Guide to working paperless

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I think my simplest self-imposed challenge was to: go entirely paperless at the office this month. It was so simple it’s almost laughable. I’m so confident that I met my own goal I’ve posted this a week before the end of the month. So how did I do it and how did it spill over into my personal life?

I got the right (portable) tools in place

These days we all have laptops: they’re light, portable, and can go anywhere. I’m fortunate enough to have one for both work and play.

Social media best practice: be authentic

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Jeremy Tanner tagged me: I need to chime in and tell the world, in all my infinite wisdom, what a “social media” best practice is.

Interestingly enough my knee jerk reaction was to say either:

  1. if you call it social media you’re doing it wrong, or
  2. just stop trying, FFS.

At least, that’s the way I’ve felt in the recent months. In fact, it’s a new rule for me on twitter. If you’re a self-proclaimed “social media” guru, then you’re not.

That leads me to my point: to be successful in social media (or any media, I believe) you need to be authentic. It goes back to one of my personal favorite posts: my thoughts on transparency and honesty. If someone is extremely active across a variety of services and trying to connect with so many people (Linkedin, twitter, pownce, etc.) it sends the message that you’re convincing me I need to listen to you. It’s like trying to advertise your product after building it and calling that “marketing.” The biggest way to fail is to reach out to as many people as possible just to broadcast to your followship.

Instead, be an authentic person. Just be you and the right people will find you. For instance:

  • Penelope Trunk, although a writer (its her day job to make uninteresting things interesting), is a geniune lady who will bare all and do her best to connect. I consider her the Britney Spears of the internet sometimes but she’s authentic and, thanks in part to that, has a tremendous followship; in both size and passion.
  • Gary Vaynerchuk, although a marketer (its his day job to get the message out to everyone), is a geniune guy who will talk to anyone and go out of his way to make them feel important. He’s a busy guy but spends most of his day just talking to people via e-mail, twitter, facebook, and so on. In turn, he’s built up one of the most popular video podcasts about a product that no-one had ever thought to look for online: wine.

There’s my thoughts on how to do social media the right way. Agree / disagree?

Tag, you’re it: noah kagan, Andrew Chen, Ramit Sethi. (original link)

Top Websites That Aren't (Yet) Mainstream

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Lets dive right into them, shall we? I present to you, the websites that aren’t quite mainstream … yet.

1. GMail

  • Who: Google
  • What: Free e-mail with lots of space, IMAP, mobile accessibility, powered by ads
  • Why it’s cool: GMail was on the cutting edge of webmail with a huge giveaway of space and a smart interface coupled with the awesome power of Google search.
  • Why it’s not mainstream: People are afraid of Google still. They see the ads and think that your information is no longer private nor secure and that your precious e-mail and information will be sold to spammers and advertisers. Ironically enough, Google is one of the best at combating spam.
  • Send me an e-mail

2. Hulu

  • Who: NBC, News Corp (and now the content of dozens of others)
  • What: Free access to legitimate television shows and movies in high quality, powered by ads
  • Why it’s cool: I can watch Comedy Central shows, Food Network, Fox, etc. in high definition with less advertising and all for free. I can even subscribe to the show and get alerts when a new episode is up.
  • Why it’s not mainstream: Nobody has heard of it. And NBC continues to botch up their video content by releasing stuff like NBCOlympics.com. So, we all assume media companies don’t get “real” video yet and wander over to YouTube.
  • View my public profile on Hulu

3. Newsvine

  • Who: Veterans of Disney, ESPN, and other media organizations; MSNBC
  • What: News from multiple sources PLUS the ability for anyone to write, “seed” (post an existing) or comment on an article.
  • Why it’s cool: We can contribute the news and read about whats important to us. Plus we can engage with others and talk about stories, debate points, create long lasting friendships, call someone a retard, the list goes on…
  • Why it’s not mainstream: I think it’s too much work for someone to ‘seed’ the news and it gives little value for me to share it with someone else. To many, there is not enough incentive to write articles either. The only saving grace is the fun in arguing and being social on the internet. More people are interested in participating but I don’t think they know about their options.
  • Add me as a friend on Newsvine

4. Twitter

  • Who: Obvious (Ev Williams)
  • What: 140 character message broadcast to anyone who wants to “follow” you (and you get to follow people back)
  • Why it’s cool: It’s like chatting with only the people you want to listen to via SMS, the web, and many other applications
  • Why it’s not mainstream: People still don’t “get” it because nobody has explained it the right way to people. You can’t just say “you have to do it” because everyone can see through internet fads. Not everyone is into making random connections with strangers on the internet. Plus, the site really isn’t what I’d call user friendly.
  • Follow me on Twitter

I thought about adding a “how to fix it” to each of these but nothing about them is broken. They’re just different, unknown, and misunderstood websites that may just always maintain that “web2.0” charm.

But then again, only the “early adopters” were using these sites:

  • Facebook – why do you need a profile online? I have real friends.
  • Google – what else is there to search for? I found the porn.
  • Craigslist – we already have classifieds, they’re called the classifieds.
  • eBay – I can buy cheap things at Wal-Mart.
  • Amazon – books belong in stores (so that I can read them for free!).

The One About The New Job

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Now that I have a few spare minutes to collect my thoughts I figured I’d share a little about my professional life as of late:

The Previous Employer

If you’re not aware, I left my job of 11 months and 3 weeks (just barely a year) this past July 18th. I had been working at Ernst & Young* and made a quick decision to move on to my passion: the internet. The firm itself is awesome; they’ve definitely earned the many awards and recognitions (a top 25 employer for a decade according to Fortune). I learned a lot, worked with great people and clients, and I don’t really regret anything about my time spent at E&Y.

Lessons learned from my first full-time job out of college:

I’ve learned plenty from my other experiences and jobs but this one is a bit different. It was my first full-time job out of college (not an internship, not a part-time job); one where I had bosses, business cards, a phone number, responsibilities, performance reviews, etc. Some things may be obvious or things you’ve read about before–but this is the kind of stuff I finally learned from experience.

  • You’ll never love everything about any job. But it’s definitely possible to dislike most of it.
  • The people you work with are extremely important (50 hours is different than a few times a week).
  • Hopefully you like those people if you don’t like the work, or else things get frustrating.
  • Despite management’s best attempts, I’m still convinced I can work an entry-level corporate job from home.
  • And I could probably do a typical entry-level corporate job in 20 hours a week.
  • Many people still see the ‘ladder’ and the need to ‘pay dues’, they’re the rule, not the exception
  • Some people are very good at getting work done, but that doesn’t mean they can manage / lead
  • Big companies are great because there are processes and structure that help support you
  • The wealth of knowledge is “out there” but so damned hard to collect and organize
  • Traveling can be fun no matter where you go (anywhere from Lexington to Atlanta)

…and I could go on and on.

The Current Employer

I’m now working for Crowd Favorite which is an internet company specializing in WordPress (the software that powers this website), custom web development and design, consulting, and builds some web products. Surprise surprise, I’m working on the web!

I suppose this isn’t new: I’ve moved around a lot and some people might look at that as being scattered or unfocused. But, guess what: all that moving around and dabbling paid off! I found something I really enjoy (and I think I’m good at it, too). How do I know? For starters, I’ve been excited to go to work all 10 days these last two weeks (and enjoy checking / responding to business e-mails during some of my spare time)!

My job is a mixture of things but I think we could describe it as a mix of the following:

  • Account management: working closely with customers to help address things including future development needs
  • Business development: following up with individuals that are looking to use our services, deciding what we can do to help and make sure they’ve fully explored their projects
  • Project management: managing project goals and tasks, scheduling them internally, managing budgets, updates to clients, etc.
  • Internal projects: there are some things we’d like to do internally and I’ll be managing those, too

So, that sums up what I’ve been doing and what I’ll be working on. Everyone I work with is great, I’m happy, excited and learning plenty each and every day.

—

* Note: this is the first and only time the firm name was used on my site (for employment / search engine / opinion purposes). They were aware of devinreams.com and I was aware of their awareness.

I'm taking the '100 things' challenge

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I’m sure you’ve heard of it already. If not, a bunch of people have vowed to give up everything in their life except for 100 “things” (loosely defined). This isn’t a new idea, Leo from Zen Habits talked about it almost a year ago and it’s been circulating around the web in blogs and forums before that (but thank goodness we have TIME around to popularize it).

I started cataloging all the items I have around the house and was quite surprised; I think you would be, too. But first, here are some of my initial thoughts:

  • You should define a “thing” at first. I did consider a collection as one “thing.”
  • Pay attention to all the things on all your shelves, in the closet, etc. You forget about things.
  • List your things in the room or area they belong, this helps recognize where stuff clutters.
  • That box sitting there that you haven’t touched since you last moved? Go ahead and get rid of it. No! Don’t even open it.
  • Make sure you’ve considered every part of the house. Food didn’t make it on my list.
  • I have nearly as many “things” in my office as my bedroom. But I only spend a few hours a week in the office!
  • As I went through and cataloged things I made a pile of stuff I don’t want on the list (and will get rid of immediately), this is immediate gratification!

Now the point isn’t to simply remove things from your life (even though that’s a big part of it). The point of the (arbitrary) number, 100, is to keep a sense of value in mind. What is it that makes it into my top 100? What can I limit myself to? How do I prioritize the “stuff” that is tied to my name?

After a couple hours of rummaging around this morning I easily dropped my list down to 108 items. Thaaats right. There are only 108 things in my house. These things include:

  • Bed
  • iPhone
  • Lint roller
  • Umbrella
  • Golf clubs
  • Big green fern
  • Spindle of CDs
  • 24″ LCD monitor

Once you get into it, 100 is a very reasonable number. What are some of the things I’ve done to minimize my “thing footprint”?

  • Digitize things! Documents, photographs, important receipts. Paper does not need to add to your list.
  • Keep the digital needs simple! One thing I’ve tried to do is decrease the number of gadgets / chargers / toys I own. The iPhone is awesome, it’s my phone, calendar, mobile internet device, etc. The Sonos is great, its my house-wide sound system (no need for PC speakers, for example).
  • Minimize the knick-knacks. I try to be very intentional about the things I put on ‘horizontal surfaces’. A lamp here, a fountain there. I had clutter and ‘simple’ is so much more pleasing. Some cool knick-knacks I’ve kept are from around the world (India, New Zealand, Mexico)
  • Clean out the desk. I found a lot of junk I don’t use (I don’t have a tack board, why do I have tacks!?) in the many drawers around my house. Don’t think, just toss. If you feel bad about it, throw it all in a box and check back in 6 months. Didn’t open it? Nuff said.
  • Turn your hangers around. To minimize the amount of clothing in your closet you don’t wear simply put all your hangers in backwards. Then when you wear something for the first time, turn it around (thanks Peter). Every few months I take the unworn to Goodwill. Easy.

Now its nice becuase, no, I don’t own my own place. My roommate is the owner of the plates, knives, forks, etc. But that’s fine, if you use the ‘collection rule’ you’ll see you’ve only got a dozen more things than I do.

I’m staring at my list. These eight things aren’t going to go without a fight.

Have you tried minimizing the ‘stuff’ in your life? How do you declutter?

Top three lessons from online communities

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map of online communities by xkcd

I’ve seen, first hand, the challenges faced when trying to get a group of people together on the internet. I’m a member of a of a number of online communities. I’ve also helped found a few communities. They include:

  • 9rules – a group I really wanted to become a part of, the best of the best content
  • yopos – something noah and I tried to start (coming again soon!): young professionals
  • Twenty Somethings – a group of attractive, witty, smart bloggers all in their twenties
  • Employee Evolution – smart professionals guest blogging about work, life, entrepreneurship
  • Brazen Careerist – the natural extension of EE, network of existing and new bloggers about the above
  • BarCamp/New Tech – online and offline, meetup with some local nerds
  • SXSW/CommunityNext – organized events/conferences around a community
  • AKPsi – offline, but 50+ college students with an interest in business (VP/President)
  • Two other college clubs – again, offline but a good look at how people interact

And I’ve done tons of observation of popular online groups (FlyerTalk, Zen Habits, Get Rich Slowly, I Will Teach You To Be Rich). Here are my top three lessons learned.

Existing community must already be strong

When I say strong you need to have an extreme amount of quality or quantity. A little of each will not be sufficient.

Employee Evolution and 9rules attracted people because of the high quality–they both grew very quickly. On the other hand, yopos sought out to do the same and, I admit, consistent quality wasn’t there (and we didn’t have the numbers either).

In college, AKPsi was one of the largest groups in the business school (100+) and because of that it kept attracting more and more people (network effect). Once our numbers started to drop off we had to quickly focus on quality or else we’d get stuck in mediocrity. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. We had generations of mediocrity in the group, as the numbers diminished even they left. By the end of my college career the group dropped to a quarter of it’s original size. The same happened with two other groups–when the strength dwindled, the community failed.

Without the quality or quantity it’s very hard to do anything. You could take five very talented people and create something amazing. If you have 100 people, odds are you will find some great, active, and interesting people worth sticking around for.

People always talk about meeting up, rarely do

It must be how we are hard-wired as humans, but no matter what your group is–people will want to meet in person. People will try to organize and coordinate these events but they rarely happen. Even in college, where we met as a group every week, it was challenging to have people commit to anything outside of something we’ve already structured for them.

Lucky for the internet there are groups like the SXSW coordinators who will put on an event for everyone to go to. But even with 9rules we never saw any official “get togethers” no matter how often it was brought up. I’ve seen the same start over at Brazen Careerist and I question what will come from the discussions (I have a good idea, though: nothing).

Some obvious exceptions to the rule are groups like BarCamp. These still usually require a big investment from one or two people (and that’s it). If you want something to happen you have to take the initiative yourself at first. Then, make sure you have the strong community to help in the future (see previous point). People usually need to see value first.

Now, the inverse of this is also true: people love to participate a lot in the beginning. Say you open up a forum: people will chat about anything and everything they think of on day one. By day ten they have less to talk about, less to reply to. The challenge here, depending on your group, is maintaining participation and having people come back (quality and quantity help).

There are key participants, focus on them

No matter where you go, one will notice the “key” players. Especially in a discussion environment like a forum. Within five minutes of surfing FlyerTalk it was clear who knew what they were talking about and was respected by the group. When I started yopos there were a few guys who were very eager and I didn’t have them time to focus on them and empower them to help with the community. Lesson learned.

CommunityNext had a ton of people show up and a lot of it was due to key figures. Get them involved, get them in your group and make sure people know about them. One of my favorite stories was watching Hiten Shah try to fix the wireless network at Stanford. People noticed him working on it and one or two people stopped and offered to help.

What about you? Do you agree or disagree? Have you learned anything worth sharing?

PS: I’ve been working on updating and consistent-ifying my look. Click through to devin reams and let me know what you think. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends about my services.

Dreams’ Daily Dosage

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Here again are some of the cool things I’ve found, done, or learned this past week:

Monday
For you iPhone users, MobileScrobbler will scrobble (send data to last.fm) straight from your jailbroken iPhone. A bunch of other features include: lyrics, playlists and recommended tracks.

Tuesday
I’m a huge proponent of telecommuting. I hate spending a half-hour getting ready in the morning, shining my shoes, packing a lunch and then driving / riding the train maybe an hour each morning. That’s 2 – 3 hours each day I could just as easily work from home! Sun did a study on how much a day or two each week could save in energy.

Wednesday
I’ve started making fruit smoothies in the morning which is probably the best thing to happen to my routine (I wrote about how important morning routines are). It’s as easy as buying some bananas, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries–then mixing it (in The Magic Bullet of course). Heck, make a pitcher’s worth for the whole week. Thank me later.

Thursday
My Man in India (my virtual assistant from GetFriday) has done some fun tasks for me lately. For a few weeks I had him go into Facebook on Friday, see who had a birthday in the past week, and then send them a message. I love to send people these messages — just to say hi — but I figured it was a simple enough task to outsource. It went well, I had a few conversations with long lost friends. But! Noah Kagan was wished a happy birthday… a few months early.

Friday
Watch out for Linkedin address book imports. I accidentally (or was it meant to be?) invited my entire contact list to connect. But, again, I re-connected with some long lost friends (including an ex- from two years ago). I should get an award for most people ‘recruited’ to the darn site, though (at least 5 sign ups a day for a few days in a row).

Haha, that’s all for this week… I’m off to Colombia by the time you read this. See you if / when I get back!

Will I get the next iPhone?

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It’s a tricky question but the jerk we call Steve Jobs has made it so easy for me to say no:

  1. Fixing stuff isn’t a feature: I’m more than pissed about the recessed headphone jack. I had to go out and buy a $10 adapter because Steve said it was the best and only way–it had to be done to make sure the headphone jack survived. Whoops, second gen comes out and it’s back to normal?
  2. AT&T isn’t worth the hassle: These guys are using Steve as much as they can. Sure, they helped him bring it to the market but they’re milking this deal more than anything (upping the data plan rate?!). The lock-in is bad enough, but now taking away the activation via iTunes? It’s like saying “look how cool and flexible we are–whoa whoops, no we aren’t!”. Plus, I moved away from AT&T for a reason…
  3. 3G / GPS are silly: I don’t need a super speed connection on my phone. I always have a computer near me–if I really need to sit down and look at some serious web pages then a) I can wait the extra few seconds, or b) I can go use a computer. GPS? The phone already does killer location via towers or wifi–too gimmicky!
  4. The price: I’m not going to spend a few hundred dollars every few years on a phone when my current one is already (paraphrasing Steve) “lightyears” ahead of the competition. I’m ahead of the curve (Blackberry pun?) and figure that my $200 will be worth over $3,000 dollars at retirement, haha.

But seriously, as great as the devices are it’s so hard to keep doing this to people. Steve is evil and people love him. Microsoft is trying so hard to be nice and people still hate it….