The Future of Advertisement Online

It is interesting to study the evolution of advertisement throughout the years on the web. Each time Advertisement agencies find ways to advertise, the public find ways to ignore it.
Think back to when the web used to be plagued with pop-ups; pop-ups blockers soon followed.

Now we’re seeing something even more dramatic, the advertisement banners (usually found at the top or on the sides of a website) are being blocked entirely by “Adblock” leaving our screens ads free.
It is no longer possible for advertisement agencies to use online ads to advertise their products using the old channels. Seth Godin studied the question and determined that in order for advertisements to be relevant today, they need to be specific to the person seeing it.
How do you create specific ads for a target audience? Well you first need the client’s information and the easiest way to do that is through social media.

The best way to advertise today is with the help of social media. Not with paid ads (Adblock will block it) but by first providing a product that people want and encouraging them to share to their friends.

The Reasonable & Unreasonable

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -George Bernard Shaw

The Professional Look

The professional look is use in business to exert the feeling of "trust", "I'm ready to go" or "I value you as a person hence why I went the extra mile".

There was a time when it held ground but I feel like this look is now flawed. The business world is filled with crooks who only wears a tie to deceive or manipulate people into thinking that they can be trusted.

It's not about looking professional, it's about being professional. It's more important to be a man of your words than to look like one. I would rather have an honest politician in jeans than a dishonest one in a suit!

"But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."
- 1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV)

Professionalism is more about who you are than how things look. Focus on your heart as well as your physical appearance.

*This post can also be found on Men 2.0

What's the Origin of the Handshake?

The handshake is thought by some to have originated as a gesture of peace by demonstrating that the hands holds no weapons.

Archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that handshaking was practice in ancient Greece as far back as the 5th century BC.

Source:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handshake
-Picture from: http://www.morguefile.com/

*This post can also be found on Men 2.0

He Will Feel you Appreciate His Authority and Leadership When...

• you tell him you are thankful for his strength and enjoy being able to lean on him at times.
• you support his self-image as a leader.
• you never say, "you're responsible but we're still equal, so don't make a decision I don't agree with."
• you praise his good decisions
• you are gracious if he makes a bad decision
• you disagree with him only in private and honor his authority in front of the kids
• you give your reasons for disagreeing quietly and reasonably, but you never attack his right to lead.
• you do not play "head games" with him to make him back down and be a "loving peacemaker."

-Page 224 & 225 of "Love & Respect" Relationship book by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs (get it here)

She'll Feel At Peace with You When...

• you let her vent her frustrations and hurts and don't get angry and close her off.
• you admit you are wrong and apologize by saying. "I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"
• you understand her natural desire to negotiate, compromise, and defer, and you meet her halfway.
• you try to keep your relationship "up-to-date," resolving the unresolved and never saying, "Forget it."
• you forgive her for any wrongs she confesses.
• you never nurse bitterness and always reassure her of your love.
• you pray with her after a hurtful time.

-Page 164 of "Love & Respect" Relationship book by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs (get it here)

Leaders must be Likeable

A leader must be likeable because no follower ever said "I hate him but I will follow him to the end." James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (Authors of "A Leader's Legacy" book) said "The leaders people want to follow are the ones for who they have genuine affection."

Nobody is above The Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you") especially not leaders. If you want people to want to follow you treat your following like you would like to be treated (or better).

*This post can also be found on Men 2.0

Internet Explorer is Loosing Ground - Is it the end for Microsoft?

When I started college, almost 10 years ago now, I remember a teacher telling the class that Microsoft won't be dominating in the near future. His predictions was based on the emerging technologies of the time and today it's amazing to see how much ground Microsoft did loose.

While Microsoft Windows is still the most popular operating system around, Internet Explorer, on the other hand, is no longer the most popular browser (at least when it comes to people accessing this Blog). See the below diagram:

*Note: This data was taken from the integrated Google Analytics functionality for blogger and doesn't represent the browser's popularity on a global scale.

If we consider that more and more people are buying Ipads (or other tablets) instead of computers, it becomes easy to see that if Microsoft keeps playing by the old rules ... they'll eventually loose.

Choose to Change

“You cannot have common habits and expect to live an uncommon life.” –Orrin Woodward

There’s no such thing as a “Pause” button in life. If we’re not getting ahead, we’re going backwards. If we don't eat right and exercise, we gain weight and/or loose muscle mass. If we don’t work on our relationships, we eventually lose them.

"Anytime you stop striving to get better, you're bound to get worse. There's no such thing in life as simply holding on to what you've got." -Pat Riley Change is the only constant in life and if we don’t thrive to be better, we naturally become worse. It's human nature to choose the path of least resistance and that often leads in the wrong direction.

Personality & Attitude

What's the difference between personality and attitude? The best answer I found is on Ask.com. See below:

"There are many differences between personality and attitude. Personality is something that is inherently a part of you. Attitude is a combination of your outlook and the way your perspective has been shaped by previous experiences." -Ask.com

A personality can be changed and controlled over time while attitude remains mainly a choice. Epictetus said "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." and how you react is entirely up to you.

Source:
http://www.ask.com/question/difference-between-personality-and-attitude

*This post can also be found on Men 2.0

Favouritism and Leadership

If you're in a position of power and are playing favouritism with some of your subordinates, you are affecting negatively your influence, cooperation and teamwork with the rest of the group. Why? Because of a feeling of jealousy that can spur within the hearts of those not targeted by your special attention.

Be fair and consistent with those who see you as a leader.

"Quiet Leadership" book by David Rock - Short Review

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. It started out strong/interesting with a scientific look at the brain activity but finished off rather weakly with information that felt duplicated throughout the book.

Overall, I've enjoyed this book and manage to test some of it's excercises even if I'm not currently in a possition of power (everybody is a leader right?)
I was surprised at how accurate the conversations were when comparing them with the examples from the book.

Now the question is - Should you read it? My answer to that is a definite "yes" for the first half and a "no, but you should still read it anyway because you'll learn something that'll help you" for the second half.

You can get it on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.ca/Quiet-Leadership-Steps-Transforming-Performance/dp/0060835915/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399978440&sr=8-1&keywords=quiet+leadership

The Importance of being a Problem Solver

"A loyal constituency is won when the people, consciously or unconsciously, judge the leader to be capable of solving their problems and meeting their needs." -Kouzes & Posner

A leader is a problem solver. If you become a problem solver, people will naturally be inclined to go to you whenever a problem arises because they know that with you it'll be fixed. When people start going to you for their problems, you're one step closer of being an effective leader.

"Loyalty is not something a boss can demand. It's something people choose to grant to a person who has earned it. The people's choice to follow is based not simply upon authority but upon the leader's perceived capacity to meet a need." -Kouzer & Posner

Happiness, Pleasure & Joy

“It is common to hear people say, “I just want to be happy.” And who does not? It’s certainly much better to be happy than sad. Good times are better to experience than bad. But pursuing happy is a little off the mark. It is like trying to grab smoke. Whenever we make happiness our goal, we set ourselves for a futile chase. First, we do something that we think will make us happy. Then, once that pleasure is through, we move on to the next. Usually, the pleasures have to escalate to continue to satisfy, and we find ourselves in an endless climb. From pleasure to pleasure we go, never really finding happiness.”

-From "Leadership: Tidbits and treasures" Self-Improvement book by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward. Page 275"

You don’t get happiness from pursuing happiness. What people pursue, when they say they pursue happiness, is pleasure and Orrin Woodward said that “Pleasure does not bring happiness; it only brings an increasing hunger for more pleasure.”

“The only way to get happy is to give happy.” –Chris Brady

Pleasure is the least fulfilling feeling of the 3 because it constantly needs to be worked on in order to keep the “high” and it doesn’t last very long.

Happiness is partly a choice. To choose to be happy is to see the positive side of things.

Joy is the ultimate form of happiness and comes from being at peace with yourself which is often only attainable through spirituality. While pleasure is often confused with happiness, Joy, on the other hand, isn’t. There is no doubt in your mind when Joy is felt and it can last a lifetime.

If you want fulfillment in your life, pursue Joy instead of happiness.

*This post can also be found on Men 2.0

Men 2.0

Brian and I recently joined forces to create a personal development blog specifically for men. It's still in the design process but you can check out what we have so far here: http://men2p0.blogspot.ca/

I've been wanting to do something with the guy for a while now and I think this will be the first stay for greater and better things.

The Worse Thing I Ever Said

Every end of a school year, my friends and I would meet to burn our school papers and books. This ritual ended when I graduated from Highschool. That's when I said the worse thing I ever said... I said "I will never read a book again!" and for a while, I followed through on that promise. I went through my college years barely opening the books I had bought for my course (what a waste of 800$).

My life changed when I started associating with successful business owners. I saw them read and change for the better and wanted a piece of that cake.

Today, I love reading and I plan on doing reading until I die.

We Know who we Are

We all have a sense of who we are but, unless we meditate on it, we don't know how to best describe it with words.

What would your answer be to the question "Who are you?"?

The Only Strategy for Success in Business

"People who live defensively never rise above average. Decide to be on the offensive, to take the initiative. Lukewarm, indecisive people are never secure regardless of the wealth, education or position." -John Mason

In Hockey, when a team is ahead they sometime turn to the defensive in an attempt to maintain the advantage but that rarely works.
If you don't move ahead, you move backwards. There's no "stand still" in business.

The only strategy for success is to be on the offensive.

Play To Win

"How can I do the least amount of work and still not lose?" - Leadershift book by Orrin Woodward & Oliver DeMille

Employers are paying employees just enough for them not to leave and employees do just enough work not to get fired. Could you work more efficiently?

"Play to win, not 'not to lose.'" -Dondi Scumaci