Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Awake @ the Wheel by Alexis Neely
If you are reading this blog, it means you are a pretty smart cookie. You love to read, think, critique, improve. Me too.

A smarty-pants.

The Brand Builder
Point: Knowing full well that a method, tool or model no longer yields the desired outcome (assuming it ever did), some organizations will continue to bet on it, in the hopes that the laws of the universe will shift in the night and miraculously turn a completely ludicrous project into success.

Geoff Livingston
Ever interrupt a conversation with people you don’t know at a party and start talking right away, only to find the members leave? It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? No one likes to have their conversation interrupted, and normal conventions are to walk up, listen, introduce yourself, maybe even ask a question, and then participate after listening for a couple of minutes.

Digital Peas & Carrots
How We Shop in 2010: Habits and Motivations of Consumers, the latest report by eConsultancy, takes a look at consumer behavior in both the US and UK with a focus on 1) how consumers interact with e-commerce brands 2) how consumers conduct product research and 3) how consumers are affected by different factors in the buying decision-making process.

Carol Roth
After I stopped rolling my eyes, I realized it was such a great reminder of how you need to sell your products in a location and manner relevant to your customers.

Thought Gadgets
Web stats go up and down, but it’s noteworthy that Google’s share of total U.S. search volume has plummeted since it redesigned its main page back in May. In April, just before adding bells and whistles to its search venue, Google led U.S. search volume with 71.4% share. In June, its share had fallen to 62.6%. Third-place chaser Bing is gaining fast, up from 9.4% to 12.7% of all U.S. searches in the same period.

Related ala carte selections include

SOBCon COLORADO CONTEST
Win! Win! Win!

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

I’m a proud affiliate of

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

AdBusters
Psychologists have long known that North Americans overestimate their own distinctiveness, especially in comparison with East Asians. When asked to describe themselves, Americans and Canadians tend to talk about their individual personality and personal outlook more than Japanese do. North Americans tend to settle arguments in terms of right and wrong, whereas East Asians tend to seek compromises. Dirty Harry is an extreme and violent example, but he is emblematic of Western culture and he sums up our single-minded, goal-oriented behavior with aplomb. “When I see an adult male chasing a female with the intent to commit rape, I shoot the bastard. That’s my policy.”

Pure Natural Diva
The session echoed many of the thoughts that have been running through my mind & dancing through my notes during the past few months. It challenged us to; OWN our irresistibility, really define our goals for our businesses, and it reminded us not to underestimate our worth.

Gwen Bell
In 2005, during yoga teacher training, a teacher explained the importance of off-the-mat time. She recommended we go on retreat four times a year – once a quarter. I recall internal resistance. As the discussion unfolded, it turned out I wasn’t alone. How could we take time away from yoga?

Purple Wren
It should be all set up now to post to my facebook, linkedin, typepad, twitter, flickr accounts at the same time. That’s cool. It’s been a hit or miss lately as I pick whatever is the most handy. I’ll see how this goes. Depends on the content. Let’s upload a photo just for fun.

Copyblogger
The good news is that writing makes you a better writer. Just like practicing the piano makes you a better pianist, or riding a trail bike makes you a better biker.

hugoguzman.com
Back in the Spring of 2009, I created a short video that summarized my thoughts on how some marketing executives were getting social media all wrong. I called it “Social Media Idiot”:

Related ala carte selections include

The Old Spice Guy Responds
via @IttyBiz Old Spice guy is responding to comments w/ indiv videos. I am DYING. Start here

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

I’m a proud affiliate of

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Brass Tack Thinking
But I really think they missed the mark with The Influence Project, in a big way, and confused the idea of “influence” with ego.

Comminquépr
With small- and medium-sized business playing such a critical role in the health of our nation’s economy, it is no surprise that there are thousands of blogs aimed at helping people grow or manage their companies. However, with so many blogs written for the entrepreneur or business owner, we felt it important to highlight the ones we believe offer fresh insight or the most value.

One Mann’s Opinion
Many in the room thought we should stop leaning on certain phrases and terms.

The challenge is to know when a saying becomes a cliché and when a cliché becomes a crutch.

Extraordinary Mommy
I raised my hand, I gripped the microphone. And, in front of 75 odd people – some I know and some I don’t, I said, “This has always been my dream. I would love to have a television show focused on telling people’s stories – average, everyday people. We all have a story.

C-Level Strategies & Awakenings
Successful people are, generally speaking, open to and aware of opportunities and they approach their visions and dreams with intent.

And yet we often hide from our success in important ways that dim our ability to inspire and energize others and thus impact the world. What do I mean by that?

Online Media Daily
Meanwhile, displaying a degree of comfort bordering on foolishness, 42% of respondents think photos of themselves visibly intoxicated make appropriate Facebook fare, while 32% say photos of themselves or others making obscene gestures are okay. That’s despite the fact that two-thirds — 63% — claim to use Facebook as a career networking tool.

Related ala carte selections include

Smashing Magazine
Yes, logo design is only one facet of the powerful force that we call brand identity. Yes, a branded design environment can communicate sophisticated brand meaning without much (any?) usage of logos. But some ‘brand gurus’ or ‘brand evangelists’ (translation: ‘bastions of corporate pretension’) seem to enjoy making hyperbolic pronouncements just to sound shocking or cutting-edge. Logo design is not dead.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

I’m a proud affiliate of