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transformation is all around

2009-08-19T06:42:00-05:00

transformartion is all around from Gilbert Melott | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.

Transformations come from within.

Every person, business, culture have that moment of clarity when they realize that something needs to change. When doing the same old thing, looking at the same four walls, living in a job or career that is not satisfying and will no-longer fulfill you.

When you stand at the edge of something - a curb, on top of a desk, the decision of a lifetime, your point of reference changes. Change and transformative behaviors look less daunting when you can see them objectively.

Take a look at something differently today. Take a new route to work or home. Sit in a different spot at a meeting. Re-write your marketing plan for your new star-tup with the help of a mentor. But look at how something you might have seen one way, and only one way --- look at it differently today.

Today is the day for transformation... Just a thought. A little change of pace.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

emerging leaders voices: Matt Ackerson chapter 1 - start a business...

2009-08-17T11:04:41-05:00

Matt Ackerson wrote a different chapter for his life after graduating from college: He started a business.
By John Exley

May 2009: most college graduates are in full panic mode [http://www.naceweb.org/spotlight/2009/c052809.htm]. The ‘lucky ones’ have accepted jobs with big corporations. Very few are taking a stand against the status quo. Meet one of the exceptions: young entrepreneur Matt Ackerson [http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattackerson]. Having started a couple businesses as a student at Cornell University, Matt is determined to conclude his collegiate career by doing one thing: following his dreams of building a successful startup.

He did just that.

As summer comes to an end, Matt Ackerson has experienced the full-time life of a young entrepreneur. Matt is the Co-Founder & CEO of Bluesky Local, a startup that offers an innovative restaurant marketing software solution. He also writes daily articles on his entrepreneurship blog, Venture Kid.

Matt shares some of the most valuable lessons he’s learned since entering college and from his recent experiences building a startup company.

1. How do you pitch your startup, Bluesky Local?

Bluesky Local offers the world's first Slow Sales Response (SSR) restaurant marketing solution for independent local businesses and chain restaurants. The problem it addresses is plummeting sales caused by external factors such as time, weather, and seasonal changes. It tracks and responds to these factors in real-time by delivering coupons to local consumers via email, text-message, and Twitter.com, thus boosting sales. (You can follow Bluesky Local on Twitter: www.twitter.com/blueskylocal).

2. What kind of advice would you give someone in high school who is struggling to find his or her passion and can’t figure out what to major in at college?

The only way to fail is not to try. First, figure out your options in terms of adventures to embark upon or, in the case of school, classes to take. Take on whatever sounds cool and interesting to you, even if you think it will be tough to get a good grade. Grades aren't everything. They count for so little by the time you're ready to kick-off at the end of your life.

3. What is the #1 piece of advice you would give someone entering college or graduating and entering the ‘real world’?

There are two questions here so I'll give two answers. For someone entering college my advice is not to worry so much about grades. College is about having new experiences and meeting extraordinary people, whether they are your classmates, professors, or guest speakers. Be like a sponge and soak it all up. Of course, don't try to cram too much in, it's better if you can be like a "focused sponge" rather than running around like a chicken with its head cut off, from club to class to another extracurricular activity. If you fill your life with constant movement, you'll miss the joy of so many little things that only happen with patience and on slow, empty nights where there's nothing to do but stay up late and talk with your roommate about some random business idea you're thinking of...

My advice for someone leaving college is not to get sucked into the mindless group-think about the need to compromise to do something (such as taking a job, or going back to school) when maybe that's not what you want to do. Because, you know what? One day you'll wake up and you'll be old and close to the end, and you'll have to live with the decisions you've made about your life. What will you be thinking of that day as you reflect on your life? On that day I know I'll be smiling, probably looking forward, thinking of some other crazy idea or challenge that I'm excited to embark upon.

Money and grades are important, but you don't have to comprise your dreams for them. If you're passionate in life and smart about when to quit and when to stick, you'll be happy and you will succeed.

4. What is the first story you remember of yourself that foreshadowed your future entrepreneurial aspirations?

When I was a little kid I didn't know anything about business or investing or start-ups or any of that. I did have this vague idea that I would do something on my own and that I would take risks and work hard in order to see it through. Since I didn't know anything about business, but I did like to read and write, I started writing novels. I started and stopped writing at least ten different fictional novels over the course of the next 10 years. The year before I transferred to Cornell I took an independent study where the goal was to produce a first draft manuscript of a novel.

I still plan to write a complete novel someday but I've put that to the side for the time being. My focus and ambition is solely for the company right now. In the meantime I'm "taking notes" for that future novel.

5. If you could go back to your freshman year of college, what’s the one thing you would change?

I wouldn't change anything.

6. If you could go back to the moment you started your first business, what is the one thing you wish you could change?

I still wouldn't change anything, but if I could go back and have my current self meet my past self I would yell at him and say "Hey! Your revenue model sucks! What are you thinking?" Then I'd laugh. My first two businesses were horrible when it came to making money and creating any real value.

7.    In the next 5 years, how will you personally define or measure:
a.    Happiness
b.    Success
c.    Self-fulfillment

If we were to cross paths at that time and you observe me to be a traveling bohemian on a motorcycle, who paints and writes daily, you can ask me this same question and I will say, "This."

8. What does the typical day consist of for Matt Ackerson?

It's a mix of talking (with my business partner, clients, and advisors), writing, web design, cooking, exercise, sleep--wake the next day and repeat. I wouldn't have it any other way.

9. What is your best time management advice for someone in start-up mode who just recently graduated?

Make short lists of the goals you want to accomplish everyday, write them down, declare them publicly to your business partners or a friend that's willing to listen, then do them. If you have time, add one or two extra goals to get done for the day.

Also, this is something I'm sometimes bad at, but make sure to get lots of sleep and take steps to maintain your health. You'll burn out otherwise.

10. Do you have any tips on how to focus and not become inundated with too many opportunities? For example, I love the quote you once told me, “You’re more likely to die from indigestion of too many opportunities, than starvation of too few.”

Yes, that quote came from a business mind greater than mine, but it's generally true. The days that I am the most productive are when I am very focused on accomplishing one thing at a time. To repeat, you will be the most effective at getting things done and getting them done well if you focus on only one thing at a time. Avoid distractions like television and spending all your time on writing emails. If you determine that time spent on Facebook or Twitter is going to help your business, then include in your routine; but be strict with imposing limits on the time you spend on it compared to the tangible results it produces.

11. In today’s world of social media and technology, what do you recommend spending more time on, and what do you spend more time on personally: creating content (i.e. writing blogs) or consuming content (i.e. reading books, articles, other blogs)?

In the context of running a successful start-up and also keeping in mind my answer to the previous question, I would recommend evaluating the value created for your business based on where you decide to allocate your time, especially when it comes to social media and email. Networking and communication via those mediums is great, but incessant communication and making yourself available 24/7 will turn into a time sink. It will be a distraction from other pressing tasks that have to get done if your company is to be successful.

For example, if you run a website business I recommend spending lots of time on optimizing the site's design to make sure it communicates the right message in the right way to customers.

I try to allocate most of my time to reading at night and writing during the day. Both are important because you want to understand your competition, what is happening in your industry, as well as offering free help and advice to potential customers as a thought leader within that industry.

12. Given your experience thus far with your start-up, do you have any regrets?

No, though I do worry that sometimes I am not pushing hard enough. The truth is, with entrepreneurship, the journey is the destination. If you're going to build something like Bluesky Local that is potentially groundbreaking and a value-machine for customers, it takes time to build and patience to maintain your steady, forward momentum. I've had the last three years of college-based entrepreneurship to prepare me up to this point and to help me find the right business partner and Co-Founder for my ventures (Angel Villegas is my business partner). It's early still, but I know we're on to something.

13. Do you think it is a better strategy for a recent graduate to get a job with a big corporation or try to join a (or found his or her own) start-up?

Lots of people will try to give you good advice, including me, but as Oscar Wilde wrote, the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on.

Evaluate your own situation and do your best to follow your passions. Don't spend your days trying to live up to someone else's expectations and compromise as little as possible.

14. Which do you value more: experiential learning or academic learning?

Experiential learning. It's supposedly a fact that the human brain retains much more information garnered from hand-on experience, though there is definitely some value in academic learning as well.

Just remember two things: anything you can learn in the classroom you can also teach yourself through independent study. To paraphrase Galileo, you can't teach a man anything; you can only help him to find the answers within himself. The second thing to remember is that anything you learn in the classroom you might not have had the motivation to teach or learn on your own.

15. Looking back on your college experience, how important do you think your classes were?

Some were a joke, some were very useful, others boring. The irony is that the class I got the most out of was a speaker series on entrepreneurship. It was only 1 credit and once a week. You would come in and listen to the story and lessons of each entrepreneur and then you could go up and talk to them about anything you wanted to after the class was over. Mind you, these were multi-millionaires. I took that class three times, and sat in on it for a fourth.

16. Would you say you spent too little, too much, or the right amount of time on your homework and grades?

The right amount, I suppose. I was very tempted at times to just blow it off and work on the business. I managed an okay balance of both though.

17. If you could have anything (at all) right now, what would it be?

I'm pretty happy right now with how things are going in my life. However there is one thing I would like right now. I recently had my tonsils removed, so my voice still sounds a little funny over the phone. I would like my throat to heal faster so I can buckle down and go make more sales calls!

18. What is your mission in life? What is the purpose of life?

You ask some tough questions, John. I don't really know, but that's part of why I'm working hard right now. In the future I look forward to the time that financial security will provide me with so that I can sit down under a palm tree in tropical paradise (or where ever I happen to be) with a pad and a pen and ponder questions like that.

You can connect with Matt Ackerson by sending him an email (matt@blueskylocal.com),
following him on Twitter (www.twitter.com/mattackerson), or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mattackerson).

+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+

John Exley is an aspiring entrepreneur with a unique background who loves his family and friends more than anything in the world. He is a junior Engineering & Management major and is President of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization at Clarkson University in northern New York. Born in Rochester, NY, his passions include fashion, networking, technology, working out, hustling, and helping others to achieve their dreams!

You can reach John Exley at: johnexley@nextvoice247.com, exleyja@clarkson.edu, or on his cell at: (585) 472-0272.

Follow John Exley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnexley
Connect with John Exley on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jexley
Network with John Exley on LinkedIn: www.linkedin/in/johnexley
Personal Website: www.johnexleyonline.com

networking 101: networking tips from big thinkers... 101 of them

2009-08-12T11:12:46-05:00

networking 101: networking tips from big thinkers... 101 of them from Gilbert Melott | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.

By John Exley - John is a great addition and ongoing Guest blogger to the Nextvoice247 team. You can read more about John at the end of his blog.

Relationships have been said to be one of the keys to happiness in life. Networking brings about relationships and is essential for building your personal brand, growing your company, or even enabling a more rewarding life. Below are 101 1-sentence tips on networking from some of the worlds best people to know, from ambitious college students and fabulous bloggers to successful entrepreneurs and my own father.

Embody these tips and you will be well on your way to becoming a successful networker. Many thanks to all the contributors; your friendships and help have been a key to my own personal happiness in life.

Embody these tips and you will be well on your way to becoming a successful networker. Thanks to all the contributors!

1.    Don't carry any businesses cards with you: It makes you memorable because it is unexpected AND it positions you perfectly to follow up after you meet since the responsibility for future contact is clearly yours. (Mike Michalowicz, Author of ‘The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, CEO of Obsidian Launch, mikem@obsidianlaunch.com, www.twitter.com/tpentrepreneur)
2.    No one is special, say hello to everyone! (Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia & host of WineLibaryTV, www.twitter.com/garyvee, www.garyvaynerchuk.com)

3. Once one is committed to working for the greater good, the most spectacular design of well oiled networking relationships will miraculously appear over and over again. (Amanda Koster, Founder of Salaam Garage) http://salaamgarage.com/, www.twitter.com/salaamgarage

4. Always be thinking: How can I help the person I’m talking to? (Guy Kawasaki, Entrepreneur and VC, Co-Founder of Alltop.com and Garage Technology Ventures. www.twitter.com/guykawasaki, www.guykawasaki.com, www.alltop.com, guy@alltop.com)
5. Don’t let the room work you, have conversation exits and circulate yourself. (Larry Chiang, Author of “What They Don’t Teach You at Stanford Business School” http://www.amazon.com/What-Teach-Stanford-Business-School/dp/0615301487/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1250099306&sr=8-2, Founder & CEO of Duck9 www.duck9.com, Blogger www.larrychiang.com, www.twitter.com/larrychiang, larry@whattheydontteachyouatstanfordbusinessschool.com)

6.    You just don’t know who knows who – networking makes connections to follow and see where they might lead. (Anita Wagner, Chief Operating Officer of Polaris Library Systems, anita.wagner@polarislibrary.com)
7.    Be yourself, flaunt a little creativity and add value to everyone that you meet. (Sarah Prout, Founder of Sprout Publishing & Award-winning Entrepreneur, http://www.sproutpublishing.com/, www.twitter.com/sarahprout)
8.    When networking don’t hold back, you never know what qualities you have that might be valuable to others. (Tony Ruiz, student at Arizona State, www.twitter.com/tonyruiz, http://www.concepthero.com/)
9.    Always look for ways to make the Networking communication mutually beneficial…do not Network solely for personal gain. (Kent Heyman, President and CEO of Syncables, www.syncables.com, www.twitter.com/syncables)
10.    Stop looking around the room or thinking about what you’re going to say and listen. (Matt Ackerson, www.venturekid.com, www.twitter.com/mattackerson, mmackerson@gmail.com, Co-Founder and CEO of Scrimple, Inc. and BlueSkyLocal)
11.    Your network is like a presidency, how you handle your relations will make the people love or hate you. (Dan Xavier, CEO of Sosponsored, dxaviers@gmail.com)
12.    Ask Intelligent questions, and listen with sincere care. (George Exley, gexley@careforyourproperty.com, CEO and President of PropertyCare, Inc. www.careforyourproperty.com)
13.    Be helpful after doing homework on the person and your connections will be much deeper. (Chris Brogan, President of New Marketing Labs, www.twitter.com/chrisbrogan, http://bit.ly/cbbio, blog@chrisbrogan.com)
14.    Start talking. The person you want to meet isn't going to come over to you, get over there and introduce yourself! (Jared O’Toole, Co-Founder of Under30CEO, www.twitter.com/jaredotoole, jared@under30ceo.com)
15.    When networking do not use people as stepping stones to accomplish what you want, see each person as an individual with whom you may build a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with. (Shawn Doolen, shawn.doolen@gmail.com, www.twitter.com/dooley34512, Business Transformation Consultant, IBM)
16.    Every person you meet has the potential to drastically alter your life, (you just don't know it yet), so make the introduction, lay it all out and reap the rewards. (Rob Ianelli, www.robianelli.com, www.twitter.com/robianelli, Co-Founder of Hip Visions, LLC (www.hipvisions.com) and What’s Up Martha www.whatsupmartha.com)
17.    Networking isn't about exchanging business cards, it's about building relationships. (Scott Stratten, President of Un-Marketing.com, http://un-marketing.com/blog/, www.twitter.com/unmarketing)
18.    You have to give to get! Your approach to networking has to be completely selfless--the more opportunities that you find for other people the more opportunities will find you. (Matt Wilson, Co-Founder of Under30CEO, www.mattwilson.tv, www.twitter.com/mattwilsontv, matt@under30ceo.com)
19.    When networking it's important to just be yourself: the same skills used in face-to-face networking carry over into social media and are your best assets! (Chris Isaac, Founder of www.birdbathBUZZ.com, createbuzz@birdbathbuzz.com, www.twitter.com/birdbathbuzz)
20.    Your network isn't about what you can gain from it, but what you have to offer it, such that if you focus on what you can give, the "gets" fall into place. (David Macauley, www.twitter.com/threedot, Program Manager for Backup and Recovery at an IT firm; Professional Encourager & Kindness Catalyst)
21.    Make yourself available, approachable and knowledgeable. (Aaron J. Davis, Manager of Consumer Insights and Web Analytics for Kellwood, www.twitter.com/aaronjdavis, davis.aaron@gmail.com)
22.    Networking is never about you, it's about them - it's about interacting, engaging, and providing value to others. (Kevin Mandeville, Founder of http://bouncewebsolutions.com/, www.twitter.com/kevingotbounce)
23.    It's easy to fall into the trap of relying on the internet to only connect with others and build your network, but at the end of the day, it's the face-to-face interaction that matters most; use the internet (social media) as a networking tool and a springboard to F2F opportunities, not a replacement for the human component of building meaningful relationships. (John Fowler, Authentic Consultant & Coach, www.linkedin.com/in/johnrayfowler, www.twitter.com/johnrayfowler)
24.    Always seek first to help the other person before asking them to help you. (Scott Bradley, www.NetworkingEffectively.com, www.twitter.com/scottbradley)
25.    Don't half-ass it. You're customers, readers, and overall audience can read between the lines. Be genuine and be unique! (Matt Chevy, http://www.lifewithoutpants.com/, www.twitter.com/mattchevy)
26.    I've never gotten turned down for a meeting I really wanted to get, some you just have to try harder than others. (Derek Johnson, www.twitter.com/thederekjohnson, http://thederekjohnson.com/, CEO of Tatango)
27.    Get your "what do you do?" reply/answer down to one sentence and have it ready at all times. (Troy Monaco, Brand Relations, http://troymonaco.com www.twitter.com/troymonaco)
28.    Be a good resource for people in your network by asking them what u can do for them most of the time, not what they can do for you all of the time, i.e. if someone in your network likes football a lot, and you happen to stumble upon a great football article, you should send the article to him or her! (Nduka Anyanwu, Author of www.HowToCollegeFitness.net & the upcoming www.cufit.net, www.twitter.com/ndukaanyanwu)
29.    A firm handshake with eye contact is crucial because people intuit a great deal from that first brief exchange, and maintaining open body language by never crossing your arms is essential for all networking interactions. (Mike Hanna, Business Consultant and Aspiring Entrepreneur, mhannamj@gmail.com)
30.    A few quality connections are more valuable than hundreds of weak connections. (Brian Shaffer, Internet Entrepreneur, brian@brianshaffer.com, www.brianshaffer.com)
31.    Networking is as simple as developing a new friend; listen, offer help and enjoy each other’s company…all else will fall into place. (Brian Gates, President/Lead Designer of Design My Idea, LLC, http://www.designmyidea.com/)
32.    Memory retention of a prospect and their business is twice as important as getting their number (never punch a number into your phone or you'll forget them, get a card, write on it, look at it, comment on it to your prospect); networking without remembering the relationship is called NOTworking. (Dan McClintock, Co-Owner at DNE Records, CEO of Package Web Deals, CEO of Design-Geeks.com, www.twitter.com/lildanny, www.linkedin.com/in/lildanny)
33.    In networking it is more important to be interested than interesting. (Ty Bennett, Founder of Leadership, Inc. http://leadershipinc.com/, www.twitter.com/tybennett,)
34.    Network with everyone not based on their title because it could lead to an even better group of networks. (Demetrius Williams, Aspiring Entrepreneur, Demetrius.j.williams@gmail.com, www.twitter.com/djwilliams2)
35.    The Internet is faster than your mouth; be selective in what you post. (Josh “The Future” Fogarty, Business Technology Strategist, www.twitter.com/joshthefuture)
36.    Get to know people as friends it's a much better way to let your goals be known, but before you do, ask and care about theirs. (Bill Griffin, Event Planner, Sales & Marketing Professional griffin92400@yahoo.com, www.twitter.com/bgriffin04, http://bgriffin04.wordpress.com/)
37.    I’m tired of being around people who are not passionate; they are straight up boring, so be passionate and you will succeed at networking…at least with me. (Ben Henschel, Photographer & Aspiring Entrepreneur www.benhenschel.com, www.twitter.com/benschel)
38.    Be interesting, be genuine, don't go nuts promoting yourself. (Ian J. Spector, Clever entrepreneur, Bestselling author, Creative strategy & marketing consultant w/ interest in online media, www.whatisawesome.com, www.twitter.com/ianjspector)
39.    Everyone knows someone, and that someone could turn you into a Someone. (Anthony Tori, Founder of Jumpness, www.twitter.com/anthonytori, www.jumpness.com, www.twitter.com/jumpness)
40.    Always listen to what the other person has to say, because every detail can be turned into a story for another conversation and conversations are the start of all relationships. (Amitha Kurmala, Chief Editor of Technizzel, www.technizzel.com, www.twitter.com/technizzel)
41.    When going to company sponsored networking events, find out in advance who is going to be there and do your research in order to make a great impression. (Sarah Chuplis, Operations Management Leadership Program for GE in California, http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sarah-chuplis/14/563/23a, Sarah.Chuplis@ge.com)
42.    Register at the business networking site LinkedIn.com. (Dave Miller, Quality & Process Engineering for Eastman Kodak Company, david.a.miller@kodak.com)
43.    When networking online, never forget what your mother taught you; it’s not about you. (Michael Benidt, CEO of Golden Compass, www.twitter.com/michaelbenidt, Michael@goldencompass.com, www.goldencompass.com)
44.    Company sports leagues are good networking, fun, and healthy unless you get pasted in the face with a softball. (Blake Conley, Reaction Value Stream Leader for GE Energy)
45.    Make yourself visible and vocal. (Chase Dearring, Industrial Engineering major at North Carolina A&T, crdearri@ncat.edu)
46.    Always have a hard copy back up of your most important contacts in case you lose a phone or your computer is stolen and never lose touch no matter what; even though it might not seem to matter who or what they are now, it is important to think long term when networking. (Chase Dragoon, Entrepreneur, patrickdragoon@gmail.com)
47.    Always make friends, never enemies, as enemies are worthless, and stay in touch with those friends. (Chris Cerami, Aspiring Entrepreneur at Penn State, cjc5107@psu.edu)
48.    Get out of your comfort zone, dissociate with people that are negative towards what you are trying to accomplish, and associate with people that are like minded and trying to, or already achieving what it is that you want. (Ben McAvey, Student at Clarkson University, mcaveybm@clarkson.edu)
49.    Don’t close any relationships with employers, you never know when they’ll come back to help you out. My old boss gave me a great letter of recommendation and it helped me a lot. (Derek Exley, Aspiring Entrepreneur, dexl0116@brockport.edu)
50.    Don’t be afraid. (Dustin Grzeskowiak, Mathematics Student at Clarkson University, grzeskdj@clarkson.edu)
51.    Give first. (Michael Simmons, Founder of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, www.twitter.com/michaeldsimmons)
52.    Get out of the corner, and don’t be afraid to talk, write or tweet with anyone from organizations that have your interest! (Nikki Intschert, Youth Employment Counselor at the Jefferson County Workplace)
53.    Don’t be overly formal with people, just be yourself. (Dusty Logan, SAP Consultant at IBM, dustin.logan@gmail.com)
54.    The networking advice everyone always gets is ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ – but it’s really who knows you and if that person would go to bat for you. (Nicole Waldow, Senior at Clarkson University, waldownl@clarkson.edu)
55.    When blogging or looking at comments on YouTube or other platforms, don’t let haters’ comments effect you, think of the fact that they felt the discussion was important enough to leave their thoughts as a complement. (Kraig Adams, the College Video Student at Buffalo State, www.youtube.com/user/Collegevideostudent)
56.    Take advantage of every opportunity you have to meet new people, and stay in contact with those you meet. (Bryan Fish, President of Wichita State University’s Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs, bryanfish@gmail.com)
57.    Don’t be afraid to go up and introduce yourself, they are only people. (Cory Cain, President of Grand Valley State’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization, corymcain@gmail.com)
58.    The key to networking is building and maintaining (emphasis on maintaining) meaningful relationships with people you can help and that can help you advance in life. (Matt Ruby, Business Development Analyst for Northbay Technology, mruby@northbaytechnology.com)
59.    Become known as a powerful resource that people you interact with come to you for answers or help. (Andy Preisendanz, Financial Analyst for Lockheed Martin, preisendanz@gmail.com)
60.    Remember 3 facts or interests about clients and people that you meet. (Brodie Follman, Patent Examiner at United States Patent & Trademark Office & Aspiring Entrepreneur, follmabj@clarkson.edu)
61.    Open yourself up to EVERY networking event; go to them with a smile, and ask questions to everyone you find interesting and even some that you don’t! (Craig Martyn, President of BLMA Models, craig@blmamodels.com)
62.    Touch bases with more of your most helpful contacts on a regular (not necessarily frequent) basis. (Jay Mitchell, wjmr56@frontiernet.net)
63.    Join the social networks online – these are the quickest way to get your name out to many people. (Len Perno, Senior Vice President of The PARX Group, lfp@parxgroup.com)
64.    People love to hear their own name, so when you meet someone, use their name in your conversation. (David Lindoerfer, CEO of InsideOut Services in Washington, D.C., dave@inoutservices.com, www.inoutservices.com)
65.    Don’t ever be too embarrassed to shake the hand of a stranger. (Lydia Mellnitz, Supply Chain Intern for Johnson & Johnson)
66.    Every person you meet, every friend, and every acquaintance can be someone that helps you reach your true potential. (John Botte, Founder of Widget-IT Solutions, www.widget-it.com, admin@widget-it.com)
67.    Right after you meet someone put their name, what they look like, and what they do in your phone. (Jason Schwartz, AngelSoft Community Manager, jason@angelsoft.com, www.twitter.com/jschwa)
68.    Keep short notes so that you keep track of where your relationship with others is at. (Mike Johansson, Founder of Fixitology, http://www.fixitology.com/, www.twitter.com/mikefixs)
69.    Be seen and get known: you have to make yourself visible in order to create a network, so look for interesting events to go to. (Carlos Mesquita, www.twitter.com/carlosmesquita1)
70.    Do not be afraid to contact someone better known than you; do your homework, show you genuinely admire their work, and articulate how you are willing to help/work with them. (Pat Cambron, Online Marketing Strategy for Brand-Yourself, www.brand-yourself.com, www.twitter.com/pcambron, pcambron@gmail.com)
71.    Never talk bad about others. (John Michael Novinski, Engineering Major and Aspiring Entrepreneur at Michigan University, jmnski@umich.edu)
72.    To get an idea of who is in your network, draw a web of everyone you know and keep in contact with old professors, teachers and administrators and also know what you love/are good at and find others with the same interests. (James Brink, Aspiring Entrepreneur, Blogger, Tweeter, Business Man, www.twitter.com/jamesbrink, http://jamesrbrink.blogspot.com/, brinkjr.iem@gmail.com)
73.    Networking is about building many genuinely positive relationships over the course of your career. (Bob Zeik, President of ZSource, Partner in Northbay Technology, zsource@cinci.rr.com)
74.    Listen well, focus on retaining information, and think before you speak; the other person will appreciate your genuine interest. (Daniel Weimer, President of ASME at Bucknell University, drw023@bucknell.edu)
75.    No matter who you’re talking to, or what their background is, you always have common ground with someone; your job is to FIND IT. (Jeff Gaglio, Major Account Manager at Verizon Wireless, jeff.gaglio@verizonwireless.com)
76.    Networking is easier when you know what you are doing, so find a mentor and utilize them. (Ryan “Cremix” Davis, Campus Relations Chair for Engineering & Management Society at Clarkson University, davisrm@clarkson.edu)
77.    Be friendly…you get everything by just smiling and chatting people up; plus, you don’t always know who you’re talking to! (Liz Allison, Senior Consultant at Hitachi Consulting, eallison@hitachiconsulting.com)
78.    Always follow up. (Scott Harman, Marketing Director for International Paper, sh8241@rochester.rr.com)
79.    Be remembered for helpful conversations, and forgotten for forcing your agenda. (Jesse Kanclerz, Internet Marketing Specialist, http://www.jessekanclerz.com/, esse@jessekanclerz.com)
80.    You are NEVER too good for a connection, regardless of how small it may seem...you never know. (David Spinks, Community Manager for Scribnia, blogger http://www.davidspinks.com, www.twitter.com/davidspinks)
81.    Don’t be a douchebag. (John Walker, Process Engineer at Keurig)
82.    Meet everyone you can because you never know who you could work best with. (Mackenzie White, Student at Oswego, www.twitter.com/mackenziewhite)
83.    Treat every human interaction as an opportunity to create a positive mutually beneficial relationship. (Pat Sargent, Aspiring Filmmaker and Entrepreneur, http://workyourwayupblog.com/, www.twitter.com/PatrickSargent)
84.    When networking online always be real, always be transparent, and always take it to the next level - network & connect in real life! (Charissa Cowart, Social Media Specialist for www.twitter.com/eBillme and On-Air host www.StartupsLIVE.tv, www.twitter.com/charissacowart)
85.    Never prejudge anyone, they may be the person you're looking for or better yet you may be the person they're looking for. (Brian Tomkins, is a innovator in the Emerging Leader Community and Multimedia integration, http://www.nextvoice247.com/, www.twitter.com/briantomkins)
86.    Love everyone, trust a few and paddle your own canoe. (Barry Moltz, author of Bounce, www.twitter.com/barrymoltz)
87.    You can’t be valuable to someone until you find out what they need, and the opposite of speaking isn't waiting, it's listening. (Gilbert Melott, Founder of Nextvoice247, www.nextvoice247.com, www.twitter.com/nextvoice247)
88.    You'll be shocked to find out that everyone from your uncle to your dentist knows someone who can bring you closer to your career goals; concretely define what you're looking for, then systematically talk to the people you usually overlook. (Pete Kistler, Founder & CEO of Brand-Yourself, www.twitter.com/pete_kistler, www.blog.brand-yourself.com)
89.    Make smiling as the air u need to breath, and be always friendly and open-minded and don't be afraid to give a bit more info about yourself! (Huesne Daglioglu, International Business Student from Germany at Clarkson University, Blogger http://www.clarkson.edu/admission/international/huesne.html, www.twitter.com/huesne_d)
90.    Be yourself and articulate your value proposition. (Jay Maharjan, Consulting Entrepreneur, http://4entrepreneur.net/, http://twitter.com/4entrepreneur)
91.    Take the time and listen to what people need to say. (Veronica Jaegerman, Engineering Student at University of Florida, verojaegerman@gmail.com)
92.    Ask open-ended questions to really open up discussions and show listeners that you are truly interested in them. (Antonio Calabrese, Founder of www.Mouseek.com & www.UofSS.com, www.twitter.com/acalabrese83)
93.    There are no "little people" in networking--don't be afraid to meet the big hitters--and most importantly, ask lots of questions, or how else will you discover the secret to getting where they are? (Nicole Wilder, Finance Intern for Lockheed Martin MS, wildern@clarkson.edu)
94.    Be honest, be smart about who you network with and make it a two way deal. (John Hedges, President of The Deskset: Affordable Workspace Solutions, http://deskset.net/)
95.    Don’t be afraid of rejection: among all the people who ignore or reject you, you will eventually find someone to play on your team. (Kate O’Flynn O’Brien, Aspiring Med Student at University of Pennsylvania)
96.    I recommend the Bible verse: “He that hath friends must show himself friendly” to all networkers! (Paul Scott, President of Global Manufacturing Solutions, plscott7@yahoo.com)
97.    When meeting new people remember their name. (Walter Erike, SAP Analyst for Tyco)
98.    Be the node that uniquely connects disparate or distant networks. (Louis-Eric Simard)
99.    In a heated moment, it’s best not to put your feelings on the Internet for everyone to read. (Allison Swackhamer, Engineering Student at Rochester Institute of Technology, www.facebook.com/allisonswackhamer)
100.    There is a fine line between cockiness and confidence…make sure you are the latter and not the former. (Bryan Jakovcic, Uvisor Corporation, bryan.jakovcic@uvisor.com)
101.    Help people, don’t use people, and write thank you letters ASAP: within 24 hours, short and sweet. (Karla Fennell, Clarkson University’s Career Center)

Lastly, I’ll over-deliver on my promise and give you tip # 102 (from yours truly): Truly, truly care, be passionate, and go out of your way to help others!

Feel free to reach out to any of the experts above. What's your favorite tip?

Do you have a really cool story about networking? Please leave your favorite networking story or own additional tips or questions on networking in the comments section below!

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

Peace,

John

+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+

John Exley is an aspiring entrepreneur with a unique background who loves his family and friends more than anything in the world. He is a junior Engineering & Management major and is President of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization at Clarkson University in northern New York. Born in Rochester, NY, his passions include fashion, networking, technology, working out, hustling, and helping others to achieve their dreams!

You can reach John Exley at: exleyja@clarkson.edu or on his cell at: (585) 472-0272.

Follow John Exley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnexley
Connect with John Exley on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jexley
Network with John Exley on LinkedIn: www.linkedin/in/johnexley
Personal Website: www.johnexleyonline.com

Nextvoice247: questions@nextvoice247.com

next voice you hear presents - LIVE stephen r. covey webinars

2009-07-20T13:02:18-05:00

Next Voice You Hear Presents: Stephen R. Covey LIVE Webinars from Gilbert Melott | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.

Don't miss the opportunity to learn from one of the leading experts on human development in this limited, first-time webinar series.

Dr. Covey is the man - has been for quite some time. So at a time when the man has beaten you down, let this one lift you up as you learn how to:

- Take charge of your life!
- Advance in your career!
- Become a high-valued employee!

Spend time with one the author of the "Most Influential Business Book of the 20th Century" and see what influence you can have on this century.

We are very excited to have been able to partner with FranklinCovey to be able to offer you this opportunity - - - Just follow these links:

DR. STEPHEN R. COVEY WEBINAR REGISTRATION

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

g. and the team at Nextvoice247

Nextvoice247 fan site on facebook

2009-07-15T11:23:52-05:00

Nextvoice247 on Facebook

saturday in the park - it IS the 4th of July

2009-07-04T09:15:00-05:00

Okay.

So my parents didn't look like this when this song was uber popular. My my Uncle Andy drove a smokin' banana yellow Mustang convertible, and my cousin Debbie cruised around in a VW Beetle... I'm just sayin'.

Thought we'd go a little retro, say Happy Independence Day America and give us some tunes (the horns were the tightest things going at the time) to reflect on what our independence - personal and professional, can mean to us.

Have a great one.

Look at the last few posts of quotes and books to read... great way to get a jump start on the rest of shaping your summer.

This video was before MTV --- think The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack (Google it).

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

g.

12 Quotes Every Entrepreneur Should Have Tattooed on Their Arms

2009-07-02T09:32:03-05:00

I have one tattoo. Who knows, I may plan to get more. Maybe I will make my body a shine to all of the great authors work that inspired me along my journey. The words of many great leaders, constantly ring in my head. This is the collection of 12 powerful yet simple quotes that shine light on my path. There are millions of great quotes, but I believe you will find these quite special.

Do I think every entrepreneur should get these quotes inked on their body? Obviously it's your choice, but it is better than some of the weird ass tattoos I have seen people stamp on themselves. This is permanent. Life is not. If you do not decide to carry these quotes on your body, I recommend to reference them continually to guide you on your journey to success.

12 Quotes Every Entrepreneur Should Have Tattooed on Their Arms:

If you have any favorites that are not on the list, please share them in the comment box below...

{photo courtesy of http://www.ttrstudio.com}

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

Nextvoice247 presents Guy Kawasaki & Kevin Hall webcast Thusday night

2009-06-22T23:55:40-05:00

The Next Voice You Hear... Presents TWO Marketing Legends:

Guy Kawasaki & Kevin Hall

Please be our guest... Thursday Night at 7:30pm (CST)

for our FREE webcast titled:

"Powerful Words to Outsmart and Outmarket Your Competition"

Click here to register for the webcast now...
http://nextvoiceyouhear.com

Guy Kawasaki, author of "Reality Check," runs one of the most widely

read and respected blogs in the world and many don't know that our

good friend, Kevin Hall, author of "Aspire," helped fuel Franklin Quest's

worldwide growth which included sales of 7.7 million Franklin Day

Planners per year...

Please note our special Day and Time
Date: Thursday, June 25th
Time: 7:30-8:30pm (CST)
**This is a unique call because you can dial in OR just listen in from your

computer. Phone lines WILL fill fast so the webcast is suggested if you

have access to a computer.

You can get all the details and reserve your spot at:

http://nextvoiceyouhear.com

On this webcast, Guy & Kevin will share their legendary marketing tactics on...
-How to get a standing ovation for your WORDS and ACTIONS.
-The power and necessity of building communities.
-Words that SELL and words that REPEL.

Click the registration link now to get more details

http://nextvoiceyouhear.com

See you Thursday,
Nextvoice247
Listen. Learn. Share. Repeat.™

100+ great authors to follow on Twitter for business success

2009-06-17T13:49:19-05:00

This post was written by guest writer Bradley Will.

Bradley is an entrepreneur, Social Media Strategist and the Online Social Community Evangelist for Nextvoice247. He is an active leader in the Gen-Y entrepreneurial community.

The possibilities and connections that can manifest through Twitter are tremendous. Though your fingertips, you have access to a variety of celebrities, authors, thought leaders, athletes, musicians and business leaders. Here, we are going to focus on the people who help us grow. Below is a list of 100+ great Authors who are active in the Twittersphere. These Authors have not only written excellent books, they continuously provide value to their friends and followers through their Twitter stream.

We have also linked up their blogs/websites and books they have written which are great resources for emerging leaders and young entrepreneurs, or anyone for that matter. Don't forget to follow Bradley on Twitter or to register and join the Nextvoice247 community. Please share and enjoy!

If any information is incorrect or you have a recommendation for the list, please leave a comment below.

Career (9 authors)

Anne Brown | @GradtoGreat | Follower Count: 1,500+
Author of: Grad to Great
Why you should follow: Anne is a former journalist who became involved in writing about career development and success strategies. Anne has worked for universities, non-profits, start-ups, and large corporations before becoming the full-time editor of GradtoGreat.com.

Dan Schawbel | @danschawbel | Follower Count: 25,000+
Author of: Me 2.0
Why you should follow: Dan Schawbel is the leading personal branding expert for Gen-Y as well as the publisher of both the award winning Personal Branding Blog and Personal Branding Magazine.

Daniel Pink | @danielpink | Follower Count: 6,900+
Author of: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need
Why you should follow: Dan recently wrote the first American business book in the Japanese comic format known. His last job was in the White House serving as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. Now Dan's articles on business and technology appear in many publications, including the New York Times, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor.

Jonathan Fields | @jonathanfields | Follower Count: 14,600+
Author of: Career Renegade
Why you should follow: Jonathan is a mega-firm lawyer turned successful lifestyle entrepreneur, blogger and writer who shows you how to turn your passion-whether it's cooking or copy-writing, teaching or playing video games-into a better payday and a richly satisfying life.

Kirsten Dixson | @kirstendixson | Follower Count: 1,200+
Author of: Career Distinction
Why you should follow: Kirsten helps people leverage web technologies to increase their career success. Sheís a forward-thinking career strategist who truly gets that personal Googling and online social networking now impact how we are perceived professionally, and she gives us the practical knowledge and resources to build our own online identities.

Lindsey Pollak | @lindseypollak | Follower Count: 3,200+
Author of: Getting From College to Career
Why you should follow: Lindsey is a bestselling author, speaker and consultant specializing in Generation Y career and workplace issues. She has a decade of experience teaching young professionals how to build successful careers and advising organizations on how to maximize the potential of the new workforce.

Penelope Trunk | @penelopetrunk | Follower Count: 15,500+
Author of: Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success
Why you should follow: Penelope is the founder of 3 startups -- most recently, Brazen Careerist, a web service to help companies find candidates. Her career advice appears in more than 200 newspapers and magazines including Time magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Globe.

Stanley Bing | @stanbing | Follower Count: 100+
Author of: Crazy Bosses: Spotting Them, Serving Them, Surviving Them
Why you should follow: Stanley is a columnist for Fortune magazine and the bestselling author. By day, he is an haute executive in a gigantic multinational corporation whose identity is probably known to you.

William Arruda | @williamarruda | Follower Count: 600+
Author of: Career Distinction
Why you should follow: William has twenty years' experience in corporate branding and his clients have dubbed William the 'Personal Branding Guru.' As a thought-leader, William is a sought after spokesperson on personal branding, on-line identity and career management. He has a passion for human potential and is driven by an avid pursuit of innovation.

Entrepreneurship/General Business (8 authors)

Dondi Scumaci | @dondiscumaci | Follower Count: 1,500+
Author of: Designed For Success
Why you should follow: Dondi is frequently requested for strategic design sessions, management retreats, professional conferences, executive coaching, and keynote presentations. Her presentations are designed to deliver solid, actionable disciplines and her seminars and keynotes have made a positive, lasting impact on corporations worldwide.

Donna Fenn | @donnafenn | Follower Count: 2,000+
Author of: Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack
Why you should follow: Donna is a contributing editor at Inc., The Daily Resource for Entrepreneurs. She is currently working on a new book about Generation Y entrepreneurs for. Her work has appeared in Inc., The New York Times, Newsweek, The Associated Press, Pink, The Washington Monthly, Working Woman, Working Mother, CFO, and Corporate Finance.

Donny Deutsch | @Donny_Deutsch | Follower Count: 3,600+
Author of: The Big Idea
Why you should follow: Donny is the host of The Entrepreneurs, a primetime special on CNBC profiling the success stories of America's entrepreneurs. Donny has interviewed everyone from budding entrepreneurs to Billionaires, discovering their secrets to success and showing YOU how to turn your idea into a BIG IDEA.

Jack Covert | @jackcovert | Follower Count: 400+
Author of: The 100 Best Business Books of All Time
Why you should follow: Jack is the founder of and chief mentor for 800-CEO-READ, now an independent company, but longtime partner of the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops. Hired twenty-five years ago by the late David Schwartz to promote business and computer books to the Milwaukee business community, Jack used his considerable sales skills and innate business acumen to grow that 3-shelf business section into a 7 million dollar specialty business book retailer.

Mike Michalowicz | @TPEntrepreneur | Follower Count: 6,500+
Author of: The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
Why you should follow: Mike helps aspiring entrepreneurs become industry leaders. He is the host of the brand new business reality show, Bailout! and a guest lecturer for collegiate entrepreneurial programs such as Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, Penn State, Pepperdine and Princeton.

Richard Branson | @richardbranson | Follower Count: 124,000+
Author of: Losing My Virginity and Business Stripped Bare
Why you should follow:: Richard is a flamboyant British entrepreneur with a seemingly insatiable appetite for starting new businesses. His internationally recognized brand "Virgin" is splashed across everything from credit cards, to airlines and music "megastores". Branson is continuously seeking new business opportunities and loves a good challenge, especially when he enters a market that is dominated by a few major players.

Tim Ferriss | @tferriss | Follower Count: 45,800+
Author of: The 4-Hour Workweek
Why you should follow: Tim is an angel investor nominated as one of Fast Company's 'Most Innovative Business People of 2007.' Once called the "Indiana Jones for the digital age," he speaks six languages and runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide. He speaks internationally about using entrepreneurship as a tool for ideal lifestyle design and world change.

Tina Seelig | @tseelig | Follower Count: 350+
Author of: What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20
Why you should follow: Tina is the Executive Director for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, the entrepreneurship center at Stanford University's School of Engineering.She teaches courses on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship and was recently awarded the 2009 Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering.

Finance/Wealth Building (10 authors)

David Bach | @AuthorDavidBach | Follower Count: 2,000+
Author of: Automatic Millionaire
Why you should follow: David is the author of eight consecutive national bestsellers and has helped millions of people around the world take action to live and finish rich. He also is the creator of the FinishRich Seminar series, which teaches quick and easy-to-follow financial strategies that have helped more than half a million people take financial action.

James Arthur Ray | @JamesARay | Follower Count: 5,000+
Author of: Harmonic Wealth and The Science of Success
Why you should follow: James is transforming the way the world thinks. Called "The Rock Star of Personal Transformation" by the press, James is a "World Thought Leader" who has traveled the globe devoting over two decades to studying the thoughts, actions, and habits of those who create true wealth in every area of their life.

Joe Vitale | @mrfire | Follower Count: 10,500+
Author of: The Attraction Factor
Why you should follow: Joe is a certified Metaphysical practitioner, a certified Chi Kung healer, a certified hypnotherapist, Law of Attraction expert, Life Coach and creator of Joe Vitale Miracles Coaching. He was also featured in the hit DVD, The Secret.

Loral Langemeier | @loral | Follower Count: 4,200+
Author of: The Millionaire Maker
Why you should follow: Loral is known as an expert, visionary, and passionate advocate of women and families. She has built her career around helping people master money management and achieve financial stability and independence.

Marc Warnke | @marcwarnke | Follower Count: 29,700+
Author of: Options Not Obligations
Why you should follow: Marc is a "Family First Entrepreneur" who helps people balance relationships and family while creating wealth within a business system.

Mark Victor Hansen | @MarkVHansen | Follower Count: 10,800+
Author of: The One Minute Millionaire
Why you should follow: Mark captures his audience's attention as well as their hearts. With his one-of-a-kind technique and masterful authority of his work, time and again he continues to receive high accolades from his audiences as one of the most dynamic and compelling speakers of our time. He is also the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.

Robert G. Allen | @BestSellerBob | Follower Count: 25,100+
Author of: Multiple Streams of Income
Why you should follow: Robert is known as one of the most influential investment advisors of all time. He is popular talk-show guest and has appeared on hundreds of programs, including "Good Morning America" and "Larry King Live."

Robert Kiyosaki | @theRealKiyosaki | Follower Count: 9,300+
Author of: Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Cashflow Quadrant
Why you should follow: Robert has risen to fame as a motivational author and speaker in the areas of personal finance, real estate, investing and business. His Rich Dad Poor Dad series of books have sold millions of copies worldwide and through his education programs he is reaching thousands of students with his financial messages.

Suze Orman | @SuzeOrmanShow | Follower Count: 72,000+
Author of: Women & Money
Why you should follow: Suze is a financial advisor, and television personality who has given thousands of speeches and talks both on and off television on the subject of credit, investments and banking. She has amassed a large following due to her own investment success and easy-to-follow financial strategies designed for average individuals.

T. Harv Eker | @T_Harv_Eker | Follower Count: 2,700+
Author of: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
Why you should follow: T. Harv went from zero to millionaire in only 2 1/2 years. He combines a unique brand of 'street-smarts with heart'. He is the founder and president of Peak Potentials Training, the fastest growing personal development company in North America.

Leadership/Management (18 authors)

Aubrey Daniels | @AubreyDaniels | Follower Count: 150+
Author of: Bringing Out the Best in People
Why you should follow: Aubrey is the world's foremost authority on applying the scientifically-proven laws of human behavior to the workplace. He is passionate thought leader and an internationally recognized expert on management, leadership, and workplace issues. His mission is to help people and organizations apply these principles to optimize performance and sustain success.

Brian Tracy | @BrianTracy | Follower Count: 2,700+
Author of: Maximum Achievement and Eat That Frog
Why you should follow: Brian has studied, researched, written and spoken for 30 years in the fields of economics, history, business, philosophy and psychology. He has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars throughout the US, Canada and 40 other countries worldwide

Chris Brady | @bradymachine | Follower Count: 9,700+
Author of: Launching a Leadership Revolution
Why you should follow: Chris is a businessman, author, speaker, humorist, father, and mentor. Combining passion and clean humor, his entertaining communication style has won him fans across age groups and genres. He has appeared on stages around the world teaching leadership principles and success.

Dave Lakhani | @davelakhani | Follower Count: 13,700+
Author of: Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want
Why you should follow: Dave has been described as a "Marketing Genius","Business Acceleration Strategist" and "Multipreneur" by his peers and the media. He has been responsible for developing dynamic strategies driving record breaking growth and increases in sales in more than 500 businesses in the past 10 years.

Harvey Mackay | @HarveyMackay | Follower Count: 150+
Author of: Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive
Why you should follow: Harvey is a nationally syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate, whose weekly articles appear in 52 newspapers around the United States. He is the chairman of MackayMitchell Envelope Company, which is one of the nation's major envelope manufacturers, producing 25 million envelopes a day

Jack Welch | @jack_welch | Follower Count: 257,000+
Author of: Winning
Why you should follow: Jack is a business writer of a weekly column The Welch Way, which appears in BusinessWeek, reaching more than 8 million readers. He is a contributor on a variety of television network business shows and teaches a leadership course at MIT.

Jeff Jarvis | @jeffjarvis | Follower Count: 19,000+
Author of: What Would Google Do?
Why you should follow: Jeff blogs about media and news at Buzzmachine.com. He is associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York's new Graduate School of Journalism.

John Di Lemme | @John_Di_Lemme | Follower Count: 8,500+
Author of: Champions Are Born, Losers Are Made
Why you should follow: John has changed lives around the globe as an international motivational speaker. He founded Di Lemme Development Group, Inc., a company known worldwide for its role in expanding the personal development industry. He truly believes that everyone needs personal development to reach their full potential in life.

John C. Maxwell | @johncmaxwell | Follower Count: 23,800+
Author of: 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
Why you should follow: John is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author selling over 16 million books and named a top 25 authors/artists named on Amazon.com's 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame . His organizations have trained more than 2 million leaders worldwide

Ken Blanchard | @kenblanchard | Follower Count: 500+
Author of: The One-Minute Manager
Why you should follow: Ken is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world and is respected for his years of groundbreaking work in the fields of leadership and management.

Leo Babauta | @zen_habits | Follower Count: 20,300+
Author of: The Power of Less
Why you should follow: Leo is a family-man and authors Zen Habits, one of the Top 100 blogs on the internet. He writes about achieving goals, productivity, being organized, motivation, eliminating debt, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits.

Mike Myatt | @mikemyatt | Follower Count: 300+
Author of: Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual
Why you should follow: Mike runs an advisory practice which focuses on personal branding, coaching and mentoring for CEO's, entrepreneurs and other public figures. He is also a syndicated columnist and contributing editor on topics of business, leadership and branding,

Neil Ducoff | @nducoff | Follower Count: 2,600+
Author of: No-Compromise Leadership
Why you should follow: Neil has epitomized the 'no-compromise' mantra throughout his career as a business trainer, keynote speaker and author, as he's coached business leaders and entrepreneurs to achieve the highest levels of success and profitability, while creating a positive, rewarding workplace.

Nick Tasler | @nicktasler | Follower Count: 250+
Author of: The Impulse Factor
Why you should follow: Nick is the director of research and development for think tank and consultancy TalentSmart, a company which builds talent and skills for many Fortune 500 companies.

Orrin Woodward | @Orrin_Woodward | Follower Count: 50,500+
Author of: Launching a Leadership Revolution
Why you should follow: Orrin speaks on leadership and personal growth across the globe. His highly popular leadership blog has received international acclaim as an Alltop Leadership Selection, HR's Top 100 Blogs for Management and Leadership.

Rajeev Dewan | @rajeevdewan | Follower Count: 200+
Author of: Be.Do.Live.
Why you should follow: Rajeev served 14 years in senior roles at Accenture, a Global Management Consulting firm. He currently focuses on helping individuals and organizations achieve and sustain peak performance in his roles as a Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach to CEOs and Senior Executives and Facilitator with the international FranklinCovey Group.

Roxanne Emmerich | @RoxanneEmmerich | Follower Count: 300+
Author of: Thank God It's Monday
Why you should follow: Roxanne is a three-time Entrepreneur of the Year and is listed by Sales and Marketing Management magazine as one of the 12 most requested speakers in the country for her ability to transform negative workplace performance and environments into "bring it on" results-oriented cultures.

Stephen R. Covey | @StephenRCovey | Follower Count: 9,100+
Author of: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First.
Why you should follow: Steven Covey is recognized as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans. As an internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and author, his advice has given insight to millions. Dr. Covey's books have sold an impressive 20 million+ copies.

Personal/Spiritual Growth (23 authors)

Andy Andrews | @AndyAndrews | Follower Count: 3,200+
Author of: The Noticer
Why you should follow: Andy Andrews is an internationally known speaker and novelist whose combined works have sold millions of copies worldwide. He has been received at the White House and has spoken at the request of four different United States presidents.

Claire Shipman | @ClaireShipman | Follower Count: 1,100+
Author of: Womenomics
Why you should follow: Claire Shipman is Good Morning America's Senior National Correspondent. She covers everything from politics to international affairs to family issues.

David Allen | @gtdguy | Follower Count: 550,000+
Author of: Getting Things Done
Why you should follow: David has developed and implemented productivity improvement programs for over a million professionals in hundreds of organizations worldwide, including many Fortune 500 corporations and U.S. Government agencies.

Deepak Chopra | @Deepak_Chopra | Follower Count: 39,000+
Author of: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and The Book of Secrets
Why you should follow: Deepak is the author of more than fifty books. He is the Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization. He is a co-founder and President of the Alliance for a New Humanity. Time magazine heralds Deepak as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

Don Hutson | @DonHutsonLive | Follower Count: 1,500+
Author of: The Contented Achiever
Why you should follow: Don has been in the business of making people believe they can do better and giving them the skills to do it. He energizes audiences into action and is known for delivering real solutions for business professionals.

Frank McKinney | @FrankMcKinney | Follower Count: 150+
Author of: The Tap
Why you should follow: Frank is a Maverick Daredevil Real Estate "artist"; super hero meets Robin Hood, 5-time international best-selling author; philanthropist, risk taker and visionary who sees opportunities and creates markets where none existed before.

Jack Canfield | @J_Canfield | Follower Count: 7,600+
Author of: The Success Principals
Why you should follow: Jack is best known as the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, which currently has nearly 200 titles and 112 million copies in print. He also founded The Transformational Leadership Council, a group of thought leaders, speakers, authors, coaches and other leaders in the fields of personal and professional development. His passion is teaching people to love themselves and to pursue their dreams with passion.

Jack M. Zufelt | @JackMZufelt | Follower Count: 1,500+
Author of: The DNA of Success
Why you should follow: Jack was honored by the United States Senate for teaching Americans how to achieve better results in their personal lives and careers. He is a successful speaker and business consultant who conducts seminars and customized training programs as well as life-changing weekend retreats all over the world.

Joanna Garzilli | @joannagarzilli | Follower Count: 4,500+
Author of: Unleash the Psychic In You
Why you should follow: Joanna went from a failed relationship, that resulted in tremendous financial hardship and low self esteem to a happily married, highly sought after psychic medium, TV personality, author and motivational speaker; helping people worldwide to tune in and trust their intuition.

John Assaraf | @JohnAssaraf | Follower Count: 4,300+
Author of: Having It All and The Answer
Why you should follow: John risked the consequences of a turbulent lifestyle that could have easily led to jail or to the morgue. Today John shares the passion to live a purposeful and meaningful life with audiences worldwide. He is one of the experts featured in the worldwide phenomenon hit film and book The Secret.

Julie Morgenstern | @JulieMorganizer | Follower Count: 2,100+
Author of: Organizing From the Inside Out
Why you should follow: Julie is dubbed the "queen of putting people's lives in order" by USA Today, is an organizing and time management expert, productivity consultant, and speaker. She is dedicated to using her philosophies and methods to provide practical solutions that transform the way people and companies function.

Keith Ferrazzi | @keithferrazzi | Follower Count: 4,300+
Author of: Never Eat Alone
Why you should follow: Keith counsels the world's top enterprises on how to dramatically accelerate the development of business relationships to drive sales, spark innovation, and create team cohesion. As a thought leader and advocate for corporate citizenship, he has rallied executives around initiatives to improve healthcare and education nationwide.

Keith Harrell | @keithharrell | Follower Count: 100+
Author of: Attitude is Everything
Why you should follow: Keith is known across corporate America for his energetic, innovative presentations. His unique style of delivery, solid content, and practical application, spiced with the right amount of humor, leaves his audiences ready to take action! Keith speaks from his own leadership experience and what he has gleaned through his interaction with some of the world's most respected business leaders.

Kevin Hall | @KevinHall_words | Follower Count: 4,300+
Author of: Aspire! Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words
Why you should follow: Kevin Hall has a groundbreaking approach to uncovering the hidden and often secret meanings of words and their effects on our personal and professional lives. He has come to be one of the most successful executive coaches and consultants to some of the world's leading businesses.

Les Brown | @MRLESBROWN | Follower Count: 170+
Author of: Live Your Dreams
Why you should follow: Les has a mission to help people become uncomfortable with their mediocrity and to be the catalyst that enables them to see themselves having more and achieving more. His straight-from-the-heart, high-energy, passionate message motivates and engages all audiences to step into their greatness.

Libby Gill | @libbygill | Follower Count: 1,000+
Author of: Traveling Hopefully
Why you should follow: Libby Gill spent fifteen years heading public relations and corporate communications at Universal Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting. She was also the branding brain behind the launch of the Dr. Phil Show. Libby is now an internationally respected executive coach and speaker.

Lisa Nichols | @2motivate | Follower Count: 7,500+
Author of: No Matter What
Why you should follow: Lisa is one of the featured teachers of The Secret. Her powerful message of personal empowerment has helped thousands of people make significant, positive changes in their lives.

Marianne Williamson | @marwilliamson | Follower Count: 7,300+
Author of: Imagine: What American Could Be in the 21st Century
Why you should follow: Marianne is an internationally acclaimed spiritual teacher. She does a daily podcast on Oprah.com called MiracleThought and hosts a weekly radio show on Oprah and Friends. In 2006, a Newsweek magazine poll named Marianne one of the fifty most influential baby boomers.

Paulo Coelho | @paulocoelho | Follower Count: 39,000+
Author of: The Alchemist
Why you should follow: Paulo is not only one of the most widely read, but also one of the most influential authors writing today. The Alchemist was one of the most important literary phenomena of the 20th century. It reaches the first place in bestselling lists in 74 countries, and so far has sold 35 million copies. This book also brought the author in 2008 the Guinness World Record for most translated book in the world (67 languages). He is a Messenger of Peace for the UN.

Steve Pavlina | @stevepavlina | Follower Count: 7,500+
Author of: Personal Development for Smart People
Why you should follow: Steve Pavlina is a successful personal development bloggers, attracting more than two million monthly readers to his website. He has written 700+ articles on a broad range of self-help topics, including productivity, relationships, and spirituality.

Suzy Welch | @SuzyWelch | Follower Count: 6,900+
Author of: 10-10-10: A Transforming Idea
Why you should follow: Suzy is a commentator, and business journalist. She writes a weekly column, The Welch Way, which appears in BusinessWeek and is a columnist for O - The Oprah Magazine, where she writes frequently about balancing work and life, as well as the delicate art of managing career challenges.

Tony Robbins | @tonyrobbins | Follower Count: 750,000+
Author of: Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power
Why you should follow: Tony is a recognized authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations, organizational turnaround, and peak performance, he has been honored consistently for his strategic intellect and humanitarian endeavors. He has been honored by Accenture as one of the 'Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World'.

Wayne Dyer | @DrWayneWDyer | Follower Count: 2,000+
Author of: Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life
Why you should follow: Wayne is affectionately called the 'father of motivation' by his fans. He is an internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development. He's written over 30 books, has created many audio programs and videos, and has appeared on thousands of television and radio shows.

Sales/Marketing (19 authors)

Al Lautenslag | @GMarketingGuy | Follower Count: 5,000+
Author of: Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days
Why you should follow: Andy is a marketing guru who founded the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. He teaches Word of Mouth Marketing at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Andy Sernovitz | @sernovitz | Follower Count: 10,000+
Author of: Word of Mouth Marketing
Why you should follow: Andy is a marketing guru who founded the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. He teaches Word of Mouth Marketing at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Bob Burg | @BobBurg | Follower Count: 4,800+
Author of: Endless Referrals and The Go-Giver
Why you should follow: Bob Burg is a highly sought-after speaker at corporate, financial services and direct sales conventions. Combining humor and entertainment with easily applied, proven systems for personal marketing, audiences come away ready to immediately profit from Bobís instruction and coaching.

Bruce Turkel | @BruceTurkel | Follower Count: 1,400+
Author of: Building Brand Value
Why you should follow: Bruce Turkel believes that marketing should be well-designed, simple, and should make a clientís products and services more valuable. Using this straightforward approach, Bruce has helped hundreds of clients, written thousands of headlines, and designed even more print ads, television spots, websites, and campaigns.

C. J. Hayden | @CJHayden | Follower Count: 1,200+
Author of: Get Clients Now!
Why you should follow: C.J. is a business coach, consultant, and trusted advisor for entrepreneurs and professionals. She specializes in helping social entrepreneurs, activists, and community leaders launch and sustain successful ventures to effect social change.

Chris Anderson | @chr1sa | Follower Count: 9,700+
Author of: The Long Tail
Why you should follow: Chris Anderson is a college dropout turned editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. He coined the phrase The Long Tail in an acclaimed Wired article, which he expanded upon in the book The Long Tail. He is the chairman of a new startup, BookTour.com.

Guy Kawasaki | @GuyKawasaki | Follower Count: 135,000+
Author of: Reality Check and The Art of the Start
Why you should follow: Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop, an early-stage venture capital firm, and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984 and is noted for bringing the concept of evangelism to the high-tech business, focusing on creating passionate user-advocates for the Apple brand.

Hugh MacLeod | @gapingvoid | Follower Count: 16,700+
Author of: Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity
Why you should follow: Hugh is a cartoonist, who makes his living publishing fine art prints via the internet. After a decade of working as an advertising copywriter, he has become well known for his ideas about how "Web 2.0" affects advertising and marketing.

Jeffrey Gitomer | @gitomer | Follower Count: 6,400+
Author of: Little Red Book of Selling
Why you should follow: Jeffrey is a creative, on-the-edge, writer and speaker whose expertise on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development is world renowned. He is known for presentations, seminars and keynote addresses that are funny, insightful, and in your face.

John Gerzema | @johngerzema | Follower Count: 1,100+
Author of: The Brand Bubble
Why you should follow: John oversees brand strategy including its planning departments worldwide and its proprietary brand study, Brand Asset Valuator. He is recognized as one of America's early founders of Account Planning. John had led the global brand strategy of many great companies including Holiday Inn Express.

John Jantsch | @ducttape | Follower Count: 17,400+
Author of: Duct Tape Marketing
Why you should follow: John has been called the World's Most Practical Small Business Expert for delivering real-world, proven small business marketing ideas and strategies. He is a marketing and digital technology coach and an award winning social media publisher. His blog was chosen as "Best Small Business Marketing Blog" from 2004-06 by the readers of Marketing Sherpa.

John David Mann | @johndavidmann | Follower Count: 900+
Author of: The Go-Giver and The Zen of MLM
Why you should follow: John is a former concert cellist, prize-winning composer, editor and journalist, multimillion-dollar-earning network marketer, bestselling author and serial entrepreneur. He has been writing about leadership and the laws of success for twenty years.

Keith Rosen | @KeithRosen | Follower Count: 2,000+
Author of: Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions
Why you should follow: Keith is an Executive Sales Coach that top salespeople and managers call first to develop a team of top selling sales champions. Over the last twenty years, he has successfully coached more salespeople and managers than any other coach on the planet and is one of the foremost authorities on coaching people to achieve positive, measurable change.

Malcolm Gladwell | @Gladwell | Follower Count: 22,000+
Author of: Outliers and The Tipping Point
Why you should follow: Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People.

Marc A. Pitman | @marcapitman | Follower Count: 4,200+
Author of: Book Yourself Solid
Why you should follow: Marc helps individuals and organizations raise more money than they ever thought possible. He is Internationally recognized by such organizations as Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the American Marketing Association as a thought leader.

Mark Simmons & Richard Laermer | @laermer| Follower Count: 5600+
Author of: Punk Marketing: Get off Your Ass and Join the Revolution
Why you should follow: Richard is an expert in marketing and media and a former magazine and newspaper journalist. Mark is the leading authority on Punk Marketing. Over an 18-year career on both sides of the Atlantic, he helped make Coca-Cola a household name.

Michael Port | @michaelport | Follower Count: 3,500+
Author of: Think Big Manifesto
Why you should follow: Michael began as an actor on Sex and the City, All My Children, Guiding Light, The Pelican Brief and turned into what The Wall Street Journal call, a ìmarketing guru.î He now operates a well respected coaching programs for small business owners.

Randy Gage | @Randy_Gage | Follower Count: 11,300+
Author of: Why Your Dumb, Sick & Broke
Why you should follow: Randy Gage is a former high school dropout who is now know as "The Millionaire Messiah," because he believes that you are meant to be rich, and it is a sin to be poor! For 20+ years, he has been helping people transform self-limiting beliefs into self-fulfilling breakthroughs to achieve their dreams.

Rohit Bhargava | @RohitBhargava | Follower Count: 9,600+
Author of: Personality Not Included
Why you should follow: Rohit is a founding member of the 360 Digital Influence group at Ogilvy and publishes the Influential Marketing blog, ranked among the top 50 marketing blogs in the world.

Social Media Marketing/Online Business (14 authors)

Charlene Li | @charleneli | Follower Count: 17,000+
Author of: Groundswell
Why you should follow: Carlene is an independent thought leader and blogger on emerging technologies, with a specific focus on social technologies, interactive media, and marketing. She is a much-sought after public speaker and has presented frequently at top technology conferences such as Web 2.0 Expo, SXSW, and adTech.

Darren Rowse | @problogger | Follower Count: 66,000+
Author of: Problogger
Why you should follow: Darren is the founded ProBlogger-a site is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and add income streams to their blogs.

Dave Evans | @evansdave | Follower Count: 4,500+
Author of: Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day
Why you should follow: Dave is the co-founder of HearThis.com, a podcasting service firm focused on social media and marketing. Working alongside his clients, Dave develops an effective, measured approach to using social media and achieving organizational and business goals.

David Meerman Scott | @dmscott | Follower Count: 18,600+
Author of: The New Rules of Marketing and PR
Why you should follow: David is a recovering VP of marketing for two publicly traded technology companies turned author, marketing strategist, keynote speaker and seminar leader.

Don Tapscott | @dtapscott | Follower Count: 5,500+
Author of: Wikinomics: How Collaboration Changes Everything
Why you should follow: Don is one of the worldís leading authorities on business strategy, with emphasis on how information technology changes business, government and society.

Howard Rheingold | @hrheingold | Follower Count: 11,600+
Author of: Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
Why you should follow: Howard is internationally syndicated author of the weekly Tomorrow column and editor of best-seller The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog, takes audiences on a journey through the human side of the technology-shaped future. He shows his audiences a real-time, real-life, uncensored glimpse of the new cultures and societies emerging online and on the street.

Jeff Howe | @Crowdsourcing | Follower Count: 2,500+
Author of: Crowdsourcing
Why you should follow: Jeff Howe is a contributing editor at Wired Magazine, where he covers the media and entertainment industry, among other subjects. He also blogs about why the crowd is driving the future of business.

Joel Comm | @joelcomm | Follower Count: 66,500+
Author of: Twitter Power and The Adsense Code
Why you should follow: Joel is an Internet entrepreneur and a leading voice in Social Media who has been online for over 20 years. Joel is the co-creator of ClassicGames.com, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 1997, and now goes by the name Yahoo! Games.

Josh Bernoff | @jbernoff | Follower Count: 6,300+
Author of: Groundswell
Why you should follow: Josh is senior vice president, idea development at Forrester Research, and is responsible for identifying, developing, and promoting some of the company's most influential and forward-looking ideas. Hiss research, analysis, and opinions appear frequently in publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Ken McArthur | @KenMcArthur | Follower Count: 6,200+
Author of: Impact
Why you should follow: Ken has built an Internet marketing career on the philosophy that partnerships and collaboration build value for everyone. By creating websites and events that foster joint ventures and cooperative efforts, he has brought a tremendous amount people together for profit and growth.

Lewis Howes | @LewisHowes | Follower Count: 6,100+
Author of: LinkedWorking
Why you should follow: Lewis is an accomplished college athlete turned public speaker, author and a LinkedIn expert. He is the founder of SportsNetworker.com and provide useful sports industry networking, sports marketing, and sports sponsorship concepts.

Liz Lynch | @liz_lynch | Follower Count: 13,800+
Author of: Smart Networking
Why you should follow: Liz Lynch is the founder of the Center for Networking Excellence, a company that develops products, programs and seminars to help entrepreneurs and professionals get clients, build their businesses, and accelerate their careers through networking.

Scott Allen | @ScottAllen | Follower Count: 25,500+
Author of: The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online
Why you should follow: Scott Allen helps people transform virtual relationships into real business. He believes technology, but not for its own sake, can transform people's businesses, lives and communities when used effectively.

Warren Whitlock | @WarrenWhitlock | Follower Count: 36,000+
Author of: Twitter Revolution
Why you should follow: Warren Whitlock is a Book Marketing Strategist, helping authors and publishers improve the results of their online and offline marketing programs.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

Want an easy way to follow up to 100 of these authors at once? Just copy the each list below and paste in into the proper field on Ninja Follow.

GradtoGreat, danschawbel, jonathanfields, kirstendixson, lindseypollak, penelopetrunk, stanbing, williamarruda, dondiscumaci, donnafenn, Donny_Deutsch, jackcovert, TPEntrepreneur, richardbranson, tferriss, AuthorDavidBach, JamesARay, mrfire, loral, marcwarnke, MarkVHansen, BestSellerBob, theRealKiyosaki, SuzeOrmanShow, T_Harv_Eker, AubreyDaniels, BrianTracy, bradymachine, davelakhani, HarveyMackay, jack_welch, jeffjarvis, John_Di_Lemme, johncmaxwell, kenblanchard, zen_habits, mikemyatt, nducoff nicktasler, Orrin_Woodward, RoxanneEmmerich, StephenRCovey, AndyAndrews, ClaireShipman, gtdguy, Deepak_Chopra, DonHutsonLive

FrankMcKinney, J_Canfield, JackMZufelt, joannagarzilli, JohnAssaraf, JulieMorganizer, keithferrazzi, keithharrell, KevinHall_words, MRLESBROWN, libbygill, 2motivate, marwilliamson, paulocoelho, stevepavlina, SuzyWelch, tonyrobbins, DrWayneWDyer, GMarketingGuy, sernovitz, tseelig, danielpink, rajeevdewan, BobBurg, BruceTurkel, CJHayden, chr1sa, GuyKawasaki, gapingvoid, gitomer, johngerzema, ducttape, johndavidmann, KeithRosen, Gladwell, marcapitman, punkmarketing, michaelport, Randy_Gage, RohitBhargava, charleneli, problogger, evansdave, dmscott, dtapscott, hrheingold, Crowdsourcing, joelcomm, jbernoff, KenMcArthur, LewisHowes, liz_lynch, ScottAllen, WarrenWhitlock, nextvoice247

school's out for summer and what did they learn?

2009-06-16T06:30:00-05:00

school's out for summer but what did they learn? from Gilbert Melott | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.

One of of my missions is to teach people things I wasn't taught when I was 26 years old. But you know as we close in on graduation season and I have talked to some of my friends and some of their kids, I started thinking there are a few things the missed in high school.

Here are some classes high schoolers should have to take (or at least have the option):

Money basics. How many kids finish high school knowing how to balance a checkbook, let alone apply for a mortgage? If kids are taught how to buy a house, invest in the stock market, start a 401K or 529 fund for their own offspring's college education — basic information like that — we'll be much less likely to have another mortgage crisis in another 20 years.

Auto mechanics and sewing. Horrors, right? In the public high school when I went was I high school, there was an academic track and a trade track. But my high school taught only the basics, supplemented by diction (I kid you not), Latin, Spanish, and French. These have definitely been useful, but here I am, lo these many years later, useless under the hood of my car. I can't sew worth a damn either, and it really would be nice to be able to fix the zipper on my own jacket.

Communication. How do we get what we need and help others to get what they need? I'm not talking about grammar (though Lord knows "me ‘n' him" as the subject of a sentence drives me nuts), but being in relationship with friends, partners, co-workers, and strangers in a way that is more of a win-win. People don't know how to ask for things, or ask others what might work for them, so we often end up being quite uncivil.

I'm not sure how high schools would work in all these extra classes, but I'd happily have given up algebra or trig for any one of them, even then. I chose Teacher's Aide over Media English 3 and it was one of my favorite high school classes ever.

In truth, there's not much likelihood of any of these classes getting into the general curriculum any time soon, so if you're in parent mode or trying to influence the future, you might want to seriously consider a little home schooling on the side or becoming a mentor.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

g.