jakelacaze.com

Advice. It’s everywhere. It seems that everyone knows the solution to every problem you have, and everyone is eager to share his input and tell you how to save your sinking ships. If you can’t find any advice on fixing your problems, you likely haven’t asked anyone for help. Because people will give you advice even when you’re not seeking it.

Are you trying to build your personal brand online and offline? Are you a blogger? Does your blog suck? Do you want to make your blog more attractive to readers? There are plenty of resources for you to find the tried and true methods of appealing to readers and helping your blog to grow and prosper. They’ll tell you what thousands of others have done, and you can do it too!

There’s one problem with following someone else’s advice – if you’re trying to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd, following other people’s advice (and therefore following routines that have worked for them) may make you too much like all the others. Of course, that would happen only if you take it to the extreme, which I hope you never do. But some people do take advice too much to the heart. As soon as someone recommends something, these people rush out to make what someone else deems to be appropriate changes.

Advice is just that — advice. It’s not a group of orders or a blueprint. It’s a recommendation. And you can take it or leave it. But what works for me may not work for you, especially in terms of blogging or personal branding or marketing. Your mission and your audience may be completely different. Or your strengths may be different from mine. Maybe it’s not worth it for us to try each other’s methods.

So when others give you advice, thank them and consider what they’ve said. But don’t feel obligated to execute their recommendations. Just follow this one little piece of advice – don’t take too much advice.

In his wonderful book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the battle for the soda pop market during the 1980’s between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. In a nutshell, Pepsi did blind taste tests and asked consumers whether they preferred Pepsi or Coca-Cola, and the results were overwhelmingly in Pepsi’s favor. When Coca-Cola heard the news, they freaked out. The end was near, it was inevitable. They were losing their share of the market and Pepsi was taking over.

How did Coca-Cola respond? By changing its classic formula. After developing “New Coke”, they tested it with consumers and were satisfied with the results. Feeling that they’d found their solution to their Pepsi problem, the company decided to push New Coke to the masses. Their tests and research proved that they were ready to regain their position as the undisputed leader in the soda industry.

But a funny thing happened when New Coke hit the market. People freaked out. They hated the change. They wanted their old Coke back. I didn’t get to see these freakouts personally, but I imagine that it all went something like this. In order to calm everyone down and restore order to the chaos, Coca-Cola went back to their old formula, giving people the “Classic Coke” that they’d fallen in love with in the past.

Now, you might be saying: Jake, that’s a great story, but what does that have to do with anything? Well, let’s think about this for a second. Pepsi had administered these test and had data and research that showed that they were going to overtake Coca-Cola as #1 in the soda market. Coca-Cola changed their formula, and they had data and research that concluded that their new formula was going to get them back on top. But that blew up in their faces. So they went back with the original formula – and guess what – they kept their spot as #1.

By doing nothing different, Coca-Cola maintained its success. What does this tell us?

Sometimes you can’t rely only on data. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and see that your ideas and dreams are executed.

I’m sure there was a time when research would have shown that Google’s culture could not succeed in corporate America. Research and data did say that Raising Cane’s, a fast food restaurant that serves only chicken fingers, could not succeed. I’m sure you can think of other businesses that defied the odds and conventional wisdom and went on to be the envy of the business world. And those people who create such businesses – you know what we call them? Entrepreneurs.

So stop being so damn analytical. Defy the data; take a chance every once in a while.

For those few of you who may not know about Facebook’s privacy issues, I had the intention of posting a link that would explain what all the fuss was about. But when I tried to find such a link on Google, I realized that there was no shortage of articles to help you get in the know. So, if you’re clueless about what I’m talking about, just type in “Facebook privacy issues” on Google. If you’re too lazy to do that, just click here.

Okay, now that you’ve read up and educated yourself, let’s get on with the show. Here’s a little background information for you: Before all of this privacy stuff started, I was already paranoid of Facebook. You’ve heard the horror stories about employers looking at potential employees’ profiles. I have my profile locked down, pretty much as private as you can get. But still I was worried. Could employers still see my profile? It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Mark Zuckerberg let companies view private profiles, for a little fee. And then this crap went and happened…

I understand that Zuckerberg is a business man who’s out to make money. And I feel that he deserves to do so. Some people are trying to get the government involved. As much as I dislike what Facebook is doing, I’m going to have to ask these people to settle down and stop. Just stop. We are not entitled to Facebook. We do not deserve the right to an account. If we do not like what is going on with Facebook, we should just delete our profiles. No one is forcing us to have an account. Facebook owes us nothing.

But still, Facebook makes me feel dirty and violated. I know, it’s silly. But to be honest, I feel like a cheap prostitute who’s being pimped out and working for free. The truth is, as reported by PCWorld, Facebook pulled an ole bait and switch. Remember when Facebook was open only to college students? I do, because that’s when I got Facebook. In those days, you were linked to others through university networks. And people who weren’t in your network couldn’t see your profile. Eventually, they opened Facebook to everyone. And I do mean everyone.

Then, there was the issue of Facebook using pictures from your photo albums for their banner ads. I guess this should have been the sign. That’s when we all should have known what was going on.

And then the latest fiasco, where anything you put in your profile — your interests, favorite movies and books and music — has to be linked to an appropriate fan page. If you don’t allow such fan pages to link to your profile, your interests are removed from your profile. Even something you say in your status updates may require that you link a fan page to your profile. At first, I accepted this. Then, I removed everything from my profile, so now it’s pretty damn bare. Unfortunately, I think I’m still linked to those pages. Oh well, live and learn…

And now, everywhere I go online, Facebook is there. Blogs now have the Facebook “Like” button. When I go to sites like CNN, I can see which of my friends has been on the site recently and who likes it. Even Facebook’s own ads tell me which of my friends like the product they’re trying to sell. If this doesn’t make you think of Big Brother, I don’t know what will.

Facebook has shown what you do not do in the new world of marketing. Every time Facebook makes a change, it is default that you will be opted-in and therefore have to opt-out. And it seems that Facebook’s privacy policy changes every day. Some people say that you should take an interest in your privacy settings and stay on top of it, but I find it hard to do so when it’s all constantly changing. Is this part of their strategy? Facebook was once a place for you to express yourself and connect with friends and family, but now it’s a place where you and everyone in your network are little more than advertisements. That’s all we are. We are the whores and Facebook is the pimp.

Supposedly, 60% of Facebook users are considering quitting the site. I’m going to go ahead and call BS on that. It won’t happen. And that’s the chief reason I will keep my profile open, because everyone else I care about will be there. However, my use has dropped significantly. I’m on the site less than I was previously.

As I said previously, I understand that Zuckerberg is a business man. I wouldn’t do what he does for free. And I know that Zuckerberg doesn’t care about users of the site, and I don’t expect him to do so. But now he’s made it painfully obvious that he doesn’t care about users at all. He’s not even trying to put on an act. Now, we know he doesn’t give a damn.

And that’s why Facebook has pissed me off.

No matter your stance, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Whether you agree or disagree, let me know how you feel.

P.S. — See that Facebook share link below this post? Wouldn’t it be ironic if you used it?

There’s a local coffee shop that I’ve fallen in love with during my short time of living in North Richland Hills. I’m so sick of Starbucks and I’m always looking for alternatives wherever I go. However, like it or not, Starbucks is good at what it does. Unfortunately, that means that they make it incredibly difficult for the local coffee shops to survive. But there’s one that I try to visit whenever I can — Roots Coffeehouse on Highway 26.

One reason I love Roots is their live music. Every Friday and Saturday night, artists get to stand on their small stage located at the front of the shop and play a few tunes. It’s free for the customers and it’s a pleasant way to spend a weekend night. I love music but can’t afford to go to concerts as often as I’d like, so the price is perfect for me! And it’s only a few miles from my place, it beats driving all the way to Dallas.

Recently I went on a Saturday night. Minus the baristas, there were only three people present. One was yours truly and one was a guy waiting to play his acoustic set. I have no idea who in the hell the other guy was. In my short time of going to Roots, I’d never seen it so empty. As the 8 o’clock showtime approached, I wondered if the artist would play his set. And when 8 o’clock rolled around, he did.

I’m sure he wasn’t particularly excited about the lack of crowd, but he proceeded to do his thing. And he didn’t halfass it. He played with enthusiasm and dedication, nothing sloppy. The artist talked to “the crowd” and thanked us for coming out. And, by the way, his voice was pretty good, even if he was fighting off some allergies.

How many people might not have performed under such circumstances? How many people would have let the awkwardness of the situation discourage them? How many times have you slacked off when no one was watching? How many times have I done the same? How many times have we passed on this moment to shine — those rare opportunities that we have to make a name for ourselves?

Everybody knows who Michael Jordan is. He’s often heralded as the greatest basketball player that the world has ever seen. His resume is very impressive: 6-time NBA champion, 5 league MVP awards, 14 NBA All Star game appearances, 10 scoring titles, three steals titles, and 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, to name a few (thank you,Wikipedia). All of that is impressive. But another thing Jordan is often given credit for is playing his heart out in practice. Legend has it that he was just as competitive when the primetime lights were off, when the rest of the country wasn’t watching. How many players truly do that? Allen Iverson never did.

Are you thinking about starting your own venture in the future? Or are you in the beginning phases right now? Guess what, nobody’s watching. But if you keep performing and catch the right person’s eye, maybe the word will spread and more people than you could possibly imagine will be watching someday. If you expect people to care, you’ve got to give them something to care about. And nobody cares about that guy who halfasses it. You’ve got to perform hard. Always.

Oh and if you’re wondering who I was talking about who kicked ass at Roots on that Saturday night, his name is Israel Gonzales. Give him a shot, you might like what you hear.

I may not know you very well, but I can tell you one thing about yourself — you have some things you do well, and then there are things you don’t do so well. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, it’s true of all of us. Part of being human is the fact that we all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. And everyone’s goal should be to promote his strengths while improving on his weaknesses. Or just finding a way to keep weaknesses out of the equation.

Sometimes it can be difficult to identify your own strengths and weakness. Perhaps you don’t identify them on your own. It may take someone else’s insight and feedback to open your eyes. Or maybe your friends confirm what you already know about yourself. Whatever the case may be, what’s important is that you learn what you’re good at and what you’re not so good at.

I strive to be logical. In any situation, I try to be the voice of reason. And if I may say so, I do a damn good job at it. Sometimes, depending on the situation, it’s best not to go with your impulses. There are times when you want to take a second to think before you react. At least that’s how I see things. My wife has commented that I’m good at seeing the other side of the situation. She says that I’m good at understanding my opponent’s argument, I can see where the other person is coming from. I do find this to be one of my greatest strengths.

I find that another of my strengths is my humility. As I have said numerous times on this blog, there are very few things that I am an expert at. And I never try to pretend that I am one. Instead, I try to keep my ears open and listen to others. I try to soak up every bit of information that I can. I try to keep an open mind. Everyone is different and has a different way of seeing things. Sometimes seeing things from their view will open your eyes to possibilities you would have never seen on your own.

Unfortunately, sometimes you find that your strength can be a weakness. And in some ways, one of my greatest strengths is my greatest weakness. How can this be possible, you may ask.

There is a time to be humble. But there is also a time to be confident. Maybe even cocky. And that time comes during the job search. Most notably when you’re putting together your resume.

We all know what the purpose of a resume is. It’s your chance to brag on yourself. Your chance to share your accomplishments and separate yourself from the crowd. It’s your chance to shine.

And this is where humility can get in the way.

I have a hard time building up my accomplishments. Why? The humble man in me feels as if I don’t have much to celebrate. I feel as if I haven’t accomplished much, so there’s nothing to showcase. And this is where I hold myself down. And my resume gets passed over. And I don’t get called for an interview. Instead, less impressive people who are better at marketing themselves get the phone call and ultimately, the job.

This is something that I’ve struggled with for a while, and it’s wall that I’m trying to tear down. Progress is not being made as quickly as I would like, but I know that I will get past this in time. There are enough things in this world getting in my way, I don’t need to hold myself back as well.

The good news is that my buddy Ryan Rancatore believes that resumes may be extinct by 2020. To be honest, I hope they’re extinct before that.

I’ve been blogging for just over a year. However, I’ve had jakelacaze.com for only 3 months. I thoroughly enjoy blogging and see it as my own little slice of the Internet, my one opportunity to get my voice out there. I’m amazed when I check my analytics and see where I get hits from. Although my bounce rates tend to be high and viewers don’t stick around for long, I’m nevertheless amazed at the fact that I have the opportunity to connect with people from all over the globe. I never could have guessed some of the keyword searches that would have sent traffic my way. But I’m not complaining — search engines, keep ‘em coming!

I’ve never tried to pass myself over as a social media guru. And it’s a damn good thing because if blogging has taught me one thing, it’s taught me that I’m nowhere near being such a guru. I don’t get much traffic on my blog — on average, I get only a handful of hits. But that’s fine because I’m not necessarily in it for hits and popularity. I’m not expecting my blog to take off and earn me a fat paycheck every month (although that would be NICE!). As I said previously, my blog is about expressing myself. And the fact that I can do so on such a platform for almost no money is priceless.

From time to time, my blog posts may get featured on the social network Brazen Careerist. I can’t lie — I get giddy like a schoolgirl when it happens. The fact that anyone thinks enough of my posts to feature them anywhere is a compliment. I’m just a guy who rants about things. There’s no reason anyone should listen to me, so when people do, it means a lot. When Brazen Careerist features my posts, they usually send out a tweet with a nice little catchphrase in it. And this is what Brazen Careerist has taught me — my catchphrases and headlines SUCK! When I see how they promote my posts, their phrases are always concise (they have to be due to Twitter’s 140-character limit) and they always reflect the point of the post. It’s a bittersweet moment because I’m glad they’re promoting my work, but they’re constantly showing me that I have a lot to work on. So for two reasons, I owe some thanks to those guys.

I love when people comment on my blog or when I get a retweet on Twitter. I comment on other people’s blogs, but honestly, I know I need to do it more. That’s part of my failed promotion. I wish I got more comments, but that falls on me. Apparently, I haven’t given people a reason to comment or I haven’t created an easily accessible environment. If the latter is the case, please know that you have the go-ahead to share your thoughts and feedback. Really, you do!

I’ve learned some valuable lessons from my short time of blogging. And I hope to learn much more in the future. If you’re a blogger, what has blogging taught you? Comment! Please!

Imagine this scenario:

It’s your typical workday morning. You hit the snooze button a few times and struggle to pull yourself from the bed in time to shower and groom and dress yourself before heading off to the office. You think about making some coffee before you leave, but you don’t quite feel up to the task and you’ve got a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, so you decide to stop somewhere to get a cup of java.

Before getting to the office, you stop at your local coffee shop. You’re greeted as soon as you walk in the door. The people behind the counter are full of energy, happy and smiling, and eager to make you the perfect drink to kick your day off. You make a special request — something not on the menu — and the barista just smiles and accommodates. She makes sure that your drink is made just the way you want it. And she delivers it to you — still smiling — and thanks you for stopping in and wishes you a good day when you walk out the door. You say thank you back and head out the door and rush into your car, hoping that you make it to the office in time.

Now imagine this scenario:

Before hopping in your car, you realize that you don’t have as much money as you initially thought, so you decide to stop at the local convenience store for your cup of joe. When you walk in, the attendant doesn’t acknowledge you. He’s too busy texting on his phone. You walk up to the coffee pot. Before pouring a cup, you ask the attendant how fresh the coffee is. He just shrugs and mumbles something that sounds like “I don’t know,” but you’re not sure. You decide to take a chance and pour a cup and you walk to the counter. The attendant rings you up, all while never looking up from his phone. He never makes eye contact, never smiles. When he takes your payment card, he doesn’t even ask if you want it to be run as debit or credit! And you have to ask for a receipt. You walk out the door, annoyed and angered. And the attendant can’t even look up from his phone to thank you for your time and business.

I’m sure we’ve all had experiences like both of these scenarios. When we experience the first scenario, chances are we don’t think much about it. At least not consciously. We’re not angered, so there’s not much to say.

But in that second scenario, you notice everything the attendant does. Or doesn’t do.

Which brings me to my point: People might not notice what you do, but they will notice what you don’t do. The little details — those little things that take a little bit of effort — might not be recognized. You might not get a lot of praise for them. But what if you don’t do those little things? What if you cheap out with your time and effort and give people the bare minimum? Well, maybe you won’t hear about it then either. But you can be damn sure that everyone your customers associate with will hear about it.

Don’t overlook the details. People might not notice what you do, but they do notice what you don’t do.

A few months ago, a friend of mine told me that he got to watch a presentation given by Myra Golden, Customer Loyalty Expert. My friend’s group was already excelling at customer service. Their scores were consistently high and they were the shining star of their company.

It would seem that Myra had nothing to talk about. But he told me about an interesting question she asked, something along the lines of: “How is your internal customer service?” How is your customer service among yourselves?

I never really thought of it like that before. We all know the importance of relationships inside a firm or organization. But to call it customer service? You mean that we’re customers to each other even though we work together?

Maybe not exactly, but that’s a great way of looking at it. The fact is, that if you and I are in the same organization — the same team, if you will — we will have to collaborate at some point. I will need something from you, and you will need something from me. The last thing we need is to dread interactions and transactions with each other. We should do as much as possible to make our professional relationships work. When we do this, everyone wins. We get things done, we’re more efficient, and we look like rock stars. We’re happy, our employees are happy, and our external customers are happy because they get the best service in the easiest manner.

But if we spend all our time, failing to cooperate and pointing fingers at others, everyone loses. Especially our customers.

We’ve made the journey out of the Industrial Age and straight into the Information Age. The world is at our fingertips. We no longer have to rely on the traditional media sources. We can bypass TV and radio completely and simply plug in online. If we want to know anything — anything at all — we need only to ask Google. On the World Wide Web, no one is an outcast. If you have an interest in something, chances are that you can find a group or forum related to it. Feeling a little lonely and need some human activity? Jump on your social networks. Bored and need to waste your time away with some mindless entertainment? Jump on YouTube. There is no doubt that the Internet has forever changed the way we communicate and spend our time.

And it’s also changed the way we get our news and information. Newspapers are dying, fighting to savor their final breath. Honestly, who uses them anymore, and why would anyone want to, for reasons other than nostalgia? Now, anyone can become a news source. Start a blog, build a trust, break a few stories — BAM! You’re a reporter.

There is something both cool and disturbing about this. It’s easier than ever for some idiot to spread fallacies, whether intentional or unintentional. There are so many methods for doing so: blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. You can easily find outlets online that match your worldview. Sometimes it seems that rather than tell the truth, some people are telling what others want to hear.

For a great example, look at politics. Every time a new bill is presented, there are so many conflicting stories about the consequences of its passage. One side tells you this, while the other side tells you that. For every bit of information, there are thousands of bits of misinformation. So while we are in the Information Age, we are also in the (Mis)Information Age.

Just look at healthcare reform. No one could agree on what its passage would mean for everyday American citizens. And people still can’t. To call ourselves responsible citizens, we should read the reform and make up our own minds. But let’s be honest, that ain’t gonna happen. Sure, this stuff was going on well before the popularity of the Internet, but there’s no doubt that the evolution of the Internet has intensified it.

Who can you trust with information today? More and more, it’s feeling as if you can trust no one. I hate to sound skeptical, but I am. And I think we all should be.

Friday afternoon my wife and I went for a spontaneous walk into the woods. We don’t do things like this too often, so it was quite the little adventure. The moment we set foot into the woods, my eyes were wide open and working overtime, anxiously waiting for some ferocious critter to jump out at us. Fortunately, no such thing happened. However, we did spot a rabbit near a tree and a few turtles sunbathing on a log in a pond. Our walk was a pleasant break from the norm, and it’s something that we should do more often. The most amazing part of the walk was that my wife was on her planning period. My wife teaches at a charter school and the woods we were exploring were part of her school’s 22-acre campus. If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.

My wife enjoys many perks teaching at her charter school. As I just mentioned, the physical environment of her school is unique. I can’t think of many public schools that get to enjoy being so close to nature. Often, at PE, the kids go on hikes. Don’t worry, there are trails clearly marked for them to follow.

But some of her perks aren’t so obvious to the naked eye. My wife has more freedom in the classroom than most public school teachers enjoy. She has a set of things that she must teach, but she doesn’t have to stick to a strict schedule. If she feels the need to tweak her lesson plans just a bit, she can do so. Her school has a more relaxed environment. If she felt that a lesson could be better taught with the help of the great outdoors, she could hold class outside. Think how much that 22-acre campus must come in handy to a middle school science teacher.

Also, my wife takes full advantage of her school’s casual faculty dress code. And I can’t say I blame her, I’d do the same if I could.

Along with all the other teachers at her school, my wife could teach at an ordinary public school and likely earn close to $10,000 more a year. But we’ve both decided that the extra money isn’t worth it. Why? You can’t beat the environment that my wife works in. She’s happy where she is, and many of us search our whole lives seeking happiness in the workplace and never find it. So many of us make the mistake of thinking that higher wages will translate to happiness. But that’s not true. We all know that.

Think of what we can accomplish if we create an environment that people want to be a part of. What if we create an environment that people talk about. And brag about. An environment that others envy.

We all know what it’s like to work in a miserable environment. At least I know what it’s like. And it’s not fun. It makes the job seem much worse than it actually is. But what about an environment that you look forward to seeing every workday. An environment worth getting excited about. I wonder what that must be like.

Oh yeah, I can just ask my wife. She says it’s awesome.