Managing the Gray – Positive Advice That Everyone Can Use to Succeed

Another trend that I’ve been noticing lately is that many people are waiting for things to be perfect before pushing forward. This might be waiting for the perfectly designed website or fine tuning an article until it is perfect in the author’s opinion. You need to STOP IT!!!

Waiting to be perfect is getting in your way and that is what we talk about on today’s episode of Managing the Gray.

Links to things mentioned on the show today:

• Digital Dads
• Cast of Dads
• Marketing Over Coffee
• Christopher S. Penn
• Seth Godin on shipping
• Greg Verdino’s “Best” Post

So, now that you know it is ok not to wait for perfection what are you going to do? Don’t tell me about it until AFTER you’ve done it! Talking about doing stuff is not the same as doing it.

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Change is never an easy thing. Change is scary, unsettling and all around not fun to go through. But, life is full of change and each of us has to deal with it over and over and over again.

Today’s Managing the Gray focuses in on how while change is always going to happen, you have to be ready for it when it comes. No one else can help you or your company embrace change unless you are ready to change.

It beings with you and your team so start there and then we can talk about how to actually make the change happen.

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I get asked all the time how I find the time to do all the things I do and the answer is that I MAKE the time. You have to figure out what is the priority thing you want to get done. What can I do now that has to be done. Always be looking for ways to get more then one thing done at once. Finally never forget to make time for yourself. We too often forget that above all else.

So today on Managing the Gray I’ll remind you that it is up to YOU to make the time for what needs to get done and what you want to accomplish.

Other things mentioned on the show (books are affiliate links):

• Recent book review post
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
• Linchpin
• The Artist’s Way
• Do More Great Work
• Taking a day off

Consider signing up for my newsletter to stay up to date on m y latest projects. If you want to drink from a bigger fire hose then connect on Facebook or Twitter for the up to the minute happenings.

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The more I talk with people, the more I’m seeing some common stories coming up and one that is VERY common lately is that many people are not feeling fulfilled in their current situation and are searching for more, so I wanted to dedicate today’s Managing the Gray to that topic so people would realize they are not alone in this..

Other things mentioned on the show:

• 140 Conference NYC
• Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken
• Rework by Jason Fried (affiliate link)
• Campfire

There is so much going on in the world and I really want to help you out as much as possible. Feel free to e-mail me and we’ll see what we can do together to make things better. We can also connect on Facebook or Twitter until our paths cross next.

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I spent this past weekend with friends and some of the discussion turned to goals. Combine that with a listener question about how they could become a goal setting person and I thought this would be a perfect topic for today’s Managing the Gray .

Other things mentioned on the show:

• Chris Brogan talking goals
• Kickstarter
• Social Media Breakfast NH – April 16th
• 140 Conference NYC – April 20 & 21
• CMT Adventure Country
  

I hope you know by now, that I truly do want to help you achieve amazing things. If you ever want to chat or need a nudge please e-mail me. Does your business need a jolt of smart and strategic creativity? If so be sure to get in touch with us at Campfire because we’d love to do it for you.

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I keep watching as everyone I know keeps trying to do everything all on their own and I’m watching as people I love are starting to get burned out. So, today on Managing the Gray I wanted to focus on how we all need help to succeed. I discussed how I’m using Waveboard to connect with friends, the power of advisers and mastermind groups.

Other things mentioned on the show:

• Seth Godin’s: Maybe You Need New Friends
• Amber Naslund
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
• 140 Conference NYC
• The Audience Conference

I want to see you succeed and if there is ever a way that I can help you please let me know.

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It was late and rainy Monday night at SXSW and after getting a pile of work done I wanted to record a new Managing the Gray so I pulled out my iPhone and recorded this episode. Be warned that I sound wiped out for sure in this, but I hope the message comes through for all of you.

In the end, lots of people will always try to make their priorities be yours, but only YOU can determine what your priorities are. Never forget that and don’t be afraid to let other people know when appropriate.

The artist I mention during the show is Jeremy Steding if you want to find out more.

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Managing the Gray continues to be an outlet for me to constructively share what is on my mind and the recent wave of conversation online around charging for content and value is obviously on my mind because I sat down to discuss something else and started talking about this instead.

I talked about a bunch of different posts, topics and sites. Here they are so you can check them out.

• Third Tribe Marketing
• Chris Brogan’s post that started it all. His follow up is great as well.
• The Whuffie Factor
• J.C. Hutchin’s post
• My SXSW Profile
• Dan Patterson
• Jack Rice

Make sure you don’t miss an episode by subscribing in iTunes and I’d love for you to leave a review for the show. Thanks!

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February is here. The first month of 2010 is behind us, so it felt like the perfect time to check in with you on how your goals are going so far this year. Managing the Gray is here to help give you the kick when you need it in the right direction.

I referenced the Conan O’Brien farewell speech and if you haven’t seen it you can watch it here. Also, I mention my good buddy and super talented musician Matthew Ebel as well.

Also, I’d love you to learn more about Wediko since I’m passionate about getting the word out there about all the great things they do for children and families.

Welcome to all the new listeners. It is great to have you here. We hope you have subscribed in iTunes oand once you’ve listened to a few shows, we’d love for you to leave a review for the show. Thanks!

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A new year and a new decade is upon us and my plan is for Managing the Gray to help you not only get through the year, but prosper in it.

I’m not big on lists, but a listener asked what trends or predications I had for the new year. Rather then spouting off possibilities I’d rather focus on reality and when you listen to the show you can hear what I had to say.

After you listen to the show be sure to check out the new Lego Click site. It isn’t every day that an idea like that gets into my head so fast. I’m really curious to see how it goes for them and I guess I’m now part of it. The other sites I mentioned in reference to smaller networks were blippy and Blackbox Republic.

Also, my new podcast Cast of Dads is up to episode 5 and you can now subscribe in iTunes.

I mentioned on the show that I’m hoping to grow the audience this year so if you have a moment please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show. Thanks!

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The holidays got in the way of getting this out as soon as I wanted to, but I’m excited to share with you an interview with my good friend and author Ron Ploof to discuss his new book Read This First: The Executive’s Guide to New Media-from Blogs to Social Networks.

Ron granted me the first interview about his book and any chance to catch up and chat with him is a good thing for me. I’m honored to call him a friend and am psyched for people to get out there and read this book because I think it is better then most of the ones I’ve seen and read about social media.

Listen to the episode to find out how you can win a copy to give to your boss or another executive that you think needs to understand this stuff better.

As always if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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I recently was asked to take part in the Rule 53 podcast. Rule 53 is a cross-generational podcast that  focuses on leadership, business, technology, and professional development.  Each episode features one twentysomething student or recent graduate and his or her experienced counterpart.  The goal is to help define “Rule 53″, a curriculum for tomorrow’s leaders ad change agents.

I am sharing this directly with the Managing the Gray feed because I was so excited about the concept of the show and how the interview turned out. Plus, how could I not when all three of us on the phone are Bentley University Falcons?

Listen, enjoy and if you like what you hear be sure to check out all the other great stuff going on at DartBoston.

As always if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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When I went out to Blogworld Expo , one of the coolest things I got to hear about is what the US Army is doing with their new site Army Strong Stories. As soon as I heard about it I knew I was impressed and wanted to get them on the phone to talk abut it so all the Managing the Gray listeners could find out more.

A special thanks to MAJ Mary Constantino for taking time out of her busy schedule to chat with me about the program.

As always if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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My good friend J.C. Hutchins new book hits store shelves today called 7th Son: Descent. You should buy many copies of it for every science fiction and thriller lover on your Christmas list!

But, today I’ve got something special for you. A special free 10 chapter PDF of the book for your downloading, reading and sharing pleasure. Click on the book cover to enjoy.

What I love about this is that is just one part of all the new things that JC is trying around marketing this book. It is being published by a major publishing company, but JC wanted to keep trying new things like this (with their blessing) to further help sell the book. Experimentation is always fun!

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Blogworld Expo was a lot of fun, but it seemed that every other question in any conversation was, “So what do you think about the FTC announcing they will be fining bloggers?”

If you haven’t read about this there is plenty of coverage and here is the actual announcement.

For me, it really is simple and not that big of a deal because I personally have always made sure to disclose any relationships. What the ruling means to me is that the people who are NOT doing this will hopefully start doing it or will be fined. I’m not sure the government needs to get involved in this as they’ve got bigger problems to fix, but that is a whole other discussion.

On the show I talk about how I’ve been using http://cmp.ly to help me in disclosing relationships. It feels almost like creative commons for disclosure and so far it is the best thing I’ve seen out there. If you have seen others let me know.

As always if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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Fresh back from Inbound Marketing Summit Boston 2009 and I’m filled with a lot of energy. The people, the conversations and the learning all filled me up and I’m ready to go.

While at the conference I took part in a panel (that should be online soon I hope) and gave a presentation called “There is a Hole in the Bucket” that seemed to really resonate with people and I wanted to talk about it on the show since many of you could not be there and I’m not sure when the video of the speech will actually hit the web.

Here are the slides I used to go along with my presentation. Not sure how well they stand on their own, but they work much better when I’m actually talking to them *laugh*

I also talked a bit about what Campfire has been up to and the announcement this morning that we won six Pro Awards which always feels really good. Looking forward to talking to a lot of people about who we are and what we do at Blogworld Expo next week.

As always if you enjoyed what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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Every person that creates content of any type online is an “influencer” in my mind and it is to you that I’m speaking today.

More and more brands are looking to engaged with influencers both long term and for individual programs and I think that too many people are selling themselves short when they take part in these programs and I want each of you to start thinking more about what I am calling a Personal Price Tag.

Also, here are the links to the upcoming events that I’m going to be attending. I hope to see some of you there!

• ANA Conference
• Inbound Marketing Summit
• Blog World Expo
• L.A. 140 Conference
• The Audience Conference

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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As you can imagine, life has been a bit busy around here since we made the big announcement about Campfire acquiring The Advance Guard. It is a big change and an awesome one and I finally get to share some thoughts with you about it.

I also wanted to talk about hard work and the advice I gave a recent college graduate who was looking to land a job with a public relations firm. It was a simple answer, but the right one.

I also talk about a great post from Derek Sivers on only saying “Hell Yeah!” that is already changing how I approach things and why you might want to think about adopting this as well.

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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This past weekend I attended Podcamp Boston 4 and had an absolute wonderful time.

But, I left with one thing in my head that I had to share with the world and that is the fact that while some people might get in your way during your career, life or chasing dreams the only person that really holds you back is YOU.

I wrote about this topic on Digital Dads and now had to cover it on Managing the Gray. Once you listen I would love to know your thoughts on it.

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe in iTunes or leave a review for the show.

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