Thursday morning I had a lovely second podcast chat with Trish Lambert and Karen Swim (because the first recording didn’t take—oops!). I’ve done radio shows for music-related exploits in Cleveland and I did my guppie news girl / announcer stint on WYSU when I was in college, but I’ve never been on a podcast before. It was great!

We mostly talked about the Q&A eBook process and how it might be applied to other organizations. We kept it to about a half hour to avoid overwhelming listeners with information, and we covered a lot of neat things, but oh the things we didn’t get to cover! This subject just fills me up, makes me want to burst and splatter information all over everyone.

I know. Gross. But how else can I get my point across? ;}

Trish and Karen had a lot of fantastic questions in both sessions, and it gave me a lot of glee to have proper answers (well, most of the time). It makes me so happy to see people using and enjoying the Q&A and I can’t help but look forward to the next project… as long as it gives me a little downtime first. Ha!

In any case, you can go listen to the Megan-flavored episode of the SWIMBERT podcast on their site. Thank you, ladies!

PS. There are rumors that there may eventually be unofficial translations of the Tribes Q&A in German and Czech. Though I don’t speak or read either, I’m rather insanely curious about getting to take a look at them if they happen. Pretty neat, huh?

I’ve been meaning to make a post all week about how I’ve been loathe to join new social networks because I feel repelled by the constant self-promotion that goes on in them. I’m thinking of getting rid of my MySpace account (and don’t act surprised, either), and maybe a few others. I didn’t have a solution for it before, but I do now. I know exactly what the problem is. And I know because I’m a member of Triiibes now, and Seth said no promote, yes help people. And so that’s what we do. We browse around being useful, supportive, getting to know one another better. And that accomplishes so much more than using our profiles like billboards.

We’re proud of who we are and what we do, but broadcasting that isn’t what our participation in Triiibes is about. It’s about making a difference in the lives of other people, more often and not, and wow do I connect with that.

I’m still a little bleary from the projects I’ve been hauling forward in the last month, so my prose isn’t so perfect. If you want to read a clear, well-written post about exactly this same subject—alarming how exactly on the same page we were all week, and I hadn’t even looked at it until this morning—take a look at Trish’s post at SWIMBERT: Tribal attraction…what makes it or breaks it?

I think more social networks need to gently enforce this kind of atmosphere—where it’s about the tribe, not the individual (and not the individual’s marketing copy). I would join those networks. I would love to make new friends… this way.

Self-promotion is great. Be proud of yourself, be proud of what you do. But don’t engage in it to the exclusion of people. There are amazing people out there, people you can connect with, people whose effect on your life might be amazing. People you could really help. If you swan around wondering what everyone else can do for you, you might never find them.

Yesterday the inimitable Trish Lambert did a show on BlogTalkRadio about the Book Yourself Solid “Red Velvet Rope” policy, which illustrates the utter importance of focusing on the clients that give you the most possible happiness to work with. I thought the show would be an hour long (wishful thinking!) but it turns out that it’s only a half hour. Thankfully Trish’s show runs every Monday, and she’ll be talking about the Red Velvet Rope policy at the next show too—so if you’re all about the crazy productivity and blissful work days, tune in again next Monday at 1 pm CST. It’s pretty neat.

I started this post because while I was listening to Trish’s show, I had a ton of relevant trains of thought and although I thought about calling in, I realized I would have to edit down my thoughts a lot to be reasonable about time… and it made more sense to write a post (or three).

Right now my work is split pretty clearly into two categories: 1) awesome people who hire me to help them, and 2) projects that align directly with my real purpose. Now, just because the folks in the first group don’t align directly with my real purpose doesn’t mean that they’re not fantastic and really great people—because they are. But it’s hugely beneficial for me, and for them, if I realize that we’re not quite on the same path. Working on excellently-aligned projects makes me more effective with my time, and better help to everyone involved… not to mention that I’m happier, and way more pleasant to be around. ;}

Pretty recently I decided to stop taking on new projects completely unless the project fits a very particular set of criteria. That particular set of criteria is still more a feeling than a manifesto, but it sounds something like this: The project is something that inspires, engages, and excites me. The client and I vibrate very strongly on the same frequency, and she is clearly very driven and passionate about the project. More than that, it’s a project that I might have launched all by myself, given the appropriate skill and talent, and it is lined up beautifully with what I believe, and what I want.

There will probably be occasional exceptions to this rule, like when I’m helping out a good friend in need. But the point is that the fewer exceptions I make, the more I can focus on doing the things that fundamentally increase my growth and potential and serve my essential nature as a Megan—and the happier and more effective I will be!

This has already become glaringly obvious in the time since I made the decision. My productivity is simply absurd. It doesn’t make any sense. In fact, I’ve been feeling under the weather for the last two weeks—and I’m getting three and four times as much work done as usual. And the point is that I love it. All of it.

It can be scary to make decisions like this, but it stops being scary the minute you realize the effect it’s had on you. You feel better, more real, more purposeful, and you really know what you’re doing with yourself (instead of feeling trapped into doing something you “have” to do). All I can do is tell you the difference it makes; if you want to understand, you only have to try it yourself.

Promise it’s worth it. ;}