Can twitter actually land you a major speaking gig?

So, I’ve talked about twitter as a virtual water cooler and a tool for business and access, but now we can add virtual speakers agent to the mix.

Earlier this week, I was considering going to the Blogworld conference out in Vegas, September 20-21st. But, I didn’t know who else was going. So, I jumped on twitter and asked who was heading out to the City of Sin in a few weeks. A handful of people replied, moving me closer to going.

I almost broke down yesterday…twice.

The first time was in the O.R. at Cornell Medical Center. My daughter, my little girl, was going in for a minor surgical procedure. They let me suit up in fake paper scrubs and a goofy blue shower cap. Then the nurse walked us, hand in sweaty hand to the staging area.

We walked into the O.R. and I could feel my daughter’s grip tighten. She got quiet. As if the bold white walls and bright xeon lights were draining her lightness. But, she was brave and as they laid her on the table, I walked around continuing to hold her hand and trying to joke.

So, I’ve started a new series over at the web’s rockingest small business blog, SmallBizTrends.com, called Slogan Smackdown. Here’s a taste of this week’s article:

Ever wonder if your slogan or tag line was doing what it was supposed to do?

Well, living in New York City, I see somewhere in the order of millions of slogans a year, some great, some funny, a few are memorable, but, all too often, business slogans are completely ineffective (often bordering on downright awful).

I broke nearly every rule as a social media newbie

And, I got flamed for doing it. It wasn’t fun, but it helped me understand, fairly quickly, that online communities are no different that real-world communities in many ways. They all have their own cultures, themes, causes and rules…many rules. And, the most challenging thing is…

Many of the most important rules are unwritten

Now, since I am someone who’s, more than once, championed people joining online communities, I figured I also have a responsibility to share a bunch of the unwritten rules that are common to many social media hangouts. So, here are my…

Simple question…

Is financial security a myth?

Is it something that can be strived for, then actually attained? Can we work for it, save for it, invest for it, then arrive at that day where we say…

“Yup, this is it, I am secure!”

Or, is financial security something that exists more in the mind, something and can never be truly had?

Put another way, does a person with $1 million in the bank feel any more secure than another with $100,000?

What about $10 million?

Honestly, do you think the poor guy on the corner WANTS to be there?

Sweating in beastly hot summer sun. Shivering in the chill of winter. Getting drenched in the pouring rain. Do you really think this was his plan when he retired and illness wiped out his savings? Do you really think this was his hope when he arrived, doe-eyed in this country praying to be able to support his family? Do you really think this is how he planned to pay to be able to go to school?

Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton has a gift…

I’ve heard it talked about by pundits, authors, interviewers and, pretty much anyone who’s ever stood toe to toe with him. You could be in a room with a thousand other people, but for the brief few moments you’re with him, nobody else exists.

He’s laser-focused on one-person—YOU.

He’s right there with you. One hundred percent. And, that makes you feel really good. It makes you like him. A lot. Even if you don’t like his politics. Because he’s giving you a gift, without you even knowing it. Trust me, though, he knows exactly what it is, how to use it and why it works.  And, he’s magical at it.

Everyone seems to be curious how well known people spend their days…

So, when, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, B5 Media and Digital Photography School fame recently shared how he organized his day. it was pretty eye-opening.

Darren uses a popular time management technique called batching.

Instead of reacting to things as they come up, he segments his weeks and days into specific times to handle different types of tasks and subject areas. By allowing tasks of a similar nature to accumulate, he can then power through them all in discrete blocks of time, making him far more efficient.

How do you make someone else passionate about something you love…when they really just don’t care?

This was the fundamental question asked by Robert Scoble over at Scobleizer this week in his post entitled The Passionates vs. The Non-Passionates. I added a longish comment there, but the question has been incubating in my head for most of the week.

Scoble was talking largely about the tech-world, where there are usually a small number of early adopters who are passionate about both using and evangelizing a new “something.” And, he said, certain businesses can survive with a small, but devoted group of users.

Recently, I was leading a yoga teacher training when an odd question arose…

It was a warm summer day and the room was encircled by 20-something women, all working toward certification as yoga teachers.  I was describing how to adjust a certain posture, then demonstrating the types of adjustments on a volunteer.

One particular move required a fair amount of body-to-body contact. Which is what prompted the question…

“Does you wife have any idea what you REALLY do for a living?!”