… than go job-hunting.  And yet, that’s exactly what I find myself doing these days.  I’ve never been a savvy networker, so reaching out to all two of them didn’t take as much time as I thought.  A lot of my freelancing work lately has been writing resumes, so I feel pretty comfortable in that area.  And I just got a haircut, so I’m ready for that Go-Getter-Middle-Aged-Female interview. 

(I am now officially nauseous). 

I signed up on the job boards and found the Usual Suspects in terms of working in the tech field in Denver.  I was surprised to see so many jobs, given the news we are all reading about cuts here, slashes there, layoffs everywhere.  Perhaps these are job postings that will never get filled - I’ve certainly seen that happen before.  But that doesn’t keep me from hitting "Apply Now" button and sending off my Only Slightly Exaggerated Resume to about a dozen employers.

When I left the corporate world, I thought there was about a 50% chance I would never go back.  I’d blame the current economic crisis, but that really hasn’t been a big factor.  The truth is that I was good at what I did, and despite a burning desire to work for myself, I’m not good at marketing my own skills.  There’s another part to this that I’ll talk more about some other day - I had also hoped that I would be able to find something I was really passionate about once I eliminated the stress and noise of a corporate job. 

That didn’t happen.  And I really, really worked on it.  I went to workshops, read books, meditated, kept a journal, drank lots of wine and even did some yoga.  I can say that my stress level is so low that sometimes I have to eat a piece of candy just to be sure I’m still alive.  But the passion thing - it just didn’t happen for me. 

So, any job-hunting advice out there? 

Know your strongest quality. 

Know your preeminent gift - cultivate it and it will assist the rest. 

Everyone would have excelled in something if he had known his strong point. 

Notice in what quality you surprass and take charge of that. 

In some people judgement excels, in others valor. 

Most do violence to their natural aptitude and thus attain superiority in nothing. 

Time enlightens us too late of what was first only a flattering of the passions.

The Art of Worldly Wisdom, #34, Baltasar Gracián (1601 - 1658)

Can you believe this was true 400 years ago?   I so enjoy how he describes our tendency to ignore our passion as "doing violence to it".  And the result is that you suck.  (That’s my modern interpretation).  And then the next line reminds us that we knew all along what our passion was.  We felt it land on our arm, walk around a bit (what’s that tickle?), and then we just swatted it away.

Probably more than once.

What natural aptitude have you done violence to?  Have you managed to ressurect and heal it yet, or is it still wedged in the crosshairs of your flyswatter?

Disclaimer time:  Lynn is testing a pay-per-post social media marketing idea and I will probably be getting paid a small gratuity for this post.  I told her that if she didn’t pay me, I would write it anyway.  So there - I really showed her, huh!

She wrote an article this weekend that I really want to share with you.  In Starting a Free Online Business, Lynn talks about going to lunch with some gals who she hooked up with on MySpace.  Lynn knows how to use MySpace.  I don’t.  The only fun thing I’ve discovered about MySpace is a typing game.  I’m a crazy-fast typist and crazy-competitive by nature, so the game really hits my sweet spot.   But I digress…

So Lynn meets up with these ladies and starts explaining some of the ways you can make money online:  Selling your own products or services; and promoting other people’s products and services.  The latter idea appealed to Lynn’s new friends, and to me as well, because it involves passive income.  Lynn is quick to point out that you can’t get up one day and decide to start getting passive income:

"To clarify, when I say passive I dont mean that you wont have to work at it. I think we’ve all kind of figured out by now that “get rich quick schemes” dont really work. And we were discussing real, legitimate ways to make consistent income online. "

That’s the secret in a nutshell, folks - you have to work at it.  It takes a lot of work to create a situation where you can make money while you eat bon-bons by the pool.  So much work, in fact, that a lot of people simply turn back to traditional ways of making money.  We all know how to go to the office for 8-24 hours a day and bring home a paycheck.  Lynn wants to teach you something different and she goes to great lengths to explain it to you.  If you think you’re too new at this to understand what she’s teaching, you’re wrong.  Lynn know a lot of technical mumbo jumbo but thankfully, she keeps that stuff to herself.  Instead, she just tells you what you need to know, in very simple terms.  Got a question?  She’ll answer it.  Personally.

The archives on Lynn’s site walk you through every step of setting up your own online business.  I could happily spend days digging around in her site.  However, the post I mentioned earlier, Starting a Free Online Business, has links to all the necessary "first steps" of creating that business.  She also links to some other very well-known tutorials by Jeremy Palmer about selling other people’s products (a.k.a affiliate marketing).  This single article has everything you need to get started.  I hope you enjoy it, and getting to know Lynn, as much as I do!

P.S.  Here’s the money part of the post:  LYNN ROCKS!  LYNN ROCKS!  LYNN ROCKS!

P.P.S.  Note to self:  Charge per color.

Denver is a wonderful place to visit and an even better place to live. I’ve been here for over 20 years and hope to be here for 20 more (at least!) Being able to get to the mountains to cool off in the middle of summer has to be one of the best things about Denver. I’ve heard the skiing is phenomenal for those of you who, unlike me, enjoy flinging yourself down a mountain with greased boards latched to your feet.

I’ve been working on this post for a while, but finished it today so I could enter ProBlogger’s contest for killer titles. The grand prize is a new logo design by David Airey. I bet he could come up with something more clever than my initials in an orange box. Fortunately, the winner is selected by random drawing so even if this title sucks, I still have a chance. That’s the kind of contest I like.

At the end of this list is my favorite topic – food. There are a ton of great restaurants in Denver so I may have to post about this again. I narrowed my choice down to two spendy places and two down-home places, but I recommend you try all four!

1. Bring an umbrella. There’s a saying in Colorado, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait ten minutes.” You’re going to want an umbrella if you’re outside during that ten minutes.

2. Bring sunscreen. Denver is really, really close to the sun. If you’re coming from sea-level, you need to think about being an entire mile closer to the sun. You can get a searing sunburn on a cloudy day in Denver.

3. Carry water. Because Denver is closer to the sun, the air is thinner here. This means you’ll be winded more easily, and you might even get altitude sickness, which feels like a bad hangover. Drinking a lot of water will help.

4. Speaking of water, it’s easy to find public restrooms in Denver. Almost any business establishment will allow you to use their facilities without requiring you to purchase a souvenir snowglobe.

5. Take a shuttle from the airport. Your hotel probably offers a free shuttle service. When the City of Denver planned their new airport, they planned ahead. Way ahead. The airport is 25 miles from downtown Denver and a taxi will cost approximately $47.00 before tip. If you rent a car, see # 9 and # 11 below.

6. Be happy. Denver is one of the friendliest cities  you’ll ever have the pleasure of visiting. Expect complete strangers to greet you as you walk down the street. Don’t be afraid to make eye contact. They won’t bite unless they smell fear.  

7. Go wireless. You can find free wifi on the 16^th Street Mall in downtown Denver; at all Panera Bread restaurants; all public libraries; many coffeehouses (Boyers, Dazbog, Common Grounds and more) – you can even hit the net at Whole Foods markets.

8. Don’t eat the oysters. This may surprise you, as not many people think of Denver and seafood in the same breath. However, Denver has a gastronomic specialty known as Rocky Mountain Oysters and locals will encourage you to try it. And yes, it does kind of taste like chicken.

9. Want to drive in Denver? Denver has notorious and unexplainable traffic jams and rush hour can occur at any time of the day or night. Turn-signal usage and a friendly wave will get you in and out of tight spots in Denver much faster than your finger and a horn.  

10. Want to smoke in Denver? Good luck. Denver and its surrounding areas have banned indoor smoking in all public places, including bars and restaurants. If you want to light up, you’re going to find yourself in the great outdoors.

    Did I say ten tips? Okay, just one more tip and then … FOOD!

11. Watch out for bicycles. A lot of people in Denver traverse on two wheels under their own power. They use bike lanes when they can. When they can’t, they’re part of your traffic stream and most of them follow the same rules you do. When they don’t, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway.
     
12. Hungry? Denver isn’t really known for it’s food, but there are a few stops that you foodies out there should try:
    

Pete’s Kitchen, 1962 E Colfax Ave. Renowned for their breakfast burritos and Greek fare. Open 24×7 on Fridays and Saturdays. Expect to wait (outside) during rush hour (2:00 am) on the weekends. If this is your first trip to a big city, you may see some things you’ve never seen before.

Sushi Den, 1487 S. Pearl St. This is one of the few establishments in Denver that can do the impossible – fresh sushi, straight from Japan via Fed Ex. They don’t take reservations, so try to get your fix early in the day. Sushi Den would be a treat anywhere in the country. In Denver, it’s a miracle.

Elway’s, 1881 Curtis Street (in the Ritz Carlton). Yes, that Elway. He’s gone from pigskin to porterhouse. If you’ve got a hankering for a perfect steak in a perfect atmosphere and you happen to have a perfect pile of cash, this is the place. Reservations are a must.

NoNo’s Café, 3005 W. Countyline Road. Head south to NoNo’s Café for the best Bloody Mary in town. The name is Italian for “grandfather”, and also heralds the hometown of the owners, New Orleans, and the inspiration for the fabulous food. Recommended dish: Breakfast in Bread. And don’t leave without getting some pralines to go.

In order to meet Italian legislation regarding new drivers, the entry-level MiTo has a 1.4-liter engine with a top speed of 165 km/h (103 m/h).  Luckily, the rest of us can purchase the 1.4-liter turbo which tops out at 215 km/h (135 m/h) or the 1.6-liter JTDM (Fiat’s MultiJet Turbo Diesel) engine which reaches a quite respectable 198 km/h (123 m/h) top speed.

The aerodynamic curviness of this three-door Alfa is accented by the extended wheel wells, tear-drop headlights and LED taillights that leave figments of red trailing behind it at night (or so I imagine).  Alfa introduced six new colors with this model, including the one I’m going to order:  a midnight black with a micalised red undercoat that gleams through like rubies in the sunlight.

Before you start thinking this isn’t a family car, I have to mention that the back seats are equipped with child safety seat attachments and a third-seat option is available to fit a family of five.  There is also a healthy amount of luggage room in the back, which expands if you leave three of your five people at home.

This car also represents the introduction of the "Alfa D.N.A." system (Dynamic, Normal, All-Weather).  This allows the driver to select between driving conditions that adjust the engine, brakes, steering, suspension and gearbox.  Dynamic mode reduces the power steering assistance and increases the engine response, even engaging in the boost-mode with the turbo or JTDM models.  All-Weather mode puts more traction control at your service and makes the vehicle easier to handle in "low grip" (rain, snow, ice) situations.

I could go on about the suspension, the coilover springs that make this car corner like the inside wheels were tacked to the road, the safety features, the ABS system with sensors for each wheel, the "smart" air bag system, 36-50 mpg fuel economy, Bose® sound system, or the automatic dual-zone climate system, but I won’t.  Suffice to say that this little beauty is on my short list for 2009.  I’ll be first in line for a test-drive!

I’ve cruised with family and friends, and twice by myself. I lived closer to a port city, I’d cruise a lot more. A good deal on a cruise can be less than half the cost of a land-locked vacation, and twice the convenience.

What to pack. The cruise line will give you plenty of suggestions about packing. Here are some of the things you don’t want to forget:

• A flashy suitcase. At the end of the trip your suitcase will be in a large room with 1273 other suitcases. No conveyor belt, no luggage leisurely moving past you. This may be the only time in your life that you wish you had huge pink pom-poms tied to your bags.
• A travel coffee mug and a reusable water bottle. If you drink more than one small cup of coffee in the morning, and having the travel mug handy means you don’t have to keep getting up for more. Same with the water bottle later in the day!
• A sweater or a jacket. Yes, even if you think there is no way you’ll possibly need it! Every cruise I’ve taken to warm locations has had at least one day of chilly weather. I learned this lesson the hard way by spending $80 in the gift shop for a sweatshirt.
• BYOB. The inclusive-nature of cruising does not include alcoholic beverages. It is against ship policy to bring more than a bottle or two of wine (check with your cruise line) on board. It’s a common, but risky, practice to "sneak" alcohol on board in checked luggage. Some cruise lines allow you to purchase alcohol at port and bring it back to your room, but most will hold your liquor purchases until the end of the cruise.

Getting there. Unless you are very, very confident that you can arrive at the port several hours before the ship leaves, plan to arrive in the port city one night early. If you miss the boat, your only choice is to find a flight to the first destination and meet up with the ship. It’s a lot cheaper to show up a day early and spend the night in a local hotel. The cruise line will book the hotel as part of your package, and usually offer you a shuttle service to the port in the morning. You can save some money by booking your own room and taking a cab.

Excursions.  In most cases you can research and even book your shore excursions before you ever get on the boat. If you can’t book until you board, then have your first and second choices ready and hit the excursion desk as soon as you’ve found your room and a cold beverage. Popular excursions that have limited room (for example, deep sea fishing) will sell out!

Seasickness. If you are feeling woozy, try to go out on deck or near a window and focus on the horizon. Also, remember that it’s natural to feel a bit of motion sickness on the first few days of your trip if you are a new cruiser. A cola and soda crackers will take the edge off and Dramamine® will make you feel like a new person.

Laundry. On most cruise ships, there is at least one laundry room. You don’t have to pack everything you own – just pack enough to get halfway through the trip, and then do a load of laundry.

Destination debarkation: When you arrive at your destination, there is usually a long line of people waiting to get off the boat. They gather in the stairwells while waiting for Customs to clear the ship. If you have not booked an early-departing excursion, just wait up on deck and enjoy yourself – 20 minutes after they announce the ship has cleared customs, THEN go downstairs and the lines will be gone!

If you’ve been on a cruise, what are some of your best tips?  If you’ve never been on a cruise, what questions do you have?  I’ll add these to my next cruising post (and give you credit, of course!) 

How much do you really know about Guitar Hero®?  Sure, you know it’s a game that brings your cousin Joe’s air guitar to life, but do you know what’s being subliminally driven into his brain while he’s channeling Pat Benatar?

Industry analysts claim the reason for this enormous success is that millions of us want to be rock stars.  I disagree, and it’s not just because I can’t play my way through Barracuda on Easy.  There’s more to Guitar Hero® than meets the eye.  If you play the game, or love someone who does, you need to know what this game is really about!

Don’t Make Things Harder Than They Need To Be

To strum or not to strum, that is the question.  You think you know how this works?  You hold down a note and strum?  Think again.  One minute you’re strumming like a rabid squirrel and the next - nothing?  Just hold the note?  Ahhhhh, man!  Why didn’t anyone tell you that sometimes it only takes half the effort to get the job done.

Don’t Be Like Everyone Else

Got Whammy?  Feeling your inner Jimi?  The whammy bar lets you throw in that personal touch.  It’s your own musical signature.  Whenever you’ve been asked to do the same thing that everyone else is doing (typically if you’re in school, if you have a job, or if you are alive) remember to use your personal whammy to set yourself apart!

Save Your Strength For The Hard Times

It’s star power - everyone can get it, but not everyone knows when to use it.  If you want to make the most out of this run through life, you need to keep that star power in reserve for the tough parts.  It’s tempting to use it for a boost when you’re already on a roll - don’t do it!!  Use it when you don’t have any idea how you’re going to survive.  Star power won’t give you the answers, but it will carry you from one note to the next until you figure it out.

Don’t Get Discouraged - YOU ROCK!!!

Is there anything better than being told, “You Rock!!” at the end of a performance?  It may seem like a cliche, but you DO rock and we KNOW you rock and that’s just a really good way to end one challenge before moving on to the next.

Always Invest In Yourself

The money - it’s never as much as you thought it would be.  And the deductions!  They don’t make any sense and they take out far too much.  You complain, you argue,  but in the end you shove what’s left in your pocket and use it for stuff that will make you look better the next time.

***

When you have to stop playing because your fingers feel like they are going to disconnect from the rest of yourself in a uniquely painful manner, think about how you’re going to show up the real world.  You’re not just a guitar hero - you can be a real-life inspiration the next time you walk out that door.

Welcome to another High-Five Friday! It’s a gorgeous day here in Denver.   I just made a huge bowl of popcorn, my cat is sleeping, my houseplants  are alive and all is well with the world.  Well, not really, but if you think of it as my own little tiny world (like I do) then really things here are just peachy.

Thank you for the great response to last week’s list!  It’s so much fun to share my favorite sites and have them become some of your favorites as well.  More good stuff for you this week - give them a visit and knock around their archives for a while!

• Garry Conn - Learn How to Make Money Online with a Blog

Sure, there are lots of sites that say they will teach you to make money online.  What’s different about Garry?  He’s a real person who really makes money online and really tells his readers what works and what doesn’t work.  He’s the most prolific writer I’ve come across - he once said he was going to take a wee break from his blog (although I’m pretty sure he didn’t say “wee”) which meant he only posted 1.73 times a day instead of 3.42.

• Jonathan Mead - Illuminated Mind | Clarify Your Life, Illuminate Your Mind

As his title suggests, Jonathan writes a great deal about his life and the insights he’s gained.  He’s a terrific writer who doesn’t hold back.  He’s also had success as a guest-blogger at several well-known sites.  I’ve learned a lot from subscribing to Jonathan’s blog, and I think you will, too.

• 37days - What Would You Be Doing Today if You Only Had 37 Days to Live?

Patti Digh makes me laugh.  And cry.  She wrote a book.  Further comments would leave me sounding like a stalker, so I will stop with:  I heart Patti Digh.

• Thirty Day Challenge

If you’ve ever wanted to learn about internet marketing, this is the place for you.  For several years, Ed Dale and Dan Raine, well-known internet marketers who have a fortune to show for their expertise, have put together a simple training exercise with the goal of teaching you how to make your first $10 online without spending a dime.  They share up-to-the-minute tips and techniques that astound newbies and experienced marketers alike.  This will be my second year and I can’t wait!

• Copyblogger - Copywriting Tips for Online Marketing Success

This site that falls into the category of You-May-Be-Living-In-A-Cave-If-You-Don’t-Know-This-Blog.  All you cave-dwellers out there, Copyblogger is for you!  This site was founded by Brian Clark and can hold you in its grips for hours.  You can find topics ranging from persuasive writing to being more interesting.  Go there now!

They look harmless enough, don’t they? Those friendly folk on your project team. The ones who came to your kickoff meeting and appeared to still be conscious when you said you expected everyone to act like adults during the project. Perhaps you should have been a wee bit more specific. After all, adults do come in multiple flavors, and the flavor of the day for that project was Irritation Swirl.

I’m not talking about everyday personality conflicts. Anyone who has been in the workplace for more than six hours has probably met someone who makes their skin crawl. (Or was that just me?)  This type of conflict is something most of us have learned to deal with since the age of six when little Suzy told you she thought your socks were ugly and you secretly hoped Suzy’s head would fall off.

I’m talking about the type of conflict that arises in project teams when two or more people of equal standing have radically different ideas on how the project should proceed. This can occur on projects with excellent management and top-notch requirements just as easily as it does on projects in the real world where you work. And that’s where the conflict begins.

Roy [names changed to protect the irritating innocent] was an engineer on a development project.  Kate was a user-interface designer.  They had both been with the company for several years and had a reputation for doing good work.  Now, if you’ve ever mixed engineers and designers in the same bucket, you know what happens.  Engineers like to think they’d made pretty good designers.  And designers like to think that they’ve considered all the engineering implications of their design.  There are times when both of those statements are true.  This wasn’t one of them.  Add to this an intense personality conflict and you’ve got a project that could be stuck for weeks or more.

You see, Roy understood that the architecture of the project would be significantly simpler if a certain feature was removed from the design.  What he didn’t know was Kate had won a hard-fought battle with her boss about the importance of including this feature.  The rest of the team was scared hesitant to take sides and as the project manager, I knew they were looking to me for a solution that didn’t involve violence or taking the issue outside of the team.

I explained to the team that I knew there had been heated discussions about whether to include this feature, without any resolution.  I then asked Roy and Kate to prepare a 10-minute presentation for our Executive Sponsor explaining the benefits of the other person’s idea.  That’s right - Roy had to present Kate’s side; and Kate had to present Roy’s side.   The team looked at me as if I had grown a third eye.  Roy and Kate looked at me as if they wanted to stick pencils in all three of my eyeballs.  I gave them 24 hours to prepare.

Roy and Kate came to my office the next morning.  Smiling.  I immediately looked around to see what I could use to defend myself from attack, grabbing my Bhudda statue by his bald head while trying to appear nonchalant.  “Have a seat,” I said, hopefully.

“No, that’s okay,” said Kate.  “We just wanted to let you know we don’t need to do the presentation for Judy.”

“WTF Really?” I asked.

“Really,” said Roy.  “We figured out a way to do this that won’t be so complicated.  It’s a lot less risky but it’ll still look almost the same.”

“Yeah,” said Kate.  “When Roy explained why it was so tricky, I realized we could do it in a different way and still be okay.”

I let go of Bhudda and breathed a sigh of relief.

While I can’t guarantee this result, I have never seen this method make a situation worse.  In addition, I have never seen anyone actually give their presentation.  One way or another, the conflict is resolved before that point.  At the very least, your non-warring team members are amused.  At best, you get past one hurdle and start looking for the next one.   Here are some keys to remember if you want to try this technique:

• Disagreeing parties should be of equal stature within the team or the company.
• There should be open discussion about the issue at least twice with no resolution.
• Ask for the presentations in a public / team setting.
• Create a sense of urgency with a 24-hour deadline.
• The opposing viewpoints should be presented to a decision-maker.
• Check in with the parties twice during the 24-hour prep period.

As you might imagine, variations of this technique work well for children.  As adults, if we make a deliberate effort to consider situations from someone else’s viewpoint, it throws open doors that we didn’t even realize were closed.  I’m as hard-headed as the next person, and I rarely change my mind.  But I can, and do, see things from multiple perspectives. I encourage you to give it a try the next time you find yourself in, or observing, a disagreement.  And please, let me know how it turned out!