The Technician Shop

The Technician Shop is a career, work, education and life resource for technicians.  A technician is a person who works in a residential or commercial setting to repair, replace, maintain or install various things.  From an A/C technician to a window cleaner to a landscaper with a million professions in between.

I created The Technician Shop to help technicians grab hold of their career, work, education and life.  So often I would hear, "my manager doesn't appreciate and recognize me for what I do."  While management should be held accountable for their inadequacies, I must ask, "are you doing everything necessary to be appreciated and recognized?"  Most likely, on this two way street, both parties are at fault.

My message is: Perform your work with passion, care and quality.  Design both a career and educational plan and follow them.  Do it to the point that you can hardly not be appreciated and recognized.  Take care of your health, family and life. 

I'll be reflecting more about this endeavor here at Rothacker Reviews. 

Stop over for a visit and let me know what you think.

June 30, 2009 in Blogs, Business Coaches, Change / Innovation, Employee Relations, Finding The Right Work, HVAC, Personal Branding, Work | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Isabel Joely Black: Writing Coach

What are the qualities of a good writing coach?

  • A passion for writing
  • An active imagination
  • A deep love of writing
  • A love of art
  • A proven track record
  • A degree of sensitivity
  • Inspirational
  • Creative
  • A desire to see others flourish
  • Intuitive
  • Compassionate

Absolutely.  And Isabel Joely Black is everyone of the above!  These characteristics are clear and evident in her writing and communication. After doing a little research on Joely, it is clear and evident that others feel the same way too. 

Joely Black

Joely Black is an incredibly intuitive and generously supportive writing coach.  The progress I've made with my writing struggles since I've been working with her have been remarkable.  Diane Whiddon-Brown, author of Outdrivingmyheadlights.com

Read more from Diane here.

I was so excited when the opportunity arose to work with Joely as my writing coach.  I was feeling very stuck and uninspired before we began working together.  But she is so excited about writing and the art of living creatively that it is impossible to remain stuck around her for long.  Working with her has helped me give myself permission to relax, and to let go all of the rules I was making up about how writing was "supposed" to be.  Jenny Ryan, author of Using My Powers For Good.

And for good measure visit with Alex Fayle.

Now everything that I've told you about Joely is just there.  It's there in black and white for all to see.  But I need to tell you something else about the girl that is there.  It's something that is not necessarily in black and white.  But when you read her words you can just feel it resonate throughout your body.  Isabel Joely Black is thoughtful.  And if I am looking for a writing coach, that's what I'm looking for first!

By the way, if you are in search of a fantasy novel about a young woman on a journey of self-discovery, bent on learning right from wrong, and set in fantastical world...with an occasional dragon, search no more.  Visit Joely's most excellent work: AMNAR THE AWAKENING.

April 19, 2009 in Blogs, Books, Business Coaches, Good Writing, Most Excellent Writing, Writing | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

How to Write a Better Blog

Do you love books?

Okay, now explain that love in relationship to these two different scenarios:

1) You are sitting in your home office surrounded by all of your books.

2) You are browsing in the library, surrounded by the county's books.

You love your own books, don't you?  You sync with a book's idea or theme.  You buy it.  You read it.  But you just don't read it, you romance it.  You write notes in it.  You fold its pages.  You highlight its text.  You write notes to the author in it.  You picture yourself as the leading character (that wasn't Paul Allen in Bill's garage, it was you.  "No problem Willy, go ahead and give your money away, I'll watch the store").

It's not like you actually wrote the book's content, but the book is yours and the material just morphs into your conscious.  Okay, now watch this...

You love other people's personal Web sites.  (I hate the term blog. I only used it above to get cuddly with Google). Why?  Because you connect, you relate.  Instead of going to the library to enjoy another writer's essay, you collect it and place it on a shelf on your own site.  Then you can romance it.  You can write in it....

The following is from David Armano's most excellent Web site, Logic + Emotion.  David writes about a book in which the 40 top bloggers (the book's term), share their writing secrets.  IMHO, David's secrets (he's one of the top 40 writers), pretty much sum up what one has to do in order to be a successful writer.  The writing in red below is where I have marked up this book.

My Blogging "Secrets" Revealed

Picture 435
The thing about people who write blogs (notice I didn't say bloggers) is that we don't have a ton of secrets to our "craft". If you choose to follow what we do, you'll pretty much figure it out for yourself. That said, Steph Grenier has put together a book called Blog Blazers where 40 indivuduals including the likes of Seth Godin, Steve Rubel and Rohit Bhargava share their tips. I'm in it too. Here's what I said:

SG: What makes a blog successful according to you? Is it traffic, reach, revenue, etc.?
DA: In a word—influence.  Influence is the most important way I can think to gauge a blog.  It’s not easy to measure influence, but popularity has something to do with it.  The broader a blog’s reach, the more influence it has. The more people a blog influences, the more successful it is.  It’s not about size—you can influence people in niche groups.

SG:When did you decide you finally reached success with your blog?
DA: Having it featured in the print version of BusinessWeek. If you were to ask me, David reached success the first time I read his material, cause it influenced me.  Here’s one of the few magazines that I admire and actually read and there’s my blog—in full color!  At that point, I felt I had crossed into a different league.

SG:How long does it take to become a successful blogger?
DA: That’s like asking how long should you wait until you get married. It’s different for everyone.  It took me just under a year to get some serious traction—but that’s rare.  It could take many years.  Or you could be blogging for 20 years and never reach the goal of “breaking through” to the audience you want.  It’s something that requires passion.

SG:Who do you think are the most successful bloggers on the internet today?
DA:As far as size goes, you’ve got Seth Godin, Steve Rubel, Guy Kawasaki and Robert Scoble.  All have HUGE followings.  Personally—I’ve been influenced by Bruce Nussbaum, Kathy Sierra, and I enjoy reading industry blogs such as the Adaptive Path blog and Putting People First.

SG:Which five blogs do you regularly read?
DA:
Nussbaum on Design
Adaptive Path
Micro Persuasion
Web Strategist
Putting People First

SG: Which websites would you recommend for any new bloggers starting to blog? I'd recommend Logic + Emotion.
DA:
Techno Marketer
Boing Boing
Mashable

SG: Which book(s) would you recommend for new bloggers (these can range from marketing books, blogging books, etc.)?
DA: Made To Stick.  I'd probably throw Tribes and Beyond Trend in here.

SG: What is your most successful blog post ever?
DA: Creativity 2.E

SG: What's your biggest tip on writing a successful blog post?
DA: Write something that people will want to talk about.  Write something that you care deeply about.  Do something that others are not.  Make each post memorable.

SG: What's your best advice in regards to content and writing for bloggers?
DA: State your opinions.  Don’t try to write like a journalist.  Do something different.  Use visuals. Egads Dr. Seuss!!  If only I could do this!!  Let your voice come through in the writing.  Write in conversational tone vs. formal.  Be true to your personal brand and if you don’t know what that is—figure it out.

SG: How important do you think are the headlines of your blog articles?
DA: Fairly important, but not as important as the content.  Best to write headlines that are both enticing and informative.  If you want Google to find you, think about those headlines.

SG: Do you spend any money and time on marketing?
DA: No money spent except on Typepad.  I don’t market except through being myself and participating.  I probably spend about 15-20 hours a week on Twitter, blogs and participating in general.

SG: What are your main methods of marketing your blog?
DA: I’ll promote links on Twitter and Facebook, but the best marketing is the content.  That’s where I spend most my time.

SG: Which marketing tactic has surprised you the most in terms of its effectiveness?
DA: The visuals.  People love my visuals and want them for themselves. Amen brother! It’s both my product, content and advertising.  People take my visuals and distribute them on the Web.  This eventually creates a bigger audience for me as most people can find their way to the source of the visual which is my blog.

SG:What are your quick and short five best tips for blogging?
DA:
1. Find your voice
2. Do something different
3. Be true to your brand
4. Provide value
5. Only write what makes you happy

SG: What is the most common pitfall new bloggers generally fall into?
DA: Self doubt will kill you.  When you’ve got people commenting on your stuff or calling you out or challenging you—you have to be prepared to guard yourself from being something that isn’t you.  You must be yourself first, as imperfect and flawed as that may be.  You won’t make everyone happy.  Most successful blogs are polarizing—people either love them or could care less.  The worst blogs are bland, generic and have nothing original to offer.  Doubting yourself is the first step down the path of boring. Funny, I was just about to include this thought in the point on the five best tips. I have had some very BIG time personal Web site writers comment about how brave I was to try different stuff like RadioBack.  Heck, I'm not brave. I am very comfortable however, with all of my imperfections and flaws. At least to the point where I recognize them and try to improve.

SG: If you knew what you know now when you first started, what's the one biggest tip you'd give yourself today?
DA: Have an idea where you want the whole thing to end up.  When I first started blogging I had no idea where I wanted it to go and went with where it took me.  Now I’m a bit more strategic.  I’m blogging to build credibility in the industry and to make my job more rewarding and enjoyable.  I also like using it to help the company who employs me.  I have a lot of freedom because of the blog.  I would have established a vision for where I wanted to take it earlier.  I've been trying to do this for over ten years of Internet writing.  And it is exactly why David is where he is and I am where I am.

SG: What repels you the most from a blog (animations, in your face advertising, etc.)?
DA: Bad Content, bad design and over-promotion.  And also a lack of personality.  I love voice and good design!

SG: Do you make any direct money from your blog through advertising, product placements, etc.?
DA:No

SG: What is your best monetization method (Ads, affiliate marketing, etc.)?
DA: My monetization is indirect. I get lots of professional opportunities.

SG: Do you find you get more from direct monetization of your blog or from opportunities that come because of the existence of your blog?
DA: I get invited to speak at places.  If I were on my own, I could make a business of that.

SG: What's your most interesting story related to your blog and blogging experience?
DA: I once wrote a post that was only a sentence long and included a visual.  I asked my readers to write the post for me based on the visual.  The comments were amazing!  Take a look for yourself.

SG: What's the one biggest opportunity that came to you because of your blog?
DA: I wrote a very popular article for BusinessWeek called “It’s the Conversation Economy Stupid”. I was invited to write the article because of the blog.  It was a great experience—I got to work with an excellent editor and write in a very different way than blogging.  It was pretty cool.

SG:Any other comments or thoughts you'd like to share?
DA: Yes.  Everything I know about blogging is in this slideshow

Hope the interview was helpful. For the other 39 interviews, you'll have to get the book.

Thursday, November 20, 2008 |

Helpful David?  I am going to place this on the shelf right next to my most favorite books!!!

 

November 29, 2008 in Blogs, Change / Innovation, Design, Good Writing, Writing | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Why Listen to dave?

About dave:  From the tag line underneath my site's name you can see I write reviews on books, businesses and folks.  You can also see that I am neither a celebrity, leader or expert.  Why then should you read my stuff and take action on my recommendations?

I like to think that I have an eye and ear for people who are sincere, authentic and want to succeed. I am attracted to people or things who travel in the opposite direction of status-quo.  In a world of change, status-quo was yesterday.  And in a world of change, status-quo is a greased rope that survivors do not trust.  The opposite?  Those are people who are constantly learning and evolving.  They walk about in the world eyes wide open.  They observe, they listen, they synthesize and then they produce (or try to with all of their might), stuff that makes the world a better place.

As a dad, husband and Baby Boomer, I care very deeply about this:  I passionately want the younger generations to succeed and the older generation to be valued!  To know and understand me then, is to know the lens in which I view the world. 

November 11, 2008 in Blogs, Books, Culture, Design, Life, Tampa Retail | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Made to Stick

Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath

Do you write a blog?*  Do you want more readers?  Do you want your message to be understood?  Do you want folks to tell others about your site?  Of course you do.  I think I know someone who can help.  Her name is Gabrielle.  Her friends call her Gabby.  Gabby's melting point, her flash point, the point where time stops, is in the study of how ideas spread.  What makes people remember other people?  What makes people want to tell others about those people?  The flint that caused her flame was The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.  Oddly, Gabby's fascination with idea-spreading was for years, a universe away from her day job as a professional recruiter and night time passion of her career advice blog.  That is until the time that she bought a case of Heath Bars and stepped in the largest glob of bubble gum ever.  Lets see what Gabby found out.

One evening as Gabby sat staring at her computer sipping a glass of Merlot and chewing on thirty pieces of Bazooka bubble gum while trying to forget about her recent break up with Glen, her mind drifted to her blog.  How can I get more readers, she wondered.  In one swoop of total randomness she entered "tipping point stickiness" into Google.  Then she scrolled to the thirtieth set of pages and saw Dan Heath's name.  Craving a Heath Bar at that very moment, she clicked on Dan's name.  A couple of clicks later and she was on the Made to Stick site.  A couple of days later Made to Stick arrived in the mail from Amazon.

In the introduction to Made to Stick, the Heath Bros give credit to Malcolm Gladwell for the inspiration behind their book.  That was was all Gabby needed to know.  She tore into the book.  Before even finishing the introduction, Gabby discovered a major flaw in her blog.  The lads call it the Curse of Knowledge.  She thought of it as speaking Latin to a Chinese audience.  She wrote for career guidance professionals while her audience consisted of those looking to change careers.

Gabby finished the book in two days.  She discovered that the Bros wrote the book around six principles to help people spread successful ideas.  Reading the book a second time, Gabby sipped at these simple principles while thinking of her own writing. 

The first was Simple.  The Bros said to find the core idea and to express it in the form of a compact idea.  Gabby thought, "what was the core idea behind her blog?"  And how could she convey this in a short, simplistic and powerful way?  The Bros spoke of proverbs, metaphors and analogies to help this process.

The second was Unexpected.  How does she get a reader's attention?  The Bros said to break a pattern.  They go on to tell a story about a journalism class and how its teacher rocks their world with one simple exercise.  This story was Gabby's most favorite part of the book.  She would never forget it. 

The third was Concrete.  This one hit home.  If you know your readers, you'll converse at their level.  The Bros said, "we forget that other people don't know what we know."  Gabby thought, I need to know who is reading my blog and then talk with them on their level.

The fourth was Credible.  Gabby wondered, is my stuff credible enough to draw readers?  The Bros talk about finding credibility through friends, relatives, authorities and anti-authorities.  They also said it comes by way of stories, vivid details and statistics.  Credibility was a difficult principle for Gabby to envision.  The best she could take away here was to tell stories and fill them with vivid details. 

The fifth was Emotional.  The Bros said to make people care about our messages.  One way was to form an association between something folks care about and something they don't.  Another was to appeal to people's self-interest and identities.  Gabby knew that in order to reach people who were looking for career advice, she would have to form associations between their existing dilemmas and then a potential improved future.

The sixth was Stories.  Gabby's knees went weak.  She loved to tell stories.  This would be the first change to make on her blog.  She could tap into the wisdom of those who had walked the pathways of career change and by telling those stories, offer hope and inspiration to others.

Gabby read the book a third time.  She was so excited!  She was going to mold and bake the Heath Bros' six principles right into her blog.  Maybe one day her stuff would be so good that people would remember her and talk about her blog.  Maybe one day then, she'd be as popular as Penelope Trunk.

*I have a personal distaste for the word blog.  Ok, I hate it.  But this story isn't about me.  It's about you and the opportunity that you might have after reading the Heath Bros' book, to improve your, errrr, blog :-)

dave smoked-n-signed this book.

January 27, 2008 in Blogs, Books-Smoked-n-Signed, Writing | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Troy Worman: Outstanding Bloggers List

Troy Worman has created a true Internet treasure with his Outstanding Bloggers List.  Enjoy.

A = AWESOME

B = Beautiful

Biz -something

Brain-something


C

D

E is for “E”

F

G

H

I = Ideas. No one is going to like all of your ideas. It’s best to stop caring about that now.

J

Life-something

El-something

L

  • LogoBlog For the articles. And the logo maker.

M

N

O

P

Q

R

Outstanding Bloggers by Name

The microfamous…

December 20, 2007 in Blogs | | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)

Who Are You?

If I visit your Web site (I don't like the word blog) I gotta know about you.  I guess in some psychological way it helps me to frame and digest your content.  Most Web site authors do have an about page, a bio or a link to some personal information.  Some however, do not.

Jesica recently commented here, suggesting that I visit another book review site.  The first thing I do is to lay the mouse cursor over her name to see what the name of her site is.  Don't know about you, but I find it rare that those who comment do not have a site.  The name of Jesica's site is the same site that she suggests that I visit.  Is Jesica a spammer?  I don't think so.  I think she is someone who has built a site and is trying to drum up some traffic.  She is also like the person who is a magazine editor's worst nightmare.  You know the person.  He writes an article on landscaping and submits it to PC Magazine.

So I cruise over to Jesica's site,  Best Books Reviewed.  Not only can I not find out anything about Jesica, I can't find anything about anyone there.  Jesica, you need to write an about page and you need to spend time visiting other sites to gain a feel for how to communicate.  Good luck.

July 08, 2007 in Blogs | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Who Are You??

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?

Quick, what comes to your mind?  Roger Daltrey and the lads or William, Marg, Jorja and CSI?

Who are you and what characteristics do you want associated with Brand You?

Just came back from Escape from Cubicle Nation.  Pamela Slim writes a most insightful article titled, Are you in the mom or (dad) Closet?  Pamela leads with:

Nataly Kogan, a former venture capitalist who very recently flew the corporate coop (yeah Nataly!) to co-found a company called Work-it Mom, recently wrote a blog post calling for perspectives on what she calls the "coming out of the mom closet." It was spurred by a conversation with a potential contributing writer to her site who said:

“I really like what you’re doing but I try to not be associated with mommy sites. I don’t want to be pigeonholed as a mommy blogger.”

Egads!   Someone called me a mommy blogger! Being called a mommy blogger could be a banner for some and a cement block for others.

Pamela goes on to list a few guidelines for authors to follow in regards to the mommy blogger label.  While writing a comment to Pamela I wondered, are authors aware of how their actions are perceived?  For those of us who are conscious about such stuff, our intent is to write in such a way as to create a perception.  Some don't think about it and it all comes out as intended.  Still others could care less and probably end up not reaching desired results.

I have been writing online since the mid-nineties.  I have always been acutely aware of how I wanted to be perceived.  I have a list of desired dave-brand traits.  I wonder how your perceptions match up to my intentions????  Feel free to comment on these.  Matter of fact, I think this could be a fun meme to pass around.

Who are you?  Who, who, who, who,  Who are you?

It's all about your audience man!  Who did you think you were writing to?  Boomers or the Connected Generation?

btw, every time that I walk away from Pamela's Escape from Cubicle Nation, I walk away refreshed and energized...I think its got something to do with the name of her site :-)

June 10, 2007 in Blogs | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Citizen Marketers

Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba

You know what makes me mad as hell?  When corporate America will not acknowledge folks out there who evangelize their companies.  By the way, for a clear and crisp review of this book check out Mack's at the Viral Garden.  Oh, you might get a response.  It will be sterile, guarded and watered down just like the example that Ben and Jackie use. 

"We are flattered by Winter's enthusiasm for the Starbuck's experience...and, and we wish him well with his endeavors."

His endeavors?  Are you kidding me?  (slight off path diversion to the world of sports commentators...sorry).  Mr. Winter is a blog-writing Starbucks evangelist.  His mission is to visit every Starbucks store on the planet.  His endeavors Mr. Starbucks, is your meal ticket.  There are times when Mr. Winter must be true and authentic with his discourse.  He is quoted in Citizen Marketers:

"After about four stores, the coffee loses all taste.  After an extreme number of stores, I have to wash out the taste with water after every sip because it's starting to make me sick."

Well, Duh Mr. Starbucks!  What sane person would not feel the same way?  This gets back to authenticity, which is a main theme running through Ben & Jackie's work.  I am going to listen to a cat like Mr. Winter (Winter is his full, legal name) because Mr. Winter is authentic.  I can, as a sane adult human being, (my kids question the authenticity of that statement), discern the statement above which is obvious and eventual, for what it is, and act on a statement in which Mr. Winter describes an outrageously good cup of coffee at a certain store...if it were within my proximity.

Way back in 1998, Patty Seybold spoke of company transparency in her book Customers.Com.  Give the customer a 360 degree view of the process.  I believe the same should hold true for the Filters, Fanatics, Facilitators and Firecrackers who Ben & Jackie talk about.  Mr. Company, open up your gates and let these folks into play. 

You know what fascinates me?  How something or someone becomes viral.  Inevitably it must be found in the message.  The message of Citizen Marketers is that people are the message...and that's what fascinates me. 

This book was smoked-n-signed!  Pick up a copy today!

May 12, 2007 in Blogs, Books, Books-Smoked-n-Signed, Marketing | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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The Starfish and the Spider

The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom

I wrote a short overview on this book over at Joyful Jubilant Learning last month.  I thought I'd explore a little more today.  What tickles my imagination more than anything else in The Starfish and the Spider is the explanation that there is no hierarchy or structure in a starfish organization.  When taking notes in this book, I can't tell you how many times I wrote Starship instead of Starfish.  In my sub-c they must be one in the same.

Ori and Rod explain that a decentralized organization is built on a foundation of five legs:

  • Circles
  • The Catalyst
  • Ideology
  • The Preexisting Network
  • The Champion

Circles consist of folks who buy into the organizations ideology.  Norms are a circles backbone.  Whereas rules are someone else's idea of what you should do.  Norms are the ideology that you joined the organization for in the first place.  As the norms of a circle mature, trust develops.

My concept of a circle is that everyone involved knows what they gotta do.  If a person doesn't buy in they are collectively eased out.  This type of environment is wildly liberating. 

The Catalyst is someone who forms a circle then quietly fades into the background.  The lads say the catalyst lets go of the leadership role and transfers leadership to the circle.   Ori and Rod say that a catalyst has the following tools.

  • Genuine interest in others
  • Loose connections
  • Mapping
  • Desire to help
  • Passion
  • Meet people where they are
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Trust
  • Inspiration
  • Tolerance for ambiguity
  • Hands off approach
  • Receding

You'll notice in the comment section of my post at Joyful Jubilant Learning, Rosa Say, the ultimate and consummate manager raises an eyebrow to all this decentralized, non-hierarchy type of talk.   As someone who has logged twenty eight or nine years as a manager, I need to articulate to Rosa and myself why I am enamored with the Starfish gig.

First and foremost we all buy into the same ideology, the same mission.  Perhaps just as important, there is no bureaucracy to weigh you down.  I perfected the craft of protecting my staff from bureaucratic meddlers - my bosses.  I hated doing it and it wore me down.  But I love the concept of channeling strengths and letting folks do what they do best. 

In my vision of a circle within a decentralized organization, there is no dilution.  One part water to a straight up whiskey is dilution.  One part slacker to a circle dilutes the circle.   I do not like dilution.

The Starfish and the Spider is a most excellent book!  It gently guides one to the fringe, to think outside of their norm and this is the environment where great things always happen.

In true Starfish form, Ori and Rod open up information for us in the form of a wiki.

April 23, 2007 in Beyond, Blogs, Books-Smoked-n-Signed, Change / Innovation, Collaboration, Employee Relations | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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