Have you ever been alone in a crowded room? It can happen to anyone, and the remedy is to engage in the conversation of the room. So not to look like a bull in a china store, you put yourself out there, introduce yourself, listen and participate. Soon you will shed the wallflower costume.

Broaden the scope of the room to the entire planet, and that is the idea behind the book The Age of Conversation. If you are reading The Hot Iron or other blogs, you may have seen the word “conversation” used a lot. Rather than people posting static comments on a Web site, they (as done here) open it up to comments, thus making the post a topic of conversation and comments the interaction of the conversation. In this book, Gavin Heaton and Drew McLennan posted a topic – on conversation itself – and received 103 comments, which are compiled and presented in book form.

My greatest takeaway is that, at a high level, conversation online is not much different than offline. Norms of having a dialogue with people you have just met or really don’t know still apply, and the idea is to engage with others. Of course the online medium provide greater advantages you don’t get offline, such as engaging with people on the other side of the planet or typically untouchable CEOs.

Another takeaway is that we tend to gravitate to people we share a common opinion or approach with; likeminded individuals. With 103 ideas presented, naturally you won’t agree with the content or approach of all of them, and that was the case with me. Ideas presented by people that were practical or less prophesizing resonated with me more as I tend to take a more practical approach.

A final takeaway was the need for such a book. More and more I find myself explaining social media and networking to people, whether they are friends, clients or colleagues. In the grand scheme of things it is still a new topic. A book like this can serve as an introduction to what you can gain from having such conversations, as well as be a catalyst for creating your Facebook account once and for all.

I recommend The Age of Conversation for both folks in the conversation and not. It is not all words either – there are several illustrations, with my favorite being from my friend AJ in Sydney, Australia. Interestingly, through AJ I met Gavin Heaton several years back. Through this book, I have reconnected with him, as his name rang a bell when several other people recommended the project behind it to me. Which is the whole idea, isn’t it?

Book Take-Aways • Business • (5) Comments • Permalink

Today, April 22, is Earth Day. It is the one day designated each year, since 1970, to become more aware of our Mother Earth and how to be better inhabitants.

Myself, I believe I am doing good to my planet. From everyday recycling to the steps I outlined in my draft Dunkirk Systems, LLC environmental plan, I try to work environmental protection into my everyday decisions. Interestingly, these often relate to cost savings.

So what are you doing for Earth Day? If you haven’t come up with anything, allow me to make a suggestion, adding a 4th “r” to the list – reduce, reuse, recycle. By reevaluating decisions you make, this will make the other subsequent steps easier or even moot.

Here’s an example. By deciding not to accumulate grocery bags I decided to get a reusable, durable Reisenthel nylon shopping bag like the one pictured here (I bought mine in Germany, but they carry them at The Container Store too). By reevaluating, I am thus reducing and reusing.

Small steps, done by many, add up to a lot. Please share anything you are doing for Earth Day.

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Is there such a thing as a professional color? This is something I have talked about with several people over the last few weeks. When shopping for a briefcase, luggage, or even computer products, should you select a color, or go with something neutral (read: black or silver)?

One colleague was questioning if they should purchase brightly colored luggage, namely so it sticks out from the sea of black suitcases and Pullmans coming down the conveyor belt at baggage claim. However, as she usually goes right to a client site from her flight, she didn’t want to stand out for her color choice over her professional qualifications.

Another colleague pondered if he should get a brightly colored case for his computer, namely orange, as shown in the accompanying photo. There are other options, but one reason for getting a standout color was in the unfortunate event it gets stolen, he may see the computer being taken away with its bright color. But similar to my other colleague, he didn’t want to be known as the “orange computer guy.”

What say you – is it ok to liven mundane things up with color, or not, or does it just depend?

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Have you ever been faced with a business situation you couldn’t find an effective way of solving? If you are in business, I bet it has happened more often than not. It’s not the problems, though, it is how you solve them. In some cases, it takes a little bit of creativity to do so.

This sign was on the bathroom vanity of a Comfort Inn hotel I recently stayed at:

I thought this sign was brilliant, as it solves a business problem with the most positive spin to it.

What is the problem? People steal hotel towels. It probably happens more than anyone would want to admit. Rather than putting a sign in the hotel room stating all towels are accounted for and if you take them you will be charged, it solves the problem with a new opportunity – the towels are for sale. In doing so, it identifies the following:

• A service is being offered – towels are offered in the hotel room
• There are parameters of the service – the towels are to stay in the hotel room
• There is a value to this service – spelled out in the pricing of the towels

These rules came to me as I was staring at the sign while brushing my teeth – rules that could apply to a lot more situations that towel theft. Taking one measly towel may seem harmless, but it is a cost and loss of revenue to the business. The sign serves as a friendly reminder that you are not in business to give things away for free.

I have to be honest, these weren’t the best towels I have ever used, and I would never pay that much for them. Most likely the pricing is not for them to get into the towel business though and rather to thwart theft. But this was a Comfort Inn, not a Westin, and the room was priced accordingly. Needless to say, all towels were still int he room when I checked out.

The next time you are faced with a situation you’re trying to solve, think of what you need to put on a sign, and it may be all you need to get the point across and solve the problem.

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These days many businesses are doing belt-tightening, or in some cases their belt is more like a tourniquet. Depending on whatever it is you are analyzing, cutting it out of your plans and budget completely may be required. However, don’t forget the goals and reasons for those budget items, as there could be options to what you planned that can still lead to fulfilling those goals.

One example is wardrobe. Need a new suit or attire to wear to pitch to a new client? Perhaps shopping on The Magnificent Mile or Newbury Street are not in the cards any longer and even the outlet stores may be out of range, but the goal here is you need something to wear. Have you been to Goodwill lately? Many times people bring clothes to thrift stores like it and Salvation Army not because they are worn or tattered but because they don’t fit any longer. You can find bargains at a fraction of the price of new or the outlets, and after a trip to the dry cleaners it may be just the image you need to land the new client.

For my own Internet consulting business Dunkirk Systems, LLC, some clients and prospective clients have scaled back or altogether postponed Internet projects due to budgets. In these cases, I always talk to the client and discuss with them the original goals of the project. In some cases, postponement is a viable option. In other cases, revisiting them can help come up with options. Maybe a complete redesign of the Web site is out of the question, but additional content or enhancing a portion of the Web site will meet those goals. Looking at your entire operations may also be in order, as a postal mailing could be replaced by an email campaign for less cost.

In tough times a creative brain can costs just as well as a machete and still yield great returns.

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