Category: Just me being me

Can we all agree that Charlie Sheen is a mess? He let a bunch of crazy out at once and lost his full time job. So then, he lets a little more crazy out in various TV interviews, writes some crazy on twitter, acts some crazy on youtube, and decides to have a live show as yet another way to release some of his special brand of crazy out into the world.

You must be as shocked as I was that apparently his first live show was terrible with people booing and walking out due to his “nonsensical rants”. He’s marketed himself as someone who rants, why would you be surprised when that’s all he does on stage?

Here’s the kicker: his first show bombed… but he made changes to his act before his second show. He replaced the things that didn’t work with other ideas that played up the brand of crazy that everyone seemed to like. People booed, heckled and left his first show early, but the audience at the second show actually gave him a standing ovation.

So, what can we learn from Charlie Sheen? I mean, I could go into a total rant myself about what NOT to learn from this poor trainwreck of a man. However, in his barrel of crazy was a total stoke of genius – if something isn’t working, change.

How many of you keep doing something because it’s familiar, not because it is truly the best thing to do?

It’s habit to order your Tuesday night takeout from the Chinese place on the corner, because they’re quick and the food’s ‘okay’. It’s so easy to keep running the exact same advertisements or renew that newsletter contract even though you’re not really sure it’s working. It saves time to just reorder your stationary from your printer, instead of checking around for other printing quotes.

What if you’re missing out on some truly phenomenal spring rolls from another restaurant or save a ton of money by switching to a different printer?

Let’s switch things up this week and speed down the less traveled road. Check back in and let me know how it goes for you.

I have to confess; spelling mistakes and bad grammar are so cringe-inducing to me that I just want to get out a red pen and mark things up like a stern teacher. I am not the perfect spelling and grammar queen myself, but when I see a Facebook status with the wrong use of their/there/they’re it just drives me nutty.

Usually I can rein my crazy in and keep from commenting on these types of mistakes. For example, I have one friend who sends me emails so terrible I sometimes can’t even figure out what they’re trying to say. I keep my thoughts to myself though, because nobody likes a know-it-all (and they certainly don’t invite one to come out for Happy Hour).

I can excuse the misspelled words in my personal life, but I cannot believe how often it pops up in the business world. I receive so many business emails from high-level executives that look like a drunken cat pounded the keys with his tail.

It doesn’t matter how busy or important you are (or think you are), when you send a misspelled business email you are representing yourself and your company. By shooting off an email riddled with spelling mistakes and typo’s, you are saying that you’re either too stupid to write a simple email or you think your time is more important than mine. As the recipient of these emails, a client may feel that the amount of time and attention you give your correspondence is a reflection of the time and attention you give your work.

So, use that crazy new-fangled invention called spellcheck on every single email that leaves your outbox. It may not catch every mistake, but at least I won’t be getting notes that “thnak” me for my time.

Wow, my very first blog post — this is pretty intimidating! I guess I could start with giving you an idea of what to expect as a reader of this blog.

I decided to start a blog partially because I had people asking me why I don’t have a blog. I guess I tend to have a big, fat mouth and enjoy spouting off about everything from the best way a small business can use social media to how freaking great Being Human was this week. Since everyone and their mother has a blog (literally, there are a ton of mommy bloggers out there!), I figured why not join in? The worst thing that can happen is absolutely nobody cares about anything I say and nobody bothers reading this. Honestly, just having the freedom to write about anything I want is so liberating it’s almost crippling.