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Last week I tweeted that I’d come up with the perfect challenge for myself for September. So here it is.
I’m going to try and go the entire month without using Mass Transit, Taxicabs, or car services within the five boroughs AT ALL.
In other words, I’m going to become a pure, 100% walker.
I live all the way on one side of Manhattan. (The West side. The good side.) Anyway… There’s a bus that stops right in front of my apartment, and makes it incredibly easy to get to the middle of the city, where I can grab any subway I want. While this is easy, it also lets me leave at like, 7:40 for an 8am meeting downtown, which usually I’ll make.
Problem is, one of the biggest reasons to live in NYC is that by simply living your daily life, you get a workout every day! By taking the bus to the subway, I’m kinda becoming… suburban! Next thing I know, I’m going to start taking the escalator to the gym. This has to stop.
So – I’m going to try and go the entire month without taking mass transit, cabs, or car services even once.
Ground rules:
1) I can take mass transit to the airport, like I normally do, but if I’m going to Newark Airport, I have to walk to Penn Station.
2) I can still drive my car, as long as I’m leaving the city. But this isn’t new, I never, ever drive my car between any two points in Manhattan.
3) Weather doesn’t matter.
4) If I’m traveling to a city with a good mass transit system (Chicago, San Francisco, etc.) same rules apply. I can take mass transit from the airport to my hotel and back, but that’s it.
So that’s my challenge. Walk everywhere. I’ll have to leave a little earlier, and might start rethinking how much stuff I carry on a regular basis. My ScotteVest will come in quite handy, and the guys at TriSmarter will, I’m sure, be happy about my challenge.
So here’s the question… Anyone up for it with me?
Tips? Ideas? Thoughts? Leave them below. I’ll post random updates on my blog as the month progresses. I’ll also note if I’ve lost any additional weight at the end of the month.
I’d better subway it up as much as possible today.
Running HARO for the past three years, I’ve seen, hands down, the best ways to get your story placed, front page, EVERY TIME.
Assuming you want ALL THAT COVERAGE, as your boss has told you that you do, these are, without question, the top five ways to get it. Make sure you follow EVERY single rule here, and you’ll be well on your way to getting tons and tons of coverage!
1) Make sure to pitch completely and totally off-topic, with absolutely no regard to what the journalist covers. Hey, times are tight, right? They should be LOVING you for pitching them at all! They cover finance? Make sure to pitch them on a home entertainment system for 8-15 year olds. They’ll love you for it, and if they can’t use it, you know they’ll be happy to pitch it over to their friends who will write about it! Just make sure you put “and if you can’t use this, can you send it to the person at your outlet who can?” It’ll be the least they can do, they’ll be sure to help you out!
2) Don’t EVER believe the reporter when they tell you how they like to be contacted. They’re only doing that to TEST you! They say email? You say HOME PHONE! They say “No Attachments?” Please – You say “FIFTY MEGABYTE FILE TO THEIR BLACKBERRY!” Remember – They’re just testing you! They want to see how smart you are! Get around it!
3) FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP! You should start phoning the reporter (at home, preferably) no later than FORTY FIVE MINUTES AFTER YOUR INITIAL PITCH. Continue in two-hour increments, handing over the night-time duties to a subordinate – Remember – The squeaky wheel gets the grease – In this case, squeak every two hours until the reporter covers you.
4) If for some reason, the reporter has written a story about your industry and not included you, well… Let the mayhem begin! This reporter – Who does he think he is! Start with the angry emails – You’ve every right to get angry! Call him names – Best of all, threaten to go to his superior and threaten to pull all your client’s advertising from the media outlet. They’ll see the error of their ways RIGHT quick, and you’ll be in like Flynn! Don’t forget to cc your legal team, and say “our legal team is cc’d. We hope it doesn’t come to having to use them.” That’ll scare them right quick!
5) Finally, reporters LOVE a challenge – Make it TOTALLY difficult for reporters to find you – Don’t include your phone number OR a mobile phone. When you schedule interviews, make SURE to reschedule them at LEAST three times – Hey – The reporter has to understand that your client is a LOT busier than they are – They’re just going to have to rearrange their schedule for you – And they will – Remember – They want your story, and in the end, they work for You!
Just follow these five rules, and you’ll be rolling in story placements faster than you can say “PROMOTION!”
What other great ideas can you recommend that guarantee placement? Leave them below in the comments.
PS: If you’re really so stupid as to not realize this is complete and utter sarcasm, and you should NOT do anything listed above, close down your computer – You’re too stupid to be using the Internet.
Conference season is upon us! It’s been a fun, relaxing summer, but welcome back to hell! With more conferences than ever before from which to choose (don’t these guys know we’re supposedly in a recession?) here are eight easy tips to help navigate the ones you do choose to attend.
1) Networking starts LONG before you get there. The second you register, use the beauty of social media to let the world know, and find new people who are going as well. Ask them if there’s a hashtag, then use it. You want to have at least ten new people you plan to meet over the course of the conference before you go to the conference. The rest of the people you meet will be nice bonuses. The end game for you is to come out with new contacts. I’d dare say that information you learn at the panels and such is second to really good contacts.
2) Don’t be a Business Card Ninja.Chris Brogan coined that term, and I promptly stole it from him. A Business Card Ninja walks into a networking event, throws 100 cards at the first 100 people he meets, and vanishes. He doesn’t talk about how he can help you, nor does he offer any insight into why it’s beneficial to know him. You know what happens to his card? After I pull it out of my chest (since that’s where it landed when he threw it at me) I throw it away. Meet people at these conferences and make it about HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM, not how they can help YOU. Help them, and they’ll help you by default.
3) For the love of all that’s good and holy, don’t drink. Conferences are funny. Take hundreds of stressed out people, fly them somewhere. Keep them up late into the night, ply them with free alcohol, then expect them to be at their best the next morning. I’m not saying don’t go to the parties. The parties are fun. Just get a glass of club soda with a slice of lime at the beginning of the event, and nurse it. Not only will you be much happier the next morning, but you’ll get to actually remember what you did at the party, who you talked to, and what you said. Plus, if you’re smart, you’ll keep a flip-cam with you to catch some spectacular blackmail opportunities against the people who didn’t heed this rule. Update: Make a date with your best friends for the day after you get home, go out, have a few Margaritas, and enjoy being back.
4) Bring: Vitamin C, Tylenol, and a ton of water. Before you get to the conference or the hotel, stop at a deli at least a mile away (Ask your cab driver to make a quick detour, or GPS it.) Bu a gallon of water for each day you’re at the event. Then make sure to drink it. Drinking water is the easiest way to avoid getting sick at the conference, and having it turn into a full-blown case of the Flu when you get home. Conference centers are dry by default. Drink water like you were Les Stroud in the Kalahari. And don’t wait until you’re thirsty. That means you’re already dehydrated. Also, don’t stock up on juice (empty calories, take a vitamin pill) or sodas (calories, plus the inevitable crash.) Just drink water. And for all those “company dinners,” eat on the lighter side. Steakhouses are the best – They always have incredibly small steaks off the menu – just ask for them.
5) Don’t forget about working out – Don’t give up your routine just because you’re on the road. The healthier you are walking into that first meeting, the more your brain works, the better you remember, the sharper you are in general. Get in that early workout - And you never know who you’re going to meet in the gym, too! Chances are, the most successful people are the ones in the gym in the morning. They didn’t get successful by sleeping in, you know.
6) Get there first. You know how crowds always form around the speakers as soon as they’re done speaking? They’re not listening to you. They’re smiling, and looking at the line behind you. So – Do the opposite – Find them ten minutes BEFORE their speech starts. Talk to them, tell them how excited you are to hear them speak – Then, when you say goodbye, give them a business card on which you’ve written “I’M THE ONE WHO SPOKE TO YOU BEFORE YOUR SPEECH.” Trust me – Your card will stand out when the speaker gets back home and looks at the hundreds of cards he or she collected.
7) Map out restaurants, hotels, gyms, (even hospitals) beforehand. Use Google Maps to map out anything you might need. Print it out and keep it with you. Hey, you never know – Imagine those people at the Jacob Javitz center on 9/11. Print it out and put it in your bag. Never have to use it? Awesome. But if something happens and you do? Even more awesome. Five minutes of prep time can be the difference between life and death – or hey, even just a reservation at a good restaurant, or apologizing for bringing people to an Olive Garden.
8) Lastly: Have fun. If you can, try and take a half-day to explore the city you’re in – Anything three miles from the convention center. The world is wonderful – Slurp up as much of it as you can!
Let me hear your best tips below – I’ll send you something travel-worthy for the best one.
Hey gang – A brief video tutorial on how to manage your privacy settings on Facebook so no one else has the power to “check you in” to places on Facebook. Hope it’s useful. Feel free to share.
