Today's Document
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Game of Thrones Daily
Not today Justin
Misplaced Lens Cap
EXPECTATIONS
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
Mike Driver
cherry valley forever
tannertan36
ojovivo
Noah Kahan
gracie abrams
Show & Tell
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
Sade Olutola
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titsay
seen from Spain
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@christophergdavis-blog
I’m starting to like bow ties more and more. I’d never prefer it over a tie myself, but some guys really pulls it off and look even better in it than ties.
I rarely see people wearing bow ties (actually, I rarely see people wearing suits at all, which is a shame), but I’ve seen about 2 or 3 guys...
I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it - Chringle & Co. #solids now available as part of the Essentials Collection. Garnet Red, Ink Blue, Hunter Green & Charcoal Grey. Shout out to @mrlittle67
@cobih sorry for the delay, my friend. You'll be pretty fly next #TieTuesday, #WeWearBowtiesWednesday, #ThatsANiceTieThursday & #FreshFriday. @coldseoul you're next. #bowties #handmade #ChringleAndCo (at Chringle & Co. HQ)
Just made a prototype for adjustable bow ties. Meeting scheduled with the seamstress for tomorrow #comingsoon (at Chringle & Co. HQ)
#fortunecookiewisdom
Chringle & Co. demo for a customer #solids #patterns #bowties
Now taking orders at chringleandco.com (link in my bio) #tietuesday #bowtiesforarealg
In the meantime, I'll be doing a limited release just in time for Father's Day. The 100% cotton ties above are $39 and were handcrafted right here in Houston by a professional seamstress who started sewing before I even knew what a bow tie was.
Waffle Taco
Magnificent Monday
I used to dread Monday. It signaled the end of fun, the end of chilling, the begin of the treacherous work week.
Meh.
But now I am beginning to like Monday. They still serve as the same signal, but instead of having a negative connotation, Monday is now a positive reinforcement. When dream-chasing and goal-setting, we set our sights on things that require toil and sacrifice. Things that can be all too elusive during the weekend.
Sure, the most disciplined of us can laugh at the thought of being distracted or driven off course or failing to meet levels of productivity. In reality however, it can be tough to sustain that momentum during Slack Saturday and Slumber Sunday. There are times still when the distractions are not born from idleness or laziness, but just the day-to-day happenings of life.
And that’s ok — because Monday.
Monday is a time to recalibrate and get back on track. It’s a gentle reminder that there is stuff to do and you are the one to do it.
Monday is the quintessential do-over, and unlike New Years’ Resolutions or annual evaluations or report cards, they come just in the nick of time to allow for adjustments along the way. You get 50 some odd chances to get back to the starting line and either reiterate the success of last week or start fresh from this one forward.
In my book, that’s pretty magnificent.
#entrepreneurship #BHM
Happy February. This BHM, read the story of a Black hero who isn't trumpeted by the mainstream. Learn another piece of our history, as a people, and as Americans. Black History is American History and I am happy to celebrate the contributions of those who helped make this the greatest place on earth, and just so happen to look like me. #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth
We're live #ProInitiative
Conjecture: Why startups and budding brands should spend zero on marketing
Everyone knows that the web has changed the marketing landscape. Most folks are too busy fiddling with their iDevices to pay attention to commercials when watching normal television. Many others dread 30-second commercials that play when watching content online (and thank the Heavens when YouTube presents the option to "Skip" when the marketing content is even longer). We have long ignored traditional banner ads.
The bottom line for early stage companies is that money spent on marketing is effectively equivalent to making it rain at the strip club. Sure, you look cool, you feel good for the moment and somebody gets richer, but you don't have much to show for it once the deed is done. That is why this particular activity should be left to the big dogs who can afford it. I am certainly not the first to say this, check out Awareness Building is a Waste of Startup Resources from ~6 years ago (i.e. 40 dog or internet years ago) for example.
What startups need is to build a legion of strong supporters, early adopters who identify with the brand and can help bring on new customers through good, old-fashioned, word-of-mouth referrals.
My conjecture: The strength of a supporter is inversely proportional to the marketing dollars spent to acquire her.
In other words, the more money spent to get the attention of a prospective buyer, the less likely that person is to become a true fan of your product or service, especially in the early stages. On the other hand, you increase your chances of finding strong supporters by spending little to no money on marketing, and instead sparking a dialogue with potential customers by:
identifying your target market,
producing content relevant to said market, and
strategically delivering this content to them using well-thought out (read: creative) distribution methods.
When you meet someone you hope to build a lasting and meaningful relationship with, would you rather spend time discussing similarities, engaging on dreams of the future and getting to know one another better? Or would you rather spend all your little money trying to buy lavish presents hoping that it pays off in the long run?
After all, they say it ain't trickin if you got it. And if you're just starting out in your business endeavor, you probably don't.
So stop trickin.
Goals #2014
Nothing new to report
Management v. Leadership
I was reading an article earlier about interview questions for potential product managers. As this is a career I could see myself in in a couple of years, I aim to learn what others expect of candidates for PM roles - hence the reading of the article.
Anywho, since most times Product Managers do not have direct authority over teams (e.g. "Do this because I'm your boss" is not feasible), the leadership skills and potential of the applicant were discussed as an important topic for the interview setting.
Specifically, one question suggested asking the interviewee to compare and contrast the concepts of management and leadership. In pondering this, I came up with an analogy that I think is fitting so I wish to share.
Management is the creation of a playbook, the x's and o's, that are designed to help the team win. Strong managers are responsible for crafting sound, strategic plans that, when executed, allow the team to have a great chance of winning.
As significant as this may be, simply drawing up a creative and strategic playbook is not enough to go the distance. This is where leadership comes into play, and it highlights the difference between the two.
Leadership is the ability to get all of the team members, from the star wideout to the third string lineman, to buy into the system that has been created. This requires engaging each person and helping them picture the vision that was in mind when management (or the Head Coach) sat down to put pencil to paper.
Management addresses the question of "What are we going to do?" while Leadership answers the question "Why is this the way we are doing it?" Although subtle, the difference exposes why managers also need to be adept leaders because they are not the same.
At the end of the day, once a good plan has been concocted, the leaders are the ones that ensure that is executed. And we all know: Execution is the name of the game.
Goal #3 - The Irony
My final stated goal for the year is to update this blog everyday. Ironically, it is the resolution that has slipped already as five days have passed since my last post.
The primary topics will be updates and stats on the goals I've laid out for the year. I tried to keep them simple in order to create metrics that clearly show the progress that I'm making. There will be others surrounding current events and ideas and music and the other things one is "supposed" to blog about. The point, however, is to simply write, to stimulate the creative process by
With that in mind, I guess I should set a measurable and realistic goal for blogging since I have clearly missed the boat on "update everyday." The new target is 80%. By Dec 31, I hope to have written something at [email protected] at least 292 times. That would more than double the current content here and could open up possibilities for some cool stuff down the road.
KPIs for 2014:
"Side-hustle" Dollars Earned
Pounds Lost
5k Time
Post Percentage (# of Posts/365)
Eventually, I will work on getting some dynamic charts embedded so that the status of each can be viewed easily.
