A Simpler Way of Doing Business Online by Evo Terra

Building your skills as a connector

by Evo Terra on March 10, 2010

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: Image by alles-schlumpf via Flickr

As we progress closer to the post-scarcity world, it seems that nearly everyone is developing unique skillsets. Copywriters, mobile application developers, HTML5 experts, local business specialists, video optimizers… and those are just people I met yesterday. Mix in the countless jobs and specializations that have been around for years and you’ll see that entrepreneurs and business owners now have a nearly endless talent pool.

If, that is, they can find them.

That’s where the connector comes into play. Connectors know people. They know the skills that people offer and have a general understanding of how that skill fits into the marketplace. Connectors understand the rules of the new economy and are keen at spotting trends. As the economy improves, the need for well-positioned connectors will grow. Do you know one yet?

Building your connecting skills

Being a connector takes certain skills. And any skill can be honed. Here are some tips on doing just that, and a call for help at the end.

Build a network.
There isn’t an end-goal to a connector’s network. We don’t have a certain number of friends or followers in mind. We don’t select a handful of social networks and ignore the rest. More important, we build out network outside the online world.
Stay informed.
Connectors have become masters at drinking from the firehose. Yes, it’s an ungodly amount of information. But along the way we’ve developed techniques and adopted tools that help intelligently filter out much of the noise so we can focus on the signal. Still, it’s not easy.
Be visible.
It’s all for naught if the people looking for a connector don’t know you exist. Offer to speak at conferences. Teach at events. Lead panel discussions. Create SlideCast presentations and share them with the world. Blog! Get used to creating copious amounts of material. Think like a publisher, and share everything — and everyone — you know.
Cultivate your list.
Here’s that cry for help: I’m lousy at this part. While I’m pretty good at recalling information and figuring out who’s the best person when I’m asked to make a connection, my network has grown to the point where it’s no longer efficient. I tend to keep going back to the same wells. Or I see the same person multiple times and fail to remember what unique skill set they offer.

How do you cultivate and care for your list of connections?

While there are plenty of contact management systems out there, they tend to be aimed at casual relationships or sales leads. The former seems more what I need than the latter, but the latter tend to be much more robust than the former. But too robust leads to clunky, and I don’t have the time to spend on that.

I want an Evernote-simple tool that I can both dump info into and quickly pull info out of. I want to know who does what, and I want to know who’s doing what new thing right now. I want magic, I know that. But Evernote proved that magic in the form of advanced technology does or will exist. I’m just waiting for the application in this space. Unless it already exists and I missed it? Help a brother out!

Choose your best Connector of the Day (cnn.com)
Focus on Connectors, Not Customers (ariwriter.com)

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Promoting may not be the best way to spend your time

by Evo Terra on March 9, 2010

: Image by jcrew270 via Flickr

Conventional wisdom tells us that time, money and energy need to be spent on promotion. Whether you work for a business, are in business for yourself or maybe you are the business of yourself, you’ll feel the pressure to promote. And you’ll find countless examples of others who spend lots of time, energy and money on promotion. Promote, promote PROMOTE!

But what if you took all that time you spent promoting your business, your venture, your product, yourself… and spent that time instead being truly remarkable?

How much time would you need to spend promoting if you were truly doing remarkable things?

The fact is that most things that are promoted aren’t remarkable. They aren’t that much different than other similar things, of which there may be dozens, hundreds or thousands. In effect, they are terribly average — even if they are quite good. So someone has to promote these average things to take away mind-share from other interchangeable average things. If these things were instead remarkable, people would make remarks about them. In turn, other people would make remarks, and others… And the cycle perpetuates. Sans promotion, perhaps?

Of course, you can’t be remarkable in a vacuum. Someone has to have knowledge of “the thing” before they can make remarks about “the thing”. And to do that, someone needs to put “the thing” in front of the audience most likely to make those remarks. But is that promoting? Or is that just smart marketing? Or is it something else entirely?

So given the choice of spending time, money and energy on either promoting or being truly remarkable… which will you choose?

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State of the Internet video

March 8, 2010

It’s no secret I’m a fan of numbers. Facts and figure are just… cool. Especially when they are presented in a way that makes them interesting to everyone.
A recent “State of the Internet” video showcases some of these numbers. The word staggering comes to mind.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.
Still [...]

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What the Flip can teach you about the power of a simple presentation

February 22, 2010

Image by jhmostyn via Flickr

Is your marketing campaign too complex? Maybe you think it needs to be. Maybe you’re right. But sometimes all it takes is one new player in the market to change the game, and all that complexity falls away.
Take the consumer electronics and personal camcorders, for instance. My uncle’s super 8 [...]

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Social Media 101: Stop Hacking and Phishing With Good Password Habits

February 17, 2010

This is a SlideCast version of a talk I gave last week prior to Social Media Club Phoenix. Each week I lead a session called Social Media 101. It’s a safe place for newbies to learn one aspect of social media and to get their questions — on any topic — answered in a friendly [...]

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