I've started a new blog, a much more focused one. I doubt I'll be revisiting this one in the near future, but maybe one day. The blog is focused on researching global poverty and injustice and sharing it with the world. Here's the link: http://mikefazio.wordpress.com Please, check it out, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading.
-Mike
@TheStosBias
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Why You'll Never be as Good at Internet Marketing as Chris G and Why that's a Good Thing
I've really taken this "Just Start Something" idea seriously. As a direct result of that, I've been putting a lot of thought and effort into figuring out where I best fit into the ever-expanding blogosphere.
It hasn't been an easy task.
I've been reading blogs and articles like crazy, watching videos, trying to figure out what the real lessons are behind the examples given by the "internet marketing moguls."
The thing I've found is that people, generally, blindly follow the examples given by the moguls, when the real value of these people's experiences, as they will tell you, is in the way that their knowledge can be applied to what you and I do best.
It's a matter of context.
I won't be, nor do I really desire to be, as good at internet marketing as any of these guys and gals. They are great at their jobs. They can hook aspiring bloggers, recommend their affiliates' products and services and then sell their own flagship product or service. If they couldn't, they wouldn't be moguls.
But that's exactly the point, they're not trying to make mini-versions of themselves because they know that: 1. It's bad for their business to grow competition and 2. Most, if not all, of the people listening to them will never be as good at teaching people how to be successful marketeers/bloggers as they are. No one had to teach them how to do it. They're trying to teach you how to be successful in your own field, not theirs.
So, my context, your context, probably does not lie in their field. But that doesn't stop us from learning the theories behind their success.
A great example: Look back to #1 of my 4 Things I Learned from Successful People. One thing I did not say was that you must eat a certain food to become successful, because the specific food successful people eat doesn't matter. The theory is: If you try new things, you will, generally, discover better things that you never knew existed. That's the point. That's what makes reading and understanding that point worth it.
I have to be my own person. I have to run my own business. I can not, should not and will not be in the shadow of, or a parasite on, the success of someone else. I firmly believe in learning, and encourage you to learn from people, especially intelligent, successful people (like the aforementioned Chris G.). But, you cannot simply read something and try to replicate what he wrote or what he did. You must go out and start something of your own. Be adventurous, be brave, take risks.
Also, you must learn how to push through disappointment, lack of motivation, setbacks and other negative mental states. If you want to get somewhere, you must just start something.
Think I'm wrong? Have an interesting take on the matter? Please feel free to leave a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter if you want to see more of my strange, and strangely thought-provoking ramblings: @TheStosBias
It hasn't been an easy task.
I've been reading blogs and articles like crazy, watching videos, trying to figure out what the real lessons are behind the examples given by the "internet marketing moguls."
The thing I've found is that people, generally, blindly follow the examples given by the moguls, when the real value of these people's experiences, as they will tell you, is in the way that their knowledge can be applied to what you and I do best.
It's a matter of context.
I won't be, nor do I really desire to be, as good at internet marketing as any of these guys and gals. They are great at their jobs. They can hook aspiring bloggers, recommend their affiliates' products and services and then sell their own flagship product or service. If they couldn't, they wouldn't be moguls.
But that's exactly the point, they're not trying to make mini-versions of themselves because they know that: 1. It's bad for their business to grow competition and 2. Most, if not all, of the people listening to them will never be as good at teaching people how to be successful marketeers/bloggers as they are. No one had to teach them how to do it. They're trying to teach you how to be successful in your own field, not theirs.
So, my context, your context, probably does not lie in their field. But that doesn't stop us from learning the theories behind their success.
A great example: Look back to #1 of my 4 Things I Learned from Successful People. One thing I did not say was that you must eat a certain food to become successful, because the specific food successful people eat doesn't matter. The theory is: If you try new things, you will, generally, discover better things that you never knew existed. That's the point. That's what makes reading and understanding that point worth it.
I have to be my own person. I have to run my own business. I can not, should not and will not be in the shadow of, or a parasite on, the success of someone else. I firmly believe in learning, and encourage you to learn from people, especially intelligent, successful people (like the aforementioned Chris G.). But, you cannot simply read something and try to replicate what he wrote or what he did. You must go out and start something of your own. Be adventurous, be brave, take risks.
Also, you must learn how to push through disappointment, lack of motivation, setbacks and other negative mental states. If you want to get somewhere, you must just start something.
Think I'm wrong? Have an interesting take on the matter? Please feel free to leave a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter if you want to see more of my strange, and strangely thought-provoking ramblings: @TheStosBias
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Prepare to be Amazed: Observations on Becoming One with the Blogosphere
Prepare to be amazed ...by my utter lack of useful content.
Ha! Just kidding, I write great stuff... Great. Stuff.
Anyway, in my attempt to continue dispensing as much information as possible I've decided to "just start" another post: Observations on Becoming One with the Blogosphere.
The issue that I see within the blogging community, and one that I continually battle with, is the perception that there is nothing left to do that hasn't already been done. A lack of room for originality. What's interesting about that problem, though, is that it arose from the generalization of a niche.
The niche used to be the idea of the "blog." But now that the niche (blogging) has become mainstream, mini-niches have exploded into a convoluted mess of information sharing.
I sit on HootSuite monitoring the flow of information through my meager following of 125 people and I feel like I'm an internet relay that has random streams of information passing in front of me while I try to decide if I need (read: want) to take action on any one piece of it.
"Yes, that's nice, but how did you go from 'everything has been done already,' to watching your Twitter feed?"
Don't interrupt... rude.
While I was feeling like an internet relay, I began to see the patterns emerging. I started to figure out the 'Twitter stereotypes,' if you will. I noticed that the Tweets tried to are mostly well-crafted (or not) attempts at one of two things: grabbing attention and sending someone to a link or simply playing the "name recognition game" so when they do send out a link they hope certain people will click on that link because they commented on that person's post, even though they really don't care what their cat threw up that morning.
Also, everyone has a top 10 list.
Everyone has a 5 things that [fill in the blank].
Everyone links to news stories.
And yet, I continuously see things that I've never seen before on the T-feed.
That's what the cool people call the Twitter Feed. The T-Feed. TTF. lol jk bff...
My question then becomes, how can someone add value to a community of people who aren't necessarily interested in shifting through yet another news regurgitation site or another site filled with the top things you never cared about?
I'm not sure I know the answer to that question right now.
What? I'm just being honest. Don't look at me like that... if you have such a good answer, why don't you share it with the rest of us?
I kid. I kid.
But really though, I think the answer has something to do with relevance. If the content you post is relevant to someone's life, situation or current state of mind they are more likely to connect and want to come back, and that becomes your mini-niche.
Do you feel the connection? Between us?
No, not like that... Like the connection between a slightly sarcastic blog-poster and a most-likely slightly sarcastic blog-reader?
I feel it.
Now that it's sufficiently awkward feeling in here, I'm going to end this post. Good day Sir/Madam.
Agree? Disagree? Think I'm just a little nuts? Post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
Ha! Just kidding, I write great stuff... Great. Stuff.
Anyway, in my attempt to continue dispensing as much information as possible I've decided to "just start" another post: Observations on Becoming One with the Blogosphere.
The issue that I see within the blogging community, and one that I continually battle with, is the perception that there is nothing left to do that hasn't already been done. A lack of room for originality. What's interesting about that problem, though, is that it arose from the generalization of a niche.
The niche used to be the idea of the "blog." But now that the niche (blogging) has become mainstream, mini-niches have exploded into a convoluted mess of information sharing.
I sit on HootSuite monitoring the flow of information through my meager following of 125 people and I feel like I'm an internet relay that has random streams of information passing in front of me while I try to decide if I need (read: want) to take action on any one piece of it.
"Yes, that's nice, but how did you go from 'everything has been done already,' to watching your Twitter feed?"
Don't interrupt... rude.
While I was feeling like an internet relay, I began to see the patterns emerging. I started to figure out the 'Twitter stereotypes,' if you will. I noticed that the Tweets tried to are mostly well-crafted (or not) attempts at one of two things: grabbing attention and sending someone to a link or simply playing the "name recognition game" so when they do send out a link they hope certain people will click on that link because they commented on that person's post, even though they really don't care what their cat threw up that morning.
Also, everyone has a top 10 list.
Everyone has a 5 things that [fill in the blank].
Everyone links to news stories.
And yet, I continuously see things that I've never seen before on the T-feed.
That's what the cool people call the Twitter Feed. The T-Feed. TTF. lol jk bff...
My question then becomes, how can someone add value to a community of people who aren't necessarily interested in shifting through yet another news regurgitation site or another site filled with the top things you never cared about?
I'm not sure I know the answer to that question right now.
What? I'm just being honest. Don't look at me like that... if you have such a good answer, why don't you share it with the rest of us?
I kid. I kid.
But really though, I think the answer has something to do with relevance. If the content you post is relevant to someone's life, situation or current state of mind they are more likely to connect and want to come back, and that becomes your mini-niche.
Do you feel the connection? Between us?
No, not like that... Like the connection between a slightly sarcastic blog-poster and a most-likely slightly sarcastic blog-reader?
I feel it.
Now that it's sufficiently awkward feeling in here, I'm going to end this post. Good day Sir/Madam.
Agree? Disagree? Think I'm just a little nuts? Post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
4 Things I've Learned from Successful People
I've become slightly obsessed... with this blog.
See, I've realized that I have a lot of things to say and I love the idea of teaching people various things that I've learned.
So, that's where my focus is: To teach you, my dear reader, something. Anything. I don't think I care what I teach you, as long as you go away thinking, "Wow, I didn't know [insert awesome thing here]."
Now, without further delay, the first lesson: 4 things I've learned from successful people.
1. Successful People Try New Food
I don't know if I can be any more clear than that. I guess another way of saying it would be, "successful people aren't afraid of taking risks."
The really interesting thing about this point is the context in which I learned it. (How's that for a grammatically correct sentence, you were expecting me to end with a hanging preposition, weren't you? 'learned it in' How improper...)
This idea dawned on me after eating lunch with a few of the corporate exes at my job. It seemed that they would frequently order something they had never tried before. I sat back and thought, "even if I apply this to my everyday, non-business life, I think I will be better off." So I have been. And I have tasted many a food item that has been amazing, but which I would have missed were I to have avoided it because it was different.
2. Successful People Ask Dumb Questions
"There are no dumb questions," says the voice of your former (or current?) elementary school teacher. And I believe Mrs. Applebottom has it right. Let me be frank (this is my blog, I can do what I want): We don't ask enough questions.
Asking questions is essential to learning. And I think one of the most important questions to ask is, "Why?"
Why?
I'm glad you asked.
That simple question brings context, and context brings clarity and reveals the meaning behind actions and events. And don't be afraid to ask questions of people who aren't "on your level." Something that will severely limit learning is thinking that just because someone is your subordinate they can't teach you something or reveal a perspective you haven't thought about before.
S. Leonard Rubinstein wrote, "Curiosity is a willing, a proud, an eager confession of ignorance." I think we should adopt Mr. Rubinstein's view.
3. Successful People Can't Remember Everything
And to avoid that, they write things down. On paper.
I can hear the tree-huggers protesting already, "What? Don't write things down, you'll just waste paper and kill trees, and that's bad. Use a computer."
Sigh.
Yes, yes, you can type if you like. And yes, killing trees is bad. But, non-the-less, writing things down allows you to stop trying to juggle it in your head. It doesn't really matter what it is, it's probably better going in writing (or in Notepad).
For example, I noticed that my boss has a legal-sized yellow pad that he carries around with him. I noticed that he makes notes in there, and frequently has lists titled "Things to do." And, in true 'monkey see, monkey do,' fashion, I started doing the same thing.
It has been a gigantic relief for my brain to have a list of important tasks to do sitting on that large paper instead of rattling around in the empty cavity in my head.
4. Successful People Just Start Things
Yes, cheap way to play off of the title of my blog, I know, but it's true.
My boss calls it, "Fast Failure."
It's the ability to look at something that should be done, and taking action... even if they don't know if it's going to work. If you never DO anything, nothing will ever get done.
There is obviously a time to think and plan. But there must be a tipping point where all that thinking and planning turns into an actionable item or all the effort put into the front-end will be utterly in vein. And that's just stupid.
"Hey, don't call me stupid, Stupid."
I wasn't calling you stupid, I was just trying to... nevermind.
Well, that's the 4 things I've learned from successful people. I'm sure there's more, so I may come out with a part 2 sometime, but... not right now.
If you have a question or something to add, please feel free to post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
See, I've realized that I have a lot of things to say and I love the idea of teaching people various things that I've learned.
So, that's where my focus is: To teach you, my dear reader, something. Anything. I don't think I care what I teach you, as long as you go away thinking, "Wow, I didn't know [insert awesome thing here]."
Now, without further delay, the first lesson: 4 things I've learned from successful people.
1. Successful People Try New Food
I don't know if I can be any more clear than that. I guess another way of saying it would be, "successful people aren't afraid of taking risks."
The really interesting thing about this point is the context in which I learned it. (How's that for a grammatically correct sentence, you were expecting me to end with a hanging preposition, weren't you? 'learned it in' How improper...)
This idea dawned on me after eating lunch with a few of the corporate exes at my job. It seemed that they would frequently order something they had never tried before. I sat back and thought, "even if I apply this to my everyday, non-business life, I think I will be better off." So I have been. And I have tasted many a food item that has been amazing, but which I would have missed were I to have avoided it because it was different.
2. Successful People Ask Dumb Questions
"There are no dumb questions," says the voice of your former (or current?) elementary school teacher. And I believe Mrs. Applebottom has it right. Let me be frank (this is my blog, I can do what I want): We don't ask enough questions.
Asking questions is essential to learning. And I think one of the most important questions to ask is, "Why?"
Why?
I'm glad you asked.
That simple question brings context, and context brings clarity and reveals the meaning behind actions and events. And don't be afraid to ask questions of people who aren't "on your level." Something that will severely limit learning is thinking that just because someone is your subordinate they can't teach you something or reveal a perspective you haven't thought about before.
S. Leonard Rubinstein wrote, "Curiosity is a willing, a proud, an eager confession of ignorance." I think we should adopt Mr. Rubinstein's view.
3. Successful People Can't Remember Everything
And to avoid that, they write things down. On paper.
I can hear the tree-huggers protesting already, "What? Don't write things down, you'll just waste paper and kill trees, and that's bad. Use a computer."
Sigh.
Yes, yes, you can type if you like. And yes, killing trees is bad. But, non-the-less, writing things down allows you to stop trying to juggle it in your head. It doesn't really matter what it is, it's probably better going in writing (or in Notepad).
For example, I noticed that my boss has a legal-sized yellow pad that he carries around with him. I noticed that he makes notes in there, and frequently has lists titled "Things to do." And, in true 'monkey see, monkey do,' fashion, I started doing the same thing.
It has been a gigantic relief for my brain to have a list of important tasks to do sitting on that large paper instead of rattling around in the empty cavity in my head.
4. Successful People Just Start Things
Yes, cheap way to play off of the title of my blog, I know, but it's true.
My boss calls it, "Fast Failure."
It's the ability to look at something that should be done, and taking action... even if they don't know if it's going to work. If you never DO anything, nothing will ever get done.
There is obviously a time to think and plan. But there must be a tipping point where all that thinking and planning turns into an actionable item or all the effort put into the front-end will be utterly in vein. And that's just stupid.
"Hey, don't call me stupid, Stupid."
I wasn't calling you stupid, I was just trying to... nevermind.
Well, that's the 4 things I've learned from successful people. I'm sure there's more, so I may come out with a part 2 sometime, but... not right now.
If you have a question or something to add, please feel free to post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Your Headline Should be Awesome
That's just a little piece of advice that I remember from my news reporting class and various others who dispense their timeless knowledge of attracting people to your articles.
The funny thing about information like that, I never really expected to use it.
Besides that, I'm curious to see what Google Analytics will tell me in the next couple of weeks. Right now, the only people I know who might read this are my wife and Leigh, who made the comment that she enjoys my writing style. I think she might just have been 'being nice.' But, I'm going to pretend that she wasn't, so take that all of you who are annoyed that you're still sitting here, reading this unorganized stream of consciousness (wow, that was painful to spell correctly).
So, your prize for reading this far? A bear-robot that can lift people, apparently it can be used to assist nurses. And I love nurses. Well, I love a nurse, but whatever, here's the link: Video: Human-carrying robot bear gets cuteness upgrade
"But wait, he's not done. Why did I get something for not reading all the way through?" You may be asking yourself.
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Because I'm a nice guy. And I like bears. Except when they try to eat me, but I've never had that happen, so my previous statement stands.
And, finally, here's something for my wedding photographer friend, you know who you are:
Wedding photos taken right after the earth quake in China last year.
If you have something to add, please feel free to post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
The funny thing about information like that, I never really expected to use it.
Besides that, I'm curious to see what Google Analytics will tell me in the next couple of weeks. Right now, the only people I know who might read this are my wife and Leigh, who made the comment that she enjoys my writing style. I think she might just have been 'being nice.' But, I'm going to pretend that she wasn't, so take that all of you who are annoyed that you're still sitting here, reading this unorganized stream of consciousness (wow, that was painful to spell correctly).
So, your prize for reading this far? A bear-robot that can lift people, apparently it can be used to assist nurses. And I love nurses. Well, I love a nurse, but whatever, here's the link: Video: Human-carrying robot bear gets cuteness upgrade
"But wait, he's not done. Why did I get something for not reading all the way through?" You may be asking yourself.
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Because I'm a nice guy. And I like bears. Except when they try to eat me, but I've never had that happen, so my previous statement stands.
And, finally, here's something for my wedding photographer friend, you know who you are:
Wedding photos taken right after the earth quake in China last year.
If you have something to add, please feel free to post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Just Start Something
I've been thinking, probably too much, about starting a blog. I really need a blog. Well, it doesn't need to be a blog, just a web presence. And I figured the quickest, easiest, cheapest thing to do is to start a blog.
So I did.
And now you're here, reading this. You might not be sure why, and I'm not exactly sure yet, either.
See, I'm an 'idea guy.' I have tons of ideas of things to do, I just hardly have the attention span to focus on just one. This is my attempt at doing just that.
From what I read, and have heard, I need to discover my 'target audience.' Which is, hopefully, you, my beloved and yet to be named reader. First, let me take a moment to thank you for reading my blog. It's not much of a blog, yet, but it can be. There is so much potential here, I can feel it.
Can you feel it?
Either way, you're here and you're probably expecting to get something out of your time spent with me. So, here you go, your reward for sticking it out and reading to the end:
Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires
And, for all my creative peeps out there: http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/ They have some awesome stuff there, including a lot of free training-courses (did you like my use of a hyphen?) on Adobe products and cool stuff like that.
Anyway, thanks again for reading... oh, and if you're wondering what the name is all about, it's what I told myself right before I started writing this.
If you have something to add, please feel free to post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
So I did.
And now you're here, reading this. You might not be sure why, and I'm not exactly sure yet, either.
See, I'm an 'idea guy.' I have tons of ideas of things to do, I just hardly have the attention span to focus on just one. This is my attempt at doing just that.
From what I read, and have heard, I need to discover my 'target audience.' Which is, hopefully, you, my beloved and yet to be named reader. First, let me take a moment to thank you for reading my blog. It's not much of a blog, yet, but it can be. There is so much potential here, I can feel it.
Can you feel it?
Either way, you're here and you're probably expecting to get something out of your time spent with me. So, here you go, your reward for sticking it out and reading to the end:
Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires
And, for all my creative peeps out there: http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/ They have some awesome stuff there, including a lot of free training-courses (did you like my use of a hyphen?) on Adobe products and cool stuff like that.
Anyway, thanks again for reading... oh, and if you're wondering what the name is all about, it's what I told myself right before I started writing this.
If you have something to add, please feel free to post a comment.
Also, you can follow me on Twitter @thestosbias
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