What caught me at first was the brightness of her room. It’s pink on steroids. I, personally, couldn’t stand looking at that every day but I also realized how that color would not do well where I live. In the summer it would be fine but during fall and winter it wouldn’t look bright. It would have a dingy look to it (if one opened their windows). Artificial light would be needed to ensure the walls did not look dingy.

The second thing that fascinated me is that she seems genuinely happy…like she is a sweet girl. Then somewhere along the way I realized what “really” fascinated me.

She doesn’t have a website.

Note how many followers she has on YouTube. Can you imagine the interactions she could have if she had her own site? She has a contact email for business related emails so it isn’t as though she hasn’t thought of business opportunities. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t receive tons of makeup samples. She’s probably interacting with people of all ages. Males will love her because she’s a cutie and women of all ages wear makeup. She even has a healthy following on Twitter.

But what really impresses me is that she handles herself with more maturity than many adults I know. She’s still having fun but she’s taking care of business. Getting good grades in school. Keeping her room clean. Handling her responsibilities. Making a VERY nice name for herself online…her parents should be proud.

Kudos to Blair. I hope she’ll be an inspiration to some to get off your butt and do something fun! Your passion to do something fun will show and, as you can see in Blair’s case, many times can turn into business opportunities.

Let’s just say I’m very confused.

The WCG Website

The site design/layout is confusing but more important; the content is outdated or incomplete. As of this writing the WCG Ultimate Gamer news has not been updated since episode three (tonight episode five airs). Then there is another site (WCG 2009) that is broken now (perhaps a new launch?). Back to the main WCG site; the JavaScript navigation links at the top are not working. Even more perplexing are news selections like this one:

Qualify soon for WCG Team USA 2009

As of this writing, that is all it says. Is it known how to do this and I’m clueless or is important information missing?

The WCG suffers from a common trend many site developers fall into: over-complicating things. I’m not a designer but, for example, why are the navigation links JavaScript? Those links are not working for me right now and from a usability standpoint there is not a backup (using regular HTML links) for those who have scripts turned off for security reasons (mods for FireFox like NoScript have it off my default). Today in WCG has the most current link dated Feb.25th but on the splash at the top they announced they launched a new US site.

In essence, the site does not blend together at all due to over-complication. The content is not displayed in optimal methods for the end-user.

WCG YouTube Profile

The WCG YouTube page has a lot of interesting and entertaining videos. The problem is: you most likely do not realize it is there. The profile seems to be lost in time. For example, when you go to the profile page the first video you see is the trailer. Not the current episode. Not a highlight from what is currently going on in the show. Instead, they have the trailer, that is three months old, as the first thing you see when you go to their profile page.

The second thing is just weird. New content is published with old dates. I subscribe via RSS so I can see the dates when new videos are released. Let me give you an example. Joel has a series of videos where he talks about what happens each week. I love these videos and found them by accident. They are my favorites, seriously. The problem: They have the date of the March 16th. For example, Joel Talks Isolation – Episode 4 of WCG Ultimate Gamer was released yesterday…that is when appeared in my RSS feed. However, look at the date. March 16, 2009. Look at the pageviews: 21. That’s because no one realizes it is there because it has an old date on it. Logically, we know they did not release the video on the 16th because it would have been on YouTube before the episode aired. SWooZie Calls Home – Episode 4 of WCG Ultimate Gamer has the date of Mar 19th, again a date before the episode aired. Then there are new videos like Guitar Hero Metallica Solo Montage Part 2 with the description:

Yeah these are somewhat hard and somewhat fun I just got bored

Don’t ask me who is playing. I have no clue. Yes, there is a bunch of text at the end and I admit I might have zoned out with all the jokes…but I can’t say “X made this video” or “Wow, X has some serious skills”. What’s the point in making a video like that and no one knows who you are?

What’s the point in publishing new content with old dates?

Consistency Please…

WCG has a lot of information that needs displaying in a fluid form. It is common to add JavaScript, Flash, Ajax, etc. to a site and the implement isn’t optimal. In the end users want to quickly and efficiently receive information. Even if I subscribe to the site via RSS the content still doesn’t match. Look at the News page. As of when I am writing this the current entry is dated Apr. 2nd, about Blizzard’s April Fool’s Day. Now look at the RSS feed for that section. The latest entry is March 31st.

It doesn’t have to be this difficult. I hope they fix things soon because I really wish them the best of luck.

The US Commerce Department delivered the semi-shocking news that total retail sales for January rose 1 percent, defying a six-month decline in growth and marking the biggest overall retail gains in 14 months. Of course, that percentage climb paled in comparison to the US gaming industry. Reporting on US software, hardware, and accessory sales today, the NPD Group revealed that industry revenues stood at $1.33 billion for January, a 13 percent climb from a year prior.

Considering that people are purchasing games it is not surprising that GameStop, a game retailer, is doing very well.

For the 12 months ended January 31, 2009, GameStop racked up a company-best of $8.8 billion in sales, up more than 24 percent from the year before. Profits were also up, as the retailer reported more than $398 million in net earnings, an increase of more than 38 percent year-over-year.

That doesn’t make sense does it? People are losing their homes and jobs in record numbers yet people are spending money on games. How can that be? Diversification is GameStop’s savior.

Learn to Read the Small Print

If you read the article on GameStop’s profit there is one part that should have stood out, since it explains everything.

Regardless of new game sales, it’s the used game business that produces the most money for GameStop. While used games represented just 23 percent of the retailer’s sales in 2008, they accounted for nearly 43 percent of its gross profit.

GameStop’s used games sales represented 23% of the retailer’s sales but 43% of their gross profit. Time for a business lesson.

Gross Profit = Sales – Cost of Goods Sold

In plain English, gross profit equals sales minus costs directly related to sales. The used game sales buffed their gross profit because they have few costs associated with them versus new games and consoles that need to be advertised and marketed. As people are pinched pennies they exchanged their old games for new games or purchased old games instead of new games. People exchanging their games builds GameStop’s inventory and there is a demand by gamers for games, even used ones.

The beauty of this: as a gamer, if I want to get rid of an old game, GameStop is the place to go. GameStop has a lock down on used game sales that other retailers wished they had.

The Lesson for You

If you are in business, if you can, diversify your offerings but not at the cost of losing quality on current offerings. In other words, do not stretch yourself too thin. GameStop compliments their offerings, without extensively increasing expenses, by selling used games. How could this work online?

One of the common mistakes I see – people and companies are too reliant on third party sites. If all your traffic depends on third party sites you are in trouble. Instead, start your own site and have your site be a portal to the third party sites. Perez Hilton is a good example. His site is the portal then he sends traffic to other sites (Twitter, YouTube, etc.). When Twitter goes down his site still performs as normal. If Facebook changes their homepage his site is not dependent on that traffic. However, he can interact with Facebook users and send traffic to his Facebook profile or fan page. Perhaps make new friends which will come back to his web site, where the meat of his content lies.

However, if maintaining profiles on social sites is too time consuming, do not spend too much time over there. Instead, use the power you have worked hard for on your site to send traffic to members on those third party sites. That will make them happy, most likely draw more people to the profiles and to your site to see who you give props to next.

Depending on the goals you are trying to achieve, there are ways to strengthen your foundation. Think about what GameStop is doing. New consoles and games are not making them as profitable as they are; it is the used game sales that is making them profitable right now.

Swoozie finished a set of videos based on his experience with Sims Online. In Part 1 he explains how he got into the game and how he met a “friend”, the girl was popular, and to make a long story short, she moved in with him (in game), leaving her “husband” in a very cold manner (a Dr. John letter). In Part 2 Swoozie explains how things got old as they settled into a married couple type life style and how having “fun” again in the game backfired royally. I highly recommend looking at the videos. They are awesome and Part 2 will definitely make you laugh. If you want to subscribe to the RSS feed for YouTube here is the feed.

With social media (Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) it is very easy to meet new people online. Games (computer and consoles) makes it even easier. I’ve said many times the internet is like a shield for a person to act like a fool do something they wouldn’t do face to face. I keep it real – I’m the same way online and off. I don’t say anything behind a person’s back I haven’t said to them personally (unless I don’t talk to them of course) but if I do communicate I’m not going to smile in their face and stab them in the back talk about them behind their back.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of taking for granted the people we interact with online because the consequence of them reacting to it face to face isn’t there. Let’s step back a minute and talk about this.

In Swoozie’s video the lady he encountered was married to the mayor in the game. Swoozie spent a considerable amount of time with the girl before she asked to move in with him and Swoozie had no idea she was married. Where was the mayor? Why wasn’t he spending time with his “wife”? If he was handling his business in game she wouldn’t have been able to spend as much time with Swoozie as she did. When she “divorced” the mayor she had no problem writing him a Dr. John letter and moving in with a guy she’d know a week or so. When Swoozie “cheated” on the girl he kept saying, “It’s just a game” but instinctively he knew what he was doing was “wrong” because he took measures to mask his actions. That said, I don’t believe if Swoozie had “real” interactions with her he would have made the same choices….and that’s the crux of this article.

It’s so easy….

Online we create friendships easily and learn a lot about people. In Facebook every day I get the opportunity to share in the lives of complete strangers. When they get new partners, break up, get married, have kids, get fired I see their updates, almost as they unfold. It is very easy to feel as if you know someone, without ever talking to them or meeting them, because you know so much about them. And because of this, people enter into partnerships, friendships, relationships, etc. with people online because, let’s be honest, the internet is a wonderful networking tool.

How often do those different type of relationships actually work out? How long before one someone starts taking the other for granted? In a relationship presenting oneself different than he/she really is? In business not doing their share of the work? In friendships not acting like a friend? The trust and mutual respect become broken and the “relationship” falls apart. You’ll no longer be Facebook friends, talk on instant messenger, email each other – it dissolves into nothingness. So easy to move on to the next person….

Lessons learned…

One thing I’d bet Swoozie learned from his Sims Online experience is the fragility of online interactions. If you watch his videos you’ll see he seems to truly appreciate his audience. He doesn’t do the glib “I love you guys!” alone…his actions back up his words. He responds to comments. He lives the life he talks about in his videos. But most important, he makes an effort to release his videos on time. He doesn’t throw a video together, you can see the editing and thought that goes into his videos. The words and the actions match. When you interact with people online, that is what you want to look for. Consistent words = actions behavior.

Ok Tyme, what’s your point girl?

People treat you with exactly how they feel, regardless of what they say. Most times there are cues that show their “real” side that we often ignore. The fact that the girl was willing to leave her “husband” for a stranger (and write him a Dr. John letter) was a sign “flighty”. Asking to move in points to her being clingy. Putting 200K in the tip jar and redoing Swoozie’s house showed she was too attached (playing the wife role). Swoozie was suffering from…

“What you believe determines how you behave…” ~ Swoozie 8/21/07

It is very easy to make oneself appear to be one way when he/she is really the opposite. How do you know what to believe? It is equally as easy to ignore the signs knocking you upside your head. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in how “cool” someone appears to be. Take a good look at their actions instead. Here is another example: Swoozie talks about this in this video:

Make sure you watch the first one (the lies start 4 minutes in) so you know the three lies he tells. Can you tell which one is the lie and which two are the truth? I guessed right but I don’t want to spoil it. I’ll share why reasoning in comments. If you believe a person is cool, regardless of how the person behaves, you’ll treat the person like he/she is cool, ignoring the “bad” behavior (not that the person is getting away with anything because the bad behavior will catch up with them eventually).

Always remember…there is a consequence for every action we take. Don’t assume someone will always be there and take them for granted. Don’t always believe what you are told. Be cautious when the actions don’t match the words.

Look at things realistically…how things are…not how you’d like them to be when you interact with strangers online.

One last thing…

Below is a picture taken from a video response I was going to send to Swoozie to one of his videos. I opted not to send it because I kept looking bugged out. Say goodbye to the light hair. Next week I’m darkening it up. When I went outside the other day, the sun shined on my hair, bounced off the snow, and I lit up the block.

What about social media? Well, the same principles apply. For every decision there is a consequence. In social media it would be a disaster if there were no consequences. Someone that talks a lot about the consequences of start ups is Mike Arrington. This week he talked about the Facebook Burger King campaign drama. Burger King was giving out free sandwiches to Facebook users who dumped 10 friends – and the friends were notified they were being dumped, which goes against Facebook’s policy. Arrington said:

Facebook consistently tell users they can’t do things in the name of privacy, despite the fact that those users know full well what they are up to.

Now let’s go back a minute to what I said about actions having consequences. Burger King was the one who initiated the action of going against Facebook’s policies. If you don’t like the rules don’t play the game. In other words, don’t use Facebook. It’s really that simple. Since Burger King decided to ignore the rules Burger King should be willing to take the consequence – close the application until the friend notification part complies with Facebook’s rules.

If Facebook allowed Burger King to circumvent the rules, what is to stop other application developers from doing the same? One of the “promises” for Facebook users is that the friend will not be notified if he/she is removed. That’s a two way street. The person removing is free to remove people without the ex-friend being notified of the removal. The person being removed will never open their inbox and have that potential humiliating feeling that their “friend” removed them.

It’s a two-sided promise.

But I guess the receiver doesn’t matter, huh Arrington? No, of course not! Only the person sending the notice matters! Yes, that is sarcasm because it is nonsense.

People were willing to dump “friends” (most likely people they don’t know, don’t really care about but accepted to be nice but who knows?) for a sandwich. Self-pleasure for the win, right? As Swoozie’s video points out, every action has a consequence.

It would poetic justice (karma) if someone who dumped a friend ended up having to go for a job interview and the person they dumped as their friend makes the hiring decision. Or he/she falls in love and the best friend of the person he/she fell in love with is the person they dumped for a sandwich.

Because odds are, the person who dumped the friend (depending on the depth of the friendship) will forget who they dumped. The person dumped however, due to the way it happened, might not ever forget.

And up comes that forgotten consequence….

Feels like I’m leaving something behind
Can’t think straight, something’s on my mind
Can’t pay attention, ‘cuz I’m all so broke
Can’t find the words, ‘cuz they all been spoke
The answer’s gonna be right in my face
What I gotta do to fill this empty space?

I imagine a lot of people feel that way. I know I have in my life. I knew something was wrong and I couldn’t figure out what was missing. I found that during times like that I knew the answer and I didn’t want to face it. I didn’t want to accept it. Situations like that are “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situations. One can’t continue to go around feeling that way and if one stops avoiding the reality of the situation the person is running from the inevitable pain, anger, drama, (insert emotion here) comes…the very emotion(s) the person was trying to avoid in the first place.

Since one is going to feel miserable-ish anyway, it’s better to look the reality in the face than avoid it. At least for me. Easy to type, not quite as easy to do.

In life we all have to pay the price for the choices we make. We do end up owning our actions one way or another whether it be how we allow ourselves to be treated or how we treat others. Be lazy and not achieve the goals you know need to be made the day will come when you will wish you weren’t so lazy. Take advantage of the good people in your life the day will come when you’ll wish you appreciated those people. Miss an opportunity and one day you’ll wish you struck while the iron was hot.

Yesterday I found out that my guild disbanded sometime during the day. The name of my guild was Hell. I was told the guild master kept having dreams about Satan tormenting him for creating a guild named Hell. In the dream God told him he would be punished for siding with Satan. He became sick yesterday, freaked out and disbanded the guild. It sounds stupid but I think I understand his fear.

His karma isn’t good enough for him to push his luck.

Obviously something “else” is igging the guild master and he’s trying to make up for it. Problem is, a guild named Hell isn’t what is igging him and disbanding the guild won’t right whatever wrongs he has done. He’ll have to look at reality, the reality he’s avoiding, to find his answers. However, this is a good example of how one can make “interesting” (didn’t want to say “bad”) decisions when their minds aren’t right.

The Craft of War: BLIND.

The person that made this video was bored and decided to do something creative with his time. He made, hands down, the best fight scene in the World of Warcraft community. Everyone agrees, there isn’t a better fight scene than this. I don’t know how long it took for him to make this but he went from no one to someone in the WoW community the moment this was released – overnight.

I want to share another movie with you. It’s Wayne Sutton dancing as a kid mimicking MC Hammer. I’d embed it but he has that turned off. It’s epic. MC Hammer even commented on Wayne’s site. It’s epic because it shows a side of Wayne that doesn’t come out in social media. A side people can relate to even if they aren’t into social media. Everyone has a moment where they mimicked their favorite entertainer. Mine was Janet Jackson.

The third video I’m sharing is from Swoozie…telling a story about prom night and how he almost lost his virginity:

Common responses? People love the cartoons he made to enhance the story.

Why am I sharing these videos? Because each of these videos, in their own way, drew an emotion from the viewer. From “Wow, this is awesome” to “Go Hammer! Go Hammer!” to memories of their prom night. Three unique styles in creating content that viewers can relate to. There are many other ways to create interesting content.

Explore them.

One of his employees, who he is friendly with, needed work done on a floor in the house. The employer knew a friend that could help and keep it cost effective. Long story short, the employer and the floor repair person went to the employee’s house to fix the floor. The employer introduced the floor repair person to the employee, and the floor repair person was showed the problem, finances were discussed and the work started being done. The employee was cooking and went to attend to pots on the stove while the employer and the repair person dealt with the floor.

Eventually the employee went back to the room where the work was being done and it was empty. Looking around the employee found them in the living room laughing at YouTube videos. Scarlett Takes a Tumble is kinda funny, you know (and she’s a GREAT sport about it)? Going a long with it for a minute the employee laughed but wanted the floor fixed and tried to subtly remind the repair person to get back to work.

In which the employer said something like, “Oh, you mean like you surf the internet and talk on the phone using company equipment on company time?”

Ouch! But you have to admit – BOOYAH!!!

I always suggest this type of scenario (if they can set it up) because it is 100% effective. Never had an employee yet say the person they hired to come to their house (or someone misusing their stuff) should actually be using their computer. It doesn’t happen, yet they are the first to tell the person to go back to work. When my client mentioned he was going to the employee’s house I said “Do it!”. Use the computer, watch TV, talk on the phone…do the same thing and see what happens.

Because seriously, when employees do that SOMEONE pays for the loss of time and resources. It’s not free. Bank of America is laying of 30K-35K employees over the next three years. I laughed when I saw that. I feel bad but BoA was lax. I know of employees who spoke on the phone (long distance by the minute charges) for hours a day. And in one case it took at least two years for them to catch up with it. How do I know? Because that is how long it took for them to call my house and question why my number was on their phone bill. Very surprised my number was residential.

If you’re one that wouldn’t be cool with the repair person watching TV on your time, perhaps you shouldn’t being using your employer’s resources. Sure, everyone needs a break but don’t abuse it.

Just like every vote counts, each case of abuse adds up.

Have you ever been in the VIP room
Of your favorite street club (club-club)
And you got a shawty on you
Kissing on your neck
Making you feel like she so in love (love-love)
Now you done grabbed you a couple a drinks
And you feeling like it’s about time to cuddle up (up-up)
And you said shawty what’s really up
And she takes big sip out yo cup
And she said it’ll be 60 bucks

In a situation like that it is obvious you’ve been played. Common reaction is “Ah, hell naw, WTF?” or something like that. Most wouldn’t put up with it or if they do they don’t mind shelling out $60 for um, yeah…..

Listening to the song it dawned on me how many people get “chopped and screwed” and put up with it. Let’s look at some examples:

• Boss says you are going to get a raise but you never get it.
• Guy/girl says he/she is going to change but never do.
• No matter how many times you tell your friend you hate it when he/she is late, they consistently show up late.
• Guy/girl says he/she is going to call. Never does.
• Even though you are on time for your appointment X always takes you late, putting someone ahead of you.
• Company makes a phone cheap but the plan to use the phone makes it the most expensive on the market.
• Take your car in to have something minor done and the mechanic miraculously finds 7 other things that needs to be fixed – that really don’t.
• Guy/girl makes it seem like he/she isn’t seeing anyone but he/she is having sex with 5 other people regularly (or worse one girl so she thinks she’s The One).
• Facebook closes your account without a valid reason.
• Company quotes a price and the price changes without extra work added to the job/project/product.

I could do this all day. There are millions of examples where we get screwed and we take it. Or worse, we invite it to happen again. How many times have you seen someone’s account closed on Facebook, You Tube, MySpace, etc. and the person CREATES ANOTHER ONE, like they can’t live without it? It’s laughable. “You Tube closed my account, all my videos and ratings are gone. I didn’t do anything wrong. That’s why I re-created this account…”. If a guy/girl says he/she is going to call, yet doesn’t, why bend over backwards when he/she has nothing else better to do and decides to call you?

We all have different tolerance levels on the bullshit we’ll take. I’ve taken my fair share. For example when I order something snail mail and when I receive it, the product isn’t what I ordered. Depending on the cost and effort it takes to correct the problem I might fix it or let it slide. Another person will refuse to pay for something and not receive what he/she paid for and will fight it, even if the product was $1.00. I’m cool with that.

But there are levels when you get screwed where the only response is “I’m not taking it anymore”. Maybe you have to wait a minute while things are in place before saying “I’m not taking it anymore” (getting another job before you quit the one you have) but saying “I’m not taking it anymore” is the only “right” choice. An example, if you keep getting passed up for a job you deserve or don’t receive a raise there is something wrong to let the pattern continue. It’s not healthy.

That’s the difference. When you are getting “chopped and screwed” in a manner that is unhealthy (repetitively) – get out. If it is something simple like a guy/girl playing you in the club, take the response from the song:

You-You must of flipped yo wig (yup)
You got to be out yo mind (ey)
I chop ch-chop You screw-You Screw
You out of yo-out of yo spine (woo)
Back breaker
Put you over my knees
Put you on punishment
Women and I’ll spank ya (baaa)
Have you praising the lord
Like thank you-thank you
Thank you lord I want to thank you (Jesus)

Say it with feeling yo!

There are times when we need to change
Our lives we know we have to re-arrange
And at first it might seem strange
Except it is really only an exchange

Nothing in life stays the same
It’s up to us to maintain a high aim
If we don’t it’s kind of lame
Deep down comes the feeling of shame

The priceless things in life take work
It’s not abnormal to feel like you’ll go beserk
Unfortunately it might seem like you’re a jerk
Instead, focus on the upcoming perks

No one can move forward when they have shackles
You know, those things around the ankles
Those things or people that make life harder to tackle
If you don’t remove them you’ll start to feel rankled

Once they are gone you can have some fun
And realize a new chapter in your life has begun
Lookin back you’ll see that you won
Because you refused to be outdone

**There is a lot of talk on the internet about making changes in one’s life lately. Iman did a video about the transition he is making, and a video previously about realizing it was time to take the next step. It was time for him to fly.**