The Differents

Müvbox - Think Inside The box

via www.muvboxconcept.com

Take your standard french fry or ice cream truck, take the wheels off and add lobster. That's what MuvBox is all about.

Where is it written that food you buy on the street or at a festival has to be greasy and gross? Nowhere, that's where. So when I came across this concept called MuvBox from Montreal I thought to myself, "Well that makes sense!" Not only is this food vendor portable but it's able to make food that ISN'T hamburgers and hot dogs. MuvBox makes lobster rolls and wood fired pizza.

Not only do can you buy delicious food but you also have a place to eat it. Check it out. There are tables there for you to use. Smart.

One of my favorite meals in the Hawaiian Islands is something called a "plate lunch". You can find plate lunch along the road and in towns throughout the islands. They are set up in small buildings and in old buses (like Giovanni's Shrimp bus) but imagine if the Hawaiian's got ahold of this MuvBox concept? The possibilities are endless.

I think I'll get my hands on one of these MuvBox's and finally open up that BBQ shack I've always wanted to. I'm gonna call it "The Swine Diner and Fillin' Station". Make sure you stop by and set a spell...

You are a Sentence.

It's true, you know? Each of us is a sentence but what is yours?

This week I announced that I will be giving a keynote address here in Calgary on June 15th called Dfrnt Marketing. The speech is a culmination of years of advice I've been giving to people regarding how they can stand out in a world of mediocre. If you're coming to the speech, you should be prepared to take a hard look at yourself... to discover what your sentence is.

The world is mediocre

The world IS mediocre. It's... meh. Take a look around your community and name the most successful people or businesses. I'll bet you can easily name them. In fact, you can probably describe them in one sentence. "He's the owner of the car dealership" or "She's a singer" are probably some of the sentences you'd come up with.

Marketing is much more than just a generic sentence though. You have to be more than just a "community sentence" and be a "world sentence". Every small town with a car dealership has an "owner of the car dealership". You need to stand out. You can't just be mediocre. You have to be something dfrnt. You have to be something very dfrnt. 

Blowing off the dust

What's fascinating to me about all these year of advice I've been giving out is that every person I've met with has something extraordinary about them that they don't see themselves. They are literally blind to what makes them dfrnt.

I start asking questions. I don't tip toe around either. I ask blunt questions that usually make people think really hard. Your sentence is there just below the surface but sometimes there's a lot of dusting to do in order to see it. Slowly the dfrnts start coming to the surface. Your sentence isn't something you become... your sentence is something you are.

Prove it

Frank Sinatra once said, "People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it.” In other words, luck might get you the chance but you still have to prove yourself.

Your sentence is something you can prove. It's a unique snapshot that says, "This is who I am and I can confidently prove it anytime." Your sentence doesn't brag. It states the precise truth.

A few examples

My sentence is, "Speak. Host. Sing. I'm a boredom solver." It's exactly what I do. I can prove it at anytime you ask me to. It's a unique combination that I tell the world I do. My website says it. My profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media say it. It's who I am and it's what I do.

Not only do I solve boredom for myself but I solve boredom for others. If I'm hosting a radio show for CBC my goal is to solve boredom for the listener. The same goes for when I'm speaking or singing. I make those moments unboring as much as possible.

But I also solve boredom for people like you. This article is about cutting through the clutter in your own life and getting to the point about who you are. Getting directly to the point solves boredom. You are a sentence.

The Polyjesters are a band from Didsbury, Alberta. Their sentence (as a band) is "Swingin' Folk Chunk". It's what they do. The Polyjesters are a band that is led by brothers Jason and Sheldon Valleau. Jason plays upright bass and Sheldon plays baritone ukulele. The songs they perform are based in swing and folk and "chunk" describes what they do with their instruments: they chunk their way through the songs.

But "Swingin' Folk Chunk" is also who the Valleaus are as people. They are a walking kitchen party. They are fun, light, engaging and they chunk their way through life everyday with passion.

Come along... for more

So come to my speech on June 15th at the Cantos Music Foundation. We're going to get a lot deeper into what your sentence is. We'll also go quite a bit further and teach you about how you can use your sentence as a hammer in your online marketing strategy.

Tickets and more info for Dfrnt Marketing event are available at www.dfrntMarketing.com 

450 kinds of soda pop in one shop.

My friend Angela sent me this link because she thought that the man being interviewed loves what he does as much as I do. I think she's right.

I'm going to go to this place but if you can't make it down to the store in person, they have a website.

www.sodapopstop.com

Graduation rap speech 2010.

The creator of this video is Josh Shipp, a motivational speaker who actually "gets" teens. My favorite line in the video was "The best job I got right now... I created it."

When do adults stop making life about being "who you are" and start being "responsible" (whatever that is)? I remember how free and liberated I felt in high school, especially grade 11 and 12. I recall a feeling of invincibility and awareness. I was optimistic and goofy. Some may even say I was a bit weird... but aren't we all a little weird in high school?

College was the same thing for me. The biggest take away I got from college was how to make life long friends. In fact, I recommend college to my kids for a completely different reason than you might expect. I tell them that college is a great way to learn a few things and get a diploma but more importantly it's a place to have fun, find out who you really are and make life long connections. I say, "Try your very best but if you end up with a 'C', it's okay with me. 'A' students usually work for 'C' students anyway."

So watch the video and grab some inspiration. If your graduation was a long time ago, think back to those wonder years and try to recall how good it felt to simply be yourself. Just a reminder: it still feels good to be yourself. Take off the mask of responsibility and be a little weird like you were in high school.

The highest recommendation I can give is, "Read Rework."

via 37signals.com

There are books... and then there are "laser beam books" like Rework.

Authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson have set the new standard for concise brilliance. These guys don't take a shotgun approach to solving problems. Instead, they use a laser beam to precisely provide insight into topics such as progress, productivity, competition, hiring, damage control and culture. Anyone can benefit from this kind of writing.

Do you need to know how to solve your work or business problems? Take one afternoon and read Rework. Fried and Hansson know how to run a successful business. They own 37signals, which solves problems for collaboration, contact management and communication... simply. These generous men offer you the wisdom they have gathered over the years and serve it to you on a silver platter and call it Rework. It's delicious.

The highest recommendation I can give is, "Read Rework." And then don't forget to pass along your enthusiasm to others.

How to be a one man flash mob.

via www.mattmasters.com

Is he a cowboy? No, Matt Masters is a country western singer from Calgary.

Matt is a Different. He's like a one man flash mob. He does what he has to in order to get the exposure he needs for his music career. When I ran into him yesterday, he told me a great story:

A few years ago, Matt attended the Ontario Council of Folk Festival conference. It's a conference where talent buyers come to see artists showcase and from those showcases they often buy performances for their venues or festivals. Matt Masters was not offered a showcase. What could he do?

He attended OCFF anyway. He saw all the OCFF posters hanging up with sponsors, blurbs, showcasing artist listings... you know... those overly busy posters that no one can get any information from because their too cluttered? Then he remembered that he had a bunch of photos of himself along with him.

So Matt took a Sharpie and wrote "Matt Masters - Not Showcasing" on all the photos and stuck them to the OCFF posters. Needless to say, he got a ton of exposure... because he cut through the clutter by thinking AND "doing" out of the box.

The biggest win came a few years later when he ran into Louis Black, the founder of one of the world's most important music festivals called SXSW. As it turns out, Louis was at the same OCFF conference as Matt Masters was. When Matt introduced himself he said, "Hi, I'm Matt Masters!"

Louis replied, "Not Showcasing!"

"Japadog" - The Japanese hot dog at the Olympics.

via www.japadog.com

It's become the surprise hit on the streets of Vancouver during the Olympics. It's called a Japadog...  hot dogs with a Japanese twist... including condiments like seaweed, radish and plum sauce. Japadog sounds both wrong and appealing at the same time, doesn't it? I thought that sushi was essentially a Japanese hot dog but nay... if you're in Vancouver, Japadog is the real thing. Foodies such as Anthony Bourdain have even stopped by this street meat vendor to sample their wares.

Japadog has two carts. One is located at Burrard and Smithe and another cart opened just in time for the Olympics at Burrard and Pender but that won't make your wait any shorter. You should expect to wait in line for at least one hour to get your Japadog. But there's good news: just after the Olympics... Japadog will open an actual store with the bags of cash they'll make over the next few weeks. 

Japadog carts will be open every day during the Olympics but according to their website their hours vary when the world isn't visiting Vancouver. They state, "We may close about 3 days per month, depending on whether." So you might want to check the forecast before heading out for your daily Japadog. I know I'm going to try one ASAP.

100 Top Entrepreneurs Who Succeeded without a College Degree

Do you really need a college or university degree to succeed in life? Not if you're an entrepreneur. Check out this fascinating article written by Adam Toren.
Click through to the link at Young Entrepreneur

en•tre•pre•neur -noun Entrepreneur, translated from its French roots, means "one who undertakes." The term Entrepreneur is used to refer to anyone who undertakes the organization and management of an enterprise involving independence and risk as well as the opportunity for profit.

via www.youngentrepreneur.com

Square - The Little Credit Card Swiper for iPhone.

via squareup.com

You have to see this thing to believe it. Here's iJustine reviewing it:

I know a lot of musicians that want to sell their CDs at their gigs. For that matter, this little credit card swiper for iPhone opens up credit card sales for any artist.
Incredible. Different. Useful.

Five ways to spot "a Different"

Like hunting for squid, The Differents are easier to spot if you know what to look for.

1. They stick out. 

The Differents are known for how they stick out.

Nerds are Differents... and they're a great example because there's a pretty good chance that many of the popular kids in high school now work for a nerd.

Differents are just who they are. They don't conform. They be who they be. So when you think of the spaz / geek / outsider / rebel / boss / cartoon characters in the world... those are The Differents and they probably helped you buy your house.

2. They are often unemployable.

There's a reason why so many Differents are business owners. It's because they are often unemployable. Personally (I'm a Different), I like an infinitely wide salad bar of options to pick from each day so it's hard for me to hold down a nine to five job. My days could include giving a speech and then hosting a poker tournament for oil executives... to shooting a vlog... to recording a voice over. It's pretty hard to find a job like that on Monster.com.

But Differents are fine with that. Differents just find their own things to do. That could mean working on a blackboard for seventeen hours one day or it could also mean a four hour sushi lunch. Bring it on.

3. Big ideas.

Differents bring change to the world.

Not every Different is going to bring monumental change with their big ideas but it's important that The Differents keep bringing the ideas. Every idea is like a seed. Some won't grow but others will flourish like the Amazon.

Without The Differents all forward movement would come to a halt. There would be no such thing as iPhones... and we can't have that, can we?

4. They understand things that you don't.

It's not that you're stupid... it's just that The Differents see things in ways you can't. They understand angles, intricacies, the big picture, the small picture, in camera, broadly speaking kinda stuff. And sorry... there's are no glasses that will help you see things the way they do.

Just enjoy the ride. You just might enjoy where you end up.

5. Rules don't apply.

Don't say, "You can't do that!" because The Differents will find a way to prove you wrong.

Paul Desmond didn't stick to a standard 4/4 time signature when he wrote Take Five. He wrote the song in 5/4 time which means there are five counts in a measure instead of four. That's one more than 4/4. In your face! How do you dance to that? It doesn't matter. Dave Brubeck recorded it on his "Time Out" album and suddenly had a hit on his hands thanks to Paul Desmond. In fact, the song got all the way up to #5 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart.

So when it comes to spotting The Differents, now you have some tools that will help. The Differents are everywhere (there are probably some on your iPod). So tell me, who are some of The Differents in your life? The could be well known or completely unknown but I'd love to know who they are!