The Relationship with Your Manager

Building a relationship with your manager can be tough sometimes, but remember these simple rules and the relationship you have with your superiors will certainly have the potential to be successful.

We all want to succeed

We like people who help us succeed.  You will build trust and credibility with your manager when you prove that your goal is to help them succeed.  This doesn’t mean you are a “yes sir” person, always agreeing (more on this below), but rather that your focus is on their success, which is ultimately your organizations success.  When they look good, you’ll look good and you’ll reach your departments objectives as well, developing a reputation of someone who delivers results.

Feed them the right information

I mentioned not being a “yes sir”.  You role is to be a subject matter expert.  It doesn’t matter what the subject is, only that in your role it’s your primary focus.  As such, you have an obligation to ensure that your manager understands what’s important in detail.   I’ve always worked with the understanding that I’ll make sure my manager has all the information, and I’ll fight for what I think is right.  Until they make a decision, I’ll work hard to defend my position as the subject matter expert.  But here’s the key; when your manager makes a decision, forget your opinion because it’s gone and over with.  Never tell people down the road that you thought it was a bad choice, or were fighting for another choice.  Remember, we’re going for trust and credibility, not undermining authority.  Show your manager that you have the guts to fight for what you think is right, and the fortitude to stand at his side even though he went a different direction.

Market them and your company

Never tell people that you don’t like working for them, their stupid or you hate working for them.  Remember, you’re trying to help them succeed, not run them into the ground.  If you talk about them in a negative light, or even bad mouth the company you work for, it’s time to leave and find something new because you’ve torn down the foundation to your career success.  Be an advocate for your organization, your boss and your situation.  If you can’t, update your resume and find somewhere you can.

You don’t need to be close friends with your employer (although that can be nice), but you definitely need to be on the same page, working towards the same goal and objectives.  If you’re fighting against them rather than with them,  you will do damage to your reputation, be worthless to your company and be your own biggest roadblock to success.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.  Subscribe today, and connect with me on Twitter and let’s talk about your experiences.

[Via http://matthew-schmitt.com]

Digital Rights Monopoly

Why is over zealous copyright and DRM protection a problem?

Well, if you’re like me, and you want to uplaod a video you shot at a concert you attended onto say, Facebook, you’re out of luck, and what’s more you’re accused of copyright infringement.  Now, I find that a bit upsetting, and forgive me if I’m a little behind the times, but I wasn’t aware that paying for a show and openly recording  where there was no ban set and then trying to share that experience, the one you paid for, was considered an infringement.  Now of course I am aware that it is the band’s performance, and it is their music I am sharing.  But it’s not like the content is being published as mine, it’s not on demand, or transferable or downloadable, I am simply letting people view it.  Now I don’t  know about the rest of you, but I enjoy watching clips or songs from a band online.  This is especially true if I’m not familiar with the band.  I would say that the amount of content available for a band’s record that I am considering purchasing is directly linked to whether I will buy it.  I would also say that my friends sharing a band name is far more effective than any other form of advertising that I know of.

All that said, yes there are ways of taking a video from facebook or YouTube and turning it into an quirk clip and throwing it on your phone or iPod, but that is the illegal action in my mind, not sharing the experience that I had.  If anything, I am the one doing the band a favor by getting their name out there along with my feedback and thoughts on the show.

Anyway, my point is this, if I want to download the record illegally, which I do not, I know of plenty of other ways to get than to rip it off facebook.  Get over it.

[Via http://noblousepolicy.wordpress.com]

What is Right and Wrong with the Palm TV Commercial

This is the spot with the African American female in the red dress walking down the street and images of her phone covering her face. I’d like to give you a link to the spot but at press time – LOL – I couldn’t find it online. If you find it, hit me with the link, and I’ll add it.

The music, the talent and the action are all good, but it has some production, creative and strategy flaws, and I just can’t get past them. Combined, the bad outweighs the good and the spot is ruined for me.

Production -

Good:  Music fits spot. It’s catchy, and “urbanesque” (trademark pending). Good editing of music.

Bad:  Silos are terrible. I mean really bad. They may have been good a year or two ago, but today, they’re way behind. It’s the equivalent of a bad clipping path. It’s no Old Spice man on a horse for sure.

Creative -

Good:  Great use of color and the absence of it. The main talent is the only one or thing (cars included), apparently, who wears bright colors. It keeps the focus on her. But, she’s a stunner, and I think that, combined with the moving screen captures, we would have been watching her anyway. Still, it is good framing.

Bad:  I think the spot is supposed to show how hectic her life is and how the palm helps her? I think she is getting invited to a party or the style of the party has changed and maybe she needs shoes? I’m lost. But, if that is what we were supposed to get out of it, why not show her full frame at the beginning of the spot in different flats or heels and then at the end, when you have taken us on the virtually journey of her finding the right store, her shoes are transformed in the close shot to the groovy boots she has on at the end full frame shot? Then, we see that there has been an impact in her life. Right now, it just looks like a lot of stuff is coming at her, and I am not seeing benefit of the phone? How is she keeping up?

Strategy -

Good:  It is airing during the NCAA tourney, so the media buy is good. Heavy male, which are the largest users of smart phones and also above Scarborough for African American, so good talent selection.

Bad:  No point of difference. It is like every other smart phone, or is it? Who knows? In fact, we don’t even see the phone, so I guess they aren’t proud of the way it looks and for most women (send hate mail somewhere else) the phone is still a fashion accessory too (there, I said too) and they care about what the phone looks like. If they didn’t, explain the hot pink razor to me? Also, I get the drive to retailer, but you couldn’t even list your url, and you’re selling a smart phone? How about a twitter account? How about a QR bar code or a Windows tag (formerly snap tag)? Come on, give me something! Your website has social networking written all over it, like you own Facebook, but still, you couldn’t integrate your media? You don’t even have your spot on your site, that I could find.

Overall -

I give it a C+. Smart phones are still being dominated by men. I can’t see them relating to the spot. Yes, she is attractive. Yes, I like the music. Yes, I think the agency tried a unique perspective. But most males are not going shopping for shoes with their phones and if the spot is supposed to be targeting women with the NCAA media buy…the stereotype of an African American female with urbanesque (trademark still pending) music playing, the only recognizable image on her screen shot is maybe Air Jordan-like at the beginning (for “Def radio” (really, Def Radio – you went that far, huh?) and having her shop (and that represents “Life moves fast” is just not cutting it for me.

[Via http://adbigwig.com]

Spring

Finally, it’s Spring again, one of my favorite seasons… despite allergies. The month of Aries also begins on Spring. I’ve been working on some cool stuff on the blog as part of the 2010 changes. There will also be more reviews throughout March and April such as; Inuyasha – Final Act, KCA Reviews, Recent Song Releases, etc.

Speaking of Aries, my birthday is on April 16. I’ll be turning 13 this year. And finally, I actually found a good time to have a contest on iTunes giftcards. I’ll give two $10 iTunes giftcard codes and a 1 Month Club Penguin Membership. Seems all cool? That’s not the best part…

[Via http://gardenax.wordpress.com]

the constant optimist?

A while ago now I asked some friends on Facebook for reading material suggestions and I’ve been dutifully reading away since then. It was actually extremely helpful and I would recommend trying it if you are in need of something to read.

One important lesson I’ve learned is that it’s always better to read a book someone thinks you’ll like than a book they like themselves. Another is that literary downers are best paired with the literary equivalent of bottle of Zoloft. Yesterday, for instance, I decided that I’d quite like to read John le Carre’s “The Constant Gardener” as I quite enjoyed the film and have only heard great things about his books. That being said I am well aware that the story is depressing as fuck so I need an antidote to all that negativity.

While waiting in the departure lounge the other day I came across Laurence Shorter’s “The Optimist” and decided that while I would indeed be interested in reading it, I could not justify the twenty dollars being asked for it on the other side of security at YYC. Voila, I now have the perfect literary yin and yang. After delving into The Constant Gardener, I’ll hop, skip and jump along with The Optimist.

So far The Constant Gardener is amazing.

I’ll keep you posted.

[Via http://blogfaced.wordpress.com]

Finally, We Can Let Myspace Die

The Heretic’s Comment:  The article of this article feels that Myspace might finally be allowed to die a peaceful death based on the new program initiative for Independent Artist that is being sparked up by YouTube.

Read the article and give us your thoughts.

Closing Questions:

1)      Do you think Myspace is a Dinosaur heading for extinction in terms of promoting musical projects?

2)      Do you still use Myspace to promote your musical projects?

3)      Do you feel that Myspace will always have a place in helping artist promote their individual projects and music?

http://news.wbru.com/2010/03/finally-we-can-let-myspace-die/

The Music Business Heretic © 2010 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

[Via http://musicbusinessheretic.wordpress.com]

Why do I have so many profiles?

With so many online ‘communities’ today, you may find it hard to keep up with all your usernames and passwords or even where you already have ‘profiles’. I’ve heard those who are less social networking addicted than myself lament “Why can’t there just be one place for all of this stuff?”. I can sympathize with their frustration as they log on to three different places to keep up with friends, family and co-workers because they can’t get them all to just join the same one. However, many of us have profiles on multiple sites because they serve different purposes and uses to us.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself what in the world I’m talking about right now. I’ve seen many people who post the same things everywhere they post. The same status updates, the same pictures, the same links so basically if you’ve seen one of their profiles you’ve seen them all. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that exactly, there’s something to be said for consistency I suppose. Besides if you are one of those people who only have multiple accounts because you can’t get all your ‘peeps’ to sign up in one place then that suits your needs. For me, I like to use different sites and accounts for different things.

Facebook, well that’s pretty much friends and family stuff. I don’t use it to meet new people, I use it to keep up with people I already know. Sure I do have a few of those people who are somewhere between a professional connection and a friend on there too, but for the most part that’s where you’d find pictures of my friends and family and status updates about the next vacation I’m planning or what I’m doing this weekend. It’s set to private and I don’t add random total strangers. It’s my personal profile, the place to let my hair down…within reason of course!

Then there’s LinkedIn, which is all about business. It’s the button down professional side of my life.  My professional credentials are on there and I use groups and my current connections to meet new business connections. It’s a place to get to know people who I can help to get ahead or vice-verse. I visit group discussions and read or post and invite people who’s contributions to the discussions with whom I’m impressed or agree to join my network. I am able to find people within my current industry or in industries of interest to me and expand my horizons.

I actually have two twitter accounts but both are primarily used as a way to read and/or share news and blogs with others and find new people with shared interests. One I use for professional work related things and the other is mostly about the non-work things I love like the Kentucky Wildcats and classic muscle cars.

The most recent addition to my regular sites is Brazen Careerist.  Which is kind of like LinkedIn and Twitter got together and had a baby or something.  It’s great for not only sharing an idea/article/blog but discussing it as well.  Settings allow for you to have your blog and your twitter feeds display on your profile, which is a nice way to pull it all together.

Beyond those basics I’m on several other more topic specific sites and message boards.  Some are professional, like Multifamily Insiders, while others are purely recreational, like Cats Pause, but each serves a particular purpose in my online world.  How about you?  Do you use different social media sites in different ways or are they all the same to you?

[Via http://lisastarks.wordpress.com]