Don’t Buy Seth Godin’s New Book Tribes
October 27th, 2008
Here’s the thing: I have never done a book review on this site before and probably won’t do another, however, as someone who has lived amongst, and worked with, actual tribes in Papua New Guinea who up until about twenty years ago were still practicing cannibalism, I had a lot of hesitancy when I first heard the title of the new book.
image: Village Big Man and Tribal Leader Erukai and family; Kakoro, Papua New Guinea
What could this marketing guy from New York possibly know about tribes? Does he know that in Papua New Guinea the tribal leaders are known as ‘Big Men’ or that in Samoa they call elders ‘Matai’ and they have different designations whether they are a village orator or in charge of land resources.
I have been a reader of Seth’s blog for quite some time now, and he has even been kind enough to answer simple business questions for me from time to time. But, for this book, “TRIBES,” I was not prepared to drink the Kool AId just because Mr. Godin wrote it.
Quite possibly, because the tribes I am most familiar with (literally) rely on each other for survival. Promoting products or trying to increase brand awareness could quite possibly be the furthest thing from their minds. If the tribes I know stop functioning or have a leadership breakdown, the reality is, they face life-threatening circumstances.
Where do Big Ideas come from?
October 19th, 2008
Whether you want to craft the world’s next greatest novel, take the trip of a lifetime, or open a small business the initial idea to create or do “something” has to come from somewhere.
I have always wondered, why do some people come up with innovative ideas while others appear not to? Or, does everybody come up with thoughts for new initiatives and projects but only a few pursue them? For example, what on earth ever possessed me to come up with the post 97 Remarkable Ways to Diversify Your Network in a Down Economy?
Why do only some seem to have this mindset?
image source: TrainforHumanity tshirt concept from Joaquin R. Kierce
Right now I am sitting here cursing Becky McCray, not literally, heck not even figuratively…because Becky is one of the nicest, most helpful, small biz folk on the internet.
However, you see, Becky recently sent a twitter message saying, “Think I might need a trip to Culebra this Feb.”
Of course, being the opportunist that I am, and not wanting to waste access to such a great talent if she actually comes to Culebra, my mind instantly went into creative mode and I replied back:
“maybe we could do a small scale small biz/social media meet up and try to land some other keynote people”
I thought the messages would just end there and nothing would come of it, but within seconds Becky sent something back to the effect of “that’s a great idea….”
Then out of nowhere, and as if the stars were aligning perfectly, the next morning I got this message from the indefatigable Liz Strauss:
@lizstrauss I’m doing well, Mark! Every time I see you I get an urge to plan an event at your place.
Again my mind began racing with the possibilities.
Where this campaign will go, I really have no idea, but I very much like the idea of some type of Idea Incubation Workshop here in the Caribbean during, let’s say, the middle of winter.
Are you an Ideanator (my new term for one who regularly comes up with ideas)?
To help ease my curiosity about the origins of idea generation and innovative thinking I recently asked some folks on Twitter for their input on Big Ideas, and the following are the responses I got:
@josephrueter to start: intentional curiosity, confident humility, sharing, information consumption, diligence, smart/engaged people around.
@sweetsfoods You know Mark, that several times unexpected big ideas come from ….night dreams!
@toddwaller Big Ideas: From reading, applying and seeing ‘other’ ways: assimilation and preparation.
@bgswanson re: big ideas. I think they come from someone who has the mindset to see a problem as an opportunity.
Where do your big ideas come from?
I find it absolutely astonishing how many new project thoughts I have while I am running. The other day I was out for my evening run and I began to think about some features that I would like to see included as an email or Twitter application (and I would greatly appreciate it if YOU would develop them).
The first, GeoTwit (or GeoEmail), would give the geographic coordinates, current weather, and the time of day somehow contained within people’s Twitter messages. Of course there are inherent security risks but you could enable the feature only for trusted friends.
The second, and the one that I think could have real monetization potential, is TwitFlick (or EmailFlick). This application would somehow offer me the option to view the latest Flickr photos based on where my Twitter messages or emails were coming from. For example, let’s say Jarkko Laine sends me a Twitter message from Finland; well I think it would be cool to have a feature that would allow me, based on user settings, to view the latest Flickr photos from Finland. For those who are interested in traveling to a particular “messaged” destination the application could be monetized with hotel and rental car offers…anyway, just an idea.
How about you? What ideas have you got going? Where did they come from?
Escape the Cubicle NOW! Five Tips to Help You Get Started
September 4th, 2008
Do you long to be your own boss? Work from home as a freelancer? Or, perhaps travel the world?
image source: carter comics
Don’t worry, I toiled away in a cube for many a year working for the man, but still managed to free myself. And you CAN too!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the cube life, but for some reason I found it to be stifling. In fact, at the same time we were looking to purchase our business in the Caribbean I was offered a very good federal job in the states. I even went so far as to go (read: fly) to the interview at largely my own expense.
Obviously, you know the outcome because I am in the Caribbean. However, I must say that the clincher for me, when I really knew I would not take the job, came during the interview process. While getting the tour around the office they took me by (and specifically pointed out!) what was to be my cubicle and I knew right then and there that there was no way in hell I would take the job.
What about you?
Where are you? Why I am on BLOGCATION!
August 6th, 2008
Greetings - someone recently emailed and asked if I was going to be posting anything soon. That made me feel good because I thought only my mother read this site.
It has been a VERY long but good year since we bought our business here in the Caribbean. Unbeknownst to me my drive for writing, which is minimal to begin with (remember - I am an idea person!) decided to take a holiday.
So, being that I am going on a real vacation to Nicaragua next week, I decided to declare myself on blog + not writing + vacation = blogcation
When I get back some friends of mine and I are going to launch a pretty cool humanitarian project that we have been working on putting together for the past couple of months. I think eventually we will have the ability to help some people that don’t necessarily need our pity, but they need our ACTION. Some of you already know what the premise is and for the rest I look forward to your feedback once we go live.
What a nice surprise to be featured in Islands Magazine this month in their “Ten Best Islands to Live On” article. Almost exactly one year ago Terrie and I purchased the Palmetto Guesthouse after living overseas for many years.
We are both originally from Massachusetts and we had the dream of owning our own business for many years and finally saw that goal come to fruition with the purchase of the Palmetto here on Culebra.
Our travels have taken us to Europe, Central and South America, the South Pacific, and of course, the Caribbean.
Chasing Coconuts - How I Went From the Cube to the Caribbean
March 6th, 2008
I am guest posting at AnyWired today:
In one of my previous guest posts here at AnyWired I discussed how to remove yourself from the office and take your show on the road. Today, I thought that I would give you a little insight and look into how I went from the cube to the Caribbean.
My story about searching for personal freedom might be a little different than most as I now live in the Caribbean and I am currently trying to develop my web presence from here. But, whatever your web worker dreams are, this story should hopefully resonate with many AnyWired readers because I am truly “everyman.” I do not come from money and have done every possible job from working as a waiter, landscaper, and warehouse worker to presenting data and policy to high level government officials.
To be sure, my goal to live in the Caribbean is most likely quite analogous to *your* situation, whatever your objective might be – starting your own business, telecommuting a couple of days a week, or traveling the globe, and most likely my journey was not too much different from what many who read AnyWired hope to achieve.
The Beginning of the Journey
Strangely enough, my journey out of the corporate world actually began when I was about fifteen (I turn 40 this year) and I don’t think I even knew what a cubicle was. During my second year of high school I had the chance to go to Hawaii with a friend and his family. To this day I can still remember stepping off the United Airlines plane and having my feet touch the sand and soil of the tropics for the very first time. Certainly, my life would never be the same.
5 Must Ask Questions On Your Quest For Personal Freedom
December 6th, 2007
Would you like to successfully Quit Your Job, Travel The World, Pursue Your Dreams, and truly do your life’s work?
Some of the most popular posts on the internet today seem to be about taking control of your life and removing yourself from the corporate setting to travel the world, become your own boss, and fulfill your dreams.
Really, it is all simply a euphemism for creating and living the life that you want rather than accepting the status quo of the commuter and workaday grind.
image source: jepoirrier
Because the ‘personal freedom’ topic is so broad and entails many aspects which are required to achieve success (unless you are rich) I am going to break this up into a series that will run every Thursday.
Today, I have a short post to kick everything off and I would just like to offer up five questions or thoughts for you to ponder and ask yourself to determine if you are indeed ready to “chase your dreams.”
1 Are you caught in a rut? Whether at work or personally?
2 Are you prepared to be an active participant in your quest personal freedom?
3 What would you ideally like to be doing with your life?
4 Do you have personal or familial obligations that you need to sort out?
5 Would you like to make a change?
Whether you are interested in moving overseas, changing jobs, or starting your own business. All of these goals require one thing, a positive mindset and a plan with room for flexibility. With that you can achieve anything.
Please join me on Thursday of next week for the first post in this series when we will look at “How to Remove Yourself from a Negative Situation.”
Now, I ask you, are there other questions that you ask yourself when thinking about pursuing an aspiration, or change? Let me know in the comments.
Editor’s note: in case you have recently noticed the new tagline above -
Living Overseas | Blogging | Inspiration and Motivation | Entrepreneurship
MyTropicalEscape has taken a slight turn to include more niche topics. For those of you that are interested in my new editorial calendar, every Monday I will have a post on blogging or marketing, on Tuesday’s there is the flagship “Ten Questions With” interview series, Thursday will focus on the new series about personal freedom, and Friday will be a day to give back where I will discuss social or humanitarian issues.
5 Tips For a Better Life Starting Today Based on Subsistence Living
November 30th, 2007
Those who lead a subsistence existence grow only enough food to feed their family, support their animal’s grazing area or farmland, and perhaps to provide a small marketable surplus.
