The Revolution of Kindness

The Love Affair is Over Seth

As you'll know from previous posts, for a long time I was a big fan of Seth Godin.

I've read [almost] all of his books, eulogised about him at lots of business conferences I've spoken at and I would guess promoted his book Purple Cow [my favourite] to a cumulative live audience of at least 10,000 British entrepreneurs at those events over the past couple of years.

Not to mention buying a copy of Purple Cow for every one of my mentoring clients, featuring Seth on my Blog etc. - plus I'd also invited him to be interviewed for my new TV project rachelelnaugh.tv

Yet, in a private email exchange this morning, in response to his recent Blog post about Love (and Annoying) (which obviously annoyed him!) I received the most curtly rude and arrogant response.

So, Seth, this Post is to let you know that my love affair with you is now officially over!

I think it's the same sort of American arrogance that has seen George W Bush leave office as the most disliked US president on record (not to mention the damage done to the US brand) and was displayed by Dick Fuld as he nosedived Lehman brothers into the ground last year.

Let's hope Barack Obama brings back a sense of humility to the US people.

The Art of Blogging

Once a month I do 6 x one hour free advice sessions at the British Library Business and IP Centre for entrepreneurs needing help marketing their business.

A couple of months ago I advised Disability Consultant Danny Puresh that adopting a 'Guru' marketing strategy would be a good (and very low cost) way to promote his business.

Essentially the idea behind a Guru marketing strategy is to position yourself as an expert in your chosen area, which is easy to do given the power of the web and especially blogging.

Today I received an email from Danny to say his Blog didn't seem to be working...

I'm posting below my advice as I think it's a good guide to how you can make Blogging work...

Hi Danny

I've just had a look at your Blog...

Apart from the train rant it's pretty boring I'm afraid.

Read master blogger Seth Godin on this (or visit his Blog).

First your posts need to be interesting.
Secondly they need to be controversial.
Thirdly it's far better if they cover a diverse range of a subjects so that your meta tags can be varied.
Fourthly you need to refer to other Blogs/sites in your Blog through hyperlinks - as that will attract more traffic to you

A good way to generate ideas for new posts is to set up Google alerts on subjects relevant/interesting to you - and then link to those articles with your own views on the subject. If you get alerts for someone else's Blog on a related topic leave a [controversial] comment there - and people will visit you via that.

For example, topical news like yesterday's TV debate about embryo screening for disability and this morning's SKY news interview with Racial Equality Minister about the prejudices against minorities now endemic in our society.

If you look back at the early days of my Blog I only attracted one or two comments (if any)...

But I stuck at it, got more wide ranging punchy and controversial - and slowly slowly attracted a following to the point where I think the biggest comment string on a post was 93 (about Barack Obama's election victory)

Yet still, if I lapse back into being boring, I only get a comment or two.

The good news is, my Blog is now highly ranked by Google and I'm often approached for comments/interviews/speaking engagements after people have found me via my Blog. Media love people who are punchy and who have strong opinions.

Hope this helps...


Rachel

Any other tips for Danny (and me!) are welcome...

Feeling optimistic about 2009!

I'd like to send thanks to my friend Malcolm Levene for the post on his blog about reasons to feel positive about 2009.

Yes there is a lot of doom and gloom about what's happening in the economy but for me we are going through an uncomfortable but necessary period of change. The credit crunch is making everyone a lot more thrifty and I think it's also making us a lot more grateful for what we DO have. Living with an 'attitude of gratitude' is one of the key steps to happiness.

People are also seeking out inexpensive pleasures - despite the icy weather, my home town of Bakewell was packed during Christmas and the New Year with families wrapped up warm, feeding the ducks on the river and going for long countryside walks.

We're finally realising that happiness does not lie in material possessions, that retail therapy does not truly make you happy and as Malcolm says in his blog, people who live in a state of positivity and optimism attract far more great stuff to them in their lives.

The current struggles and tensions which are unfolding are simply the conflict between the old 'alpha' order trying to preserve the status quo in the face of a tidal change of rising spirituality amongst a now critical mass of people on the planet. It was this changing tide which swept Barack Obama to power.

The faster we accept the gift of the beautiful change which is coming through for us and go with the flow of it (rather than fighting it for fear of losing what little we perceive we've already got), the sooner we will find peace and happiness.

Bizchicks vs The Eggheads

Something I've been keeping under my hat that's more exciting to report than the 1.5% cut in interest rates - and even more exciting than the election of President Obama...

Yes, the Bizchicks vs The Eggheads episode is due to be screened on Monday 10 November at 6pm on BBC2!

Here we are on set with the Eggheads and the delicious Jeremy Vine - Lynne Franks (PR guru supreme and founder of Seed Network), Emma Harrison (Social Entrepreneur and CEO of A4e), Laura Tenison (founder and CEO of JoJo Maman Bebe) and Gill Fielding (wealth guru and CEO of The Wealth Company).

I can't reveal whether we defeated the Eggheads but we did the show in aid of NEMA the charity which is working to relieve poverty in Mozambique.

A New Era Dawns

Woke up this morning at 4.30am with the burning desire to go switch on the TV and see what was going on in the US...

And just witnessed Obama's incredibly powerful midnight victory speech.

It feels like we are at the dawn of a new era not just for America but for the whole world. The election of Obama is the signal that people ARE crying out for change; towards a more collaborative, peaceful, fulfilling way of existing, at harmony with others and with the world.

Feels like we had to go through the awful 8 years of George W Bush tyranny of war and greed, and the resulting financial and environmental meltdown, and emerge from that dark tunnel to enable us to appreciate the power of this bright new future. One of hope and daring to dream.

Times, they are a changing.

Alpha vs Zeta Continued...

Just to clear up the misunderstanding that Alpha vs Zeta is just about Male vs Female, you need look no further than the US presidential elections where in a strange twist we have the 'Alpha' Hillary Clinton lined up against the 'Zeta' Barack Obama.

Not so many moons ago the US people faced a similar choice...

By a very small margin they opted for the 'Alpha' Bush - and in doing so chose war, destruction, a weakened economy, and going from being one of the most admired people on the planet to one of the most hated.

'Zeta' Gore meantime went on to make one of the most influential documentaries of all time in 'An Inconvenient Truth', has dramatically increased global awareness of climate change and won a Nobel Peace Prize into the bargain.

When you work from 'Zeta' values you understand that temporary defeat can lead to far greater prizes.

I do not make these comments from anger or bitterness (those are very Alpha traits), but from empowerment, knowledge and the desire for increased awareness, accompanied by positive change.