A new look for ignite living and plans for the future

| Published 23 August, 2010 | 7 Comments

Based on some of the things I’ve got planned for the near future, I’ve decided to change up the look of Ignite Living a bit. The new design is more of a spit polish than an entire overhaul, ‘cause who’s got time for redesigning their own site, right?

It might interest you to know the conversation I had with myself and what inspired the new design, so here goes:

One upon a time I woke up and was surfing around the site. As I’m looking around it dawned on me that IgniteLiving is a bit…pale. There’s not much of an “ignite” feel going on here, is there? No…this is about as ignited as a pad of college-rule paper in the backpack of some kid who just got a swirly. (That’s the old Bully-Puts-Your-Head-in-the-Toilet gag, for you non-Americans.)

And what’s with that logo? Was that stolen from a cabbage farmer in the early 1800’s? We definitely need to give that a more Web 2.0 feel, maybe add some shine and dimension.

Wait…ahem…isn’t Web 2.0 over? (Quick search of Google.)

Yes, it appears Web 2.0 is over. Okay. So I guess we do the new logo with Web 3.0 style! Yay! (Crowd goes wild!)

Wait…what’s Web 3.0? (Quick search of Google.)

Shit…I don’t know what Web 3.0 is. Hey, here’s an idea! Let’s do Web 2.0 instead! (Crowd silently munches its popcorn.)

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Posted in The Lighter Side | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

My year making a living as an artist

| Published 5 May, 2010 | 8 Comments

Yeah, I know. I disappeared. Again. I tend to do that from time to time, as Ye Olde Readers surely know by now.

Where have I been this time? Traveling the world? Slaying dragons in the Far East? Racing fast cars in Europe? Nope, mostly I’ve been here in Seattle, working hard at my web design business. That’s not an excuse, I know. There are a lot of people who have jobs AND keep up a blog. I clearly am not one of them. At least not since last August. Here’s why:

Short version: I wanted to make six-figures.

Longer version (get comfy):

My last post was August 5th. That date is my mother’s birthday, and in the midst of our celebrations, she said, “Hey…didn’t you start your business a year ago?”

Mom was right. She shares a birthday with Charfish, my design biz.

And I went, “Huh. Yeah. I’ve been fully self-employed for a year. I didn’t even starve to death.”

And that was that. I didn’t give it another thought for a couple days ’til I was on my way back home from the parents’ place.

The drive back from Mom and Dad’s is five hours, and I love it. I do all my best thinking in the car with the stereo cranked up somewhere between 11 and infinity.

On this particular drive, I started thinking about my job as a self-employed designer. And as I drove I became more and more surprised.

When I’d dropped out of corporate America a year earlier, these were stone-cold certainties to me:

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Posted in The Lighter Side | 8 Comments

The Problem with Facebook

| Published 5 August, 2009 | 3 Comments

TastyInternet
Okay, well, apparently every month or so I get a wild hair and decide I’m going to offend 99% of the world’s population. Last time, I went on a tear about productivity blogs. This time my foe has grown. Welcome, in the red corner, weighing in at one berzillion pounds, the undefeated Facebook.

Ding! Round 1

I’m starting off the round with a pretty wicked feint. I have to admit I actually think Facebook is pretty amazing. I mean, you can leave messages for your friends, chat with them, find someone to have sex with, send people fake beers, play fake cards, check your fake horoscope and about 80 zillion other mostly not-real things.

Not to mention, you can’t really go complaining too much about something that is just an application. Until it’s put to use, it’s just an inert thing. Like a chainsaw, which is just sort of ho-hum until you saw someone off at the ankles. At which point your family picnic becomes a whole different type of awesome.

So the problem with Facebook is with the people who use Facebook. For everything. All the time.

Instead of living.

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Posted in Happy Living | 3 Comments

Why people are unfollowing you on twitter

| Published 21 July, 2009 | 3 Comments

In which Charlie reveals why people might be dropping you from their Twitter lists like you’re a poisonous puffer fish coated in hot lava and rabid Saint Bernard slobber.

twitter

I‘m sure there are an infinite number of reasons why people might choose to drop you from their Twitter lists. I’m sure someone, sometime, with no thought about it, will drop you simply because they had a funky bagel for breakfast. That said, it’s fairly likely that two main overriding rules are the essence of any unfollow. If you’re the impatient type, stick with these bolded statements and call it a day. Then go make me some cookies1:

Remember why people are listening to you and then give them something they want to hear.

Each little tweet takes up a tiny bit of time and is, in essence, a brief interruption. Use that time wisely.

Those are fairly broad and general ideas, so I’m gonna break them down into a few specifics that will make you go, “Hmm,” “Ahhh,” and stroke your chin wisely.

A commonsense guide to using Twitter

The basics are already covered

earthEvery single person on this planet eats, drinks, sleeps and uses the bathroom. Unless it’s really news, it probably isn’t really news.

If you just ate a real live pterodactyl or passed a fire hydrant through your digestive tract, by all means report it to the masses. If not, consider the newsworthiness of such circadian items before letting us all know.

Nothing disastrous about sharing personal things, but minimize it where you can. Give us the goods!

Who does it right? @sushiday. Awesome Twitter user and blogger. She transforms food into something I really care about, regardless of the medium. And that’s saying a lot for a guy who rarely remembers he needs to eat at all.

Don’t JUST be a reTweeter

If people are following you, it’s because they want to hear what you think. I’m all for supporting my friends and reTweeting when something awesome comes down the interwebs, and I’m not saying it should always be about you. Part of the magic about Twitter is how reTweets can turn something awesome into something awesomely viral in a nano-second.

But it sort of needs to be awesome first. “Bread belongs on sandwiches,” isn’t really worth the reTweet.

So reTweet the awesome stuff or come up with original Tweets of your own.

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Posted in Business Essentials, The Lighter Side | 3 Comments

How to network without feeling like a dirty scumbag

| Published 14 July, 2009 | 4 Comments

dirtySalesmanNetworking makes a lot of people feel dirty and arrogant. That’s because most people network like they are dirty and arrogant.

Which isn’t to say you actually are dirty and arrogant, but rather that your technique could use some polishing. Or maybe you really are dirty and arrogant. In which case using great marketing techniques won’t really work because then you’ll just look like a dirty arrogant person who has tricks up his sleeve, thereby making you dirty, arrogant and devious.

See, old-school networking (the kind we’re used to) is all about “me.” You know what I mean because you’ve been there. Might have been at a high-school reunion, or after a business meeting with colleagues or after some big-time finance seminar. Some dude with a nice suit and disgustingly perfect hairdo came up to you and let you know all about how awesome he was:

“I’m a marketer for a multi-national company. I win awards for the work I do. I’ve been thinking of moving on and starting my third billion-dollar company, but frankly my firm couldn’t get along without me. Oh…and I can eat an entire poppy seed muffin and not a single seed gets stuck in my teeth. That’s how slick and awesome I am.”

Or the used-car salesman attitude: “I’m the best salesman in the area. I got a plaque last year. Yeah, and check out my tie. I won it. It was made from the skin of a rare bird that is now extinct. Thirteen children died while stitching this tie together, but, you know, it’s cool because I get it dry-cleaned.”

This isn’t networking. This is acting like a human resume and hoping for the best.

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Posted in Making money | 4 Comments