Life

It’s so easy to “fall” into it, yet so hard to see that its either not real or to see when it has ended.
I wonder is love supposed to be this HARD? I mean it’s great when we’re having a “good” day, but when we’re having a bad day, it’s like “Fuck you, I’d rather die than talk to you.” Yeah, we get intense sometimes, but just like the Stylistics said “We break up to make up…that’s all we do. First you love me, then you hate me. That’s a game for fools.” Yet WE play it.
I always tell myself after every fight that I’m tired of it. Done. No more, yet I realize the good greatly outweighs the bad and I stay. Many people always tell me “You can do better, he ain’t shit and he doesn’t deserve you.”
I think what keeps us together is the fact that even though we’ve hurt each other, we do in fact really love each other, almost to the point of unconditionally. All I’m saying is, if you really love him and he loves you truly and deeply…things will usually work themselves out.
because you and him know your relationship best, regardless what others think. No one knows a relationship like the couple that are in it, and even sometimes they don’t know it. Follow your heart but still be aware of your mind.
It seems like we’ve all been down this road before. It’s funny how we can ask our friend for their opinions when we really don’t want to hear it. When they say “you guys will make up” that’ll make you mad because they’re supposed to have your back. When they say “get over him” you feel like aren’t you supposed to be here supporting me because what you’re saying is just making it worse. Love is a complicated subject but if you have something worth fighting for hopefully you will keep fighting though, and if it’s not worth it then hopefully you will find the strength to walk away.

You know how when you were a little kid and you believed in fairy tales, that fantasy of what your life would be, white dress, prince charming who would carry you away to a castle on a hill. You would lie in bed at night and close your eyes and you had complete and utter faith. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Prince Charming, they were so close you could taste them, but eventually you grow up, one day you open your eyes and the fairy tale disappears. Most people turn to the things and people they can trust. But the thing is its hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely cause almost everyone has that smallest bit of hope, of faith, that one day they will open their eyes and it will come true.

At the end of the day faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don’t really expect it. Its like one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed. The castle, well, it may not be a castle. And its not so important happy ever after, just that its happy right now. See once in a while, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you , and once in a while people may even take your breath away.

A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I’d have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you’re wrong? What if you’re making a mistake you can’t undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can’t pretend we hadn’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug until we can’t anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying.

Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we’re wired that way. Because without it, I don’t know; maybe we just wouldn’t feel real.

For a kiss to be really good, you want it to mean something. You want it to be with someone you can’t get out of your head, so that when your lips finally touch you feel it everywhere. A kiss so hot and so deep you never want to come up for air. You can’t cheat your first kiss. Trust me, you don’t want to. Cause when you find that right person for a first kiss, it’s everything.

Love is when you care for someone unconditionally, no matter how bad their haircut is, or if the have attained a funny laugh. Love is when you realise that no matter how hard they hurt you, and how bad things get, you can never let them go. Love is when you look at them and you want to run to them and have them hold you forever in one magnificent gesture, yet also make you want to run away as fast as you can sothose butterflys in your stomach will fly so far away and never bother you again even if you like having them there. Love is one of those rare substances that you only get once and when or if you do, you hold onto it no matter what that means you have to let go. Love is confusing yet the most simple thing in the world.

sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there… to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become. you never know who these people may be but when you look eyes with them, you know that every moment that you are with them, they will affect your life in some profound way. and sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible,painful and unfair, but in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, will power or heart.
everything happens for a reason!nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul.without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable but dull andutterly pointless.
the people you meet affect your life.the successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from…. in fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. if someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart. if someone loves you, love them back unconditionally not only because they love you, but also because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.

I am proud to say that I have developed an awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity at an early age. I truly believe that every culture is fascinating in its own way. There is absolutely nothing that would turn me off more than an uncultured pig who makes derogatory comments, intentionally or not, about someone from a different race and other ethnic groups. I am sure that ninety percent of the time those that carry racial prejudice actually know nothing about the culture that they claim to dislike and are trying to make fun of.

Or maybe, 5 online tools a community manager should not live without. These are tools that I’ve grown accustomed to as they’ve grown in popularity and as of today, I can’t successfully do my job without. And, let’s not forget - I’m writing this from my point-of-view as a blogger (hence Google Notebook!). Here are the 5 (nay) 7 tools every community manager can make good use of in three categories - Organize, Communicate and Track.

ORGANIZE

1. Google Notebook

And, the best part of Google Notebook is that it’s integrated into Google Bookmarks, so this becomes a great way to gather all those little websites that you track through your daily work. Google Notebook really shines when you’re a community blogger. It helps you throw into buckets all those little URLs you gather along the way. I use it to arrange my thoughts both for my personal blog (see picture below) or ideas for LinkedIn’s corporate blog.

2. Google Reader

Again a data monitoring and aggregation tool. Try searching your “company name” within Technorati or Google blog search. The resulting feed can then be “fed” to your Google Reader where you get the most timely mentions of the brand you’re monitoring.

COMMUNICATE

A key role of the community manager is effective communication both internally (within an organization) and externally (to users). Now, when I started at LinkedIn there was an internal blog I tried blogging about topics that may be of interest. But it was rather cumbersome and I longed for a service that allowed not only me, but also for anybody within an organization to start a private discussion on professional topics of common interest with their colleagues.

Enter LinkedIn News.

3. LinkedIn News

By far, the best way I’ve found (feel free to share other options, and yes, I do work there as community evangelist) to share news articles that I think my colleagues may be interested in discussing. And, most importantly, it’s private.

4. Blog

Finally, blogs are by far the best way to maintain that all-important conversation with users in a public format. It’s great because its an open conversation that’s timely, relevant, search index optimized, and I could go on. I cannot stress the effectiveness of blogging as a web communication tool for community managers. If there’s a better way, let me know, by leaving a comment.

…and one more thing…

REAL-TIME TRACKING

One of the greatest advancements in being a customer evangelist these days is the ability to respond to user requests sooner vs. later, thanks to the following 3 tools (there may be others) that enable real-time tracking or as close to it as possible.

5. Google Alerts

I’ve mentioned before how easy it is these days to set up an email based tracking mechanism for keywords associated with your “company name” or brand. Google alerts allows you to set this up in 1 easy step. Check it out here. And, read more of my take on it here.

6. Twitter (follow me on Twitter)

Good or Bad, this is probably the key impact on businesses that twitter has wrought. Twitter is a great way to communicate with users of your product/service. How do I do that, you may ask?

2 Steps.

* Set up a tweetscan to monitor your brand (RSS or email)

* When users talk about your service - reach out to them and add them as friends. Just earlier today, John Boynton wrote how LinkedIn had helped him find a VP of Community candidate successfully and voila we’re now tracking each other on twitter!

7. Friendfeed

Presenting a real time feed of all the various services you’re addicted to, it takes immediate gratification to the next level. Caution: It could be a time sink, but check out ways to prevent that from happening, below.

How can I use it for community management:

* Search & Track all mentions of your “company name”

* You can do that either (a) directly on Friendfeed, (b) through their desktop app AlertThingy and Twhirl (links below)

The fine folks over at GQ list their 66 rules, tips and secrets for living like a 21st century gentleman.

Definitely worth a read (after the jump).

GQ’s guide to gadget and social networking etiquette

Plus, this cannot be found on their website as well. So, consider this an exclusive. Here goes:

GADGET ETIQUETTE (5 Rules)

#1. Don’t check your phone when you’re in a social setting: I’d add even in a professional setting such as a meeting. I check my emails during the weekend and I’m beginning to feel it’s not a great idea. I’d recommend staying away from emails at least on the Sabbath!

#2 and #3. If checking email is imperative in a social setting; Ask. If you absolutely must check email at the table, ask those dining with you if it’s cool and that you’re expecting an important message. Else, wait until you go to the bathroom to check email.

#4. Vibrate mood. When in company, don’t allow your phone to ring, rather set it in vibrate mode.

#5. Avoid indiscriminate emails. Always think twice before you send out those group emails. I’ve broken this rule, but I’m ever more careful when I send out emails these days. Are you?

—SOCIAL NETWORKING ETIQUETTE (5 Rules)

#6. Don’t post photos of your friends that they wouldn’t post. Always ask before you do.

#7. Don’t tag your friends’ photos without permission.

Tag no one who hasn’t signed off on the tagging

#8. In general, someone should be your friend before they’re your “friend”. I try to follow this rule and also try pruning your “friend” list ever so often. But there’s always room for improvement.

#9. Choose your “friends” carefully.

Rather than lash out every time someone tries to poke or zombie bite you, just say you’re not interested in (dumb-a#$) apps in your profile. Then delete them from your friends list.

#10. Not everything that happens to you is blog worthy! Point taken. I’d actually extend that rule to tweets or posted items on your favorite social networking site.

One of the goals of my blog, besides talking about my three favorite topics (corporate blogging, social networking and community marketing) is to also share my interests. The Technology I love category was started with that in mind. Along similar lines, I’ve decided to share snippets on my personal interests - productivity, music, & movies - over the weekends. I’ll try my best to refrain from philosophy and religion.

To start things off, I thought I’ll share these 10 commandments on improving your work efficiency. It was originally crafted by Swiss artists - Peter Fischli and David Weiss and I think it most closely resembles my work ethic. Of course, there is always room for improvement

Peter Fischli and David Weiss’s ten-point manifesto How to work better (circa 1991)

The 7 Habits of highly effective business bloggers

1. Status: It’s a relationship and it’s complicated

Start a corporate blog only if you’re in it for the long haul. Every panelist described the genesis of their respective blog, it’s origins, and most importantly how the blog impacted the company’s relationship with the users. I also got them talking about some of the challenges and pitfalls associated with it.

2. Tell Honest, Current Stories

As Jack Welch described the one rule of corporate blogging: “Just be Authentic“. The only way to build credibility with your users is by toning down the PR speak and amping up the straight talk. We also went over some of the privacy issues that one has to deal with while running a company blog.

3. Know your limits

Another area that you must keep in mind (this is relevant more for Fortune 500 than Inc 500 companies) are the legal landmines you have to navigate. But remember, your legal team is there to help you. So, having them support you a 100% right from the start and drafting best practices is key to ensure success.

4. Make lemonade

Social Media jujitsu is what we called it (thanks to Groundswell for the inspiration). How do you take a seemingly negative situation - irate users; and turn that over to a positive. Nicki, Carolyn and Lionel shared some pretty inspirational stories that ranged from the Facebook News feed to Yahoo! TV. Key here is putting your users first and listening to them.

5. One size doesn’t fit all

As I’ve often said before; do not start a corporate blog unless you have a goal in mind. Given that different companies start a corporate blog for different purposes - some may use it to educate their users while some others for recruitment. Thus best practices are also going to vary from one example to the other.

The panelists got into a spirited discussion of whether comments are necessary for a blog and under what conditions. Does your company have a corporate blog? And, if so, do you allow comments? Feel free to share.

6. Learn as you go

On short notice, I threw out a question to the panel on the biggest lesson learned during their stewardship of their respective company blogs. Of course, they were all able to effortlessly answer the questions with many of their answers highlighting the improvisational nature of the job.

7. It’s not just words

And, finally a glimpse into the future. Ideas shared focused on the multimedia nature of the future. As you may notice many corporate blogs are increasingly stepping into social media (which by definition includes pictures - Flickr, video - YouTube, and the likes). What do you think does the future of corporate blogging hold?

The genesis for this theme arose from the fact that corporate blogging may be close to mainstream status within corporate America, but the adopters lack a sense of how to make it work effectively. Stats in point: Between 2007 and 2008, adoption of corporate blogging among the fastest growing companies in the world (Inc 500) has doubled, while their appreciation of it’s effectiveness is at less than 50%.