Category: Uncategorized

I had the pleasure of attending two events this week in Atlanta, both centered around how to use WordPress as a marketing platform. The first event was a roundtable discussion organized by Mike Schinkel and hosted by Matter in their gorgeous Midtown studio. In attendance were the following WordPress experts:

• Ash Arnett of Matter (Principal and owner)
• Jarrod Skeggs of studiod.tv
• Barb Prebble of Moonstone Media
• Marna Friedman of Writefully Inviting
• Chris Jordan of Atlanta Insurance Live
• Jeremy Dost of Sharpdot
• Carol Shepherd of Tech Zest Advisors
• Christopher Altman of Matter (Lead Developer and Designer)
• Joshua Chase and Nick Ali of Run Level Media

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I have never fit cleanly into any particular category. I’m not a social butterfly, but I’m definitely not a loner. I’m not a designer, developer, or server administrator…but I’m known to be any or all of those things in any given week. When I was younger, it used to bother me that I was so unlike my peers. It was as if I missed the conformity indoctrination growing up—I was just different in hundreds of tiny ways.

Now that I’m older and growing into the man I’m going to be for the rest of my life, I take comfort in being unapologetically, consistently, and uniquely me. It’s liberating feeling. I’m much more at peace enjoying a meal by myself in a crowded restaurant full of commotion than I used to be. I’m completely ok with not knowing anyone at an event that I’m interested in attending. I’ve become accustomed to people trying to categorize me mentally when meeting me…and failing miserably.

I take comfort in the fact that I’m uniquely suited to fulfill my destiny here on earth based on the person I am. Not the person that I feel like I should be. Not the person I envisioned myself growing up to be. Just me.

Just me.

For whatever reason, I was gifted with enough confidence to last me two lifetimes. Something I continuously notice when I consult with clients (and friends) my age is that the biggest thing they’re missing is confidence. I know some of the most amazingly talented individuals from just about every creative and technical discipline under the sun. You know what separates many of the hobbyists from the “successful” entrepreneurs who are making money? The fact that the successful ones are making money.

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If at first you don’t succeed, keep failing forward.

This is my way of remembering that quote. I’m gonna need it this year.

I came across a post by Perry Marshall yesterday entitled, “The gigantic horrible lie about education” (catchy, no?) and I thought I’d pass it along. It touches on some issues very close to my heart, as I come from a “gifted” educational background and recall very well the stigma attached to those who were and were not a part of this hand-selected group of elite learners. Perry touches on this concept of things we should just know by a certain age, and he insightfully addresses the net effect of these expectations on people who are negatively impacted by them:

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My interest in web design started many years ago. I started building websites for my friends and things grew from there. The trouble is that I wasn’t making money. Not a lot of it, anyway. I always looked for ways to give people a break and save them money while giving them the site they needed. I worked with client budgets instead of setting prices and sticking to them.

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Many companies make the mistake of treating their companies like children. The lives of their employees are governed by policies that extend beyond the wall of the office. Although some policies are well-intentioned, allowing a legal department or the whim of a controlling executive to dictate the behavior of employees is both counterproductive and damaging to employee morale.

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