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

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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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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Several months ago, I had a friend tell me that he had a book that I had to read and a person I had to talk to. That was the first time I heard the phrase “family first entrepreneur” and it has stuck with me ever since. While I never had a phrase to describe it, that is how I’ve always approached work.

On today’s show I have the pleasure of chatting with Marc Warnke, author of ONO: Options Not Obligations.

It is a great book and one that while may not be the usual fare for the Managing the Gray audience, it is something I firmly believe in and wanted to give more exposure to.

Marc was very kind and offered a 30% discount when you order the book using promo code CC.

Links to find out more about the book and Marc:

• ONO Book Page
• Marc’s Website
• Marc’s Twitter

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

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I was very psyched when the opportunity to interview Chris Anderson here on Managing the Gray came up. Special thanks to my friend Kevin Smokler for making the introduction.

Photo by Joi Ito

Chris and I got on the phone to chat as we were both getting ready for Father’s Day weekend and I had a fun chatting with him about all the different things he has going on. Sure, he has the new book Free coming out on July 7th, but I wanted to talk about everything else he does as well. We got to talk about robots, the future of magazines and the publishing industry.

Links mentioned on today’s show include:

• BookTour.com
• The Long Tail
• Wired Magazine
• GeekDad
• DIY Drones

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

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I have been trying to make sure that I read more and more as it is something that I love, but know that with my schedule must make time for if I’m going to do it. Since I’ve been reading more I wanted to give you two quick reviews of two books that I really think you’ll enjoy and that as a member the Managing the Gray tribe would be of interest to you.

The two books reviewed on today’s show are:

• Tribes : We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
• The Truth About You : Your Secret to Success by Marcus Buckingham

While I’m not far enough to do a real review of it, I also mentioned that I’m currently reading Iconoclast : A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently by Gregory Berns. So far it is heavy ready, but worth it.

If you’ve read any of these books please leave your thoughts about them in the comments.

What books are you reading that I should be?

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I was psyched to be able to sit down with the creative team behind Ask a Ninja to talk about their brand new book The Ninja Handbook here on Managing the Gray.

We talk about video podcasts, the future of this space and why they decided to write a book.

As a big fan of their show and of the guys, it was a blast to do. Hope to see a bunch of you this weekend at PodCamp Montreal.

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Last year I missed out on being part of the amazing book Age of Conversation. When I got my copy I read it from start to finish and loved the diverse voices and view points throughoout it.

I’m happy to say that I am one of the almost 300 authors taking part in the second edition of this book and as I just submitted my chapter for it, I figured it was time to quickly mention it here.

I saw a mini meme starting among some of the authors to share a snippet from their chapter. I went in a little bit of a different direction with my chapter that I hope isn’t too off the wall. I wasn’t sure what to share, but I liked this piece so I felt it would work as nice tease for what I wrote about.

I love to create. Although the canvas might change, I constantly keep the creative juices flowing and sharing my creations with everyone. What are you doing to add to the gallery? Don’t be afraid to try a new medium.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what all these other authors come up with. So many names I know and so many that I don’t know yet, but hope to. If you are curious check all of them out below by clicking and visiting their sites.

“Age of Conversation 2 – Why Don’t People Get It?” Authors:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

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I just read an announcement from Joseph Jaffe that according to research done for his upcoming book Join the Conversation, that “81% of marketers believe that in 5 years they’ll be spending as much or more on conversational marketing vs. traditional marketing.”

I was glad to see that even he questioned that statistic, because as soon as I read it so did I.

I’d be very interested to know who was reached out to for this survey because if I was to go around and informally poll top CMOs out there I’m betting half of them would instantly respond, “what do you mean by conversational marketing?”

We all know that the tide is changing and that companies are going to wake up to the power of new media and leverage the social space in a much bigger way, but I’m not sure about the spending. Perhaps this means they are going to be spending less over all on marketing? Perhaps then it makes sense. I’m not sure. If it does prove to be true it’s great news for me and a lot of my colleagues as it means we’ll all have more work then we know what to do with. Perhaps then all of us “new media douchebags” won’t get such a bad rap. *grin*

Jaffe’s new book is good. I’ve read it and if you liked Life After the 30 Second Spot then you know what your in for. He’s trying to leverage the Bumrush the Charts idea for it’s release. Not sure if it will work with any piece of non-fiction, but it is all about experimentation so it’ll be fun to watch. Plus, anytime Joseph gets excited about something it is sure to make for a good time.

Oh and if you missed it he has FINALLY dumped the Across the Sound name on his podcast. Very happy about this as I’ve thought for a long time that pulling it under the Jaffe Juice name made the most sense. Self branding baby. Oh Yeah!

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I am very excited as today you get to hear me and podiobook author J.C. Hutchins sit down for a great conversation about his new book coming out and about new media in general. I’ve been a huge fan and listener of the 7th Son book series and thus I’m excited for the 7-7-07 release of the third and final book.

This interview is part of a 50 podcast interviews in 50 states initiative that J.C. Hutchins thought up and I’m proud and honored to be the Massachusetts representative!

Links from the show

• Subscribe to 7th Son podcast
• J.C. Hutchins Official Web Site
• Ministry of Propaganda
  

As I upload it I am about to celebrate Independence Day here in Metro West Boston and I hope that if you are celebration that you have a happy and safe holiday. To any military reading this in any corner of the globe, thank you for what you do and stay safe and keep doing what you do.

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I use to read all the time. I still read all the time, but it’s mainly RSS feeds and such and I want to get back to consuming books. Julien set off earlier this year on reading a book a week. That’s a cool goal and I know he is reading a TON and keeping on top of that. A conversation with him yesterday reminded me that I need to get back into reading books. It doesn’t hurt that in the past week I’ve had all these books arrive.

• Everything is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger
• Marketing to the Social Web by Larry Weber
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• Rule the Web by Mark Frauenfelder

There are a couple others that have been sent for review purposes and I’m going to to read those too.

What amazes me is the shear volume of new books being put out right now. There is no way you can’t find something to read right now if you wanted to. I can’t reccomend any of these books yet, but if and when I do fall in love with any of them you know I’ll share.

What are you reading right now? Have you read any of these? Let me know what you think.

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I’ve got to say up front that this is a dangerous book. A VERY dangerous book indeed. You have been warned. *grin*

I say it is dangerous because The Dip by Seth Godin is going to fill you with more questions then you have right now. You will be forced to stop and look at everything you are up to right now and decide if it is still worth doing. Thankfully it is is a short book (under 100 pages) because it is also one that as soon as you start reading you will not put it down until you are done.

The basic concept of “the dip” is that it is that moment in the middle of whatever you are doing where you have to work harder then ever to achieve any more success. We’ve all been in the dip and I would bet that everyone reading this is in one right now in their professional or personal lives in one form or another.

Where most would tell you to keep pushing forward no matter what and to never quit, Seth will tell you the exact opposite. He encourages quitting. He wants you to give up and move in a different direction if there is no chance that you are ever going to get out of the dip and onto greatness. He is not advocating quitting blindly, but rather strategically and honestly looking at where you are and where you want to be and make a decision to succeed or quit. That’s some powerful mojo when you stop and really marinate on what that means.

As an added bonus the very funny Hugh MacLeod illustrates the book. There is one that I want to frame and hang on my wall involving chess pieces, but it’s not online anywhere that I can find to do so. Hopefully sometime they will be.

Long time readers and listeners have heard me talk about the concept of a new media bookshelf. This is one of those books that if you are remotely interested in this space you have to buy and read right now. In the back of the book there is a page geared towards sharing the book with others and then getting it returned. I love the concept, but can’t part ways with this. It already has notes written in it and highlighter marks throughout as I’m going back through re-reading it again.

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Scott Sigler has been called a “media whore” by more then one person. It’s true. Even he calls himself that. But, I also call him a friend.

What is great is that Scott’s podiobook Ancestor is coming out in print on April 1st. Now, I listened to the podcast when it was coming out. I listen to everything he creates and am currently addicted to The Rookie which is coming out every week.

What I love is he just created a page with the Top 10 things his fans (junkies as he calls them) can do to help promote the book. THIS is what I am always talking about. The power of the community! Knowing his fans they will flock to help him out just like I am.

Usually I would have pre-ordered the book so that I could get it right away, but instead I’m holding off on ordering until April 1st, because the hope is that enough people will buy the book on that one day to bump it up the charts on Amazon and get it in front of eyeballs that it might never reach.

This same type of thing is happening on March 22nd when I’m hoping people will take part in Bum Rush the Charts.

This isn’t the only thing Scott is doing to get the word out. I’ve seen his whole marketing plan. I’ve seen the ways he is going to leverage new media across the board. He’s doing it right. He knows that it takes hard work, planning and a little bit of luck to be successful. You’ve got to touch all the mediums. Leverage your community. Not be afraid to outreach to friends. That’s what it’s all about. Other indie authors out there should take note of the tactics that Scott is using because they can be done by anyone.
As I write this I’m imagining the mad scientist smile that will be crossing Scott’s face when he sees this. Like I said he’s a good friend of mine and thus that thought makes my morning. Buy the book on April 1st. That’ll make me smile too!

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I’m hoping to at least get started on one of these over the weekend. The mailman brought me presents.

Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba, What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging & Podcasting by Ted Demopoulos and Purple Cow by Seth Godin.

I’m not going to link to the books because I’d rather you go to the writers sites and buy from there since I’m sure they have it set up so they get the biggest cut that way as it should be. *grin*

As you can see I’m on a new media kick. I still have to finish up Scar Tissue which is the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis as well, but I need some business stuff in the brain as well.

Not sure how much I’ll get to with Sunday being total football and the pile of other goals I’d like to accomplish but you never know. Since people seem to like to know what others are reading I thought I’d share.

What are you reading right now?

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It’s not often that a “business” book keeps me glued to my seat, but Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath certainly did that for me.

What I loved about this book is that it simplifies the concepts for making your ideas stick with others to some very basic principles. One of them being stories which the book is chock full of. Many I had heard before, but many new or with new takes on them just for the book which made them interesting again.

I promised myself that I’d read more this year and for the first book to complete I can’t think of a better one.

Both of these guys are passionate about the subject. That comes through instantly. Plus they’ve got a dry sense of humor that most might not even pick up on but had me giggling more then once.

I recommend this book whole heartedly to anyone who is in the new media space or in any environment where they’ve ever felt that people didn’t completely appreciate their ideas as much as they thought they would. I told my wife she needs to read this book because I firmly believe she’ll take a lot away from it and it’s not the type of thing she ever reads.

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I had a friend ask me for some reccomendations on good marketing books to read. I looked up from my desk at the shelf above me and took this picture.

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Guy Kawasaki blogged about a new book called Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart People Get People Talking.

It certainly sounds like a book that will be on my shelf soon because it’s all about the conversation and companies must begin to realize that.

One highlight that Guy pointed out that I especially like is that of a Las Vegas hotel that gave free rooms to cabbies in an effort to generate a word of mouth campaign. It’s so simple and yet why haven’t more people done it. THAT is how you get something started. It’s not trying to be cool with a horrible viral campaign or with a huge spend on a television ad.

Now you need to engage the people you want. Don’t think “outside of the box” because the box is pointless. Rip it up and throw it out with the recycling!

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