Building Blocks

Over the past year, I’ve read a ton of books, written blog posts, podcasted 50 + shows, and learned more than I can hope to remember most days. I decided to put some of it here, as guideposts for me. Maybe they’ll help you too. This is the stuff that has stayed with me, and are worth listing in one place.

Here’s a link to my Amazon Affiliate Store, where I try to place copies of all my favorite and useful books on business, strategy, personal development, web design and more.  If you feel so inclined to buy a book from the store, they do give me a few cents back  (usually less than a dollar) for the referral.

Books:

Strengthfinder 2.0

The Artist’s Way

The Red Rubber Ball

Meatball Sundae

Made to Stick

The Starfish and the Spider

Wikinomics

The World is Flat

Blown to Bits

The Social Web

Small is the New Big

The Dip

Motivation: 6 ways to turn on the tuned out child

the Self-disciplined Child

Anne Ford’s books- Laughing Allegra and On Their Own

Predictably Irrational

The Ten Faces of Innovation

The Pirate’s Dilemma- Matt Mason

The Knack- How Street Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes up

Buying In

Buyology

Six Pixels of Separation

Trust Agents

Messages to Remember:

It’s The Community, Stupid.

Core messages are best communicated by: stories, proverbs, simple, concrete, evocative, emotional language.

Messages stick when they are easily understandable, they make you care, and there is a call to action.

Maintaining a level of puzzle, mystery (JJ Abrhams the Mystery Box, Ira Glass’s you tube series on telling a good story) helps keep an audience with you. Mysteries are engaging and entertaining.

Avoid the curse of knowledge, ie. inside the fishbowl thinking. Remember what it was like not to know, and how many other people really don’t know, even when it’s as easy as breathing to you.

You need to learn how to spot good ideas even more than how to create them. This ability requires a certain openness of thinking, and depends a lot on your mindset.

After switching to a mac this year, I think I was suffering from Stockholm syndrome with my PC for years.

When we feel psychologically trapped in a situation, we fail to realize how bad it truly is for quite a long time-usually, a change, a break or some sort of “out of the box” experience is necessary until you can discover how truly warped the situation at hand has become.

The best ideas strike at weird times- keep a notebook handy.

Never forget that location and architecture matter. Space dictates use. This is especially true in real life, but equally true online.

Great content deserves great delivery.  Even mediocre content delivered well may be more compelling than the best content delivered poorly.

A Bit more about Me:

on Twitter: LDpodcast Here’s a link to my twittercloud

Email- ldpodcast@gmail.com

My new page- www.whitneyhoffman.com

Need to call me? (302) 562-6507