Exclusive Interview with the Queen of Web 2.0: Gina Trapani

July 24, 2008 at 11:11 am | In Book Reviews, Career Development, Interview, People, Personal Branding, Success Methodologies, social media | 2 Comments
Tags:

Today, I interviewed Gina Trapani, who was featured in issue 3 of Personal Branding Magazine.  She is always a delight to speak with and is as resourceful as they get.

Gina Trapani is a tech writer and web developer based in San Diego, California by way of Brooklyn, New York. She is the lead editor of Lifehacker.com, a daily weblog on software and personal productivity, and the author of Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better (March 2008). As a Sun-certified Java programmer, Gina builds Firefox extensions and web sites. Her writing has appeared in Popular Science, Wired, Women’s Health, PC World and Macworld magazines. The Wall Street Journal Online profiled her and her work has also been mentioned in Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, Wired and PC Magazine. She is #7 on the top 25 Web Celebrities list by Forbes.

1. Does everyone need to upgrade their life?

Well, you know what they say: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But, if you feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day, or you’re weary of being snowed under by email, tasks, appointments, a blinking voicemail box, and buzzing gadgets, then an upgrade may be in order. I’ve found that most “power users”–folks who are super comfortable with technology and who have it deeply embedded into their day—do tend to suffer from a sense of overload and overwhelm. My book is primarily for them.

2. How does your new book help people manage their personal brand, across email and other common tasks?

Being on top of your game is the best kind of “branding” you can do, because honestly? Most people are not. Most people let email slip through the cracks, or say they’ll get back in a week and don’t, or drop the ball on that task you talked about doing in that meeting two months ago. When you follow up, when you’re responsive, when you’re on time (even early!) delivering on your deadlines–even when you pre-empt being late with a “Hey, I said I’d get this to you today but I turned out to be busier than I expected. How’s Tuesday instead?”–your co-workers and colleagues and clients will be impressed and only want to work with you more. You’ll become known as responsive–and therefore responsible–and dependable and effective and indispensable.

3. Do you feel everyone needs to know the basic “survival” routines on the web now? Do you feel your book is a requirement for the digital age?

Everyone’s level of engagement on the web is different, so the skills each person absolutely needs differs, too. In terms of survival, there is a low level of literacy absolutely required just to stay safe from identity thieves and malicious software online. From there it becomes a matter of managing the rate of information that flows into your day. I’d say my book is required reading for anyone who wants to fast-track past the part where they have to figure out the best ways to get common computer and online tasks done, and just benefit from the knowledge of folks who have been immersed in digital culture and communications for years now. Through Lifehacker.com, I’ve had access to a huge community of very knowledgeable people, and the book came out of my conversations with them on-site.

4. What are the 3 most significant tips you share in your book?

The first must-have hack in the book addresses how to deal with the constant flow of email into your inbox every day. For any office worker (or freelancer, for that matter), sane email management is the most important skill you can have when it’s a primary way you communicate.

Second is the chapter on “tricking” yourself into getting the tasks on your to-do list done. It’s so easy to sabotage ourselves into procrastination and dread–even around the work we enjoy!–that if we’re mindful about how we break down and assign ourselves little stepping stone tasks, we’re much more likely to make our goal.

Third, the chapter on “firewalling your attention” is important for the “Crackberry” addicts out there who have trouble with long-term focus and distractions. It’s only until you can truly pay full attention to something that you can be fully present, and fully effective.

It was difficult to pick just three, because like I said, what will make your life better depends on what your day looks like and what kind of problems you run up against. These three are my three pain points most of the time.

5. If every employee in a company read your book, what tips would help them become more productive, as well as better organized?

Well, if I did my job as an author well, everyone would get at least a little something that made them more efficient and productive during the day from the book. There are over 100 tips in the table of contents (you can see them here: http://lifehackerbook.com/), but the biggest, overarching idea I hope to get across in the book is this:

If you take a little time to think about what you spend time doing all day at work, you can adjust that time or reduce it with shortcuts to make it representative of what you want to actually accomplish.

If we all put our attention, time, and energy towards the right work–instead of spinning our wheels and deleting spam from our inbox on our Blackberry while we’re at the park with our kids–we’ll all be happier and more accomplished.

Think Like the CEO of a Brand Called You

July 24, 2008 at 12:28 am | In Book Reviews, Career Development, People, Personal Branding, Success Strategies | 2 Comments

Today I interviewed Mark Kuta, who will make you think like the CEO of the brand called YOU!

Mark Kuta has sold over $94 million in technology solutions to C-Level executives. A significant number of these sales were at greater than list price – an unheard of feat in the software industry. Mark has closed deals in a variety of different industries, as demonstrated by his client list which includes General Motors, TRW, General Electric, Honeywell, NACCO, Juniper Networks, Delphi, Steelcase, Ingersoll-Rand, Emerson Electric, Harris Industries, Grupo Industrial de Saltillo, Cisco Systems, Qualcomm, Agilent and Vitro, SA.

Since formalizing the Wall Street Selling Methodology™ in the book “Think Like a CEO,” he’s become a highly sought-after speaker for national conferences, as well as an advisor to senior executives from companies throughout the world.

Mark, how does one think like a CEO? Wouldn’t you say that we are all CEO’s of the brand called us? Is everyone fit to be a CEO of a company?

Yes, we ARE all CEO’s of our personal brand. In fact, now that I authored this book, I have a business card representing the Mark Kuta Brand. I think that while everyone, like it or not, is a CEO of their own life, they are not born to be company CEO’s. However, there are many ways to prepare to climb the corporate ladder. You can certainly start at the ground floor of a business to learn it, but getting an advanced degree will help, and, of course, taking advantage of OPE, or Other People’s Experience is huge.

What was your experience like writing the book and attaching so many executive brands to it?

I wrote the book over a four year period as I traveled. I only read 4 books during that time, and whenever I wanted to kick back and pull out the latest bestseller, well, I’d look over at someone on the plane reading and think, “One day they will be reading Think Like a CEO.” The tough thing was I was closing a lot of deals over those four years, and I wanted to write about some of them in the book. Once the book was finished, it was remarkably easy attracting executives who wanted to review it.

Do I still need my MBA, or will this book’s teachings be sufficient?

I would absolutely recommend an MBA for anyone interested in getting ahead in the business world. What my book does is teach some techniques that you can use to get action out of an executive. While many B-Schools teach these methods, what they don’t teach is the application of these when one is selling to – or dealing with – senior executives. For example, the idea of Profit Strategies is something that I coined in order to align your product or service to a company’s strategy.

You won’t learn about Profit Strategies in graduate school. A number of readers who are not in sales are reading Think Like a CEO. I have a couple of presentations lined up, for instance, for an organization called APICS, and focusing on purchasing personnel. Someone bought my book and realized value and the next thing you know I’m on the podium there.

Why is it so important to understand your financial’s, as well as your companies. Does everyone need to understand cash flow statements and balance sheets?

I don’t think that anyone really needs to understand everything about financial statements. What you need to do is have the ability to deal with C-level executives. You need to understand what drives them. And what drives them is Wall Street. The thing about Think Like a CEO is that I focus only on what you need to understand, and it is always presented in a way focused to accomplishing your results.

The analogy I like to use is the US Secret Service. Do you know how they teach their agents to recognize counterfeit bills? They don’t. They teach them how to recognize the REAL THING. So, reading Think Like a CEO won’t make you a financial whiz, but you will understand what senior executives are interested in. You will be able to converse with a senior executive, probably just like YOUR CEO does now when he runs across another CEO at his club. That’s really what I’m after.

Describe one of your case studies you used in the book.

The beginning of the book describes a case where I felt like that guy in “Catch Me If You Can,” you know, the guy that pretends to be a doctor, or an airline pilot, etc. I was pretending to be a lean manufacturing consultant when I was actually a software salesperson. While not understanding anything about brake presses, kanban’s or TAKT time, I used the methods I outlined to close the deal with a bunch of Ivy League MBA’s. Thus, the subtitle of the book.

Was it harder selling your technology solutions or this book?

The book tends to sell itself, while technology solutions have a long and intricate sales cycle. I was in a meeting the other week (with a company that everyone would recognize, by the way) and started driving home their need to improve their Gross Margins. The senior executive who I was selling to said, “Mark, that’s just like in your book!” He had picked up a copy earlier and recognized what I was doing. So, I asked him what his CEO would say about that, and he said, “You know what he would say about that. That is why we are talking to you!”

What 3 tips do you have for people starting out in business today?

Set high goals. Look out there and make something your personal Normandy, or your personal Moon Landing. Once you set these goals, build good work habits. I discovered early on in my career that whether you are a salesperson or a factory manager, you will work long hours and probably have to do some travel. Learn to work hard and you will be successful. Finally, never stop learning. I’ve met people with one year of experience eighteen times over, and I’ve met people with true eighteen years experience. If you want to eat steak instead of bologna, you have the be that latter person.

Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.