Friday, August 31, 2012

What Makes Work Worth Doing?

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
Theodore Roosevelt, September 7, 1903

Teddy Roosevelt's assertion in a Labor Day speech 99 years ago still rings true this holiday; worthwhile labor can greatly enrich human life. Our research found that people's everyday work lives are greatly enriched when they make progress at work that they find meaningful. But what makes work worth doing?

Sometimes it's obvious. No one would question whether trying to cure disease is worth doing. The same goes for inventing and making products that enhance people's lives. But is all work worthwhile? Our own research focused on knowledge workers — highly educated people doing creative work and solving complex problems. As a result, readers often ask whether our findings apply to workers in the service industries or manual laborers. We believe they do apply, but only when workers feel that they are making a contribution to something or someone they value.

Chip Conley, the founder of the successful boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre, eloquently makes this point in a TED Talk. Conley describes a housekeeper — an immigrant from Vietnam named Vivian — who worked in the first hotel that he purchased. Somehow, she managed to find joy and fulfillment in her work. How is that possible in work that involves making other people's beds and cleaning their toilets? According to Conley, Vivian found great satisfaction in the emotional connection that she made with her coworkers and the guests of the hotel. She found joy in making people who were away from home comfortable, because she knew what it was like to be far away from home. Vivian found work that was worth doing and, like most hotel housekeepers, she worked hard at it.

We, too, have seen how meaning can make work that might seem dull or repetitive rich and rewarding. When one of us (Teresa) went to get an annual blood test, she noticed that the woman who was about to draw her blood was smiling broadly. Teresa remarked, "You certainly look happy today." The phlebotomist replied that she was happy, because there were lots of tubes lined up waiting to be filled with blood; that meant that she would be drawing lots of blood. No, she was not some kind of sadist. Rather, she went on to explain that the vast majority of illnesses are first detected by simple blood tests, and having lots of test tubes lined up meant that she had the opportunity to help lots of people.

Sadly, too many people seem to find the work they do unfulfilling. As a result, they are disengaged and less productive than they might be. If you are a leader, you can help change that by doing two things. First, make sure that the work you give employees actually serves a purpose for someone or something they value. Second, make sure that employees understand how their own everyday actions contribute to that goal.

Adam Grant, of the Wharton School, studied workers at a call center raising money for student scholarships. This work can be particularly frustrating because only a small minority of calls lead to contributions. Grant assigned the workers to three experimental groups. In one, the workers heard a student speak about how the scholarship money had helped him. A second group simply received letters of thanks from students, while the third group had no contact with the students who benefited from the fundraising. The results were astonishing. After one month, call center workers who had heard the student speak more than doubled the calls they were making and tripled the amount of money they raised. In contrast, there was no change in the other two groups. Making a personal connection with a real person who benefited from their work allowed the call center workers to feel the true worth of their efforts; that contact put a real face to the fruits of their labor.

If you are a leader, be creative in considering ways to help your employees see the impact of their work on others. This Labor Day, make sure they know that their work is worth doing.

By: Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Being a Leader is All about the Group

Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter, in a recent presentation put on by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, took the following position in answer to the question, “What makes a great leader?”

“The traditional models [of leadership] are built around an “I-based” model of identity, where the individual’s personality is so strong that others cleave to the leader out of sheer inspiration and loyalty.
Alex Haslam Photo
Alex Haslam
The truth is, though, that the most effective leaders draw on a “we-based” collective identity–followers see their leader as “one of us.” It is group identity, not a single person, that makes or breaks the leader. In fact, to really understand what makes an effective leader, we also have to understand what makes a dedicated follower.”

I think the good professor raises an overlooked factor of successful leaders. Without a group of followers with needs, you have no need for a leader. And, for managers, if your employees do not see you as articulating and embodying their interests and needs–vs. just the organization’s interests–you will at best be a mediocre manager who will have to drive compliance among your staff to produce, at best, mediocre results.

In this context Haslam presents, I think there are three things a manager must be sensitive to, talk about, and support in his or her behavior and actions:


1. What each individual employee wants, needs, and is motivated by
2. A sense of the identity and pride of the “tribe” (i.e. the unit, department, function, region, etc.)
3. The shared vision–what we are all together trying to achieve and contribute…to people beyond the group (i.e. What are we creating and for whom are we creating it?)

The so called “great man/woman” approach assumes that the leader motivates followers solelythrough his or her own vision, courage, charisma, knowledge and intelligence. If, however, you can tap into the three elements above that are of interest and inspiration to your team, you will stand out from those managers think that their success is all about themselves.

By: Alex Haslam
Source: Leader's Beacon

Friday, August 24, 2012

Three (Incredibly Simple) Questions The Most Successful People Use To Change The World

I’ve heard it said that the most brilliant business ideas are often the simplest. From my experience, it’s true. In fact, when I am fortunate enough to receive sage advice from a famously gifted person, I’ll often ask myself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” So here I humbly share with you a winning formula that I see leaders use again and again and again…to change the world.

Use this formula the next time you feel stuck—whether you are trying to change your industry, your company or your personal life—and I promise you it will work.

Question Number 1: What’s the outcome I want?

Most people seem to get stuck in the moment, caught up in the drama of a situation they don’t like. They unwittingly wind up playing the helpless victim, and as I’ve written in the past, victims can’t innovate because they are focused on the problem—not solutions. You will hear them talk about how things aren’t fair, who has wronged them, and they look for encouragement or excuses to feel better about the status quo. While this may make them feel good, being energized by problems is a recipe for inaction.

Asking the question “what is the outcome I want?” forces the mind to focus on the final destination, not the current bumps in the road. The brilliance of this question is that it immediately puts you in the “creator” mindset. And once successful people envision the destination, they move quickly to the second, world-changing question.

Question Number 2: What stands in my way?

(Hey, I told you these were simple questions.)

The best leaders are masters at identifying and prioritizing obstacles that are between them and the outcome they want. Then they brainstorm ways to eliminate, avoid or neutralize the obstacles.

Last year I saw George Clooney on a late night talk show. He had recently lost 20-plus pounds that he’d put on for a movie role. The host was amazed at how good Clooney looked and asked him how he had managed to lose the weight so quickly. Clooney’s response sounded something like, “I ate less and exercised more.”

Too often in business, we talk about how hard it is to “lose weight” while reaching for a potato chip. But leaders using this formula move quickly from the outcome, to the plan, to the execution.

“I want to be 20 pounds lighter,” says the enlightened leader. “So what stands in my way?” Let’s see…

I don’t seem to make time for exercise.


So I will start the day with exercise or I will block time on my calendar.
So each weekend, I’ll pack my gym bag for the entire week and put it in my car.

I need to eat better because a bad diet will make this impossible.


So I will do my homework, buy healthy snacks and eat small portions throughout the day.

So I will pack my lunch and stop eating fast food.

Without a bunch of accountability, this will never happen.

So I’ll tell my friends, family and coworkers about my goal and when it will be achieved.

So I will buy a digital scale and weigh myself every day.

Question Number 3: Who has figured it out already?

So now our creators have identified the outcome they want. They have created a list of obstacles, prioritize the list and identified ways to overcome each obstacle. This is where some leaders spring into action while others pause to steal ideas. Yes, I wrote steal ideas. But since stealing is a politically incorrect term, we’ll call their strategy parallel engineering.

In the mid ’90s, our company had grown to about 25 people. We had dozens of projects happening at once and needed a more efficient way to manage the growing complexity of our business. So being the brilliant, naïve entrepreneurs that we were, we naturally decided to build a software system to help us track, manage and optimize each project.

After spending roughly $185,000 and hundreds of hours in time, we scrapped the project. Three phone calls later we bought an off-the-shelf system that did 90 percent of the things we were trying to build into our own custom solution.

Gosh, I wish we had paused to parallel engineer ideas.

Intelligence is learning from your own mistakes; wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others. It’s less painful to be wise than smart. It’s also a lot cheaper. That’s why this third question is so important.

By: Mike Maddock
Source: Forbes

Tuesday, August 21, 2012


How to become a Go-Getter
Get what you REALLY want in life.

Unless you were born RICH and have had a silver spoon feeding you since birth you're probably just like the rest of the millions of people who have to work hard to get what you want. If you don't have an ivy league education, or even a simple college education, then you are at the bottom of the food chain and you aren't alone. Every year Americans face bankruptcy, divorce, child support, unemployment,soaring gas prices, and everything seems to be costing us more money while our wages continue to stagger. How in the world are we going to get ahead? How can we keep up with the Jones'? More and more families are suffering from not being able to raise their kids because both parents need to work, and some single parents are working hard at two jobs to support their family so forget about investing, 401 K's , we could ALL use some extra money. There's a saying, "If you want your life to change, YOU have to change." The truth is, most of us are so set in our ways that it can be way too difficult to change and we continue struggling, living paycheck to paycheck. In addition to our inability to step outside of the box, most of us can't really afford to try something new because of our fear of the loss of our sense of security. How many times have you heard people going on and on about how happy they are doing what they love for a living? What if you didn't know what you really want to be doing or perhaps your passions aren't really reliable income potential? Some people know what they want to be when they grow up when they are little kids, others settle for what they can get, while the rest continue to want more out of life and are just plain miserable then take out their frustrations out on the ones they love or drown themselves in addiction. Sounds pretty sad, but it is so very true. If you are ready to take small chances and put yourself out there for a little life changing experiences then continue reading, but if you are ready to accept the way things are then go ahead and move on to the next hub. Here are 10 different ways to change your life and go out there and get what you want on life.

1. Have faith. Having faith in yourself, your religion, and anything that motivates you to be positive and optimistic is the first step towards changing your life. If you are always angry or negative you are repelling all things that are good for you and around you. Take the time to be grateful and appreciate what you do have instead of complaining about all the things you don't have. Make time to pray, meditate, chant, and reflect on the positive things in life, besides, you will be a lot more pleasant to be around

2. READ and WATCH the NEWS. Make time to read anything and everything you can get your hands on because it gives you a variety of subjects to talk about with others. No one in this world knows everything so it won't hurt to keep up with current events, things that you've always had questions about, or topics you would like to know more about. If you can't afford a college education, you can educate yourself by reading, research the things you see on the news so you can have detailed information about what is going on around you and in the world at large. If you have trouble reading, use the Internet and have someone help you look up videos, or if you really want to change your life, look into free adult literacy programs in your area.

3. Don't be SHY. If you're too scared, too shy, too nice or too embarrassed to go after what you want then you won't get anywhere. It is a dog eat dog world, people are more and more competitive now then ever before. Don't think you have friends in corporate America because your friends at work are competing with you to advance themselves and take their career to the next level no matter what industry you're in. We all have bills to pay, families to support, and a life to maintain so let nothing stand in your way, especially YOU. Be confident in everything you do, be friendly to everyone you meet, and above all else, be one step ahead of everyone else. You don't have to be mean and evil to squash your co-workers and friends like bugs, it is important to be professional and likable to make your way to the top so kill them with kindness.

4. Add a TWIST to your resume. Most resumes have all the same elements and very few stand out with the competition. If you don't have awards, certifications, degrees, letters of recommendations, or a lot of experience you can high-lite your best qualities by making a list of "The TOP 10 reasons why you should hire:_______." You can include things like excellent time management skills, work well independently or in small groups, very creative, open-minded, appreciate constructive criticism, etc. Keep it short, sweet, personal, and high-light your best qualities. It will get the recipients to notice your resume out of the stacks on their desk and could get you the interview.

5. WOW them at the interview. When you're in an interview, it's almost like being on a date because you're trying to impress someone and convince them that they have to have you on their team. They are already interested in you if they called you to set up the session so when you show up, WOW them! Keep smiling, stay positive, and when you answer questions, sum it up and get to the point. Focus on what you can bring to the table instead of the things you don't know anything about. When they ask if you have any questions, make sure you do some research about the company and ask what their plans are to advance or excel over the competition? Show the interviewer that you have done your research and end it with a firm hand shake and a smile when you exit.

6. Clean yourself UP. You always want to give off the right impression when in comes to your career and finances, so be certain that you keep your image clean and professional. Avoid using fillers (uh, um, like, ok) and the use of slang in your speech, cover your tattoos, take out your piercings, your hair should be neat and clean, keep yourself well groomed and your personal hygiene at your best. Be sure you are always dressed nicely for the part and smell good without leaving your sent behind like a skunk.

7. Take little RISKS or big ones. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and try different things. In this life, if you're already broke, you have more to gain then to lose when you take risks and chances. If you really want to put yourself out there and try something new, go for it! Get dressed up, print out a stack of resumes and go door to door with your resume in a business park with lots of different types of business. Talk to the receptionist or the person that greets you, let them know you're not selling anything but that you are looking for a new job, ask what kind of business they are running, ask for a business card then leave your resume and ask them to have the owner or hiring manager to give you a call if there is anything you can do for them. This shows the people at the company that you are serious about working and it will shock and surprise them that you have the guts to go door to door to sell yourself.

8. Meet NEW people. If you don't know anyone with connections that can help you advance in your career goals or if you are opting to get your foot into a different industry, maybe you should look into networking groups. You can find more information about networking groups online, at church, in your local newspaper, alternative or community newspapers. You can even join online networking group, be creative and open-minded when looking for networking groups and if you really want to get crazy, start one of your own even if you're not in that industry yet!

9. Nothing beats FREE! If you find access to creating free websites, free classes, free information, free job fairs, free health fairs, or anything else that is free... take it as a networking advantage! There is no shame in taking free handouts to help yourself advance in life. If you come across any deals offering free or discounted family activities or meals then take this as an opportunity to spend time with your family on a budget. Encourage your children to network and get involved in extracurricular activities because more then likely, you may be able to network with other parents for FREE.

10. Don't give UP! Whatever your passions or outlets are, keep pursuing them even if they aren't moneymakers. Just because you aren't getting paid to do what you love, do it anyway! If you've always wanted to try or learn something new there is now time like the present! You may find a way to let out your stress, find a new hobby, and you never know, creative outlets may eventually lead you to finding other passions that may lead you in the direction of success. If you want something, no matter what it may be, take the steps you need to take at your own pace to get you there. You can't make a home run if you don't practice hitting the ball first, and you have to run to first, second and third base to get you there. Don't let other people's opinions or negativity distract you from your goals, for every bad critic there are 100 fans supporting you to encourage you to get where you need to go. There will always be someone trying to get you down, distract you, or convince you that you are chasing a pipe dream. The truth is, a dream is a dream, and when they become goals, you need to be patient and persistent to get you where you want to be to make your dreams a reality. Good luck out there!

By: VegaLove

Source: HubPages

Friday, August 17, 2012

Worklife Balance: 6 Tips to East the Workload

If you are one of those type “A” personalities that always has a dozen projects on the go, your spouse is on your case to reprioritize in favor of your family, here are some ways to “ease the load” and regain control:

1) Set aside 1/2 hour at the beginning of each day to plan and prioritize.

This may mean getting up a half hour earlier, but make yourself a nice cup of coffee and give yourself the gift of “reflection time”. This will allow you to plan and organize more efficiently, saving you stress the rest of the day.

2) Set up new habits that save you time or hassle:

- Use a crock pot and prepare meals ahead of time. You will have one less task to compete with your other priorities at the end of the work day. The internet has great ideas for pre-cooked meals that use cheap cuts of meat (save $) for home-cooked dinners (“comfort food”). http://www.a-crock-cook.com/slow-cooker-recipe.html -Assign more chores to your kids – ease your burden of doing it all -Hire out or hire in support where you can afford it -Use a cleaning lady, hire a neighbour kid to cut the grass -use drycleaning pickup and delivery (many stores offer this service right to the workplace) -consider on-line shopping and direct-to-door delivery (this is an increasing trend: everything from groceries to all kinds of consumer items — on numerous websites)

3) Lose the time wasters in your life
 
– Learn to say “no” to requests that are not your passion or priority
– Trade chauffeuring of the kids with other parents – reduce driving time
– Trade babysitting one night a month with another family
- Volunteer selectively (cut back to meaningful events)
– Reduce time spent with “negative people” (eg gossip at work, nosy neighbours etc.)

4) Shift your schedule to put family time first at least 2 days / week

- Plan “guaranteed family time” on weekends - let your family choose the event
(trade this for extra help on weekday chores, leaving “fun time” on the weekend)
– Plan one slot per week for personal downtime (to recharge your batteries)
– Set up monthly “dates” for spouse & friends (i.e. first Wednesday each month)

Laura Stack, a productivity expert in Denver and author of SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best says, “It helps to be proactive when scheduling. When I go out with my girlfriends, we all whip out our cell phones and put another girls’ night out on the calendar for one month later.”

Stack also plans a specific activity with her family ahead of time:”We do this because if there’s nothing on the schedule, time tends to get frittered away and the weekend may end without us spending quality time together.

5) Adjust your hours and focus at work

– Go in to work 2 hours earlier, when you can accomplish high volume of work with zero interruptions
– Negotiate with your boss for flex time or early leave time – propose this as a “pilot” project to see how much more efficient you can be with more focused blocks of time
– Reduce email reviews to a couple of regular time slots (half hour maximum) per day. This will reduce the chances of you getting caught in a “vortex” of unimportant items.

6) Feed your soul!

– Don’t forget to make yourself a priority for half hour each day (beginning or end of day usually works for busy parents)
– Exercise when and where you can – studies show that exercise will actually increase your energy, improve concentration and reduce stress
– Make a bucket list and then do one thing each week that moves you forward toward a goal on that list. Perhaps you want to travel somewhere — set up a cookie jar fund and then fund it little by little; review brochures and plan a getaway; organize and do some research on your destination’s history and landmarks.
– Add music to your life, by setting up an mp3 player with your favorite tunes for “tuning out” and relaxation
– Arrange time with friends you miss and haven’t seen in a while.
– Take small breaks and fill them with small joys in your life (take a bath, a walk, read a fun book, call a friend)

REMEMBER: keep moving forward, even if you take only a few small steps at a time. Better progress is made by small, steady steps than huge single leaps. Enjoy!

By: Meryle Corbett
Source: Leader's Beacon

Tuesday, August 14, 2012



15 Ideas for Keeping Your Employees Happy

How motivated are your workers? We asked 15 successful young entrepreneurs to share secrets to sparking happiness and company loyalty around the office.

The Young Entrepreneur Council asked 15 successful young entrepreneurs to explain their secret for keeping their start-up employees happy and motivated. Here are their best answers.


1. Have a Little Faith in Hires



If you hired these people, you should trust them to do their job. Entrepreneurs like to keep everything close to their chest, but you can move quicker and more creatively if you give your employees the autonomy to complete their projects with direction, but without micro-managing. Don't overestimate the cost of small failures.
Ryan Stephens, Ryan Stephens Marketing


2. Ask How They Are...and Actually Listen



A simple "How are you?" means so much. Employees will either smile and say "fine" or use the opportunity to express a concern. I've had jobs where my boss never asked that question, and I didn't feel valued. Asking such a simple question is a free way to show your employees that they are being heard.
Nancy T. Nguyen, Sweet T

3. Concert Tickets, Anyone?



As a bonus for one of our employees, I decided to pull some strings and get her tickets to a sold out concert here in town. I think that giving them memorable experiences far outweighs any monetary gift you can give them. When she heard she got the tickets, I had never seen her light up as much as she did and she's kicked her work into high ground ever since.
Greg Rollett, The ProductPros

4. Stretch the Flexibility



Everyone has a different work rhythm; some employees are most productive early in the morning while others prefer burning the midnight oil. Other than our daily 10-minute meeting before noon, our employees can work whenever they'll be most effective, as long as they communicate their schedules and meet their deadlines. This freedom shows we have faith in our employees, and yields amazing results.
Bhavin Parikh, Magoos

5. Too Cool for School? Think Again.



Everyone wants to learn more and improve their skill sets, so one of many favorite ways to keep startup employees happy and motivated is to provide them with opportunities to learn. Whether its enabling them to take time to attend an interesting conference or paying for a niche networking event, learning keeps people engaged and shows you care for their long-term personal and professional success.
Doreen Bloch, Poshly

6. Freedom in Fluidity



In the startup world, it's not always about hiring someone to fill a specific role. Rather than defining explicitly what your new hire should be doing, let them act as a partner in the business in defining their role. This allows them to focus on what they're passionate about, while still contributing what you need for the business.

Matt Cheuvront, Proof Branding

7. Light Up That Ladder!



Unlike large corporations, startups have the true ability and flexibility to empower their employees and make them feel like they are a part of the bigger picture—simply because they really are. Every single employee is incredibly valuable because they have such a deep impact on how the business grows. Make your employees understand that they can grow with you as they help the company grow.
Justin Beegel, Infographic World

8. Tailored Rewards



One thing that a small start-up can do—that a large corporation has a tougher time of doing—is asking employees how they'd like to be rewarded. Attend an upcoming conference? A more flexible schedule? The newest iPhone? Your employees will feel good that you've actually taken the time to get to know what they'd like in exchange for a job well done. Oh, and they'll actually work for it too! —Caitlin McCabe, Real Bullets Branding

9. They Don't Call It Happy Hour for Nothing!



Once a quarter, I take everyone out for dinner and drinks. After a drink or two, people start to feel more relaxed and give you feedback that they wouldn't otherwise share. It's not a trick its sort of our system. Everyone knows these events are say what ever you want to say and I'll listen.
Roger Bryan, RCBryan & Associates



10. Team Transparency and Collaboration



Every Monday, we have a meeting to define goals and go over the schedule for the week. This is not just a time for people to report what's on their list, but more importantly, it is an opportunity for everyone to get involved in all of the projects. We give the whole team an opportunity to give their input, and allow them to add value. The result is a stronger company culture and better products.
Bobby Emamian, Prolific Interactive

11. Create Intrapreneurs



Let your employees work on a project of their own choice, but one that will benefit the company. You will quickly realize the unidentified talents of your workforce, create solutions to problems you may not even have known existed, and improve employee morale.
Benjamin Leis, Sweat EquiTees



12. Give Promotions When They're Earned



When someone has really impressed you, promote him or her with a title change or increased or different responsibilities. If you can afford it, give them a raise or bonus. Showing that you recognize their achievements and dedication in some way is important in retaining talented employees and keeping them happy.
Heather Huhman, Come Recommended


13. Invest Beyond Business Matters

When someone has really impressed you, promote him or her with a title change or increased or different responsibilities. If you can afford it, give them a raise or bonus. Showing that you recognize their achievements and dedication in some way is important in retaining talented employees and keeping them happy.
Heather Huhman, Come Recommended




14. A Good Ol' Gathering at the Grill

I recently offered my employees an extra $100 cash to read a book I picked out for them. The book was entrepreneurship/productivity related, and I know that reading that book will make them better employees. They get some money and a feeling of empowerment, while I get smarter, more productive employees.
Lucas Sommer, Audimated



There is nothing like kicking back and firing up the grill with a great group of people. When things are laid back, everyone is at ease and it gives you a chance to learn more about them outside of work. A company is one big family, and when an employee feels like they have a second family during the day, they then look forward to coming to work.
Ashley Bodi, Business Beware

15. Are You Happy and Motivated?



Lead by example by being happy yourself. Be caring of your team, demonstrate pride in the company, acknowledge achievements both big and small. Put forth the same positive attitude that you want others to have.
Nicolas Gremion, Free-eBooks.net


By: Next Generation

Source: Inc

Friday, August 10, 2012



Secrets of YouTube Success


Define what “successful” means to you. Expect to work for it.

First things first – success is different for different people.

So before you start, you need to define what “success” is for yourself. Do you want your YouTube channel to become partnered and earn you pizza money? Maybe you want to support your band, and you don’t really care about the money and it’s more about promotion? Maybe you want to turn it into a full-time job? Or maybe you just want to get views, and don’t really care about partnership.

Whatever you choose, know that your potential success is determined entirely by what you put into it. Right now partners are spending more time and effort than ever before on their videos. If everyone else is working full-time, you can’t expect to match their success if you’re not putting in the same effort Don’t expect to pull in a livable wage on part-time hours – if there was a time that was possible, it’s no longer the case.

On the other hand, don’t expect that, just because you put in the hours, that you’ll be successful. You need hard work as well implement a good strategy.

You might be thinking, ”But there are tons of partners who seem like they’re doing no work, and they’re doing great! They don’t deserve their success!

First, I can guarantee you any successful YouTube personality does more work than you give them credit for. Heck, I was getting paid a very good salary when I worked at a major film studio, and my day consisted of checking the lunch menu, eating said lunch, goofing off on gaming blogs, and answering emails. So on a sheer “time spent” basis, these guys have me beat in every conceivable way, and they aren’t getting healthcare and 401ks like I was.

Nobody got to where they are by lazing around.

Getting partnership is relatively easy, but it takes time.


A lot of people ask whether there’s some sort of magic number of subscribers or views you need to make partner. We’ve found the answer is “not really” – from what I’ve seen, it’s more about following some general guidelines.

Here’s the easiest way to guess what those guidelines are – look at the Partnership application form. Look at all the dropdown options. You want to be answering near the top for as many of those questions as humanly possible.

Approach it from Google’s point of view. Now, I don’t know how Google is run or what their internal policies are, but I do know they’re a publically traded company, which means like every other publically traded company, their decisions are centered on minimizing risk and maximizing profit.

Since, partnership is about sharing ad revenue with content creators, that means, logically, they’re looking for three things:
Users that won’t get them sued.
Content they can actually serve ads on.
An audience they can serve those ads to.

That means no illegal, risky, content, and no copyrighted material in any of your videos. And furthermore, if you do have videos with copyrighted material in them, you can bet that it will hurt your chances – they don’t see “random vacation video for my friends with copyrighted music in the background,” they see “person willing to violate copyrights.” So if you have any videos with any copyrighted music or content in them, delete them or reupload them with that material removed.

Game footage, too, is risky. Yes, you can argue fair use on gaming commentary, but the point isn’t how well you know your 1st Amendment rights – it’s how risky is it for YouTube to serve ads on, and like it or not – if the only videos you have is gameplay, you’re going to have a hard time getting partnered.

(Note: Channels like Machinima and The Game Station are currently monetizing game footage channels – for the purposes of this article, I’m talking about just vanilla YouTube Partnership)

I know this because we found this out the hard way – one of the most viewed videos on our channel is me playing Guitar Hero, which features a copyrighted music track as well as game footage. You’ll also note that it’s one of the few videos we have that’s ad free, and I believe it’s one of biggest reasons that it took us so long to become partner. In fact, we were denied twice before we finally got through. Its existence was something that we had to fight against, and was significantly detrimental in our path to partnership.

As for an audience, understand that it doesn’t need to be massive – because for Google, the only cost they have for serving up your content is electricity, hard drive space, and bandwidth, which nowadays is exceedingly cheap.

But that audience needs to be consistent. I don’t have exact numbers, but if I had to guess, I’d say aiming for at least a few thousand views per video is a good place to start from, with at least a thousand subscribers.

As for building that audience…

A consistent audience requires consistent content.

For this, I always look at an older Internet example of a group of people self-employed and working from home in a creative endeavor – webcomics. And if you’ve ever gotten into webcomics, you know that you can divide them up into two categories:
Webcomics that consistently update
Webcomics that don’t consistently update.

And if you look at the cream of the crop, the most financially successful webcomics, the Penny Arcades and xkcds, you find one thing – they all fall under the first category. And comics under the second category have a high probability of pissing you off, and you won’t be so inclined to visit them regularly.

And likewise, the top YouTube channels by-and-large all keep some kind of consistent schedule. Look at it this way – you pay for the loyalty of your viewers by keeping a consistent stream of content headed their way.

Imagine a potential new viewer – they see a video of yours, like it, and maybe start poking around your channel. If there’s only one video, I guarantee you they won’t subscribe because what’s the point? But if they see there’s consistency – the chance of further entertainment in the future, the chances of them subscribing just went up.

Take a look at any mega-viral video and see how many subscribers that account has. David After Dentist’s account has, at the time of this writing, almost 100 million views, but only 40,000 subscribers. Compare that to BFvsGF, who have 100 times fewer total views, but more subscribers. David After Dentist went mega viral, but it didn’t grab a consistent audience.

Simply put, you cannot expect someone to become a consistent member of your audience, let alone remember you, if you are not giving them consistent content in return.

Set a schedule, and stick to that schedule, no matter what. If you run out of time and put out a mediocre video, make up for it next video. The beauty is by forcing yourself to maintain a schedule, you’ll force yourself to come up with something.

Before you start going, while the pressure is off, why not bank some videos? Shoot stuff that’s ready to and hang on to it. That way, if you have an off week or if you get sick, you at least have a backup video you can throw up there.

Focus on content, not on viewers.


How do I get views? How do I get good ratings? What do people want to see? The answer to all these questions is good content.

“Good” is entirely subjective, I might add. Look at Fred’s success – he didn’t get that successful from people hating those videos. At one point, the majority his audience loved them and were passing them around. But his audience was young and fickle, and if there’s one thing I know about being 11 years old, it’s that when I was 13, I hated everything I liked at 11.

The biggest mistake I see in a lot of channels is putting all their effort into grabbing viewers. They’ll spam other videos, they’ll send mass messages, and pay for shady promotion schemes in the hopes of gaining an audience that way.

But think about it – if you trick somebody into watching one of your videos, what are the odds they’ll ever come back? What are the chances they’ll actually pass that video along to a friend? If your content isn’t appealing, a viewer won’t even finish your video before they close the window.

That’s why all these schemes are destined to fail – you might get a few hundred views from people checking out a related video by copying Shay Carl’s tags, but those people will watch once and never return. Their views are meaningless.

In short, don’t take a viewer-centric approach, i.e. “How do I get people to watch my video?” This doesn’t work.

The answer is to take a content-centric approach – “How do I make a video that people want to watch?”

This means facing a potentially uncomfortable fact – while you and your parents and friends might think your video is a work of unbridled genius, the public at large might think it sucks (remember, we’re talking about YouTube success, and any amount of success requires an audience to support your content).

And worse – people are anonymous on the Internet, which means they can be mean. If they think something sucks, they won’t hesitate to tell you in no uncertain terms. This can be discomforting to a lot of people. Once, I charted the statistical frequency of keywords in the first 10,000 comments of the Guitar Hero video. Fully 60% of all comments featured a racial or sexual epithet (and, my favorite statistic, the most “g’s” somebody put in the word “fag” was something like 28).

It’s very easy to get discouraged quickly, but as a creative person, you should be ecstatic when somebody insults you and your work. Why? Because YouTube comments are the only place you will ever get an honest opinion. Your family will always love you. Your friends will be supportive. Even people who hate you will be tied by the pressure of social decency to not unleash on you. Some stranger on the Internet, hidden behind a username, has no stake in you whatsoever, so their opinions are truly their own and unclouded.

Granted, you can safely filter out a great deal of this vitriol – there are people that believe the earth is 6000 years old, so you can conclude there’s opinions out there you can safely ignore.

But if you see criticism, don’t shut it out, and don’t let it discourage you either. Take it for what it is – a random stranger spent ten seconds insulting you. That insult is worth exactly ten seconds of your time. Be open minded and see if there’s a nugget of truth in there somewhere.

After all, you’re still improving, and these people are giving you a piece of their mind. Take the criticism in stride, and continually work to improve.

But what to do? And how long to make it?

There is only one rule for content…

…and that is “What do you genuinely enjoy making?”

It’s stupid to worry about what the rest of the internet wants to see, because just about anything can find an audience. There was a YouTube account with over 6000 videos of a man smoking pipes to different music (it might have been a sexual thing, to be fair). EpicMealTime has had incredible success with, of all things, extreme cooking. You, as a human being, have tastes, and I guarantee you those tastes are shared by other human beings. Whether or not there are enough other human beings for you to be happy with the viewership of your channel is another matter entirely.

So ask yourself “What kind of video do I want to see?” and make it.

As a side note, I think too many people get hung up on ideas. From my experience, ideas are worthless. Execution is more important than anything else. Future First Person Shooter has been done hundreds of times by people with camera in one hand and airsoft pistol in another – the idea is completely unoriginal, but I believe our execution is what set that video apart. Nobody cares how many ideas you have – you won’t get subscribers from ideas alone. It’s about making those ideas into a reality.

That being said, if an idea is genuinely truly entertaining to you, it’s probably not a bad idea. If your video is received poorly, I’d bet that means you need to work on the execution – improve your technical skills offline by reading books, working on tutorials, shooting test videos, etc. (That’s another post for another day).

But most importantly, it doesn’t matter what other people want to see – it matters what you enjoy making. Because YouTube takes so much time and energy, if you make things only for an audience, you’re doomed to failure because you’ll hate doing this, and you won’t put in the amount of necessary time.

You can do everything just to get as big an audience as you can, but at the end of the day, if you really don’t like doing song parodies or cat videos or whatever, you’re not going to be having any fun, and as Matt always says – if you’re not having fun, then what’s the point? Life’s too short.

You have to strike a balance – you have to make videos you genuinely enjoy making, and that an audience can get behind. It’s only in this way that you’ll be able to stomach the amount of work needed to achieve any measurable amount of success.

There is only one rule for length…

…and it’s not “Shorter is better” or “Don’t go above two minutes.” It’s this: the material of your videos must match the runtime.

If your videos have 15 seconds of material, it should be 15 seconds long. An idea, expressed to its full extent in fifteen seconds, placed in a one-minute video is a boring video. If your video has five minutes of entertaining content, guess what? It can be five minutes long and people won’t get bored.

I’ll prove it to you – TubeMogul put out data from fifty web series as to what the audience drop off numbers are between the first episode and the second. They found that across these webseries, there was a 64% drop off. So if you had 100k views on the first episode, you could expect 36k on episode two. These first episodes ran the gamut of lengths, from 2 to 12+ minutes.

So let’s look at RedLetterMedia’s Star Wars reviews – each of the nine parts clocks in at almost ten minutes – definitely on the longer end of things. Conventional “shorter is better” thinking would dictate that, surely, people would get bored watching these, and would not click ahead to part two. If the conventional thinking were true, then logically the audience drop off would be greater than the average of webseries – i.e. greater than 64%.

But looking at the other parts, this is not the case. In fact, RedLetterMedia’s Attack of the Clones review outperforms the average – part 2 only has a 48% drop. And by part 8, it’s performing on the average with a 62% drop. The stickiness of these videos I attribute to the fact that, frankly, they’re incredibly entertaining, and keep people interested for the entire length of the review. The whole thing is an hour long, but he had an hour of content.

The online viewing experience is the most distraction filled viewing experience known to man. When I get an IM notification or a Twitter update or a Facebook message notification, it takes quite an engrossing video for me to not simply click over to see what my friends are saying. So as a video maker, it’s up to you to create engrossing content at an appropriate length.

But in general, when in doubt, try and trim. You need to develop your “sense of boredom” – that’s why our videos rarely go above two minutes. Not because we don’t want them longer, but that the single ideas we have for them can’t support a much longer length.

Here’s a good way to tell – get a friend or parent to sit down and watch one of your videos right before they have to do something – get to an appointment, cook dinner, etc. Play it for them and watch them. The moment they start to fidget a little, or dart their eyes around the room towards the clock is the exact moment they get bored. Do this a few times, and you’ll start to understand when things are beginning to drag.

So let’s say you have a video you’re proud of, that your parents can sit through, and looks pretty good – where do you promote it?


YouTube is big. The internet is much bigger.



Too many people make the mistake of playing solely to the YouTube subscriber crowd. The fact is, the most popular channels get views far in excess of their subscriber numbers. What does that mean?

The Annoying Orange has 1.7 million subscribers, but he gets more than twice that many views on average per video. And if you drill down his stats, he only gets a few hundred thousand views from subscribers. What’s this mean? Do those few hundred thousand subscribers watch each of his videos ten times each? Not likely – those views are coming from other places.

One of the first things we think about when we put out a new video is “Who else might be interested in this video?” When we made Light Warfare , I made a list of all the photography blogs I thought would be interested in it, and emailed all those blogs with a link to the video off their submission lines. Blogs are always looking for content – if you present an interesting video, they’ll be more than happy to put it up and expose you to their audience.

Don’t forget online communities. Are you a part of any discussion groups or forums? What about your Facebook friends? What about submitting it to link aggregator sites like Reddit? I have an account on a popular Price is Right forum just because of our Price is Right video. When entering an online community, pay attention to their internal rules – figure out the right forum to post in, follow their guidelines, and be courteous, and stick around for some discussion. You shouldn’t be ashamed of promoting your video assuming your video is the kind of thing that forum would want to see, after all. The Internet is the world’s greatest time waster, and there’s always room for another diversion.

So the next step after you finish a video is to make a list of places outside YouTube that the video might be a good fit for. That means expanding your browsing palette – start reading more blogs, hit up more sites, and start getting a sense as to what kind of videos fit well and where.

Take a look once again at our initial spate of videos. Here’s our thinking for them:

OK Go Commentary – The video had just come out and I noticed there was a lot of debate about it. I checked first to see if anyone else had done this, and seeing none, made a video with some evidence pointing out different takes, and ended it in a self-deprecating way because nobody likes the armchair critic, and make it stand out from other “lol I found a mistake” videos out there. It became fuel for those debates, as people would link to the video to back up their arguments.

Real Life Portal Gun – Checked if there were any real-life Portal gun vids (there were some, but not executed that well). We emailed it to numerous popular gaming blogs, where it was featured.

Jammin’ with my Three Best Friends – This one actually was just an idea we had for a while and wanted to do. At the time, it was easily the worst performing of all these videos because there were no outside sources that picked up on it.

Final Fantasy XIII – Final Fantasy just came out. There’s a lot of people who love and hate this game series. Brandon and I happen to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, so hence this video. Posted it to discussion forums, and the comments section itself became a place for debate about the games itself. Debate in comments is great, because that means people keep coming back to defend themselves.

Twilight Eclipse Parody – Destorm called and told us the teaser just came out. Greenscreened myself in there (which again, has been done, but often not done well). The idea was for the video to be fuel for the fire of Twilight haters, and hopefully also be entertaining to people familiar with the series. Sent it to various Twilight blogs, but the director tweeting about the video is what got this the most views.


Network with your peers



Find friends, find other channels in your city, and of equivalent subscriber count and viewership, and work with them.

Realistically, you’re going to have one hell of a time working with any of the more high-end YouTube guys, simply because I know for a fact that everybody’s incredibly busy with side projects, and getting their own videos out. Your request probably is one of thousands from other like-minded people.

A good way to look around you is the tracking site VidStatsX , which is independent of YouTube, but culls data off Google’s APIs. You can find your subscriber rank as well as channels with similar numbers as you. More important than just raw sub numbers are people with comparable 30 day averages, simply because that’s an indicator that it’s somebody who’s working on their channel, rather than letting it stagnate.

If you can, go where the people aren’t

I have a philosophy about life I call the fire escape philosophy. You know how you’ve heard horrific stories about fires and how everyone tried to rush through a single door, and as a result, people get stampeded and trapped. Such stories always like to point out how, less than ten feet away, there was another door that led to safety or something.

Morbid, yes, but the idea is basically this – if there’s something that a lot of people are fighting to do, you can join the fray, but it’s often easier for you to go somewhere else.

In terms of YouTube, it means this – while you can certainly try daily vlogging or doing makeup tutorials, there are a lot of other people doing that very thing. So that means it’s much harder for you to stand out. It’s not that you can’t stand out – if you started a makeup channel that was genuinely hilarious and totally amazing, you’ll find an audience for sure – it’s that it’s much harder to. If you don’t want to fight that battle, try to do content that’s different than what’s out there.

I’m not saying “don’t vlog” or “don’t do makeup tutorials” – in fact, if that’s what you love doing, then by all means you should do it. But if you go down that road, don’t be blind to the fact that you’re fighting two battles – one to get a dedicated viewership, and another to differentiate yourself from other people with similar content.

For us, our “big idea” was pretty simple – we noticed there was a lack of well-produced nerdy/video game videos online (the kind of videos we would want to watch). And since we love watching what we make, that’s the kind of videos we tried to create.

TL;DR

Figure out what you want from your channel, and dedicate the necessary time to achieve that goal. Find content that you personally love making or love watching, and experiment to see where that overlaps with what people want to see. Be consistent with your videos. Find your peers and collaborate with them. And make videos for the Internet as a whole, not just for YouTube.

As you can tell, it’s not revolutionary information I’m imparting here. And unfortunately there’s no quick easy path to success. It’s a lot of work, and you have to honestly ask yourself how much you’re willing to put in.

But if you can find that magic overlap of videos you love to make and videos people love to watch, YouTube can be one of the most creatively rewarding experiences of your life. For Brandon and myself, having come from the world of freelance visual effects and direct-to-DVD/TV feature films, it certainly has been.

Good luck! And let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

By: Freddie Wong

Source: Facerocker

Tuesday, August 7, 2012


Phone Tips To Get Things Done - Professional Phone Skills


It happens all the time, you hear someone over the telephone and you make a generalization about the person you are speaking with. It may not be fair and it is akin to judging a book by its cover, but it's true nevertheless.


Within 60 seconds, people will make assumptions about one's education, background, ability and personality based on their voice alone.

What type of impression is your "phone" voice making? Indeed there are two areas you should be aware of when speaking. One is "what' you say, the other the "how" you say it. Studies show that as much as 87% of the listener's opinion of you is based on your voice alone. That leaves only 13% allocated to what we are saying to make a positive impression. With numbers like these it is easy to see why your voice is so important in your career and personal life.

Today we live in a "voice mail" environment. We are playing "phone tag", leaving messages and listening to voice mails left by others. It may take as many as 3-4 tries before actual contact is made and you have a conversation. By the time you do connect, you can be assured that other party already has formed an impression about you.

The following are some tips that will help you improve your phone voice and technique.

1. THIRD RING RULE: Answer the phone by the third ring or make sure you voice mail is set to pick up by the third ring. Today people are not inclined to wait much longer and will assume you are not available and hang up. Remember, as much as we think we don't like voice mail, we like the option of leaving a message.

2. PROFESSIONAL GREETING: Remember the 87% rule above and make a good impression. Be aware of what you are going to say in the greeting. Then practice and rehearse BEFORE you leave the greeting on your answering machine. Be short and to the point. Don't drag out the greeting. It is obvious you are "Out of the office or away from your desk" otherwise you would answer your phone. Consider leaving such statements out of your greeting unless you are actually away from the office, then say so and leave a date for your return. I recommend that you leave clear instructions as to what information you need from the caller. Reminder the caller to leave their phone number, best time to return the call and a brief subject.

3. PREPARE THEN ANSWER: Have a note pad and pen by your phone at all times. Write down the caller's name and use it during the conversation.

4. BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER: Take notes, ask for correct spelling, etc.

5. PROMPTLY RETURN CALLS: Make it your personal goal that you will be one that returns phone calls. This may very well be the most professional characteristic of all you can develop. Set a goal to return phone calls within 4 hours, it will make a positive statement about you and your image.

6. CHECK YOU MESSAGES: Check your messages several times a day. Learn how to dial in from a remote phone to get your voice mails. Many times the caller is facing a deadline and your information may be crucial for them to complete their assignment.

IT'S A TWO WAY STREET. When You Leave Messages For Others Remember These Tips:

1. SLOW DOWN: Don't speak too fast. Slow down when you are leaving a message, especially if you have an accent. If you make your message hard to understand or if the listener has to replay it several times to get your message your reputation is slipping in their mind.

2. CLEARLY SAY YOUR NAME: Make absolutely sure the caller will understand your name. Consider spelling your name if hard to pronounce or is not a common name.

3. S-L-O-W DOWN: When leaving your phone number go slow. Most likely the listener is writing down your number, make it easy for them to do so. Repeat the number. Consider saying your number at the beginning and end of your voice mail. People will appreciate this.

4. LEAVE YOUR NAME, COMPANY NAME AND REASON: Leave the listener with all the information they will need to know about you. Don't make them guess. Always leave the reason you are calling. It is very unprofessional to just leave a message simply saying "give me a call"

5. MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM TO RETURN YOUR CALL: Tell them a good time to return your call. Give them a date, time and phone number.

6. BE PROFESSIONAL: People do judge you by the tone of your voice. Increase your image by sounding professional in everything you do over the phone

Remember that you won't be able to avoid phone tag, but you can definitely put things in your favor by doing several small things that will make a BIG difference in your image.


By: John Robertson
Source: Ezine Articles

Friday, August 3, 2012


10 Signs Your Interview Went Well


You did it.

You landed an interview, dressed to impress, had great conversation and you think you might actually have a shot at getting a job offer.

But is there any way to actually know if the interview was in your favor?

Many times, job seekers are so focused on what they did wrong in an interview that they don't think about the many things they did right. While no signs are 100 percent foolproof, there are definitely some indicators that you have won over your interviewer.

Justin Honaman, director of customer intelligence Coca-Cola Customer Business Solutions, says that although you may think you've executed well in the interview don't stop the process there. Even if all signs point to a job offer, you should follow-up effectively to complete your career transition.

Here are 10 signs that indicate you rocked your interview:

1. Round two
The easiest way to gauge short-term success is if the interviewer asks you to return for another round of interviews. If he wasn't interested, he would be evasive as whether or not you could expect to hear back from someone. "The hiring manager does not want to waste any more time interviewing you if you are not a fit," Honaman assures. "Invitation to the next round is a win!"

2. References please
Why would you be asked for references unless someone cared to learn more about you? "A firm will not spend the time to do background checks and talk with references if you are out of the candidate pool," Honaman says. "Provide specific, knowledgeable references and bring those to the interview."

3. Meet the team
It's a good sign when the hiring manager chooses to introduce you to the team on the spot, or mentions that there are some people she would like you to meet. If she wasn't interested, again, she wouldn't take the time in making acquaintances.

"Leaders are protective of their team and will not risk introducing a candidate if they are not a potential fit to join the organization," Honaman says. Remember that the hiring manager may request feedback from the team on their first impressions of you, so be nice to anyone you meet.

4. What are the transition steps?
When a company is interested in you, you'll be asked things like the amount of time needed for a transition or what non-competes might be in place, Honaman says. "If the hiring manager is interested in moving forward with an offer, they will typically ask what steps need to be taken for your departure from your current organization so that you can assume the new role," he says.

5. Dollars and sense
Depending on what stage of the interview process you're in, it could be a good thing if you're asked about salary expectations. It demonstrates that the company might be willing to invest in you. Honaman suggests answering this question with caution:

"You can have the absolute best interview ever and be dead in the water if you answer this question incorrectly," he says. "The question comes in two forms: 'What are your salary expectations?' or 'What is your current compensation?' Arrive at any interview with current compensation details written down for your own reference -- if asked -- and have an idea of how you will answer this question."

6. HR smiles
The human resources representative or recruiter is generally a good indication of how things went in the interview process. Take note of his or comments after the interview; they are your No.1 contact during the process and are often a guide to the projected outcome, Honaman says.

7. Your turn
When the interviewer spends a lot of time answering your questions, it's a signal that the he wants to sell you on the business, the team and position rather than you continuing to pursue the role, Honaman says. "In most interviews, the hiring manager will ask if you have any questions as standard procedure, but spend less time with questions and answers if the interview has not gone well in their mind."

8. Let's keep rolling
If hiring managers are uninterested, they typically look for ways to wrap up the interview. "At times, interviews will go well beyond the allotted time as the hiring manager or interview team wants to know more about you, or share with you more about the organization and role," Honaman says. If they are not interested in your candidacy, they won't drag out the interview.

9. Non-verbals speak
Non-verbal signals are often a good predictor of interview performance. Pay close attention to the interviewer(s) and observe such non-verbal cues as taking notes, smiles, head-nods or asking probing questions, Honaman says. "At the same time, if an interviewer is taking few notes, looking at their watch repeatedly [or] not asking detailed questions, the interview may not be going well."

10. Cultural fit
The more a hiring manager talks about how you'll fit into the mold at a company, the better. "Most leaders are looking for candidates that can easily fit into a team environment or operate well as an individual contributor," Honaman says. "If the hiring manager is interested in your taking the position, they will share additional details about the culture and shift into 'sales' mode on the organization."

Again, none of these are surefire signals that you've gotten the job. Plus, even though you did everything right, there is always the chance that someone else did, too. But if you continually see a couple of the above signals you'll know you've at least got a shot.




By: Rachel Zupek

Source: CareerBuilder