Do you know what you’re looking at?

It’s a hole in the ice. A really deep hole.

You could consider it a form of a “black hole,” but you could also consider it a tremendous opportunity.

It represents a small, narrow, but DEEP area of concentration. It’s commonly called a “niche.” That word is from a French term meaning “nest.” In business we consider it a specialized market. People – wise people – are searching for a narrow and deep market. Profitable business is best found in a small pond where you can be the big fish. A small, but deep pond!

I have now updated the site – as you can plainly see – with Chris Pearson’s infamous Thesis theme. It’s about time. I’ve only owned the theme for about a year now – maybe two. I forget. It’s step one in my taking positive action, but it’s not necessarily going to be my biggest step…

I’m taking this blog in a new direction. It’ll still be in keeping with Leaning Toward Wisdom, but the area of wisdom seeking is going to be more narrowly focused. By the end of this month I’ll have made the change and we’ll see what happens.

Regards,

I appreciate snarkiness as much as the next guy. Probably more. Recently, I’ve grown weary of it though. Forced snarkiness, that is. Easy, natural snarkiness is still among the finest crafts I know. Unfortunately, not every one (including me) can practice it proficiently.

Go to almost any blog and scan the comments. You’ll likely experience forced snarkiness.

Go to any forum and I guarantee you’ll read forced snarkiness.

The biggest abuse of forced snarkiness is found in headline writing. Blog post headlines. Sales page headlines. Email subject lines. Everybody is trying to create a line that will cause people to read more.

I love marketing. I read about it, study it and practice it. It has been the focus of my career for over 30 years – admittedly, most of that in the offline world. Swipe files, studying The Star or National Enquirer, going back to old direct mail success stories – all these tools are old hat for most people with extensive marketing experience. Of course, the Internet has changed all that. We’re now flooded with snarky headlines left and right. Poor copywriters regularly toss out some snarky headline that has nothing to do with the copy. Rather than encourage people to read the content, it hacks people off. People grow leery and never trust that writer (or company) again.

“Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you!”

If snarkiness can happen (get ready, here’s an Internet term) – organically, then I’m all for it. That is, if snarkiness fits – maintains congruency with the context or content – then proceed. But I see many instances where that’s not the case. (I began pasting examples, but there were SO MANY that I decided I’d leave you to your own devices. I don’t need to provide evidence. We all know this is true.)

Sometimes – just about once a week – I’m engaged by somebody who complains that they’re not taken seriously in their business enterprise. Hard to do when your digital footprint is 100% snarkiness.

Pot Calls Kettle, “BLACK.”

That’s snarky. It’s also fitting because I am Mr. Pot. I really do appreciate snarkiness. Smarmy is my middle name. Well, not really. My middle name is HOLLIS. But “Pot Calls Kettle, “BLACK” is a better headline than anything that includes HOLLIS.

The point is this…you know it’s bad when somebody as smarmy as me finds it overdone. My Google Reader is full of hundreds of blog posts every day. I scan them and suspect that too much attention is given to make the headlines be something outrageous or smarmy.

I’m all about making a headline capture the attention and imagination of the reader/browser. But can we at least make the headline have some relevance to the post? Am I the only one who finds the writer unworthy of my trust if they lure me in with a headline that has no connection with their copy?

Okay, I’ll build a bridge and get over it.

The group is standing around talking about stuff. That’s right, stuff. A variety of topics have already been discussed. World problems have been solved. Elected officials have been turned inside out. Money? Well, let’s just say there has already been way too much attention paid to everybody’s quest to make more. As this conversation circle continues to talk it up you’re growing increasingly tired of the one guy who is always talking, but rarely listening. He’ll inhale a big gust of breath once in awhile to propel his talk forward for another 10 minutes. Otherwise, he just never shuts up.

I know some bloggers like that. And Twitter-ers. You do, too. There’s no shortage of them. Life is one incessant conversation with everybody listening to their every word (or so they think, or hope). A few of them have been attempting to collaborate on a book entitled, “Twitter Talk: How To Achieve World Domination By Refusing To Listen.” Problem is, they can’t get anything done because they’re all too busy fighting for the spotlight (or microphone, or webcam).

Once in awhile I’ll run across a podcast episode by one of them. Oddly enough, they’re drawn to the interview. They ask one long-winded question, then figure out how to quickly cut off the poor guy being interviewed. And that’s the last we hear from the esteemed guest. You see, the show’s not about the interview. It’s all about the interviewer. And they say talk is cheap! What do they know?

How many comments can one person leave in a day? 2432. If he uses technology to its fullest advantage. Programs like Text Expander or other programs that create keyboard macros work great. Simply program the comment into the software, assign the keystrokes and presto! Two keystrokes results in a full-blown blog comment. Eazie, peezie! Yee-haw, I can leave my digital footprint all over the web.

“Who says Web 2.0 is about dialogue? What do those fools know? I’ve got lots to say and people should be proud to have me around to listen to. I’m awesome. My opinions are better than yours. I am, THE WORLD’S MOST INTERESTING MAN (or WOMAN).”

People can disagree. But they’d be wrong.

By the way, these people can also write snazzier blog post titles. Somebody stole my swipe file.

Well, I’m about a week late. I got the site off the ground, but I still have lots of work to do.

1. Podcast cover art.
2. Podcast intro production and outro production.
3. RSS podcast feeds and iTunes submission.

Time. That’s what I need more of. So much work, so little time.

Follow me on Twitter.

Check out the site, give it a quick scan and listen a bit – then tell me what you think.

Go right now (please).

Time to hibernate. Not to rest, but to put energy in pursuits more worthwhile. Not sure when I’ll be back. Or if I’ll be back. Too many websites, not enough productivity makes Leonard bored (and boring). Time will tell.

This blog has nothing whatsoever to do with who I am professionally. I never mix business with this blog. Recently, I was asked why. Until the question was posed I honestly had not thought much about it. But I quickly was able to give 3 reasons. There are likely many others, but I’m lazy today and don’t feel like writing much. So, three it is.

1. I believe in promotion, but I do not believe in shameless promotion.

   I think the world lacks shame in too many areas. I think a certain amount of shame is necessary if we’re going to be good people and live honorably. Must every endeavor have a money motivation? I don’t think so. This blog has never been about making money, or “monetizing” (who came up with that word?). It’s just some rambling that I do solely for my own entertainment. I’m not interested in how many people stop by, how many clicks I get or how many subscribers I get. I have no illusions of becoming the male version of Heather Armstrong. I can’t keep up with her cussing anyway.

2. Making every online conversation a sales pitch makes people view you like an insurance salesman (sorry, Mr. Insurance Salesman!).

   Imagine you’re at some social gathering trying to have a good time and out of the corner of your eye you see him. He’s the one person everybody dreads talking with. He’s a salesman who refuses to use the soft sell. He’s always pushing his business agenda forward and migrating the conversation to whatever he’s selling. And you hate him for it.

   This blog is a conversation of sorts. Sure, it’s mostly one-way because so few people chime in (probably because so few people read it or even know about it). Still, it’s a conversation that sometimes has observations about business, but there’s no agenda here. The only agenda is to seek wisdom. Sometimes the wisdom here isn’t so wise, but it’s still a quest. This conversation isn’t about making connections that will result in revenues or profits.

3. Different hats for different occasions.

   Wearing the same hat (go to my about page and you’ll see I do wear a hat, especially in the winter) is boring. Like wearing the same shirt day after day. Boring. Uninspiring. Always the same. Sort of like having  the same conversation. I suppose there are some one-dimensional people. I know a few. They’re a one-trick pony and some of them don’t even have such a grand trick. I enjoy some different things. I like some different conversations. Mostly, I enjoy conversations that have no agenda or profit motive. I know that’s anathema when it comes to the Internet. It seems if you’re not constantly thinking about, talking about and planning to “monetize” a website then you don’t know Jack Schitt. Well, I don’t know Jack. I suspect I wouldn’t like him much if I did know him so it’s just as well.

I am not opposed to making money. Like most people I want to earn as much as I can. But I do think there’s a time and place for everything. And I tire of people who blog while constantly beating you over the head with an offer. Do that on a professional blog, a business blog – no problem. I’m all for it. I just don’t personally feel like mixing the two in my life. So I don’t. And now you have at least 3 reasons why.