Month: December 2014

My friend J just launched launched Terminus Threads which sells beautiful pocket squares, coasters, and napkins made from quality upcycled fabrics.

On the about page, J explains the story behind the company and the stand they take in the market. He mentions the name of woman who sews everything they sell. I think that’s wonderful.

J is too classy to brag on himself, so I’ll do it for him. Check out the important things to which he gives leadership in the Atlanta area and beyond:

• Nine Labs
• Web Afternoon
• Atlanta Web Design Group

More on J here.

My former classmates and I recently received an email advertising a technology-focused online Masters degree program.

We’re technology graduates, so we know our way around the Internet. What’s bizarre in light of this fact is that the college in question saw fit to compose and send an email composed of a single image.

I wouldn’t be ranting right now if the image rendered crisply in Gmail, if it didn’t look like something mocked up in the early 2000s, or if it spent more than one half of one sentence discussing the benefits to the student, but, well…you know where this is going.

The graphic links to a landing page featuring the same graphical header (this one with even more pixelation) whose URL reveals the online survey software powering the email blast.

By not putting more care and effort into this email, they lost credibility in the minds of those they need to impress most.

I don’t think I’ll be submitting my application.

A lot of my colleagues are aspiring podcasters, media moguls, authors, and subject matter experts. When they survey the landscape, many become dismayed at how much (perceived) competition there is.

There are countless YouTube channels, Twitter accounts, Podcasts, blogs, and books from qualified professionals who appear to have the market cornered on their niche.

But they’re not you.

They don’t have your perspective and story and unique emotional wiring. They don’t care like you do, they don’t know what you know, and they could never out-you you.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

― Dr. Seuss, Happy Birthday to You!

If you’re trying to be a you-flavored version of someone you envy, I don’t really know what to tell you. But if you’re getting in your own way because you feel like the market is crowded, cut it out.

We want to hear what you’ve got to say.