The Art of Asking

Almost six months ago I responded to a tweet from someone that I really didn't know—someone, as it turns out, was half a world away. Ramon de la Fuente (@f_u_e_n_t_e) got Amanda Palmer's book The Art of Asking as a gift and was so moved that he felt that he had to share it. Fittingly, he gave it away on Twitter and asked me to pass it along when I was through with it. It took me a little longer than I had planned to read it but I, too, read the book and couldn't help myself. It's my turn to share and all you have to do is ask. The thing is, if you are the lucky one, I hope that you will do as Ramon and I have and add a little something to the book before you pass it along. I added a small sketch. It was something that I originally did for my wife for an Illustration Friday topic. One day, I will get back to that.

If you aren't yet familiar with Amanda Palmer, do yourself a favor and listen to her music. From her stint in the Dresden Dolls to her solo efforts, she is, if nothing else very memorable. I have always been somewhat partial to Coin-Operated Boy. I couldn't say exactly why but it got under my skin when I first heard it. From her music, move on to her TED talk. Powerful stuff that. To say that I am partial to TED Talks would be somewhat of an understatement. I am one of the founding members of TEDxJacksonville. We are going on our 4th year. Someday, I would hope that we might coax her to come and tell us a story, here in Jacksonville. Read her blog. I remember the shit storm that she endured after a poem she wrote and posted to that blog. You can Google it or you can read about it in her book. Follow her on Twitter. She might say hello even though she has well over a million followers.

Even if you aren't the one who gets Ramon's copy of Amanda's book this time, perhaps it will come your way down the road. If you can't wait, go out and buy a copy for yourself. Then, share it with the world. That's all I am asking.

150 years ago yesterday, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It proclaimed that all those enslaved in Confederate territory to be forever free, and ordered the Army (and all segments of the Executive branch) to treat as free all those enslaved in ten states that were still in rebellion. It was not a law, but a legal loophole that Lincoln used to his advantage and eventually led to the 13th Amendment.

Here's one of the latest illustrations that I did for work. It's for the City of Jacksonville's annual breakfast honoring the late, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event is sure to sell out... it always does, so if you are interested in attending, buy your tickets now!

This work is was inspired by Dr. King's words: "Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent about things that matter." 

That said, for those of ya'll that know me, my life isn't ending anytime soon! And for those who don't, you can follow me on Twitter and see what I'm talking about.

The Nature of Social Media

There’s an interesting post over at Marketing Profs commenting on a whitepaper from 360i Digital Connections. The whitepaper, Twitter & the Consumer-Marketer Dynamic
is loaded with information on who uses Twitter and how it is used. You’ll have to put aside the fact that they only studied 1,800 tweets over a six month period when, by Twitter’s own numbers “Twitter has more than 100 million registered users that log a collective 65 million tweets each day.”

The interesting story that both the whitepaper and the commentary at Marketing Profs tell is that Twitter is used “primarily for people, not corporations. More than 90% of tweets come from consumers… and only 12% of consumer tweets mention a brand.”
Further, the study informs us that “…94% of tweets are personal (vs. professional/self-promotional), 92% of users keep their tweets public, and 85% of tweets reflect original content (non-RTs).” To me these numbers tell a pretty obvious story, but the whitepaper goes on to tell us that “the opportunity for marketers to become part of the conversation remains vast.”

Twitter, like all social networking sites is opt-in. That means, people are only there because they want to be there. Over at Facebook, the story is a little different. For now, you can “Like” a business or organization’s page and you will receive updates to your wall but you can still opt out if the story is not intriguing or delivering a payoff for listening to their message.

I believe that social networking has exploded in recent years because people are so inundated with advertising and marketing that they need a break and can now take it. If marketers jump in with their old models, they will soon find that their words are falling on deaf ears. Mad Men-style advertising, while fun to watch, is dead. The old agencies are sucking air and still blowing smoke but a new day is dawning. Listening is now the key and the consumer is taking back control.

The YouTube video was found while reading a post on Marketing Profs by Ann Hadley titled "Content Rules: One Key Element That Can Set Your Content Apart."