jeff marmins blog: misc. musings.

Musices opusculum... Bologna: 1487

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything; It is the essence of order and lends to all that is good, just, and beautiful.”

Plato

Collection of sites in the Music 2.0 space

I’m a fan of Frances Cole Jones of Cole Media Management.  Ms. Jones has given exceptional advice to executives and those in the public eye to “…feel more confident in their ability to present their best self –in any situation.”  She’s the author of How to Wow and The Wow Factor: The 33 Things You Must (and Must Not) Do to Guarantee Your Edge in Today’s Business World.  Here’s her video about how to handle yourself at this year’s office party:

I also like this great advice on CNN Living: 10 worst phrases to use at the office.

I’m glad to call Jim Pelley a friend. Over the years he’s helped make our classes and workshops better. After 25 years of successfully speaking to INC 1000 businesses, Jim is offering a program to educate the rest of us. I liked what Jennifer Bourn had to say:

“…It is very rare that a successful, well paid, professional speaker shares their business strategies and secrets. Combining techniques on how to craft your presentation, get bookings, and connect with your audience, along with the ins and outs of the ‘mysterious’ speaking business makes this a must attend event for anyone who wants to grow their business with speaking or become a professional speaker.  I know I’ll be there!”

Take a look at what Jim is offering and register early.

In the midst of a tough day yesterday I was humbled by this recommendation I received:

“Enthusiastic (and hilarious) advocate of social media. Get’s it.”
by Ward Supplee, Silicon Valley

Thank you Ward!  Providing recommendations and testimonials for your associates, customer and vendors is best done online.  This recommendation appeared on Mr. Tweet.  Recommending individuals on Linkedin and businesses on Yelp is great for helping build their credibility online.  You’ll feel good about doing it. They’ll feel even better when they get it.

I had to post this up…Chris Stewart put it out on Twitter.  The original post is at Permissiontosuck.com:

A Manifesto for Creative Professionals.

Somewhere in your personal history a decision was made to forgo a “real job”; one your parents would understand.  Artist, creative director, writer, musician, photographer, actor, fine artist or pick one – you got attention for a talent or liked doing it so much that there was just no room to commit significant time to a profession less flattering gratifying. You became one of them sensitive types whose ego is vulnerably bonded to their work.  True objective distance is pointless but it’s best to have a survival strategy.

Let’s start here:

1.    Snub expectations.  Excitement needs space; throw a few elbows if required.  Picasso’s friend and art critic, Guillaume Apollinaire, encouraged his cohorts to “innovate violently!”   Much more risky for creative professionals, is to abide by rules.

2.    The boss is the problem; the puzzle to solve, the idea to create, the crowd to excite, or your soul to satisfy.  Don’t piss off the boss.

3.    There’s NO plan “B”. Quit moonlighting.  Put in the hours; work without a net.  If you have a plan “B” it’s too easy to bail, and you’ll want to.  Part timers can’t keep up with the guy who’s bustin’ it like a sex crazed school boy.

4.    It’s a passion play for pay. You’re a whore, or not, it all depends on how much money is in the bank.  It’s a crucial balance that keeps sanity from escaping.  Your clarity of purpose resolves the left and right hemispheres.  Ultimately the decision for what kind of creative you are going to be is up to you, but don’t let the vision go blurry.

5.    Industry best practices are not creative. Best practices are maintenance and benchmarking is linear: this leads to that, variation is less professional.  The state of the art didn’t arrive by formula or recipe.

6.    Your creativity is about your heart, not their surface. Creativity is your world view filtered through your talent. It’s your passion, experience, expertise, inspiration and your rules that drive you to create wonderful things that you’re destined to hate because they’re not good enough, and others are open to admire because they couldn’t do it.

7.    The committee is usually wrong; however the crowd is commonly right but incredibly dull. If you’re part of the crowd you will be sourced and forgotten.

8.    Ideas are like lightning strikes hitting you unaware after you’ve been rubbing a cat balloon on a wool carpet for months.

9.     Everyone is creative but only a select few can deal with the risk of ego crushing rejection that inevitably comes from the direction you least expect.  If your work is worth more to you than the safety of groups or a secure fortune then you’re “a creative”.

10.    That road block was dropped there for a reason; it’s so you learn how to maneuver or to accept the pain of hitting it.  Either way, if you don’t survive the test, it wasn’t worth the trip.

11.    Find a way to turn your weaknesses into strengths, but don’t tell anyone you’re doing it.

12.    Putting creativity into words dilutes the idea unless you’re a writer.  It’s only creative if you actually create it.  “I could’ve done that” doesn’t count.

13.    If you have a style, be sure it’s following you and not vice versa.  If you’re chasing your style, you’ve taken a wrong turn. (see  #5 “best practices”)  Follow your muse, let others call it your style.  Don’t borrow from yourself too often.

14.    Don’t let anyone talk you out of your passion. If you have passion for an idea, don’t lose it by asking others if they think it’s good.  They probably won’t.

15.    Lose the habit of being successful.  Success can doom your career to mediocrity. Embrace the fact that you’re never going to make it and find comfort in other things.  Once success becomes your work, it’s over and if you’re a creative professional, success looks an awful lot like cash and cheering crowds.

by Bruce DeBoer at permissiontosuck.com.

Happy Birthday! This is a favorite for as long as I can remember. We enjoyed it long before we knew the words.

Have you seen this yet. Be inspired. Stop doing what you hate!  Thank you Gary Vaynerchuk for your inspiration.  I look forward to reading “Crush It!”

User Generated Media

Myspace is for losers

I like mindmaps and mind mapping tools [Mindmeister is a good one]. It's a natural fit for those like me with a lifehacker bent. This mindmap is of particular note, though, as it's a real user tool (perhaps as a desktop background) for managing your time effectively.

I recently relocated Social Media Path to midtown Sacramento.  I took space in the same building as The Urban Hive, Vox Sacramento, Romp Creative, Kidaround Magazine, Green Sacramento and a variety of other artists, writers, designers and marketing talent.

The Urban Hive is co-working space that opens it’s doors on Second Saturday to display the art and music of it’s tenants.  Second Saturday has become a wonderful midtown Sacramento staple event full of art, music, good food and warm summer strolling.  Last night we agreed to create an Art tweetup for the next Second Saturday on September 12, 2009 – making The Urban Hive come even more alive on Second Saturday!

Second Saturday at The Urban Hive