blogging4jobs
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Posted: 01 Sep 2011 09:21 AM PDT
 Be remarkable. Transform your business by finding your “purple cow.” That’s the underlying message of Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. As a long time reader of Seth’s blog, I’m familiar with his simple casual style and messaging. It’s honest, forthright and to the point. Something that many businesses, marketers, and individuals are not. That’s what makes Seth and his messages so refreshing. Earlier this year I read Seth’s book, Linchpin and felt like in many ways it was written for me. I just wish I had discovered his book two years ago when I left the corporate world after trying to position myself as the company lynchpin. It didn’t work out how I had hoped, and I instead made the decision to do something bigger and better by working to become an industry linchpin. This role is much more fulfilling than I ever imagined, but it’s not easy. It’s more than a full time job. My favorite color happens to be purple although that’s not the only reason this book resonated with me. His book discusses the changing world in which we live where traditional marketing and business tactics are no as longer effective. Brands and businesses grew at unparalleled levels due to a simple marketing formula — television. But then the television market became over-saturated. We tuned out, DVRed, and fast forwarded through commercials, but marketers haven’t adapted and are still operating using their old-school winning and product marketing formulas. Sound familiar?  Godin calls purple cow’s companies who possess otaku, a Japanese term that references people and business who are obsessive about their passions. These otaku show themselves in different ways — an amazing culture like Zappos, great coffee like Starbucks, or perhaps a passionate HR and talent blog like Blogging4Jobs. In the fast-moving marketing and technology world, Purple Cow was written a lifetime ago, in 2002 and is more relevant today in the changing social media and influence space than it ever was before. Perhaps HR.com and other vendors either inside or outside our space can take a page from Godin and his book. Being a Purple Cow takes work, but I can say it’s worth all the effort. Photo Credit Maurilio Amorim.  |
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Posted: 01 Sep 2011 04:33 AM PDT
 When we are young, we have big dreams for the future. We are optimistic of our talents and know that skills will come our way that will bring us fame or fortune or both. At least, that was how it was for me. After two boys, I was the first girl. My mother raised me to be strong, cautious, hard-working and to never give up. My dad taught me to be a dreamer and a lover of humanity and to embrace curiosity. From all that, I somehow thought I would be a movie star. Ukulele lessons resulted in guitar lessons. Makeshift church fashion shows turned into modeling classes. And endless theater activity was backed by voice lessons and acting classes. But as I became an adult, reality set in that very few talented people end up making it. That many, many extremely talented people never make it out of community theater or out of karaoke halls. And though it was hard to let go of that quest, the dreamer in me has kept my foot in a theater door for over forty years and the cautious, hard-worker fought through eleven years to get a business degree and land the perfect job that continually pushes me develop and learn – good thing I have that innate curiosity thing going on. Hopefully, we enter adulthood with a passion for a chosen field and we work hard to land there. But the bumps and trials of life sometimes cause detours here and there. What we may miss though is that those dreaded detours may be exactly what we need to put us on a different, but right, track. I worked retail before I went to school to become a dental assistant. After so many years in the dental field, I decided to try the corporate world and walked blindly – oh so blindly – into the recruitment industry. And as a result, business school called me and my life forever changed. And it isn’t done changing. A life-long metamorphosis awaits each of us. Don’t limit yourself to the ukulele when a beautiful guitar sits in the corner. You can change your life, your career, and “you” numerous times. I think I am on my third or fourth incarnation – and I doubt I am finished. Challenges are necessary for growth. I thought school was hard – it was nothing compared to the real thing. But each time I conquer a new project or develop a new game plan, I have won. And my skillset has expanded. I know more, I must do more… What do you have left to do? What mountains are left to climb? Did your timer go off, are you done? Or are they still a few tricks up your sleeve and surprises left in your horizon? Is there code left to write and blogs wanting to be posted? With forty-eight knocking very loudly on my door, I am not even close to being done. Challenge shouldn’t scare you, stagnation should.  Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology. She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs. Connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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