Ok, Interview #4 of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Social Marketers” series. A big thank you to Todd for participating!
About Todd
I am a principal at SHIFT Communications, a national Social Media and PR agency, working with clients such as Canadian Club Whisky, J&J, Virgin Mobile, and numerous B2B brands. I blog at www.pr-squared.com.
1. What one trait or habit got you to where you are today?
The trait I’d point to is a competitive spirit. Some might call it paranoia, but I’m all about the positive spin. When I speak of a competitive spirit, it’s not in a “rub-it-in-your-face” way so much as it’s about proving to myself that I can overcome an obstacle. On those days when I feel like I am doing my job right, it’s when I sense that my colleagues at SHIFT also embrace that sense of mission, that “sticktoitiveness” to deliver unexpected achievements.
2. Your work day just started, what’s the FIRST thing you do and why?
I fire up my email and my browser. I scan email for any fires but usually am on the Web pretty quickly. I have two starting tabs: Google Reader and Memeorandum, because my two greatest cares outside my family are my job and my country. Google Reader is set up to show me the top Social Media/PR/Business blogs, where I scan for competitive intelligence and ideas; Memeorandum tracks the trending political topics of the day. Basically, Google Reader makes me paranoid and Memeorandum makes me mad, so I start my mornings pretty juiced up!
3. What makes you efficient with your day?
No magic here, sorry to say. I use ReadItLater to save articles that I want to ponder when I have more time; I use Outlook “flags” to remind me of to-do’s in my email. I track ideas for blog posts and my business in my ever-present black notebook.
4. Your Favorite Business book of all time?
I still swear by Good to Great by Jim Collins. Concepts such as “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” and “getting the right people on the bus,” in particular, resonate with me even these many years after first reading Collins’s seminal work. Interestingly, I’ve found that it’s also the book that comes up the most often in conversations with business leaders I respect. Highly recommended.
5. 3 things on your desk right now /3 things you can’t live without
Pictures of my family. Print-outs of articles that make me paranoid, i.e., they contain good ideas that I want to notate and absorb. And, two “action figures” – one of Barack Obama and one Pig-With-Wings: both remind me to be audacious, to accept no limits, to dream big.
6. Habit you want to kick in 2009
I want to kick the habit of bundling up in the winter time: that’s why I’m planning to return to living in California this year!
7. Habit you want to form for 2010
I’ve done a pretty good job with reforming my diet over the past year or so; I weigh what I did in High School. Now I gotta start hitting the gym again. And with our son away at college, my daughter and I plan to take up rock climbing once we’re back in Cali: though I’ll miss my boy, I am looking forward to having some adventures with my daughter…
NOTE: couldn’t resist adding this photo of the pig from Todd’s desk- thanks Todd!
