Paint your canvass with Social Media

It never fails to amaze me that, just when I come in to some form of intellectual understanding of something huge--something pretty darn kick "A", something to share with others on business or on self improvement--somebody writes a book and publishes it and calls it something really cool and then sells a ton of books. One said important book would be, Crush It, by Gary Vaynerchuk. Do it now, buy it. The dude hits it. And I have not even read it. Confused?

And let me remind you in bold print that it was Malcolm Gladwell who spoke recently about his new book, What the Dog Saw--that the prodigy is not to be the only astounding fetish of our community, but the late bloomer, often condescended upon, who can certainly achieve great things and hold a mystery equal or better to that of the prodigy.

I think I am one of those dudes and am going out on a limb in the spirit and tradition of "The Ralph Account". I suppose I am playing the part of the older guy, not Picasso, but Cezanne, the dude that pretty much kicked ass and started painting later in life and clearly went down in history as one of the best impressionists ever. Picasso, a talent from birth, Cezanne, a late bloomer.

You see, I don't have the patience to read Crush It. I am till suffering from whatever learning disability that I inherited, that which is likely part of my DNA, according to some other book that I skimmed over while researching this piece. Maybe it was Crush It? Regardless, I am convinced that my disability has been a gift and, as soon as I figured out how to fund the space left empty from conventional education attempts from the 60's and 70's, I was on my way to doing great things. I was in my late thirties when I figured it out. Gladwell thinks this is worthy of writing about and that it makes perfect sense. He analyzes things like this in his new book. I will be downloading for my IPOD,"What the Dog Saw", along with the others--to confirm my being on the right track.

But I do have to chime in here on my own accord: I have been speaking and writing about this for years. My first social media marketing endeavor began in 1996 after signing up for an AOL account and using the name Pfoodman as my login. 15 years later, and at the ripe ole age of 48, it is the name of my holding company, a multi--unit restaurant business uniquely positioned in several markets. We have 8 corresponding brands in cascading emergence and have significant growth planned for the next ten years. We have duplicated the Pfoodman brand, churning away each day in the spirit of the original core values. We plan to grow the business to 100 million Dollars. Why the heck not? PLEASE----Somebody recommend a "Raising the right kind of capital in a shitty capital market" book, pronto. This we will all need.

So my personal brand was/is Pfoodman and it is rich with images of who I am, the images that I have painted on my own canvas for lack of any other method of emergence, the way I saw things if I would ever have a shot at it. This is where it starts, by the way, start with an empty canvas (inventory) and a virtual (spiritual) paint brush. Paint a virtual image of what it looks like in your world, in your life, when things are good, perfect, the best. You may be surprised at the clarity, the vision. When you get to the detail work and things look pretty clear as to all the benifits, look into the eyes of the person, study the image, evaluate differences, the contrasts of the physical, mental and spiritual streanth . It will be pretty obvious where to start if you get the right perspective. Then let it rip. Paint who you are and be who you become!

I started a new canvass recently. I suppose music is going to be part of my brand as we seek to develop a new music venue concept with our house band, The Brown Dog Blues Band. I am gonna use the same technique, authenticity and social media. But I actually have to play, perform well, be on key, not screw up, get along with the others. And it ain't easy. I have to show everyone who I am, what I do and get feedback. two way communication unique to social marketing. My guess is that I will get the same results with "Jimmyleg as Pfoodman". So pay attention if you find this sort of thing interesting and join me at Lone Wolf Coffee Company each Wednesday for some blues. 2 buck Schlafly, word.

I downloaded Crush It a couple minutes ago and am going to sleep to it for the sake of good commentary. If this piece sounds egotistical. It is supposed to be. It is part of the deal, personal branding means putting it out there, being authentic.