what matters now

Cover photo by Thomas Hawk. Used with permission.

This post is a reaction to page 12 of What Matters Now, a free ebook arranged by Seth Godin. Please leave a comment and join the conversation.

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On page 12, Howard Mann laments the progress of social media, and the regression of our social capacities as humans. That's how I see it, anyway. He wonders how so many businesses can profit today without even knowing what Facebook or Twitter are.

Making a personal connection with customers is important. But shunning social media isn't the answer. Using Twitter and Facebook strategically can enhance that personal connection with customers by creating conversations.

Furthermore, what about businesses that are strictly online? How else can I create that personal connection?

(cover photo by Thomas Hawk. Used with permission.)

The following post is a reaction to page 9 of What Matters Now, a free ebook organized by Seth Godin. Please feel free to leave a comment and join the conversation.

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"We are too poor to afford education. But until we have education, we will always be poor." --Nepalese Headmaster

Page 9 is an advertisement for the charity, Room to Read, which supports children's education efforts in the most impoverished places. This goes hand-in-hand with the previous page, which discusses dignity. We all deserve dignity, even the uneducated. 

I have realized, since doing this book study, that a large part of my focus in life is on educating people. As a public school teacher for 18 years, that part of my life is obvious. When I wrote my first book, I didn't realize it at the time, but I was acting as a teacher by doing so: the book is a how-to book. It's a photographed craft tutorial, teaching folks how to make soap. 

(cover photo by Thomas Hawk. Used with permission.)

The following post is a reaction to page 7 of What Matters Now, a free ebook organized by Seth Godin. Please feel free to leave a comment and join the conversation.

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Page 7 is minimalistic. A screenshot of the page will be better than me describing it:

Most entrepreneurs understand the intent of this message: create something new. Don't do things because everybody else is doing them. Question the status quo to find new ideas.

That's fine, but I think it's important to keep in mind that we need not be contrary for the sake of being different. Why reinvent the wheel? If wheels work, there is no need to re-shape them. But like yesterday's post, I think this page's message might have more to do with forging a path despite the outside influence.

Much of entrepreneurial literature is geared toward this message. I've heard it many, many times in the many books I've read: Don't listen to others. Don't go with the flow. Sometimes the way out is to side-step and not to go through. 

Maybe the message is about keeping an open mind at all times. 

(cover photo by Thomas Hawk. Used with permission.)

The following post is a reaction to page 6 of What Matters Now, a free ebook organized by Seth Godin. Please feel free to leave a comment and join the conversation.

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Fear.  Tell me about it. 

Ridding ourselves of fear is necessary to do great things, right? But what to do about the crippling fear of what others think of us? I believe this fear is the most insidious for entrepreneurs who are taking their first shot at something. I know. I've been there. 

We may have family members who think they are being supportive, but who are actually incredibly negative and harmful.

Example: "Dad, I just published my first book!"  Dad's reply:"Now, don't think you're going to make $10,000."  Interpretation: Dad didn't want me to quit my day job, and wanted me to stay financially secure. How it comes across is, "Don't think you are going to be successful. Plan for failure."  Do you have anybody in your life like that?

We may have friends who are not entrepreneurial, who are not risk takers, and who always find the negative.

Example: "I just sent an author a contract!"  Friend's reply: "Don't count on that author signing. The time isn't right/economy is bad/planet Mercury is retrograde."  Again, this friend wants to protect me, but it comes across as, "Don't think for one minute that you will be successful. Plan for failure." 

The following post is a reaction to pages 4 and 5 of What Matters Now, a free ebook organized by Seth Godin. Please feel free to leave a comment and join the conversation.

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Page 4 appears utilitarian, as it encourages the reader to 'click the grey box' in order to view the ebook in full screen. I clicked it, of course, and nothing happened. Perhaps it only works when using certain viewing programs. In any case, I know how to make the book fill the screen. This is an interesting choice--asking the reader to block out everything else, and focus only on this book. That is, essentially, what full-screen reading does, right? It follows an important rule of marketing: "Ask the customer to do something."  This is a feature for me to consider, when formatting the ebooks here. I may as well mention now, the book is in landscape orientation, instead of protrait. I presume it's because of the full-screen feature. Being able to block out everything else on your screen and focus on the task at hand is powerful, and something important to consider.

Page 5 starts with a short essay, titled, "Generosity," authored by Seth Godin. Only one page long, this essay discusses how being generous with our art will lead to better business. On first glance the current economy doesn't seem to support this, because right now everyone is focused on making sure the bills are paid. However, if we give generously, our customers notice this, and will continue their relationship with us. The ebook we are discussing here is an example of Seth's generosity--it's a free book, designed to be downloaded and freely shared. And here we are, talking about it, linking back to it.