Tyler Jorgenson

but I can’t help but think that the hands of fate were involved with this beautiful lady married me.

Follow her makeover journey with the fabulous Mama Kat as photographed by the uber talented Kamee June.  A very big thank you to Kitch by Kat for sharing your gift with my wife. You’re a rock star and don’t even know it.

Originally posted at http://blog.tylerjorgenson.com/2010/10/make-your-own-luck/

I’ve been thinking a lot about transparency and privacy in the world of an entrepreneur recently.  Really, the concern is present for anybody seeking to have a good reputation in business.  A few of my classmates went to a presentation the other day on personal branding and I asked them what their main takeaway was.  Most of them answered with some variation that you should not create an alternate personality online but you should be yourself and tell the story about what makes you unique.

How often do you google (or Bing if you work for Microsoft) your name?

It may feel vain to search your own name but you can rest assured that prospective employers are doing so.  They’re probably checking facebook, youtube and twitter as well.  When I was hiring people at my last company I was amazed at how much people left ‘public’ when applying for a job.

If you have specific questions about how you can grow your web exposure please leave a comment and I’ll do a blog post in response (or if it’s an easy one I’ll just reply in the comment thread).  How can I help you today?
Originally found on http://blog.tylerjorgenson.com/2010/10/web-exposure/

In January of this year I read The 4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris.  The book came into my life at a time when I was making some big decisions and has been influential and inspiring.  After each chapter the author challenges the reader to take action.  One challenge is called ‘Finding Yoda’ and the reader is supposed to track down a big player in their industry and ask them a question or two.  If possible to reader should also ask for permission to follow up via email.  This was one of the few exercises in the book that I didn’t do immediately.  It’s taken me a while to actually do it, although I did place a couple phone calls.

Turns out it may be easier to meet some people in person.  The pics below show me meeting three of my Yodas.  Picture one is with Meg Whitman, two is with THE Seth Godin and three is with Chris Brogan.

Meeting Seth was by far the most influential encounter I have had this year.  His direct questioning of my current projects and passions caught me off guard and forced me to think about where I was and where I wanted to be.  His main advice was to pick one project and work on it full force rather than split up your time over many projects.  Set a date and ship, you can always do a version 2.0 later.  Seth responded to an email I sent him and is one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met.

Meg Whitman was nice and earthy.  I found her taller than expected but grounded.  We discussed business in California and the need to make the State business friendly so we can keep industry growing and job creation possible.

Chris Brogan was a bit of a surprise.  I didn’t know a ton about him other than following @ChrisBrogan on Twitter.  He discussed business in the modern age with an amazing style of humor, candor and intellect that I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered before.  One major tip that I got from Chris was that your blog posts are a legacy that keeps working after you’ve done the typing.  He had a fancy analogy about commerce, jokes and exchange but the meat of it is that if your posts solve one persons problem there are most likely other people that have that problem and it can help them too.  Next time you get an email from somebody asking for advice in your field answer it in the form of a blog post and then send the person the link.  It’s like you’re messing with Karma because you’re putting all this good information out there and you know it’s going to come back to you someday.

I leave you with a quote from one of Godin’s recent posts titled Heroes and mentors:

“Like a custom made suit, a mentor is a fine thing to have if you can find or afford it. But for the rest of us, heroes will have to do.”

In January I posted that I planned to read a lot this year so I figured that an update is required.

Books read:

The Four Hour Work Week

This is without a doubt the book with the most influence on my life this year. I have read the original edition once, the expanded update three times and listened to the audio book at least three times. I strongly recommend this book for anybody looking to live a little more and stress a little less.

Atlas Shrugged

Can somebody please explain why these books haven’t found their way into my life sooner?  Sure, it’s over a thousand pages but this book is amazing.  To many it seems prophetic since it was written in 1957 but mirrors the issues of our times so well.  This book motivates me and inspires me more than any other novel I’ve read.  My main takeaway is to take personal responsibility and to not make excuses.  A movie by the same name is currently in production.  Who is John Galt?

Good to Great
I really enjoyed the first few parts of the book and then it sort of died off for me.  I guess it went great to good.  My main takeaway was in making sure you have the right people on your team.  The concept of ‘first who, then what’ is something I consider whenever approached about a business opportunity.

The Purple Cow
This is one of Seth Godin’s 12 best sellers.  Each one that I’ve read is good but I enjoyed this one for reminding me that you have to do something different if you expect the market to notice your product or service.

Linchpin
This is Godin’s most recent, and possibly last traditional, book.  I had the pleasure of meeting Godin in Orange County and the advice he gave me when we spoke altered the course of my business and I am eternally grateful.  You can read more here about the concepts of the book Linchpin.

Robinson Crusoe
I started to read some classics and found a lot of great wisdom buried in their stories.  This book is about self discovery, survival, loyalty and determination.  It’s a classic for a reason.

Pride and Prejudice
Yes, I even read a Jane Austin book.  Pride and Prejudice was a great book.  For me it’s about being yourself and allowing others to be themselves as well.  It’s handle on the topics of pride and the prejudicial judgment is what makes this a must read classic.

Treasure Island
I read this just after I took a sailing class and so my increased sailing vocabulary added to my enjoyment of this book.  This was a quick and easy read but I enjoyed the journey.

There are a few other books that I’ve read portions of, even most of, but that I don’t feel need a summary.  Think & Grow Rich, Crush It, and a few select sections of my finance, stats, accounting and marketing textbooks.