, when, and what if people don’t show? All good questions.

There’s not an institution to go learn social media from, yet. If we want 201 learning, we will have to make it happen.

So, who’s interested in a mastermind group?

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I hope you had a good week. These posts inspired and made me think:

1. Leaders Can Be Human Too
2. A local social media call to arms
3. Why does your company have a cheap website?
4. Spam is not just email, it’s a way of thinking
5. Give life everything you’ve got, even when you’re winning.

What was the best part of your week?

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I was looking at draft posts and thinking about what makes the cut.

Here are some posts that won’t see the light of day:

-What are your listening practices? (Yawn)

-5 Ways to Start Building Your Personal Brand (overdone!)

-What will you do about poverty? (umm, I need to look at what I’m doing)

-Behavior change and community (interesting, but it needs to stew)

How do you decide what to share with the world? Is is all about giving away value. Sometimes.

Here are some of the things I think through:

Will this add value? What am I giving to my reader? Am I wasting someone’s attention? Does this just need to be said?

What about you? How do you decide?

Image by:miemo

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I hope you had a good week. Here’s are some of the best ideas that impacted me this week:

1. Readers lead. Books still matter.
2. This is about conversation. Are you joining in and commenting on blogs?
3. It does work to help people and your business at the same time.
4. Pizza places are doing good marketing. They’ve got me thinking here and here.

What impacted you this week? Share it.

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I hope you had a good week. Life is good, but hard sometimes. Be grateful for what you’ve got.

Here are the top ideas that I’m thinking about this week:

1. You can beat Walmart
2. Personal branding? Be yourself and make an impact.
3. Be part of people’s narrative first.
4. Check in on Linkedin at least once a week and take action (intro, recommend, send a message)
5. Email still works- I received two emails this week (a restaurant and a newsletter) Both caused me to take action. Email= action.
6. Conversation- Take time to really listen online and offline. People are good. And their stories matter.
7. The people of Haiti suffered this week. Take notice and help.

What about you? What ideas have impacted you? Share them.

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These ideas and articles made me think, stretch, and go further this week. Actually I’m still thinking about them.

1. Live a good story.
   
2. Be open to different voices and influence.
   
3. What is the soul of your business?
   
4. How can you change the world in 2010?
   
5. The golden rule still matters online and off.
   
6. Relationships make or break business today.
   
7. Be creative with new media. Think bigger.

And just for fun #8

A New Map of the USA

What made you think this week? What did you share? Tell me about it.

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It is that time of year when a lot of us make resolutions and goals for the new year. I know I do.

Here’s a thought: Why do we focus mostly on personal goals?

What about community based goals or resolutions? Have you ever thought of creating a goal with your community? Yeah, me neither.

Here’s the deal. I think there might be some power in collective resolutions. Let’s say you are part of a industry community. You share ideas, network, help each other get better at your business. What could your group (community) impact this year? If you were spending some of your goal-energy working with other people on a bigger goal, don’t you think you would grow…and everyone in the group.

So, what communities are you part of? Why not start a group resolution this year?

Image by: urban_data

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Are you a freelancer? Small business owner? To keep going with the Village idea, I often think about the cost of venturing out on my own.

Most people are working for a living. The challenge with the entrepreneurial journey is that we are the single point of failure in our own business. If something happens to us or we miss work it means lost time, opportunities, money and security.

I wonder though, could some of these costs be mitigated by working more in community. Not necessarily co-working, although I think it might be one model. What if I am a realtor in this village and I have a showing, but my daughter has a special school event? A big cost in my book. Could a person in the Village, not even the same profession, cover for the showing and let the Realtor see his daughter? Maybe.

This village would take time and trust to build. Maybe we are already building it through digital connections.

What do you think? What is the cost and how could it be shared?

Image credit: psyberartist

Tags: village.

Monday. A new year. Back to work.

Remember when mom used to say eat your vegetables first? Or do the hard work first? What if I did some easy tasks first today instead of tackling that gigantic in-box?
How about we start with a few small tasks that we can knock out quickly. Get some momentum going. Maybe give a new look to our reality this Monday.

How’s your Monday looking? What helps you get momentum?

Image credit: kamshots

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Last year (wow 2009 went by fast) I picked three words based on Chris Brogan’s idea, but did not put them out there. This year I want to be more public with my goals and direction. So, here are at least three words that I want to be intentional about in 2010:

follow-through, practice, stand

Follow-through

I love ideas. Especially new ones. I am going to work on following though with some existing projects and a few new ones. I might need your help. Watch for more on accountability and protection.

Practice

A book that impacted me in 2009 was The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It is about working through resistance in the creative process. This takes practice and action. I will be practicing a lot more writing and delivering ideas about the intersection of social media and social impact.

Stand

I really like to listen to people. Sometimes that can mean holding back when I probably need to say more. This year I want to stand. Especially for overlooked people and issues.

What are you going to be intentional about this year? How can I help?

(follow up post on the way about specific goals)

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