A Hundred Days of Ideas

film_countdown_06In attempting to keep the “plan” for this vlog thing as minimalist as possible (in order to prevent perfection paralysis on my part), I’m not really putting together an editorial calendar.

Sure, once October rolls around, I’ll likely be talking about “seasonal” things (like Halloween, ghosts, and horror films). And when we pass through November and December there will undoubtedly be some sort of “holiday” content. But, for the most part, I’m just planning on rambling on for 3-5 minutes once a day.

Like I said, nothing fancy.

Yet.

What I don’t want to do is bore you to death.

See, there’s really no reason for me to do this if no one other than my mother is going to bother watching it. (Sorry, mom.)

I work best when I’m doing things for someone else’s (potential) benefit. When there’s a chance that what I’m doing will definitely have some sort of impact (hopefully positive!) on someone’s life. It’s why I just about all of my Facebook posts are open to the world. It’s why I’ve (sporadically) maintained multiple public blogs.

Judging by past experience, the best way for me to help myself is to help (or, at least, entertain) others.

Very, very rarely do things I do solely for myself hold my attention for any length of time. Definitely not for 100 days of cranking out content.

That’s where I’m going to need your help.

Since all y’all are the ones who will be seeing these videos first (or, at least, having the option to see them… I’m not going to go all Clockwork Orange on ya…), I want it to be stuff you’re interested in.

I’ve had many conversations with many people over the years–and if you’ve bounced here from my Facebook feed, you’re probably one of those people–and accrued a lot of anecdotes and even some actual knowledge, maybe some wisdom.

This is your chance to pick my brain or challenge me to learn something new.

To help me get out of my comfort zone a little more.

To make this more than just me sitting in my apartment talking to no one. (Which I do plenty already.)

Even better: I actually want some of you directly involved.

Most of my time is spent alone these days. Often, I long for the “good ol’ days” of having a passel of people just down the hall that I can shoot the breeze with at all hours. I see this as a chance to take that idea to a new level.

Many of you do awesome things. Much more actively awesome things than I do. Things that I genuinely think lots of people out there in the world would be very interested in.

So, if there’s a topic you want to talk about–something you’re working on or something that really puts the wind in your sails–I want to sit down with you (either in person or virtually–yay! Technology!) and chat about it for a little while.

Then I want to put it out there in the world.

It may even be neat for a few of us to get together, run our own little panel discussion.

Maybe live.

I don’t know… I’m game for pretty much anything that you’re interested in.

[jbutton size=”xxlarge” color=”green” link=”http://durosia.com/vlog-questions” newpage=”yes”]Come Ask a Question Here[/jbutton]

Something New for a Hundred Days

test_pattern_01Despite outward appearances to the contrary, the last few years really haven’t been all that great.

For a while, I’ve been more than a bit lost. Just kind of drifting about, coasting on momentum built up in years past but, really, just running on fumes. It is, in a word, unpleasant.

In a few more words: I’m not at all where I wanted to be in my life right now. In fact, due to this relatively recent lack of direction, I’m farther from where I want to be than I’ve ever been. Not much that I’ve tried has changed that at all… even less has changed it for the better. (At least in the arenas that matter most to me.)

In an effort to get out of this stagnating rut, it’s time to really get out of my comfort zone and try something else.

Those of you who know me are likely aware that my “comfort zone” is pretty wide-ranging at this point. I have dipped into many different arenas over the years. I consort with a wide variety of “freaks and weirdos” as well as more mainstream people. I can more or less fly through most social interactions with no real problem. The things I don’t do, I don’t do because they’re downright unhealthy or obviously detrimental to getting back on track to being the person I want to be. (So, no, I’m not interested in reenacting The Lost Weekend… or any part of The Hangover. And we’re definitely not talking about anything like Natural Born Killers or Falling Down.)

“But, Kier,” you may ask, “what the heck does that leave?”

Not much that I can afford, that’s for sure. (An around-the-world trip would be awesome, but that’s just not going to happen… yet…)

Part of an abandoned business plan involved something that I never really wanted to do, but would have been integral to the success of that venture. I’m dusting off that part, though certainly not the plan it was attached to. Doing this will put me right where I don’t much care to be, in a way I really don’t much care for in general.

Starting next week, and continuing for roughly the next hundred days after that, I’m going to dive head first into the world of vlogging.

That’s pretty much the extent of the plan right now. (Mainly because I know full well that if I try to plan more, I’ll just spend the next 100 days planning and not doing.)

This is where I’m going to enlist your help.

Over the next few days, I’m going to float a few ideas and ask for your feedback and suggestions. Then, when this all starts, I’m going to want need a wee bit of support in a few different ways.

I’m not expecting what I create to be fantastic right off the top (that quest for instant perfection is one of the things I’m trying to overcome). Over the course of 100 entries, though, it will (hopefully) get better. So, maybe we can celebrate that progress together. Or maybe we’ll just share in the horror of an impressive social media train wreck.

At the absolute least, it’ll be something different.

At the most, well… at the most, maybe something I throw at the wall will stick and get me back on track.

More to come…

The State of the Empire and a Special Offer

Durosia-HeraldryApparently, it’s been a very long time since I’ve done a proper “State of the Empire” update.

Let me explain why in one word: Chaos.

It has been absolutely crazy around here in the past year or so. Upheaval in just about every direction you look. I’ve changed apartments, changed jobs (more on that in a minute), and had a lot of things to adapt to in my personal life.

So, while suffering the slings and arrows of “real life”, the idealistic realm of Durosia has kind of suffered a bit. Sure I’ve thrown out some token posts on Toob Talk and The Searcher Journal. Of course I’ve tried to keep up with things over at How to Crush Without Being Crushed. I’ve even managed to squeeze some posts out here (and over in the old blog archive). But none of that has come together quite as I’d hoped (yet).

Mostly, things have been changing behind the scenes. Underground, if you will, I’ve been digging down and building more solid foundations for all of these areas. Things like the migration of this blog to it’s own little subdomain and the complete update and redesign of Durosia.com are part of that.

Oh yeah, and I started my own business…

The biggest change has been parting ways (on good terms, of course) with the company I’ve been working with for the past handful of years. Now I’ve set out on my own (over at Presence.Durosia.com) to help people, organizations, and businesses focus in and tell their stories in ways that connect with their customers.

That’s been a long time coming.

A good hunk of that time has been spent learning about how business can work in the modern, interconnected, world.

See, I minored in business back in college, but that was just as the Web was taking off for the first time (and right before the first web bubble burst). A lot has changed since then. While I’ve kind of kept up on it (as part of my job), there was always more to learn that didn’t quite fit with my day job’s requirements.

So I turned to the current experts. The people doing things I was interested in doing. Living lives I wanted to live. People who were out there, breaking new ground, taking big chances, and making the new rules.

Now, as I push to get my own business up to speed, those people’s stories are serving heavily as my inspiration and my road map.

I want to share some of that knowledge with you.

Amazingly, the folks over at Only72.com have put together two fantastic packages of books and courses that I would have killed to get my hands on two years ago.

The first package is aimed at those just starting off on their own, a crash course in how not to crash and burn when you launch a new enterprise. It features thirteen courses from well-known online trailblazers like Danielle LaPorte, David Risley, James Clear, Lewis Howes, and others. Topics include how to best make use of the various social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook), how to connect with the top people in your target market, SEO techniques, productivity, and the new ways of thinking about (and doing) business that the Internet has given us.

That “business launcher” package is worth over $1000 and can be had for less than $100. Check out the full details.

The other package is more of the same, but bigger. There are 12 more programs from more big names (like Chris Guillebeau, Laura Roeder, Laura Roeder, Ashley Ambirge, and others) that will really help even the seasoned business person do more online (and off).

Each of the courses in the the “business amplifier” retails for well over $100. Plus you get everything from the launcher package, too. That’s over $4,300 worth of knowledge and experience. You can get it for just under $500. Go and see for yourself.

There is, of course, a catch…

This deal is only good for 72 hours (and it started selling at noon on Monday). After that, you’ll have to bounce all over the web (and pay a lot more) to get all this info on your own. And, trust me, you want this info–it will make your business life much easier (and more profitable).

That not enough incentive? How about if a portion of every sale goes to charity? This time around, the Only72 crew will be donating to The Women of the Americas Sustainability Project.

(And if you really want a more personal reason, if you buy through the links I’ve given you, it puts money in the Durosian coffers, too… which will significantly help reduce the chaos around here.)

Anyway, that all said, thanks for continuing to come around… even if things are a little dusty and sporadic every now and then.