Journal

Know & Tell 11.11.09

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Let Me Tell You Something

Got links, will share. Now that I have shown you mine, show us yours!

  1. Twice The Storage, A Quarter of the Price- Google Blog
  2. Social Media Terms Of Service for Photographers
  3. The Part Time Professional Photographer
  4. Social Media Monitoring For Beginners
  5. Kindle For PC Now Available
  6. 5 Ways To Use Your Gifts And Reach Your Community
  7. The Importance of A Weekly Self-Review
  8. 7 Ways To Get More Out of LinkedIn
  9. Sharper Image With 10 Tips

A Certain Point Of View

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conversations

You are an idiot, you know that?

If you are like me that is what you are thinking when you are listening to someone who you disagree with. If we are honest with ourselves maybe we can step back and think about their perspective.

Luke Skywalker: Why didn’t you tell me?! You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father!
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Your father was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.
Luke Skywalker: A certain point of view?
Obi-Wan Kenobi: You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

I have a few family members that watch a particular news network and cannot believe that I, who agree with their views, would ever watch another network instead. My response is that I simply want to hear the whole argument as opposed to thinking one way about it.

I like to think for myself but I also need to understand what others are thinking to formulate a course of action or application. As a professor once told me, “there are at least six sides to every story”.

I use different techniques to expand my mind or broaden my horizons. I seek input from different sources from what I am comfortable with to keep my brain fresh. These are but a few mind expanders to sample.

  1. Read a book from a different genre
  2. Learn something new by taking a class
  3. Take a walk and just listen to your surroundings
  4. Mind puzzles such as Sudoku, crosswords or Logic
  5. Study a new language
  6. Do something bold
  7. Play
  8. Seek out new resources on subject matter
  9. Subscribe to different blogs
  10. Listen to alternative music. You know, like, Country.

Free your mind…and the rest will follow!

 

 

 

8 Ways To Establish Yourself

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drawing up the plans (Doors & Windows)

During this rebrand process, I am reminded about what works or what needs to go back to the drawing board. By changing my brand from something established to something new takes work. Maybe you are starting out or maybe you need to find a better way to build the wheel. Here are a few things I have learned along the way…

  1. Reach Out- Now that you’ve made relationships online with followers, “friends” and contacts, go meet them. You know, shake their hand, hear their voice, look them in the eyes. Discover a local meetup or an active user group. There is strength in the sharing.
  2. Branch Out – However, if you only hang out with people that have similar interests how does that help you get new business?  Your colleagues are not going to share the work load they secured for themselves. It is critical to spend face time with your peers, but if you really want to market yourself and get more clients, you have to look outside of your usual group.
  3. Testify!- Those of us who can make a good living out of what we do will build up a great reputation and so can you. Don’t be afraid to ask for a  testimonial after a job well done. Chances are, your client will be happy to do so if you’ve established a good relationship with them. If they liked your work, get it in writing. Have you ever read the customer reviews on Amazon.com? These are invaluable to your purchase decisions and so are the client’s testimonials to the prospective customer you haven’t met yet.
  4. References Upon Request-Always ask your client too, if they know others who could use your services. In my work as a photographer, the best referrals are the images displayed at workplaces, homes, desktop wallpapers and even social media sites. However, I always ask the client to refer me to their network. I am always happy to meet new people and meet their needs.
  5. Earn Clients, Gain Friends- I’m discovering this a lot more lately myself. After a job well done, cash the check and move on, right? Wrong. Pick up on customer cues when they discuss their lives. Establish a rapport or common ground. Share your life if possible. Follow up with these details by a simple email or commenting on their Facebook status. These subtle, constant reminders of your interest as well as your body of work will go a long way in the future. 
  6. Go To Market- If you want to build your brand and establish yourself as a professional, we have to know you exist. Get a brand, a logo that matches you and your talents. Have your services phrased and memorized to respond to the question that always comes up: “So, what do you do?” Market yourself. You need a business plan. What tools will you work with to put your name out there? Invest your time & money with multiple outlets. Print, media, social web, whatever. Don’t forget to establish a means of measuring the effects of your marketing. What is the return on investment (ROI)? Are you effective?
  7. Not Just Personal. Its Business- Get a business plan. A plan of action. Take care of the details. Maybe you are the person that just wants to do the job and that’s it. All right, but either take care of business or hire a business manager. Are you a freelancer or an entrepreneur?  This is critical. Decide that first. Your decision will affect how you do business. You can be both but take care of business. What is your time worth? Will you be able to put money in savings if you are undercharging for your work? Are your expenses covered? Can you make a living out of this? It takes the fun out of work but it will keep you working. FYI, I hate this part and it is a weakness. It is also something I will resolve to do better.
  8. Go Ahead, Show-Off  Make it a priority of your marketing plan to have your work readily available to prospective clients. Build a portfolio or a website. Offer downloads or samples of your work. Brag, gloat and wave it around like a flag. We make decisions based upon what we see. So let them see it. Make sure it is updated and relevant too. If you cannot do this, don’t do anything. Prospects are turned away because they feel like you’ve just wasted their time. 

This is not an exhaustive list by any means. I am just sharing what I have learned from experience as well as communicating with other like-minded individuals. Got some more tips? What are your experiences? I’d love to hear them. The comment section is all yours!

 

Know & Tell 11.04.09

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Scouring the internet for the good stuff and sharing it with you in case you missed it.

  1. The Complete Guide To Google Wave
  2. How To Organize Chaos In Lightroom
  3. How To Make Rounded Edges On Your Photos
  4. 100 Must Read Freelance Intelligence Tips & Tricks
  5. Artist Dates, Adventures & Shenanigans
  6. 20 Fantastic iPhone Apps For Parents
  7. Postrank Expands Engagement Management
  8. 10 Tips For Creating Buzz With Facebook Events
  9. Digital Hot List 2009
  10. 7 Ways To Overcome the Social Media Time Sink

There you go for this week’s links. I’ve shown you mine, now show me yours!

Pine Crest School student Audrey Kline with her 8th grade Earth science project about asbestos: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Now Open

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come on in!

ChrisDenbow.com is now open for business. Pardon the dust as I am still trying to clean things up around here, move the furniture around and re-organize. The website will still get a makeover but this will do for now (better than a boring template). The transfer from MojoDenbow.info was not as painful as I expected thanks to the insights of some great friends and WordPress ninjas: Donald Harper Stephen Alexander Linda MacPhee-Cobb and Brandon Oelling at X-Equals . Of course a special thanks to WonderWife who is way smarter than I am. Thanks, amigos!

This website is designed to be interactive through comments, video, voice and more. Let me encourage you to speak your mind and turn my monologue into our dialog. You can do this by visiting the website frequently or by subscribing to the RSS feed and/or get the articles by email subscription (no spam!).

Mobile access is now provided as well for those of us who cannot get enough of our mobile devices. You know who you are!

Anywhoo… I’d appreciate a comment to test this thing out. Be kind, won’t you? Thanks for sticking with me during this transition. You won’t be disappointed.

 

Chris Denbow

Coming Soon

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Don't worry, you are not alone

As promised, the Mojo deconstruction project is coming along nicely. I’m in the process of dropping that brand into one that reflects myself and whatever projects I choose to endure. The new website is waiting on me to back up the WordPress database, switch over the servers and reinstall. I imagine I will add a few more bells & whistles this time around too. If you come to the Mojo address after the conversion, it will redirect you to the new address. As for now, I want to alert everyone to some contact information changes.

Website: http://chrisdenbow.website (coming soon)

Email: chrisdenbow@gmail.com or chris@chrisdenbow.website

Skype: chrisdenbow

GTalk IM: chrisdenbow  Yahoo: chris.denbow

Twitter: @chrisdenbow (coming soon)

GVoice: New number! 281.206.4253

I am still considering what to do with my photography business, Photo Mojo and that re-branding effort. I am heavily invested there and to change that now would take some extra time and revenue. If you have any suggestions for a new name, I’d love to review it. I’ve already killed any notion of using “Chris Denbow Photography” due to it’s boring, uninspired, de-creative, full-of-suck title.  I need creative, anti-suck branding here!

Thank You!

PS: you people are the anti-suck

I’ve Lost My Mojo*

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*No, this is not a reference to the ridiculous Austin Powers movie.

A shadow of the person you used to be 302/365 291009

These past 2-3 years have been difficult on myself and my family thanks to layoffs and an economy that went south real fast. To be even more honest, the situation here is degrading, not improving. I’ve been struggling inwardly while I am Mr..-Anything-Is-Possible on the outside. It is becoming real difficult to maintain that position too.

I’m not the man I used to be a few years ago and I don’t like it. I’ve said  before that I used to be a lot happier and it is truer today than when I first said it.

Almost eight years ago I was asked to create a user name for a new mail and internet account (MSN dial-up, what was I thinking?) and I chose “mojodenbow”. I’ve always loved the Blues music which uses that term a lot. It rhymed with my last name so that was the beginning of an era.

After a few weeks of thought, I have decided to put an end to that era. Slowly. I have built an entire brand and websites around the “Mojo” theme and am still very proud of it too. Audio Mojo, Techno Mojo, Photo Mojo and Video Mojo have been fun. I will still pursue these things but not with that brand name.

Why am I putting the Mojo behind me? The term itself is African for dark magic. It was brought to America and became very popular in the south, especially with Creole and voodoo. The Blues music was born there and calls upon this term frequently in the older, classic songs. One of the more popular songs says “I got my mojo workin’ but it just won’t work on you…”

I honestly believe that while Mojo has been fun, it has not been productive. In fact, because of the reference, it may have been destructive. It wasn’t who I am and that is the point.

I want to be myself again

Over the next month or two I’ll be in the process of converting everything over to something that reflects this. I’ve already secured two domain names for this website and others. The email, social media accounts will be next. if you’re interested in sticking with me, I will be posting notifications, new addresses, etc. I’ll probably lose some friends and followers in the process. I hope not. If so, then maybe they were following the wrong person.

I’m starting to feel like myself again.

The Communications Toolbox

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ListeningI shared with you some of the software tools in my digital toolbox recently and today I will share how you and I can communicate with each other.

I’ll go over some tools that you may or may not ever heard of yet as well as a new twist on some you have been using.

Google Wave is a communications tool that it is being distributed very slowly while being tested. Wave is a way to communicate & collaborate  that makes real-time interactions more seamless. You can share waves using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is a conversation with multiple participants added to a wave to discuss and collaborate on its content. Participants can reply any time and anywhere within a wave, and they can edit content and add more participants as a wave develops. It’s also possible to rewind waves with the playback functionality, to see what happened, and when.

However, because of it’s new release, we’re all trying to figure out just how this works effectively. It is very easy to get overwhelmed with waves, and new contacts while attempting to figure out how to respond properly. More to come as I work this out.

Think you can work it out? Add a comment with your best use scenario and I’ll send you an invitation to join the Wave. I only have 5 invites so  them good, people! Wave

Google Voice gives you a separate phone number which you can give out as if it is your regular phone number. You can then change your settings to have calls forward to any of your phones. My number is 281.769.2809

You can forward to one group of phones during the day and another at night. You can have calls from certain numbers forward differently than calls to other numbers. You can block spamming callers and send some calls straight to voice mail.

You can send yourself an SMS message or an email whenever you get a voice mail message, and you can check your voice mail from the Web or from your phone. GVoice will even transcribe voice mail into written text in your inbox. Neato. I have two invitations for Google Voice. Again, leave a comment describing your best use scenario! Gvoice

pidginInstant Messenger clients have been around forever. Which one do you use? Like many of us you have multiple accounts. MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, etc. Like many of us you probably have their software downloaded too. Why not combine them all so you don’t have to have them open at the same time and not miss an IM? I use a desktop application called Pidgin that does just that. I have multiple accounts but only one software to use. Now I have no excuse for missing your IM. Not that I’d want to! The only drawback to this is there is no video chat available like the others use.

Skype has a lot of features like video conferencing, SMS, voicemail, call forwarding, contact list, integration with MS Outlook, public chats, business control panel, sketch pad, desktop sharing and many others. I can even make calls anywhere in the world with the Skype app on my iPod Touch. skype shot

E-mail is an obvious one. I’ve been using Gmail for five years because it is flawless, expandable and easy to use. I have it connected to MS Outlook as well. Email me mojodenbow AT gmail.com

Mobile is another obvious tool that has increased it’s functionality over the past two years. Now if only we can stop the wireless carriers from ripping us off and offer more choices!

As always, I’d appreciate your feedback as to what tools work for you and how you use them. Don’t forget to add your comments for those invitations!