People fear public speaking, death and a white piece of paper.

Here is your assignment: Write about anything! Write any length in any format on any subject or subject. It is wide open and it is all up to you. Take all the time you need or want. That’s a pretty frightening order, isn’t it?
This is exactly what most people face when they go to post online. They have no idea what to say or why they should be saying it in the first place. They write about their kids, express their scorn or post funny pictures of themselves dancing with a bear in Cabo. Or they write nothing. After all, the confused mind says “no.”

When you know what your Personal Brand is, what your topics are, what your tone of voice is and know what business you’re in you have a basis, a platform, to talk from. A position, if you will. You have a lens to view the world through.

Take anything, say the word “white.” As a creative designer I might choose to talk about how white is the greatest background color because it is the most forgiving and the most versatile. And how it is the most used. I might compare and contrast it with black as a background color.

A graphic designer might talk about all the different whites available in papers from a cool whites to warm whites.
A chief might talk about egg whites.
A fashion designer when to wear white
A businessman talk about White papers
An accountant white collar crime
A dentist about white teeth
A teacher about white index cards

And then there is all kinds of other white things, such as:
White vinegar
White noise
White hot
White roses
White knight
White house
White space
White light
White elephant
White symbolism

Now add a form or format – a 160 character tweet, a 300 word blog, an article, a book, a page, a paragraph.

If I now say to you write two paragraphs on the word white, could you do it? I’ll make it easier – you have 15 minutes!

5 Deadly Reasons that Black is Killing You – Part 1

The color black is as serious as they come. It’s the official color of death, funerals and dangerous spiders. Black is also the color of cool, sophistication and skimpy cocktail dresses.

As teens and young adults, when we wanted to be older and cooler than we really are, we wore black. It looked great. We bought more.

If you’re like me, you bought black shoes to go with black pants to go with black tops to go with black jackets. Whether it was workout time or meeting time, it was all black all the time.

And then one day I looked in the mirror and Morticia was looking back at me, well Morticia if she were blonde and had short hair. In any case, it was suddenly evident that I needed to re-evaluate my color choices. Which uncovered the following painfully obvious  truth.

Deadly Reason #1: Black hasn’t changed, but you have.
In youth black makes you look older. In middle age, black makes you look older. 

Color counts. Stay tuned for more on the color black.

Technology is Your Best Friend

Today we live in a different paradigm then the previous generations, or if you're old enough, like me, you lived through it. The digital age has literally changed just about everything from the way we communicate, relate and even date. Like or not. Those who don't embrace new technology get left behind in both their business and their personal lives.

It was not better.

It was not better when you would get lost driving and spend hours looking for the freeway entrance. It was not better when you were at the airport and the person you were meeting did not come off the plane. It was not better when you were at one restaurant location and your lunch date was at the other one. It was not better when your car broke down and you had to walk a mile, in the dark, to the nearest pay phone.

It was not better when you had to sit by the phone waiting for someone to call. (Yes, we really did that.) Or worse, having your Father answer the phone. There were no private phone conversations, unless you were home alone. Whispering was quite popular as was listening in on the extension. (The extension was another phone set that used the same line and you were sneaky about it, you could pick up the receiver and listen to what was said. Popular with parents.)

It was not better when you actually had to be home to watch the TV show or miss it. It was not better when you had to go out to the movies. It was not better when the most complete set of information you had was in the form of a series of books, that were years or even decades old.

Need I go on?

Next time your internet is a bit slow or a call drops or you need directions, take a deep breath and realize how lucky you are to have that device, with all of it's incredible power, in the palm your hand.