Why Networking Always Beats Having A Website.

I wear I Am Second shirts and stuff, because my dad is this guy. I am always so surprised how many people choose to ask me about it when they see me wearing it. It's not surprising that they ask, but that they always say something like this:

Hey, what is that I Am Second thing? I keep seeing it all over the place but I have no idea what it is.

Whaaaat? In an age where "Google" is a verb and almost any information is one serp away, why would people wait to ask a flesh-and-blood human being instead of just search the internet? How hard is it to see "I Am Second" on a billboard and then google it next time you're at a computer?

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When I started teaching guitar again, everyone told me to create a website, so I did. It's not all that attractive or functional, but that's all being taken care of soon. I was led to believe that having a website would be the best thing I could do for my newfound business - a one-stop shop for everything anyone would ever need to know about my classes.

The website has brought me zero students.

I put up some Craigslist ads, and that brought me my first slew of students, almost immediately. In the ads, I linked to my site, so it got some play, but not a whole lot.

Since then, all of my following students called me because they heard about me.

...from one of my other students.

It was then that I realized that WOM actually does work better than just about anything else. But I also learned why.

It's because people want to talk to people, not a website. Sure, all the information's there, but it's an entirely impersonal experience, no matter how interactive you make it. That's why Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites are dominating the internet - it's a place where you can interact with real people and have real conversations.

So if you have something you want to share, I think it's more effective to share it with a handful of people - and share it in person - than to put it up on the "about us" page on your website.

As an SEO, this concept has the potential to be game-changing.

This is all for now.
-R.

What Happens When You Find Your Calling

When I spoke this past September at the Rethinking Everything conference, I had the chance to be interviewed by Peter Kowalke of The Unschooler Experiment. We talked about my homeschooled upbringing and how I transitioned from living a meaningless, self-centered life to a lifestyle of pursuing humility and seeking opportunities to love.

And here I am, 2 months later.

I've made some progress in the book I'm writing (including 3 or 4 complete re-writes), I've plowed through a couple of the books written by one of the speakers we saw at the conference, and the fire hasn't gone out.

It's flickered, maybe even dwindled, but it hasn't gone out.

I helped my wife start her business teaching ASL and Deaf Culture, and I'm doing what I can to get my dad's voice-over business on its feet. I've built a fairly healthy-sized Twitter following and have formed relationships with a few online influencers who can help me push out any content I develop regarding any of these ventures.

At work, I went after a raise, and got a promotion instead.  And then I got my raise.  My midterm grades this semester are straight A's. I've even had time to set up an online art gallery through which I sell my art, as well as rent out space for other artists to sell their stuff too. We've formed some really awesome relationships since then, and made some pretty radical life changes in the process.

In a nutshell, life's great.

It's an interesting feeling to not burn out. Normally, something like the RE conference would get me all excited about life for a couple weeks, and then I would get depressed because the "warm-fuzzy" feeling had gone, leaving hollow pit of emptiness in my soul.

Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but you get the gist.

But that hasn't happened to me yet. I don't know if it will. In my interview with Peter, I mentioned that you find your calling in the way you love people. I compare it to a room full of artists, all painting the same subject. You're going to get different renditions of that subject, based on each artists's eye and style.

In the same way, when you love others, the way in which that love manifests itself through your actions is equal to your calling in life.

And I found my calling mere months before the conference. I started acting upon it, and it landed me a speaking gig. I spoke, and moved lives. And since the conference, I've been pouring all my marketable skills into the success of others - for free, on top of a full-time job and a full-time school schedule.

You'd think that would burn a guy out, but it's quite the opposite.

I think that's why I haven't hit my "funk" yet. I think it's because I've finally found what I was meant to do, and I'm doing it.

I just had to get that out.

This is all for now.
-R.