WOW!
Websites—Wow!
Forums—Wow!
Whitepapers—Wow!
Blogs—Wow!
Facebook—Wow!
eBooks—Wow!
Teaching online—Wow!
Email newsletters—Wow!
Twitter—Wow!
Whoa.
You can’t cut through the noise like this.
You’re stretched way too thin. You’re chasing every new wave, and you know what? Waves sweep everything along with them. They’re indiscriminate. And waves crash.
Stop.
Plan your strategy. On purpose. Not on a bandwagon. Then—I know this may ruffle a few feathers—put on the blinders. Stop spinning around for every new wow. If you’ve planned it right, patience and consistency will pay off. They just won’t pay off instantly.
No matter what you’ve heard, new media do not mint new money. So work your plan for the long term. Not for the WOW.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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27 January 2009, 6:54 am
Thank you. Yes. Jeez, yes. Granted, I’m an ‘oldie’ in this crazy internet game, but man, am I ever sick of Wow.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post…Putting the “Social” Back Into Social Networking
27 January 2009, 7:21 am
You must have come down with that same fever I did…
Yes, this stuff can help you. But how often we forget that businesses like IBM or Microsoft existed and were built before all of this stuff. The great ideas of mathematics and science were developed *way* before this stuff.
Now – time to unplug again, after coming to visit my fave lady with purple boots
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
27 January 2009, 7:23 am
James,
There’s only so much time in a day. I get folks with a laundry list of Wow they want to get into—fine. Ask yourself what are you going to cut out, to fit it in, then get back to me, eh?
Regards,
Kelly
27 January 2009, 7:53 am
Brett,
Sneaking a comment under me, eh?
Yeah, the Wow fever. Allergies, actually. Luckily I wrote this last week before my head exploded.
Some of this stuff can help some of the people, if they know why they’re using it.
For instance, Twitter—I’d love to use it, I can see my strategy laid out in front of me so well, I’m pretty certain of the ROI for my business since I hear of others who do what I do and use Twitter to great effect, but I can’t manufacture two more hours in my day.
Ah, well. Better as Seth says to do the things you can very well that to do all the the things poorly.
Which reminds me.
Squidoo pages and wikis—Wow!
Until later,
Kelly
27 January 2009, 8:00 am
Kelly,
Hee hee you know it (and since Friar’s away, somebody has to do it!)
Another thing about the ‘wow’ stuff that made me think one night – how much of it will be around in a year, two years, five years? Sure, maybe we should take advantage of short term opportunities, but maybe we should focus on the core stuff more?
I remember not long ago – not long after I started playing with Twitter (for me, it’s really just a fun thing right now), everyone was saying ‘you gotta try Plurk, all the cool kids are on Plurk’.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that Plurk has lost the ‘wow’ – which made me think, ‘is it such a good idea to jump on every new wow-thing?’
Yes, listen to Seth (which reminds me, I have to go pick up my books at the post office).
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…a perfect storm.
27 January 2009, 9:43 am
It’s like a shiny silver things position. Here, no over here.
Janice Cartier’s last blog post…Never Ending Brilliance
27 January 2009, 3:46 pm
Brett,
Oh, yes, Internet fads come and go so fast. All the more reason to know Why, not just pick the next fascinating What—if it turns out you chose the wrong fad, you want to know how to rework your strategy. If you didn’t have a strategy…
Oops.
Janice,
Or a shell game, eh?
Until later,
Kelly
27 January 2009, 7:26 pm
Hiking up a moutain…Wow!
Curling up with a good book…Wow!
Pounding back a few pints with your buddy…Wow!
Painting a Landscape…Wow!
Walking the Dog…Wow!
20 foot inflatable gorillas….(REALLY WOW!!!!!)
As for the rest (Twitter, Facebook, Websites, Blogs, Forums, E-zines, The latest Widget/Internet Fad…
…MEH.
27 January 2009, 7:41 pm
Friar!
I thought you were unavailable. Thanks for finding your way over here.
Paradise in a comment—Wow!
I’m totally jealous.
Have a lovely time.
Later,
Kelly
27 January 2009, 8:32 pm
Kelly: Can’t help it: I can resist all the other wows, but not your awesome new hairdo and this very well-written and properly clever post.
Er – WOW!
steph’s last blog post…A Year of Pleasures
27 January 2009, 8:54 pm
Steph,
I do try to be irresistible. Glad it’s working on you!
*note to self: more posts that are properly clever, for Steph*
Loved your housiversary post. Wherever I lay my hat these days, that’s my home. Wow.
Later,
Kelly
27 January 2009, 10:23 pm
Wow! I wish I were younger so I could enjoy all this stuff!
Great timing on this post — I actually make a conscious effort to stay away from blogs, the news, et al today and get some serious work done. Except for a few interruptions, not a bad day all in all.
I love information, and for me it’s not that there is too much information, just not enough time to get to it all!
But the day’s done now (even got to see a rare Bruins game on TV, and it was a good one) so taking a peek in on a couple of blogs wouldn’t such a bad thing…
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…5 Steps To Better Brainstorming for the Intrepid Freelancer and Independent Business Owner
27 January 2009, 10:50 pm
Graham,
As Maurice Chevalier once sang, “I’m glad I’m not young anymore.” Too many Wows for me, if I’d like to make a living at the same time.
It was the “et al” that got me, lol. Happily so.
I’d like to think it’s not that Bruins games have become rare (have I been away so long?) but that they don’t show up on Ontario t.v. too often. Why a Bruins fan?
Later,
Kelly
28 January 2009, 10:10 am
@Kelly — Two words: Number 4, Bobby Orr. Watched him when I was a kid, and I still think he was the best who ever played.
No, we don’t get too much in the way of Bruins games. I was going to set up the free satellite thing so I could get the US channels (NESN, for example) but it would just be too much hassle with crashing cards and stuff. Besides, hockey is not the first choice of at least one deciding vote in our family…
Ah well, hopefully they have a team this year that will make it out of the first round when playoff time starts. I’ll watch them then.
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…5 Steps To Better Brainstorming for the Intrepid Freelancer and Independent Business Owner
29 January 2009, 8:10 pm
Graham,
Ah, those were the days. *big nostalgic grin*
I would think an all-hockey-all-day-all-night channel would be under some sort of Canadian mandate, no? Shouldn’t require an inter-domicile vote! Get the PM on the phone!
For you, on creativity and the Bruins, from Seth:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/01/creativity-and-stretching-the-sweatshirt.html
Until later,
Kelly
29 January 2009, 8:29 pm
LOL! How perfect is that! And I actually just sat down in my old Bruins sweater (vintage replica of the 1929 sweater — like their third jersey this year), looking down at how it’s all balling up, getting ready to check the score before I get some more work done tonight, and I see your comment in the Inbox.
So you’re a Bruin fan too?
Yes, they do have a few hockey channels here, including Leaf Nation and NHL Centre Ice spread over like 12 channels. With the Centre Ice package though, you have to buy the two months of playoffs which is totally not worth it since almost every game is on another channel anyway. Besides, hockey usually gets a veto in our house unless the Bruins are on. That loose guideline would change awful quick if I got all 82 games…
Thanks for the link! The stars are aligned tonight (and they’re shaped like Ursa Major…)
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…5 Steps To Better Brainstorming for the Intrepid Freelancer and Independent Business Owner
29 January 2009, 8:38 pm
Graham,
Born outside of Boston, then moved to Chicago, then back to Massachusetts. My dad is a die-hard Boston sports fan, and I’m the son he never had, so like father, like Kelly.
“Leaf Nation” is an awesome name for the Leafs channel. I love that! Way better than NESN.
Me and sports: if something’s on, I’m good, if it’s not, also fine. Which shows that XX chromosomes maybe don’t work as well for producing die-hard sports fans (IMO).
It’s been a wild year to be in Philly, though. Never a dull moment around here.
Must run…