What I Learned ...

… from Gretchen Fox, owner of the consulting firm, grtchfx.com, who was our guest speaker for last week's class.

(with a shout out to Esquire magazine for the format)

Note: I wrote this for my Intro to Online Communities class. I'm sharing it here for two reasons: A. I think y'all will find it useful and interesting; and 2. I've always wanted to do a What I've Learned (it's my favorite Esquire feature) so I'm not passing up the opportunity to post it on my blog.


“Being early is the same as being wrong” – If you're an entrepreneur, it's important to figure out if the market is ready for your idea and if this is the time and place for your idea to exist.

Testing, Testing, Testing – Make an assumption, try it, test it, get all the data and figure out what you learned. Then, test against that. So, change one element and repeat the process. Compare. Repeat. Learn.

“Go for it” – If you're are working with new or emerging technology you have to be willing to take risks. It may be a failure, but you'll live through it to try again.

Eric's brain is a creative cross-pollinator.

Gretchen is all about power statements.

“The people that you know are going to be the most important people in your careers” – Most jobs are given to people by people they know. Form a network and help each other.

“Producing as much as possible is key to manifesting the life that you want” – Blogging about the things you're interested in doing not only keeps you informed, it will give you a body of work that can set you apart from everyone else.

“Keep your overhead down” – Tumblr sites are easy to update. Don't make it too overwhelming to update. Keep it lean. Technology has a lot of simple solutions.

“Everyone has a personal brand” – You can use social media to figure out how you want to position yourself in the business world.

Do it right – If you want to start your own social media consultancy, have the resources to do it right. You don't want to have to do every job yourself.

“Social business is a core business function” – It's about making sure every piece of the business is using social data; is leveraging social technology, community and conversation; and is able to respond in real time.

“Explore, Explore, Explore, Explore” – Technology is always changing. Everything will be different in two years. But the human connection has always been there and always will be there. So one way to ensure success is by finding ways to use technology to build community.