Nathan Hangen » GCN

The Candyman Can [GCN-12]

Nathan — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:56:44 +0000

The Difference between Experimentation and being Stupid

Lately I’ve been looking at ways that I can increase personal efficiency so that I can stop being my own bottleneck and start getting more done.

It started with hiring my favorite VA, Lisa Morosky, moved to hiring iPhone developers on Elance, and how now left me with the hard tasks of eliminating habits and behaviors of my own that I deem either wasteful or destructive.

It started with Facebook…removing the personal profile (we all know the drama, so let’s not go there).

I then uninstalled TweetDeck and moved back to Twitter.com so I could remove the distraction. A greater man might be able to selectively open and close the application, but like many people I know…comments, RT’s, @’s, and DM’s can be as addicting as any drug…and I can’t seem to get control. So for now, away with TweetDeck.

From there, I’ve looked at how I choose to manage email, which isn’t going to be easy. I’m still working on that.

I use Tungle.me to do my scheduling for clients and interviews, have done much less blog commenting than I used to, and also cut out guest posting on most occasions.

The next thing to look at is my blog.

Last night I Tweeted that I might remove the ability to comment here, and people flipped out. However, the funny thing is that most people flipping out about it don’t even comment here.

Furthermore, they were all claiming that I’ll destroy engagement and that my blog will become old media (i.e. web 1.0).

Before I tackle the issue of the comments, I wanted to talk about a few things that struck me as I read these comments.

1. Your most vocal followers are rarely the customers…at least in my case.

None of the people complaining were customers of mine. They hadn’t emailed me. They don’t comment. So why listen?

2. Although I agree that some form of interaction is beneficial to consumer/business relations, the truth is that most blog commenters are there to socialize, not to buy. Look at the comments on the launch fatigue threads (Productive Flourishing, Launch Coach, David Risley) and you’ll see tons of comments.

However, most of the people commenting are either peers or transient types. They aren’t going to buy just because they were allowed to comment.

As Jordan Cooper so aptly put it last night…would you not take your medicine because the pharmacist didn’t say hello?

Engagement may be important, but it’s overrated. Let’s get real. The product comes first. No amount of engagement is going to help me sell something that you don’t like.

3. Why fear not being “new media?”

Yes, I write on new media. I have a digital consulting agency. I blog. I Tweet and Facebook Rockstar style…but that’s not the core of my business. Media doesn’t make the business…the business makes the business.

I suppose if I were whoring myself out for RT’s, comments, linkbacks, and trackbacks, then yeah…being new media would be important, but I don’t buy from my designer because she blogs…I buy because she does kick ass work.

My Comment Strategy

So let’s talk about when it’s OK to experiment.

If I removed comments from my blog, would that be an experiment or just something stupid to do?

Where do you draw the line between testing strategies and being smart with strategy?

One less list post?

One less comment back?

That’s not experimenting is it? Doesn’t seem so to me.
Here’s what I thought about doing, and you tell me what you think. In all likelihood, I’ll probably go with my gut, but I’m interested in hearing both what you think about my experiments and what you say about your comfort level with experiments of your own.

Comments for Members Only

Sounds cool doesn’t it?

You have to have either purchased something or joined the members area to leave a comment. It’s like a rewards card, or a Sam’s club card.
Granted, I’m not saying that leaving a comment on my site is an honor, but what if I tried to create that experience? What if I told that story?

Would people believe it?

Why would I do this?

#1 – I know who my customers are, and they deserve special access. I’d rather pay attention to them than non-customers.

#2 – Potential customers would be more apt to buy when they see an active comment section of happy customers.

#3 – It removes false metrics from the equation and I get to see how things really work. Comments are misleading, and they’re addicting. By removing them, I get to see my traffic for what it is.

What do you think? Am I crazy or just nuts?

The Candyman Can [GCN-12] is a post from: Nathan Hangen

I Dreamed a Dream [GCN-11]

Nathan — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:05:28 +0000

Remember what it was like to be a child and to be so excited about what the future held?

Nothing was out of the picture, and the options were limitless.

Astronaut? You bet.

NBA player? Why not.

Millionaire? Of course.

Scuba diver? Every morning.

Rock star? By the age of 18.

You want it, you got it.

Hot Damn! The world was your oyster, and you were going to eat the hell out of it.

WTF?

Then it happened.

Days went by…

Weeks went by…

Years went by.

You forgot about it until you forgot about it. Suddenly, panic hits and you realize you’re way off course, and something just doesn’t look right.

You replaced play with work.

You replaced eagerness with procrastination.

You replaced hope with doubt.

Pleasure with pain.

The sandbox

I talked about this in a soon to be released episode of Blogger Beats, but the gist of it is that at some point, we traded the sandbox for the lunchbox.

We gave up our claims on the world because it was inconvenient to our sub-average and mediocre livelihoods.

In my case, I couldn’t look my wife in the eye because I was ashamed of what I’d become. I was unemployable, but kept going back for more.

My family told me I should get real, and I learned to agree with them for the good of the world.

What I didn’t realize was that they were keeping me down because they didn’t realize I could rise above the fray. They’d never seen an eagle fly, and they were afraid that in my “delusions,” that I’d get hurt. They were trying to protect me.

Stop protecting and start throwing people out of the nest

I’m not going to hate on my family, because…well…they’re my family.

What I am going to hate on is the idea that we have to protect each other from getting hurt.

No. We don’t.

Getting hurt is important. It builds resolve and it teaches us that even though things go wrong, the very act of getting back up one more time is enough to separate us from the rest of the pack.

You push a bird out of the nest and it either dies or learns to fly. Dying sucks, but it’s better than living a life without flight.

The same is true of us. Having our dreams crushed hurts like hell. We do die inside, but at least then we know. It’s much better than wishing we’d tried.

On the flipside, if we learn to fly…aw hell baby…it’s on!

We just need to watch one person fly and then we’re off.

Just imagine seeing a friend fly like Neo did in the Matrix…you’d change your mind about flying wouldn’t you?

We need people to get back in the sandbox and make some shit happen. Show us that it’s OK to dream again.

That’s what I charge you with. Not just getting back to the sandbox, but making a MF’ing kick-ass sandcastle and then swan diving off and then flying into the air at the last minute to ooh’s and aaahhhh’s.

I charge you with the task of teaching people that it’s OK to dream, and that it’s OK to claim your destiny.

We’ve got enough workers. We need more dreamers.

Can I count on you?

I Dreamed a Dream [GCN-11] is a post from: Nathan Hangen

In a World of Pure Imagination [GCN-10]

Nathan — Tue, 18 May 2010 05:26:31 +0000

Too Much Noise and Not Enough Music

This is something I found myself typing today, in a completely different context than I’ll be talking about here, and was one of those statements that made me think:

“How the hell did you come up with something like that?”

That’s when I knew it was time to sit down and write a post, which I just did.

It was one of those moments where you know it’s not you doing the writing, and I wouldn’t dare claim otherwise.

It was a spiritual process.

Then I went outside to grab a beer and found an opossum in the garage hanging out with my cats.

Yeah, one of those “wow” evenings.

Must be something in the stars tonight.

So here I am…thinking about this paradigm of noise vs music.

It’s kind of like the signal vs noise debate, but I’d argue that even signal is often noise.

We’ve got Twitter, and Facebook, and Flickr, and gMail, and all this other shit that stabs us with noise every second, of every minute, of every day.

When it’s not the PC (or Mac), it’s the smartphone. When it’s not the phone, it’s the TV. When it’s not the TV, it’s that damn song we can’t get out of our head…that Lady Gaga shit.

This leaves me wondering…where the hell is the music?

Are we addicted to making noise?

“Look at me, I’m important!”

It seems like we’re breeding each other to get used to it instead of put an end to it.

Do the social media and blogging pundits really know what they’re talking about? Do we really have to blog?

Do we have to Tweet and Facebook?

Do we need to 4square it up?

Where do we draw the line?

As I write this, I saw @daniellelaporte say “there’s so much more room in silence.”

I just told her it was “effing surreal.”

Earlier someone said something to the effect of “don’t speak unless it adds to the silence.”

Again, a perfect way to say it.

Why don’t we do less speaking and more listening?

When you open your mouth, is it really that important?

I know I’m guilty as hell. In my house, on my blog, and in my business.

It’s a damn difficult habit to break.

Let’s break it

Can you make a vow with me to make more music?

If you’re not comfortable making music (which you should be, because deep down, I know you have some music to make), can you vow to spend more time in silence?

I was always fascinated by the monks that spent all day writing on chalkboards instead of speaking. They get along just fine.

I find that when my kids walk into my office, there’s a lot of room in silence.

When I step outside to watch them ride bikes, there’s a lot of room in silence.

When I sit down with my wife, there’s a lot of room in silence.

Sometimes, just a smile or a nod says it all.

We don’t have to be addicted to party hats and noisemakers.

Just because no one else is measuring their noise, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t.

The world’s moving too fast to spend the entire ride screaming.

Let’s take a deep breath and enjoy it.

In a World of Pure Imagination [GCN-10] is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Why all the Rants? [GCN-9]

Nathan — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:53:27 +0000

What’s with the rants dude?

I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect that many people (including some of you) wonder why I’ve been so fiery and “pissed off” lately.

I’ll start by saying that the question of me being pissed off is up for debate.

I have this thing that I like to call as bullshit detector, and it is programmed to nag the hell out of me until I call out the bullshit for what it is.

In this case, it sounds like I’m pissed off, but really I’m just speaking my mind.

Some might say that I’m a bit too serious, and that I should be a bit more positive and relaxed.

However, those of you that know me would understand that I’m on a mission, and don’t have a desire to relax until the mission is complete.

Posts like those I published today serve two purposes for me:

1. They allow me to relax by speaking my mind.

When I’m burdened by a thought or a problem, there’s a fire that burns to the core, and it won’t stop until I get it out.

Before blogs, I’d simply send an email or talk to my wife about it, but now that I have a platform from which I can state my position, things like that get posted to the top.

2. They allow me to pick my people.

I could write list posts and linkbait and all that good shit that they tell you to write…and people would love it.

I’d have 50 RT’s and dozens of comments…I’d look like a star, and undoubtedly, my ego would expand.

However, I can’t bring myself to do it, no matter how hard I try. I’ve never been one to play games for the sake of power or for being liked.

I also get fed up with reading the same shit everywhere. I’m frustrated that people don’t take risks with their own content.

I’m frustrated that more people don’t take the hard road. And that’s why I do this.

When I post a piece like I did today, I get to find out who’s not afraid of being unique, and I enjoy that.

Why hide my true colors in order to make friends when I’d be doing a disservice to both myself and them? We’d be wasting each other’s time, and the relationship would be founded on half-truths…hardly the most promising start.

Instead, I can talk to you like I’m talking to my mates at the bar.

If you don’t like my posts, then you probably won’t like me, and if you don’t like me, then you’ll probably hate my products.

More efficient isn’t it? Why waste time with anyone but the true believers?

On the contrary, if you make it through one of my posts and leave a comment, then I know you’re the real deal. I know you get it, and that I can talk to you like I do here…without reservation, subtext, or lies.

Any lame ass post can “go viral,” but are people really reading it, and furthermore, are they taking action because of it?

I judge my success by how closely I live to my own values, and in the changes I can help others make in their own lives.

Social media doesn’t really excite me…not as much as it excites Chris Brogan or Mitch Joel.

Blogging doesn’t really excite me…not as much as it excites Darren Rowse or Yaro Starak.

What excites me is big picture thinking, doing crazy shit, and pushing myself beyond my current set of limits.

This is what drives me to compete in Ironmans, and it’s what drives me to take my blog less seriously by pretending to be an ass in public.

At the end of the day, what I have left is the feeling I get from living my dharma, and from not sacrificing my own ideals or values for the sake of extra attention.

I’m not making any judgments about you…I’m simply sharing the view from where I’m at.

Even though it might not seem like it, I do appreciate each of you, and the fact that you’re here.

It’s kind of like that scene from Jerry McGuire…”who’s coming with me?”
Very few people see the value in really challenging the status quo…that is saying you’re going to act and then actually doing it.

When everyone else bails, we’re still here, sword in hand, steely eyed, and focused on the prize, whatever yours may be.

“For the Empire!”

Why all the Rants? [GCN-9] is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Twisting Turning Through the Never [GCN-8]

Guest Blogger — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:54:14 +0000

What are Ides?

It’s 10:56…Tuesday the 23rd of March, and there I was…drinking Blue Moon like it was on sale (it was).

I thought I’d be dramatic because I didn’t have anything else to planned and I hoped that a post would come out of nowhere and save me.

Nope…still no post idea.

Dammit.

Maybe I should talk about American Idol and my new favorite: Siobhan Magnus…rocking name for a chick.

Simon is pretty cool too…never afraid to speak his mind, nor the truth.

Interesting idea there, speaking your mind and speaking the truth.

Do they go together? When you speak your mind do you feel like you’re speaking the truth?

I know in the past few days, that I’ve spoken my mind, both on the high side and the low side.

On one hand, I spoke what I thought to be true at the time, and I’m glad I said it. I still think it was true. I still believe in what I said.

I also know that I caved a bit and posted a bit of a punk ass retraction. Sort of a cop out…but I wanted to try and build a bridge back from where I stood. But then, several hours later, I realized that where I stood was pretty cool, and I had a group of people like you standing there with me.

Kind of a cool feeling…jumping to a flaming piece of rock in the middle of a lava storm and realizing that your friends have jumped with you.

Like the show Lost…we decided to do our own thing and damn the torpedoes…screw what everyone else thinks and the lives they lead…we’re doing it the way we want to.

And that’s why I’m super pumped to be here with you today.

I talked to a really cool guy on the phone today (Skype) and we talked like we’d known each other for years. No awkwardness, no disagreement…just flow. That was cool too.

My point is that it’s fun to draw lines, not to separate yourself, but to find more time to hang out with people that flow.

All of you have it, and I’m grateful. In fact, I think I’ve talked to almost all of you either via Skype, Twitter, or email. If I haven’t, please do reach out to me: nathan@nathanhangen.com

I think that’s pretty cool.

So anyway, I think I finally found my rhythm, thanks to some cool Oleg Mokhov jams, and I’m ready to talk about what I wanted to talk about, which is the psychology of working in isoloation.

You know, I’ve had no less than 30 jobs in my 31 years, and most of them sucked. I mean they really…really…sucked.

McDonalds (not bad actually)

Kenny Rogers

Yale Windows

Kroger

A job where I pressed buttons all day and I can’t remember the name

Books and Company

Pet Supplies Plus

Scott’s Lawn Care

Lexis Nexis

and that’s just the start…

Anyway, in each job or position, I had at least one person I could talk to on a daily basis…in person, live, unfiltered.

It was nice.

Now, working in my home office, the closest I get to most people on a daily basis is on Twitter, Skype, or Email. Most of the time, we chat…no voice…lots of filters.

And as I think about that effect on myself, I wonder what the global implications are…when you have hundreds of thousands of online entrepreneurs that spend each and every day in isolation…dealing with personal demons…internet demons, and lifestyle demons.

If someone calls us on something…we can unfollow them. Not so in real jobs.

If we have a problem and we want to talk…we can do that in a real job…not so much online.

At Lexis Nexis we had a water cooler and a smokers area…same in the Army. Online we have Twitter…not quite the same.

It just really makes me wonder what we’re doing to ourselves in the long-term…taking part in what seems awesome at first; working in our underwear (who doesn’t do it?)…sitting at a desk by ourselves with a Twitter screen open and a bunch of RSS feeds in front of us.

It’s easy to get sucked in to the drama. It’s easy to take things the wrong way. It’s easy to hide from what we don’t like. It’s easy to snipe at people.

I don’t have an answer to this, and I think we’re just getting started…it might get worse. What’s your take…what role does working at home play in the psychology of our relationships and our personal lives?

Take Up Your Arms!

I have this idea, which is that we all become Kings. We each rule a part of the empire, and each of us makes our part of the world a better place. And I don’t say this the way other people mean it, which is that it’s a cool catchy tagline that sells shit…I mean it in a way that we all actually become successful enough to build our own kingdoms.

I mean it in a way that we all achieve our dreams and in turn help others do the same.

I mean it in a way that you can ask me to go to war for you with my kingdom, and I’m there…I’ve got your back.

I think there’s far too much talk of action and dreaming, but far too little of the actual action and dreaming.

Let’s talk about what it really takes to build an empire…

An Emperor (could be anyone)

Kings (you and I)

A warchest (our businesses build those)

The balls to stand for something and accomplish it (who’s got em?)

That’s really it…we just have to decide to band together and kick some freaking ass…

You’re here…so you obviously want to kick some ass, so where do we start?

We start by coming together as early and as often as possible.

Fi is with me…I know this.

Martine is with me…I’m talking to you Friday.

CJ and I are like old war buddies.

Dave D is like an assassin…he’s a bad ass mofo

Oleg is on it

Joe is getting ready to rumble…I know this

The rest of you are awesome, but I want to talk with you more.

Let’s start working some magic and conquering this realm…I’m serious.

If I can’t work with you on a project, I want to make your project beat ass. I want you to beat ass. I want to see you beat ass.

Is that too much ass beating? Never.

We’re like the 300 Spartans, only smaller and more awesome.

What are you doing? How can I help? What do you think about what I’m doing? Want to help? Know anyone that wants to join the party? Let’s get going folks…the worlds waiting to be conquered.

Twisting Turning Through the Never [GCN-8] is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Protected: Hold Your Color [GCN-7]

Nathan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:16:32 +0000

Protected: Hold Your Color [GCN-7] is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Building Bridges to Infinity [GCN-6]

Nathan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:47:17 +0000

Identify and Destroy

I’ve talked a lot about problems lately. Some of that is because I’m working through an array of them in my own business, but I also think it’s necessary to clearly identify problems before you can devise a solution to them.

In short, some of the problems we’ve discusses are:

Idea Incest and Lack of Originality
The Need for Leaders
Not Reaching the People that Really Need Our Help
Not Moving the Bigger Needles
Being Afraid to Be Real
Putting the Cart Before the Horse…i.e. What about the Products?

As I see it, these are some hefty problems and they have to be solved. The problem though, is that many of us are trying to solve them on our own.

There’s a fine line between friends, readers, and customers. It’s hard to market to friends, so we try not to make too many of them. It’s hard to sell something when everyone else is selling the same thing…usually to the same people.

So we sit in our own little offices and devise clever marketing strategies and branding tactics in order to attract more customers from the other guy. In the end, we find ourselves digging in and preparing for war. Underneath all of the nice guy formalities, we’re trying to think of ways to beat each other.

And so it begins…back to you vs me. Business vs. consumer. Business vs. business. It’s a nasty place to be isn’t it?

But it doesn’t have to be that way….in fact, I’d say it’s critical that it isn’t.

Building Partnerships

If you and I have exchanged an email, comment, or Tweet at some point…there’s a high probability that I’ve approached you about working together in some fashion…whether through a partnership, JV, guest post, or brainstorming session.

To some, I’m a fool for taking on so much work. But here’s the way I see it:

I’m only capable of so much on my own. I only have so many skills that I can use, develop, or learn. I only have so much time in a day.

The same is true of each one of you.

As someone that spent a year working 8-12 hours/day trying to do everything on my own, I realized rather quickly that it doesn’t work.

Doing so creates two obstacles:

1. A scarcity mindset
2. Inability to Scale

Now, if you know me at all, you know that I’m far from a kumbaya (Live the Dharma aside) blogger and I’m quite heavily entrenched in the process of creating profit…but at some point…you have to stop doing everything on your own.

First of all, it stands to reason that if I promote you to my readers or to my friends…then it not only helps you…not only helps my readers…but also helps the industry.

It also stands to reason that if you have something great to offer the world, that I would be a fool not to find a way to help you promote it, whether I make a commission or not.

1. I’m building a relationship with you.
2. I’m helping you succeed.
3. It’s possible that we can create a partnership that benefits both of us.

The Power of Momentum

Now, when you and I combine our efforts, that’s pretty cool. But when you and I can combine what we’re doing with what two others are doing…we’re on to something powerful.

When those two teams leverage the power of other teams, suddenly we’ve created something capable of changing the world.

I call this building bridges to infinity, because when combining the most powerful aspects of multiple individuals, you create a force that is capable of taking on the infinite.

Now, this doesn’t mean that we all have to create a product together, but one of the reasons I created this area was so that powerful people, such as yourselves, could find ways to create bridges capable of carrying extremely heavy loads.

And we need these bridges because we’re dealing with some heavy stuff…

Great ideas are heavy. Empowered people are heavy. This members area is heavy.

Heavy not with excess, but with potential.

Human networks are some of the most powerful networks on the planet. Human networks are how ideas collide. They’re how chain reactions occur. We might have our own business, but we’re not in business alone.

And so I ask you…or perhaps even challenge you…to see the world not from a me vs. you scenario, but from an us against the infinite scenario.

I know that none of you here are offenders, but if your journey was anything like mine, you may have been at some point.

All I’m asking is that we step out of the darkness of our solitary world and start building more bridges. Start building networks. And start creating something powerful. More…often.

It might sound esoteric, but the truth is that in helping you, I help myself, to help the world. If we want to move big needles, we need to become big ourselves.

Now who’s got a hammer?

Building Bridges to Infinity [GCN-6] is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Nathan Hangen » GCN

The Candyman Can [GCN-12]

Recommended Posts

I Dreamed a Dream [GCN-11]

Recommended Posts

In a World of Pure Imagination [GCN-10]

Other Posts

Why all the Rants? [GCN-9]

Other Posts

Twisting Turning Through the Never [GCN-8]

Take Up Your Arms!

Other Posts

Protected: Hold Your Color [GCN-7]

Other Posts

Building Bridges to Infinity [GCN-6]

Other Posts