Photo above: The sold-out crowd at the premier Reboot Workshop Conference.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

Jim sits down with business partner Nate Cooper to talk about how they created, planned, and got sponsorship for a successful conference in less than 60 days.

Below are the highlights from our conversation. Listen to the audio to get the entire lowdown.

In this podcast we answer the question:
What the heck were Jim and Nate thinking planning a huge conference with no experience?

We break down the steps as follows:

1. Choose the right business partner
Hear the back story of how Jim and Nate connected. Working with the right business partner can make all the difference in the world. We were connected through two different mutual friends, and found ourselves in a position to help each other out.

- Nate wanted to learn more about book publishing.
- I wanted to pick his brain about entrepreneurship.
- We both wanted to quickly get to work on something awesome that would help people and maybe make a little money.

While Nate had a background running events at Apple, and I’ve run large events at SXSW and well, everything from fraternity parties to impromptu roofdeck concerts in Manhattan, we just knew that we could pull it off.

Most business partners are like the odd couple: The sales guy and the tech geek. The CEO and CTO. The person that is good with numbers and the person that is good with people. However, I’d say that Nate and I share far more similarities than differences. While he brings a laid-back Brooklyn vibe and more technical street-cred and my more corporate background matches my Manhattan address, we both are geeks at heart, love to teach, and both brought a very large network of friends and business connections.

2. Come up with a good name
We talk about how we came up with the name Reboot. Like true geeks, we didn’t start with a concept, or something quirky… we started on the web. What is a name that we could come up with that represented the conference, but was also an available URL.

We went through a brainstorming session, throwing out words like bootcamp, career, kickstart, jumpstart, and so on. In the end we had our winner because we were able to secure RebootWorkshop.com (for our 1 day event), RebootWeekend.com (if we want to expand to two days), and RebootNation.com (for when we take over the country).

3. Decide on the format
I think the thing that really made the conference work was our unique format, which was culled together from various sources.
a. The main structure was based partially on the Startup Bus Accelerate “unconference,” which Nate had attended recently.
b. We wanted the day loosely structured, so that we could change things on the fly and adapt to what was working
c. We needed to introduce our 10 speakers and give an overview, but wanted to avoid death by Powerpoint. I suggested the twist of “Ignite-style” presentations, which forced presenters to get their message across in 5 minutes flat. Every speaker had 20 slides, which auto-advanced after 15 seconds. It was a little nerve-wracking to present, it was fun, and it worked.
d. Allow time to network. This was built in during lunch, in between sessions, and afterward.

4) Secure speakers through our personal network
Nate and I talk about how getting amazing speakers was actually the EASIEST thing for us. Both of us brought a strong network to the table and we quickly listed out a group of 15-20 people that might be interested. From there, we narrowed down dates, availability, and relevance to the topic. The list of speakers is available on the Reboot Workshop website.

5. Sponsorship
We knew that we had a valuable audience, but would a sponsor step up to the plate for a brand new conference? We were going to find out.
Here are the steps we took:
a. Create a media kit talking about the audience and the speakers
b. Reach out to your network
c. Divide sponsorships into levels
d. Be willing to exchange sponsorship status in exchange for promotion

Saul Colt stepped up right away and said that Freshbooks would be a premier sponsor of the conference. Now, was this “cheating” since Freshbooks was already a sponsor of this podcast? I say no. We still had to have relationships in place, we needed to bring a targeted audience, and we needed to pull off a 6 hour event without a hitch.

We also named THIRTEEN contributing sponsors that helped us out in many different ways, from promoting the event to their audience, to donating supplies and prizes.

6. Location
When it comes to location, let me tell you it is NOT inexpensive to rent out a large space in New York City. Thus, once again we worked connections, decided on a space and lined it up early. We went with the New Work City co-working space, which is where Nate was working from as a freelancer. Tony and Peter were amazing and gave us access to set up the night before, and the huge loft was great for our purposes. Plus, the key was that everything we were talking about in the conference — leaving your job to go out on your own — gelled with what New Work City did, which is support independent workers.

7. Create a web presence
With any modern business, you need a web presence. Nate and I talk about how we did so quickly in three steps:
a. Built on a low-cost premium WordPress theme
b. Hired a designer for a professional logo treatment
c. Build the site based on best practices from other conferences

8. Collecting money
OK, now that you have a product, how do you collect the money? Once again, we didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. We wanted to use an established site such for commerce that would easily integrate into WordPress, so we chose Eventbrite.com. One of the main advantages, was their ability to give custom, trackable discounts.

9. How do you market your conference?
What did we learn from marketing the conference? How do you get the word out? We touch on several topics:
a. Using each speaker’s extended network
b. Networking at meetup groups based on the conference topic
c. No magic bullet, you might have to go to an event of 200 people to make 2-3 key connections that will attend and tell friends
d. Hire a photographer and video person for future marketing
e. Partnering with key groups around the city and offering unique deals to spread the word

10. Pricing
One somewhat controversial decision was pricing. We made it just $40 (including lunch) so that it would be accessible to all and make it a complete no-brainer to attend. Our goal as unknown entity for our first round was to keep a low barrier to entry and then blow people away with value. Still, others urged us to make the event free -or- charge upwards of $200 or more. Download the podcast to find out the one key move we made halfway through that encouraged earlier signups.

11. What didn’t go right?
Of course, we’d be lying if we said everything was PERFECT. In fact, I don’t think we even mentioned that I got violent food poisoning the night before, to the point where I lost my voice, barely made it through my speech, and at one point lost hearing in my right ear! We explain the one thing we’re definitely going to outsource for the next round.

12. The future of Reboot
With the success of our first conference, we’re excited to not only do more, but to make this a real business entity. We’re focusing on three things:
a. Reboot Newsletter sponsored by Emma email, to let people know about future events and speakers that support the Reboot brand (sign up here)
b. Reboot Happy Hours used for pure networking and fun, held regularly to build the brand and promote the conference. Find Reboot Happy Hours on Meetup.com
c. Quarterly Reboot Conferences, maybe even a summer getaway conference

Get more info at RebootWorkshop.com
Want to become a sponsor? Email nate [at] rebootnation.com

Jim talks about how to overcome fear in your life and Jonathan Fields’ new book Uncertainty.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

One of the best compliments anyone ever paid to me actually had to do with this podcast. I was walking down the street in New York with my girlfriend at the time, and we were talking about the origins of how I started this show. I was recanting about the things I had gone through, pitching the idea to Wired, setting everything up on the technical side, designing the website, and lining up people to interview and topics to talk about. Now that it is up and running a weekly routine, sometimes I forget how much effort went into the initial setup.

We stopped for a moment and she looked over at me and said,

‘You never once thought about what would happen if it failed, did you?’

It was an interesting question… one that caught me by surprise and made me stop and really think about the answer, transporting myself back through time to put myself in that place when I was just starting out. I thought long and hard, did an honest assessment, and then gave her my answer:

‘No. It never once crossed my mind that this venture could fail.’

For some reason that exchange has stuck in my mind since that day. Was this something unique to me, or did a lot of people go about life in the same way?

In this case, I’m guessing I wasn’t too stressed because I probably didn’t view it as having a lot at stake. It was more of a fun project that I was doing on the side and wasn’t costing me any money.

But I could see a situation where a lot of people might worry about failure:
- Wired had made a commitment to me to put this podcast up on iTunes
- It would live there with my name and face on it, for millions to see
- I’d need an endless stream of topics and guests for content
- I had never done a podcast before in my life, and thus the show could, well, suck

Not a single one of these thoughts entered my mind.

Then I thought about a few situations when fear, personal safety, and finances really WERE a factor (ones that regular listeners know well)
- In 1998 I declared I would quit my job and move to a new city, even without finding a new work first
- I then moved 3,000 miles away from home to a place where I knew no one
- The day before 9/11, I signed a lease on my NY apartment, yet never once thought about not moving here, despite enormous uncertainty
- I spent months of hard work and more than $1,500 of my own money writing a book, not knowing if I would ever sell a single copy or download

Was I ever afraid in these situations? I’m not sure fear is the right word.

What about you?

Think back on some life-changing decisions in your life. In retrospect, what were you feeling when you took a chance and decided to leave that job you hated, speak your mind in a tense situation, or take a chance and kiss that cute girl or guy?

What I think you’ll find, is that around the time of most uncertainty and fear, is the time you grew the most – whether things worked out or not.

As I look back for a pattern in the times I was able to overcome my fears, I would offer the following tips:
1) Listen to your heart. If your gut is telling you to make that move or launch that product or leave a bad situation, it’s probably right. You can’t fool that voice inside.

2) Acknowledge the negative, but focus on the positive. Do not bury your head in the sand and ignore the potential obstacles that could derail you, but don’t obsess over them.

Worried about money? Build up a small backup fund first. Can’t sleep at night without healthcare from a full-time job? There are many plans for freelancers that will cover you. Once you have a backup plan for some of your fears, focus your energy on all the good things that could happen.

3) Allow fear to motivate you. There are countless athletes that will tell you that a fear of failure is their greatest motivation. They are so afraid of missing that last second shot in front of millions, that they use that as motivation to practice more until they are confident that they are prepared for anything.

Which brings us to a man named Jonathan Fields.

I don’t remember when he first popped up on my radar, but I’ve been reading his blog over at JonathanFields.com for a long time.

I soon realized that we had a lot in common.
- Blogging. We both had the same blogging style, talking about business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and new media… mixed with the funny, cocky, pop-culture mix that only a New Yorker could possess. But I often found myself finishing one of his posts and saying ‘Darn, I wish I had written that.’

- Speaking. We were both public speakers. But while I am just beginning to get invites to larger events, he has already spoken at SXSW (my application to do so is in), World Domination Summit (I’m on the waiting list to attend), and TED (add this to one of my long-term goals).

- Writing. We were both authors. While Jonathan had already published his first major book Career Renegade in 2009, his second book and my first had their major due dates around the same time, so we were able to swap a few emails around the stress that occurs during this process.

- Fate. Then I found out something that I almost wish we didn’t have in common: September 10, 2001. While this day served as a turning point for me, signing my lease for my move to New York, it was equally as pivotal for him, as it was the day he signed a lease to open his own yoga studio. As we know, the next day changed everything.

- Friends. The final surprise item that we have in common? I knew for a long time that if I decided to spend the money for a high-quality book trailer, that I wanted to use Michelle Vargas and her crew to film and edit it. I made the plunge and on our kickoff call, I asked them if they’d specifically worked on any book trailers before. Her response? ‘Yes! We just finished one up last week for this author named Jonathan Fields!’

The difference? While my trailer was light and fun, Jonathan’s is very powerful. Check it out:

So how does this all tie together?

When you’re afraid of something, an important thing to do is to find someone that has been down the same path before and follow them.  Seeing that someone else has had the same fears and overcome them can make your path seem less daunting.

So I’ve seen what Jonathan has done as a blogger, speaker, and author, and it makes me want to do it much better.

He’s also crushing it for the launch of his second book, Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance which goes on sale Thursday September 29, 2011.

- For the first part, he put together some very very cool offers designed to move not just 1 book, but packages of multiple books. This is something I had hoped to do with my launch, but didn’t end up pulling off. He even made a hilarious offer to shave your company logo in the back of his head and dye his hair any color you want if you buy 10,000 books.

Me? I took him up on his offer and bought 3 books, so that in return I would get some coaching from him in a group session. See the offers here (note: he only has these up fora limited time).

- For the second part, he reached out to his ‘tribe’ and motivated them to spread the word. As a reward, he is giving away 5 personal coaching consultations.

So to give full disclosure, yes, a small reason I am writing this post is for the chance to win that personal consultation. However, I really feel I can learn from him, and if I become a better writer, speaker, and author, that helps those of you out there listening to me right now. I also really like supporting fellow bloggers and authors, as they have supported me. It’s called community and karma, people.

In terms of the Uncertainty book itself, I saw a sneak preview of the book awhile ago and it immediately pulled me right in. However, it was password protected format online, and I don’t like reading that way, so I am waiting to get the actual book in the mail to read the entire thing. Then I can give an honest review on the entire book itself.

OFFER FROM JIM

In the spirit of the topic, maybe you as a listener look up to me just a bit. I’m not trying to brag here, as I know I’ve been very, very fortunate in the things I’ve been able to accomplish in my life. I have a lot to be thankful for. Perhaps you yearn to live in New York, want to start a podcast, write your own blog, or publish a book, but some kind of fear is holding you back and you hope someone can give you a few pointers.

If that’s the case, do the following:
Write me at marketingguy [at] wired.com and tell me your “fear” story
The best one that I select will receive
a) One of the copies of Jonathan’s book that I bought (US addresses only)
b) A 1 hour Skype consultation with me about any topic (blogging, podcasting, salary negotiation, career planning, etc)

Looking forward to hearing from you!

———————
Note: Some links in this post contain affiliate links

Jim interviews Soraya Darabi, co-founder and CMO of Foodspotting.com and New Media Strategist for ABC News.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

Some people spend their entire careers building toward that one, life-fulfilling, amazing job.

Others will look back as they retire and be able to point to some good jobs, some great jobs, and a few missteps.

But in looking at the career path that 27-year-old Soraya Darabi has already taken so far, it could serve as a blueprint for “How to develop a well-rounded social media resume in the digital age.”

In fact, it is interesting enough that going through her career progression was all that was needed in terms of structure for this interview. As time ran out on us, I knew I wouldn’t get to address a topic that she explores often — the challenges women face as entrepreneurs and the advantages of being a woman in business.

Thus, we didn’t get to delve into what it was like being featured as one of the young rising female stars on the cover of a prominent business/technology magazine, but hey, I’d already been down that road before.

Ironically, we glossed over her first job where we briefly worked together, when she was a Communications Coordinator at CondeNet (now Conde Nast Digital).

And while no job is perfect, here is why Conde Nast is such a great place to work… you get exposure to so many aspects of a business that you can’t leave here without furthering your career.

The overarching mothership has its roots in the publishing industry for sure (making it great for writers, editors, designers, and fashionistas), but their drive into the digital space has been prominent (and in some cases, dominant), giving Generation Y a playground for web designers, writers, and engineers, not to mention iPhone, iPad, and social media platforms. For someone looking to work in PR/Communications, the strength of Conde’s brands goes a long way.

From there, Soraya took a position in a similar situation… a historic publishing brand wading into new media waters — The New York Times. But this time it was all about timing. She started there in September 2007, just as social media really started to explode.

According to Wikipedia, Twitter had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007, but rose to 100 million tweets posted per quarter in 2008. Additionally, Facebook announced their business pages around November of 2007.

Soraya was there to help pull the “Gray Lady” into the social media age. The key was partnering with key writers that embraced the change, while helping to educate others that needed to be convinced.

So as she evolved into the Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social-Media Marketing, leading an old school titan into the one of the most prominent names in the digital marketplace, why would she leave?

She saw her friends and other entrepreneurs around her out there building their own platforms, not just helping others. She wanted in.

Soraya talks about transitioning from an iconic building in Times Square to a single room in Brooklyn filled with developers, pizza, and creativity. After online file sharing service drop.io was bought by Facebook, that led her to her now full-time gig at Foodspotting.com.

While I don’t remember who said it or what the context was, I do remember the first time I heard about Foodspotting. The person was thinking about current trends, and “manufacturing” a product around the perfect storm of emerging trends. Those were:

- The explosive growth of smartphones
- Geolocation built into those phones
- Improved, “always with you” cameras on all those phones
- Check-in services like Foursquare
- Social networks for sharing information
- Online review sites such as Yelp
- People’s obsession with food

Combine all those elements and you have Foodspotting, a way to find your next great meal. In a city of 18,000 restaurants, New York City residents crave direction on where to go and what to order.

By using the service, users can find great meals, not just great restaurants, and discover them by viewing “food porn” … glorious photos of sushi and Kobe burgers and pancakes dripping with syrup, as opposed to text reviews of lazy waiters.

Our conversation later turned to a topic I had asked her about in a presentation… how to deal with social media fatigue. I mean, after all, once we get people off the phone to come to dinner, and they text someone, check in on Foursquare, view the score of the game, send off an email, and post a tweet… now they have to take out their camera and take a photo to upload to Foodspotting?

She responded that there are basically two solutions…

1) Social media sites will become more niche.
Photographers will gravitate to Instagram, location and badge junkies will be on Foursquare, and those craving the latest news will be on Twitter. She feels the target of those passionate about great dining will end up on Foodspotting.

2) Move away from feeling you HAVE to post, to what you WANT to read and share
There are lots of social media networks, but you don’t have to be on them all. Sure, people in the industry should know about them and check them out. Hence the rapid adoption of Google+. But that doesn’t mean you need to post to ALL networks ALL the time.

Soraya now finds herself posting fewer items per day, fewer times per week, and is favoring Tumblr over Twitter, and Foodspotting over Facebook. Use the network that matches your goals.

You can find her at Foodspotting | Twitter | Tumblr

Again, for the full interview, I highly recommend giving it a listen:
- Play it below:

Jim takes a break from social media to give 14 simple words of advice.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

When it comes to resolutions, everyone makes a big deal around New Years Day.

But what about the six month mark? The halfway point? 188 days in as I post this.
How many people revisit their goals and take a look at where they are heading?

So this week is going to be a bit different. Sure, it could be because we’re coming off a long weekend (4th of July) and I’m heading into a long weekend (Friday day off).

And it could be because I often read blogs that step back every few posts and talk about real life.

So today I’m going to bypass social media, interviews, and marketing speak, and get back to basics.

Because if you don’t take a step back and evaluate things once in awhile, you’re not going to perform at peak output when it’s time to tackle that next project. I was going to call this “14 key words for entrepreneurs,” but I think it is true for everyone. So whether you are burnt out at your job, have social media fatigue, or are thrilled to be starting a new project, check out:

14 Words to Live By (In groups of two)

(Listen to the podcast for my full discussion on each topic)

Eat Right
If you picture your body as a finely-tuned car, then you need to put the right fuel in to perform. This isn’t about going on a diet. It’s about taking the extra step and making healthy choices. If you can avoid super-sizing and choose the salad over fries once in awhile, it will add up.

I also urge you to get out of new habits and try new foods, and make time to plan long meals with friends and truly savor good food, instead of plopping down in front of the TV and wolfing down a Hot Pocket.

Work Out
Ideally, this means doing strength training and cardio. But it doesn’t mean you have to be a gym rat or train for a marathon. All of the other things in life, from work projects to hobbies to day-to-day living get a lot harder if you’re tired, sick, or injured. The health benefits of working out are well-documented, but the most recent one I love the most is Richard Branson being asked how to be more productive, and his answer was “work out.”

Even on NYC Subway ads, they are dispensing advice (check the podcast to fine out). So park in the far parking lot at the mall, take the stairs vs the elevator, and if you want to circle a marathon on the calendar and train for it, all the better.

Where to start? How about Everything Jim Knows About Running.

Work Hard
What? You want me to work hard?
- Well, at least work smart.
- Be present at your job.
- Do something you are proud of.
- Do it well.

Listen, maybe you’re one of the many people that hate their jobs. If so, work hard at finding a new one.

Play Hard
According to Money Magazine, 37% of US employees did not use up their vacation. That’s just not right. Neither is employers offering just 2 weeks vacation, even for 10 or 15 year veterans switching to a new job.

In fact, Money said it took 2 weeks to fully decompress from the job in order to rejuvenate and come back ready to work again.

We just had the 4th of July here in the US. Is rest of the summer planned? What about Fall or a winter ski trip? Get it on the calendar!
And it doesn’t have to be expensive. Check out one of the many home swap websites, where you can do a home exchange and live somewhere awesome for free.

The same goes for sports and hobbies. Whether you’re a triathlete in training, a casual gardener, or somewhere in between (a gardener in training?), take your free time seriously.

Stay Busy
They say “Idle hands are The Devil’s workshop.” That means when you don’t have anything to do, you will probably do something bad.

So fill up your calendar with things that engage you. When you’re always busy, it’s tough to worry so much about your problems.

Family, Friends
Make sure to take the time to really connect with friends and family. And not just on Facebook!

Use technology to your advantage. I’m heading home to see family this weekend, to see the four kids under six. Well actually, there are three children under six (nieces and nephews), and my Dad turns 70. Sometimes he’s like a kid… I’m taking him to Fenway park, buying him some hot dogs, we’ll be riding the subway, and spending quality time together.

If things are going great, share your happiness with a good meal or bottle of wine. And if things hit a bump, they will be the ones to support you.

Get Sleep
Can’t say I’ve been real good at this one. As you know I write this blog in my spare time, and was up until 1am writing it out. But I’m trying really hard to push toward 8 hours (although 7 is more likely).

Hey, it’s not easy in the city that never sleeps, but I’m trying.

Hopefully this mid-year break was a good way to step back and evaluate. Now go attack the rest of 2011.

Jim

Jim talks about his experience using Grubwithus.com, a new startup fostering social meals, group dining, and meeting new people.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, IM, Blogs, Forums, Multi-player games, Tumblr.

Let’s face it. We all have PLENTY of ways to meet other people ONLINE.

What we really need are more ways to meet people socially — in real life.

- Studies show that up to 80% of jobs are found through networking.
- Salespeople have long known that face-to-face meetings are crucial. People like to buy from people they like and people they’ve met.
- While online dating has exploded and the chances of meeting your soulmate in a bar after 2am dwindle, the sweet spot of putting yourself in social situations with people you have things in common with is a pretty good option.
- And finally, if we all don’t stop spending 12 hours a day staring at some kind of screen, a little bit of our soul gets lost.

That’s what makes GrubWith.Us, a new service that is using the power of the web and social media to get people interacting over great meals, so interesting.

Why are they hot?
Pedigree
GrubWithUs comes from renowned startup accelerator Y Combinator, which has kick started many new companies, including Conde Nast-owned reddit.com. In fact, it was reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian who made the initial introduction.

The company was founded by Daishin Sugano and Eddy Lu with a simple concept: How do you meet people when you’re new to a city? The friends had relocated from California to Chicago to start another company, and realized that dinner parties are a great way to network.

The idea took off and they were recently profiled in Steven Levy’s amazing WIRED Magazine piece, Y Combinator Is Boot Camp for Startups.

Funding
As of June 2011, GrubWithUs was hosting meals in six cities – Chicago, New York, San Francisco, LA, Washington DC, and Boston – with Seattle and Atlanta coming soon.

That kind of expansion, the seal of approval from Y Combinator, and a little bit of frothy internet investment buzz brought the investors running, to the tune of $1.6 million in first round funding, including buy-in from Ohanian himself, Marc Andreessen, and Ashton Kutcher.

Press
Of course, who needs any more press after you’ve been mentioned on The Hopkinson Report podcast, but it doesn’t hurt when you’ve had the requisite coverage on Techcrunch, a nice write-up in The New York Times, and interviews as you enter a new city like Washington, DC.

How it works
A handy cartoon on their website spells out the basics in three steps:
1) Browse though listings and find people to eat with and/or places to eat at.
2) Reserve a seat through their hassle-free payment system. Meals are usually in the $25 range, although current listings show a $44 meal at a higher-end location in New York City and a $15 meal at a Thai restaurant in DC.
3) Show up, eat and socialize! Most meals have 6-8 people.

The problem it solves
The reason GrubWithUs could endure and be successful like Meetup.com or Groupon (two sites that they’ve been compared to), is that it works for all three parties involved.

1) For attendees, it fulfills a need. It allows people new to a city, people looking to flirt, or people looking for business ideas to connect with a new audience in a simple way. The money for the meal is paid up front, so there’s no haggling over the check at the end of the dinner. Everyone is in the same boat.

2) For the restaurants, it’s a new form of marketing, and gets a large group of social people in the door. The website shows beautiful photos of the meal, as well as the menu of what will be served. They also position themselves as attracting a higher-end social audience, as opposed to a Groupon audience that might be only searching for a low price deal.

3) It works for GrubWithUs. They approach the restaurant with a value proposition of bringing in brand new clients, and charge a fee to help set everything up.

Interesting Facts from co-founder Daishin Sugano:
- Our top user, Abi, has been to 30 meals (to put that in perspective, I’ve been to 32 meals)
- 65% of our meals sell out
- 54% of the site is female and 46% are male
- Some of the top schools that our user base attended are: UC Berkeley, Stanford, USC, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , NYU, Columbia, Penn, Northwestern, Georgetown, and Michigan
- Some of the top employers that our users work for: Google, Facebook, MTV, Microsoft, Accenture
- Upcoming cities are Seattle, Austin, and Philly

Case study: GrubWithUs in action – with a twist

So far I’ve told you how GrubWithUs usually works… 8 strangers get together and meet for the first time and the talk leads to wherever the conversation may flow.

But they also have some variations. One example is a charity dinner, where users pay a much higher fee to attend the meal, with the remaining proceeds going to charity. The twist is that the host of the meal are the co-founders of a Silicon Valley investment team.

Once again, it’s win-win-win all around. The VCs get to meet new people, money goes to charity, and the glassy-eyed startup hopefuls get 2 hours of advice, the chance to pitch their business plan, and the dream of being the next company to be founded.

So when Alexis introduced me to co-founder Daishin and mentioned that I had just published a book, a light went on and we hatched a plan.

A short time later, my smiling mug was up on the meal calendar at Nomad, a tapas-style restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village with the title:

Grub with Jim Hopkinson, Wired.com’s Marketing Guy and author of Salary Tutor: Learn the Salary Negotiation Secrets No One Ever Taught You

(click for larger image)

The result? It sold out in 1 hour.

As for the experience, it went exactly as advertised. The people were very social and friendly, the food itself exceeded my expectations, and the conversation was lively.

I tried very hard to strike a balance so that I didn’t dominate the meal
- First, I asked if they signed up to ask me marketing and Wired questions, or salary tips (most were the latter)
- Then I had each guest introduce themselves and give their story.
- Finally, I tried to address each situation individually, and the whole group learned from the experience.

- One person was an entrepreneur wondering whether to accept a full time salary
- Another felt she couldn’t ask for a raise since her company was paying for grad school
- A third felt underpaid at her current job and wanted to know next steps
- And a fourth actually received a job offer just hours before the dinner, and wanted to know how to proceed

It went so well, that we immediately scheduled two more dinners, and narrowed the focus just to a single topic:

Grub with Jim Hopkinson, salary negotiation expert

The result of the second meal was similar. A great group of people with various backgrounds.

They were a little less interactive – maybe it was that they were more polite – but even though I forced myself to stop talking about Salary Tutor tips and ask them for feedback and questions, I found myself talking a lot, coming up with example after example of ways to help them negotiate.

We did a few role playing examples of what to say during negotiation, and it was fun seeing them get nervous the first time – as almost all people do – but to really own it and nail it by the end of the night.

Summary

Will GrubWithUs expand to Meetup’s 45,000 cities or Groupon’s multi-billion dollar valuations? Not likely. The service is too removed from being a purely web-based business to grow that quickly.

But can it get people hunched over their laptops with a Red Bull to leave the house and hunch over a Chicken Kebob platter with a redhead?

You bet.

Check them out at Grubwithus.com

[Disclaimer: Per internet blogging rules, I should note that I am friends with Alexis Ohanian, and he's an investor in the startup, and also that I worked with the founders to promote my personal project. This post may contain affiliate links. But again, I try to only talk about products and services I've used, and this was an honest review.]

Jim interviews Byron Bennett, owner of a NYC chocolate shop about how a small business uses Facebook, Twitter, QR codes, Websites, and his experience with Groupon.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

It’s one thing for media companies to be on social media, but lately I’ve been fascinated with how small businesses are doing this. I met with Byron Bennett, the owner of The Chocolate Library, a small-business in Manhattan’s East Village and we discuss the challenges he faces.

Besides, he just happened to bring along some of his amazing inventory of chocolates from around the world. He tells me that 97% of people enjoy chocolate.

Count me in as one of them.

Summary of Topics covered:

BACKGROUND
- Byron’s background at a wine store before he started this business
- Why wine stores and supermarkets need a kiosk to help shoppers
- The similarities between wine and chocolate
- The effect of luxury goods during a recession
- The story behind the “library” classification in his store, and how he ended up on The New York Times.

SOCIAL MEDIA
- His store’s presence on Facebook
- Why he choses NOT to run his own Twitter page
- Why Google Local and Yelp are so important to small businesses
- His goal of ranking for the word “chocolate”
- The advantage QR codes have for retaining customers

GROUPON CASE STUDY
Just a few days before our interview, Techcrunch ran a story titled “Groupon Was The Single Worst Decision I Have Ever Made As A Business Owner.’ This made me even more curious to talk about his experience.

What did Byron learn? Listen to the podcast to hear about:

- The 2 other group buying services he used before trying Groupon
- His goal of reducing inventory — and the pitfalls of mismanaging that for small businesses
- The average transaction for his store — and whether or not the Groupon test exceeded that
- Whether or not the program attracted NEW customers to his location
- What type of businesses are better suited for Groupon and Living Social deals

- Bottom line — Is it worth it for a small business to try Groupon?

Jim interviews Michelle Ward, aka The When I Grow Up Coach, who explains exactly what a life coach is, and how she helps creatives going through career transitions.

- Download podcast: Via iTunes | Save to your computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

What the heck is a “Life Coach” and why would I need one? Well, this week Jim interviews certified life coach Michelle Ward, also known as The When I Grow Up Coach, to find out her journey and answer those questions.

Summary of Topics covered:

- Michelle’s lifelong passion for theater and entertainment, leading to a cameo on Saturday Night Live and (off, off) Broadway
- Her transition away from the arts and into a “grown up” job
- The intense, unmistakable moment that she knew she could not work at her full-time job another day
- Her transition and training as a certified life coach, leading to helping more than 100 creative people devise the career they think they can’t have
- How she has expanded her business from 1:1 coaching to group sessions and workshops
- The development of “Operation Creative Career Cheer,” a 50-page illustrated rhyming career change workbook
- Yes, a rhyming career change workbook. I told you she was in theater, right?

We also discuss
- How she uses social media and referrals to get clients
- Who should go to a life coach, and how they will benefit
- Macro trends of people overwhelmed at work and wanting to get out of the cubicle
- How are millennials approaching their career differently than others
- How do they measure the ROI of a lifecoach
- Examples of success stories, from Israel to Japan to Minnesota

Learn more:
When I Grow Up Coach Website | Facebook | Twitter | What is coaching?

Today I interview Michael Margolis, and he tells us how to tap into your superhero origins to create the most important page on your website – your About Me page.

- Download the podcast via iTunes
- Download the podcast to your computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

Podcast Transcript: 5/10/2011

Hi, this is Jim Hopkinson; I’m your Marketing Guy, bringing you the marketing trends that matter. Welcome!

Today I interview Michael Margolis, and he tells us how to tap into your “superhero origins” to create the most important page on your website, your “About Me” page.

Jim Hopkinson: Hey everybody, this is Jim, welcome to the podcast. Today I have a fantastic guest, Michael Margolis, who is the dean of Story University and the creator of a new program called, ‘The New About Me.’  So, welcome, Michael.

Michael Margolis: Hey, what’s happening, Jim?

JH: So, you’re kind of out on a personal mission to help people reinvent their bio as a story. So, talk about that for a second.

MM: Yeah, you know, I think part of it for me is; I sort of think about this as personal branding minus the icky stuff. I started realizing my own journey over the last few years; I went through a lot of reinvention in my career, and I’d always been a story teller. But part of what was missing for me is I think personal branding, in many ways, it’s sort of has made a lot of us kind of feel kind of gross. Or sort of like, ‘Ahhh, do I have to be that obnoxious person who’s like, look at me, look at me, aren’t I cool?’ Jim, I don’t know if you realize how much of a big deal I really am.

JH: [Laughter] Yeah, do you have a podcast, do you have like an icon with your photo on it, like I do? ‘Look at me, right?’

MM: Well, unfortunately, actually, I do like, I’ve got T-shirts and I’ve got mugs and I’ve got a manifesto and a blog, and I’ve got all sorts of stuff. But, it’s less about having the stuff and it’s more about your persona and how do you share more about who you are in a way that people can actually connect with you and relate to you.

JH: Yeah, cause it’s really hard right now, a lot of people have used social media to do this, right? It’s a great thing – you can have your own podcast, your own blog, you can have a Tumblr account and do videos, and it’s a great thing and you want to share this, but, you don’t want to be “that guy”, right?

MM: Exactly.

JH: How do you strike that balance?

MM: Yeah, so I’ve learned a lot really looking at the essential principles at the heart of storytelling. OK, so there are a few things that you can start thinking about this, number one, most of us, when you look at most people’s bios, let’s just get some things out of the way.

JH: Yup.

MM: Unless, you’re a celebrity or a CEO with a big entourage and/or a publicist…

We all know you wrote your bio!

JH: [Laughter]

MM: OK, you’re not fooling anybody with this third person voice that we all go through, right, so that’s the dirty little secret to this. When we’re reading people’s bios, and of course, right, the bio, your About page, is the number one page people visit on a website after they go to the homepage. So, people are looking at your About page and all the other social media stuff you have out there, right? Those are all the bread crumbs that take people back to your website and to your About page. People read that About page and they go, ‘Huh, is this person a [d-bag]? Is this person full of himself or can I relate to them? Can I myself, do I want to be in a relationship with this person?’

JH: Exactly. And we jumped right into it, so, almost back to exactly what you said. People have these platforms up now; who are the types of people you’re trying to reach? Are they authors, speakers…?

MM: Here’s what I started to think about which is, really, this program is for authors, speakers, bloggers, consultants, and entrepreneurs – anybody whose business is directly tied to their personal story.

JH: And that’s really important right now, so if you’re out there and if you’re listening to this, and you’re doing marketing, so if you’re anyone of those people you probably have a website, you better have a website. And like we said, ‘The number one page people are going to go to, you do it out to everyone, is not in your head right now. You know, you get someone’s business card, or maybe you don’t know them, and you didn’t meet them in person, and they’re like, ‘Oh, check me out at ABC.com.’ And, you go there and you’re like, ‘Oh, this looks like a website.’ And, you make that judgment, and the first thing you do is you click on their About page – do they have a photo up there, do they like your favorite team, are they all business, do they have a video on there? And it’s amazing that that’s the number one page with huge repercussions, but people probably don’t spend enough time thinking what it should be.

MM: Well, and in all fairness, Jim…

Who taught you how to write your bio?

JH: No one did. You look at other people’s, and you do that, ‘Jim Hopkinson is a marketing guy that lives in New York.’ Yeah, there’s no instruction manual.

MM: No, it’s a lesson that none of us picked up unless maybe it was like in the third grade, like Mrs. Johnson sort of taught you how to write about yourself a bit. Yet, the irony is today we all have to talk about ourselves, right? It’s the requirement, as you said, ‘You got to have a website, you have to have an About page, if you’re a speaker, if you’re a consultant, if you’re a blogger, entrepreneur – people need that bio.’

JH: Yup.

MM: And in many ways, people who are on those professions; a lot of us haven’t even been asked for our resume in years. It’s like the resume is dead and the bio is king!

JH: Yup.

MM: So, but being able to actually present yourself in a way that people will get a sense as to how you see the world, what makes you tick, what motivates you, who you serve, what you’re here to do, and then ultimately, also making yourself approachable that you’re like an ordinary person just like the rest of us. So, there’s a bunch of different ways you can go about doing this. One of the things is that I talk a lot about is ‘superhero origins.’

JH: I like that; that sounds good. Keep going…

MM: So, here’s how superheroes origins works. OK, think about your favorite superhero.

JH: OK.

MM: Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, down the line. They all have an epic origin backstory for how they came into their powers.

Superfriends is a trademark of DC Comics

JH: Mmmhmm.

MM: Because we often forget there are very, very few superheroes that are born superheroes. What happens is you are made a superhero whose circumstances and the choices that you make in the face of those circumstances. So, in the case of Batman, here was this young little kid, I think he five or six years old, born in a family of billionaire parents, he sees his parents gunned down before his very eyes, and in that moment his life is forever changed. And, we know how the rest of the story goes, he ends up devoting his life and his family’s riches towards justice, and basically, making the world right again. And so, think about that for your own self, like we all have this sort of seed or kernel story that speaks to our own origins and out of that how our motivations emerged.

I’ll give you a great example of this. Take like Gary V. for instance – like Gary Vaynerchuck, right?

MM: We all love his passion, his energy, and he’s one of the poster child[ren] in the social media movement. He does a masterful job of telling a superhero backstory.

JH: Right. Grew up in New Jersey, parents running a liquor store, and they didn’t have that much sales and he said, ‘I’m going to build this into a conglomerate.’ Right? Is there more? There’s more.

MM: There’s more.

JH: Did he get bitten by a radioactive spider?

MM: [Laughter] Dude, there’s something in his water he’s drinking – without a doubt. So, he actually, he was born in Belarus…

JH: That’s right. OK.

MM: So, he’s the immigrant son story, came to the States; he also talks about being a natural born hustler. He talks about the fact that he was selling baseball cards, making a thousand dollars a weekend. He had a franchise of lemonade stands in the neighborhood, right, there’s like this whole mythic origin – this is a guy who’s born to hustle. And then, he gets pulled into the family business – ‘Shopper’s [Local] Discount Liquors.’

JH: Wonk, wonk. [Laughter]

MM: Exactly. Right? And so from there he steps back and, he’s like, ‘Oh, wait a second.’ You know, like after he recovers from the disappointment, he got pulled into the family business. It’s like, ‘Wait, people’s passion for wine is kind of the same obsessive passion that people have for baseball cards. It’s actually lo and behold about the story, right? And so, there is this epic backstory to Gary V. that we’ve fallen in love with. Now, some people hear that and they go, ‘Well, dude, we’ve all seen Gary V., and I ain’t no Gary V’ – understandable. But there are other ways you can do this.

I have a friend of mine in Washington, D.C., her name’s Margarita, and in her bio; she’s a coach. And she has this awesome origin backstory. She tells this story of how she first honed her coaching skills in kindergarten when she like mastered the art of tying her shoe laces after which she got in front of the class and taught all of her classmates how to tie her shoe laces. And, how from there she went on to continue to help people figure things out. And if you know Margarita, you’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that is so Margarita.’

JH: I can see her doing that, as you say, right.

MM: Yeah, right. You know, that’s her personality, it’s very like, ‘Miss Congeniality.’ So, your own epic

origin backstory could be something that happened to you as a kid. It could be something that happened to you in your early career. But, it’s about giving people the context that helps them understand how you’ve come to see the world the way that you see the world.

JH: Alright, so when people are putting together their About page, let’s get some bad examples for us. I guess the worst example would be not having one at all, right?

MM: Yup.

JH: And are there things that should not be in an About page, what are some bad things that you shouldn’t have in there?

MM: Well, here’s my perspective on it. And, that is, Jim, I think people spend too much time trying to validate themself, instead of actually standing in the power of their own natural authority. Let me explain what I mean by that. There’s no greater turn off than starting to read somebody’s bio that starts with a long list of 12 difference accolades including how Time Magazine calls this person, ‘One of the Ten Smartest People in the World.’ What that says to me is this person is really insecure if that’s how they need to start their story. Don’t get me wrong, we all need external validators and social proof in our bio. In my experience what really works, though, is when you introduce those two-thirds or three-quarters of the way down in your bio, because you want to stand firm, and […], like you want to lead with, number one, who am I?, what do I do and who do I serve? Because, we always forget this. When you’re writing a bio, just like when you’re telling a story, you need to do it in service to your audience.

JH: Right.

MM: Most of the time we write our bio for our own ego validation. So, that’s the thing, that’s one of the things you really want to pay attention to and really think about, if you’re writing this in service to your audience – name your audience; who are you working in service to? Like, I’ve always worked with innovators and changemakers and taught them how to get others to believe in their story. And, I serve that audience because that’s been my own path in life.

You know, my dad’s an inventor, my mom’s an artist and teacher; I was a social entrepreneur early in my career, and I’ve always worked with new, different ideas or visionary world-changing projects and looked at how do I translate and get that story out into the mainstream.

JH: So, should you start, should you write it in the third person, or in the first person? Is there a right or wrong way?

MM: You know that’s a great question; a lot of debate that people have around that, I believe there’s value for both. The act of writing your bio in first person is more approachable and accessible. And, certainly if you have your own website, your own blog, and part of your editorial point of view through the rest of your site is in first person, by all means, also write your bio in first person. You also are going to need a third person version of that bio if you’re on the speaking circuit or if you’re an author and it’s the back of the cover, there’s going to be times and places you need the third person version.

JH: That’s almost like a resumé; you want multiple versions of your bio depending on what the value is, what the task that you’re going after.

MM: Yeah, ultimately, and this scares people, this is kind of like the advanced sort of level to get to is you need to have a one page bio, a one paragraph bio, and a one sentence bio.

JH: No, I think that’s definitely true. I’ve seen that on, I’ve done some speaking here and there, sometimes you need it for books, sometimes you need it for a class that you’re teaching and everyone needs something different.

MM: Yup.

JH: I change mine constantly. Like I’m never happy with what I have.

MM: We are all guilty of that including me, Jim. Every single time, I do my share of sort of speaking and getting out and about, and every single time I’m submitting for some new event, I’m constantly tweaking and doing microedits on my bio. And I think there’s an aspect to it that’s OK, because part of it reflects the following: I don’t know about you, but my story is constantly evolving. I’m constantly creating new things – new products, new offerings, new happenings. You know I curate a virtual conference called, ‘The Reinvention Summit’ that in its first year we had 37 speakers and 500 participants. I’ve got my own podcast series; like, I have a hard time keeping up with my own story.

JH: Right.

MM: So, here’s the thing, what’s important for people to remember is the world is changing, your own life is changing and evolving, which means that your own bio needs to be revised on a regular basis. This is not some static thing; if you have the same bio that you had six months, or if you have the same bio you had a year or two ago, you know what, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and reedit it.

JH: Alright. So what about, are there certain photos you should put on there; what about a video bio? Is that something you should have on there?

MM: There are all sorts of really creative ways you can go about it. So, I have sort of a system, I take people through that teaches them sort of the fundamentals from a storytelling perspective; from kind of  making their purpose value statement to sharing a backstory, articulating their own point of view, introducing external validators and then humanizing personal details. So, that’s kind of like the core, but then I’ve seen this whole kaleidoscope – there are so many creative ways. Like, I’ll give you an example of one person’s bio I love. So, they have the regular bio on their page, and then next to it they have a reverse chronological history of their life.

JH: [Laughter]

MM: Every single year they were born they have one sentence written from the point of view of that age. So, it’s like, ’1997 Sega Genesis NHL 97 was a really big deal. My roommate had a TV in college!’ And

like this person has this little vignette about who they were and how they saw the world. That little, like sort of like that blip in time.

JH: Right.

MM: Really cool.

JH: ‘Age two – it’s only been one year, but, I’ve doubled in age.’ [Laughter] At this rate, at 64, the next three weeks, or something.

MM: Exactly.

JH: So, I’m almost afraid. Should we go through and look at my bio and point out all the things that are right and wrong?

MM: Yeah.

JH: And, maybe what we’ll do is we’ll have a revised vision, we can kind of go back to on the blog. So, it starts out for the Hopkinsonreport.com, ‘Jim Hopkinson lives in New York City and works for Wired.com – the online site of Wired Magazine, a monthly publication that is the first word on innovation and how it affects technology, business science, and popular culture.’

Alright, so that’s the intro. I’m looking at it right now and saying, ‘Well, does the fact that I live in New York mean anything?’ and I guess if it’s a Wired podcast, it’s good to give the background of what Wired is, and then it goes on to say, ‘He also works for other Conde Nast digital properties including Reddit, Ars, Technica, GQ, and Golf Digest.’ So, is that a good start, I’m kind of giving the background of Wired and where I work?

Below: Jim’s About Me page on May 11 — in need of an upgrade

MM: So, there’s a lot of great stuff there and, let’s be honest, the fact that you work for Wired Magazine is really freakin’ cool. Like we all relate to that, Wired’s got a really amazing halo around it and if you’re a nerd like me, you know if you work with technology, if you geek out on stuff, your position is something that people go, ‘Wow, I wonder angle or point of view Jim has.’

JH: And I think, personally, the reason I have the New York City is 1), because Wired is based in San Francisco, people might know that to show that I’m not in the San Francisco office, and 2), that it’s going to have kind of that New York City feel, so to speak. I don’t know, things happen really fast and I talk really fast, and it’s kind of that business attitude versus maybe the laid back kind of entrepreneurial Silicon Valley attitude; but, I don’t know.

MM: So, two things: 1) real quick, about naming where you live – that’s a great thing.

JH: OK.

MM: Remember, the key is to tell a story people can locate themselves into, or one of the first ways I need to locate myself in your story is time and place. Where are you?

JH: Yeah.

MM: You’re in New York City. It immediately conjures up an image in my mind’s eye. So, naming your location, whether that’s at the beginning of your bio or later on towards the end, just in general, it’s a good thing.

JH: Yup.

MM: Especially in our virtual world, people like to know, what are you tethered to, what’s your story of place. OK, now, you’ve got this lead all about Wired, which is cool, the one thing that’s missing for me, though, that I would like to see more of first, which is more about your point of view.

JH: Mmmm.

MM: Like how is it that you look at the world, like what’s your curiosity, and, actually if we look further down the page, it actually shows up where you describe about the podcast.

JH: Right.

MM: Where you’ve got here, ‘Jim Hopkinson, Wired.com’s Marketing Guy takes a fresh and funny look at the marketing trends that matter. From internet and new media to business and pop culture, Jim and his guests provide their unique perspective on marketing in the digital age.’ That’s heading more into a point of view. It’s sort of like, ‘Here’s my perspective on things.’ I think you can still take that point of view and perspective and actually even chisel it to a finer point, sort of a sharper tip of the pencil.

JH: Yup.

MM: One of the ways that I talk to people about this, around their thought leadership is it’s not so much about all of the answers. It’s not what you have to tell people in your bio, cause, let’s be honest, we live in such a complex age none of us have the answers right now. Instead, what you want to focus on is it’s about framing the right questions. So, think about whatever your niche is; whatever your field is, what’s missing from the conversation? You know, and I know that you actually have talked to me about this, the reason you started your podcast was you were thinking, you know, the world of technology, like we get a little too geeked out. What if we talked about pop culture with a bit of humor and playfulness about the latest happenings in the world of tech?

JH: Right.

MM: Right. That was the inception point for the podcast, right?

JH: Right. Because plenty reviews of the new Android Froyo phone that says, ‘Well, it’s got a 30.1GHz processor, and it has a 2.3 megapixel camera.’ I want to know does it take good pictures; can I take a picture with one hand at a party holding up above my head? Can I share that with my friends, and how are people really using this stuff, and when they put the button in the wrong place I like to rant about it and get really excited about why did they do this, and why don’t other people complain about this, as well?

MM: Totally. You’re really looking at the larger cultural context of stuff, looking at marketing trends and cultural social trends that are impacted by technology.

JH: Yup.

MM: So, I would encourage you, you want to lead your bio speaking more about your point of view. Like what’s the riddle you’re trying to solve? What are you really curious about most?

JH: And I can say, ‘I’m looking to solve riddles just like when I won a Rubix cube contest when I was in 8^th grade.’ That immediately classifies me as an ubergeek and one hand it makes me king of the geeks and then king of the losers, at the same time, I think.

MM: Absolutely. Yeah, that’s a great way to introduce that, sort of like anchoring things to your own backstory and mythos in a way that sort of gives you street cred for the story or the message you’re trying to put forward in the bio, totally.

JH: And then I go on and say, ‘In December 2009, Jim was named one of min online’s “Top 21 Social Media Superstars.” So, that was a little bit about that bragging you talked about that maybe could be a little bit lower. And then I kind of give almost like the resume look, ‘An avid sports fan – prior to Wired, Jim spent several years at ESPN, first as a technical producer in Seattle, followed by online marketing for ESPN.com and mobile ESPN in New York. And before that he was the third employee of a Boston-based multimedia startup which pioneered the use MPEG video within interactive applications.’ That’s almost the resume version which does give me that pop culture, ‘Oh, I’ve worked in sports, I’ve worked at a startup, I lived in different parts of the country’ – good or bad?

MM: It’s a bit of both. Here’s what you want to think about with the process of updating your bio. OK, it’s just like with good storytelling; it’s about taking the implicit and making it explicit. It’s taking the invisible and bringing it to the surface. So, it’s great that you’re giving me sort of the twists and turns of your career. The sense of like there was a chapter here, there was a chapter there, giving me a few kind of plot points along the way. And, there are some really great notable icons like your sports marketing background; it’s actually kind of interesting. The fact that you kind of were playing on the technical side of it, as well; but, what you haven’t done is connected the dots for me as the reader of why should I care.

JH: Right.

MM: Like, how does that experience inform or allow you to now do what you’re doing?

JH: And right as you’re talking about this, I already know exactly what I want need to do. It’s kind of like, ‘An average sports fan in 1998 he got fed up with pressing CD ROMs, and decided, he quit his job, moved all the way across the country to check out this new thing called the internet,’ you know? And then, talking about the third employee of a startup, why did I go to a startup; and what was the lesson I learned there? And, the one I tell all the times, it’s not one of those startups where you’re worth a billion dollars and they’re going to be stock options, it as one where you didn’t get paid a lot, and, you worked twice as many hours as a normal job.

MM: Yup. And the thing to remember, though, as you’re sharing those sort of kernels or details, is you want to keep asking yourself is what I am sharing is that in service to my audience whose going to be reading this, or is this just in service to my own ego validation of like, ‘Dude, you don’t know the troubles I’ve seen.’

JH: Right.

MM: Right?

JH: Did you know I was ranked as a ‘Top 100 Fantasy Hockey Player’ in the year 1999? But, what does that mean? So, if I think of the reader, it’s, I do so much ridiculous amounts of research, and I’m so dedicated to things that I’m passionate about that you’re in good hands with me when I start talking about something that I get fired up about.

MM: Yeah. You could talk about that your obsession with fact finding details, you know, led you to be a top ranked so and so of a fantasy league.

JH: Yeah.

MM: I think those are great ways of giving, it’s like you’re using your backstory as more illustrations and metaphors that reveal more of your character and your personality. Because what we have to remember today is character trumps credentials – everybody has credentials. What we’re looking for are people who we connect with, that we vibe with, that we feel like, ‘Wow, this person really has something to share and say.’

JH: Well, that’s super helpful. Any other tips for me for like reshaping the bio, what else am I missing?

MM: So, two things towards the end of your bio which is really important for everybody to have, which is more personal details. So, you already started to talk about this, kind of the things that you geek out on. You want to share other personal details that invite people into relationship. People spend too much time sort of trying to distinguish themselves, like, ‘Oh, I’m this expert, I’m above you.’

And, actually, that intimidates us, and we go, ‘Well, this person is not approachable.’ Instead, talk about things like your TV guilty pleasures. Mine are Celebrity Rehab and Millionaire Matchmaker.

JH: Mmmhmm.

MM: Seriously, I love those shows and actually tell you a little about my psychology. I find them fascinating. You know, I also eat more chocolate than the average human. And I throw chocolate tasting parties, I grew up in Switzerland as a kid; I could talk for hours on chocolate. What I find is it’s those little things that end up being the things that people follow up on, so when people email me or tweet, often times their first introduction is like, ‘Oh, dude, I love chocolate, too.’

Like, I’m looking around here in your office, Jim, and you’ve got this like metal up on your wall that shows that you ran and completed the New York City Marathon in 2007. That’s a great personal detail, the kind of thing that’s like giving people a couple entry points or glimpses in. You might not want the world to know that you’re a runner. Hopefully, I didn’t…

JH: No.

MM: Reveal that secret to people, or maybe you’ve talked about it before. So, the point of this is that you don’t have to share everything with people, but it’s picking a couple things that you’re like, ‘Oh, you know what, some people are really going to relate to this’ and it speaks to your personality, your character, and sort of how you like to interact with the world.

JH: I actually do have that, interestingly, in a much smaller format on my Twitter bio, when you only have a few words. So, my Twitter bio says, ‘Blogger, podcaster, online marketer, gadget guy, social media maven, sports fan, runner, and city dweller’ – that kind of hits on a lot of those same things; but, only in   300 characters or something like that, in the intro.

So, let’s say people do have a blog, a podcast, an entrepreneur, where can they go to learn this stuff, cause we talk about nobody really teaches you it; where are places that people can start to learn about this stuff?

MM: Yeah. Well, I mean this is the shameless promotion or plug, because I created this out of sheer frustration. Because when you start Googling and looking for this stuff, there’s very little out there that talks about this in a meaningful way. Most of the stuff is kind of a rehash of a lot of like personal branding hoo-hah kind of garbage; sort of about how to puff your chest up and sort of tell people how self-important you are, and all that bragging stuff a lot of us are afraid of and kind of makes us feel icky.

So, I mean people can go, on my website, I’ve got actually a whole site set up for this called, ‘TheNewAboutMe.com.’ And, you can go there, you can actually download; I’ve got a free download that gives you a checklist of some basic, simple things of where you can start. And then I do have an actual whole program that breaks down and teaches this system. It’s a self-paced program with a whole series of videos and missions and exercises, lots of case examples; and, really a whole community and tribe that I’m building and organizing around this.

JH: So, how did you decide on doing it that way? You probably got a lot of good feedback from people talking to them, did you, you could do it through a blog, you could do it through like personal classes; how did you decide on like a seminar, like a webinar, right? Is it a webinar, or a video seminar, how does it work?

MM: Yeah. Well, I really think about this in the context of online education. So, it’s part of my Story University, and it’s really been a journey over the last two years of building my own sort of DIY very fledging social media empire where I started with a manifesto, I wrote a book called, ‘Believe Me: a Storytelling Manifesto for Change-Makers.’ You can buy it on Amazon; you can also download a free copy of it, a digital copy of it off the internet if you go to,’believethebook.com.’ That started to sort of just get out like wildfire; lots of conversations that were struck up by that. I started a podcast series. I’ve got a website, at ‘getstoried.com’ with lots of articles and resources around storytelling. I then curated a conference, ‘The Reinvention Summit’ that happened online. And, I’m just a big believer; part of my mission, really, the heart of my mission is around evangelizing and democratizing storytelling. I believe everybody’s a storyteller.

JH: Mmmhmm.

MM: Think about it this way, we’ve all become the narrator or the director of our own life’s story and social media had pretty much blown the lid off of this.

JH: Right.

MM: And the most powerful way of telling the expert thought leadership story in your bio, I’ll break it down this way:

1. Make you audience the hero of the story
2. Tell people your own journey and path and what you’ve learned along the way, and then you bring it on home with,
3. Look, we’re more similar than we’re different.

Help people find the invisible lines of connection of the things that we share in common which is why more of those humanizing personal detail are so important.

JH: Well, I think we have a lot in common. I’ve gone through a lot of this. I have a lot of chocolate in my house that I can share with you now…

MM: [Laughter]

JH: for being a guest. So, where can people go again to learn more about everything that you’re talking about?

MM: So, I encourage everyone to check out ‘TheNewAboutMe.com,’ and people can go there and download a checklist that will have you start to take a look at sort of does and don’ts of what’s working with your current bio. We also have free webinars that give you some more practical tools and tips to put this into practice. And then, of course, the larger system, if you really want to go through and really get into the anatomy of your bio and really looking at what are the assets that you have from your natural life experience that are going to lend themselves towards telling a bigger story, you’ll find all of that there.

Also, just connect with me on Twitter, I’m at ‘getstoried’ – I like to take words and turn them into verbs, so, it’s ‘getstoried’ and through there you can also download my Storytelling Manifesto for free, and lots of other sort of breadcrumbs and kernels that are out there, and would love to hear from anybody who’s listening to the podcast.

JH: Awesome. I’m going to go update my bio and find my superhero origins.

MM: [Laughter]

JH: So, thanks so much for coming on the show.

MM: Thanks for having me, Jim.

This has been the Hopkinson Report podcast. I’d like to thank my special guest, Michael Margolis. You can check out his stuff at ‘thenewaboutme.com’ and at ‘getstoried.com.’

A huge announcement for everyone with an iPad that loves Wired, starting in late May, if you subscribe to the print version of Wired, you’ll also get access to the iPad version, or you can subscribe to the digital version right from iTunes. So, check that out.

And, as always, thanks for listening.

Jim gives his take from the Wired Business Conference

- Download the podcast via iTunes
- Download the podcast to your computer (Right click, Save As)
- Play it below:

On Tuesday May 3 I had the privilege of attending the third annual Wired Business Conference in New York City, “live tweeting” from the @WiredBiz Twitter account.

A lot went on and there were some impressive speakers with fantastic insights.

In the podcast, I look at 6 take-aways from some of the world’s best thought-leaders:

Speaker: Bill Gates
Takeaway: Money+Brains = a good thing

I came away very impressed with Mr. Gates. He said that the amount of IQ being spent thinking about energy now vs 20 years ago is night and day. I’m glad that he is one of the brains thinking about this.

Look, Bill spent 25 years as CEO of Microsoft. He made more money than just about anyone on the planet (he was the world’s wealthiest man for 13 straight years from 1995-2007). And now he is on to something new.

And let me tell you, I was impressed with how passionate and knowledgeable he was about everything from solar panels to nuclear, with a lot of big words in between that I didn’t understand. My favorite quote though, “You really don’t want to mess with hydrogen.”

Speakers: Harj Taggar from Y Combinator / Chris Sacca from Lowercase Capital
Takeaway: Are we in a startup bubble?

These two speakers were well teamed, combining a firm specializing in finding new startups, and a venture capital partner that had invested in Photobucket and Twitter.

Are we in a startup bubble right now? Here’s their take… Right now the problem is that “it’s cool to be an angel investor.” Therefore, it is bringing a lot of uneducated people with extra money to burn and they are just throwing it at companies and hoping something will hit instead of doing the homework. They said at startup meetups…

“There used to be a dozen, maybe two dozen guys mulling around these business plans writing checks. Now there’s hundreds. It’s a train, and it’s kind of running away.”

They talk about the culture in Silicon Valley, and how vested employees from Google/Facebook/Twitter are funding the next generation of startups… it’s in their DNA to give back.

Chris also joked about the “3 stages of wealth”
1) From debt to $0 (getting out from under college loans just to be even)
2) From $0 to $25k (having enough money to be able to go out to eat once in awhile)
3) From $25k to $100k (realizing that if your current startup fails, you have a big enough cushion to start your next one)

So with so many people just throwing money around and not looking at the proper metrics,

How do the best spot a good startup?
“We try to find people that have the spark of insanity.”

Speaker: Mick Mountz, Kiva Systems
Takeaway: Robots will take over the world, or at least your online order

This one was tough to explain on the podcast, but the videos showing the automated robotic order packing system that companies like Zappos, Diapers.com, and Staples uses was insane. The video below isn’t the same one they showed, but you get the idea.

Speaker: Sal Khan, Khan Academy
Takeaway: Your kid’s new teacher is YouTube

“YouTube’s for dogs on skateboards not serious mathematics… but kids said they liked me better on YouTube ” -on Khan Academy’s start

At any given second, 15 questions are being answered on Khan Academy, and there’s a reason. The “blackboard over video” format is highly engaging and lets students go at their own pace.

What’s more, the backend database allows teachers to instantly pinpoint which students are doing fine, but which are stuck and need more help.

Speaker: Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix
Takeaway: Faster video is coming

Reed addressed a question I always ask, “When can I cut the cord on Cable?” Well, he said people keep cable because of live sports, news events, and … reality TV (which is like sports for drama since you have to keep up with it and people talk about it soon after).

He also talked about how they were able to effectively use Moore’s Law to predict when they would be able to launch Netflix streaming, and that continuing along this, we would have a Gigabit connection to the home in 2021 (although Google is bringing it to Kansas City now).

He then told a story of having DSL internet access at the end of a 10 mile dirt road in a surfing village in Costa Rica, and that developing countries are actually debating the merits of laying Internet fiber connections vs. paving roads — that’s how important internet access has become.

Marketing lesson:
If they can get someone to use Netflix 2-3 times a month (for just $8), the person is happy
If they can get someone to use Netflix 2-3 times a week, they become an evangelist

Speaker: Martha Stewart
Takeaway: From tablets to glitter, she’s truly omnimedia

Some observations on Martha:
- She has three media empires she resides over: Publishing, merchandise, and media

- It was oddly and completely fascinating to me to hear her describe the process for which she described the design and production of the perfect pan

- She has built 21 kitchens in her lifetime

- She has a secret product on the way that everyone will need. She just has to figure out how to bond two substances together (she declined the offer to crowdsource the answer)

- She is incredibly dialed in with technology, detailing how she has ditched her laptop for the iPad, and uses it to create and consume content. Then she brought out a Samsung Galaxy Tablet and proceeded to demo it to Chris Anderson

- On the topic of glitter: “We sell 100 different kinds of glitter, we’ve sold tons of it, and the colors are fabulous” –

- On Twitter: “When you get into millions of followers, they do start to ask for weird things…”

And finally, she seems like a tough, err, cookie. After all, she spent 5 months in federal prison – a subject she joked about when asked “what things have you tried that have gone wrong?” But some might forget that people predicted her empire would fold. Yet, it was back to being profitable in 1 year.

Jim gives his observations from the NY Auto Show. Is the industry advancing, or is it all just marketing bling?

Download the podcast from iTunes, or play it below:

Episode #150! Thanks to everyone that has read the blog and listened to the podcast over the years.

It seems things have come full circle… In Episode #1 of the Hopkinson Report podcast, I compared the iPhone to a Porsche, and asked, “Has the iPhone reached ‘no substitute’ status?”

Well, the iPhone is still going strong, with Apple on track to make $100 billion dollars in 2011. It sold 18.65 million iPhones in the quarter, an eye-popping 113 percent increase over last year, destroying Wall Street’s consensus estimate of 16.6 million units.

As for Porsche, I get to them a little later.

When I talk about marketing cars, I think the interesting thing is that companies have to market them all the time. A user might buy a car only once every 3, 5, or even 10 years, so car companies have to be building this brand and trust constantly.

Let me give you a personal example. My aging parents were looking for a car to replace their aging 1999 Toyota Camry. Since I love cars, love research, and love negotiating, I was excited at the challenge. I narrowed it down to four basic car companies that they would lease: Toyota, Honda, Ford, Hyundai.

The truth is, I knew I really couldn’t go wrong, as all the cars were virtually identical when it came to price, options, features, and gas mileage.

Here was what I decided on:
Toyota Camry – Looked solid all around, but in the end I had limited time and didn’t even get to test drive the Camry. While others might have said, “I love the Camry, let me just upgrade models from 1999 to 2011,” in our case it was kind of the opposite. We felt that going from one Camry to the next was kind of boring. Why not mix it up a bit.

Honda Accord – Speaking of boring, you can’t get more safe than the Accord. This isn’t a bad thing… it’s a safe bet, very reliable, and has been around for decades. But since this was a lease, I was a little less concerned about resale value. In the end, I steered away from the Accord because I didn’t like the experience in the showroom with the sales reps, and it was more expensive.

Ford Fusion – To their credit, a strong marketing presence in the past few years was enough just to get Ford into the Final Four. I’m not sure I would have considered this car a few years ago. A strong effort, but not quite enough.

Hyundai Sonata – In the end it was the Hyundai Sonata that did just enough of the little things right to put it over the top in this competitive battle.
- First, the experience was good. The dealership was professional without playing any “let me talk to my manager” bull**** and the sales rep was very straightforward.
- Next was styling. To me, the car just looked much more stylish. Like a brand new 2011 look and feel, as opposed to a continually updated model each year.
- The interior was solid and had a great feel
- It had a better base engine… 190hp vs 169, 177, and 175 with the others.
- The negotiated price was right

But enough about the stats, what about the marketing?

When I looked back at my blog and podcast, I had talked about Hyundai in episode 23, 28, 52 (coverage of the 2009 Auto Show), 91, and 140.

That’s five times over 3 years, some good, some bad, but they were top of mind. You know what?

That’s true marketing. Earned marketing. Multiple mediums. Lots of trust built and money spent.

But I’m a little worried about the auto industry going for the quick fix.
When it’s fake, you can see right through it.

Here are 7 examples of what could be too much marketing bling:
(summary below… listen to the podcast for full descriptions)

1) Bling Car
See the photo at the top of the post. This car was made purely for bling value and to bring attention to it, so that’s transparent at least.

2) Spokespeople
The uber coiffed and professional models strutted around the cars like Vanna White crack me up. I can’t tell if this is a good gig for them (just one speech to memorize) or a bad gig (they’d rather be acting).

But I do know one thing… when the Dodge spokeswoman was talking about “Adaptive Cruise Control with forward collision warning,” she literally said “…so you don’t have to worry about any forward collisions.”

Really? I don’t have to worry about accidents? Is that a little bit of hyperbole? Just a bit?

3) Detroit
I’ve talked about this before… I’m rooting for Detroit. I really am. Check out this fascinating article in GQ titled “Destroying Detroit (in Order to Save It).”
But the Chrysler 200 – the one Eminem drove in the Super Bowl ad… it’s not quite there yet.

4) Audi on Checks In
Audi had a Foursquare check-in. They were trying, but I’m not sure it was the right audience for this.

5) iPads
Several car companies tried to integrate the hottest tech gadget for the show, mostly with success.
- Porsche used iPads for data collection, taking my name and address in order to send me more information. It was fast and efficient.
- BMW used iPads to actually display data about their cars. A step up from just a standard piece of paper listing options, but maybe a bit of overkill.
- Hyundai‘s Equus model comes with an iPad for the user manual in the glove box. Again, maybe a little bit of overkill and trying to capitalize on the iPad’s buzz — why not just say “Buy an Equus, get a free iPad — but when they start to add other little things like the ability to schedule service appointments, they’re getting there.

6) Prove you were here
This was a promotion Chevy did, where users could get their picture taken in a car, then upload it to Facebook or other social media sites. I liked the idea because it works in this environment… it’s fun, gets people sitting in the cars, and has a viral element.

7) Electric Car test driving in the basement of the convention center
This was a little strange to me. Of course I believe electric cars are eventually going to be our future, but it was a little bit of a circus atmosphere to have people in line waiting to drive one.

But I understand it because in the same way that car companies have to spend years introducing a brand, it could take decades to really win over the public and prove to old-timers (like me) that it’s time to change to a hybrid or electric car. Cars will continue to evolve as they become more like computers, but it might take some time.

As for Porsche? They had a great little social media case study.

It went like this:
- Porsche was the first car company to get to 1 million fans on Facebook
- They created a custom 911 saying thank you, with 28,000 names on it
- Fans could search for their name on a microsite
- They made a “making of” video of the process

Are we at the point where liking a car brand is worth it for them to put your name on an actual car? Well, I thought it was a very interesting program, a good test for them, and you know those 28,000 fans — probably the most loyal followers they have — are going to spread the word all over Facebook.

But what if Porsche offered to give me the Facebook-branded car because I was such a big fan. Would I accept it? Aahhh, I don’t know. It might be a bit too blingy for me.