Avatar photoSteven Savage

Turning Books Into Action

by

I advise people to always be reading books, including career books.  One of the problems however is we can read so much that our latest reading falls out of our mind as soon as we finish it and pick up a new one.  So here a few tips for what I use to turn what I learn in a book to action.

1) If a book has exercises you can do while reading them?  Do them.  This lets you get as much out of the book as possible and keeps it in your mind fast.

2) If a book has exercises you can't do until you're done, do them IMMEDIATELY or very shortly after finishing the book.  Keep the book with you if possible for a reminder.

3) Review the book after completion to make sure you integrate the lessons.

4) Keep notes while reading for things to do after you read the book.

5) After you finish the book (or during) write up an action plan to put what you read into action.  Include what you truly need, don't include everything unless you feel you have to or the book works best if you do all exercises.

Reading and getting the most out of a book is a matter of active engagement.  A plan to get the most out of a book makes sure you are engaged.

– Steven Savage

Social Media, Life, and prominence

by

We hear constantly about Social Media these days until many of us are sick of it (I'm getting a bit tired of hearing about it myself).  In all the discussions, analysis, articles, witty twitters, and so on, one thing gets missed. I'd like to discuss it since social media is both a geeky life tool, a geeky career tool, and a geeky career destination.

And that fact is that Social Media offers nothing new.

Blasphemy, many will say, but it's the truth.  Social Media is completely unoriginal, and that's why it works.

Read more

Week In Review 5/30/2009 – And More

by

This is going to be our last week in review done in text format – instead we're going to be doing weekly shows every Saturday reviewing the geeky career news and discussing progeek issues at Fan To Pro on BlogTalkRadio!  We haven't set an exact time, but we plan to shortly.

So, let's get to reviewing the news of the week for career geeks!

Lots of Google news.  Google makes it easier on people to use special widgets on the web, further cementing their presence and mindshare.  Big news however was their mega-collboration-communication tool in the works, Google Wave, which has open source elements, and a Twitter integrator.  I'm guessing this is google's big push post-android to shore up web presence and, as I mentioned, dilute the chance for others to dominate in various areas.

Facebook got a huge $200 million investment.  That's a lot of money, but really only a 2% ownership of the company.  Still that's a giant amount of cash to get, and good for Facebook.  As a side note, it seems we've got more Russian investment in social media (remember Livejournal?).  Interestingly Facebook may have peaked among users 55 and older.   Facebook is facing a number of challenges and advantages.

(Also, don't forget the advice you have a social media backup plan).

Hulu took on Boxee, launching it's own desktop (and I suspect making a play for X-box installation).  Boxee of course offers to work with them.  Hulu, for all it's dominance, seems surprisingly insecure, and i want to watch what they do – it could be something self-defeating.

For gaming, the sad note high reviews are no guarantee of sales.

My big takes this week are Hulu, Google, and Facebook.  Hulu seems to be wanting to expand fast and furious, Google already is (and let's face it, a clash involving YouTube is coming.  Again), and Facebook is working to expand.  Those are the 3 to keep an eye on this week.

– Steven Savage