The US Dollar tumbled. The value of national currencies changes everyday. Geo-arbitrage allows us to take advantage of disparities between global currencies.
What’s the currency on the web? How much are you worth? The higher up you’re on Google, Technorati, and similar services, the more valuable you are. How do you rank higher? You get link-backs, use strong keywords, provide solid content. As with any currency, some of these things have higher denominations. A link-back on CNN is more valuable than posting your URL in an obscure forum.
Social bookmarking has a related yet distinct currency. How do you become an asset on Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon?
I use Facebook and detest mySpace, but admit your currency on the latter holds more weight. Quality of your music is the highest measure of your worth, followed shortly by your number of friends. On Facebook, it’s primarily your number of friends, which is inflated by Facebook whores (”I will “friend” every person I ever met. And their mothers.”) Afterwards, your profile and your photos communicate your value - both also easily inflated.
Couchsurfing tweaks the concept of “friends.” Suddenly, they are a vital currency - without them, it’s difficult to use the system. Why? More effort is placed on evaluating each individual friend, and you are held accountable for whom you’re friends with:
How did you meet?
How long have you known them?
How well do you know the person, and in what capacity?
Would you recommend this person’s couch/or as a couchsurfer?
Are you willing to vouch for this couchsurfer?
What’s the most valuable currency out there?
Honesty.
Honesty is valuable for two reasons: one, it’s (unfortunately) becoming a rarer and rarer commodity. Like most commodities, the shorter the supply, the higher the value. Two, you can really only deposit into your account. A single withdrawal, they close your account - sometimes for forever.
Honesty might not win over a lot of “friends.” In fact, your honesty might cause a lot of people not to like you. But at least they’ll have a clear picture why they don’t like you.
“I think with a lot of Asian restaurants, there’s a communication barrier, so it’s impossible to get the high level of service you want… A lot of Americans, going into an Asian restaurant, would be intimidated by the fact they don’t know anything.”
I’d like to see more authentic Asian- and Asian-fusion restaurants succeed on a broader scale - not just one store with it’s regulars on a Friday or Saturday night. I’m talking about several unified storefronts, operating under an umbrella of standards. It could be done, I’m sure, if we remembered the maxim above.
Chinese food has saturated the market, and Japanese food is poised to do the same. But Korean food (especially Korean BBQ) is becoming more popular, and there’s room to grow.
Thai, Malaysian, Indian, Afghan - all these cuisines, if coupled with a few changes to cater to American palettes, a high level of service and desire to communicate and educate - why shouldn’t they do well?
I saw the movie, Taken, for the first time when I was in Argentina.
There was exactly one solid character in the movie - Liam Neeson’s. Everyone else was weak - especially the women. There were zero strong women characters.
The writing was awful, the dialogue cringe-worthy.
Very few details added up as Neeson gallivanted across France, destroying property and killing a score of bad guys, all in an effort to save his daughter from a life of sex slavery.
I recently watched the movie for the second time - and enjoyed it as much as I did in Argentina, despite all the things it didn’t have going for it.
The reason? Taken never promised insightful dialogue, or a sequence of events that followed the general rules of logic and common sense. It never promised to be an Oscar-contender.
It promised action, fight sequences, and a story of vengeance. And it delivered on all three - at a fast pace.
Waiting on the Fulbright drove me slightly insane.
I still don’t have an answer.
I started checking e-mail twice-a-day again, something I haven’t done since I left for Argentina. Futilely hoping word would come from Beijing that I’d been granted the scholarship, that I was off to China next fall.
It got to the point where I was so anxious and pissed about not knowing, I couldn’t focus on my current projects. That’s when it was time to re-evaluate:
What does earning a Fulbright Scholarship change about me as a person? Would it alter my core values and beliefs about me or those around me?
Would being a Fulbright Scholar prove I’m a better person than the next guy? That I have more character, or that I’m more successful?
If I’m awarded a Fulbright, it means one thing: I played the game, this one single instance of the game, better than another person. The result is I get an opportunity someone else does not get. Nothing more, nothing less.
What does getting that acceptance letter, that promotion, that raise, mean to you besides an opportunity? Is it a single stepping stone along the path, or is it the destination? Is it validation for your hard work, your sacrifice, your personality?
Why should it carry so much weight?
I want the Fulbright - I really do. If I don’t get it, I’d be disappointed.
But regardless - what’s the difference?
A single opportunity, in a lifetime of opportunities.
“I’m trying to break away from the concept of an album. What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs?” will.i.am, frontman for Black Eyed Peas, said in an interview with Billboard.com. “That’s not an album. There is no album anymore.”
Hence, BEP’s latest project, The E.N.D - The Energy Never Dies - takes on a new form. He describes it as a “diary… of music that at any given time, depending on the inspiration, you can add to it.”
I don’t understand the logistics of such a project, or how he plans on pulling it off. Maybe it’s the revolution of a new era in music, or something we’ll forget when Jennifer Aniston finds her newest beau.
Regardless, the way people consume and distribute music has changed. Rather than hold on to the old model (big record labels, buying whole albums, radio stations dictating which artists develop cult followings, etc.) will.i.am is exploring new methods to please his fans and run his business.
Music is one of many industries undergoing huge overhauls: publishing, banking, real estate, automotive, etc. In each of these industries, there are people desperately clasped to the old model, simply because “that’s how we’ve always done it, and that’s how we’ll continue to do it.”
If I had youtube videos when I was 8, I’m convinced I’d be a great soccer player. Or at least, better than the sub-par player I am today.
I’d watch those videos, accessible at anytime of day, over and over again. Then I’d go outside and copy his moves. I’d practice them, knowing that’s what I needed to reach his skill level. Following Ronaldo’s shining example, I’d be motivated to do more, to become more.
Of course, I can say the same thing about the dozen other skill sets out there I want to acquire. Skill sets I know are vital to become an entrepreneur in today’s world. How to design a wordpress theme, for example. How to code a website, create a style sheet. In the self-publishing world, I could learn page layout and cover design. As I mentioned before, all the information is out there.
Put in the time, and there’s no reason not to rise to the top of your field. Follow the examples. Imitate. Innovate. Improve.
1. The worker who does whatever you ask. You see her not doing anything, ask her to stock this item or wipe that counter, and she’ll get it done. She’ll do it with a smile, and afterwards, she’ll be happy she contributed to the team.
2. The worker who does without asking. You may not find yourself asking a lot from this worker, but it’s because they take the initiative themselves. They don’t like being told what to do, so they go out their way to make sure no one has to. Work is simple: they see it, they do it.
3. This worker recognizes Workers 1 and 2, and knows how to successfully work with them both. She offers encouragement and direction to the first worker, because that’s what they need. She offers support to the second worker, who will inevitably take on more than they can handle. That is what they need. She is able to bring the best out of her team.
“Some players you pat on the back, some players you kick in the ass. And some players you leave alone.”
Substitute “marines” or “navy” or any of the armed forces for the word “army.” The fact doesn’t change: these recruiters are the world’s greatest salesmen.
Army recruiters learn sales techniques to recruit young men and women into the armed forces.
Call it what you want. Advertisements, incentives, outreach efforts, etc. They learn to target specific audiences. They learn to push the rewards: scholarships, pensions, patriotism. They learn to downplay the downsides or bad press surrounding the armed forces, and war, and politics.
They are our greatest salesmen for none of these reasons.
They are the greatest because they have put their money where their mouth is. They might not believe all the rhetoric (who ever does?) But they believe it enough to ask you to serve your country, perhaps even die for your country.
This upsets some people. Which makes sense.
“What gives you the right?” someone might ask. “What gives you the right to ask my son/daughter/brother/sister to serve this country?”
You’ll get a variety of answers: from closed-minded, conservative right wingers and fake-liberal politicians, and again, who can believe all the rhetoric?
But you’ll probably never hear this: the army recruiter who’s looking for your son or daughter has earned that right. Because they enlisted, and put themselves at the same risk, they’ll ask others to do the same.
They believe what they’re selling - an attribute shared by the all the world’s best salesmen.
But where does price differentiation ultimately take you?
Take (Americanized) Chinese food as a case study.
When Chinese restaurants competed, they competed primarily through price differentiation. This differentiation was (is) simply the Chinese mentality:
If I offer the same food at a lower price, I will be more successful.
If I stay open later, and work harder, I will be more successful.
If my food is good, people will hear about it. I don’t need to advertise, or invest in amenities. I can be successful without that.
Unfortunately, when everyone shared this mindset, the constant undercutting led to rock-bottom prices for Chinese food. To maintain profitability, the restaurants skimped in others aspects of the dining experience. The food, service, and amenities (atmosphere, napkins, plates, etc.) all suffered.
What’s your perception of Americanized Chinese food today? A cheap dining alternative, of mediocre quality.
Is this profitable in the long-run?
What happens if, instead, you differentiate yourself through the quality of the food, service, and amenities?
Instead of a Golden Dragon Express, you get a P.F. Chang’s.