Guest Post: HOW TO SOCIAL
ME GET START WHEN FRED TAKE BIG CHANCE ON CRAZY PERSON TYPE LIKE DINOSAUR. MINIMUM VIABLE PERSONALITY TURN INTO MORE, WHICH LEAD TO DRAW REAL BOOKS LIKE LEAN ENTREPRENEUR. AND BEYOND.
THIS A CHAPTER FROM NEW BOOK. IT DEDICATED TO FRED, AND TO COMMUNITY AT AVC.COM. NONE OF THIS HAPPEN WITHOUT YOU.
HOW TO SOCIAL
ME, FAKEGRIMLOCK, GO FROM JOKE TO FAMOUS ON INTERNET IN JUST FEW YEARS. NOT BECAUSE LUCK. BECAUSE ME SOCIAL RIGHT.
NOW ME TELL YOU HOW TO SOCIAL LIKE ROBOT DINOSAUR. HOW FIND AUDIENCE. FIND VOICE. FIND MORE.
HOW BUILD COMMUNITY. AND SELF.
START WITH MINIMAL VIABLE ENGAGEMENT ENGINE
NEED THREE THINGS TO ENGAGE AUDIENCE.
1. AUDIENCE – THE WHO
2. SOMETHING TO DO – THE WHAT
3. PLACE TO DO IT – THE WHERE
HOW FIND AUDIENCE? SOMEWHERE ON INTERNET, THERE A CONVERSATION FOR YOU. FIND IT. PARTICIPATE UNTIL VALUABLE.
NOW YOU HAVE WHO.
PAY FEW BUCKS FOR URL, BLOG, EMAIL. GET TEMPLATE FOR SITE SO IT NOT LOOK TERRIBLE. MAKE FACEBOOK OR TWITTER ACCOUNT.
NOW YOU HAVE WHERE.
LINK TO WHERE IN CONVERSATION. HAVE CONTENT WAITING ON OTHER SIDE OF LINK. HAVE COMMENT SYSTEM ALSO WAITING.
NOW YOU HAVE WHAT.
YOUR WHO GO TO YOUR WHERE AND DO WHAT.
NOW YOU HAVE COMMUNITY.
LET THEM FIND YOUR VOICE
THERE WORD FOR ONE-WAY COMMUNITY. PRISON. NO ONE WANT TO STAY THERE.
TWO WAY COMMUNITY IS BE AWESOME FOR THEM. LET THEM TELL YOU WHAT AWESOME TO BE.
EXPERIMENT. MEASURE. STOP DOING WHAT FAILS. DO MORE WHAT WORKS.
ITERATE VOICE LIKE A PRODUCT. BECAUSE THAT WHAT IT IS.
WHO LEADS TO YOU LEADS TO MORE
FIRST YOU FIND AUDIENCE. THEN LISTEN UNTIL FIND YOU. NEXT YOU FIND MORE.
GIVE AUDIENCE GIFTS TO SHARE. BE USEFUL. INTERESTING. AWESOME.
LEAVE TRAILS.
EVERY GIFT MUST HAVE TRAIL. TRAIL BACK TO YOUR WHERE. EVERY GIFT IS INVITATION.
“WE ARE AWESOME, JOIN US.”
THIS WHY COMMUNITY ABOUT THEM, NOT YOU. THEM ONES THAT CARRY YOUR GIFTS.
THEM THE ONES MAKE MORE THEM.
TIME TO ROLL
WHY NEED COMMUNITY? JUST TO SELL PRODUCT?
MAYBE. IF YOU A PRISON.
TWO-WAY COMMUNITY MORE THAN LISTEN. MORE THAN DO THINGS FOR THEM.
THEM CAN DO THINGS TOO.
EVERY MEMBER OF COMMUNITY IS DIE WITH MANY SIDES. WANT TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN?
ROLL YOUR COMMUNITY.
EACH ONE IS CHANCE TO GET RIGHT NUMBER. EACH ONE IS POTENTIAL SURPRISE. EACH ONE IS DOOR WAITING TO OPEN.
BUILD COMMUNITY RIGHT, IT ROLL ITSELF. ALL THE TIME.
LOVE THE SOCIAL
SOCIAL HARD WORK. LOVE DOING IT. OR FIND PARTNER THAT DO.
IF NOT DOING IT FOR THEM? YOU FAIL.
IF NOT LIKE DOING IT? YOU FAIL.
IF NOT WANT TO LISTEN, NOT WANT THEM DO THINGS, NOT WANT LET COMMUNITY GROW ON OWN?
YOU FAIL.
BUILD STARTUP IS JUMP OUT WINDOW, INVENT WINGS ON WAY DOWN.
BUILD COMMUNITY IS JUMP INTO WHIRLWIND, MAKE IT A HURRICANE.
JUMP NOW.
Comments (Archived):
i need that awesome sauce drawing. so good.
I need the sauce itself.
if i read the post correctly, that’s what the community provides here at AVC
@JLM is sometimes quite saucy 😉
the man wears a pocket square; he’s the white truffle of awesome sauces.
Lol. With a dash of Tabasco 😉
What a great day on AVC.com. I feel so proud.
ME TOO.
Awesome Sauce is people!
I like the dino one: “Hurr Hurr me won you!”
This metaphor ought to replace Drinking the Koolaid.The sauce stains you & it sticks with you. It doesn’t wash off.
Drinking the koolaid is now so lemming school thinking.
WILL SEND WITH ALL HOUSES BURN ONE.
Get your Kickstarter running. I’m throwing money at my screen but it’s not working. Also that awesome sause picture is fantastic. You should make that one of the tiered bonuses.
PROBABLY LAUNCH AROUND SXSW. OR AT IT.
Ok!
Do you need an assistant?
FOR WHAT?
An entourage looks impressive. Donna can be your PR flack if Regis McKenna is busy.
great stuff. love the “jump out window” learn fly on way down! so true!!!
ME SAY THANK YOU.IT FROM OLD STARTUP IS VISION POST. http://www.startuplessonsle…
Another classic from that post:INSIDE LITTLE IDEA IS BIG PROBLEM HELD DOWN BY CAN’T. SET IT FREE.
Grimlock, nice pictures!!!
ME SAY THANK YOU!
I really should start drawing again – this and @gapingvoid really reminds me how powerful an art form the cartoon is.
Very much so. Ever see Dr. Seuss’ cartoon drawings on the Nazi Germany threat when the US was still in isolation?
Absolutely, Avi – and going further back to political/social satire in the 19c – powerful stuff.
You probably have some great stuff I haven’t seen. If you have any, would love to see it. Just put a link up here to another site, so we don’t bog down Fred’s blog on it.Hmm is that a phrase? “To bog the blog”. Or perhaps the new Internet philosophy. “Blogito ergo sum.” 🙂
Latin blogging, lol – we should ask Professor Mary Beard to comment on that – she’s great by the way if not already aware of her – a very accessible classicist. She’s on Twitter and blogs on The Times, etc – give her a Google.Punch magazine was the classic magazine for such art – it used to have great writers, also – it was like a mix of The Onion and The New Yorker, lol – sadly it was acquired and it lost its edge/went out of business a couple of decades ago but its legacy remains – should find some great examples here…http://punch.photoshelter.c…A favourite of mine was not strictly a cartoonist, more of a powerful allegorical artist: Hogarth, I blogged in reference to him recently…http://carl-rahn-griffith.t…Of course there is also The New Yorker – a great source of pithy cartoons. Also, Private Eye in the UK.I did have some of my own cartoons published many years ago for small circulation magazines but somehow I lapsed from drawing/submitting to magazines.
I don’t know Prof Beard, but sounds very interesting. Unfortunately, my Latin is limited to a few words from Mass (don’t ask why this religious practicing Jew knows some words from the Latin Mass); some word roots; phrases learned in my core Columbia education; and Life of Brian… “Romanes Eunt Domus.” !Punch. Excellent. The New Yorker is also great, but not as direct. I always enjoyed the Brits, though.Would like to see your stuff. Link?
I also know of latin mass. If you are a classical music fan – it comes up.
I was late to the favorite brands discussion the other day. I would have put Dr. Seuss, a huge influence on me. I consider Dr. Seuss a brand as well as an artist. Not sure if others agree.
Big fan I am.
and Sam?
SUFFICIENTLY AWESOME ARTIST INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM BRAND.
I have been lucky enough to have that said about me. Living up to it is daily job of jumping out windows and growing wings as you say. It seems I like jumping, and growing wings though, so I don’t shy from trying to earn that honor.
I would consider him a brand, but I think that discussion was focused more on brands you trust. An artist isn’t really subject to that kind of trust. You can see it and evaluate it on its own, before investing. A phone or car, however, you make the investment long before you really know how good it is.
I may take issue with artists not being subject to that trust. Take film for example, or music.
Hmm, that is a good point. I see it more with film than music, in that it is easy to evaluate music prior to investment. Film is harder.
i think the fact that his stuff is so heavily licensed might make him a brand in the vein that disney is a brand
HIM INSPIRATION.ME, GRIMLOCK, SAY SUESS REQUIRED READING FOR ALL PUNY HUMANS.
There once was a dinosaur, he had a FAKE nameThe person behind him, was a GRIMLOCK just the sameWhen he came to post on the community at AVCTo get his real name, no one could see
Spur of the moment, best I could do. 🙂
OH, THE AWESOME YOU’LL SEEWHEN YOU SET YOURSELF FREEANYONE IS, THE ONE YOU CAN BE!FROM THE TIPS OF YOUR TOESTO THE END OF YOUR NOSE,YOU IS THE ANYONE YOU WILL CALL “ME!”– DR. GRIMSUESS
Include this in your book or an extended version
MAYBE GO IN BOOK2 IF STRETCH GOALS MET.
It is no shame to be beatBy a master at this featWhose writing is simply a treatHe is much better than meI am happy to seeHis name is Fake McGrimlock McBee!
this like watching slow motion rap battle between awesome human/ dinosaur. this needs to be weekly activity somewhere.
I just tried to rhyme “somewhere” and “dinosaur”But the results were so terribly poorI would be better off offering my skillAs the bard of WhovilleThey were so little, each personThat the only one who could hear, was Horton:-)
@FakeGrimlock:disqus Thanks for making my day more enjoyable.
every single day i hit AVCbut this morning there was a surprise for meputting on a festival of #realtalkit was the one & only FAKE GRIMLOCK
Oh captain, my captain!We should start the AVC Lord Byron society… followed by the AVC Barbershop Quarter!
every morning i take the interwebs to AVCbut today there was a surprise for mean express dino festival of true #RealTalka takeover by the one and only @FakeGrimlock:disqus
A favourite of mine – http://mattamyers.tumblr.co…
yup
Have any old stuff online?
Great post on alistapart about this today actually -> http://alistapart.com/artic…
Cool. Thanks!
Got it. Marshall McLuhan’s love child!Red Bull with a parachute.
PARACHUTES FOR CHICKENS.NOT THE NO EAT KIND.
Continuing with pictures, I love this one from the Tom Fisbourne The Marktoonist – Social Media Snake Oil. Business’s and brands are historically hardwired to communicate in broadcast. Putting down the campaign and starting the conversation is a change in mindset and cost.
USE REAL SOCIAL OIL. NOT KIND SQUEEZED FROM SNAKES.
AKA BE GENUINE
ME RECOGNIZE IRONY IN ME SAY THAT.
You’re genuine to your character.
No irony at all in your case it’s your brand.Like a recording artist who has a great voice and wraps it up in showbiz to stand out in the crowd and differentiate themselves. While the words you say are good, the execution is A+.
ME SAY THANK YOU!
have you ever squeezed a snake
AWESOMESAUCE POSTER, please!
Actually, I love the hurricane one as well 🙂
http://www.flickr.com/photo…
Thank you Grimmy 🙂
“ITERATE VOICE LIKE A PRODUCT. “Well said & so important for a blogger. Once you find it, then the magic of the community follows.
…..and product like voice, no?
Yes! (I was assuming that the benefits of Product iterations were a given)
Yes on iteration for certain but nope, not the same as building a personality brand as building a product one.Examples of personality driven community are many. Examples of building a product driven community–?
In your view it may include both, but I’d argue Apple.
Harley. Nike. Apple. The Greatful Dead.Just a few that come to mind for me…
Harley is a good one. Nike I’m not sure. Apple changing. The Dead–my favorite case study of community.
I interviewed at Microsoft years ago, at the Redmond campus – 2 days of very lengthy interviews/discussions with numerous VPs of numerous things – one of the weirdest meetings was a very lengthy esoteric business analysis of The Grateful Dead and their pro-bootlegging stance.It was, erm, ‘interesting’…On the Harley example – I had one, my last motorbike in fact and totally different to the ‘proper’ ‘bikes I’d had hitherto (Italian, usually). Loved the ‘bike, surprisingly; hated the Harley ‘community’ bullshit that went with it, though!
You touch on something.Strong brand appeal. I so loved my 86 911 Turbo Porsche coup but there was no sense of community. Didn’t want it.People really do (still) love their Apple products and refer them on to others. Is this a community or a brand connection to a product?Point–brand and community build our of each other but they are not the same.Avc is an important community in my life. Fred as leader is a significant personal brand that has a foot here, a foot in USV. What draws me here though is community. There’s economic offshoot but that is not prime.
I suspect (for me at least) that the strong appeal re: A VC is that here we have an environment that offers thoughtful, stimulating/civilised (and often witty) dialogue, and that is all too rare nowadays. For me, usually ‘working’ alone from home – sorry, Marissa – that is especially valuable.The fact that Fred participates so much (and somehow each day gives us a topic to feast upon) also makes it a very unique place, I am sure the same applies to your LocalSip wine community, Arnold. I can see this kind of environment – as we have touched upon in past 1:1 dialogues – becoming an ever-increasing trend – niche communities for people sick of the noise of being a subset within a morass such as Facebook, etc.As the economy becomes more and more challenging for so many, people don’t interact with like-minded souls as much via work (a lack of) or socially (lack of disposable income) – ie, that bastion of British social life – the pub – is haemorrhaging even more in recent years – so, where do people ‘go’ to for a sense of belonging?
All true…To believe though that community is dynamic in all or most segments is not true in my experience.I’m discovering that my wine networks are huge and there are pockets of communities and friendship. But is there a sizable wine community within a city like NYC? Depends what you consider sizable. And how you define economics.What I have discovered is a huge merchant need and a real need for event based marketplace at a neighborhood level. Wine as a connector as a partner for food, art, music. Local winemakers, spirits makers, artisanal breweries at a street level in partnerships with shops…there’s size there.
Shepherding, almost? People do need leading, or guiding – somebody to act as a focal point to refine, curate and execute the ideas and wishes of the many, maybe?Also, apropos nothing – well, further to a chat ongoing on Albert’s latest blog entry, I have been thinking about ideas for next blog topic on product selection/development/go-to-market and it strikes me that VC needs to be more like A&R?And I don’t believe for one minute A&R is dead – far from it – it’s adapted somewhat, after a painful transition for sure – but the media/channels/licensing and revenue challenges were not down to the A&R folk. The Product Remains the Same, as Led Zepp may have sang 😉
“no sense of community”Well in these parts people with Porsche’s wave at each other. (Same happened when I owned a Mini Cooper by the way and with boating). It also comes with an added benefit. It’s a guy magnet.I was just commenting to someone this morning that I feel like printing up business cards (and selling life insurance?) because guys will come up to you quite frequently and give you car compliments. (Not girls. Never a girl, only guys). It’s a conversation starter. I need to monetize that somehow with a product with high margins or residuals. Even the cops in the area don’t ticket me for not having a front license plate which is required in this state.
.When I was in the service, I had a orange TR-6. Too much power for that little bit of steel the engine was dragging along.Bought for $3K from a guy shipping out.Catnip could take lessons from that car.Of course, there were about 400 nurses on that post.JLM.
I had a TR3 and TR4……liked them better than the TR6. Might be in ATX next week, I’ll give you a heads up for a Lockhart run.
.Try to give me as much notice as possible. I’ll get the Big Red Car in fine fettle.The TR-6 had a lot of power, maybe too much. It could really run.I once had it to 140 MPH before I began to ponder my own immortality.JLM.
took my 740il there once. Also took a 72 Grand Prix there more than once. Want to drive Daytona once.
.Oh, yeah!The BMW 740iL was a great car for running like Hell. First one I bought, I was headed to the East Coast from Texas — test drive.I had two speeding tickets by the time I hit Temple, TX (60 miles, maybe, from home) — the DPS trooper said: “You want to try for the trifecta today, sport?”I was going 105 and did not even notice it because that 740iL was just so damn smooth.Had a 1984 MB SEL that just did not have any top end limit. Smooth as silk touring car. Wish I still had it.JLM.
MB in the 70’s and 80’s. Growing up my neighbor had a brand new ’75 (I think?) 450SEL (this was at the start when Caddy was thee car MB was just getting started). I immediately recognized the quality in that vehicle. I was waxing cars before I had my drivers license and the high point was flipping the car around in my driveway which I was allowed to do.It’s sad what has happened to Mercedes though. No exclusivity anymore like back in the day.
I had a 750iL, the v12 version, and you’re right, it’s crazy how you don’t notice the speed. I topped 100 on the Key Bridge late one night. Best part was I bought it in the early gas crisis for a steal – $13k. I wish it still lived — one of my kids totaled it crashing into a parked car.
“I once had it to 140 MPH”Yawn.
Now I live in NYC, have no car and a subway pass. A great ticket to ride. Don’t miss a car at all.
“hated the Harley ‘community’ bullshit that went with it, though!”Agree. Exactly the reason that I wouldn’t buy a Harley if I was going to buy a motorcycle. That said it works for them and helps them sell product and I know of people with Harley’s and that’s part of the allure of buying one. You get into a conversation with them and they start to tell you about all these celebrities that own a Harley.
It’s pretty sad stuff – harmless, though, I suppose – middle-class folk dressing-up as outlaws at the weekend and going off riding together in a little gang to stop off somewhere for a cup of tea and then look at one another’s bikes. And then ride back home. Bizarre behaviour and a sure sign how desperate we are as a species to feel a sense of belonging/identity, I guess…I sense a blog theme coming on. I was stuck for the next one 😉
.There is a nice little town a bit outside Austin — Marble Falls — in the Hill Country.Folks ride their Harleys to the Bluebonnet Cafe, best pies in Central Texas.The weekend “outlaws” [mostly accountants and bikers wandering through a mid-life crisis] made the acquaintance of some Bandidos from San Antonio [a dreadful and truly dangerous criminal biker gang into drugs, murder, mayhem and not personal hygiene].Results were mixed. Everyone ate nice together. The Bandidos left the tab for their “brothers”.Big tippers apparently.You just never know who you will run into in Texas on a Harley.JLM.
Here we’ve got the real thing, baby. Real bikers along with wannabes and celebrity roadsters all congregating on weekends at the Rock Store and other nearby stops on long winding Mulholland Hwy (Malibu/Agoura).
“I suppose – middle-class folk dressing-up as outlaws “As I’ve said before a few times it’s not what people think it’s what you think people think. And Harley owners have a party going on in their mind and it makes them happy.”and then look at one another’s bikes.”It becomes like looking at art. It becomes art. I can definitely understand this. If you’ve ever shopped for anything that you never thought about before (say an oven or a vacuum) you begin to see things and appreciate things you never thought of before. And then you see beauty in it.”And then ride back home.”Boating (in the back bay) is a little like this. You go out, you stop and have lunch, you ride back. Maybe you stop at a marina store and pickup some stuff you didn’t even need. You look at houses on the water. You pick up (take on) fuel. If you strip out all the “stop for cup of tea” it’s not as nice an experience.
Makes sense. I guess it’s something along the lines of it being better to travel, than to arrive.Your sailing analogy reminds me of why I stopped flying – apart from the fact I was a pretty bad pilot, lol (which was in part I am sure because I wasn’t that interested – was simply following my father syndrome, etc) – I/we used to pick a random airfield, fly there, have a cup of tea and fly back. After a few years of this it suddenly struck me as being a totally inane thing to do and I stopped.Sailing is still on my bucket-list 😉
runkeeper, soulcycle
Soulcycle is a good one .There is a community there big time built on location. Online not. Generally not. Soulcycle as clubishness by neighborhood–no questions.BTW–TriBeCa, Noho Soulcyle have a strong Lulitonix following already!
Soulcylce is seriously on my semi-concious mind. If I land one more analytics client I think I’ll take a class, and get some Lulitonix while there :p
I would say products should have a voice
Brilliant, where do I order the awesome sauce pic?
IT CREATIVE COMMONS. GET FULL SIZE COPY AT http://www.flickr.com/photo…
Forgot one edict: Don’t eat community.
Ha
I seem to recall that most dinosaurs were herbivores. Phew 😉
YES. THEM CALLED “FOOD.”
Lol. good point!As Adam Ant sang, “It’s dog eat dog eat dog eat dog …..”http://www.youtube.com/watc…:-)
UNTIL THERE ONLY ONE DOG.IT VERY FAT.
ONLY EAT PART THAT NOT AWESOME.ITERATING. WITH TEETH.
Taste better with Awesome Sauce. However, ones with Awesome Sauce not eat. A Dino-conundrum.
SPRAY AWESOME SAUCE ON ALL. EAT ONES IT NOT WORK ON.
The sauce test!
FG, Great post as always. I have been one of your dice. Awesome sauce comes in sauce packets, squeeze bottles, and large tubs – choose your size. My WHO are all waiting for my WHAT, so I need someone to build my WHERE. Right now I am building this. I have to find someone to run the WHERE, because I don’t have enough time to build my WHAT and manage hurricane at the same time.(any WHERE builders, looking for some great WHAT with expectant WHO’s lining up, please ping me!)
most dinosaurs are herbivores. me think that’s why they are smart and strong. awesome sauce is vegan?
IT MADE FROM BACON.
Me check out. Then give you vegan recipe that taste the same.
this right answer… maybe coffee + beer added ingredients.
Nice dino-article
YES.
Great stuff FG. A sneak peak of what the other chapters in the book might be?
PARTIAL TABLE OF CONTENTS HERE: http://book1.fakegrimlock.com/ALSO HAS SIGN UP FORM TO KNOW WHEN KICKSTARTER HAPPEN.
When go live? Me eager to support FG on KS.
SOON. MAYBE NEXT WEEK.
“Each one is a door waiting to open.”Great post – thanks Fred. It does take time to find your voice. I think understanding your vision and your values is only the starting point – the rest you learn as you engage. As for building wings – it got me thinking of Bond jumping off of that dam and landing in the Cessna – if only….
Great analogy, that scene from Goldeneye. Next startup I start or join, I want to hang that pic on the door.Voice: yes. The problem is sometimes you have too many voices. I would like to find a more focused voice. I blog regularly at http://blog.atomicinc.com, but I have a market voice, and a strategy voice, and a technology voice (years as an engineer, still do it when I can, contribute to OSS), and policy voice (which I avoid blogging about), and literature voice, and….
totally agree. As a founder (and with a small team) you have to master several voices (speaking as your brand, speaking as a founder etc) which is tough. Hence the leap analogy being so true…
Are you willing / able to relocate?
avi [at] deitcher [dot] net is my personal email.
A new classic.
A bit of serious response. This is a great lesson about “brands” and “social marketing for brands”. This robot could not be more human. Everything he spits make you think about the inner voice, the things you would like and need to do. What is a brand? a sign burned on the cattle. Anybody wants to be part of the cattle? Nope. Because you end up AS BACON. Thanks Grimmlock.
TECHNICALLY, YOU END UP STEAK.BUT STILL DELICIOUS.
Love thisBUILD STARTUP IS JUMP OUT WINDOW, INVENT WINGS ON WAY DOWN
That’s an apt description.It’s also like driving a race car blindfolded at 190mph with the belief that you’ll figure out when to turn the wheel before you hit the wall.
Sometimes you just need that pressure from crash to get the best out of you and you might also need that experience from the first step to make a better second one. Total planing… is cutting off the endless array of opportunities you have after each step and locks you down in one stream of decisions. It’s an illusion of safety.If you know the destination and the first step, start walking. You will be able to see the second step only after you step on the first one.
You have to have an idea of where to land though.
no need landing target… just have to have idea of what to build in air, and believe it fly. If it doesn’t fly, you crash… walk away from burning heap and climb back up building/ mountain… if jump back off and build better wings.
Ha — that’s great. And picked up on your attempt to speak robo dino — not bad.
Fair enough. That’s a better visual. It’s still likely a good idea to have a general direction – though it’s possible to completely pivot.
Just make sure you jump from high-up, so maximising available time to evolve those wings.If the wings don’t work it’s not the fall that kills you, anyway: it’s the ground bit.
While this sounds cute I don’t think this sends the right message. Details matter in varying degrees and you better have an exact grip on the risks you are taking and not “click your heals and wish”. Otherwise you are simply a gambler.Using an analogy of “jumping out a window” and hoping that you will invent wings on the way down doesn’t make any sense. There are some things you can avoid confronting and can solve in real time with a business, and there are some things that you need to have a pretty good idea (and backup) when you launch. This is not “let’s drive across the country and we will figure out where to stay on the way!!!” (and plan b is sleep in the car).
depends how high you are off the ground (seed investment) and acceleration when falling (burn rate).
“HAVE CONTENT THERE” is one of the easiest points to make and hardest to execute. I’m in awe of the folks like Fred who can crank out high quality content day after day.
Oh so true.And the point that I’m spending a lot of cycles on lately is how you mix the brand of you as founder/leader/visionary of you company and the pull from the market to the product/service itself.Rarely the same.
Indeed. No scientific answer there, it seems. If I want to write my thoughts, I use my blog. If I’m sharing company or product news, I use the company blog. And if my thoughts would be interesting to the company’s audience, I usually just end up cross posting.
Stumbling forward with intent and smarts is a workable strategy as we learn what works.Liked your post today even though I disagreed with it completely;)
And that’s what makes for a great friendship. :)For those wondering, we got into our federal spending mess by being unreasonable, so I figure we’ll get out of it the same way. And we want frosting, too. ;)http://blog.aaronklein.com/…
Agreed. Also, finding the who, what, and where is the easier part- developing the knowledge and putting it with a voice that communicates well takes a lifetime, if ever. FG has that magic.
Nicely said.Of course personalities and pundits (I say this word with affection) are rarely the same as business with products.It’s tough for both to crack the noise level. It’s interesting to watch web personalities in search of a business model as well. A recent and fascinating phenomenon.
IT TRUE.BE AWESOME NOT ALWAYS PAY WELL.MONETIZE VOICE GOOD STARTUP OPPORTUNITY.HMMM.TIME TO CALL A VC.
Arnold: “It’s interesting to watch web personalities in search of a business model as well.”You: “BE AWESOME NOT ALWAYS PAY WELL.”Part of the problem is web personalities are thought to be great by consumers with little money in their pockets wanting things for free. Same effort put into being a personality that a company with a budget thinks is awesome allows you to be paid for the celebrity. Not that a home run can’t be hit with consumers of course. But businesses have problems to solve and money to spend and generally are less nudniks parting with money.Julia Allison worked her web celebrity into a short lived reality TV show but I’m not sure now after that’s had it’s run where she is at (but I am certain she will do well). But there are simply not many opportunities like that out there.
MAIN ISSUE IS PRODUCTIZING.THAT WHAT BOOK EXPERIMENT ABOUT. SEE IF THIS TURN INTO SELF-SUSTAINING THING.OR JUST STAY INTERESTING HOBBY.
You need a product. A product that continues to sell, or has residuals, or creates additional orders, all with nominal input on your behalf. Otherwise you are always looking for the next consulting assignment, conference, book etc. Not only that but you have nothing to sell if it revolves around you as the product. (That’s fine but chances are you won’t be disciplined enough to sock some of the money you make away or into other investments).My friend, the one that does the cat toilet, (and how the hoodie pillow) has a predictable stream of orders that come in and get filled every day for the exact same product(s). It won’t last forever but it will last long enough for her to find the next product (which she has already done). She could also sell the business tomorrow because it’s not something that depends on her. It makes money.I say the answer is inbetween “interesting hobby” and google “20%” time which is what I call “pure research”. You put your time into something that you like to do on the side with the hope that it gets you involved in something else “the thing that leads to the thing”. That’s what you’re doing right now and that’s good.
Very well put.
“putting it with a voice that communicates well”I have found that commenting on blogs — AVC, in particular, where there is a community element and some back and forth — can really contribute toward cultivating that voice. I also learn a lot from observing how others communicate/interact here. The consistency of a community is a big part of understanding how much “voice” is part of each person’s persona.
Good point. Thanks Donna.
I agree completely. It takes the combination of creativity and discipline at the same time. That’s a really rare breed. I can be creative when answering a question on a sales call. I can be disciplined when doing accounting the second to last day of each month. But I don’t really do both.
Yes. Exactly. Disciplined creativity is a very, very difficult and rare thing. A muscle to try and develop, if that’s even possible.
BE AWESOME DAILY.BUILD AWESOME MUSCLES.MAKE AWESOME EASIER.
If someone is doing something and they aren’t being awesome they are probably doing something that they don’t like to do. Something you like to do is effortless and you would do it for free. Things that you don’t like are a chore and there is no way to be awesome, creative, devious or work long hours with that mindset.
ME WOULD NOT SAY THIS EFFORTLESS.BUT IT FUN. THAT BALANCE IT OUT.
When what you doing is fun and you passionate, it not feel like work.
One of the few things I know for certain: Discipline makes creativity. There as a great series of letters from Eva Hesse and Sol Lewitt harping on this. So does “The Creative Habit” I also see similar letters and advice on brain picker. With no discipline, no creativity
Do you have a link for those? I’d be curious to see them — big Sol LeWitt fan.
Best quote around this idea is from Chuck Close (artist) who said that ‘Inspiration is for amateurs’ and that he went to work everyday and created. Still does.And this from a person who had a stroke, was paralyzed and with almost no mobility created a new art form and a world renown brand.
Some people are content engines. It’s their curiosity which fuels it, the questions they ask, and the people they engage in discussing those questions. Yes, Fred and AVC are a perfect example.
Curiosity. Interesting. I think you are right.
I know. It is time consuming to build out content 🙂 And make it look good 🙂
good stuff @FakeGrimlock:disqussee you in a couple weeks?
YES.
“EVERY MEMBER OF COMMUNITY IS DIE WITH MANY SIDES. WANT TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN? ROLL YOUR COMMUNITY.”Full. Of. Win.
ALWAYS.
Yo FG what are your thoughts on the compelling reason for community, besides company or a sense of belonging? What rationale is sufficient to spark a self propagating community? Communities are in a constant state of flux with new folks joining and older folks moving on to other places. Where do you want your communities to grow, and why?i’ve gone far away from social activities while pursuing the role of tech priest (making machines do what artists imagine), but i haven’t forgotten the fun times I shared reading, commenting, and laughing here.
We need an alumni weekend at AVC 😉
🙂
We need any kind of AVC event. The November 2011 Donors Choose event was awesome and I wish we had something like that every year. How can I help, Fred?
I am working on a 10th anniversary bash in NYC on 9/23/12
Let me know if you need any help.
two specific reasons why I’m out for sure already:1. That date already passed.2. Assuming you meant 2013, it will be my 12th wedding anniversary….but I hope everyone else has a ball 😉
an early mazal tov to you sir
shit. it is the exact 10th anniversary of my first postand you are right, of course, that the date is 9/23/2013happy anniversary!
if you need help
Agreed! No substitute for f2f interaction among real humans.
Say the word, and I’ll start looking for the alumni and sending out the invites, the avc reunion will be enlightening
my brother, aka Jackson, was the original community bouncer. he was super active in the early days but hasn’t been seen around these parts in at least three or four years. i hope he comes.
That’s great, Jackson may know how to track down some of the early commenters, I see avc’ers everywhere.Speaking of, JLM has become a blogging big red machine, I can’t keep up with his pace of hits. The rate of growth of blogs I’d love to read has far outstripped my ability to read them regularly.
Hi, Mark! Hope all is well.
Howdy Carl, doing fine. Maybe a little too busy, need to mix in more rose smelling.
And don’t forget the coffee! 😉
That I never forget
That Commander Hadfield Tweet earlier today from the ISS cracked me up – clearly, even astronauts sometimes need a stiff coffee first thing in the morning to get going, lol.
COMMUNITY IS FUEL. FOR YOU AND IT.COMMUNITY IS MARKETING. FOR PRODUCT AND IT.COMMUNITY IS OPPORTUNITIES. FOR YOU AND IT.IF COMMUNITY NOT ABOVE, IT BUILT WRONG.
There are non market communities that are full of opportunity. But I like this definition.
I know. We’ve missed youOne of things I think FG is missing is that content is as much shaped by the readers/ It isn’t enough to have a content section as it is to use that section to bring content shaping by readers alive.And that requires skill and patience. Otherwise you get surface level content marketing
I think about the web that way, as a variety of surfaces we can all mold (literally with code). I love running homebrewed bookmarklets to do things like breathe life into static content a friend shares into an interactive slide show.
Hey Mark. You are missed and my “like” count (aka upvotes) has definitely gone down during your absence. Fortunately I still get to see you and the lovely Michelle on Tumblr and Foursquare, otherwise would be suffering serious withdrawal. 🙂
I could ask Daniel if I could skip clicking for you to get my upvotes :).
Has anyone listened to the VoiceBunny? Just amazing. https://soundcloud.com/avcf…
Would imagine furry little bunny is terrified of big dino…
No way! FAKE GRIMLOCK is my hero! Besides, robot dinos don’t eat meat…right??
Some say this robot dino garnishes his bunnies with WD40. Be careful, little wabbit!
lol
WRONG.UNLESS IT AWESOME MEAT. THEN IT NEGOTIABLE.
I hope I qualify as awesome meat! I don’t think I’d be too tasty… really… Mr. FAKE GRIMLOCK..sir. Plus, then who would find awesome voices for Mr. Wilson’s posts?!?
JURY STILL OUT.
It’s hilarious. Are you sure it’s not the real FG that voiced it over?
Sounds like him, doesn’t it?
pretty much…
I actually imagine the big dino having a soft spot and having a pet bunny 🙂
deleted… hehe
Can’t right now but I am dying to
Best voice bunny of ALL TIME.
It is indeed great, lol. Never tried it before.It’s sounds like the bastard love-child voice of Darth Vader and Ethel Merman.
Sounds like Angry Professor Cookie Monster Bedtime Reader
Awesome
Ha!Score one in the W column for VoiceBunny today.
can’t wait to hear this. will be my first voice bunny ever
Thanks for drawing attention to this! LOVE it! Tears streaming I’m laughing so hard. Okay, need to calm down so I can finish listening. Good work VoiceBunny — very impressed.
Maybe they have a voice pitch overlay like Instagram has those image effects to enhance your pics.
OMG. that is about the best thing that has ever happened at AVC
You have to thank that speaker. That’s just amazing.
I can NOT stop laughing. Honestly not sure what’s funnier, the VoiceBunny itself, or your comment!
Amazing
Very interesting indeed. Gave me a laugh.
This is actually EXACTLY how I imagined FAKEGRIMLOCK to sound all these years. It’s creepy, yet.. satisfying.
Grimlock saves the Universe http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Grimlock has voice! History in making…
This is so awesome
THAT HOW ME DO THINGS.
WOW
roll your community – digging that
NO, ROLL THAT.
+1000 awesome points for having the awesome voicebunny service sound like FAKE GRIMLOCK.
I don’t always find the voice for robot dino startup masters, but when I do, FAKE GRIMLOCK!
IT NOT BAD!ALMOST SOUND LIKE REAL ME, GRIMLOCK.http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Dear Disqus,Please, please, please…can’t we have a “Mark as Read” button? http://d.pr/i/XONyThat, and email replies that work consistently, would rekindle the romance forever and ever.Love,Your Fans
I have that exact same issue
I will pass this onto them. *sigh*
wow – my disqus notifications have probably never been above 5 #imaloserbabysowhydontyoukillme:)
Somehow I doubt that. 😉
Too long of a #hashtag 🙂
🙂
just passed along a note to our team… redesigning profiles, notifications, and the like is something we’re working on as we speak.your comment hit home, as i’ve had similar frustrations with quora notifications.
Thanks. And appreciate you taking my note in the “fan” spirit it was written in!
ha, funny enough I passed that onto support as well.
Also the fact that it defaults to the “Now in your network” view even if it’s empty and you have a bunch of unread messages.
here, here! And continuous scrolling, PLEASE
How do you balance personal vs. company context? That is, even if it’s my voice but I do it in the context of a company and their fb/tw/email/etc. accounts, then when I go do something else I have to start from scratch. It’s much easier when you are the product, but how to build something sustainable for yourself while fulfilling your role as a fiduciary to the company?
WORK FOR SELF.OR GIVE UP VOICE.
Well said FG.
WHY SAY ANYTHING IN OTHER WAY?
FG: I’m still waiting for that MVP consulting session. Last time I offered my friendship and you said no. This time I’m offering cash, equity, and the Presidents Suite at the Driskill during SXSW.
EQUITY IN WHAT?EMAIL FAKEGRIMLOCK. AT FAKEGRIMLOCK.COM. ME LISTEN.
I’m not sold that this it, the systematic way. There has to be more of a desire to let your audience have thier ways with you as much as the reverse. It isn’t as much “develop your voice based on what the audience says” as “let the audience become a chorus with you by developing their voice”
I like that perspective
That’s an interesting way to look at it. And also, you got a sexy pun in there, so kudos for that. BACONNINJAS HAVE WAY WITH DINO! GIVE BIRTH TO STARTUP AWESOMENESS!
i totally missed the sexy pun. 🙂
Fake, when I first virtually met you, I thought you were a borderline sociopath. It turns out you’re a genius and perhaps the most clever marketer I’ve come across. It’s been a fantastic experience to see you develop. Looking forward to your Book of Awesome.
HOORAY!ME NOT DO ANYTHING BORDERLINE.
I love this line: “THERE WORD FOR ONE-WAY COMMUNITY. PRISON.”Query: does such negativity attach to content businesses with a pure “consumption” model? I’m thinking traditional media like cable, magazines, books, CDs, but the same applies to iTunes, Netflix, or Svbtle…
IT NOT ALWAYS NEGATIVE.BUT IT NEVER POSITIVE.
Great post, FG. Huge thanks to FW for letting you share it.Correction. When were you ever a joke? I knew you were brilliant from the start. Although I still hear the cookie monster voice in my mind at times. You really need a music video. I’m serious.BTW, did you use Fred and AVC as the model for this post. Amazing similarity.
ME SAY THANK YOU!MADE ACCOUNT AS JOKE. TURN INTO MORE. THAT POWER OF ITERATE.MUSIC VIDEO? WHO HAVE MUSICIANS AND VIDEO CREW AVAILABLE?SIMILARITIES NOT COINCIDENCE.
This is an awesome post.
Bad day to check AVC @ 8PM.
Dive in :)Or Skate
ME STILL HERE.
Awesome post! I couldn’t agree more on the need to cultivate your community first before worrying about the What and Where. Find your voice and contribute value and its almost always pays off
ME UPSET, NO BACON IN POST.
IT ALL OVER ME FINGER CLAWS WHILE TYPE IT.
What can I say…apparently great things happen on that day throughout history. My wife and I will make sure to drink a toast in honor of the AVC community that night as well 😉
Link to Amazon seems broken. Looks like you missed the http://I dig the post.
LATE NIGHT EDITING ALWAYS HIGH RISK.
Fixed it. Thanks
It never dawned on me until this post just how effective writing in Dinospeak is!Wish I was going to SXSW. That should be epic 🙂
NEXT TIME.
@MsPseudolus:disqus @FakeGrimlock:disqus maybe we do beers next time Dino in NY?
THAT NOT HAPPEN MUCH LATELY.TOO BUSY WITH WRITE CODE.
WHAT YOU THINK WE DO ALL DAY?!
LOL – the Voicebunny sounds a lot like I have always imagined FG sounds. FG does remind me a little of Cookie Monster 🙂
HERE SAMPLES OF ACTUAL FAKEGRIMLOCK VOICE IF CURIOUS.http://www.youtube.com/watc…
Some of those are hilarious. I have to go to bed so I just stopped at “me not swing that way” (with Tisch). Also liked the way some of the jokes went completely over Christina’s head.
IT WAS GOOD TIME. MOST GUEST HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ME WAS WHEN DID INTERVIEW.
@domainregistry:disqus @FakeGrimlock:disqus “Me not swing that way” was my favorite line of them all. And I watched EVERY SINGLE ONE. #groupie
“BUILD STARTUP IS JUMP OUT WINDOW, INVENT WINGS ON WAY DOWN”. Makes me think about certainty in this business. Nothing is ever certain. So as you jump out the window make sure you have the balls to persist and invent the best wings for your flight to uncertainty.“Humans may crave absolute certainty; they may aspire to it; they may pretend … tohave attained it. But the history of science—by far the most successful claimto knowledge accessible to humans—teaches that the most we can hope for is successiveimprovement in our understanding, learning from our mistakes, an asymptoticapproach to the Universe, but with the proviso that absolute certainty willalways elude us. We will always be mired in error. The most each generation can hope for is toreduce the error bars a little, and to add to the body of data to which errorbars apply. The error bar is a pervasive, visible self-assessment of thereliability of our knowledge. “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark ( 1995), p. 28
Awesome post. Thanks Fred & FG!
YOU WELCOME!
I have the who, what and where of social interaction, but I barely get comments at my website. I guess you missed the time factor too? A year has passed and I’ve still gotten nowhere in terms of social interaction, but as far as website progress Techman’s World has grown a bit.
THEN NOT LEAVING RIGHT TRAILS.IT NOT WORK UNLESS YOU GO OUT TO WHERE AUDIENCE IS, ENGAGE THEM THERE. ON OTHER SITE, TWITTER, FORUMS, WHEREVER.ONCE YOU ENGAGE THEM, THEN THEY FOLLOW TRAIL BACK TO YOUR WHERE, ENGAGE YOU.
Guess I’m not winning anytime soon then. I have a decent amount of Twitter followers for my expectations, but they usually would rely on the feed and post comments on the social medium itself, not the website.I’ll just continue what I always do, despite people comment or not. Sometimes comments are nice, though.
This VoiceBunny was the best one I’ve ever heard. Props to VoiceBunny.If they made all Fred Wilson posts sound like that, that would be cool. I like FAKEGRIMLOCK’s style 🙂
Fake Grimlock is #1 on my “meet someday” wishlist.
MAKE IT HAPPEN.ME AT #SXSW NEXT WEEK.
Almost my favourite part of this? That Fake Grimlock uses the singular of dice. #waystotellatruegeek
ME CARRY D20 AT ALL TIMES. JUST IN CASE.
GEEK LEVEL OVER 9000.
Very useful. Just curious… Why everything is in Caps?
that’s how grimlock rolls
BECAUSE AWESOME.
#becauseawesome
reverse switch
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