There is so much cool stuff going on here.

Listen First – Sell Later Hits Seth’s Reading List

Bob Poole’s fantastic book, Listen First – Sell Later, is on Seth Godin’s “latest reading” book roundup list at Squidoo. I’m kind of gooshy and happy about it, since I edited the book and feel somewhat proud / proprietary of it for that reason—plus I love it to pieces. This means you have absolutely no excuse not to pick it up, especially since buying it through Seth’s Squidoo page means donating money to charity, probably Acumen Fund if I had to take a wild guess. GO. DO IT.

Megan Makes Music, and Probably an Album

I’ve been having CRAZY conversations with my sister this month. About writing music (oh my, do I have ideas) and recording, and the availability of studios in LA and the possibility of me just flyin’ out there and putting an album together with her keyboardist, who is also a stunning classical pianist. We don’t have any bits and pieces ironed out, but it’s looking like a good bet; paired with the advent of Awesome Music Project No. 0001, which I have yet to detail for you lovely people, it looks like my adventures in Pittsburgh hail a new age of Megans and Musicks. I can’t send you to look at (or listen to) anything yet, but it’s coming. Soooon.

Free Idea Consulting at the Freak Revolution

Early this week I finished up the final version of the really exceedingly excellent Freak Revolution Manifesto, which you don’t get to see until they release it on the 28th. Uh. Sorry. But it’s great. I can’t wait for you to see it! In the meantime, Pace and Kyeli are running a video contest for the best world-changing video and the deadline is just about 24 hours from now—Friday, September 25th:

Submit inspirational and uplifting videos, approximately one minute in length, telling us something about what’s wrong with the world, how you’re making changes, what changes you plan to make in the future, what you want to see more of in the world, or something along those lines.

They are offering ridiculous scads of prizes, including Idea Blueprint Girl free consulting swag, thank you very much. ;} The due date is Friday, so you have a BUNCH of hours left to submit something that will take you two seconds—okay, two minutes—to put together. People, give it a try. We need more world-changers. You might surprise yourself!

http://blip.tv/play/g6JbgaLJKQA” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”540” height=”335” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true”>

I asked this question on Triiibes and at Social Work prn. Bob and I talked about it, too. I even asked on Vloggerheads. Now I’m going to ask it here.

What do you need?

http://blip.tv/play/g6JbgZnYFgA” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”540” height=”335” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true”>

This is just a smattering of Social Work prn posts that have gone up in the last month or so. Enjoy. ;}

Social Work and the Power of Belief
My usual routine, most Tuesdays and Thursdays, is to wake up at 5:30. I stumble through finding clothes and brushing my teeth, grab some small breakfast, take my vitamins, pin up my hair and go to the gym where I CrossFit five days a week. When I get done, I’m woozy and exhausted—but by the time I get home I’m starting to get my brain and my energy back. I wash the grit off my hands and sit down at my computer—still relatively filthy from the mats—and post my Social NetWorker entry for the morning. (Read more…)

Hunting That Elusive Internal Motivation
I’ve told you about CrossFit, and I’ve told you about my sometimes-favorite strategy for personal change (that is, gettin’ coached!). There were great allegories for social work there, but there’s an obvious and important aspect that I didn’t mention: The coach can’t always be there. (Read more…)

Authenticity and Better Business in Social Work
I learned early on that in order to be a good businessperson, I had to pretend to be someone other than myself. I had to pretend to be “big business”—or at least “bigger business”. I had to stay aloof and withdrawn from my clients, so they would know I was “professional”. I had to use words like “we” and “us” to talk about my company (even though I was a one-man band, back then). And no personality—not in the business world! I had to be slick and sere and professional at all junctures. At networking functions, I had to have a canned approach (as a response to everyone else’s canned approach) and there wasn’t going to be any of this banter about issues unrelated to business. (Read more…)

Mental Clarity and the Power of Now
I’m four or five chapters into Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, a book that seems to have temporarily rescued me from myself. Ever get that voice going in your head? The one that won’t shut up? (Note: I do realize that I’m writing about the voices I hear in my head to an array of mental health professionals. No, this does not bother me. Well, at least until I hit “publish”...!) (Read more…)

The Social Work “In”: Create a Positive Environment for Ideas
When you’re running a business, you want lots of ideas. Every new idea is an alternative option you can take advantage of to make everything better, so the more options, the better. You want to create a positive environment for new ideas and you want to engender a mindset in yourself that takes advantage of new ideas when they float through your head—instead of rejecting them without really thinking about them. I think many of us are actually conditioned to this kind of instant rejection. We’re so used to our lives as they are, we often fail to notice subtle opportunities to change our lives dramatically because we’re simply not expecting to see them. (Read more…)

Fear, Listening and Opportunity in Social Work
I was inspired to riff on Bob’s post yesterday when I read the following: “One of the most common reasons is that they don’t want people to talk about them because they are afraid of what they might hear.” He’s right, folks—it is too late. Everyone you make an impression on (good or bad!) has an opinion of you that they’re reasonably likely to share whether you see them do it or not. The great part of this is that you, as social workers, and every individual and company under the sun have the resource you need to change all your word of mouth for the better: Your Ability To Listen. (Read more…)

Today Bob Poole launched his wonderful sales and marketing book, Listen First – Sell Later.

I love this book.

This is the project I spent so much time focused on editing in February, and I have been incredibly impressed with the content and usefulness and heart of Bob’s writing. I am proud to have been a part of it, and I hope he sells just zillions of copies. If you have an interest in sales, marketing, being a real person who cares about the people around you and/or running a business that cultivates relationships with its customers, I strongly suggest you read it. I’m not the only one, either—some very neat folks weighed in (including Seth Godin). Check out the blurbs on the back of the book.

Pace wrote a great review with a ton of book snippets, and you’re welcome to read my last post (How to Inspire Your Editor, Get a Post Written About Your New Book, and Be Just Plain GREAT With People) if you want to know more about the kind of awesome person Bob Poole is.

Right now if you buy a copy (and probably not forever!), Bob is offering to send a free copy to a friend of yours. All you have to do is forward him the receipt once you’ve ordered and give him shipping information. Here’s everything you need to know.

For real: Buy it from Bob, buy it from Amazon, buy it from the Squidoo lens that supports Acumen Fund (my personal favorite), just buy the book. It will make your life and your work and your relationships with other people better. In the short time since I worked on the editing, it has surely done so with mine.

Last month, I finished a job editing a book.

I know! A freaking book!

It was an awesome book. It was all about listening and building real trust and relationships in business. Of course, nothing’s ever just about business (and neither was this book). It was an incredible resource in terms of great ideas, practical steps and case studies that really make you think about business building, sales, marketing, and people. (I love people. You know how I love people!)

And there were moments during the editing process where I was absorbing so much great material, I felt like I was getting paid to learn. (If you ever want to really ingrain some information, get yourself an editing job!) This book was very worth learning, and it was written by Bob Poole.

If you’ve been paying any attention, you know that Bob Poole is pretty damn nifty.

I first met him on Triiibes, and over the course of the next six months came across him during the work on the Tribes Q&A ebook, my bid for Seth’s Alternative MBA program in NY, and soon after, when he asked me to do some consulting… and this editing work. (He had to convince me to do it, because I’d never really, professionally considered myself an editor. Man, am I glad he did!)

Bob’s way of interacting with people is impactful. In my case, it makes me want to do great work for him; it makes me want to impress him. This is a particularly strong feeling, and I haven’t felt it very often (in fact I can only think of one other person, off the top of my head, who’s struck me quite this way). It seems to happen most when I’m dealing with people I feel undeniably valued by.

Whatever it is Bob does, he does it well. It’s a lesson in dealing with people, prospects, clients, employees—and everybody else. They will work hard for you if they know you appreciate and respect them. They will work harder for you than anyone else.

I don’t think a lot of people get this (even when they think they do), but Bob clearly does. It means that any work with him is sure to be delightful, and it meant that I worked my ass off editing his book.

The title is Listen First—Sell Later. It’s fantastic. Seth Godin wrote a blurb for the cover. (See?) It will be officially published and available in just a few weeks. The title alone should clue you in; this is what Bob’s all about.

If you want to know what the hell Bob does, why and how he does it (and learn a lot about sales and marketing in the process), well, you can read it yourself—but not for another few weeks. Please get crazy excited and send lots and lots of link traffic here so that everyone else can get excited too. Please do not actually hold your breath until the book is available unless you really can go without oxygen for more than a week. Because, dude. Come on.

(Also, I don’t think asphyxiated people buy books.)

You can bet I’ll be letting you know when you can pick up a copy. And in the meantime, you can go read Bob’s post from yesterday. Because of the awesome.

Update 2009-04-15: Bob made a post about his book today! Go take a look!

Update 2009-05-06: Bob launched his book today, and it’s available nigh-instantaneously from Amazon. Plus, if you buy one copy he’ll send a second for a friend (those instructions are here)! He’s doing this for a limited number of purchases, so go grab yours and forward your receipt along now while you’re thinkin’ about it!

Bob Poole asked me about my take on America’s educational system and in my attempt to provide him with a coherent response, I blew a gasket. It popped out of my left ear. I have no idea how to put it back. Where the hell does it even go? (I don’t think I have enough cash in my account to hire a mechanic, either.)

I decided to give it pride of place on top of the TV set. It’s kind of a memento, you know? Of frustration.

When I first watched Sir Ken’s TED presentation I just about burst into tears. I was lucky, man. I went to a great school that had a pretty reasonable slot in the budget for arts and theater. (What? You didn’t know I was an arts & theater kid? Have you even been paying attention?) Oh, there were boxes, there was plenty of math and science and there was plenty of “You’d be a Good Kid IF…” But I made out better than most. I was educated in a private, Catholic institution for almost all of my pre-university schooling—there were nuns. There were a lot of smart people, too.

I can’t even grasp what most kids grow up with these days. Kids in public schools deal with way more bullshit than I can even really grasp. (My one year in public school in seventh grade was QUITE enough for me, thanks.) I hear more horror stories about misguided teachers wantonly crushing the spirits of brilliant, creative, unorthodox-and-amazing children than you could shake a stick at. But it’s the school system I want to shake a stick at. Because we’re all but living in the dark ages with this industrial crap. We’re not training kids to work in factories anymore, people. They need to be prepared for the real world—the one we have now, and the one after that, and the one after that. They need to be flexible and wise. They need to be strong and compassionate and brave. They need to be warriors of the soul, leaders who take us forward, voices that challenge us to grow.

And we’re teaching them to put down their brains and do everything the same.

It makes me itch all over just thinking about it. And I could rant forever, but I’m going to stop here and point you to Bob’s post (wherein the rest of my diatribe is contained). Go read what we had to say.

You haven’t seen the end of this one.

This is a meme that bears repeating. Mac users close to my heart: Substitute Ctrl-Cmd-Power or hold down that power button—well, don’t actually; I’m just trying to exercise a little consideration. Anyway, you have to admit that Ctrl+Alt+Delete has a sort of ubiquitous grace…

Bob Poole made a great post yesterday about rebooting yourself.

What if there was a ctrl+alt+delete for our lives?

Would you be tempted to use the keys and reboot your life? Sound tempting? Maybe you’d do things differently. You’d stop wishing it were Friday – every day. And, you’d find a job or a career that you love.

Work and play would blend into life. If only there was such a set of keys.

His post was thought-provoking, and I immediately brought up a text document. “Make a list of your strengths,” he said, so I did. I wrote:

But when I came to the impossibility of failure part, I got stuck.

This may or may not be true—my perception is constantly changing—but I feel right now as if I accept most situations the way I would if failure was impossible. I base decisions on what I want, what feels right, and not so much a fear that the world won’t allow me to have what I work for. The circumstances I find myself in now—the amazing projects, the wonderful people, and freaking awesome opportunities—are all the result of leaving fear-based thinking behind. Marty’s Evil Empire is based on him having left his full-time job because we knew we could (must) succeed, and my progression towards taking only projects that inspire me is based on an intention to value happiness and meaning over money-for-misery, or convention.

I’m sure you can tell that I’m very proud of those decisions, but there is something missing. There is something in my way. What is it?

Only fear. Look at that list of strengths again. You’re a talented, strong person. Tell fear to get lost.

I have been rooting fear out of my life—I have conquered it in so many ways. I have become downright astonishing at standing my ground instead of running scared. I have continued to strengthen my fearless-decision-making muscles, and I exercise them every chance I get. So is it fear, still, that holds me back?

It might be.

It really might be—only in a different way than I’m used to seeing. And I simply may not be close enough to see the next step. Even if I haven’t gotten to a place in my life where fear doesn’t hold me back, it’s heartening to be able to imagine it, and see the measure of that growth.

I’ve speculated (often) that my biggest obstacle is lack of resources—money, manpower. But at the same time, if someone else came to me and told me they lacked resources, I would point to their brain and tell them to use that. “That’s all the resource you need,” I’d say, and I’d mean it. Perhaps I need to be just a little bit more clever.

Well, okay. I can do that.

So now it’s your turn. Take a look at Bob’s post, and start your own Ctrl+Alt+Delete file. What are your strengths? And what would you do if you couldn’t fail?

Just thinking about it is taking me into more uncharted territory. But oh, man. I love uncharted territory. ;}

You can use a tool like Highrise to track every single conversation you’ve ever had in your life, and the pertinent details of each person you meet. But I have sudden clarity: Why not also use it to track what each of them wants?

I’m not using Highrise at the moment, but musings like Bob’s make me want to start it back up again. Except this time, it’s far more important to me to track the ways in which I can help a person, rather than, necessarily, our conversations or how much business potential there is with them.

I just want to put a new spin on the address book: Name, occupation, where we met, things they like, what they want, what drives them. What or whom they identify deeply with. What do they really need? How can I really help them? And that last part should have nothing specific to do with money. How can I really help them?

You know—by introducing them to someone else. Or teaching them how to set up a simple blog. Or going out for dinner and letting them talk for an hour. Or telling them how much I appreciate them! What makes them feel best in all the world?

I like connecting with people a lot, and it would be nice to track the ways in which I might make a difference in other people’s lives. It would certainly be easier to remember and be useful to more people, that way! Plus, I wouldn’t feel so forgetful. ;}

Where’s my perfect software? Simple, easy to search, easy to keep open. Journler would work, but it has so many other features. Interesting how craving a simple purpose makes me steer clear of complex offerings. Hey, Highrise could still work.

I’ll think about it for awhile.