Here you are.
- La Lune de Miel on Chine
I’ve been posting sparsely while home in Boulder for the holidays. Once the reorganizing, prioritizing, and atoning is done, Carrotrope.com will be a better reflection of my interests. If you care about the music in language, fashion and design, you should read this blog.
To keep things tidy and whole for myself, I’ve imported some of my poetry from an old, unseen site. I’d love to get some diplomatic but honest feedback (ok, I yearn for it). Go to Poems for poems written by me. Poetry includes my poems, musings on poetry and language, and poems I love of others. Expect songs by me and myfriends, as I pull myself together.
Otherwise, I’ll continue to post on fabric, fashion, and design as Molly, her brother and I (a.k.a. Adapt Apparel) ramp up sales. Designs that go on shirts and skirts and posters will all make appearances here.
I’ll continue to post on economics, business, branding, and “responsible capitalism” as I continue to work for Interra and attend BGI.
I’ll continue to share songs that I find meaningful (like today’s, a catchy-as-hell recent creation by my friend Sam Cooper, called “La Lune de Miel on Chine”).
- Small is the New Big
Small is the New Big is a book of blog posts by Seth Godin on marketing and keeping your story relevant (whether you’re a musician, an entrepreneur, a politician, etc.). Themes I noticed:
Blogging: Do it early and do it often (but not too often) and stay on top of the technology. Blogging is a conversation, he says, and can make or break a brand. It is also a great equalizer, leveling the playing field to the point that only ideas that are “remarkable”-that are worth talking about-get any air time or get spread. Godin has been blogging for a while, and has provocative tips on blogging. He distinguishes three types of blogs:
1) Cat blogs - where you talk about your boyfriend, your cat, etc.
2) Boss blogs - where your audience is clear and limited for a purpose (within an organization, for instance.
3) Viral blogs - blogs that are spreading ideas, linking to each other, and, according to Godin, “changing the face of marketing, journalism, and the spread of ideas.”Metaphoring: Godin doesn’t talk explicitly about metaphor, but most of his posts are themselves metaphors. It’s a great, simple tool for coming up with interesting things to write about. He’ll hear about something interesting or mundane, and then talk about how it or is not like (purple cows) (viral marketing) (authenticity) (marketing wants) (technology) (etc…). So simple. His background and his understanding of business and marketing are solid, but it’s how he tells a new story everyday to convey the same basic principles over and over that makes his blog remarkable. Each post looks at something he’s talked about before from a fresh new angle.
Storytelling: By using metaphors to expose new facets of his expertise, Godin is constantly telling stories. Each post is a story, and connects to the larger narrative of his work. By reading it for just a few days, you feel like you have a pretty good grasp of his voice, his punkish character, and yet you want to keep reading. And storytelling is key for companies in the new economy. Being authentic, being remarkable, and then telling your authentic story in a way that consumers find remarkable is the best way to compete.
Wanting: Over and over, Godin says things like “sell me what I want or I’m leaving.” Marketing is not about needs. It is about wants. It is about finding out what people want and giving it to them, nothing else. People want to be a part of a story. They will want to be a part of your story, if it’s a story worth telling.
- Elements of Several Things
Thrown together, something interesting happens.
