You might be familiar with the recent scandal involving the General Services Administration (GSA)…where they spent almost one million taxpayer dollars on a frivolous conference in Las Vegas. Most pundits covering the scandal agree it was a reckless waste of taxpayer money.

The Obama Administration predictably, and rightly, fired those responsible. But more predictably, the administration also blamed the Bush Administration.

Look, I don’t care what side of the political aisle you stand on, what I am upset about is the continued practice of placing blame on someone else. Everyone does it.

It is hardly inspiring.

Whether or not the Bush Administration is to blame, I could care less. If Obama stood up and said something to the effect of:

“The buck stops here people. Lots of poor decisions by a lot of people lead to this event. But I am taking a stand and once and for all, here is what I will do to see that this abomination never happens again.”

Now, that would be inspiring. And refreshing. And a demonstration of leadership. Finally.

I am sick of the culture that exists where people are so damn afraid to take responsibility for anything. When the hell did this happen to us?

Now apply this idea to your business. Or your customers. Or your prospects.

Bad stuff will happen. Someone in your organization will waste money and resources. Someone will deliver bad service to a customer. Or someone will botch a sales opportunity.

Losers blame someone else.

Leaders roll up their sleeves and fix the damn problem.

Your people will respond to a leader who takes action and solves the issue, and draws a line in the sand.

Customers will appreciate a leader aggressively solving a problem. And reward you with loyalty.

Leaders win over prospects when they take responsibility for a sales opportunity gone awry.

So who are you? What do you do when the time comes? And it always does…

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My simple philosophy: you are allowed to have fun at work.

If you don’t have fun at work, you should find something else to do.

It is why I run my own businesses. This is hard…having to eat what I kill. Very unpredictable. Revenues never guaranteed from one month to the next. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I was talking with Scott Dinsmore yesterday, who cited a report that 80% of people are unhappy in their workplace.

I can’t even fathom this.

After my chat with Scott, I reflected on yesterday’s “work” day. I was in the studio. Working on this project. The best part about this job? We have a ball doing it. We laugh. Mock each other when we goof up on set. Keep a file of all the mistakes we make, which are usually followed by merciless kidding and joking.

It is a glorious way to make a living…

Thinking more about Scott’s statistic, most people do not have fun at work. They aren’t allowed to have fun at work. They are punished for having fun at work.

When you don’t have fun at work, you:

1. Count the minutes until happy hour starts.
2. You don’t sell as well.
3. You aren’t nearly as creative.
4. You call in sick more.
5. You go home and bitch about the boss more.
6. The weekend is your solace.
7. You hate Sunday nights.
8. You find no value in what you do.
9. Clients become a misery.
10. You are less willing to take risks.

And on and on.

Having fun at work is painting outside the lines. [and heck, why not paint on the walls too...] Trying things. Being creative. Seeing what works. Seeing what happens. It is here that art is created.

Not having fun at work is being REQUIRED by some policy manual to paint inside the lines, using pre-selected colors. It is here that creativity is stifled, and boredom settles in.

Simple request: if you aren’t having fun at work, run away.

Run far away…

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[learn how to have more fun at work here!]

[drawing by hugh macleod]

Like sand through the hourglass...

…it separates the men from the boys. For me and my two businesses, it is mission critical that I get a handle on mine.

Here are my three issues:

1. I have to cut down on some things I enjoy, but don’t have the time for.
2. I have to select carefully some NEW things I want to play with, but don’t have the time for.
3. I need to get MUCH more disciplined on blocking off concentrated chunks of creative work time.

I suck at all three. What about you?

So, for me, here is what I am eliminating (for now).

I have a minimalist blog that I’ve maintained on Tumblr for some time. I could spend hours messin’ around with Tumblr each day, if I had the time.

I also have started an Intrepid business page on Facebook, but don’t have enough time over the course of the day to do what I want to do there, so I am going to set it aside for now.

[editor's note: I am not suggesting Facebook isn't important. In fact, I get a lot of mileage from my personal account, much more so than my business account. So that is where I will focus.]

I hate to pull away from these, but they aren’t the most effective uses of my time, and they aren’t driving revenue to my businesses. So, we’ll see where things are in six months.

Here are three new toys that I want to play with, but will only allow myself small bits of time (if at all) to mess around and experiment with.

I’d love to spend more time playing around with Oink, Kevin Rose’s latest creation. Path looks to be a really fascinating way to build a tight community. And heck, Pinterest is all the rage these days, but I haven’t even opened an account, don’t want to get sucked in. Just. Not. Enough. Time.

And here’s the difficult thing: there will be something newer, shinier, and cooler to play with next month. We ALL have to do a better job managing our time spent on the latest shiny objects, and be sure that lost time isn’t taking away from our creative work. And yet, maintain the difficult balance because we also have to be cognizant that a new tool or app might have a direct benefit to our business growth. It is a tough call on where to draw the line. Problem is, most people haven’t drawn ANY line…

I can lose time playing around online with the best of ‘em. So here is what I am doing to better devote meaningful chunks of valuable time to doing creative customer work, and more intense focus on marketing my business.

I’ve talked about this before, and this is hardly a new concept, but I am going to get REALLY disciplined in blocking off chunks of concentrated work time to focus on client and marketing creative work.

Set a timer, remove ALL distractions, and focus on nothing else until that timer goes off. When I practice this discipline, it works wonders. I just don’t do it enough.

I will use an egg timer. No, not a real egg timer. This egg timer.

So, we’ll see how it goes.

Oh, and I have to say “NO” more often. I disengaged from a project I really wanted to participate on this quarter, but simply don’t have the time for. Any time invested there would take away from my clients and my own marketing creative work. And you have to fiercely guard your time. No one else will.

What hard choices will you make? Please share other time management strategies in the comments below.

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[join our community of intrepid marketers here]

[photo from flickr]

Quick. Ask yourself the following questions. Answer privately, no one has to know the answers but you. But answer honestly. This is a quick snapshot of some personal and business position points, as of New Year’s Day.

1. Are people talking about you? Are you getting referrals from word of mouth? Are people sharing your work and ideas? If not, you probably aren’t delivering good work, you aren’t creating anything and you are probably selfishly only pushing YOU one-way.

2. Is your website converting? Are people taking the actions you want them to take? Are they subscribing? Are they buying? Are they commenting? Are they downloading? If no, ask why. And make adjustments.

3. Is your email marketing program moving buyers along your sales process? If not, why are you even engaging in email marketing? And what can you do differently?

4. Are you engaged in content marketing? Are you serving people with your content? Are you helping people with your content? Are you educating your market with your content? Are you sharing content? Or are you just consuming content? [sign up for my FREE content marketing course here]

5. Are you punctual to all your meetings and conference calls? If not, why are you so disrespecting the time of others? And yours. Fix this. It will make a difference.

6. Do you deliver on your deadlines and promises? If not, this is the single biggest threat to your success and happiness.

7. Are you writing each day? If not, why not? And I am not talking necessarily about publishing to the world, but to and for yourself. Writing clarifies thinking. Writing organizes the mind. Writing unleashes creativity. Writing is like any skill, it only gets better with practice.

8. Are you reading/learning enough each day? Education didn’t stop when you took off that stupid robe and tassled hat. Learning MUST happen every day. Read articles. Read blogs. Read books. Here is my reading list from 2011 if you need some ideas.

9. Are you eating well? If you are eating fast food, processed food and chips all the time, you deserve all the lethargy you get. Eat better. It improves everything.

10. Are you doing enough physical exercise? If not, what’s the damn point of all of this?

To be honest myself, these are all areas I want to improve upon in 2012. And I plan to take drastic steps to better track, measure and make strategic and tactical adjustments.

[to be really honest, improvement on these areas NEVER ends...]

I will keep you posted on what happens and what I learn. In the meantime, Happy New Year. Let’s get to work!

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[click here to join me in living and working more intrepid...]
[drawing by hugh macleod]

Get uneasy in 2012

Here are ten ways to hack your 2012 marketing and sales efforts:

1. Make the commitment to actually treat people like human beings. Novel idea, I know. But I am a person. I like to engage in conversations. I am NOT an entry in a CRM database. DON’T YELL IN MY EAR. Don’t blast me with messages YOU want me to hear. Talk to me, and soon enough, you will know what I want.

2. Throw your CRM out the window. You aren’t using it, so why not? It is just taking space on your machine. If you can’t use pencil and paper to manage the important truly relationships in your sales and marketing process, you aren’t following item one. Think I am full of it? Then use the damn thing the way you are supposed to, and stop bitching about it.

3. Remove stuff. Remove service offerings that don’t sell. Remove products that don’t move. Remove antiquated sales processes that don’t work. Watch those TV shows where people coach restaurant owners. Oftentimes, their first piece of advice is to remove most of the dishes, and focus only on a few specialties, and really do them well. You should do the same.

4. Do one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is a killer. For you, for your focus, for your creativity, and for your business as a whole. It is counterintuitive to come across less busy…Lord knows you don’t want to appear to your colleagues to be accomplishing less. But trust me, you will win in the end.

5. Do fewer things. Yes, set a goal to actually accomplish less in 2012. But select the fewer things that will drive more revenue.

6. Slow down. Take your time. All this stuff moves at it’s own pace. You can’t force this into a fixed timetable. If you work at a place where this is expected, you will be miserable (but you already knew this). Slowing down takes the pressure off. Business will close when it is ready to close. Do what you can to communicate and serve, and suggest ideas to help your prospect move the needle, and the timing will take care of itself.

7. Jump. You heard me. Take the plunge. Try things. Experiment with things. Test things. But guess what? You know this. You are tired of people telling you this. You are tired of people selling you books and products to teach you this. But you are probably chicken shit, and won’t jump. But until you do, you will be mediocre.

8. Go natural. If you require a script to follow, you are doing it wrong. If you are required to follow a script, they are doing it wrong. Be yourself. Follow instincts. This makes you legitimate. Human. Approachable. Trustworthy. If you are some sales bot, people don’t want to interact with you, they don’t trust you, and your existence will suck.

9. Acknowledge that there is no standard. No one person acts the same. Each buying cycle is different. Each thought process is different. If you try to fit everyone into the same pattern, the same process, you will labor and struggle. We are all unique…each person…and each organization. Manage your expectations to recognize this fact, and your outcomes will be more satisfying, and you will enjoy the ride a lot more.

10. Get uneasy. Look at the pic on top of this post. Here are two guys working at the very top of the Empire State Building. I am not talking about the observation deck. I am talking the top of the radio antenna on top. This pic makes me nauseous. But thrilled at the same time. That’s where you need to be to know you are truly doing something worthwhile. And exciting.

I mean, seriously. Why can’t sales and marketing in 2012 get you closer to the edge? Why can’t you push the envelope?

And why can’t it be exciting?

###

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[pic from tumblr]

Today is the anniversary of JFK’s death. And in remembering him, many people view the “Ask Not” or the “We are all mortal” or the “I am a Berliner” speeches…

But I choose to watch his speech cementing his intentions on going to the Moon…

Lots of people wonder how I named my company Intrepid. Some think I named it after the Dodge car, or the aircraft carrier moored in the Hudson River in NYC. No…

I named it after Apollo. Apollo 12, to be exact. The Intrepid was the lunar lander which descended to the Moon in November, 1969. But what I love about the speech is JFK saying “We choose to go to the Moon…” It wasn’t a miracle. We just decided to go, which you will recall Tom Hanks’ character saying in the film Apollo 13.

And therein lies the point of naming my company Intrepid. I want people to choose to live intrepid lives, and choose to do amazing things…

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Is your time management upside down?

I am constantly experimenting with time management and productivity techniques. Said in another way, I am still looking for the 26-hour day.

I pinball from various online tools to Google Docs to simply jotting handwritten notes in a moleskine.

Right or wrong, I am a big TO DO list kind of guy. I love the satisfaction of crossing off completed tasks. And count me in the grouping of dorks who adds an item merely so that I can immediately cross it off. Over the years, I’ve used all sorts of online tools to manage this procecss.

Currently, I am using Ta-da List by 37Signals. It is free and easy to manage. I can email a copy of the list to myself with the click of a button, which I can then forward direct to Evernote so that I have a copy of the list, even if I do not have internet access. It autosaves changes and new items, so that I do not have to remember to hit save all the time. And it works great on my iPad too, where I use it most of the time.

As off this writing, I have 54 items on my list. The list ranges from big client projects, to small personal administrative stuff, to writing my big Intrepid manifesto. Some of the to dos on the list will take me thirty seconds to complete. Some will take thirty hours.

So, I’ve settled on to a new work flow routine which I will share here:

1. First, I note all my to dos. Every one of them. Often, I will think of an action item whilst in the car, so I will record an audio reminder to myself. I use my blackberry for this. Or, I will jot down a handwritten note in my moleskine notebook when I am at a coffee shop, in the studio, or visiting a client.

2. From there, I will move ALL to dos into my Ta-da List online tool, where I maintain the official master list.

3. Next, I will review the list and decide on the next task to complete, usually selecting an important, revenue-generating task for a specific client project.

4. Then, I will focus ONLY on completing this task. No multi-tasking. Just a pure focus on the task itself, and I will not stop until I am done. I will not check email. I will not check Twitter. I will not answer Skype. And I will not take phone calls. Focus only on completing the task.

5. Once the task is complete, I will reward myself by allowing time to scan social media and check email. I don’t buy into this crap about checking email once a day. I’ve done a very good job eliminating useless emails from my inbox, and if you’ve received an email from me, most of the time they are simple, one-sentence responses. So it doesn’t take me long.

I’ve decided to be quick and responsive to emails. When someone needs me, when a client asks a question, when a business associate wants feedback, I want to respond quickly as a courtesy. In my opinion, our quick moving world demands it. If an email is going to take some to process, I may simply add the action item to my Ta-da List, and handle it as a separate task.

Besides, I like checking email. I don’t see it as a burden like most. It is how most of the modern world communicates…

6. And since a big part of my marketing and networking is engaging on the social web, I allow myself time to invest there. Part of this process includes scanning and perusing my RSS feeds. It is here, for instance, that I feed all my LinkedIn contact status updates, and where I reach out and contact people to inquire about opportunities or just reconnect, if I haven’t spoken to them in a while.

This is my networking. So it is important to me and my business. I allow myself time to invest here. And I’ve learned to be efficient with my time and effort there.

7. But after checking email and scanning the social web, I head back to the Ta-da List, and select the next task.

8. And this process repeats itself back and forth…back and forth.

What do you think? What tools do you use? How do you manage your tasks and your time?

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I was blessed with the opportunity to share a five minute lightning talk at this past Saturday’s A Web Afternoon mini-conference. The goal of the event? A conversation by people who love the web and all it’s possibilities. A special hat-tip to J Cornelius for the generous invitation. I had a wonderful time.

Video may be available down the road, but I thought I’d share a rough recollection of what I said to the attendees. Enjoy.

My one slide...

Best-selling author, cartoonist and general all-round agitator and instigator Hugh MacLeod published this cartoon several years ago. “The web has made kicking ass easier to achieve, and mediocrity harder to sustain. Mediocrity now howls in protest.”

I love this cartoon. I look at it every day. It inspires me, it makes me think about what is possible on the web. You see, the web changed my life. It gave me a voice.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was the quintessential introvert. Quiet. Shy. Reserved. I hated, detested, social interactions. I doubt that I said a total of 200 words during high school.

Today, childhood friends, family, and high school and college buddies are stunned that I make my living doing internet radio…

The web made that possible…

You see, my first gig out of school was in politics, thus, I became a political operative for the next several years. It wasn’t until I transitioned from political operative to marketing strategist that I began to come out of my shell.

Why?

The web made that possible. I experimented with the web. Tried things. Learned things. Succeeded. Failed. Failed again. And then, I stumbled onto podcasting. And that changed how I do business.

Nowadays, I do internet radio for a living. I have a studio in north Atlanta, conduct dozens of interviews a week, reach thousands, and travel coast to coast broadcasting from trade shows.

It is a fun way to earn a living, helping people and organizations tell their story. The web made that possible…

Why? The web unleashes your true potential. It unleashes your true power. And like me, it can help you find your voice. There is an artist…there is a creative…in all of us. If you let it, the web will draw that out.

You can reach millions. You can inspire millions. You can educate millions. And yes, you can even instigate millions [pointing to image of cartoon].

yesterday at GTRI, the venue...

Now, I am about to finish my second book, a collection of essays entitled Kicking Fear’s Ass, the title inspired by that cartoon [pointing again].

It is a collection of essays from people about how they are combating, and battling fear. The project is eye opening. And it reminds me that still far too many people are NOT taking advantage of what the web has to offer. And it is up to us to help them see what is possible.

And sadly, the three things that I believe hold most people back, are the three things that I think makes the web so wide open to possibility.

They say, “Oh Todd, the web is just too big. My message will be lost.” Perhaps, but there is a niche out there for you. A niche that only you can reach, that only you can touch, that only you can motivate. It is hard work finding that niche, glorious work, but hard. But when you find it, your world changes.

Two, people are scared of the transparency of the web. They think they don’t like people getting into their business. I say bunk. Transparency is what makes the web great.

I can spend an hour on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, and see what inspires you, see what motivates you, see what moves you, and see what pisses you off. This is how I learn about you. And this makes for powerful connections between us. In my view, Twitter is a window into your soul.

Transparency makes the web great.

Three, people are too damn afraid of negative reactions, negative feedback. It is the reason still too many organizations do NOT engage on the social web. Heck, not a podcast goes by that I don’t trip on a word, stumble on a phrase, or mispronounce someone’s name. And sure as heck, someone calls me on it.

But that makes me human…and that’s how I connect with my guests.

You will get negative feedback on the web. But don’t worry, that never ending flow of information will keep flowing, and people will be talking about something else soon enough.

And the great thing is, when you get negative feedback, there will be people in your community who will lift you up, help you, support you, advise you, counsel you, collaborate with you and love you…

And that’s what makes us ALL better.

The web changed my life. It gave me a voice. The web made that happen.

Now I need you to help others see what’s possible, to find their own voice on the web, to help others kick ass on the web [pointing to cartoon again].

Now let’s get to work. Thank you.

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Sometimes, a project gets away from you. You miss deadlines, and you come nowhere close to meeting promised timelines.

Sometimes it results from things out of your control, sometimes personal events distract, and sometimes you just flub things up. Sometimes it is a combination of different things.

I am in the middle of one of those projects. And it is very frustrating and disheartening.

I currently have twelve client engagements, of which eleven are moving along as planned. But one just isn’t going well…the client is frustrated, and I am very discouraged.

What to do?

Well, you apologize to the client, take responsibility, and do what you can to get things back on the rails…

But honestly, it isn’t enough. Or at least, it doesn’t feel like enough. But just this Sunday afternoon I’ve received two wonderful follow-up notes from other clients, and one email from a prospect who is expected to engage with us in thirty days time.

Shouldn’t that be enough to rouse me from my frustration? After all, life isn’t perfect. Things rarely work out the way you expect. And sometimes personal things do unfold that you don’t expect. And aren’t prepared for.

But it isn’t enough for me. I feel lousy about it. And it is all I can think about.

But that is business. Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett have bad days too. Ask Rupert Murdoch. Or Barack Obama. Those last two fellows haven’t had the best couple of weeks on the job…

But you soldier on. You do your best. You do everything you can to get your team rewired and moving forward as originally intended, with a little humility and sincere intentions to improve.

And hopefully, you learn some lessons.

Business ain’t easy. If it was, we’d all be running our own corporations and there wouldn’t be high unemployment. You can’t get down (as I do in these situations), but instead, you have to learn (meaning I have to learn) to find inspiration in these scenarios to make things right, and remember that even Ted Williams struck out over 700 times.

Bad things happen. And good things happen. Usually at the same time. Learn from the bad experiences, celebrate (and learn) from the good experiences. And strive to become better at what you do. Because as long as you are in business, you will have these kinds of days…

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[cartoon by hugh macleod]

What Are Your Weapons Of Choice?

In 2010, I wrote a post about what tools I use to run my various companies. Several friends said they enjoyed seeing and understanding what tools I use.

Furthermore, I realized recently that a lot of the tools I used then are different now. I thought it would be interesting to do this once a year to see the progression and evolution over time.

Here is where I stand currently, Summer 2011…

1. WordPress - I have been using WordPress since 2008. And I wouldn’t use anything else for my main business blogging. And if you are new to WordPress, or thinking about switching, the new 3.2 version of WordPress is OUTSTANDING, and so worth the transfer.

2. Tumblr - Now that said, I do love Tumblr. In fact, on my crazier days, I’ve even contemplated switching all my blogging over to Tumblr. But, for the time being, I will maintain my business interests on WordPress. But I use Tumblr for several projects, and recommend Tumblr to those just figuring out if blogging is right for them. Lastly, if you are one member of a large sales force, and you think maintaining a little blog for yourself if a good idea (it is…), you can’t go wrong with either WordPress or Tumblr.

3. Evernote – Evernote has been around a while, but I’ve only recently jumped on board. And now, I can’t help wondering how I’ve lived without it. For me, this is where I store blog posts and articles that I want to read later, and keep permanently for reference. I snap photographs of things that give me blogging or marketing ideas, and keep them here. I photograph business cards, and store them here. I scan documents that I need to keep, shred them, and store the digital image here. I’ve only begun to fully tap into all the great things Evernote can do for me.

4. iPad 2 – I’ve had the iPad 2 for a month and a half, and I love it. The big question for me was, will I retire my MacBook and principally use the iPad for business. The answer is no. I still use the MacBook far more often. But I love the iPad for four main reasons: One, I do most of my RSS reading on the iPad. Two, I’ve switched and now read books via the iPad Kindle app or iBooks. Three, I use the iPad when I go to my studio and/or attend meetings with people in coffee shops, instead of bringing my laptop with me. Fourth, I am using Skype more and more on the iPad. And I will soon test Google+ Hangouts on the iPad as well.

5. Moleskine Notebooks - Save for being seen reading a worn copy of Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye or Kerouac’s On The Road in a coffee shop, there is nothing cooler than be seen jotting notes in a Moleskine notebook. Well, I ain’t cool. But I sure love my Moleskine. I’ve finally settled on the perfect one for me: soft cover, squared notebook, 5 x 8.25. [You can see it in the image above] I bought extras, like five of them, just to have enough. But seriously, I still jot most original TO DOs to myself here first, and then transfer them into Google Docs project matrix later. And still use the Moleskine during business meetings to notate actions items and such.

6. Blackberry – Yeah, I still use a damn Blackberry, you know, since my Sprint contract ends in Spring, 2026. With the iPad, I am using the BB less and less. In fact, I’ve even started removing apps from it that never worked that well in the first place. The BB is my only phone, since I don’t have a home land line. But methinks I will switch to Verizon (when I can) and Bluetooth my phone calls from my future iPad 3. That said, my most important use of the BB, other than phone calls? Using the voice recording app to record ideas, blog post ideas, client meeting follow-up recollections, etc. Now, I merely email that little audio file to Evernote, and I have a nice way to follow-up on ideas and meetings.

7. Swiss Army SwissGear Airflow Backpack – I recently retired my old Tumi briefcase. I have to admit, I loved that thing. My Tumi had seen a lot of miles though, and as mobile as I am, I needed a better solution. I am loving my new backpack, and to this day, still finding new pouches where I can store stuff.

8. Macbook Pro – In early Fall, 2010, I finally made the switch to Apple. And like many before me, I will NEVER go back. Being a long-time PC user, waking up to the MacBook still is a novelty that hasn’t worn off. As you probably know, I do a ton of audio and video editing, and I really enjoy doing it on the Mac. IMovie is an amazing tool, and for me, worth the price of admission for making the switch. And the sleek design just makes you look hip (and I need help there) when sitting in coffee shops.

9. FlipCam HD Camera – To say I am disappointed that Cisco will stop producing Flipcams is an understatement. Because I still love and use this thing. In fact, shot a bunch of client video on one just yesterday. The ease of use is what still blows my mind, whilst producing good video. But methinks my tools review circa 2012 will let you know what new camera I will be using, and this one will have better sound recording functionality. Stay tuned. [Note: I am using the camera on the iPad 2 more and more as well...]

10. Google Docs – I have moved to the cloud. I manage all my finances, admin, and invoicing thru Google Docs. I draft all my proposals on Google Docs. I maintain client project notes on Google Docs, even sharing those with my clients so we can collaborate on the cloud. I used to use Google Wave for a lot of this online collaboration, but Google Docs works just fine. And every day, the functionality of the tools here improve, and every day they sync better and better with Gmail and other Google apps. And with the advent of Google+, I assume this will only get better.

11. Notational Velocity – I wrote the first draft of this post using Notational Velocity. Sometimes I need to [or want to] write notes and article drafts without an internet connection. Notational Velocity allows me to do that on my Macbook Pro. It is a very simple, minimalist program that makes it easy to organize and write. I don’t even have to hit the save button – it does that automatically.

12. Pandora - My Pandora account is what keeps me sane when I am working. And too be honest, I rarely listen to my catalog on my iTunes account. I have several channels ranging from Mile Davis to Fleetwood Mac to Sevendust…depending on my mood. For the coffee shop-based entrepreneur, Pandora is a must.

13. Kindle / iBooks - When I got the iPad, I promised myself to attempt to read a book via iBooks or the Kindle app, thinking I would be one of those who always would read hard covers. I was wrong. Reading books on the iPad rocks. And quite honestly, I don’t really intend on buying a hard cover again. Having all my books stored on the iPad also enables quick reference to my notes and highlights, which facilitates all the writing I do.

14. Google RSS Reader - Without my RSS reader, I would be lost. This is where I review all the blogs I review daily. This is where I feed all the news I read. This is where I feed all the Twitter Search queries I monitor, as well as Google News Alerts. It all goes to my Google RSS reader. If you asked me to keep only three things on this entire list, I would tell you my RSS reader would be one of them.

15. Skype - It is safe to say a majority of my client conversations, and certainly with my business partner, occur on Skype. And now that I have the iPad, these Skype conversations can be even more mobile. [it will be interesting in one year's time to see if the "Hangout" function on Google+ will replace Skype...] As of this writing, I have ten clients. And at this time, seven of them interact with me on Skype.

16. Vokle – For SalesChaosTV, my collaborator and I use Vokle to host our internet-based TV show. A relatively new platform, Vokle is perfect for our purposes, except it currently does not allow us to record, but we understand that functionality is coming soon. This is a great tool to use to host live online video, enabling the audience to be able to watch, share on the social web, build community, and feed us questions via chat. I am excited to see how this product develops.

17. Gmail - Yeah, almost forgot Gmail. It is the only email service I use. Having started six businesses over the last several years, I have accumulated too many email addresses. I stopped doing that. Feeding them ALL into my one gmail account. Gmail continues to get better and better.

So, that’s it for now. What other tools, apps, and platforms are you using with great success? Please share!

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