Don't Try

"What do you do? How do you write, create?"

You don't, I told them. You don't try. That's very important: not to
try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if
nothing happens, you wait some more. It's like a bug high on the wall.
You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach
out, slap out and kill it. Or if you like its looks you make a pet out
of it." Charles Bukowski, American poet and novelist.

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OMG:Justin Bieber Won't Fix Your Zits

When I was a teenager I had horrifically bad skin.

The nasty bright red scarring variety that is impossible to cover over
and makes you feel like one of the lepers that star in the Bible.

Well meaning folk told me I was eating the wrong things, using the
wrong skin products and just generally- doing it all wrong. What an
awesome boost to the ego when you are already feeling crap about your
self-image as a teenager with braces on your teeth and a lumpy body
that you’re growing into.

I bought every zit remedy from every snake oil marketer. Janola-based
junk that torched my skin and made it flake and feel like sandpaper
with a light salad dressing of oil.

When I was 17 I finally went to a doctor and was told that I had
‘small pores’ and that my skin could be easily cleared up in four to
six weeks with the right medication. He was just a GP, not a
dermatologist and I didn’t have to take steroids or any of that
hardcore stuff like Roaccutane.

It worked.

The reason I’m thinking about this is because I saw a teenage girl on
the train today with the same nasty skin that I had at her age. I
could see the yucky dry patches and crusty cover-up makeup splotches
that I used to also battle with. I wanted to go up to this stranger
and tell her that it wasn’t her fault. That her skin was just made
that way and that she would be grateful when she was older because us
‘small pore’ freaks age really well (according to my nice doctor man).

I didn’t have the guts to do it but it did get me thinking how we can
go through life beating ourselves up about things that are outside of
our control and not your fault. I was born with the skin I was born
with (no this isn’t a Lady Gaga song about sexuality -little
monsters). Sometimes, you’re just not getting very good advice and
well meaning people in your life can actually send you down the river.
Sometimes you need to step back and really qualify the advice you’re
getting and ensure that shoot–from-the-hip stuff isn’t making you
miserable.

PS: If you’re the girl on the train. Go to your GP and stop buying
crap from the supermarket or those Justin Bieber Proactiv ads. He has
naturally great skin.

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There's A Customer And She Wants Some Service

Yesterday, I had a really good service experience.

Shocking I know as blogs are usually vehicles for passive aggressive
rants about emo staff and business processes that have been designed
by a mentally challenged ostrich.

So what made it so good?

1. Listening: The consultant sat down with me and asked me open-ended
questions about my own lifestyle, needs and expectations. She then
relayed back to me what she had understood so I had the confidence
that I’d been heard.
2. Preference: At all stages, I was asked what my personal preferences
were and I felt in control of the situation. Preferred contact method,
preferred drink, and preferred time of the day for an appointment.
The experience was being customised to my needs.
3. Expectations: My expectations were managed all through the
experience. I was given three pricing options and asked about my
budget. I was told how long it would take and what results I could
expect. I was then given time to make a selection and assured that
there was no pressure for me to take the most expensive option.
4. Good business processes: Before the appointment, I was sent a text
confirming my scheduled time and the location and contact phone number
if I needed directions or help. I was greeted on arrival by first name
and sent a thank you email with a request for rebooking or feedback
when I got home.
5. The people were 'people people': Most importantly, the staff were
all friendly, could make polite conversation and were attentive to
basic things such as making sure I was comfortable, had a drink and
that I had found the place OK.

Simple things, executed well, and I walked out the door with a
reasonable dent in my bank account and yet still, a plan to return.
The owner told me they had a 90% customer retention rate so the payoff
speaks for itself.

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The Top 100 Social Media Brands By Industry

from Sumit

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Untitled

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You're In The Army Now: Message Force Multipliers

Want to multiply your message?

Try some army-issue ‘message force multipliers’. 

In 2008 the New York Times again returned to the issue of hidden public relations agendas with a series of stories in which Barstow showed how the Pentagon was using retired military officers to deliver the miltary’s message on the war in Iraq and its counterterrorism efforts.  

 

Barstow described how the officers were presented on the news programs and independent consultants offering unvarnished opinions.
After being stonewalled by the Pentagon for two years, the Times eventually sued to obtain records about the Defense Department’s use of retired military officers.

 

Barstow found evidence that the officers’ appearances on television were not happenstance, but a carefully coordinated effort of what the Pentagon called ‘message force multipliers’.
Sullivan, J (May/June 2011), ‘True Enough: The Second Age of PR’, Columbia Journalism Review.

Horribly unethical? Makes you think who you are really listening to on the news doesn’t it?

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Like Twitter Jail Except More Like Real Jail

To the person who tweeted me and asked me ‘Are you dead? I’m most
certainly alive and well and back at the keyboard, ready to light some
more fires that may get me in Twitter jail but hopefully not in the
real one.

In real life, my lag is over and I’ve been released from Mt Eden
prison after a fascinating few months in the Big House.

(Just to clarify: It was a Department of Corrections job, not a court
order that put me down in the men’s jail).

Security restrictions mean that you don’t have a cellphone inside the
wire (that’s prison talk), and I must say after a few years in on-call
media relations, it’s been nice having a breather from ringing phones,
beeping text messages and constant emails.

I’ve never heard more fascinating work stories and seen more
interesting things in all the places I’ve worked. From the ghost in
the abandoned cell to escape attempts, riots, a guy who though he was
Elvis, hunger strikers, homemade tattoo guns and five year-old kids
that ‘gang sign’ to their Dad in visits; it’s certainly been an
eye-opener.

Corrections Officers are fantastic storytellers and they love to shock
and entertain you with dramatic tales no Wellywood scriptwriter could
ever concoct. People are naturally fascinated with the Underworld
(count how many police/crime/gangs shows there are on TV) and I’m no
exception. My behind-the-scenes look was like wandering around inside
a Discovery channel doco. Old Mt Eden prison is like nothing you’ll
ever see again in this country and I feel privileged that I’ve
experienced it as a working jail and met some of it’s characters. My
attitudes toward crime and punishment, treatment of prisoners,
forgiveness and rehabilitation have also been radically challenged but
that’s a bit heavy and I’ll get in to that another time. Anyone who
thinks being in prison is like a holiday park is obviously going to
some pretty grim holiday parks. Prison is shit and I certainly never
want to be one of Corrections “clients”. It's nice to be able to walk
out the front gate at the end of the day.

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